A group of young people in dirty grey and brown colored gambesons walked past the stairwell in an orderly but hurried fashion, two of them quietly muttering in the back. The group seemed to be rather nervous about something, their faces morphed into frowns as they hastened their pace disappearing into the next hallway to the left and out of my sight.

  Once I was sure I was out of their earshot I heaved a sigh of relief.

  It would have been very inconvenient for me to have to answer questions I didn’t know the answers to.

  Even though I didn’t want to encounter anyone right now, I decided to follow them and see if I could find some additional information about this place. ***

  ***

  “I’m telling you it wasn’t your fault! It could have happened to anyone, all right?!” Isen cocked his head in Veris’ direction as they headed side by side down the hallway to the equipment room. Veris sighed as she nodded absently chewing her lower lip. Putting his hand on her shoulder he sighed: “I’m serious here so please listen when I say something actually serious.” Veris looked at him, her face showing a small smile at seeing the truth in his eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Isen. I know you’re trying to cheer me up and I hear you. It’s just, I don’t know…, I feel so ashamed about this whole situation. Especially because the squad is probably going to be punished for what I did.” Her face contorted into a deep grimace, her teeth grinding out of anger and frustration.

  Isen wanted to say something to comfort her, but they had arrived before the door that led to their briefing room, making him forget what he was going to say; instead, suspense tingled in his stomach as their squad stepped through.

  Squad leader Caecus turned around as they entered, his scowl making the young men and women feel chills run down their backs.

  After an endless second of uncomfortable silence the squad balled their right fists and slammed them to their chests in a united salute to their leader.

  “Reporting for duty, Captain!”

  “At ease, Squad B!”, the Captain turned briskly, walked to a small desk and sat down on top of it, one leg leisurely draped across the other. His saber lay to his right-hand side on the tabletop, as it was his rule to ‘always have your weapon close enough to grab at a moment’s notice when it’s not attached to your hip’.

  The squad members exchanged quick glances. Their captain never behaved this lackadaisically unless he was angry.

  He had a strict personality and valued perfection above almost anything else, but he also genuinely cared for his subordinates and therefore strived to help them as much as he could.

  This was different. Veris looked at Isen. She could see his nervousness, as well as that of all her other squad mates.

  She had disappointed her captain and now they were all going to be punished for it.

  Squad leader Caecus cleared his throat. The sound echoed hollowly off the walls. Everyone tensed up awaiting their sentence.

  A loud scraping could be heard as Caecus reached behind himself and slowly pulled a long, pristine, iron sword forth.

  Veris swallowed dry spit and stood as still as possible. This is all my fault!

  Caecus cleared his throat again: “It has come to my attention that, while on duty one of your numbers has made a, how should I say this, grave mistake. This sword here”, Caecus held up the sword so everyone could see the cracks running up and down the entire hilt and blade, “which has been passed down by the ancestors of House Sidus for generations, is now irreparably destroyed!” By the end of his sentence Caecus had raised his voice to the point of it almost being a yell, and the team jumped in surprise. They had never seen their leader this outraged.

  Squad leader Caecus held a high reputation among his colleagues for always staying calm, no matter the situation, so this outburst surprised everyone, even him.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Caecus looked at the sword, deep resignation showing on his face. He sighed. Even if this is an irreplaceable relic, I shouldn’t react like this… These are my people, after all.

  Caecus pinched his eyebrows and breathed deeply, calming himself. “Even though I am disappointed in the individual, whom I won’t name under these circumstances, I have been tasked by the Head with choosing the punishment for your group. So! Apart from your regular duties, you will, for the next few months, help out in the House to the best of your abilities until I deem you, or more specifically the perpetrator, sufficiently disciplined. This means taking orders from the staff as well as from me.”

  Surprised intakes of breath could be heard after Caecus’ announcement. The punishment was certainly demeaning but not nearly as bad as the squad had expected.

  After a few moments of silence, tentative shuffles suffused the room. Caecus sighed: “Due to the unforeseen circumstances before and after this incident I have deemed this an appropriate response to the situation. By doing the same chores as the rest of the staff, you all will hopefully learn the dedication and work that goes into the upkeep of these relics. Now, I know that desperation can lead to actions such as those that lead to the destruction of this minor relic, therefore I suggested this punishment to the Head, to which he readily agreed. See to it that I don’t regret this decision and work diligently. For questions about your additional tasks report to the head of staff immediately. Dismissed!”

  As if ripped out of a trance, all eight guards balled their fists once more in salute, standing tall and proclaimed the age old saying: “Sustrep! Prosperity to the Wyde as we serve with loyalty and dedication!”

  As one they turned on the spot and marched with renewed vigor out the door and down the hall to the staff quarters in search of the head of staff.

  ***

  I sat in a quiet corner of the hallway the group of people had disappeared into. They had most likely entered one of the rooms along the way as I could hear talking in one of them, even through the heavy wooden door.

  Alas, I couldn’t be entirely sure since the people in gambesons could have just as easily turned a corner and disappeared, leaving me to listen in on the conversation of a completely different group.

  In the end it didn’t really matter, any information at all was more than I already had.

  The speaker got really loud at one point making me think he might have been yelling at someone, but then it got quiet again until multiple voices shouting at the same time made me jump in surprise. “By the worlds that scared m-”

  I scrambled to hide behind a thankfully large potted plant standing near me as the door was thrown open and the eight people I had been following stepped out and succinctly turned down the corridor in the direction they came from and strode forth with a previously unmatched vigor.

  I debated following them when a weary sigh coming from inside the room caught my attention and I decided to stay and observe this mystery person.

  There was a metallic scraping coming from the doorway and not much longer after that a tall grown man in a finer off-white gambeson than that of the group stepped out of the room into the dimly lit hallway.

  He was bald with brown eyes and had a saber at his waist. In his hands he held a long object wrapped in a deep red cloth. His expression was stoic and a bit resigned as he carefully maneuvered to close the door behind him while trying not to drop or disturb his bundle.

  The man then walked down the hallway following in the footsteps of the others at a slower pace and turned down a different corridor than the group before him.

  I followed the man at a distance for a while, always sticking to the shadows so as not to be seen.

  There was no one else around for the majority of the walk and I thoroughly enjoyed the sensation of not needing to worry about what to say.

  After what felt like ten minutes of monotonous hallways the man finally came to a stop at a large gateway completely unaware that I had been following him. He seemed to steel himself for what was to come and stepped up to push open the large right side of the gate with his shoulder, as his hands were still holding the long bundle.

  Just as he was leaning against the wood the wing swung outward, pulled by a different force and the man started tipping forward, surprise etched onto his face.

  I debated rushing over and helping the unfortunate man but, in the end, determined I was too far back to reach him in time.

  I hope the person who opened the door can catch him. I closed my eyes and waited for the telltale thud of a body when I heard the sounds of scuffing boots and grunts of exertion.

  Seems like he was caught. Good for him.

  “I thank you for catching me, but I must ask you to carefully let go so as not to further brake the object in my possession, Mrs. Merugh”, the deep but smooth voice of the man quietly suffused the hallway.

  “Oh, my apologies for making you stumble Captain Caecus, I was in such a hurry to return to my patient, I just ripped the door wide open. Thank the Sulum you were not harmed!”, Toya, my caretaker nervously replied.

  Meanwhile, I was confronted with the immediate problem of getting back to my room without getting noticed or even worse, lost.

  I slowly started to back up while the man, no, Caecus, and Toya were awkwardly trying to untangle each other without falling to the ground or breaking anything, all while thanking and apologizing to each other. It was actually quite amusing, and I would have loved to stay and watch what would happen, but it was also the perfect opportunity to get a head start on Toya.

  Resigned, I turned around and darted off in the hopes of making it back before anyone noticed I was gone, all the while fighting the urge to laugh at what I had just witnessed and instead focus on my return trip through this labyrinth.