Legon Awakening

chapter Two

A Hard Day’s Work

“To many, the Everser Vald was at one time no more than a commoner, struggling with the everyday woes of the world. Only the trained eye could see the servant and master, laboring by day and by night for those that mattered most.”

-Excerpts from The Diary of the Adopted Sister



Legon hustled up the stairs to his room and began to undress. He went to the dresser and pulled out a pair of rough brown pants made of thick cloth and an off-white shirt made of the same material. His room was flooded with light coming in from the window, and outside he could hear signs of the town coming to life.

At the sound of soft footsteps in the hall, Legon poked his head out of the door to see Sasha being led to her room by Laura. Sasha was starting to look better, and he thought that a good nap would probably help. He got his clothes on and rushed downstairs, stepping out of the front door onto the dirt street. The street was lined with buildings of varying sizes, all made of the same dark brown wood. Many of the structures were starting to gray with age and the constant bombardment of snow, rain, and sleet. Most people in town built their home next door to their place of business, and in some cases the buildings served both purposes. The town did have a central market, but most of the things sold there were livestock and produce, along with the occasional traveling merchant who would sell their wares there.

Legon turned to his left and walked through the door to their family’s store, instantly being welcomed by the scent of salt, meat, and spices. An impressive array of knives and cleavers glinted on the walls, speckling the room with reflected daylight. Because they were butchers, their business was not set by the seasons but by what people would bring in. People in the town would bring their livestock and would either pay to have Legon and Edis butcher the animal and give the meat back to them or sell them the animal for them to butcher and sell to the rest of the town. Oftentimes, people would bring in kills that they made while hunting and would get the meat prepared. The shop did much more than cut up meat, however; they would cure or smoke it if people wanted, and they also would make sausage and other similar products. Because of how fast uncured meat would go bad, Legon and Edis would have to get all the work done in a short amount of time, and if possible they tried to have a one-day turnaround.

“Ok, what do I need to get done first this morning? Who has orders today that will be here early?” he said aloud to himself.



A moment later Edis stepped in, and as if he could read Legon’s mind said, “Moleth.”

“Just the person I want to see this morning.”



Moleth was one of the people that he liked least—she was irritating and very odd. Most people in the town either disliked her or thought she was a raving lunatic. Legon had gotten into several arguments with her about Sasha. Moleth loved to tell the town what a demon Sasha was, and that the day would come when they would all regret not listening to her. And Moleth didn’t restrain herself to criticizing Sasha; she had a go at the entire town, and it was for that reason that no one took anything she said seriously. She would often get into arguments with people because she would say something about their family or friends.

Legon’s friend Barnin couldn’t stand her; his family lived next door to her and he had been subjected to the woman on a regular basis for most of his life. They would get into huge fights shouting insults at one another. The townspeople would often stop and watch the arguments just for the entertainment value. It wouldn’t normally be acceptable to verbally accost a woman in public, but in the case of Moleth people tended to make exceptions, as most, if not all, had been in the same situation with her before. Barnin had even once tried to sell her to a group of soldiers, but sadly the men knew a bad deal when they saw one. It didn’t even take them five minutes to figure her out, and they left the town without Moleth leaving heartfelt condolences for those she inflicted herself upon.

“I know how you feel son, she’s a right piece of work that one.”

Legon walked behind the waist-high stone counter that split the shop in two and leaned over a wooden box that, when opened, revealed a big block of ice that had been collected from the nearby mountains and a shoulder of lamb. He took the lamb out of the box, set it on the counter, and plucked a cleaver off the pegboard on the wall. Soon the sound of chopping filled the air. He was almost done cutting the meat and wrapping it in paper when he heard the little brass bell above the door clink. A short plump woman with shoulder-length blondish-grey hair and a pronounced nose walked in. She looked timid and seemed to have a slight facial twitch.

Her voice was small but still irritating, like screeching metal. “Hello, is there anybody here?” As she spoke she looked around as if the shop was empty and Legon was not standing in front of her.

He grimaced and resigned himself to an unpleasant encounter, “Yes Moleth, we’re here. How are you today?”

“O-oh there you are,” she said with a nervous chuckle. “I was supposed to pick up some…. hmmm…. some meat.” As she spoke she looked around the shop noticing the knives and other sharp objects on the walls and shook her head disapprovingly.

“Well how else are we supposed to cut the meat you idiot?” he thought. Moleth was very odd and probably mad. He was already getting annoyed with her. She walked to the counter now and clasped onto it like Legon was going to pull it away from her. She started to speak but he cut her off.

“I’m just finishing up now, Moleth. The meat will be ready in just a moment.”

“Ah, oh well ok… ok I-I guess that works.” Her voice sounded confused and tired as if she was worried that Legon would do something to her; in truth she wasn’t worried at all. She was always like this. She fidgeted with her hands in a way that reminded him of a chipmunk. A fake smile played across her face.

“Why… why is it so late getting done? I am a paying customer after all, you know,” she started with a shaky but surprisingly accusatory voice.

Legon tried to cut her off. She continued to talk but he just spoke over her.

“Sorry Moleth, it will be done in a sec and you can be on your way.”

“She can’t hear you, you know?” said a voice inside his head. “She’s in her own world right now; she’ll be with you in a moment, not the other way around.” This was true. Moleth was prattling on about something completely unrelated to meat and seemed not to take notice that he’d spoken. After what seemed to be hours to Legon, Moleth registered what he’d said.

“Ah, so I take it you got off to a late start this morning?” She said this as if she had figured out the solution to some challenging riddle that he hadn’t solved yet. “Yes, I can see it in Edis’s eyes. He looks worried,” she said, growing more and more confident.

It was true. Edis did look worried. He was thinking about his daughter, and he seemed not to have noticed that Moleth was even in the shop. “Why does he always do this? He pretends that’s she’s not even here and I have to deal with her the whole time!” thought Legon bitterly. In the last few years Edis hadn’t said much of anything to her, and when Legon thought about it he wasn’t sure if his father had ever said anything to her at all. Legon knew that Edis did not approve of the way Moleth talked about his family, and he would have understood if his father had banned her from the shop or even gotten into fights with her, but he didn’t. Instead, it seemed that she just didn’t exist to him.

His attention was jerked back to Moleth. “It was that demon half-sister of yours, wasn’t it?” Moleth said knowingly.

She had apparently been born without the ability to figure out that you don’t say things like this about somebody’s sister. It was true that Sasha and Legon were not related by birth. Legon was by all accounts adopted, but they were still brother and sister. He felt his face flush.

“My sister is fine, Moleth,” he said through gritted teeth. His anger was rising fast.

She tittered. “Na, na she’s not, I’ve always said there’s something wrong with her, just you wait… not that it’s going to matter anyhow. The queen will be taking care of her soon, so don’t you worry.” She said this like she was telling a sick person that they were going to get better.

Her statement pushed any kind or nice feelings from his mind. If any man had just made the statement that Moleth had, Legon would be all over him. He attempted to hold back his fury and counted to ten slowly in his mind. He tried to keep his voice calm but the attempt didn’t work.

“Sasha is not going anywhere, Moleth, so get used to it!” He felt his hand tighten around the handle of the cleaver.

There was a warning tone in his voice that a person with any sense would heed unless they were ready for a fight. Moleth did not have this sense and she pushed on, oblivious to the now quivering man in front of her.

“Oh come on now, you people can’t keep paying the taxes that she costs you. In the spring they will take her away and be gone with her. I dare say the queen’s men will have a lot of fun with her, don’t you think? She is a pretty girl after all, and the queen’s men do deserve it. They work so hard to keep us safe.” Her voice was warm and a smile came over her face as she winked at him.

Legon’s face contorted and rage filled his body, tearing through him like a wild animal. All rational thought left his mind, replaced with an overwhelming bloodlust. The arm that was holding the cleaver jerked up of its own accord. Edis seized Legon’s arm hard, all the man’s strength holding him back. With his other hand Edis threw the packages at Moleth, who stepped back with the sudden weight of the packages, and barked “Get out!”

Moleth looked perplexed and angry. Her voice was rough and irritated as she spoke.

“What, what’s the matter with you?” She was oblivious to how rude and dangerous her comments had been.

“I think it’s time you leave, Moleth. Legon and I have a lot of work to do.” This time Edis’s voice was calm and controlled, but he still had a look of murder on his face. Moleth looked at them both reproachfully and left the shop muttering about rude people under her breath.

After that the morning went by quickly. Legon was still fuming, and the hard work was good for him. For once in his life he was happy about the prospect of a long and difficult day. He and Edis brought in a cow carcass and hung it from the ceiling. He felt the rage in his heart dissipate as he heaved the cow. Work had a way of clearing his mind. He looked back on the morning and felt a twinge of shame. If Sasha had known that he was planning on hurting, if not killing, Moleth, she would have been very disappointed with him.

Sasha knew what people said about her, and Legon knew that it hurt and bothered her, but that didn’t mean that she would be ok with him attacking a woman in cold blood. Sasha was a kind person and couldn’t stomach violence or cruelty in any form. She had always been a compass for him; she made him a good person. Sasha was sweet and innocent, kind to everyone, and would do anything to help. It tore at him watching her do kind things for people in town who, as soon as her back was turned, said things like, “Don’t think that will buy you any grace with me freak.”

“How could people think so poorly of someone so good?” he thought. Legon turned his attention back to the bloody carcass in front of him. He now understood his father’s approach to Moleth—it was better not to acknowledge her rather than do something rash.

“Thanks dad, I’ll split it and then I’ll need your help again to put one half in the ice box until I’m ready for it.”

“Sounds good. I’m going to get started on that deer that we got the other day.”

Legon smiled at Edis and said with a playful taunting voice, “The deer we got?”

Edis looked confused for a moment and then said sarcastically, “Oh, forgive my mistake, o mighty hunter, the deer you got.” As he said this he gave Legon a slight bow.

“Very good, peasant, you may go back to your work now.” Legon tried to make his voice sound pompous and important.

Edis laughed and shook his head. “You should respect your elders.”

Before Legon could retort, Edis walked to the ice box to get the deer. Legon walked back to the wall and grabbed a large cleaver. This one boasted a three foot handle and a blade that was about a foot and half long and six inches wide. They used this one for splitting carcasses. He walked to the cow hanging from the ceiling, raised the cleaver high above his head, and brought it down on the center of the cow’s back. His aim was perfect; the cleaver cut right against the vertebrae about two feet down the back. Legon pulled the cleaver out and repeated the cut, and within a few minutes the cow was split in two. Legon and Edis took one half to the ice box and then placed the other half on a counter in the back of the shop. He spent the rest of the morning cutting up the piece of meat.

They didn’t break for lunch until two. When Legon walked into the house he saw Sasha sitting in the kitchen looking put-out and talking to their Mother.

“Mom, I’m okay now. Everything is fine. Let me help you,” she said.

“No no, dear, I can do it myself. I have been making meals without your assistance for some time now and I can do it today. Besides, you need to rest,” protested Laura, waving her arms and hands in a dismissive manner.

“Hey Sash, how do you feel?” Legon asked sitting next to her at the table.

“I’m feeling fine. I can help mom, but you know how she is,” she said, shooting a look at her mother and folding her arms.

He chuckled. Laura placed a plate of food in front of him. She’d made chicken and some flatbread for lunch. He began to eat his food with delight. He was very hungry from the day’s work, and they ate fast since they didn’t have much time.

“Ey ash ii,” he began with food in his mouth.

“Swallow,” Sasha said flatly, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. “Boys they can be such animals,” she thought.

Legon swallowed and began, “Sorry Sash, but if you’re feeling a bit useless you can always get me some water. You know, if it will make you feel better.”

“Put the food back in your mouth. I liked it better that way,” she said, giving him a stern look, but she got up and brought him some water. Legon nodded in thanks.

“Are you going to go over to Kovos’ today?” she asked.

He began to talk with food in his mouth again but he realized what he was doing, swallowed, and began again. “Sorry, no. We have too much to do. You know how it is— either we are bored to tears or there’s not enough time in the day.”

“I’m sorry I made you late this morning.” She sounded mournful.

“Don’t ever say that, it’s not your fault.” He was serious. He hated her thinking that things like this were her doing.

“It’s not you, its dad, because he’s such a slave driver!” Legon said in an elevated voice to Edis.



Edis gave him a wicked grin. “Ha! Wait until this afternoon!”

“I love you too, dad.” At this, Edis nodded his head and took another bite.



It was a hard afternoon, but it wasn’t the work that weighed on Legon. The work was nothing to him; he was in good shape and his dad had been training him to be a butcher from the time he could hold a knife. In fact, Legon would be setting off in a few months to start his own shop. He was turning eighteen this year, which meant that he would be a man. His family would keep him around for a while since he was a help to them in the shop, but the problem was taxes.

In The Cona Empire, the queen had decreed that all should be taxed fairly. This meant that families who pooled their resources together were treated as though they were trying to put themselves above their fellow men, or at least this was the queen’s public stance on the matter. Therefore, a house consisted of two adults and however many underage children they had. If a child grew to be eighteen and still lived at home, you had to pay considerably more on your taxes, and if you could not pay that amount, the member of the family that was the cause of the increase went into the queen’s care. The queen’s care was slavery; people could rent you for a price from the empire, or you were sold to Iumenta for their own uses. This exact thing happened just a few months ago to Sasha’s friend when her family couldn’t afford her. When it was time to pay the annual taxes, the queen’s tax collectors took her into the queen’s care and she had not been seen since.

The problem now was not Legon; he made the family a good sum of money and his mother, who was the town healer, did decently enough. The problem was that Sasha was overage already and the family would have to pay a lot for her again this year. Because the townspeople didn’t care for her, she had a hard time making any money, and her condition prevented her from becoming a certified healer. This coming January when the collectors came, the family would now have to pay for both Sasha and Legon, and they could not do it. In fact, Legon was going to be forced to leave solely due to the fact that the town was not big enough for two butchers. The family’s best hope was for Legon to make as much as he could and bring it to his family to continue paying the taxes for Sasha, but he couldn’t see how it could be done. “I will not allow them to take her,” he said to himself. He could feel his face flush with anger as he thought of Moleth’s comment that morning.

Something of his thoughts must have shown on his face, because Edis said, “Son, we’ll find a way. We won’t let her go.”

“I hope so.”

As if in answer to their conversation, the door tinkled again. Legon turned to look at the newcomers and he felt his heart drop just a bit. Because of the type of work their family did, they were subject to quarterly tax appraisals and inspections. These were, in short, a chance for the government to come in and make sure Edis and Laura were fulfilling their requirements as a healer and a butcher. The inspections and appraisals weren’t pleasant, but not that bad either.

The two men stood side by side, and Legon could tell who was who right away. The one on the right had greasy hair and a bent nose that looked to have been broken on several occasions. This man was the collector; it was his job to secure payment. His deep blue robes were slightly disheveled, showing the slightly physical part of his job. The other man’s robes looked brand new. He was shorter than the first and had a round face. It looked like he took the time to part each hair on its own every morning. This man was the appraiser. The collector spoke first. His voice also sounded greasy and unclean.

“Edis I take it? We are here for your quarterly appraisal.”

Edis spoke. “Oh, I wasn’t expecting you for a week or so…”

The appraiser cut across him calmly. “Sorry, do forgive us, we are running a bit ahead of schedule. If you are not ready for us we could come by tomorrow.” There could not be more of a difference in the two men, as Legon knew. He liked the appraisers for the most part; they had the personality of bricks, but they were a lot more polite.

The collector looked scandalized. “I have things to do, Harper. This is only a quarterly, anyhow. Do you really need to look at their books and all that stuff?”

Harper looked irritated. “Fine, but we have more to cover this time than normal.” He pulled a piece of parchment from a shoulder bag. “This says here that you have a son coming of age this year?”

“Yes, my boy Legon here,” he said as he patted Legon’s arm.



Harper went on. “Very well. We have a bit of paperwork then. May we sit down somewhere?”



Edis took them into the house and with the rest of the family sat at the table. Laura looked flustered at the unexpected visit.

“I have records of treatments, if you would like. It shouldn’t take me long to get them.”



The collector, who still hadn’t introduced himself, spoke. “Won’t be necessary. Harper here has agreed to the short version.”



Harper took out a large stack of paper. “In years past there has been no denying your ability to pay for your daughter…,” he paused, looking at the sheets, “…Sasha. This year it is unlikely that you will be able to pay for her and your son, so I have some paperwork to do with her.”

A very unnatural silence filled the room and the appraiser looked up at Sasha. “May I ask you a few questions?”

“What for?” she asked

“Because you are going into the queen’s care girl, that’s why,” said the collector, taking Sasha in with hungry eyes.

“But I … I thought we had until….”

Harper interrupted. “You are not going now, and your family may have enough for you this year. This paperwork is just a precaution so that when you go into the care, or I should say if you do, it saves time.”

Without another word Harper started in on the paperwork, asking Sasha everything from how tall she was to what she could do. During the entire interview Laura and Edis sat in stunned silence. Finally the interview was done.

“Thank you, miss.”

“So what does this mean?” Sasha asked.

The collector spoke. “What do you mean? You say here that you have been turned down for an apprentice healer’s license because of your affliction, and being a good cook isn’t much of a skill now is it? You will most likely go into a service field.”

“Service?” asked Edis for the first time.

“Maid, cook, farmhand, escort, things of that nature,” said the collector coldly.

Sasha blanched at the last one on the list. Edis’s face glowed with sweat.

“Well, we have taken up a lot of your time today. Thank you for the help, and we will see you in January,” Harper spoke, and he got up.

The collector followed him but turned back to face Sasha at the door. “Dear, I would not think to leave if I were you. We will find you if you try, and I can promise you, you will not like that. I will be the one to collect in January, and I look forward…” he paused as his eyes looked Sasha over again, “…look forward to getting better acquainted at that time.” The door clicked shut.

There wasn’t much talking after that, and Sasha went up to her room. Legon followed, wanting to see if she was ok. He poked his head in the doorway. Sasha was sitting on the bed with her arms around her knees, a solemn look on her face. Legon knew that she hated not doing anything all day and that she felt like she was a burden on the family, and today’s visit must have only confirmed those feelings. He walked into the room and sat at the foot on her bed.

“How was your day?” he asked as he leaned back on the wall. He knew that neither of them would want to talk about the appraisal, but he didn’t want her to be alone.

“It was fine. I just watched mom all day. She wouldn’t let me do anything. I know she means well, but it’s still annoying.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Hey, I’m going to pick up that cleaver from Kovos tomorrow. Do you want to come?” He hoped she would say yes. It would be good for her to get out of the house.

Sasha’s face brightened a bit. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course I am. I’m going to head over in the morning. Don’t worry about waking me up, I’ll be fine.” He said this last part with a smile.

She laughed. “Are you sure? I don’t mind helping.”

Legon’s face darkened a bit as he reached up and felt the lump that was still on his head. “I know you don’t.”

They sat quietly for a while. Legon closed his eyes, thinking that he may have been a little overzealous at work today. He reached around his neck and rubbed the top of his shoulders a bit.

“Had a long day?” she asked.

“I think I may have strained something today, but it shouldn’t matter. I got ahead, so I’ll have most of the day tomorrow.” His neck and shoulders were really starting to hurt now that he was thinking about it. “The perfect end to the perfect day,” he thought. Sasha scooted around behind him and started rubbing and pushing at his neck and shoulders.

“Sash, you know you don’t have to…”

“I know, but I haven’t done anything today and the muscle does feel tight. Let me fix it now so you’re not hurting for the rest of the week.”

“You’re the best, you know that?” he said, turning his neck to her.

“You’re just lucky I haven’t done anything today. Don’t expect this to become a regular thing. Besides, I owe you from this morning on the hill.”

He reached up, stopping her hand, “You don’t owe me for that.”

She didn’t answer, but he heard her sniff and knew what she was thinking.

* * * * *

Sasha was surprised at how knotted his back was. “He must have had a hard day,” she thought. She moved her hands along his shirt along the top of his shoulders to try and get a better fix on a knot. In truth this was as much for her as him. She needed to be doing something. She just wanted a semi-normal evening. She paused and looked down at his slightly exposed back, at the tattoo that had been on him from before Edis found him in the woods. Normally it was a dark green that was almost black, but tonight it was a deep purple.

It wasn’t like any other tattoo she’d seen. Most tattoos were of names and pictures, all the lines coming together, but not on this one. None of the lines touched, and if they overlapped the image would end right before the other and continue again just past the other side. In the center of the tattoo was a circle that was filled in. Three curving branches came from it, spaced out and symmetrical and covered in little leaves that were amazingly detailed. The circle and branches overlapped what appeared to be a triangle that was filled in except where the circle and branches went over it. There was another circle surrounding everything, with only the tips of each branch breaking out from it. In whole the tattoo was about three inches wide and three inches tall.

Nobody had been able to figure out why someone would do this to a baby, but now Sasha knew the question was not why but how. Tattoos didn’t change color and they distorted with growth. This one had not, and that meant one thing: magic.

She continued working on the knot, Legon blissfully unaware of her momentary pause. She should say something to him, but what would she say? He, like everyone else in the family, was at the breaking point today. She would wait until tomorrow, wait and collect her thoughts. After a bit she stopped rubbing his shoulders and sat back down. She was still thinking about the tattoo. If it had been made by magic, then why? And did that mean that there was more to it than just decoration? She never worried that much about her brother. He was tough and could take care of himself, but if he had been marked with magic….

“Thanks Sash,” said Legon with a yawn. “It’s getting late. I think I’m going to go to bed.”

Sasha smiled at him and nodded her head. “If you must. I will see you in the morning.”

* * * * *

Legon got up and stretched his arms above his head, then leaned over and gave her a huge hug. He walked out of the room, shut the door, and walked into his own. The bed was bathed in soft moonlight and looked wonderful. There was a slight breeze outside that made the room feel cool and nice. He undressed down to his undershorts and slipped under the covers. His mind drifted from thought to thought in a haze as oftentimes happens when one is falling asleep. Legon drifted to sleep in what felt like moments, never knowing that next door his sister lay awake, thinking and worrying.