23 – Confrontation

I stood, with Lars and two guards at my side, at the entrance hall’s far end.

A runner had been sent through a side entrance towards the town, hopefully without being seen. This was earlier than I’d hoped or expected, so my plan with Tristan was a little out of balance. Even though the town wasn’t far, the messenger having to avoid notice by the riders meant he’d be delayed quite a bit.

Ten more men were arrayed behind the doors leading out of the hall, armed to the teeth. The only exception was the door directly behind me, since I wanted it free of witnesses in case I had to flee with my full abilities.

And to give us a way out if things didn’t turn hostile after all. A way without a group of threats stationed in it, of course. Wouldn’t look good.

A rat hiding in the hedge next to the road was relaying its vision to me with only a split-second delay.

Just as I already knew, there were three people in their group. This lined up with the information I’d received from Tristan on typical demon hunter tactics. Hooded cloaks covered most of their bodies, further inhibiting the rat’s mediocre vision.

The horses were absolutely beat. They were shaking and panting, moving at what could barely be called a walk. Did the group push them non-stop? No wonder there had been enough time after the advance warning. It had been more like ten minutes than the five I’d expected.

The two gate guards let the riders pass after a short, tense conversation. Entering the grounds, they slowed even further. Their heads were on swivels, checking for threats.

By now I could hear their hearts. Or well, two of them at least. The third was strangely muffled, a dull thump in a general location instead of the almost x-ray like precision I could ‘see’ the others with.

Some form of magical device cloaking it? A knight technique? I really hoped it wasn’t a spell.

Surprisingly, the two hearts I could sense sounded weaker than Lars’, though still stronger than a normal person’s. I didn’t know if that was the result of them being actually weaker, or some quirk of their training. Listening to the blond man’s heart with its deep bass next to me was oddly soothing in the moment.

A pair of servants approached the wary riders. As the distance to my rat sensor decreased, I could catch a few words. The servants, as was their job, offered to care for the visitors’ horses.

After a back and forth somehow more tense than with the gate guards, the possible demon hunters dismounted. Not until they’d studied the servants closely for almost a full minute though.

The two poor men were sweating enough it almost appeared they were the ones to have carried a group of riders for what might have been two days straight, instead of the horses.

With the riders’ cloaks shifting while they dismounted, I got short glimpses at what I assumed were various weapons and trinkets. The group was also definitely armored.

After remaining still while the horses were led to the stable attached to the servant building, the guests set off in the direction of the manor. However, after only a few steps they stopped again.

One of the two I’d matched to have a visible heartbeat pointed towards the guard barracks. I caught a flash of a frown on the shielded heart person as they turned. After a quiet conversation, the group continued.

Two tense minutes of slow walking later, they finally reached the doors.

Can you not walk a bit faster, you assholes?! Some of us are having a hard time staying calm here. Let’s get this behind us, one way or another.

Annoyingly, they stopped again.

Somehow, even though the rat was basically directly next to the humans, it couldn’t hear their conversation. Probably magic of some sort.

Then, my breath caught when one of the three – the one with the shielded heart – locked eyes with the rat.

I quickly conveyed to her to stay perfectly still, but to scamper if any of the people moved towards her. Not that she needed a lot of convincing on that point. That was basically what she wanted to do anyway.

I held back a sigh of relief when the person I assumed to be a man based on the closer look turned back towards the door.

Then, half a second before I saw them move, the doors creaked open. Ugh, I thought the delay wasn’t so bad, but that was uncomfortable.

Squinting into the lightening outside world, I got my own first look at the group of three.

To be honest, I saw less than the rat had. It wasn’t exactly bright outside yet, but with the light at their backs I could barely see them beyond blurry silhouettes. Screw you, photo-sensitivity.

Recovering my wits, I took a step forward. Still behind the line created by Lars and the two guards. I wanted to assert some level of authority, but I wasn’t stupid.

“Greetings. I am Lord Kalin Steelheart, ruler of this quaint little town. It is polite to introduce oneself when entering another person’s house as a guest. And to show your face. Unless there is a masked ball going on of course, but that is not the case currently.”

A short exchange later – I still couldn’t hear a damn thing, even with my own excellent hearing, it was frustrating me – the group pulled back their hoods.

It looked like two men and one woman. The man with the shielded heart appeared to be their leader, since he stepped forward in turn.

“Greetings. Our names are none of your business. We know who you are regardless. Tell your men to disarm and leave. All of them.” He cast pointed glances at the two side doors.

“I will not. You will not order me around in my own manor, unless you are the king or my father.” There was a certain image I had to maintain of Kalin, after all. Also, I didn’t want to die, so tossing away my main protection would be incredibly stupid, flimsy as it was.

“Ha…” The leader sighed, of the sort someone might give if confronted with a very difficult customer. Or maybe a particularly petulant child?

“We are demon hunters of the order of the Dawn Swords. You will comply with our investigation, or we will consider it aiding demons and deal with you accordingly.” A badge flashed in the man’s hand, searing its shape deep into my retinas.

A stylized sunset, similar in shape to my pendant, though flat side down instead. A golden sword stabbed up through the center, its tip serving as the attachment point for the chain the badge hung on. It shone with internal light, a little like staring straight into the sun for my sensitive eyes.

Ow! Shit! I covered my burning eyes. Luckily just pain and not ‘turning to ashes’, but already suspicious enough.

I could hear hands griping weapons, closely followed by my side doing the same. Wait no, my protectors reached for their weapons first. Damn it. Really can’t afford to escalate the situation.

Reluctantly peeling them away from my stinging face, I held up both hands. “Stop! No need to escalate this! We weren’t sure about your allegiances. I will comply with your investigation, but my bodyguards will keep their weapons.”

“You say that, but there might not be a need for much investigating. If you have an excuse for reacting with obvious pain to the presence of the order’s holy badge, I will hear it now.”

Returning to rubbing my still aggressively painful eyes, I answered. “If you must know, I was born with a certain condition. I am incredibly sensitive to light, sunlight in particular. Just a short moment outside during the day will burn my skin and as you experienced, my eyes are very delicate. Why do you think I keep the rooms here so dim? Your badge was just way too bright for comfort.”

“A likely excuse.” The man’s voice was tense. I could hear his companions’ blood flow accelerate as they readied themselves to strike. The leader himself was obscured. I couldn’t even smell him properly. Though the other two smelled pretty appetizing.

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Not the time! I forced myself to open my eyes.

A badge-shaped spot swam in my vision, but I could at least partially see again.

Just as I feared the situation would cross the point of no return, Lars took a step forward.

“I am Lars, knight of House Steelheart. I confirm my lord’s statement. Due to his condition, Lord Kalin was effectively exiled by the family, sent to this backwater place. Otherwise there would be no reason for the son of a duke to be in a place like this.”