Broken But Unburnt

Chapter 24 - Maverick

Chapter 24: Maverick

The Ysuelt Dwelling

The Yseult which they had been speaking to at dinner, a group of men ranging from age twenty to sixty, had taken Maverick and Neva to the armory after they ate. For the first time that Maverick could remember, Neva had shown an eager curiosity about something. And that something was this ancient order's so-called magic weapons. At the moment, they were showing her a sword made of a type of metal no longer found in the world that glowed when they sang to it in their tongue. Neva was awestruck. The Yseult were grinning like giddy school boys. Maverick, however, wasn't sold on the practicality of having a sword you had to sing to.

But Neva's attention was, for the first time in a week, on something other than him and, for that, he was grateful. So he decided to use the opportunity to slip away for some much needed alone time.

Wandering away from the group with no real direction in mind, Maverick decided there was no better time to explore a legendary ancient dwelling he likely wouldn't be granted entrance to again. The Ysuelt had started as a tribe residing in the mountains. When the countries of Delos and Karil were formed on either side of them, both tried to conquer the hardy mountain dwelling people on multiple occasions. Both failed every time. The Ysuelt announced their independence and both Kings of Delos and Karil had signed away the valley upon which their keep stood to the tribe's control, agreeing to leave them in peace so long as they never threatened or favored either country. That had been the kings' biggest fear. That the Ysuelt would side with one of them and take up arms against the other.

But they never did. They stayed in their cold mountain home, training generation after generation of warriors, creating the order of the Ysuelt as it existed today. Eventually, the mountains grew too harsh for the women who saw better futures in the lush Delosian meadows or the beautiful snowy Karilish hills. Too many of their children had died from diseases easily avoided away from the cold and within the range of civilized medicine. So families left, the village fell to ruin, but the keep remained. The class of warriors bred since birth to fight without a foe stagnated, nearly died off. Then their Chief, Bakos Zalán, came to an agreement with all three kingdoms this time. The Ysuelt would fight the monsters plaguing their cities and the villages beyond their range of control. They would defend their citizens and, in return, each country would send orphaned boys to train from a young age, bolster their ranks, and continue their legacy.

It was a fair enough deal. The kings were happy to oblige and, for generations, orphaned boys found homes, found purposes, among the Ysuelt. The former tribe, though less famous than it had been in its heyday, had trained some of the finest warriors their world had ever seen. All of them men. Until Calliope.

Maverick cursed. This place was a maze and he had gotten turned around twice before ending up right back in the dining hall where he started and shooting off down an opposite hallway. He passed door after door, mostly closed, some open, all residences of the warriors. At the end of the hall there was a communal bathroom with an enormous, steaming hot spring that was almost too tempting. But Maverick was a guest so washing off the filth of the journey would have to wait until it was offered to him. Besides, being found naked, having made himself at home, an hour after arriving might not be the best way to make an impression.

So he kept walking.

He found another armory, much smaller and containing much more practical weapons which appeared to have been used recently rather than displayed or sung to. He found a rec room with card tables and other games scattered about. A few men conversed in the corner, taking puffs from a pipe. He got lost down a hallway of paintings and carvings passed down for centuries and ended up in a foyer that looked like it might have been a main entrance at some time but a rock fall had sealed half of it away forever. By the time he got to the massive library full of centuries old tomes, Maverick was starting to doubt he'd ever be able to find his way back to another living soul.

Then someone spoke from the shadows behind him.

"You look just like your mother."

Maverick whirled around, wide eyed, to find Gabriel standing half-hidden among the shelves. When their eyes met, he emerged. He was an enormous man, well over six feet tall and bulging with muscle. He hadn't noticed that so much before. Maverick wasn't small by any means and had toned himself over the years as well but still felt that Gabriel could probably snap him in half if he had a mind to.

"Why are you lying to my daughter about who you really are?" Gabriel asked when Maverick had given no response to his previous statement. At that, Maverick blinked, clearing his mind from the shock and revisiting reality where he'd just realized Gabriel had said something about his mother.

"Someone tried to kill me. I was fleeing for my life. Adopting a fake name with anyone I met seemed prudent. It wasn't a lie directed at your daughter," Maverick explained and Gabriel nodded after a moment's hesitation which he had likely used to decide whether or not to believe him. "How do you know my mother?"

"We were old friends."

"My mother hasn't left the palace in decades. So either you lived in the palace or you're far more interesting than I originally thought," Maverick remarked, returning to his old self now that he knew Gabriel wasn't here to kill him and hide his body amongst these long forgotten books. "Either way, I don't see how you ended up here."

Maverick gestured, in general, to the Yseult dwelling around them. Gabriel watched him for a moment, eyes narrowed in examination. Then his lips curved slightly upward and he snorted.

"You are your mother's son," Gabriel spoke and something about the way he said it made Maverick think he sounded impressed.

"My companion and I," Maverick said. "We can stay?"

"You can stay," Gabriel agreed, taking a few steps forward to approach him. Maverick held his breath, still nervous to be alone with this hulking brute of a man but unwilling to show his discomfort. Gabriel waited until he was only inches away from Maverick to speak again. "Just keep lying to my daughter."

Maverick was so caught off guard by Gabriel's last command that by the time he had his wits together enough to question it, the man was gone.

Lost in thought about what Gabriel had told him, what he had hinted at, and what it could mean, Maverick eventually made his way back to the dining hall. He had taken the most winding, nonsensical route, he was sure and he knew that there was no way he could ever find his way back to the library in a million years. But he was back. And he found Neva near the front of the hall, polishing a dagger and staring into its gleaming surface as if she'd never even noticed he was gone.

"I thought you'd be organizing a search by now," Maverick teased as he approached her.

"We're in the most hidden, well-protected stronghold in the entire world, Mav. If you aren't safe here, you aren't safe anywhere," she grumbled, still keeping her eyes firmly on the dagger.

"I had a strange conversation with Gabriel. But he said we could stay."

Neva looked up then, her brows furrowed in concern.

"There's something off about him," she said. "I don't like it."

"I agree," Maverick told her, not wanting to bring up anything Gabriel had said to him just yet. Not while they were here, surrounded by his people, where they could be easily overheard. "We should keep an eye on him."

Neva cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at him as if in examination but then she nodded and returned her attention to the dagger. Just then, Calliope and Sebastian came around the corner, dressed in new armor and every manner of weapon dangling off of them. They were laughing loudly together, the sound booming off the cavernous walls and making the nearby table of older men turn and smile at the jovial youths. They were leaving, Maverick realized, headed right for the entrance through which they had come. He couldn't help himself but call out to him.

"Where are you going?" Maverick called.

Calliope stopped and turned. Sebastian waited nearby but didn't so much as glance his way.

"Monster hunting," Calliope answered, her lips tugging up into a smile as she shot him a mischievous look that nearly had him on his knees. "Wanna come?"