The Forgotten

“Arthur Tolbert, is he here?” Lynden asked the prison guard.

“I told you yesterday and I’ll tell you today, we have many people here. They are all criminals and by law, no one is allowed to see them.” The guard replied in a bored voice.

Lynden knew it was unlikely that he could gain entry to the prison. Instead, he was attempting to get a shift rotation and a count on the number of guards present.

It seemed that the same guard was always at the door, lazily leaning against the door wearing the black and red armour of the king’s army. His sword was lent against the wall next to him. It seemed slightly rusted, not used or taken care of. Lynden was disgusted at the state of the troops. When he was General, not one man would be so careless with their gear or appearance. The man seemed to have put on a few pounds since the initial recruitment and training period. His hairy belly now hung under his breastplate which didn’t seem to be covered by the tunic underneath. The guard’s skin and hair were dirty like he hadn’t washed in a week. The stench got worse with each of Lynden’s visits.

“Do me a favour?” Lynden looked at the man, his nose crinkled, and the revulsion showed in his eyes.

“Before I get here tomorrow, have a bath. If you smell any worse it’ll end up killing you.”

“You dare insult a man of the king?” The guard bellowed in response.

The man grabbed his sword and pulled it from its sheath. Lynden’s thought was indeed right. The blade had patches of rust up and down the edge, making it seem like it would fall into pieces from one swing.

Lynden looked at the sword then looked at the man with amusement on his face. He didn’t even reach for his sword. Lynden turned and walked away slowly, the guard’s anger palpable. He sheathed his sword in the scabbard once more and threw it to the ground.

The silver-plated warrior walked towards the keep. He needed to avoid the king. Lynden was a capable warrior, maybe one of the best. He could take on the armies of the kingdom alone, but had no desire to try today. He walked to the back of the keep and entered the kitchens, greeting the cooks as he walked through. They all knew who he was, no one said anything. He was a special guest, anyone else would get shouted out of the room before getting to the archway.

The kitchen was busy. It was nearly lunch with many people running around, the clanging of pans and chopping of vegetables and meat all around him. The room was alive with smells, fish being grilled with lemon on the stove, spiced herbs roasting with vegetables in the oven and a fresh batch of buns had just come out resting on the tabletop, being sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. He looked at the food for a moment, his mouth watering.

“Go on.” Said an old woman wearing a white apron, covered in specs of blood from preparing food over the years. She gestured at the buns.

“You don’t have to ask me twice.”

Lynden took one of the freshly baked buns and took a bite. The taste of cinnamon immediately made him think of Christmas, he always thought it was a festive flavour. The sweetness of the sugar complemented the cake, giving him an immediate rush of happiness.

“Just as well, I’m not often near the kitchen. I’d probably put you out of business.” He said to the old women, kissing her on the cheek before leaving the room and managing to polish off the cake in a few bites, hardly giving himself time to swallow after each mouthful.

He walked out of the kitchen, taking a right along a corridor that led towards the servants’ quarters. It was a dark part of the castle with little light to speak of, only the arrow slits in the walls providing a slither.

He hadn’t been to see Suzy in some time but knew she would be able to help him. She was the woman of whispers, though she didn’t like the title as she thought it was shady and mistrustful.

Lynden walked up a small tower staircase which barely allowed him through. The cramped nature of the place made it so servants took up as little space as possible while keeping out of the way. He ducked his head all the way up the winding staircase and made it to the top. Taking the right out of the stairs, he found himself at a plain wooden door, a bronze circular handle on it. It was no different to the others in the corridor, but he knew he was in the right place.

Lynden knocked quietly, not wanting to draw attention. It would be strange to see an armed warrior here.

There was a rustling from the other side of the door and some faint cursing, and what sounded like boxes being pushed around.

Moments later, the door opened slightly showing only half a woman’s face on the other side. Then a huge grin plastered her face as she grabbed onto the man’s breastplate from the neck and dragged him through the door.

“Bloody hell woman. You know the normal way to invite someone in, is just to open the door and ask them to come in.”

She looked at him with a relieved expression, “Rolf you can stop. It’s Lynden.”

Rolf was in the middle of rapidly folding bits of paper and placing them in books that he then put in boxes.

“Lynden?” He said in reply.

Rolf then turned his head to see the man towering over him. He had the same huge grin as Suzy did but grasped the man’s battle-worn hands stained with dirt from the wars the man had been in, both leading and fighting on the front lines.

“It’s good to see you Lynden, though what are you doing here?”

“Business I’m afraid. Personal business while it may be, it is important. I need your help in finding Arthur.” He looked at Suzy and continued, “I believe he is in prison for some outlandish charges of being a sympathiser to traitors. Though the only person that would have been with is me.”

A guilty expression fell on his head, dipping his gaze towards the floor for a moment.

“Being discharged from service because the army would follow you into death is not treason. The king is just afraid of you, that is all.” Rolf explained.

“While that may be so, can you help?”

“Arthur got sent to prison just after the time when Myval was made King. He stood up to the man thinking that being a member of the royal guard, he could help the people. He was wrong and has been rotting away all this time.” Suzy said with tiredness in her voice, the years of torment wearing her down.

“No one ever leaves there Lynden. Even more worrying, no one ever gets a trial or when they rarely do it is never a fair one.” Rolf continued.

At Rolf’s words, tears started to flow down Suzy’s face. He spoke once more but with anguish and heavier breathing tangling words now.

“And now they’ve taken Rendall. He was just a boy.”

“Rendall?” Lynden said, the name immediately striking a sense of fear in his voice.

“You know him?” Suzy replied.

“Does he have silver eyes?”

“Um yes, why?”

“Suzy, Rolf, we need to get that boy out now. The king cannot see him, should he see that boy and recognise him he would be put to death on the spot. You said that trials are rare so at least we have time.”

“Well…” Rolf said with hesitation. “You see Lynden, the boy killed three of the king’s soldiers. One in an apparently brutal way. Two were shot in the right eye socket and the third was shot in every joint in his body. They said he was attached to the ground by the end when he finally shot that man in the eye too. Screams were heard throughout the district.”

Suzy cut in before he said any more, “They deserved it, you know that Rolf, you heard the girl they were going to rape her!”

“I know Suzy, I’m just explaining why they are holding a trial for him!” He answered.

Lynden had sat down, the couple shared a few more words between them laying the blame on one another before they saw Lynden with his head in his hands.

Speaking half to himself but also to the others in the room, he gravely whispered, “We need to get the boy out.”

Lynden’s thoughts rushed with emotions and plans. He unconsciously put his hand on his blade at his waist, entertaining the thought to walk through the castle and kill every corrupt guard.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t risk everything on this boy Lynden.” Rolf uttered.

“You don’t understand, I believe Rendall is a member of the royal family, a member of the dead race. The Belldar.”

The pair looked at him puzzled, not saying a word though until Lynden continued.

“They were once numerous in the land, ruling over us it was a time of peace amongst all. The forests flourished with stags, wolves, wild horses and small monkeys that would hang off branches. The cities and lands surrounding were safe from bandits and corruption and those who broke the law suffered harsh but fair punishment. If you stole you were made to pay for the item, then pay for each copper the item was worth in hours of labour. The Belldar themselves were the ruling line of Kings, Queens and nobles who were blessed of superhuman speed and could bond with animals.”

Lynden sighed before continuing, “And then rebellion broke out against them, a small fraction of who we now call nobles desired power for themselves, raising armies against them. Only due to numbers and the promise of power did people follow. If we even save one life from the grasp of the king, if we can save Rendall, we might be able to change things.”

The silence between the trio remained for long minutes, Rolf nor Suzy knew what to say. Their faces, however, were showing a sign of astonishment and disbelief.

“If that isn’t enough, Suzy, you have seen the boy since the time on the road have you not?”

She nodded in response, not sure where he was going with this.

“Did you see his silver eyes?”

“Yes, I did.” She spoke quietly like people may be listening.

“And have you ever seen anyone else with silver eyes?”

She thought for a moment, but Rolf spoke before she could. “Only on the queen have I ever seen silver eyes.”

The couple looked at one another now realising what this meant.

“He is the youngest of the three brothers?” Suzy said, a tear running down her face.

“I believe he is.”

Suzy went to sit on a chair in front of the fire, staring into the blacked wood that had been left there from the night before. Tears fell down her face though she did not sob.

The two men pulled up chairs around her before she spoke.

“I cared for him for years as a baby, the queen and I would often spend hours with him, trying to teach him to walk or say his first words,” taking a deep breath Suzy went on, “And then when he was only four, his brother was getting his siblings into accidents and so after I never saw him again. I was told he had died from a rapid unknown illness but the queen nor king would never tell me nor allow me to see his body.”

I mourned for months, and I still do sometimes. It can’t be, but I know your words to be true.

Rolf placed a hand on Suzy’s knee, a sign of reassurance though neither of the men knew how to respond.

“We can’t go rushing in. If we do then all is lost. The boy will have a trial, but we don’t know when just yet.” Suzy said, breaking the silence between the three.

“Rolf, do you know anything of Myval’s schedule over the coming days?” Lynden asked.

“He is to return from a trip within a few days and I doubt he will carry out any prison business straight away. He usually sees his advisor at the beginning of each week to give a full report, unless there is anything urgent. So with luck, we’ll have a week to ten days before any hearing is carried out.”

“Good,” Lynden said in answer. “That gives us some time to arrange a plan. I will do what I can in the city for the next day then I will head to the forest.”

“Why?” both Suzy and Rolf said.

“To see if this wolf is real and if I survive, to ask for its help.”

Looking at the man sceptically, they just nodded in agreement, knowing that neither could stop Lynden from doing it.

Lynden rose from his seat next to Suzy, placing a hand on his shoulder as a passing goodbye and a nod to Rolf as the warrior left the room.