Julius Rictor - Chapter 36 - Red Hair

Remi Lam

I’d never been reprimanded by someone in my entire life in a professional setting. I’d always received compliments and praise. When I became an Admix and one of the youngest Rangers in Castle Grey’s history, it was expected. I was diligent, serious, studious, and respected. Of course I’d achieved all that. People thought I was born special.

But I wasn’t.

I was born in poverty to a fatherless family with three sisters to take care of. I’d killed my first person when I was just a child while defending my mother. I entered Castle Grey as a soldier recruit at ten and earned the right to a Divine Treat at eleven.

Now, at twenty-four years old, I was being disciplined by my lord, Baron Embers. I wasn’t alone, though. I was alongside my master, Gregory Talbert, and my best friend’s fiancé, Gai Regal.

The three of us stood firm with our hands behind our backs in Baron Embers’s office. Talbert was in front of me, standing next to Gai, while I was slightly to his left.

Baron Embers sat at his desk. He’d stared us down for about an hour without talking. He’d sent Nigel and Alexander to drag Scarlet back to the castle the night before. It was the next morning. We were merely waiting for our punishments, as accomplices to Scarlet’s outings.

“Let me make sure I’ve got this correct,” Baron Embers finally spoke. He pointed at Gai first. “You snuck my daughter out of this castle on several occasions, got her a Guild mark, took her on multiple dangerous jobs—one of which got her stabbed.”

His gaze darted to Talbert.

“You knew this and said nothing,” said the baron. “In fact, you gave orders to the knights behind my back, lessening the restrictions and questions on her comings and goings.”

His gaze darted to me. I instinctively shivered.

“And you, my loyal Ranger, knew all of this and said nothing. Instead, you went along with my daughter’s destructive habits, actively tried to hide them from being reported, and allowed, if not outright instigated, her rebellious habits.”

He was silent for a moment.

“Is any of this wrong?” he bellowed.

“No, my lord,” I uttered, embarrassed and afraid.

“No, sir,” agreed Gai.

“Fuck, this is annoying.” Talbert cleaned out one of his ears with his finger. “Feel better now that you’ve yelled?”

Gai and I gawked at the reaction.

Baron Embers stood up, furious. His chair slammed behind him. “Do you think this is a joke?!”

Talbert closed the distance. He got close to the baron. Their noses were inches apart. “Yes, it’s a goddamned joke! Scarlet’s a Dyad Chosen Child swordmaster prodigy! And you make her waste away in this shit hole when she could be doing something good! Give her some goddamned freedom!”

“SHE IS A NOBLEWOMAN! LIKE IT OR NOT!” Baron Embers’s voice grew far louder than Talbert’s, which seemed to shock Talbert. “You and I have both been through war! We have had friends die in our arms at the hands of monsters, Synborn, and people. I worked my whole life to get to a point where my family would never have to suffer the same fate.”

“You’d have a bird clip its own wings because you’re scared it might get hurt flying?” Talbert analogized. “It’s not up to you.”

“It is. It’s absolutely up to me. Scarlet is my daughter. I am her father. If you wanted to decide the fate of another, you should have had your own child and—” Baron Embers stopped himself, seemingly suddenly remembering something. “Never mind.”

“A dead wife bears no children,” Talbert said coldly.

They were quiet for a moment. Some history only the two of them shared passed before their eyes. Whatever they were thinking, they didn’t clue me or Gai in on it. 

Then, the conversation resumed.

“As your lord, I forbid you from interacting with my daughter any further,” Baron Embers told Talbert. His gaze flickered to Gai. “Lord Regal, I will be sending a formal missive to your father dissolving the engagement between you and Scarlet. I imagine he’ll agree with my decision given what’s happened.” He then looked at me. For a moment, he hesitated. Then, “Remi, you are relieved of duty. Vacate the castle by the end of day.”

My heart nearly shattered in my chest. I held it in, but I was on the verge of falling down and begging.

“I’ll quit if you do that,” Talbert said, speaking up on my behalf. “The girl’s needed here. She’ll replace me someday.”

“And yet, she aided and abetted my daughter’s deceit.”

“At my orders,” Talbert lied.

Baron Embers groaned. He peered at me again. “Is this true?”

I never lied. Not to my superiors. Not ever.

“Yes,” I agreed.

Baron Embers, annoyed, diverted his gaze to Talbert. “You used Remi’s relationship with my daughter against her?”

“I wanted the girl to succeed in what she wanted,” Talbert said.

“Why?”

Talbert hesitated. Before he could speak, the door slammed open.

“Sirs! We have a situation in Water’s Bastion!” a knight stuttered, entering the room.

The tone and suddenness put everyone on alert.

“What’s going on?” Baron Embers asked.

The soldier’s face was white. He looked like he’d run all the way from the city back in. There were other guards behind him; their faces were pale. A Ranger was with them, too.

I knew in my heart the situation was bad. This was a borderline Voiced-level response.

It meant people were dead.

•

I stared up at the sky.

It was a cloudy morning. My skin was damp. I wore my usual dark clothes, emblematic of a Ranger. The morning rain beat against my face. The droplets were cold, but the entire day was cold. They made no difference, for the situation had already made me numb.

A fellow Ranger named Petrov, using his wind gifts, leaped from building to building until he was right beside me. Petrov was two years older than me, and probably the closest, other than me, to taking over Talbert’s place should he ever step down.

“We’ve kept out the citizens, but too many people saw the bodies,” Petrov said. “There’s no hiding this anymore.”

“It was bound to happen sooner or later,” I said as my chilled breath visibly passed my lips. “You taking over here?”

Petrov nodded.

“I’m headed back to the bodies.”

I floated down from the building. My boots landed in a small puddle of water, though I paid it no mind. I trudged forward, my teeth set in a firm line, tensing as I moved.

A large crowd gathered outside a circle of guards in the distance. They kept them from entering the area, but no amount of guards could keep the sight in front of them from reaching the masses.

“What happened here?!”

“Why won’t you tell us anything?!”

“Who could do such a thing?!”

“I’m gonna be sick…”

“I know the baron! I demand to know what is going on!”

“Mommy, I’m scared.”

The knights held the line. They did not speak. They did not argue. In their work, they moved with absolute, revered seriousness. As they should.

At my arrival, the knights parted.

“Tell us what’s going on!”

“So the rumors were true?!”

“Who could have made such a thing?!”

“I will be contacting your captain!”

I ignored them.

Some distance away, a group of Rangers, all wearing dark clothes like me, and a group of elite soldiers from Castle Grey stood before a large, gold-dyed wooden hand set in the middle of the main street of Water’s Bastion. Its fingers were splayed as if it were asking for alms. It was roughly the size of a carriage, and just as tall.

From each of its fingers, a girl’s corpse dangled. Their bodies were disfigured beyond recognition, all in different ways. Given the vomit nearby and the cries from bystanders, it was a sight no one should have been subjected to, and one even the hardest sworn veterans could barely stomach.

In the open palm stood a wooden doll of a woman. It wore an expensive dress, had green eyes, and long red hair. The doll had its arm outstretched, and a sign around its neck with text carved in large letters.

SHE SHALL SAVE US.

Talbert stood the closest to it. His lone figure cast a shadow over the scene while Knights and Rangers surrounded him from behind and on both sides.

“That explains the random body parts we’ve found,” Talbert said, noticing several of the women had different missing limbs. “Whoever this was has been teasing us for months.”

“All five are girls who were reported missing this year,” Nigel informed him.

“No witnesses, and no additional evidence at the scene,” I reported, joining them by the hand. I stared at it all, mortified and captivated. “No normal person could have done this without any witnesses.”

“They’re probably an Eater,” Talbert said, tacitly agreeing. “Either a Knight, a Noble, or a Rogue. That narrows it down, but not enough.” He cocked his head to the side, staring at the text. “It’s good we have her under house arrest at the castle,” he said, his gaze flickering to the doll.

“You think this references Lady Scarlet?” Nigel mused.

“Obviously,” he replied. “She fits the criteria of the other women and is the most notable figure in the region that fits the figure’s inferred description. We’d be foolish to draw other conclusions.”

Talbert turned away. His expression was dark and thoughtful. “Get the girls down from there. Collect whatever evidence remains. Clean this place up.” He stared at the crowd watching in horror. “We’ll need to address the public on this issue very shortly.”

I nodded but said nothing. My eyes were glued to the red-haired doll standing in the palm of the hand.

•••

Scarlet Embers

From my room’s window, I watched workers patch up the crack in the wall I used to sneak out of the castle. I didn’t need it and could get out whenever I wanted, but the symbolism of the task, done at the baron’s order the very next day after being dragged home, was telling.

There was a knight outside my door, Rangers watching my window, and I wasn’t allowed to set foot outside of my room without explicit permission until further notice.

My food was brought to me. I was escorted to the bathroom and back. That’s it. I hadn’t seen Remi or Gai in a day. Everyone was keeping me in the dark. Then there was the sudden commotion earlier that morning, which sent the guards scrambling. The whole place was weird since then.

“Why am I taking this?” I muttered. “It’s like I’m a prisoner in my own home. Shit, if my life’s gonna be like this from now on, I’d be better off running away.”

It was admittedly a plan I toyed with for several years. There were only two things holding me back: comfort and fame. I was famous enough that people could easily find me. But, given how effective my slime hair dye was, that part could be remedied now that I was older.

The comfort aspect, admittedly, was harder to give up. I lived in a massive castle on an island with servants and guards. I could have anything I wanted, be it food, drink, books, clothing, or jewelry. My bed was soft and warm. The amenities were nice. As much as I hated to admit it, I’d grown used to having a home. I spent my entire last life moving from place to place, ignored or abused. I didn’t want to abandon a place I’d lived for nearly two decades, as annoying as it was sometimes to be there.

But if my comforts were going to disappear, and the place became less like a home and more like the foster system I was so used to—I could easily abandon it if need be. I didn’t see my parents as parents. I had power. With my guild mark, I could make money anywhere.

It would probably make the two of them sad if I left. I shook my head. No, I can’t think like that. 

“It might be time to leave,” I whispered.

Then, I thought of Gai, Remi, Alexander, and Nigel. They made my heart squeeze.

Gai wasn’t an issue. If I wanted to leave, I figured he would go with me. The other three, not so much. Nigel and Remi had family here, and Alexander was well-respected at work. Leaving them behind would hurt, even though I didn’t want it to.

“I went from easily severing attachments to being burdened by four of them.” I hesitated to say ‘six’ even as the word briefly popped in my head. I nearly chuckled. “What a change.”

If things didn’t change, and this confinement wasn’t temporary, I’d have to make a hard choice.

“Or I could rebel.” I slid out of bed, fully clothed in a short skirt, flats, and a long-sleeved red blouse. My hair hung loosely behind my back and shoulders. “It’s what I’m good at.”

I went out my front door to greet a guard named Marion. He wasn’t an Eater and was unusually cold to me.

“My Lady, do you require something?” Marion asked. “If not, I must ask that you return to your room.”

“No,” I said.

Marion made a face like he couldn’t comprehend what I was saying.

A tendril jutted out of my back at a thought. It slammed Marion into the wall. The portion that hit his body dug into the wall. I separated my power, leaving him pinned against the structure with a black mass lying over his body.

He had no way of fighting back, and it was honestly insulting that the baron hadn’t put more Eaters on me. Then again, he probably didn’t expect me to go that far.

“If no one gets you out of that by the time I come back, I’ll release you,” I said as I walked away, waving behind me, ignoring his complaints and shouts to stop. “Have fun!”

I walked down the hallway whistling, enjoying the freedom I’d earned myself. It was the farthest I’d taken my little acts of rebellion. Not once had I attacked a guard. But I had been thrown in a cell for a few days for punishing a noble, so the consequences really didn’t freak me out.

It was probably the best side effect of not really trusting my parents. Their authority over me was effective, but not wholly. I could still resist and get what I wanted at the end of the day. I probably gave them more respect than I should have, given that I took over their daughter’s body. But still, it didn’t mean I always went with their whims. Not when it mattered, for the most part. 

“Let’s do a pulse check and see how things are going,” I muttered, forming a plan.

It was easy for me to move through the castle without getting seen. I’d done so several times. All I needed to do was keep my ears open, listen carefully, and have cover in mind whenever I walked somewhere. Luckily, the castle was mapped in my head. I knew the best routes for gossip and hiding.

Unfortunately, every area I hit was vacant of guards. It was weird and set me on edge in an entirely different way from before.

No one’s in their usual space. Weird. Let’s check on dead old dad.

I found the nearest window and leaped out.

Dark energy was already forming around my arms. I punched out a fist, and the dark energy followed the momentum. It hooked the side of the building, allowing me to swing.

Using the momentum, I shot myself higher into the sky, releasing the darkness at the right time to propel myself further.

I did that one more time to round the castle, shooting myself like a whip around the corner of the structure, before a familiar window came into view.

Dark energy swelled in both my hands. I created two points of control and snagged them into the walls, slowing my momentum. Then, at my will, darkness formed around my feet and took the shape of claws. I hooked them into the side of the building, released my darkness tethers, and similar claws formed on my hands.

Secured, I began climbing slowly across the side of the building. There were already several divots from having done this many, many times over the years. My birth parents would probably freak if they could see the outside. It was littered with little holes from top to bottom. Not enough to weaken the structure, but enough to make it look as if malicious hail had battered it over the course of several years.

Outside the baron’s office window, I launched a tendril out of my back. It anchored me, allowing me to hang without using any strength as I dangled beside the window, peeking and listening in.

It was honestly astounding how little people looked up, even when we had wind Typicals who could fly at the castle.

“You can’t keep her locked up forever,” the baroness said.

“She doesn’t respect us and keeps putting herself in harm’s way,” argued the baron. “What else am I supposed to do?”

Oh? A parental argument? About little ole me?

“We’ve been too lenient with her for far too long,” Baron Embers argued. “It’s my fault. I was so overwhelmed by her genius as a child, I neglected to see she was still a kid at heart.”

Did he just call me immature? I’m mentally older than him.

“And you babied her too much,” he chided the baroness.

“All I wanted was for our only child to make friends, find someone she loves, and live a happy life,” the baroness confessed. “As long as she’s happy, I’m happy. We are a family, and we work together for the betterment of the city, but that didn’t mean I wanted our obligations as nobles to significantly interfere with our daughter’s happiness.” She narrowed her eyes, but they were warm. “You feel the same. Otherwise, you’d have married her to Duke Dallinger’s eldest son when he offered two years ago.”

My blood ran cold. They were talking about Richard Dallinger, the same man who’d married Gai’s sister and caused her to kill herself. 

It makes sense. Duke Dallinger is leagues above the baron in nobility and owns the territory we live in. I was always surprised he didn’t reach out more. They were hiding that from me? For how long? And to what extent? Why?

Baron Embers moved from his desk to a couch in his office. It overlooked a fire burning softly to fight the cold.

“Duke Dallinger sent requests years agao, asking Scarlet and Richard to meet,” the baron said quietly. “With the rumors surrounding Richard, I couldn’t risk sending her to him. Not even if refusing cost me my position.”

It was an ironic thing to hear, given that Gai’s father, a duke of similar power to Duke Dallinger, gave his daughter when he had the clout not to do so. Yet the baron, much lower in rank, resisted.

Why didn’t I know any of this? Why didn’t they tell me?

“If the Prince and Gai had not come when they did, I’m not sure what I would have done,” the baron muttered, his voice weakened. “I lashed out at Gai and threatened to annul his engagement to Scarlet in the heat of the moment… but at least he cares for her. I can see it in his eyes and actions.” He looked up. “I’ll have to apologize to him. My anger got the best of me. His presence has helped us stand firm, and he’s been good to our girl.”

The behind-the-scenes politics I’d never known were playing out in my head. Suspect emotions swelled in my heart as I tried to trace this information with my childhood.

“Maybe we should have sent her to Camden when the university sent her an admission letter eight years ago,” Baron Embers muttered. “They’d have raised her better than we could. She might have been happier away from all this.”

What admission letter?!

“She wanted a gift, and I wanted our baby here.” The baroness slid beside the baron and rested her head on his shoulder. “You selfishly indulged our requests, and I’ll be forever grateful. We have one child, and I got to watch her grow into a fine young woman. I wouldn’t change anything.”

A lump of guilt swelled in my heart.

“Am I too hard on her?” Doubt entered the baron’s voice. “Am I mad for wanting to keep her safe? We all make sacrifices in life. Is it so much of a sacrifice to live blessed, healthy, and safe at home, married with children?” He paused. “Do you regret your life with me?”

The baroness brushed the baron’s hair with her fingers, looking him in the eyes. “I do not. I’ve loved every day with you, even when we were camped out in tents during the rebellion.” She gave him a smile. “But that’s me. She may come from us, but Scarlet is her own person. She has to find her own way. We can push and pull her, but in the end, it’s up to her what she wants to become.”

“I know it. I know it!” Baron Embers leaned back on the couch. “With the path she’s on, she’ll die an early death.” His voice caught. “Is it so wrong to not want to outlive my own daughter? I can’t let her die.”

I stared through the window at the two of them as if lost in time.

I’m such an asshole.

Not wanting to listen anymore, I swung myself to the nearest window away from the study and dipped inside. There was no one around, and I wouldn’t have cared if there were.

Ashamed, I collapsed where I was. My back hit the wall, and I slid down it until my butt hit the floor. With hazy, emotionless eyes, I stared at the ceiling. My vision of my parents changed. They indulged me when I was younger, but they became more of an obstacle the older I got. Now I knew why.

“Not only did I take their only daughter from them, but I’m terrorizing them with my actions.” I slapped my cheeks. “Stupid! Why can’t I be objective about this? I’m acting like a brat. There was probably a compromise somewhere that wouldn’t have hurt them so much.” I rested my brow against my hand, scowling. “Stupid. Stupid thing to worry about. Why should I care about them?”

Yet I did. Watching them worry about me, hearing what they’d done and been through on my behalf, hurt me in ways I didn’t think possible.

And… I don’t think I’d had anyone care enough to be sad for me like that before. Ever.

I lightly bashed the back of my head against the wall. “Guess this is what having parents is like,” I muttered. “Weird.”

I pursed my lips and continued staring at the ceiling. As much as I wanted to ignore my parents, I couldn’t. In the back of my mind, they were the third reason I never left. I never had a family before. As overprotective as they were, having two people give a shit about my well-being was something I’d never felt before.

“I guess I got used to it,” I whispered, chuckling to myself. Sighing, I stood up. “Such an idiot, I swear. Soft-hearted, trusting little moron.”

My legs led me to the nearest set of stairs.

“This is why you keep getting hurt. You know that, right?” I told myself. “Of course you know that.” I groaned. “What’s the point of living if you can’t trust people? It’s cold and lonely otherwise.”

I found myself in the hallway before the baron’s office. A single guard stood a ways in front of it, careful not to overhear what was being said inside.

“They’ll hurt me. Someday, they’ll break my heart or let me down,” I told myself as I trudged forward. “You know they will. You know this every time you put your trust in someone. They always let you down sooner or later. That’s just how people are. They love for as long as possible, then abandon you when that love is gone. You know that.”

Still, I stopped in front of the guard by their door.

“Lady Scarlet?” He was astonished to see me, which was fair. I was supposed to be under guard and in my room. “What are you—”

“I want to see my mom and dad,” I said in a weak voice, barely holding back tears.

The guard was stunned by my demeanor. I was, too. It’s probably what prompted him to knock on the door even knowing I’d somehow slipped past my guards and disobeyed my punishment.

“Yes?” My dad’s voice rang from behind the door.

“L-Lady Scarlet is here,” said the guard, his voice weak and careful.

I heard footsteps, then the door flew open. Dad stood there at the threshold. His face was initially angry, but upon seeing me, his entire demeanor softened. He just stood there looking at me, and I looked at him.

Mom came by soon after. She peeked from behind him. When she spotted my face, she froze, too. But only for a moment. She pushed past Dad and the guard, then walked briskly toward me. Her hands grabbed my face. Her fingers carried sympathy I’d gone thirty years without and fearfully ignored for nearly twenty.

I started to cry and hugged her immediately.

She stood there stunned for a moment, then eventually hugged me back.

“I’m sorry,” I wept. “I’m so sorry”

For how I treated them. For how I ignored them. How I acted, disrespected them, and went against their wishes. For punishing them for wounds on my soul they hadn’t made. For stealing their baby from them. 

I still didn’t know how to become the child they deserved, let alone who I wanted to be. I didn’t even know if I could. But children were selfish. They put their parents through hell. 

At least they love them.

I could try doing that, too.

“Give us some space,” Dad ordered the guard. The guard left wordlessly, almost fleeing the scene and grateful to do so.

Dad walked up and stood behind Mom. I saw him through my bleary eyes, and my hands reached out for him.

His face tensed, and he closed the distance, hugging me from my other side.

Mom started weeping happy tears. Dad patted my head.

My cold, distrustful heart had patched itself back together, foolishly ready to be betrayed by love again someday.