ALL NOVEL Book V: Chapter 5
{-Rennyn-}
Images flashed in his mind before he could stop them—someone unwittingly listening to Viragi or, worse, someone he threatened into compliance. There was no doubt in Rennyn’s mind that, whoever this was, she wasn’t aware or willing regarding what it meant to work with Dhymos’s minions. She couldn’t be, not unless she was also one of them.
His memories wouldn’t let him forget it, along with bringing up what might—no, will—happen if things weren’t changed.
When he got to the house, he followed Viragi’s instructions—knocked twice, then once he heard shuffling on the other side of the door near the peephole, he explained, “We wanted to talk to Cettia.”
There was a not-so-hushed, “Ma, there’s apparently someone here for you! There might be two, actually. Were you expecting them?” All sound from within the house stopped for a moment, then what must’ve been the owner of that voice walked away again.
Two sets of footsteps returned to the door, then it opened. Both people were there—a young woman, who must’ve been who talked earlier, and an older lady, who must’ve been Cettia.
Rennyn was just about ready to get straight to the point, but Kaylin gently put a hand on his shoulder to stop him and said, “Sorry to bother you, but I’m Kaylin, and this is my friend Rennyn, and we wanted to talk to you for a little bit. Will that be okay?”
“Depends,” Cettia remarked. “Who sent you?”
“Viragi,” Rennyn practically hissed. “He said you could vouch for what he was doing here.”
“Oh! Well, if he’s the one that asked you to come over, then come on inside.” She stepped out of the way to let them in. “Would you like some tea? Go on and sit right next to the fire, I’ll go grab those leftover biscuits from his last visit. Feel free to leave your coats and shoes by the door.”
Kaylin offered a kind smile. “Thank you.” She glared at Rennyn, but he didn’t say anything; he didn’t see a reason to, given the circumstances.
Frankly, he only left his coat and shoes at the door out of politeness for the host. Anyone who had relations to Viragi had to be bad news in one way or another, even if he couldn’t tell how just yet. Even though he did both of those things, he never let his guard down—while Kaylin wandered to a spot near the fireplace, Rennyn remained standing; when tea and biscuits came out, he had long decided that he wasn’t going to touch either of them. Not like he was hungry or willing to engage in pleasantries anyway.
Cettia had said something to her daughter so that only the three of them remained in the room. Then, casually lifting up her cup and getting a sip of tea, Cettia prompted, “So, what brings the two of you here? Are you new pupils of his? You’re certainly not the other two—Kharis and Ether, I think he said their names were.”
“We are definitely not his pupils,” Rennyn remarked quickly. “Do you realize who he is? What he does?”
She tilted her head. “Well, when you say it like that, it sounds like I should say ‘no.’ I do feel, though, that I do know quite a bit. He and his sweet little pupils visit whenever they’re in the area, and I always like to chat with them over tea.”
“And what do you know?”
“He’s a retired knight from Kositeia. He was hired by someone to train those two dear pupils of his. Did you know the poor things are doing this for their parents? Or at least for each other—they don’t have a lot anymore. I’m not sure if they lost touch with their parents or if they’ve died. Quite tragic either way. But they were always the sweetest things. They actually enjoyed the snacks and drinks I offered them, unlike someone here.”
“Do you really think there isn’t anything more to Viragi? Do you really believe he’s just some old soldier?”
“Why, yes, I do. I’ve been given no reason to think differently of him. He certainly treats my daughter and I much better than you have so far. Wouldn’t I not think that it’s the other way around? That you’re the one who intends to do harm?”
“Thinking I’m the bad guy is what he wants you to do. It’s only going to put you in danger.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“But—”
Kaylin not-so-softly smacked his arm. He knew what that look was for, and he understood why she was making it, yet he still had to fight to listen to her silent warning. As much as he saw her point of view, his mind also played slideshows of other, innocent people getting hurt.
And at that point, the fear of more people getting hurt overrode most of his common sense. He was going to tell Cettia exactly what she’d be getting herself into by interacting with Viragi—she deserved to know the truth of who he was and what he did.
Unfortunately for his burst of confidence, though probably better in the long run, Kaylin forcefully whacked him again.
Then slowly, and thoughtfully, she said, “We’re just a little worried. Suffice to say, we’re travelers who’ve interacted with Viragi before and… he definitely isn’t as harmless as he might seem with you. We want to make sure you don’t end up getting hurt.”
“I still believe I have the chance to decide,” Cettia remarked, uninterested. “I’m old enough to be your grandma, and I’m not nearly as dumb as it seems like you think I am. I can make my own decisions, without the help of two kids like you.”
She stood up. “I believe it’s about time you go, don’t you think? You’ve wasted enough of my time as it is, with whatever you’ve been trying to convince me of.”
“Wait.” Rennyn tried not to sound too desperate to ask one last question. “Did Viragi mention anything about what he was going to do after he was done talking to you? Did he say anything weird?”
“You know what? I think he might’ve. Something about paying close attention to whoever walks around, and to be careful with who I talk to. I might even remember his exact words. ‘If you see anyone who seem to enjoy being terrible guests and asking too many damn questions, do two things: tell them to get the hell out of my house and get the guards.’” Cettia was practically forcing both of them up at this point, clearly not having any bit of this. “Did you know my family has connections to one of the council members? Soldiers will come if I call for them. So I advise you two to get going before that happens.”
Kaylin started to usher Rennyn out, too, but he didn’t need that much of a sign to leave. Within moments, the two of them were back outside, and Cettia uttered one last curse before slamming the door on them.
“Hope you’re proud of yourself,” Kaylin remarked as she started back towards the entrance of town. “That was all just a waste of time—except you’ve now made an enemy out of someone along the way.”
“Is it my fault I wanted to try to keep her out of it?” Rennyn could only muster half-excuses at this point.
It was clear she had much more to say about it all, but she just sighed. “I don’t think either of us are going to get anywhere. Let’s go back and wait for the others. Maybe they have actually found something useful…”