《Child of the Empire》


 Prologue? Introduction?

    Prologue? Introduction? Ah hell just the first part of my life before the start of the story.


    So here we are my life told through these pages for all those who wish to read it. Not that I hope this really gets out for people to read, but I was convinced by someone long ago to write everything about my long life. I¡¯ve discovered over the years that it¡¯s never easy writing about the people you knew and once were your friends, your family, those you loved more than life itself and even your old enemies. But then again it is nice remembering the good ol¡¯ times, sort of. My name is Amaru Singen I was born in the city of Heaspicus the most northern city in the Empire of Linhoah. My mother was a whore at the time working at a brothel that the nobles and the rich often visited.


    I¡¯d like to think it was fate when my father came in when he did but it wasn¡¯t. The Thieves Guild knew he had chosen to come on the some weeks after my mother was paid to stop taking the sea flow weed that prevented pregnancies by them. They knew my father would buy her services because she was the best and most beautiful that the brothel had to offer. For several weeks my father visited her almost every night till he left back for the capital. The night he left was the night she left the brothel to the Thieves Guild too wait out her pregnancy. You must be wondering why my mother would need to be paid to get pregnant by some rich man. My father wasn¡¯t simple a rich man he was of noble blood and the heir to the throne.


    By imperial law I was supposed to be killed at birth because my father was of noble blood. The other was because my mother like most whores used a special plant called sea flow that prevented women from getting pregnant. Yah I know nice and dramatic right well it¡¯s the truth. So here were the two ways that I should have not been born one by death and the other because of a stupid plant that prevents pregnancy. As I said before my mother was a whore, but not just any whore she was a very expensive whore. My father was at the time Heir Prince to the throne of the Empire. Yes this is all true my mother had sex with the Prince and managed to get herself pregnant. The story that I was told was that the Prince Darlesh Singen had come to visit his slightly older cousin Marcus Gealen who also at the time was the heir to the barony. One night they both were feeling particularly horny so they went into the city to the local brothel. After that the story of my birth is really bland I was born during that following summer. My birth managed to be kept hidden by some very resourceful people I will tell you about later.


    You must be wondering how these people and my mother the whore knew I was the son of the prince. Well I¡¯ll give you the short version of the story. Well first off no one told anyone who I was but the Empire had another way to find out. It involves an old legend about the old gods. It was said when the Empire first came into power the gods blessed the New Emperor a golden sign on his left arm. The sign had the symbols of the three ruling gods Jerhiram, Jalh¨¤mar, and Val¨¤h. Jerhiam told the Emperor that he and his first born would have the symbol on his arm. And so all Emperor¡¯s and Empress¡¯s would know that there first born whether male or female would have the symbol of the gods. But Jerhiam knew that sometimes even the first born might die before he or she might have an heir themselves. So he also degreed the symbol would go to the next child born that was in line for the throne.


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    Of course when my half-sister was born she did not have the symbol on her arm. Darlesh knew that he had a child out there somewhere among the one of the many whores that he had sex with before he married. So Darlesh¡¯s mother Empress Laquesh sent out her personal assassin to find and kill both the mother and child of her son¡¯s bastard. When my mother had heard of the birth of Darlesh¡¯s daughter she knew she had to hide her son. So she went to the only person she could trust who happen to be a thief and his partner. This thief and his partner took in children who where orphaned or who¡¯s parents had abandoned them. They in turn taught them how to be thieves themselves and how to defend themselves. And so they took me in the youngest child to ever join the two thieves.


    Thanks to my father it didn¡¯t take long for the assassin to find my mother. When the assassin found my mother he tortured her to find out where she had hidden me. But my mother knowing that they assassin would do anything in his power to find me took had started taking a poison that took days to kill someone. I don¡¯t know what she said if anything to the assassin before dying but because of her sacrifice I lived and would someday be the greatest threat to Darlesh and his throne.


    My childhood was happy enough but like most of the children that came to both Lucas and John we never knew the love of are parent or just didn¡¯t remember it. As I grew I would learn the many ways to steal from an unsuspecting target, how to get into homes without being seen or heard, how to pick locks and safe, and many other things Lucas deemed necessary. From John I would learn how to use the bow and arrow, swords, throwing knives, and a little bit about knife fitting. The two were an odd pair for a couple of thieves and they had and what would seem an odd look about how thieves should act. If the term ¡®honest as a den of thieves¡¯ was ever meant for anyone it was those two. They told us never to steal from the poor and our neighbors, and since we had the skill to do it we were also to protect our neighbors as best we could. When I felt the time was right I moved out of the hideout and made it out on my own. But I still needed a place to keep up my skill with the bow and arrow, swords, and throwing knives so I also found my way back.


    Now you must be wondering why in the hell would I be the hero of this story he¡¯s a freaking thief right? Well I understand yes my moral compass doesn¡¯t exactly work on that particular level but we did a lot of good for the poor. Yes I know you must be scratching your head wondering how in the hell does a bunch of thieves be good for the poor. Well let me explain it to you.


    Long ago after the Rift Wars had ended the Black Council took control over the Empire with the leave my home at such a young age. Well I can tell you one of the reasons was because of a girl when I meet when I was thirteen. Hey don¡¯t give me that look, yes I left partially because of a girl. Like I said that was one of the reasons I left but not the main reason. At first this girl and I were just friends. Eventually I grew to love this girl but her mother and father were not exactly approving of my past.  And so here is where short my pre-story to the actual story ends. But let me end this prologue, introduction or whatever the hell you want to call it with this one little note. Life¡¯s a bitch.


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    Author''s notes


    I already have several chapters pre-written but since it has be so long since I have actually written on this story I am going to be rereading it myself and editing it. All work will be do in word first then copy pasted here.

 Chapter 1: Another Chapter another day

    Author''s Note


    Here''s the next chapter edited for you enjoyment


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    Like some stories mine starts with a dream¡­ scratch that like a nightmare that I have had to many times. The night was young and the twin moons where full one was a bright red the other was white. She panted with exhaustion she had run far from her burning village, her brown hair was soaked with sweat her tanned skin was marred with her blood. She though she didn¡¯t know it, she was dying from the sword wound. But she had to continue for the small child in her arms. As if responding to her thoughts the child let out a small cry in response. On the babes left arm was a tattoo of a wolf¡¯s head, bird with a long tail and a dragon. She covered the arm with the blanket. She continued to move now more slowly towards the woods and under their cover.


    As she passed a few of the trees she rested her back into a tree then slowly sank down. With the baby still in one arm she tried to get up but immediately lost her remaining strength and her back was resting on the tree once again. ¡°Must keep going¡± she mumbled to herself. She tried once more and couldn¡¯t get back up. She put the baby in her lap as she lost the remaining reserves of her strength.  What little was left of her blood began to pool around her. Slowly her breathes became short and longer apart. All that the woman could think in her last dying breathes was that if the gods had any mercy they would send someone to save her child.


    Thinking it might help conserve any amount of strength she closed her eyes but only a few quick short breaths later she was dead. The child cried aloud possible sensing his mother¡¯s death. It took a while for the child¡¯s cries to die down. Out of the shadows of the trees stepped out six wolves. They were the size of horses even though their eyes were the same sapphire blue each had different colors. One of the three males was a reddish-brown, another was almost pure black except the white spot on his chest and the last one the biggest one grey mixed with some white. The three female wolves were just a varied as their male counter-parts. The one standing next to the black and white wolf had patches of white and black all over her body, another one had pure grey fur that glistened like silver, and the last one was whiter than even snow.


    ¡°Come to us Amaru.¡± the voice came from the black and white wolf. I woke with a start my heavy breathing slowed as I laid back down. I placed the back of my hand against my forehead it felt wet. Great I thought to myself I also broke out into a sweat just what I needed. I sighed the dream was just as disturbing as it always was seeing a village burn and then the death my mother. I never knew why I had such dreams I never grew up in a village and my mother didn¡¯t die of a sword wound. But I was used to that by now, what had truly disturbed me was the presence of that sixth female wolf and the male speaking to me. Before today I had never dreamed of the six wolves. And why did that wolf say come to us? And how did he know my name?


    I really didn¡¯t have time to worry about such things. Beside¡¯s maybe I had too much to drink last night. At eighteen years old I shouldn¡¯t be frightened by my nightmares let alone asking myself questions about the damn thing. I got out of bed with a small groan and a wince it had gotten cold during night. I didn¡¯t have look out the window to know it was still night out. I sighed I went ahead and finished getting up as I dusted the sleep from my eyes. I grabbed my two swords that I keep near my bed and unsheathed them. Though the room was small it was big enough for me to do a very basic workout practice with my twin blades and move with well coordinated steps. I left the room shrouded in darkness I didn¡¯t own many personal belongings so the room remained sparse so I knew were everything was. At first I took my time slowly driving my blades through the air at imagined foes. Slowly with time the blades moved through the air parries, feints and blocks to the imagined strikes. My blades would narrowly miss the wall by mere centimeters as I moved to attack with thrusts and side swipes.


    My workout came to an end half an hour later with the first rays of dawn crept through my window. I had broken out into enough sweet that I knew I would need to visit the bath houses first thing. On my left arm was a bandage that covered most of the top half of my arm coming slightly out of the bandage was the scar I had received two years ago during weapons practice. I sheathed my swords then grabbed my grey linen shirt from my chest I saw my reflection in the window. My hair which reached down to past my shoulders was black was now slightly darker because of the sweat. My eyes were the light green. I was about five and half feet tall and like all those who had been trained John, I was well muscled. I put on my shirt and then I strapped my swords to my back.


    Now that I was warmed up from my small exertions I didn¡¯t notice the cold as much. I guess it¡¯s going to be an early winter this year I thought to myself. I looked around my small room. Like I said it was pretty empty, there was a small straw bed pushed against the far wall, next to it was a table my knife belt on it with my coin purse. On the opposite side of the table near the foot of my bed was my chest that held the few belongs I called my own and a small fireplace that had soot and charcoal left in it. I walked over and picked up my knife belt and strapped it on my waist and then my coin purse. When I picked it up it had felt heaver then I remembered that I had gotten particularly lucky when I pick the purses off a couple of noble boys who had gotten a little too drunk in the richer part of town that I had been in before I came back to my apartment. I couldn¡¯t help smiling to myself as I grabbed my grey linen cloak from my chest. I heard a knock on the door, who could it be this early in the morning.


    As I opened the door I saw a little girl named Emily she had come from Lucas and John¡¯s this early? She was only seven years old and barely came to my waist. Her hair was brown and came down to her shoulders like mine. She looked up to with her brown eyes and handed me a note. Her job finished she turned and ran down the hallway as I opened the note. All it said was meet us at the hideout at noon Lucas. Great I thought what in the hell do they want? Not that really bothered me I was going to be there late this afternoon anyways.


    As I went down the hallway to stairs I passed many small children out playing while their mother¡¯s cooked breakfast. Most smiled at me and waved the others who had bullied the smaller children backed away. Some of them had fear in their eyes some with hatred. Everyone in the building knew me knew that I was a thief. They did not care because I never stole from them and not that ever would we did have the rules to follow. Lucas and John had done well to make sure to teach all of us that. And since I lived in this apartment it also fell under the protection of the Thieves guild. When I walked out into the daylight I felt the true chill that had settled in over the night but it was slowly beginning to warm up already.


    Slowly I made my way down the street already the street way busy of those going to their jobs or running morning errands. I made my way to the Marcy¡¯s Bathhouse since it was the best place in this poor neighborhood to get a decent bath and your clothes washed as you took the bath. The sign¡¯s of poverty was all over the place everyone¡¯s trash littered the alley ways and poured out into the street. The beggars that walked the streets heading to the where they would start their begging for coin or food. Most of the buildings were three or four stories tall, they were old and most had need of repair, but there cheap landlords didn¡¯t fix them up unless city inspectors called their attention to it. A slight breeze came through I tightened my cloak around me to ward off the cold. Not that this helped the cold seemed to always find a way past my cloak.


    I was a block and a half before I turned on a street of mostly two story buildings. The buildings here were in far better condition that the last street. Marcy¡¯s Bathhouse was the other end of the street and it took up the whole corner. I went through the door and was greeted with a familiar infectious smile and room. The entrance to the small because a major portion of the building belonged to the bathes. The woman sitting behind the table that acted as a reception desk was in her fifties. Her name was Granny or at least that¡¯s the name she gave me when I first meet her. Her face was round and plumb, her nose was straight and her eyes were a dark brown. Her salt and pepper grey hair was shaggy. And one of the nicest women I had ever met in my life. I smiled back.


    ¡°The¡­¡± I didn¡¯t get to finish what I was going to say.


    ¡°Usual Granny, please.¡± She finished my sentence with a small high pitched laugh as she just pointed to the back door.


    Without anymore urging than was needed I walked past her through the worn out double doors. I walked past the main hallway that had two large doors to the public bathes, I always paid for a private bath. I was soon being followed by one of Granny service girls to the private baths. I slowed down to let her lead me to an open room.  I followed her down a side hallway to the second door on the left. I walked through the open door and closed it behind me. The room was hot. In the middle on a raised platform was a tub that also could serve the purpose of cleaning laundry underneath it was a small fire that kept the water hot. Next the door was a small bench where I could lay my clothes and weapon. I removed my weapons and my clothes and laid them on the bench. I walked over to the tub and lower myself in the tub. I sighed with relief when I was fully immersed in the tub, a little water spilled over onto the ground. The service girl gave a quick knock on the door. She opened the door without a word from me and grabbed my clothes.


    Half an hour later I was washed and cleaned, like always somewhere without me noticing they had left a towel for me to dry of with. The towel was also used to cover myself till my clothes had finished being laundered. Since it was early I didn¡¯t have to wait long for my clothing to be returned to me. Once I was clothed I walked back up to the front. After I fished around all the gold coins I finally found a silver coin so I pay Granny for the use of her bath.


    ¡°See you tomorrow Amaru.¡± Granny said with her smile.


    I left the bathhouse knowing that I would need to fence the gold coins as soon as possible. But then again I still had about five hours till I needed to be at the hideout so I made my way down to the Broken Arm Tavern to see Yulia. I smiled at that thought. Over the last few months our relationship had become a lot closer after old Thomas finally relented and allowed me to court her. It seems that today would be a good day to take her to market I thought as I hefted my coin purse. I made my back to way that I had come. I turned right making my way deeper into the poor part of the city.


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    I saw the sign of the Broken Arm¡¯s slowly come into view. The sign, more like a warning, depicted an arm broken in one spot but it was broken in such a way that the bone came through the skin. I opened the door and closed it as fast as I could to keep the cold out. The place smelled like it always did right before winter crept in of hot apple cider. The room held six tables and a small bar, the fireplace took up a good portion of the back wall. In it was a big cast iron pot holding the steaming hot cider. At the moment it wasn¡¯t very busy, but would around lunch. I didn¡¯t too look for Tom like always he was easily found at the bar while his son Horace was at the door eyeing for trouble.


    Both Horace and Tom were built the same. They had a small bugle where their bellies was, their short cropped blackish brown hair was a mess as usually if not little greasy. They both were about a head taller than I was and wore the same faded grey shirt and brown pants. Things changed with their facial features. Tom¡¯s nose once could have been straight but it had been broken more than a few times so it gave a deformed squished look, his brown eyes narrowed at me he didn¡¯t look happy to see me, not that he ever did, one of his beefy hands was placed on his small club. Horace on the other was always glad to see me and had a small grin on his face as I came through. The two things that were different about him were he had dark blue eyes and his nose had yet to be broken so it was straight.


    Ann had a tray of food and drink in her hands, I walked past her and smiled. Ann was Horace¡¯s wife, of two years now. She had very plain features, she wasn¡¯t skinny or fat, her hair was a very dull brown that reached to the middle of her back. Her eyes were brown and her nose had the shape of a small beak. She wore a white and brown linen dress. The only two things I really think Horace found attractive was she was a slightly better cook than his mom and her overly large breasts. Though she wasn¡¯t very bright she did have some measure of control over Horace and Tom.


    I took a seat at the bar near the kitchen. Tom eyed me as I sat down but said nothing. Ann walked up to Tom. ¡°Well Tom did you ask Amaru what he wanted to eat?¡± She said curtly. Tom just grunted a reply. ¡°You need to get over it Tom what¡¯s done is done. Amaru is good for her and you know it now be nice and ask him what he would like anything to eat.¡± I wisely suppressed a smile. Tom just glared at Ann and her back at him.


    Tom may have lost the contest of wills between the two but didn¡¯t mean he would ask either. ¡°Ask him yourself girl I¡¯m in no mood to deal with him.¡± He walked away from the bar and went to the front door. Horace just sighed and let his father take his place.


    ¡°Stubborn old man.¡± She said under her breath. ¡°Would you like anything to eat Amaru?¡± She asked me in her sweetest voice.


    ¡°Yes please, and would you let Yulia know I¡¯m here?¡± I grinned at her when I heard Tom growl or cuss hard to tell these days.


    ¡°Of course I will.¡± Another bit of noise coming from Tom¡¯s way we both ignored him. He hasn¡¯t been in a good mood the last few weeks when he found out that I was seeing his daughter behind his back for the last year. Of course it didn¡¯t help that he found out when I proposed to her in front of him. It put him in even more of a bad mood when he found out everyone in his family had known about and didn¡¯t bother to tell him.


    It was Susan, Tom¡¯s wife, who brought out a bowl of pigeon pie for me. Susan even at her age was still very good looking and had passed down that trait to both of her daughters. She was neither fat nor skinny and she was smaller than me by a few inches.  Her hair though light blonde had hints of gray in it. She wore a simple linen brown dress, her eyes were a light blue and she had a straight nose. ¡°Ann went to go get her, eat up.¡± She laid the bowl in front of me and hand me a mug for the cider. I fished out a few copper coins and handed them to her.


    I walked over to the simmering pot of hot cider poured me some of it. The pigeon pie was filling and the cider helped ward of the chill of the morning. Yulia arrived half way through my second helping of the pie. She was a younger version of her mother and in my opinion twice a beautiful. Like Susan she had light blonde hair and a straight nose. She wore the dark blue wool dress that I had bought her a few days ago after her father found out about us. Her eyes were a dark blue like her brothers so the dress really brought out her eyes. Ann came over and took the bowl away and I got up and walked to Yulia. I gave her a quick kiss and I smelled the rose scented perfume that I had stolen out some noble woman¡¯s bedroom. One her left ring finger was a gold ring that held a ruby in between two sapphires, I also stole this from the same noble woman¡¯s bedroom.


    ¡°You look and smell beautiful.¡±  She blushed as I heard what may have been a growling noise from Tom again. I looked over to Tom and then back at Yulia. ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s quiet gotten over marriage proposal.¡±


    She shot him a dark look. ¡°He¡¯ll just have to get over it like he did with Rose.¡± She grabbed my hand and led me through the tavern past her father. ¡°We¡¯re going to the market to buy more things needed for my wedding.¡± Tom put out his hand to stop us.


    Even if he didn¡¯t like me I knew he did love his daughters very much and was very protective of them. But the problem was he also felt no man was good enough for his daughters. ¡°Your mother wants me to talk to him before you go.¡± His tone was even and short. I could tell he really didn¡¯t want to do this but if I knew Susan he had no choice. ¡°Look boy I may not like all this business of you marrying my daughter and you damn well know the reasons.¡± Which I did, he didn¡¯t like the fact I was a thief. ¡°Susan maybe right about you being able to care for my little girl.¡± I looked at our hands and smile menacingly. ¡°But if you so much as lay a hand on my daughter before the wedding night I¡¯ll cut your manhood off myself.¡±


    ¡°Father!¡± Yulia turn red from both anger and embarrassment. She pushed her way past Tom and I followed.


    I heard the door to the kitchen slam open behind us and a whisper from Horace before I made all the way through the door. I heard ¡°You said what¡± from Susan. I grinned to myself knowing that for his threat he would pay, but that left me to smooth things over with Yulia on her father¡¯s behalf. And that would be hard for me since she could be just as unreasonable as her father.


    We went towards Marcy¡¯s Bathhouse and took a right towards the markets. We went a few more blocks before we came upon a few shabby ¡®shops¡¯ in the poor distract markets. Most of these ¡®shops¡¯ were merely fronts for fences. We headed straight to a small two story building that housed both the shop and the home of the owner. The sign hanging down said Boris¡¯s Hand Me Downs it had no picture because he sold anything that was fenced to him.


    Yulia saw where we were heading as gave me a look. I patted my coin purse and she nodded in understanding. As we walked in the door I heard the jingle of the small bell that let Boris know that someone was coming in. The room was about ten feet wide and twelve feet long. It had just enough light to let people see the goods on the tables for sale. One the tables was an assortment of things like cheap copper jewelry, old handkerchiefs, dresses, and many of odd and ends for the females his shop catered to. We walked up to the counter just as Boris came out. The best description of the man that I could give that he looked like a rat that had taken human shape. He was a few inches shorter than I was, he was skin and bones and his hands where cupped together that looked like they were more claws than actual hands. His thin brown hair ended in well a rat tail and he had beady dark brown eyes. He looked at Yulia and smiled. I could almost feel her shudder but she was used to him so she stayed by my side.


    ¡°Hello Boris, how are you doing this morning?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Not too bad a bit cold though.¡± He said in his squeaky voice.


    ¡°I need to exchange out some coin today. I lifted a couple purses from off some drunken noble brats last night.¡± I gave him a knowing smile.


    ¡°Follow me then.¡± We walked into his backroom where  he kept stolen items he had yet to send to his other store in the noble classes market or sold to merchants in the markets. The room was half the size of his store, in one corner was the stairs lending up to his home. The walls were lined with tables, chests, and cabinet that had many of the same items laying about on the few tables that he had in the front. In the middle was a long table that had at the moment coins stacked up at varying heights and even a plain copper ring, a few plain silver necklaces and a small chest.


    We stood by the table with the coins and I poured out the gold coins onto the table away from Boris¡¯ coins. I watched as a lot of gold coins fell out amid the few copper and silver I had left. I was pleasantly surprised that when I counted out the twenty gold coins to Boris. Boris counted out eighteen and half gold worth of copper and silver and I put in my purse. We left the store and followed the twisting and turning of the streets towards the market.


    The morning went by swiftly and so did my coin. She went through my gold easily just buying enough cloth to give her family for a new outfit for the wedding. She and her mother would be busy for a while making them. I was amazed at the ease that she had gotten fair deals through bartering at all of the stalls we had visited. Of course I always found it easier to steal what I needed that buy. The cloth was only linen but she did manage to find many different colors. They were obviously female colors such as pinks, light reds and blues. The others I could tell where for her father and her brother because they were grey, brown and white the only colors they would wear. But I guess what was important was that she was having (too much) fun spending my coin. After paying the fifth stall vendor we continued to make are way the down the street when I noticed that we were being followed. I had noticed them at the first stall we had visited but didn¡¯t take much notice of them now I did. But it was nearly time for me to meet John and Lucas at the hideout. After she was finished with the vendor asking the price for some babble that she found interesting we left for the back to her father¡¯s inn.

 Chapter 2: Moving the plot along?

    After leaving Yulia at the Broken Arms I headed my way to the hideout. Making my way through the winding roads to the warehouse distract I headed to one of the two entrances to the hideout. Though the hideout was under an old abandoned smuggling warehouse the entrances were hidden in places that had a little more foot traffic. The main entrance was in the orphanage that we used as a front. The other entrance which I had to use was in the basement of an inn that we also used as a front. John and Lucas named the in ironically The Outlaws Home.


    John and Lucas were half-brothers they shared many of the same traits. Both of them had identical salt and gray hair cut short. Each had light grey cloaks, shirt, trousers and each had a sword hanging on their hips. But that¡¯s where their similarities ended. Lucas is built much of the same way that I was. His small body what perfect for the life of a thief. His shirt was made of soft white linen and his trousers where brown. His eyes where a light brown, his nose was straight and he was a man would and could find a joke in anything and most often did. John was half a head taller than me and was built like any warrior who had fought with sword and shield. His eyes were a hazel color and he also had a grim look on his face. He wore a hard leather vest and a black shirt underneath and his trousers where also black. Like Thomas his nose had been broken many times and had a deformed look about it.


    ¡°You¡¯re only person I know that ca be late to a meeting when you live only a few blocks away from the hideout.¡± John said in an irritated voice.


    ¡°Yulia wanted to do some shopping for the wedding.¡± I repilied


    John just grunted in response and waved me to follow. I followed and so did Thomas. We all sat about the same the time, they looked curiously at Thomas before speaking. ¡°They know Amaru. Right now there not acting on anything till they get word from the capital.¡± Those words sent chills down my spine. I knew immediately that I had to get out of the city and the country if I was to live.


    ¡°How? How did they find out I¡¯ve been careful all these years never a slip up not once.¡± I knew that my father would probably not execute me at first he would have me tortured till I gave him the names of those who hide me all these years.¡±


    ¡°When you went out to celebrate your future wedding and got drunk part of your imperial birthmark was seen. ¡± Said John Damn I had messed up after all. I can¡¯t believe the mess I created just when things were starting to look good between me and Yulia.


    ¡°And as far as how we caught wind of this we have always made sure anything related to a noble¡¯s bastard in this city gets to us.¡± Said Lucas. ¡°And as you know boy you¡¯re not the only one that we hide from their father just the hardest.¡± Lucas gave me the stern look he always did when I would get out of line when I was younger. I sigh still the father figure as always, guess that explains why they did the odd thing of training us on how to use weapons. Well at least now I know my father wasn¡¯t the only one that couldn¡¯t keep track of his bastard children.


    Now just in case you forgot why nobles care about any bastards that they have is because of some stupid prophecy. You see when great great grandmother Empress Jeasa started messing with demonic magics and caused a rift between her and the gods that blessed the first Emperor she realized she set in motion the prophecy of old. So she enacted a law that all nobles bastard would killed at birth or when found. Eventually more and more nobles followed my great great grandmother in using demonic magics to quickly gain power. This further caused a rift now with the scared Guardian beasts blessed. For now that¡¯s the short explanation a longer one will be told later.


    John looked past me taking note of something. I turned and saw what he was looking at soldier¡¯s were outside making their way to my apartment. ¡°I think we need to get out of here.¡± They both nodded in agreement and we headed to the Broken Arm.


    When I arrived I couldn¡¯t even look at Thomas as I explained the situation with only half-truths and a few lies...¡°Thomas tell Yu¡­ tell her I¡¯m sorry and that I wish I could take last back and do it all over again.¡±


    Lucas and John had already gotten up and started making their way to the kitchen. But it seemed the gods just wanted to make my day even worse Yulia still smiling when she came out. This is what I wanted to avoid too see her smile turned into tears. Hear her crushed when I had to tell her that I had not only to leave the city but somehow leave the country. I got up and tried to make my way to the kitchen to my escape. But Thomas¡¯ hand clasped around my wrist I tried to jerk it free but he wouldn¡¯t let go. The he said the words I didn¡¯t want to hear. ¡°If anyone is going to crush her heart boy it¡¯s going to be you not me!¡± There was no anger in his voice in fact it almost seemed hollow. I realized that the reason it sounded like this was because he knew how much this would hurt his only child how much pain he would have to deal with, and all of the tears he would have to silently deal with.


    I knew would blame me for all this, I accepted that fact when I heard those words first uttered. I looked back her way Lucas and john were just standing at the door waiting for me but I knew I had to do the right thing first. ¡°I¡¯ll tell her in the kitchen Thomas we can¡¯t do this out here.¡± I gave him my coin purse. ¡°This should help for a bit. I know she most likely won¡¯t be leaving her room for a while.¡± He let go of my wrist and a walked towards Yulia with sorrow in my heart for what I was about to do. I walked past her and without saying a word into the kitchen with Lucas and John follow by Yulia.


    When I told her the half-truths and lies I told Thomas but before I could tell her before she interrupted me. At first she yelled and screamed at me. ¡°How could you do this to me?!¡± Her voice was choked with sobs. All the while I did my best not to show her how much my heart was breaking. Tears began to flow like the river out of her eyes. Throughout all of this I didn¡¯t saying anything I couldn¡¯t. Finally when there was a small break in the accusation¡¯s I told her more. From there it got worse she told me that I couldn¡¯t leave her like this and that she wouldn¡¯t let me.  She wrapped her arms around me. I tried what I could to pull her off of me. I wanted to laugh a little despite the gravity of the situation. Slowly we both sank down to the floor she was still crying and saying incoherent things while I tried to calm her down.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry Yulia I really am. I tried my best to hide who I was but it seems some secrets I just can¡¯t be keep.¡± Slowly I was able to get her off of me. After I finally managed to unwrap her from me I picked her up and brought her to her room and laid her on her bed. Her room was small but cozy she had a dresser against the wall opposite of her bed. Along the wall were all of the items she had bought at market with my money. I smiled at that memory that now seemed to belong to someone else. I kissed her on her forehead and whispered ¡°Goodbye my Yulia I will always love you.¡± I was grateful that she didn¡¯t say anything back to me. I walked back down the stairs to the kitchen where Lucas, John and Susan were waiting. I looked at Susan for a short second. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I wish that I could change things or do something about this but I can¡¯t. Just make sure if the guards come to question you about me just tell them that I left and you don¡¯t know where.¡± She didn¡¯t say anything to me just nodded. I left with Lucas and John out the back door.


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    We walk the down the street away from the soldiers in silence. I didn¡¯t do something stupid like put my cloak over my head to disguise my face because that never really worked anyways. Of course once the soldiers figured out that I wasn¡¯t in my apartment, which shouldn¡¯t take long they would mostly likely head to the tavern to question Thomas and Susan if their informants were any good. Thankfully I told Susan to just to tell them the truth. Soon we rounded the corner to another street.


    As we made our way down the streets and alleys I began to wonder how am I going to get out of the city and the country without gold. Like he was reading my mind Lucas asked the same question. ¡°John were going to need a lot of gold to get Amaru out of the city and I know we don¡¯t have enough in are coffer¡¯s to get him out.¡±


    ¡°I was just thinking about that myself.  We of course have no choice to get Amaru out of the city as fast as possible and may even have to move our children to the other safe house permanently.¡± John continued to list of several things that they now needed to do to keep everyone safe from harm and that for a while times for them would be tough.


    ¡°What about stealing the gold from Boris? I just fenced twenty gold coins this morning I doubt he¡¯ll have had time to exchange it himself.¡± I knew the rules of a thief was never to steal from your fence even if he was that a rat of a man. But desperate times called for desperate measures. ¡°Look I know the rules alright but I¡¯ve never liked the guy and I have suspected he¡¯s cheated me more than a few times anyways.¡±  They both looked at me for a moment and then looked at each other.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like itAmaru but these are desperate times and Boris isn¡¯t the only fence in the city just the cheapest. I guess we have no other choice but to do this.¡± I didn¡¯t really expect Lucas to agree with me but I was glad he did. ¡°John go and rob Boris make sure to cover up your face when you do it. He might suspect it¡¯s you but won¡¯t have any solid proof. Amaru and I will go to the hideout and get everyone out and try to take as much with us as possible to are winter hideout it¡¯s a little early but it¡¯s better they not find us there if they come looking.¡± John just nodded as he went made his way down the alley that we had just past.


    I didn¡¯t take us long to get to the hideout, my old home. It had been so long I didn¡¯t recognize some of the new faces and a lot of the old have left to find their own way. Lucas like always remembered had complete control when it came to moving hideouts. This hadn¡¯t been the first time they needed to do this so they both made sure we were always prepared. He made sure to let the children know I was in charge. While he went and got a horse and small wagon to move some of the heavier items and anything that would look to suspicious out in the open. I didn¡¯t need to give them instructions on what to take they just got to work and left in small groups of two¡¯s and three¡¯s with what they could take with them. I remained behind to put anything that couldn¡¯t be carried out in the open in chests. Item¡¯s like the practice swords, bows and arrows went into barrels. Practice targets and dummies were broken down and would be brought to the winter hide out in individual pieces.


    With practiced precision the hideout and most of its easily moved contents were either on their way to the new hideout or already there. I took longer than I thought it would for both Lucas and John to do what they needed to do. When Lucas came back with the horse and wagon I breathed a small sigh of relief. The few that were old and strong enough to help load the wagon with what was left in the hideout didn¡¯t long. I keep a look out for John when I could and got nervous when we finally put in the last barrel of arrows on the wagon and he still wasn¡¯t here.


    Finally he came quickly around the corner holding a wooden box and looking over his shoulder and he wasn¡¯t alone someone had come with him. The second person was covered in John¡¯s grey cloak from head to toe. I could tell as they got closer that the person was a female I was sure of that much her brown skirt could be seen just where John¡¯s grey cloak ended near her feet. On her back was a brown bag that I could tell was full of stuff. Whoever she was I knew that was what had keep John from getting back sooner.


    He headed straight to Lucas. He said something to him and I could tell from Lucas expression it wasn¡¯t good. They started to argue silently about the stranger, curiously John pointed to me a few times during the argument. Finally they came to an agreement about the person and John said something to her and she walked my way and so did John followed closely by Lucas. She moved the hood of the cloak just enough so I could see who it was.


    ¡°Yulia what in the hell are you doing here?¡± I just couldn¡¯t believe what I saw she was supposed to be back at her home safe and sound away from and danger. I set my sights on John but like always Yulia seemed to beat me to what I was going to say.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare start with poor John, Amaru I told him to bring me to you when I found him at Boris¡¯s shop.¡± Poor John what the hell? ¡°He got enough from Lucas about this he doesn¡¯t need it from you.¡± I couldn¡¯t wrap my head around this how did she manage to find him let alone convince her parents.


    ¡°How, how did you find him there and convince your parent to let you come.¡± If I knew Thomas and I did he would never allow his daughter come with a bastard son of a noble.


    ¡°It was my parent¡¯s idea actually. Well more like daddy¡¯s idea really not that he liked it himself.¡± Traitor I thought. ¡°He couldn¡¯t stand the idea of me being totally devastated by you leaving me like you did.¡± Again tears welled up and threatened to flow again. ¡°I told him I just couldn¡¯t just leave them like that but then mama agreed with him. She helped me pack after the soldier¡¯s left.¡± I knew there was more to this than she was letting on but I didn¡¯t get to ask. ¡°Now take this heavy thing off of my back and put it to the back of the wagon.¡± I moved quickly to do as she told me too when I heard a sharp laugh. I turned to the offender and saw John when a big grin on his face.


    ¡°Oh I like her boy, I really like her.¡± He laughed again. ¡°She has a strong will this one does. You better watch yourself with her boy if you don¡¯t she¡¯ll show you who¡¯s boss.¡± This time Lucas and the others joined in the laughter I gave them a offending sign. It made them laugh all the harder for it.


    As I helped Yulia into the back of the wagon I mumbled to myself. ¡°Strong will my ass just plain stubborn.¡± I also got myself in the wagon and hide myself from view just and Lucas snapped the reins and got the horse moving to are new destination

 Chapter 3 Plans for escape and other things

    Chapter 3 Plans for escape and other things


    The ride through the city was slow going every few streets we had to avoid some sort of checkpoint that the soldier¡¯s had set up to find me. Sometimes we had no choice but to go through one was searched very thoroughly. They had gotten too close to finding me in my hiding spot. Yulia ended up have to join Lucas up front to deter any further suspicion. The soldier¡¯s gave a sign paper showing that we could pass freely through the rest of the city since we had been searched three times already. Even then we still had to wait for those who hadn¡¯t been searched. By time we managed to get to the winter hideout night had begun to fall.


    I was not allowed to help unload the wagon because even here there where soldier¡¯s nearby. I was surprised to see that we were in another warehouse when did they get this place and how did they afford it. I looked around and saw how. This building was abandoned the holes in the room and now I could smell the scent of decay. And if I remembered some of these building once had hidden room underneath them for smuggling goods.


    Even though I was itching to ask Lucas or John how they manage to get this I followed John, who again was holding the wooden box, to the secret passage underneath the building. Yulia much to my ire decided to help out Lucas and empty the wagon. I remained silent as John lifted up the trap door to a very new set of stairs. As soon as we got in far enough I couldn¡¯t help myself I asked him. ¡°How is that you guys were able to pay for all of this? And who fixed it up for you?¡±


    He laughed at my curiosity maybe remembering how I asked him endless questions when I was younger. ¡°Quite easily really we had been having this rebuilt for years after you left. It¡¯s not complete yet but the man who we had been paying to rebuild this said anything that¡¯s left shouldn¡¯t take him more than a month.¡±I whistled softly to myself as we passed to big room¡¯s that I see were the rooms for the children to sleep in. ¡°Those holes you saw help break up any smoke produce by are fires and that smell helps cover up the smell of smoke.¡± I understood the need for that; they couldn¡¯t always get good solid wood that would be completely smokeless. ¡°It¡¯s far from perfect though this used to be a base for a smuggling operation but this one didn¡¯t have a tunnel to the outside. So we still need to find a way out for both you and Yulia.¡±


    I should have known that it would have been too much to ask for to have an easy escape from my home. Along the hallway at irregular intervals were torches that had a shield to prevent the flames from catching the wood on fire. We passed two more rooms, the first I could see the target dummy¡¯s had already been setup and in the other I saw on the wall highly polished metal. It was exactly like the same room I had practiced my swordsmanship once so long ago. I knew Lucas wouldn¡¯t just leave that the old metal at the old hideout they would go back with others themselves to get it. The tunnel turn and before we made the turn I could smell food being cooked. The last room was the largest one the far wall was a fireplace large enough to hold the big kettle pot that the food was cooking in. Around the room I could saw the rest of the children who had help bring all of the stuff back here. For now the room was devoid of any furniture but that would soon change.


    Yulia was the first to come around the corner I smiled to myself when I saw she was also empty handed. I heard her grumbling to herself and from what I heard whoever it was about was not in the least flattering. Gave me a quick smile as she walked passed me to the kettle over the fire. Apparently Lucas decided it would better for her to cook than help bring down the supplies. I looked at the wooden box no not box but a small chest. I looked at with a question in my eye. He laughed and opened up the box. My eye widened as saw the full contents of the chest. It was filled to the brim of a mixture of gold, silver and copper coins. I was not the only one to notice chest full of coins but before any of the children could get close enough to take a better look John snapped in back shut.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much is really in there but I think it will be more than enough to get you and Yulia smuggled out of the city safely enough. But you two will be on your own after that me or Lucas don¡¯t know many people that know their way to the Empires border. We¡¯ll make sure you have enough supplies to last you a while and a pair of horses to ride.¡±


    ¡°I can make do with that. It would be helpful if you get your hands on a map it would be useful if I could read it properly.¡± He shook his head at the last comment, I sighed. Well I guess I can¡¯t everything go my way. I had a quick thought about trying once more to convince Yulia to go home and stay there but I discarded the idea I knew she wouldn¡¯t. So I bid my time and waited for the others to bring the furniture which gratefully didn¡¯t take them long. Soon I was busy moving and rearranging the tables, chairs and cabinets so they would fit in what now I realized was the small space provided. With so many helping hands it didn¡¯t take long for everything to be done and setup to both Lucas¡¯s and Johns liking.


    Since the tables were set up the youngest grabbed wooden bowls and spoons out the two cabinets. I knew when it came to certain things like proper eating ware Lucas and John spared no expense. Then I heard Jason call out my name. I looked and smiled to see two of my old friends I walked over to them. Jason was now built more like John than any of the rest of us. His hair was brown and eyes were a dark green and his nose was shaped a little like a beak. He somewhere along the way since I last saw him decided to grow a beard, it looked good on him. Like John Jason was turning out to be a weapon master and spent now more of his time training and teaching the youngling the basic skills. And somewhere along the way he seemed to have adopted the old weapons master taste in clothing color. So John had chosen him as his replacement to be the second in command for when he died.


    Then there was Jenny standing right next to him. She was slim and beautiful, her hair was a black and she had grown it down to the small of her back. Her eyes were a dark brown and always seem to have a smile in them, and her nose was straight and slim.  Unlike most females she didn¡¯t wear a skirt. Her pants like her shirt varied in grays and blacks. This made it easier for her to hide in the shadows. I hugged both of my friends from my childhood I had rarely seen them since leaving. Even though I hated to admit it she was always the better thief and I was glad when I heard she agreed to be Lucas¡¯s replacement.


    ¡°Jenny, Jason it¡¯s so good to see you! I heard you two are eventually going to take over the guild.¡± I laughed when I saw the shock on their faces when I told them I already knew. ¡°I don¡¯t think there are a better two people to run this place when Lucas and John pass into the next world.¡±


    ¡°Where not dead yet boy and we both can still hear very well.¡± John growled. Everyone except Yulia laughed getting the old joke. ¡°I wish you of all people would stop reminding me off my age.¡± The laughter got even louder even John joined in.


    ¡°I¡¯ve also heard,¡± I said slyly ¡°that you two are now a couple.¡± Jason grinned at me and I wink back at him. Jenny just blush.


    ¡°I would like to know how in the hell you find out about these things Amaru.¡± Jenny was still blushing.


    I just grinned and said ¡°Sorry Jenns it¡¯s a trade secret. Maybe someday I will tell you or not.¡± Jenny threw her hands up in exasperation. She may have always been the better thief but she could never hold a candle to my intelligence gathering.


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    To me such things were easy to me. I just somehow always understood people. Oh don¡¯t get me wrong I just don¡¯t go and start asking around. You had to be subtle about such things and believe me there were many ways do such things. Though the easiest ways were one just listening to them and just let them do all the talking. The other was buying them drinks to loosen their tongues that way. The other two ways is to simply bribe them or the one I hated the most because I lacked any finesse was simply to beat the information out of them. But there are still many ways to gather intel just depends on your creativity and resources.


    My stomach growled reminding me and everyone else in the room that I was hungry. This set off another round of laughter. ¡°Well it seems,¡± Jason said through much laughter, ¡°that we can still tell time by Amaru¡¯s stomach.¡± And with perfect timing Yulia announced that supper was finally ready.


    Supper was the same as he had always remembered it. Boastful and often exaggerated thefts, outrunning the guards, and even tales of over the top heists from a noble¡¯s house. Every time someone was there during the story he or she would correct some of the points in the story with much laughter. I even disillusioned some of the children of their future leader by telling them of their screws ups. This would get much laughter especially when Jenny and Jason try to get revenge and tell embarrassing stories of their own about me. And to my surprise even Yulia joined in tell way to embarrassing tales about me and some of my less than successful attempts at thefts, the ones that I did tell her about.


    When it came to clean up everyone worked as a team and got things done quickly. Some clean up the plates while other prepared to the baths in the adjoining rooms. It amazed me when I saw how they were getting water down here. The reason they had chosen this building was because smugglers had used it to hide rare animals and often dangerous ones. So they needed a way to easily keep the animals watered so they had pipes connect to a local well. It was really ingenious when you thought about it. Lucas and John couldn¡¯t have picked a better spot to move their operation and somehow I knew this wouldn¡¯t become the ¡®winter¡¯ hideout. Once everyone but me, Yulia, Lucas, John, Jason and Jenny were done with their baths they went to bed.


    As soon as the last person went into the bedroom the mood immediately became somber. I sat next to Yulia at the table while Lucas sat opposite from us. Next to me was Jenny and Jason sat next to her.  John went and grabbed the wooden chest stolen from Boris and opened it up. Jenny and Jason¡¯s reaction was the same as mine none of has seen so much coin all in one place.  Knowing what to do me, Jenny and Lucas started to count the coin. It was the best system I took all the cooper coins while Jenny and Lucas took the silver and gold coins respectively.


    Yulia tried to help but was stopped by Jason. ¡°Leave them to it they have a good system the three of them. Why don¡¯t we make ourselves useful and make some kaffee.¡± Yulia sighed, I didn¡¯t know what she was thinking but she got up and helped Jason. We slowly counted to make sure we had counted the right amount then we counted it again just make sure we didn¡¯t miss count. We were done counting just about the time the smell of the kaffee began to fill the room. Yulia brought over cups and sat them in front of use while Jason put to pots of the stuff in front of us. Yulia poured my cup and hers, naturally she was used to serving people so when she went around the table and poured everyone else a cup to. Everyone thanked her as she came around and once she was done she took her place next to me and began sipping her cup of kaffee.


    ¡°So how much do we have Lucas?¡±  John asked.


    ¡°Well according my count Boris was a fool to have this much just lying around.¡± He gestured at the three piles. ¡°The gold coins alone amount to thirty five gold.¡± Whispers ran across the table in awe of the amount of gold coins Lucas had counted.


    ¡°I agree with you Lucas,¡± Jenny was the first to speak up, ¡°this pile here is nearly fifteen gold. Well to be more exact fourteen gold and eighty silver.¡±


    ¡°My pile holds two gold, nine silver, and three copper.¡± I barely spoke because I was trying to add that all up in my head.


    Unsurprisingly John beat me to it. ¡°That in total is fifty two gold, eighty nine silver, and three copper.¡± Jason whistled when he heard the total amount, Lucas somehow looked unfazed, Yulia and Jenny just looked dumbstruck and me I didn¡¯t know how I looked. ¡°No offense Amaru I hope we don¡¯t have to spend even half of this to get you to out, but somehow I doubt that¡¯s likely.¡±


    ¡°Your correct in that my old friend, the way things are I doubt even a good smuggler with a working tunnel will take less than fifteen gold for the both of them. That not including getting them a good horse each and supplies for their travels.¡± The mood became a little down trodden because even I imagined what that gold could have meant for the guild. ¡°But lucky for us I know a good smuggler and she does owe me a favor and she¡¯s pretty well connected so she¡¯ll know who Amaru already is.¡±


    ¡°I know who you¡¯re talking about and I don¡¯t like that idea Lucas I don¡¯t exactly trust her.¡± John voice was full of anger and a little bitterness. I had a feeling who they were talking about and from what I heard from her reputation I didn¡¯t like it either. But like Lucas she was the best and I knew she had no love for the nobles and official¡¯s of the city so maybe that might work in our favor.


    ¡°Would she really betray us?¡± Yulia voice was full of concern, I wrapped my arm around her to sooth her a little.


    ¡°Yes she would if she thought she could get a lot of gold from that betrayal and live. But I have a plan so that way I know her trust is absolute.¡± He pulled out two vials and placed them on the table. Both vials were black except the red and blue dots on them. ¡°The vial with the red dot is a poison that takes about three days to kill you in the most painful way possible. The vial with the blue dot is it antidote. This is how I plan to gain her absolute trust.¡± I frowned at the thought but I also knew it was for the best.


    The rest of the plan was pretty simple John and Jason would go out by supplies and horses. I would spend the day packing what I would need to make sure my swords and knifes would stay sharp. Finding me some armor and if need be fix it and filling up two quivers full of arrows. The when John and Jason got back help them slip up the supplies between my pack and Yulia¡¯s. Jenny would give her pants from her own closet of cloths and would help empty her pack that wasn¡¯t absolutely important for our travels. Lucas would ¡®negotiate¡¯ our escape from the city with the smuggler. When everything was laid out and agreed upon we all went to are beds.


    Yulia and I were sleeping in the same room where we ate. John supplied us with two bed rolls that we would also be bringing with us. I helped her put are bedrolls next the fire. Once they were down Yulia laid down without saying much. I used my cloak to cover her up while I went her pack to find her cloak to give her while I used mine. I leaned down to get my cloak from Yulia I heard her soft even breathing letting me know she had already fallen asleep. I laid down next to her and promptly went to sleep myself.

 Chapter 4 Escape from Heaspicus!

    Chapter 4 Escape from Heaspicus!


    I dreamed again that night of the wolves and the forest. But this time things were different. Without warning men had come and attacked the small village. On their horses they cut anyone down that was on the only street in town. They blocked doors and threw torches on the rooftops to burn whole families alive inside. Above them the two full moons filled the sky one red the other white. They ruthless cut people down where they stood or ran them over. Cries of fear and foul laughter filled the air. A man that I couldn¡¯t see clearly was screaming something to the woman holding a baby in her arms. She ran but the man on the horse and swung his sword at her hitting her across the back. She fell and turned trying not to crush the baby underneath her.


    Slowly she crawled and made her way passed the burning home. The man watched cruelly with a smile on his face he already knew she was dead he let her leave as he went back to the slaughter. Through the pain she managed to get up and she ran across the field to the forest. She panted with exhaustion she had run farther than she thought would from her burning village. Her brown hair was soaked with sweat her tanned skin was marred with her blood. She though she didn¡¯t know it, she was dying from the sword wound. But she had to continue for the small child in her arms. As if responding to her thoughts the child let out a small cry in response. On the babes left arm was a tattoo of a wolf¡¯s head, bird with a long tail and a dragon. She covered the arm with the blanket. She continued to move now more slowly towards the woods and under their cover.


    As she passed a few of the trees she rested her back into a tree then slowly sank down. With the baby still in one arm she tried to get up but immediately lost her remaining strength and her back was resting on the tree once again. ¡°Must keep going¡± she mumbled to herself. She tried once more and couldn¡¯t get back up. She put the baby in her lap as she lost the remaining reserves of her strength.  What little was left of her blood began to pool around her. Slowly her breathes became short and longer apart. All that the woman could think in her last dying breathes was that if the gods had any mercy they would send someone to save her child.


    Thinking it might help conserve any amount of strength she closed her eyes but only a few quick short breaths later she was dead. The child cried aloud possible sensing his mother¡¯s death. It took a while for the child¡¯s cries to die down. Out of the shadows of the trees stepped out six wolves. They were the size of horses even though their eyes were the same sapphire blue each had different colors. One of the three males was a reddish-brown, another was almost pure black except the white spot on his chest and the last one the biggest one grey mixed with some white. The three female wolves were just a varied as their male counter-parts. The one standing next to the black and white wolf had patches of white and black all over her body, another one had pure grey fur that glistened like silver, and the last one was whiter than even snow. This time I looked into the eyes of this new wolf, unlike the others her eyes look wild, untamed and something else I couldn¡¯t place it.


    ¡°Hurry Amaru you time runs short, he is coming you must get out of the city.¡± the voice came from the black and white wolf


    I woke with a start to the sound of giggles. I opened my eyes to see that som time during the night I had managed to wrap my arms around Yulia. With both stretched and were slightly embarrassed but not too bad. I rolled up the bed rolls while Yulia helped the children set the table and cook the morning breakfast. Breakfast wasn¡¯t full of the laughter as the night before. In the mornings we had to prepare for the day ahead those who Lucas had approved of to go out and pickpocket or go to noble house and play the part as pages to steal some of their dirty linen. The rest would have a day off from learning what they needed to but they were still responsible for cleaning and making the lunch.


    I busied myself sharpening my blades for a while, and then I went and found some old but sturdy leather armor and tried it on. It fit well enough that it wouldn¡¯t chafe to bad, though it needed some repairing it wouldn¡¯t take me long to complete. The smells of leather oils and smell of the laundry being done reminded me of the old days. Lucas and John just didn¡¯t teach us how to fight and steal, they also taught us how to read, write and do are numbers. They also taught us how to barter, sow, sharpen are blades, and repair leather armor. Hey don¡¯t give me that look again yes I said sow, you can¡¯t get a good price for damages or marked goods. Once I had the armor properly fixed I moved on to the small task of filling up the four quivers I had laid out for both me and Yulia, I figured having her carrying and even learning how to use a bow and arrow would be helpful.


    Once I finished filling up the quivers I went over to the weapons locker and looked at the swords and dagger wondering if I should bring one for Yulia. Then Jenny came in with Yulia to have her fitted into some leather armor herself. Yulia was already in pants and from her expression on her face didn¡¯t like it all that much. It couldn¡¯t be helped I thought to myself she would just have to deal with if she was committed to coming with me. Luckily for me when found the armor that she fit into didn¡¯t need to be repaired in anyway. So I laid the armor next to her stack of items she would be carrying. I didn¡¯t get long to think further on whether or not I should bring a sword or dagger for Yulia when John and Jason came in with are supplies.


    They bought us extra cloaks, flint, a small amount of spices, a small green tent for shelter, a pot, bowls, spoons, healing item and kaffee. We worked together to evenly split all of that between me and Yulia. But this didn¡¯t stop me from thinking about if I should bring something other than a bow for Yulia to learn how to use so I asked John. ¡°John, do you think I need to bring an extra sword or dagger to teach her how to use? I¡¯m already bringing an extra bow to teach her how to use that but I¡¯m concerned that might not be enough.¡±


    ¡°Yes you might want to, but I would focus mainly on training her with the bow first if she learns quickly enough with that then start slowly training her with a sword or dagger.¡± I nodded understanding that was the best advice he could give me.


    It was noon before Lucas came back with both the good and bad news. ¡°Well Amaru, Yulia I¡¯ve manage to secure your escape from the city it wasn¡¯t easy but I did it. Kira didn¡¯t like it when I forced the poison down her throat. Then I used my only favor with her to get you guys out cheaper she was even less happy with that.¡± Well at least that part was taken care of. ¡°But,¡± there always has to be a but, ¡°here¡¯s the bad news while I was out I heard that Emperor Darlesh was on his way and security is starting to get tighter out there. I had to no choice but to demand we get you out of here today.¡± I groaned this day couldn¡¯t get any worse.


    You know I should really stop saying things like this because for whatever with their twisted reasons the gods just have to prove you wrong. To be safe Jason and Yulia left for the smuggling warehouse first I didn¡¯t like it but I agreed after a lot of arguing that it was the safest way. Before we left Jenny handed me a mask and told me to put it on. The mask was plain enough it had a hole where my eyes were and covered half of my face. It was finally time for us to leave the hideout. Lucas and John walked ahead of me and Jenny, she held my hand. The walk was slow and without saying much it seem to take twice as long. The city guard and soldiers were all over the place so I had to keep my hood up and my head down. This was one of the most nerve wrecking days of my life. More than I would have liked guards and soldiers had gotten a little too close to seeing who I really was. I was thankful for the half mask and the story that Lucas had told the guards and soldiers if they started to question me about my mask.


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    The story was simple four days ago I had gotten drunk at home and fell into the fire. My ¡°wife¡± they pointed out was Jenny couldn¡¯t bring me to a healer because we didn¡¯t have the coin for one. So she tried the best that she could with some of the old wives tales of using different herbs to treat serious burns. Luckily this convinced most guards and some of the soldiers not to question us further and let us move on our way.


    By time we got to the warehouse I was so nervous that I was almost any time a guard or soldier even looked like he was heading our way. I saw Yulia and Jason standing next to Kira waiting for us. Yulia looked even more scared than I did. Kira was a tall woman almost a full head taller than I was. Her black hair only came to her shoulders, she had hazel eyes, she wore similar clothing like both Yulia and Jenny, and on her waist was a spiked mace. She somehow managed to look like she wasn¡¯t happy to see us and relieved that we were here also. Once I was fully under the protection of the busy warehouse my nerves calmed a little. I walked over to Yulia and gave a hug. Most of her fear had ebbed from her face but there was still enough.


    ¡°Ok let¡¯s get this damned mess over with because unlike you boy I¡¯m on a very short deadline.¡± Her voice had become ruff from years of shouting orders at her men and women that worked for her. ¡°It seems I will have to personally see you to safety outside these walls,¡± she shot a dirty look at Lucas, ¡°so you¡¯re to follow every order I give you while you are under my care. I¡¯ve already had your horses sent on ahead by time we catch up with them they will be out of the tunnel.¡±


    She yelled an order to open the hatch and we started to make our way there and that¡¯s when everything went wrong. ¡°Halt in the name of the Emperor!¡± All of a sudden the warehouse door was block by dozens of imperial soldiers.


    Lucas shot an accusing look to Kira. ¡°I swear I didn¡¯t say anything, you made sure of that remember.¡± That didn¡¯t fully convince Lucas, but he knew the woman she only looked out for her own neck so I knew he had to believe. Then she yelled, ¡°Guards kill these imperial dogs!¡± Her men that she had guarding this place where well-armed but we knew that she was sending them to their deaths.


    ¡°Lucas run with the others, give me the antidote and I¡¯ll give it to Kira once we make it out the other side.¡± He hesitated but only for a second he handed me the antidote and ran with Jason and the others.


    I quickly followed Yulia and Kira into the tunnel. When Kira closed the tunnel behind use she locked up behind her. ¡°That should slow them down.¡± Kira grabbed a torch and gestured for us to run.


    We ran as fast we could but Yulia wasn¡¯t as conditioned as me and Kira so we had to slow down for her. The sounds of yelling soon filled the tunnel and each time it was only getting closer. I turned to see a few torches slowly making their way closer to us. I was glad I had prepared for the worst case scenario and keep my bow with me. As we ran I unsling my bow and knock an arrow. ¡°Keep running.¡± I said as I skidded to a halt. I took careful aim near one of the torches. I let my arrow fly and in rapid succession let two more then I turned and ran to catch up to Kira and Yulia. As I caught up I took a quick look behind me notice that our pursers had fallen back. I couldn¡¯t tell you how far we ran but I had to stop several more times to fire arrows at are pursers so that they would fall back.


    Finally we could see the light at the end of the tunnel and Kira motion for me to move in front of her. As we ran up the stairs I noticed we passed two ropes. Once we finally got out of the tunnel I saw that Kira had grabbed both of the ropes. Connected to the ends of them was the wood that had been keeping the tunnel up.  Seconds later a plum of dust bellowed out of the tunnels exit.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± I asked through my heavy breathing.


    She waited to catch her breath before talking. ¡°I set off the trap that I made just for a condition just like this one. Those soldiers are now buried under ten feet of dirt.¡± Though I was appalled at what she had done I knew that if she hadn¡¯t we may have been either dead or in chains right now.


    For the first time I noticed my surroundings. We were surrounded by trees I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes I never seen trees so tall. Some of the trees had little green needles on them I think they were called pine trees others had big and small leaves on them. Then I noticed the silence, there wasn¡¯t any sounds of the city. No dogs barking, people talking over each other, children playing, my list could go on and on there were so many things. Then finally it hit me the smell it didn¡¯t have the smell of decaying trash, unwashed bodies and many untold amount of smells the city had. I was overwhelmed with all this it was too much to try to take in at once. Then the cough brought me back to my situation at hand.


    ¡°If I could have the antidote I would like to be on my way.¡± Kira held out her hand for the vial. I grabbed from my pocket and handed it to her. Without a word of thanks she popped the cork and drank its contents. She gestured to the man that was holding the reins of our horses and walked off into the forest. One horse had a pure dark brown coat, the other had patches of white and reddish brown all over its body. They looked sturdy enough I just hoped that they would be up to the long trek ahead. He handed us the reins and wished us good luck and followed her.


    ¡°Do you need help getting up?¡± To answer my question she lifted herself up on the horse. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a no then.¡± I got onto my horse and gave it a small kick.


    Yulia follow me in silence as we made our way steadily through the forest it was slow going. For the first time I truly realized how hard this was going to be not only for myself but for Yulia. I turned and looked at Yulia she was as somber as I was and lost in her own thoughts. I wished I had tried harder to convince Yulia to stay behind but she had been so determined. In truth I was glad she came I don¡¯t know if I could have done this on my own. I sighed, why I couldn¡¯t just make up my mind.


    Still I knew we weren¡¯t prepared for this in the way we needed to be. I wished bitterly for more time to somehow learn something that would have helped us survive out here better. Out of the side of my vision I saw something move passed us. I looked to over where I saw the movement nothing was there. Maybe it was just a trick of the light I thought to myself. Then for whatever reason unknown to me the horse decided stop. I should have been paying attention to it nervously the way it swayed its head back and forth or even the way it neighed. I gave it a kick to make it move forward just as the five wolves from my dreams came into view. That was the last thing I saw just as the horse buck and launched me to the ground. As my world exploded in pain I heard Yulia scream my name just as I blacked out.

 Chapter 5: Surprise your nightmare wolves exist

    Chapter 5: Surprise your nightmare wolves exist oh and complete strangers know I¡¯m a bastard prince.


    I woke up in with a groan and my head throbbing, if this is what a hangover was supposed to feel like I didn¡¯t like it. But when I opened my eye I saw the green of the tent. Then the day¡¯s events quickly came back to me I wasn¡¯t in bed back in my apartment but somewhere in a forest being hunted by my father¡¯s soldiers. I was thrown from my horse when the five wolves from my nightmares magically appeared in front of us. Yulia! What had happened to Yulia? Just as I started to get up a very small man in his late thirties early forties came in. He was wearing a forest green shirt and brown pants. Over his shirt was thick and spike leather armor. His hair was dark red, his beard covered half of his body and across his back was an axe twice his size. I reached for my sword but couldn¡¯t find it.


    His laugh was deep and throaty. He turned his head ¡°The lad is up ?lahea and it seems he doesn¡¯t like the look of me.¡± He said with another laugh. He turned back to me. ¡°Your safe enough with us lad. Lay back down so ?lahea can have a look at you. Oh and if you¡¯re worried bout your woman she¡¯s fine, and a damned good cook to.¡± He left me where I was and immediately and came in the woman that must have been ?lahea.


    Her age was hard for me to distinguish, she looked old enough to be my mother but something about her eyes told me she was much older. ?lahea was also wearing a shirt and pants but hers were an emerald color and fit her tightly. Her hair came down to the small of her back and raven black that seemed to glow. Her eyes were oval shaped and matched the color of her clothing. She was holding a small bag full of something. As she took a step forward I moved back. She gave me a gentle smile. ¡°We are not here to harm you Amaru where here to help.¡± Did Yulia tell her my name? ¡°Now if you will please let me have a look at your head.¡± She waited for me to give her my consent.


    ¡°No.¡± I said firmly. ¡°I don¡¯t know you and I don¡¯t trust you.¡±


    She gave me an exasperated sigh. ¡°Well I guess I¡¯ll just have to convince you then.¡± She left the tent. I didn¡¯t take her long to come back and this time with Yulia in tow. ¡°Now my dear will you please reassure your mate that he will be fine under my care.¡± Wait your what?


    Yulia blushed a little to her words. ¡°Amaru they are good people. Wh¡­¡± She shuttered a little bit. ¡°When the wolves showed up they weren¡¯t far behind. In fact the wolves were supposed to let them come to us first. So let her look at your head, ok?¡± I wasn¡¯t totally convinced but I could tell from seeing Yulia that she wasn¡¯t harmed.


    As Yulia left ?lahea thanked her for the help. I let her inspect my head, she unwrapped the bandaged that she must have put on. On it I saw dried blood, so I must have cut my head open when I fell down. Out of the bag she pulled out a vial and a fresh role of bandages. She opened the vial and poured out thick blackish goo onto her hand. ¡°This will help your wound heal and keep out infection.¡± She explained to me. I winced when she applied the medicine.


    Even though it hurt like hell while she was applying the medicine I didn¡¯t show any weakness in front of this woman. I heard laugh and then her say something in a strange language, I ignored it for now. Even though I still didn¡¯t completely trust her I was grateful for what she was doing. While she wrapped my head with fresh bandaging I asked her through gritted teeth. ¡°If we are not your prisoners then where are my weapons?¡±


    She didn¡¯t stop wrapping up my head while she answered. ¡°Right now your weapons are with your horse you can have them back once I¡¯m done with you here.¡± It surprised me that they would allow me my weapons. So at least now I knew they were telling something of the truth that they were my allies however temporarily and not their prisoners. She tied off the bandage and helped me up. ¡°Those wolves are real then and not just something from my nightmares.¡±


    ¡°Yes they are real and as far as nightmares I need to you to tell me about those ¡°nightmares¡±.¡± I told her about my nightmares as we stepped out the tent. We were still under the canopy of the forest so it was hard for me to tell what time of day it was. ¡°Well I¡¯ll just have to have a talk with them using such a way to get into your head just barbaric. Though I¡¯m surprised about the sixth one I thought she had given up following us by now. No matter if she truly wants you then she¡¯ll show up soon enough.¡± She got up and headed to the entrance of the tent.


    I got up and followed her but the last words she said had me confused. ¡°What do you mean if she truly wants me?¡± This woman seemed to love to speak in riddles, it annoyed me. She chose to ignore my question, which put me even in a more of a foul mood.


    There sat Yulia, that small man and one other man. The other man was dressed similarly to the small man, but his clothes look faded. He had short cropped dark brown hair had a small amount of grey in it. If I had to guess he was in his late forties but I wasn¡¯t sure. On his waist was a sword and a long curved dagger, next to him was a long bow already strung. He was deeply tanned and looked weather worn. I sat next to Yulia who handed me a plate of eggs and the meat she had been cooking. Like always my stomach seemed to remind me that it needed food as Yulia giggled at the sound. Her giggle helped put me out of my foul mood if only slightly.


    As I ate ?lahea did the introductions ¡°You¡¯ve already meet Gron. He is nothing more than a barbarian so you don¡¯t have to listen to him too much. Of course if find his fancy to his barbaric ways interesting then by all means be a barbarian.¡± She said stiffly. Gron just grunted with a grin.


    ¡°He¡¯s a dwarf Amaru can you believe a real dwarf.¡± Gron laughed loudly at expression of disbelief. ?lahea cleared her throat to get my attention back and to quiet the dwarf.


    ¡°And this man is Breaur and he¡¯s both a ranger and wizard. And I am as you already know ?lahea. I am a wizard as well and a healer. Later when they get back from hunting I¡¯ll introduce you to our guardians. And the idiotic dogs who decided to rush ahead of us and cause this unnecessary delay.¡± Wait I thought they were giant wolves not dogs. She must have seen the confusion on my face. ¡°I¡¯m merely giving insult to them Amaru nothing more. Now I¡¯m sure like all humans you must have hundreds of questions, I¡¯m afraid I can only allow a few while Gron and Breaur clean up camp.¡±


    ¡°Since I learned about this last night ?lahea I¡¯ll help them out.¡± She nodded in agreement as Yulia got up. She kissed me on the forehead and proceeded to help them out.


    ¡°Again what did you mean if she truly wants you?¡± I still wanted that answer.


    ¡°I¡¯ll answer that question when we make camp tonight.¡± I fumed at her response, but at least I had the promise of an answer.


    ¡°Then what did you mean by ¡®like all humans¡¯?¡± She moved to her hair and showed me two pointed ears. I heard the old tales of pointed eared people called elves but like dwarves I never believed it to be true. I decided I would ask more about that later. ¡°Are you the one in charge then?¡± She simple nodded yes. ¡°How come you are here just when we happened to be leaving Heaspicus?¡±


    ¡°I believe you should use the term escaping, but that is a very good and difficult question none the less.¡± She gathered her thoughts as she chose her words carefully. ¡°We are on a mission to find and rescue the child of the current Emperor. We had received word from two of our spies within the city many years ago that the Prince at the time sired a bastard son. We had only recently been allowed to undertake this mission to come get him. And that¡¯s was how we happened to find you when we did.¡±


    I tried to keep my face neutral surprised me with this information. How did they get word that I was born? ¡°Who were these spies and how do you know this son is even still alive?¡±


    She merely smiled. ¡°Oh I think you know the answer to both of those questions Prince Amaru.¡± I flinched as she stressed the word prince with my name.


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    ¡°I¡¯m no prince.¡± I said grimly. ¡°Nor have I ever wanted to be.¡± Apparently Lucas and John will have a lot of explaining to do if I ever see them alive again. And I can add spy to their list of skills. ¡°And what is so important about me? I know I may be the Emperor¡¯s son but I¡¯m just a petty thief.¡±


    ¡°From what Yulia told us last night you¡¯re not merely a petty thief.¡± She said with that same damn annoying smile. I think I¡¯m beginning to like the ¡®barbaric¡¯ dwarf already. ¡°And why are you so important that will need to be explained when we have more time to discuss such matters. For now you must accept that you are more important than you think you are.¡± She got up and straightened out her shirt. ¡°Finish your breakfast we¡¯ll be leaving soon.¡± Then she walked away leaving me to my breakfasts and thoughts.


    At least one thing was clear I didn¡¯t have to worry as much about how Yulia and I were going to survive to see the border. But now I had a whole new set of things to worry about. What did they expect out of me? What did they really want from me? While I was concentrating on my thoughts I felt like someone was watching me. I looked around and everyone was breaking down the camp and not looking my way. So I looked around I knew someone was watching but from where. I hated the woods if I was on the streets of Heaspicus is would have seen the person by now.


    Come to me. The voice was female, sounded cold as ice and it spoke directly into my head. Over here. I turned my head to where I felt the voice coming from. This way. The voice seemed to have changed directions where it came from. Come to me Amaru. Now it was just annoying me.


    I stood and yelled to the voice in my head. ¡°Whoever the hell you are come out and stop speaking into my head!¡± Great now I¡¯m hearing a voice and even yelling at her. I looked for the voice and all I saw was Yulia looking at me weirdly. The rest however seemed unfazed by my sudden outburst.


    ¡°Well, well seems someone must be having fun with our princeling.¡± Breaur made sound like a big joke that everyone else in the world was in on but me. ¡°We¡¯ll I know it can¡¯t be my Firestream she is still at the border waiting for my return. Gron?¡±


    ¡°Nope it wasn¡¯t ol¡¯ Greshlen though he does wish he thought of it.¡± Gron just grinned but I could tell he wanted to laugh. He looked at ?lahea.


    ¡°You know very well it wasn¡¯t Forjin he would never think of doing such a thing.¡± ?lahea sounded very confident about that. ¡°Must have been one of the dogs, or even the stray.¡± I heard growls as soon as she said that, she ignored them. ¡°Right will just figure this whole mess out later as to who was speaking into Amaru¡¯s head. My gold is on the stray though.¡±


    Breaur and Gron obeyed her immediately with a laugh but Yulia and me needed a little more coaxing. It didn¡¯t take us long to breakdown the camp. ?lahea instructed both me and Yulia on how to take down our tent and fold it properly. She helped show us the many other chores that came with breaking down the camp so that way we left no evidence behind that we had been here.


    We grabbed our saddles and went to saddle our horses. But to my surprise there were only four of them. Thankfully ?lahea didn¡¯t have to show us how to saddle our own horses. Yulia got on her white and reddish brown and I got on my brown. ?lahea who didn¡¯t seem to happy, got on the creamed white color horse with such grace that I it made feel I clumsily climbed up mine. While Breaur got on the black horse with the same grace. Now normally I couldn¡¯t tell you from horse bred to the next but the difference between theirs and ours. The best way I can compare them is, is that out horse looks as if they came from a common stock, while theirs looked like horses fit only for an Emperor.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Gron¡¯s horse?¡± I asked when I noticed that the dwarf was still standing there as if he were waiting on something.


    ¡°I don¡¯t ride those mangy beasts boy I ride a real beast an Earth Ram.¡± He replied. Just when I was about to ask him what an Earth Ram was it came trotting into view. The ram was half the size of the horses, its coat was twice a thick, and its fur was white marble. I saw no reins and I know I didn¡¯t hear a whistle or some kind of noise to signal for it to come. ¡°This boy is Greshlen and he is my Guardian.¡± Gron began to put on the rams saddle.


    Hello young Prince as Gron said my name is Greshlen. He spoke! I couldn¡¯t believe my ears? Wait ears or head by the gods I¡¯m confused. I heard his soothing laughter in my head as well. Be glad you said that to me young Prince most Guardians forget that you children of the Empire are no longer used to our kind.  By time the short exchange was done Gron had Greshlen saddled and was on the rams back with the reins in hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a prince.¡± I growled. Once we started moving ?lahea took the lead and surprisingly so did Gron while Breaur took up the rear, this left me and Yulia in the middle. At first I rode in silence while I put on my knife belt and swords. I was still curious on how Yulia was able to handle the situation while I was unconscious. ¡°Yulia how did you handle all of this when I was knocked unconscious?¡±


    ¡°Not very well honestly.¡± She said sheepishly, she then went into the story. After she screamed my name her horse had bucked her also but she didn¡¯t land as hard. To make things worse both of them ran off with two wolves chasing after them. It impressed me that she kept her head enough to grab one of my swords and hold it out in front of her and I told her so. Then without warning the rest of the wolves left just as ?lahea and Gron came from where the wolves had. Then with his odd sense of humor frightened Yulia with his laughter when she saw her holding the sword. It took ?lahea a while to calm her down and convince her to hand the sword over to Gron so she could tend to my head injury. Good I thought at this point she didn¡¯t trust them immediately either. While ?lahea tended to my injury Gron made want he called a gurney out of tree branches and twigs to carry me back to the camp that Breaur was setting up.


    Through this she was still completely terrified but ?lahea helped calm some of her fears with what little that I been told. By time they had gotten to the camp ?lahea and even Gron had earned some of her trust. They put me close to the fire while they set up our tent. ¡°I saw the pot over the fire and couldn¡¯t help myself I had to try what was in it. And it was horrible.¡± We both laugh at that, through all the fear and nervousness she still somehow found a way to end up cooking all of them something to eat.


    She surprisingly even ordered Gron around by having him get the spices from our packs when the wolves finally brought the horses back. ¡°I was only thinking about my stomach.¡± Interjected Gron. ?lahea told him to be quiet so she could finish the story. Once they got the tent up the put down a bed roll for and put me in the tent while they ate. Proudly she told me that they all agreed that her meal was the best one on the whole trip so she would do the cooking from now on. After night fell they all went to their tents and she with a blush told she sleep next to me the whole night. ?lahea said that since she didn¡¯t know we were and unwedded couple at the time that would be the last time that happened under her watch.


    ¡°I¡¯m really impressed Yulia you did far better under the circumstances than I thought you would.¡± She gave me a small smile. ¡°But I also have to remember that your far braver than I really give you credit for.¡± That made her blush again, though I knew that my comment made her happy.


    ¡°I would like to know why you didn¡¯t tell me you were a prince back home though.¡± Even with her cheeks rosy from the blush her eye¡¯s had a hint of ire in them. Needless to say my explanation did not go well for me.