4 – Stories and Snakes

When I slowly walked into the manor’s ground floor study, both the steward and guard captain were already waiting for me. They both got up from their seats to greet me.

I was leaning on a cane, with Mia supporting my weight from the side. I had to act as though I was still weak after all.

When I’d asked the girl to get me a walking stick or cane, the momentary look of fear that flashed over her face really made me glad Kalin was dead. Anyway, back to the present.

Steward William was an old man, though his body was in good shape. He still had all his hair too, gray and cut short and neat. An equally neat beard framed his face. He wore something surprisingly similar to a fancy butler suit.

William was pretty obviously sent by Kalin’s father to keep an eye on him.

On the other side of the table stood Sir Lars, the captain of my manor’s guards. Lars was the only knight present in a backwater place like this. He was a tall, broad-shouldered muscular man. His blond hair was cut short and numerous scars adorned his face and arms. His tanned skin revealed long hours spent working in the outdoors training yard, unlike the pale William. Not to mention my own skin, obviously.

Lars’ allegiance wasn’t clear to me from Kalin’s memories. My predecessor suspected him to be another plant by his father, however.

Though Lars wasn’t wearing his armor, there was still a sword hanging by his side. His stance was guarded.

Both men bowed slightly to me.

“Young master Kalin, it is heartening to see you able to walk so soon,” the steward greeted me with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Lars grunted his agreement.

“About the incident, what–”

“I want that tower burned to the ground,” I interrupted the old man as I sat down in the fancy chair behind the desk.

“Please calm down–”

“Burned. To. The. Ground,” I repeated, glaring at William, who’d taken a seat again after I did. Lars kept standing.

“I must ask what happened, young master. Please answer. You must realize the situation does not look good. The family might even use this as an excuse to harm you.”

The old man held my gaze. After a minute of tense silence, I let out an annoyed sigh.

“Isn’t it obvious? That bastard Lonar attacked and tried to kill me. I thought he was my friend, but it was all a trick.”

“You’re saying mage Lonar was responsible? Please elaborate, young master. According to the report I received, he died, along with five others. Prisoners that I hear were removed from their cells on your order.”

“You’re overreaching, steward!”

“I’m doing my duty to you and the family.”

Another short staring match later, I sighed again, massaging the bridge of my nose.

“Fine! I’ll explain what happened. You better listen closely, I’m not repeating myself for you.”

William answered my glare with a curt nod.

“It was that traitor Lonar. He claimed he’d found a method, a secret ritual that could cure my ‘condition’. I didn’t quite believe him at first. You of all people should know I’ve tried countless methods before.”

Indeed, Kalin had tried everything from obscure folk remedies to divine healing by various priests. Obviously, none worked.

The steward nodded at me to continue.

“I decided to try it, since Lonar had been reliable for years. I even thought of him as a friend… what a fool I was. He was nothing but a traitorous snake!” I punctuated my exclamation by slamming my fist onto the table, but then winced in pain and cradled my bandaged arm.

“Anyway, he set up the ritual, even tricking me into getting those criminal scum for him. Then, when we were all in my tower study, that crazy bastard started cutting them open. He had that golden knife, it was surrounded by a black smoke. Then he bound and cut me too! Obviously not as badly as those other guys, but still.”

Both men were frowning, though I couldn’t tell whether in disbelief or sympathy. Mia was pretending she wasn’t there.

“Lastly, that madman cut himself too! But that wasn’t that worst part, no. He didn’t really react to his throat being slit. That smoke around the knife formed into a face and started talking to me.”

The frowns intensified a lot. Mia was rapidly paling in the background.

“It was some kind of demon or something. It offered me a deal. My soul in return for immortality and perfect health or some crazy shit like that!”

I could tell both men wanted to ask me a lot of questions, but only William spoke, his face and tone grave.

“Did you accept the offer? Answer honestly, young master.”

Lars adjusted his stance a little, trying to hide getting ready to attack at a moment’s notice. Interestingly, I couldn’t tell whether he was aiming at me or William. Hmm…

“Of course I refused! I’m not giving away my noble soul to some dirty demon!”

“Do you have any proof of that?” William obviously didn’t believe me. He was starting to get on my nerves, though that was probably caused by Kalin’s memories. He never liked his steward. Not that he really liked anyone. The only person he was actually friendly with was a demon’s puppet that led to his death.

Lars’ target was becoming more obvious. For some reason, he was readying to strike at the old steward, instead of me. Said man didn’t notice, since he was focused on me and Lars was to his side and slightly behind him. I tried to send Lars subtle signals to stop, though I wasn’t sure he noticed or cared.

“It should be completely obvious. Do I look like I was cured? Obviously not,” I said with a bitter face. “I was tempted, I’ll admit, but I realized this might be a scheme by someone in the family to eliminate me!”

“Ah.” Steward William leaned back a little, taking in my appearance. “You indeed don’t look cured. Please forgive my suspicion, young master.”

I could tell that wasn’t the end yet. No matter what he said to me, what was really important was what he reported to the family, after all. By now I was wondering if he was really my father’s man. Did the duke want to get rid of Kalin now, or was someone else involved?

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author’s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“The demon didn’t take the rejection well, so he shouted something about claiming my soul in another way and then he ordered Lonar to kill me. It appears that bastard was some kind of puppet. He–” I switched to a nervous whisper here, “I think he was already dead!”

As if I was worried about being watched, I looked around.

“Something must have gone wrong though, since that guy didn’t succeed in killing me after all. After I barely dodged a few stabs, he just kind of collapsed. Then that demon started cursing and yelling stuff like ‘This isn’t over’ and ‘I’ll claim your soul yet’ or something before disappearing. Shortly after that was when the maid found me.”

There was a moment of silence. I took a deep breath, then continued.

“As I said, I want that tower burned to the ground. With all the bodies still in it. Also, don’t let anyone touch anything in that room, I’m not taking any chances with that demon!”

William frowned again, then turned to Lars, who acted inconspicuously.

“Did any of the guards disturb the room when they checked it? If what young master Kalin said is true, then we need to call a priest. No, not just any priest, a specialized demon hunter!”

Lars frowned as well, though more at the second part. It was obvious that William didn’t believe me and that he wasn’t planning to call these demon hunters out of concern for my safety.

“I wrote the report. Didn’t touch anything when I checked,” Lars’ tone implied that was a given. “I’ve also had guards posted outside the tower ever since.”

“Good thinking, Lars,” I praised. “And I actually agree with that old man for once. Send a message to the nearest large temple to send demon hunters here immediately!”

Both men and Mia looked at me in surprise. Then William smiled and nodded. His eyes held some amount of ridicule as he looked at me.

“At once, young master. Is there anything else before I go? You still need to rest to recover after all.”

I rubbed my chin. It felt unfamiliar without the short beard I’d had in my previous life.

“Oh right. I decided to reward this maid, Madeline or something, for her service. She will be my personal attendant from now on. Handle it for me,” I instructed the steward.