“Even without the lake, it was different than when I was here,” he offered, pointing towards the forbidden portion of the grounds. “There was a cemetery there. Some were dug into the hillside, even.” He grinned and then winced at the memories. “When I was a lad.”
Lia had difficulty walking fast, but at least she could put her weight on her leg again. It was sore every night, but she tried to walk further and further each day. When she gained her strength fully, she wanted to be ready to cross the Apse Veil to Dochte and Tintern. A bandage wrapped her palm and it hurt when she clenched her fist, but her fingers worked and the pain lessened each day.
She called him Seth now, instead of Scarseth, which is the name he was known in the Abbey during his time as a wretched. Seth Page.
“I have been meaning to ask you something, Lia.” He looked down at the grass, uncomfortable. Since the Aldermaston had restored his speech, he was more soft-spoken than she remembered. More observant. Sometimes his expression looked tortured.
“What is it?”
“How is your leg feeling?”
“You wanted to know how my leg is feeling?” she asked, confused.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I was asking if you wanted to rest a bit. The kitchen does not seem very far, but you were starting to limp more back there. I wanted to talk to you.”
She nodded and slowly sank into the grass on the edge of the hill, staring out the expanse of water. He joined her, but did not look at her. Wrapping his arms around his knees, he also stared towards the setting sun. “The Aldermaston said you knew how Martin died.” His voice was stiff, controlled.
There was a pain in Lia’s heart at the mention of him. “I did not see it happen,” she said.
“But you heard it.” He sighed deeply. “I did not think anything could kill that man. I remember the first time I saw him. It made an impression, I tell you.”
“The Aldermaston in Pry-Ree called the creature a Fear Liath. Colvin called it a grey-rank.”
Seth hissed at the word. “Ssssttt. A grey-rank. Of course. Worse than a black bear. Fast too, so I have heard. I was surprised to learn he had died. But a grey-rank could do it.”
Lia turned to look at him. “I also remember the first time I saw Martin. In the kitchen.”
He smirked. “No, you do not remember the first time, Lia. You were just a baby. But I remember that night.”
Something chilled inside of her. “What do you remember about it?”
“I remember it because Martin cried. Never saw that old buzzard cry before. It was not long after the fall of Pry-Ree. That was sixteen years ago.”
“But I am only fifteen,” Lia said, confused.
He looked at her. “Really? I remember it very well. But maybe I am wrong. It was a long time ago.”
“Why did Martin cry when he saw me?”
Seth looked back out at the lake. “What do you know about him?”
Lia thought for a moment. “He is Pry-rian obviously. A hunter. He was working for the Aldermaston for years before I was abandoned here. Pasqua told me that. He had been in Muirwood for…I do not know…say four or five years before that?”
“I remember when he came,” he said softly. “He was the captain of the Prince’s guard. The Pry-rian ruler’s guard. They rode down from Bridgestow to Comoros but they stopped at Muirwood with their retinue. All of the guardsmen had the same uniform. Leather girdle and bracers, like you wear. A gladius instead of a long sword. They all had bows as well. Dangerous men, all of them. The Prince and the Aldermaston had several long conversations together. They went into the Abbey too, for the Prince was a maston.”
Lia’s heart surged with fire. The flood from the Medium was choking her breath. Pieces of the story began to fit together in her mind, interlocking like sculpted stones. “I did not know he was part of the Prince’s guard.” The Aldermaston had already told her the story of the Pry-rian prince who had come to Muirwood on the way to Comoros.
“Yes. But it was odd that he left Martin behind. I mean, as captain of the guard, why stay behind at Muirwood when your master is treating with his enemies in Comoros? I do not know why it happened. Only that Martin became the Abbey’s hunter and sought an apprentice.” His look darkened. “A position which I felt should have been mine.”