Chapter 13 - Betrayal

Durleigh, the lawless city.

Its walls were of stone brick, a higher quality than Bayezaid in the north, or Loch in the west.

Two guards stood at the gate, with archers lining the walls, arrows laid on their bows, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

Giant magical devices were encrusted atop the walls, able to disperse illusions and attacks, that were below their grade, which tried to pass the walls.

A defensive marvel.

"State your name and business." 

Argo looked back down, at the old guard, with a blind eye, who stared under his helmet.

He could only imagine how bad he looks, wearing a pair of pants he took off a monk, tucked into rugged black boots, and wearing a dirty white dress shirt, with an orange pirate sash around his waist.

He reached into his waist, and flicked him a golden coin.

The other guard was about to speak, when he tossed him a coin as well, and walked right by.

"Have a safe stay in Durleigh, Sir." 

Argo dropped twelve more coins, on the inspection table, for the archers on the walls.

Constance stared at him, with wide eyes.

A defensive marvel made useless by it's inahbitants. 

Just like that, they were inside the city, without an ounce of checks, or needing to know what was what.

"Is it like that everywhere?" 

"You'd have your corpse drying off the ramparts if it was Loch. Emilia runs a very tight ship. Durleigh is an outlier." Argo looked around.

It was a small town, but he could feel eyes on himself at every turn.

Despite being half Loch's size, their populations density was easily supposed to be double or triple, yet he could seldom see a soul wandering.

Stores had boards on the inside, and their doors were closed, instead, auxiliary doors in alleyways were set up, to avoid the looks of random people.

The whole town was sketchy.

But, he could see the hope in the towns design.

Whoever had built it, had a great vision, of a city with a big street, plenty of space for people, hawkers, stores, and children.

He turned down an alleyway, and over half the stares he was feeling, left.

"...Even the spirits didn't feel so dirty." Constance muttered under her breath, and Argo gave her a quiet look.

Talking about what happened in that forest, was forbidden,

If any information got out, it could cause rumors and an exotic creatures hunt, that would end in nothing but tragedy, for the people sent there.

She looked back forward, a bit apologetically.

But it was true.

The spirits had looked at her, to size her up, body, mind and soul.

But these people, these looks, were like she was cattle, to be bought and sold.

"The guards aren't the only ones that need to eat, you know?" A man seemed to materialize from the dark.

Several more covered them from behind.

Constance's hand, which couldn't be seen due to the illusion, was already on her sword.

Argo smiled widely, "Of course! Come, brothers! I need an escort to the nearest carriage service. If you can do this for me, the whole bag of coins is yours, free of conflict." 

An injury in the alleyways, was a death sentence.

Everyone there knew it.

Healers were too expensive, and they would have to travel all the way to Loch, or Bayezaid, to maybe find one.

Their demeanor changed, and Mario grinned widely, opening his arms, Argo put his arm out, and they shook hands, "Naturally, welcome to Durleigh. Where are you going?" 

Argo and Mario took the lead, while Constance walked just behind, among the other men, she was keeping them in check, as much as they were keeping her in it.

"We're on our way down to Creedon, to meet with the Red Sparrow. With the waves creeping, we've been called. How are these here in Durleigh? I hear Rouge fell recently. The bastards in the north west felled them." Argo looked around, people in their homes looked out of their second story windows down at them.

Everywhere they walked, someone was looking.

Mario shook his head, "It's bad, brother. Really bad. They all died off, and no one has any peace anymore. Every rat and it's bastard child want to come here now. I wouldn't be surprised, if the church tried digging it's disgusting paws soon. Luckily for the people, the markets survived." 

The church comment, made Constance frown, but no one could see it.

Argo thought it was reasonable.

If the Church came in force, to 'save the people', then the underground markets would naturally be exposed by their inquisitors, and shut down, leaving the people of Durleigh with no way to make money, or feed their families.

Crime was both the poison, and the potion to life, in Durleigh.

Without it, everyone would lose everything.

With it, everyone would at least be alive to fear losing everything.

Constance was quick on the uptake, but she didn't like it still.

"The church wouldn't just come and then abandon everything." 

"So it speaks. A devout believer, by the looks of it. What about Crissus? Heinal? Archok? All villages the church brought salvation to, died out within the year, their people ransacked, and their villages burned to the ground. Yet, they too, were saved. If that's their salvation, we'd rather the Church keep it's grubbing paws out." 

"Those people are being hunted for the rest of their lives by the church."

"What good does that bring the dead?" Mario laughed bitterly, "They failed their duty, and now act righteous. We are doing our best. You failed before, and you still have yet to succeed now. Pardon my lack of faith. But, they're just faileures, as far as it comes to us common folk."

Argo nodded.

Mario wasn't wrong.

The Church had brought salvation to those places, and did swear to find the culprits responsible fo the raids and destruction, but the dead were still dead.

The victims would never benefit, because they were gone.

And after years, no one had been caught.

What infuriated the people, was not that the church failed, but that they said they would keep them safe, and then did not, and never apologized, or owned up to it.

They said salvation, and left to guarantee their own deaths.

At least, the looters, killers, and rapists, were straight forward, you know at a glance, and they made no bones about it.

But the church hid away from their failures, and acted holy at all times, even when they caused deaths that could have been avoided.

Though, to call the church bad, was a stretch.

For every failure, there was a success.

Four names, against who knows how many, had actually been saved.

But, that didn't matter.

Argo turned his sight back forward, the carriage was nearby.

"Stop, please! We don't have anything to give! We have had no customers in months, stop! Stop it!" An old man fell out from the store, his face carrying tears, his voice a broken shouting mess, "STOP! SHES ONLY EIGHT!" 

Some rushed past him, sword drawn.

Mario frowned tightly, but he wasn't about to get involved.

Who knew what was truly going on.

Constance arrived in front of the fallen carriage owner, and looked inside.

Her demeanor fell sharply.

It was not thugs.

They were guards, with the sigils of Durleigh.

A girl that couldn't have been more than ten, was there, grabbed by her hair, but not screaming at all.

Her eyes were long past gone, despite her still breathing.

She grit her teeth.

She raised her sword, when she heard a disgusting sound behind her, and she turned.

The carriage owner had his head crushed underfoot, by Argo.

Her eyes widened, "W-, why? Why did you…?" 

Argo looked past her, straight at the guards, his gaze was deathly cold.

The guards peered back at him, with equally uncaring eyes.

They left the girl there, without another word.

"You brought us to a drug mules den?" Argo looked down at the headless corpse under his foot, and then back at Mario.

He was staring at him, with more than a little fear in his eyes.

The icy realization, that these two, were not normal, had just risen in his head.

One had moved fast enough to cross over ten meters in less than a second, and the other had unhesitatingly crushed a mans head with their foot, with ease.

His gaze was cold, those behind him drew.

"Where is there a clean carriage merchant here? I upheld my end. That you didn't like it, is on you. Where are the coins?" Mario touched the crossbow on his hip, it was small, but still packed a punch that would go straight through armor, let alone flesh.

Argo reached into his clothes, and threw over a bag of coins.

Constance's demeanor grew even worse.

She had been ignored.

He had killed a man.

Let go of those guards.

And was now paying these thugs for bringing them here.

It was wrong.

Exceedingly wrong.

The thugs, the guards, the carriage dealer, they all should be apprehended and investigated, but they were all getting away with it, except for the dead dealer? 

It worked out for Argo, in the end, because he would get his carriage, and no one would know he had booked one, since the bookie was dead.

"Is there an orphanage around here?" Argo crouched down, and picked off the keys from the dealers body.

"Ain't nothin here." Mario picked up the bag, and turned.

He didn't want to be here any more than he had to.

Argo didn't stop him, either.

And so, it was just Constance, the girl, and Argo left.

The girl stared at her fathers corpse, lifelessly.

Constance went to cover her eyes, and pick her up, while Argo walked past, but Constance grabbed his arm, tight.

"Why did you kill him? Let them all go?" 

"He was a smuggler and a dealer. You could see it on his clothes. The Guards were likely trying to get the girl out of the way, for the arrest. With him dead, they left the girl. And the thugs did their jobs, so they get paid."

"We can't put down our own justice. He was unarmed, and should have been taken through due process," Constance chose to believe what he had to say about the man being a dealer, but still disagreed, "What about his daughter? She has no father now." 

"It's for the girl, he had to die," Argo looked at the girl in Constances arm, she was staring at him, with those fish eyes, "A single gold coin, and hes out, back here again. And she is stuck with him. What do you think, kind of life, he would have given her?" 

If they could enter the city unchecked for a few gold, how little would it take for a dealer who had been operating here, to get out of jail, and return back to his previous life.

And what would a man like that, do with his daughter, who already looked dead inside.

"The church will take care of her from now on." Constance still didn't like it.

It all felt so dirty, as if they had lowered themselves to this level, but more than that, she was furious seeing the injustice, and knowing that it was true.

She wanted it to change.

Argo knocked on the walls a few times, only to feel something grabbing him, and pulling on his shirt.

He turned, the girl, was pointing at a wall.

He walked over, and put the keys in one by one, until at last, the horse shaped key opened the wall, and opened, showing several bags of coins.

He took several of the highest value bags, and put them in his shirt, tightening the sash around his waist to make sure they wouldn't slip or move.

"Your a smart girl. Come here." Argo turned to the little girl, and beckoned her to raise her hand.

Constance watched tentatively, as he gave her a single gold coin, out of the bags he had taken of silver and copper.

"Lead us to the horses and carriages, and I'll take you with me." 

"I said the church will take care of her-" 

The girl pushed against Constance.

Her eyes widened.

Argo grinned, and grabbed the girl into his arms, "Well then, lead the way." 

Constance stared wide eyed.

She felt so betrayed, and then, she was reminded it was a girl less than ten years old, and she just laughed bitterly, and shook her head, following along.

It would be a long, long, journey.