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Chapter 3 version 2 - Inevitable

Fear flooded Seth's mind as he raced down the road to Rastis, he couldn't hear the wolfhounds anymore but still knew he was far from safe out along this road. He'd have to travel through the forest if he wanted a chance at escaping Kunzes. Covering more ground wasn't an option, as not only was Kunzes far more athletic than Seth but also on horseback and likely carrying less gear.

Gear he didn't need.

"I'm an idiot" Thought Seth bitterly "Maps, rope, Mess kit, food, Air tank for the stupid lantern I lost, I spent so much time planning out what I'd like to take that I forgot to think how much it would weigh me down" Realistically he knew the extra weight only slowed him marginally but with the knowledge that the Slavecatcher couldn't be any further than a mile behind him at best decided it was worth it to ditch his gear along the roadside and just take a knife alongside the precious manuscripts his former master had worked and obsessed over... the documents Seth helped create.

Shaking aside the thought and cramming the parchment in a now empty mess box Seth resumed his journey, with knife in hand he felt a bit safer as he left the road for the dense forest again. With the ground like a chunky pudding from the sheets of rain beating down on it he knew he'd leave tracks yet hoped that said mush would quickly fill them again, if not then Seth could only hope that Kunzes would pass them by without noticing... unlikely as that may be.

As Seth crept through the woods he took the time to consider had happened thus far, thinking about how easily things could have gone far worse before and how he could have done better to fix what had. "I should've checked that grate the day before" he thought frustratedly, climbing over a fallen tree trunk "out of all the crumbling mess that is Xander's why did they have to fix the damned grate?" Adrenaline had dulled the throbbing pain in this hand but now it came back in full force, flexing his fingers Seth hissed as he felt the freshly scabbed over wounds begin to crack open "Hopefully it'll heal back okay... I can still move them even though it hurts"

Eventually the dense pines grew thinner as the ground led into a large floodplain, flooded as the name implies from the current storm. From what Seth had heard there was a long bridge spanning the dip in elevation but using said path would mean heading back along the main road which he had just left, stripping his robe so it wouldn't get wet and wrapping it around the box he began to wade through the floodplain,

While the water wasn't exceptionally deep it was steadily flowing and filled with a number of slick stones and after a few minutes of relative quiet Seth inevitably slipped on one. Thankfully he didn't lose the box and the only damage he took was emotional as him, his smallclothes, and his robe were all soaked again. Shivering he pulled himself to his feet and continued, eventually climbing onto a little island held together by a patch trees clinging to the ground around a large boulder.

After wringing some of the water from his robe and smallclothes he put them back on and sat in a sort of corner made up of the boulder and a tree pressing into the side of it. Freezing, Seth curled into a soggy ball of fur and mud clutching the box against his chest. Originally he planned to try and turn the papers in at a forward thinking university that would understand just how important these documents were and work to stop what was to come... and maybe even help give him a new start in life.

"If they believe me..." Seth thought desperately "A ragged, filthy Acturan with a box of insane Thaumaturgical ramblings and theories begging you to take them seriously" The collar around his neck certainly wouldn't help him any, as even if neither the college or local police in Rastis were obligated to return him to Xander's they also weren't expected to stop a private bounty hunter from taking him by force.

"Even if they do believe me... who's to say they wouldn't try and follow through with it instead of stopping it?" he thought, looking down at the little box "And with Toren dead... an entire college of doctors and Thaumaturges would have as good if not better chances of completing the work than Kunzes and the others" much like the cold rain washing over him a newfound dread began to pool in his mind, the fear that whatever action he took to make things right would only make things far worse.

Opening the box Seth took out one of the more coherent notes, this one he had written himself based on his master's command. It was written on tough parchment and well treated against accidental tearing in addition to water and fire proofing, and unlike most of the other documents the instructions it contained were actually tested by Toren rather than simply being theories or observations.

"I should have just trashed these" thought Seth as he skimmed through the notes "if I toss them into the water it would take weeks if not months for them to decay, same if I bury them" Sighing he wondered how much of a difference it would make if he had just left the notes along the roadside with his bag, Kunzes would still hunt him for personal reasons but finding the notes might make him consider postponing his fun until after analyzing what Toren had kept hidden from him.

"I shouldn't be thinking about that, I've already ruined too many lives to try and save mine that easily" he thought, tears starting to well in his eyes "If I can't make amends then the least I can do is try and stop some of the suffering"

With that thought lingering in his mind and a fist full of papers in hand Seth began to chew and tear a chunk out of the documents, it was rough on his throat but he managed to swallow the thick parchment a little at a time, the thought that it could be made of Acturan skin made him gag but he pushed through it. He knew that it was some sort of hide or skin but wasn't sure if it was livestock or person, of course, this distinction didn't always exist in the eyes of slavers.

As he slowly ate the papers Seth tried to think of something to distract himself from the task at hand, all the pretty trees, the sound of water washing over the floodplain, eventually he thought about that Seelie he had met earlier. He had acted friendlier to Seth than most Seelie, but that didn't mean much considering he had something to gain from their encounter. In the unlikely event of them meeting a second time Seth decided it would be best not to trust him again, especially considering he didn't know if Rowan had lived up to his side of the deal and kept quiet about meeting him.

"And how did he know about Toren?" Seth wondered uneasily "Definitely not a friend of his, certainly not a colleague... Toren never had children and his siblings are long dead. So not family unless distantly related... but how and why would he only be here now?" With that thought he forced down the last bit of parchment and curled back into a fetal position between the boulder and tree, with the knowledge that he left no tracks in the floodwaters and that the rain would wash away whatever tracks and scent trail he left in the forest he attempted to get some sleep, figuring that without an obvious lead Kunzes would be unlikely to scour the little island in the middle of a flooded field. And besides that exhaustion had started to catch up with Seth, which despite the dampness made the relatively stable tangle of muddy tree roots that made up this tiny island look at least somewhat comfortable.

"I'll need to sleep sooner or later" Seth said to himself as he considered the now empty box "I hope just this once I'll be able to sleep soundly"

And with that and a yawn he closed his eyes and drifted into troubled sleep.

==================================

The city within Xander's walls was as eclectic as the walls themselves, with many of the buildings being built atop or against the stone brick foundations of the old Acturan city, which to Rowan's surprise were far more organized and in spite of their age, more structurally stable than the newer Unseelie buildings that dominated the surface roads of the settlement.

"Is the new stuff just that shoddy or is it abandoned?" thought Rowan as he walked down the old road, noticing how the street was lined with ominous grates that seemed far newer than the surrounding stonework, they seemed to be intended as makeshift storm drains with the surrounding street ripped apart to form a crude gutter, a gutter that was being cleared of debris by a pair of Acturan children.

"Poor kids" he thought. They looked tired, one of them was missing most of an ear while the other seemed ill. Rowan knew he was lucky to have been born to a rich family, but child labor (especially like this) was uncommon even amongst poorer Seelie. Taking a few marks out of his pocket he approached the two, a sister and brother it seemed. "Here" he said, holding out the money "it's not much but it should feed you both for a few days"

It took the pair a moment to realize Rowan was talking to them and upon learning that they immediately seemed taken aback by the offer "We... we were told not to take money sir" said the one-eared girl apprehensively "especially this much, people will think we stole it"

"You don't have to spend it all at once" said Rowan, the fact these children had to worry about such things appalled him, though he tried not to show it "and if someone still asks where you got it just say you were lucky and found it in the gutter"

"That's not a bad idea" said the girl's brother softly, looking out towards the city's entrance "maybe we could ask Seth to help us buy things if he comes back, he used to buy stuff for Toren a lot so no one would question it"

"Actually... that's a really good idea!" said the girl excitedly, before turning to Rowan "Thank you so much, mister?..."

"Rowan, and it's really no problem, I wish I could do more to help though" he said sadly before adding "is Seth part of your family?, I met someone called Seth earlier that looked like one of you"

"...What do you mean?, he's an adult" the girl asked puzzled with a hint of concern "Oh, he's also got sandy fur and spots on his face. He's not like most of us"

"That's because he's Minth" said her brother quietly, looking down "There's not many of his people left, the Enclavers and Jursen killed them all"

He shivered as the cold wind started to pick up, hugging himself before adding "It's sad... he's lonely and almost no one will talk to him because of it"

"Hey Chet... you shouldn't think about that" his sister said with a frown before looking to Rowan "Seth isn't family; but he's a friend, he's done a lot to help us ever since our parents left"

"He taught me how to read, but then he left too..." said Chet in a voice barely louder than a whisper, still looking out towards the entrance to Xander's "I hope he comes back, I know he can't but-

"Not right now, Chet" his sister cut him off, gesturing to the gutter "Not here... just finish up with the litter in the ditch for me okay?"

"...Okay Basil" he replied sadly

"Did something bad happen with Seth?" asked Rowan, wondering how complex his situation was, and how far should he pry into it. "He told me that he worked with my grand-uncle Toren and was fleeing from someone named Kunzes, other than that I don't know anything about him"

"No it's-" Basil froze abruptly, taking a step away from Rowan and looking around them "You're his nephew??" she asked with a great deal of urgency "I- we shouldn't say anything else, Kunzes and the others won't like it"

Like her brother, Basil began to shiver; though it was clearly out of fear rather than the cold "I-I don't want to be rude, especially not to a nice person but please pretend you never met us" she said hastily, reaching for her brother's hand "Come on, we've done enough; let's get home"

"Hey wait-" started Rowan but they were already running, and he couldn't imagine chasing them would be a good idea. "But who exactly are the "Others?", why do they fear Kunzes?; did I meet someone else earlier?" he wondered.

Most of Xander's was silent as he meandered through its streets and aside from the occasional rat, militiaman, and fellow oddball it was also a rather lonely venture; with none but the latter offering directions to the city's customs office.

"Down by what remains of the docks, behind the old walls... inside the old walls" said a particularly fidgety... soldier?, Rowan wasn't sure "The muddydog men didn't like the new ones: they burned them, shot them, and set it on fire again for good measures... good measures" the Soldier(?) suddenly took his hat off and crumpled it into his pocket "Too dry for my scalp. Oh, and Luthay is a good one- not a scalp mind you but a ragpicker, good to my son... my son"

"Thanks... for the directions" said Rowan, not wanting to get too deep into a one sided conversation but still curious "You wouldn't happen to know anything about a man named Kunzes would you?"

"Oh he's not a good one, Jursen and very rude, ruder than usual- I want to shoot him" he said in a surprisingly casual tone "But the govt' took my gun, and my bayonets' too dull and I hate sharpening it... sharpening it"

"That's probably for the best..." thought Rowan "Ah, that matches what I've heard... I need to get going now"

"Okay, take care then" said the Soldier dismissively, walking off "I'll be here if you need me!...need me" he said without stopping or indicating where exactly he'd be.

"You too?" replied Rowan uncertainly "has everyone in this city just gone mad?"

After some time following the path before him Rowan began to see what that odd soldier had been talking about; although the Acturan walls making up the base of Xander's defences had withstood it the thinner (and wooden) Unseelie walls on top were clearly shredded by cannon fire. Peering through what appeared to be an old arrow slit Rowan could see that the docks below were almost entirely burnt as well, with only a small handful of cutter ships and a lone frigate having survived.

Reminding himself of his task he continued on to the customs office, a short building which despite being located this far into the frontier was built in a crude, nearly insulting imitation of the Seelie architecture commonly found in the homeland, in addition to being conspicuously marked with the Customs Office's coat of arms. "Funny that a load of bureaucrats would have one" Rowan thought amused "they could call themselves pen paladins". As he approached the building Rowan heard what sounded like fighting and oddly enough cheering coming from within, and upon entering was greeted with another even unusual sight.

On the ground grappling a pompously dressed and particularly furious looking Elf was an equally tired looking Acturan. He had a simple prosthetic leg beneath his right knee and was dressed in the garb of a Customs Officer while trapping the unfortunate Seelie in an improvised armbar, the Acturan hardly seemed to care about Rowan's sudden arrival as he glared down at the seething man below him.

"Just give them a minute" said a voice next to him. Startled, he looked beside him to find another Elf grinning as they watched the one sided fight before them, this one dressed similarly to the Acturan minus the collar and addition of a security armband. "It's been awhile since Lulu's gotten to jack someone up this bad!"

"Call me that again and you'll be next" said the Acturan unamused, glancing up at Rowan he added with equal parts sarcasm and tedium "By my god and sovereign, welcome to the Royal Customs Office. Please hold until the current applicant is dealt with"

"Is... Is this just how things are done out here?" Rowan whispered to the Customs guard

"More or less" the guard whispered back with a shrug before looking back at the Acturan

"Alright, alright, it's been awhile since Luthay's gotten to jack someone up this bad" said the Customs guard "oh, and I've got a ticket written up for the poor smuggler after your done jacking him"

"Did that poor attempt at a joke come naturally to you or did you actually spend time thinking of that?" sighed Luthay, before looking back down at the angry Elf beneath him, "You can either crawl out of here with at least some dignity intact or I can yank your arm out of its socket, either way don't come back until you're ready to pay bail for your stupid boat"

"I'll buy you just to flay your nasty pelt personally you damn ragpicker" spat the pompously dressed smuggler "get your filthy ass off of me and I'll have the courtesy to cull you first"

"That would be easier with two arms wouldn't it?" said Luthay, before suddenly twisting and violently jerking the Seelie's arm back with a sickeningly wet popping sound.

For a brief second everything went quiet. Until with a start the smuggler let out a bloodcurdling shriek as the pain set in, worsened by the fact that Luthay continued to apply pressure, bending the arm back until his hand touched the wood floor behind him. "I hope you're happy with your choice" he said, standing up and looking down at the now sobbing Elf "this wouldn't have happened if you were at least competent, now leave before I dislocate your other shoulder"

"I'll... I'll have your head" the smuggler wheezed, starting to get up "Just you wait until... until your owner hears of th-"

"hears of how a one legged ragpicker beat you into submission?, he'd get some amusement out of it so go ahead " said Luthay, smirking as he turned to face the guard "Since this idiot refuses to leave would you mind jailing him at the castle Joey?"

"But its cold and rainy out there" Joey pouted "how about we compromise and I just push him down the stairs outside?

"Fine" said Luthay, grabbing a crutch he left lying by the counter. Turning to Rowan he added in a well practiced tone "Hi, how can I serve you?"

"Oh... I'm just here about my inheritance" said Rowan awkwardly, fumbling for and handing over his documents "My grand-uncle died suddenly and his will stated that he wished to leave everything to his youngest adult family member"

"Alright, not an unusual occurrence out here" replied Luthay as he skimmed through the papers "Now, do you wish for... oh"

"Something wrong?" asked Rowan

"No it's just... I didn't think Toren had any family" said Luthay with some concern "And you're earlier than we would've expected, considering he only died two days ago"

"What do you mean?, I got this letter weeks ago" said Rowan uncertainly "are we talking about two different people?"

"No... this is him" said Luthay bewildered as he read the document "Toren Greywells, same address, dates match up, wax seal is correct... I'll need to cross reference his will of course but... this is strange" He stood up from his seat and gestured for Rowan to follow him "Could you follow me to my office?, we'll take care of your inheritance and I'd like to ask you a few questions if you wouldn't mind"

"Sure... that's fine" said Rowan, following him down a corridor "I have some questions of my own as well"

"Fair enough" said Luthay, opening a door and gesturing him inside a small, cluttered office "I can tell you're not from Xander's and likely not from anywhere else in Unseelie territory. Hell, you're not even from the frontier are you?"

"Not really, I'm from Laumonix" answered Rowan as he sat down "it's a port city west of here, built on an island a short distance from the continent"

"I've heard of it, never been there obviously but we used to get a lot of cargo heading to and from the place" replied Luthay as he sat across from him, fiddling with the collar around his neck, which Rowan could see was raw and scarred over from the roughly textured metal. Thinking back to what that smuggler had said he wondered why the Acturan was wearing it and how long he'd been for his neck to be in such bad shape,

"That collar... it looks painful" said Rowan, thinking it likely served as some form of penance or other religious purpose. "Why do you wear it?"

"...Are you mocking me?" came Luthay's response as he glared across the small table at Rowan "You act like I have a choice"

"What?, no. I wasn't trying to mock you, I genuinely wanted to know why" said Rowan apologetically "I'm guessing it's religious or cultural right?"

For a few long seconds they both said nothing, with no sounds to break that uncomfortable silence save the wind from outside and the occasional crackle of the candle until at last Luthay spoke "You really are an outsider" he said quietly "Tell me, does slavery exist back in your homeland?"

"No, not in centuries" replied Rowan, not liking what Luthay was hinting at "At least not in the form of chattel slavery, unfair contracts still exist and penal labor is common but... that isn't what your asking now is it?"

"No, it isn't" said Luthay with a sigh "Loath as I am to say it aloud I'm a slave. I'll most likely die with this piece of trash around my neck, the fact it's melted shut doesn't help"

"I see, I'm sorry for what its worth" said Rowan "which isn't much but..."

"Don't pity me" replied Luthay flatly "I would rather be abused in every sense of the word than be pitied, especially from someone as well off as yourself"

"That's understandable" said Rowan, wishing to change subject he asked "I do have another question, it's complicated but you might know something about it"

"Alright, I'll entertain it for now" said Luthay, fishing some papers out of a drawer "business is slow this late at night, and you're marginally better conversation than that smuggler for what its worth, which isn't much but..." he smirked slightly "is better than nothing"

"Better than nothing is still better, so I'll take it" Rowan said with a small smile before frowning "Now my question is... do you know anything about an Acturan named Seth?, and why a man named Kunzes would be following him?"

Although he didn't say anything his expression spoke plenty, starting with honest surprise, followed by suspicion spliced with a hint of fear and anger, before settling on genuine bewilderment.

"What?..." was all Luthay could say, his hand shaking slightly.

"I met an Acturan named Seth earlier on my way here, he mentioned working for Toren; who you seemed familiar with" explained Rowan "And since almost everyone I've spoken to has heard of Kunzes I figured he must be quite famous around here "

"...Famous isn't the term I'd use" said Luthay, his eyes narrowed "Infamous doesn't fit either, I don't think there's a simple way of putting it" he shook his head "But you said he's following Seth?, I thought he had more time"

"Time for what?, why is he following him?" asked Rowan "Kunzes said that Seth had stolen something, which isn't to say I believe him; he seemed like a compulsive liar when we spoke, but I don't know what his motive for lying would be"

"He's a liar for sure, but his motive is far worse than you could imagine; and I barely know half of it" said Luthay tensely "And I'll tell it to you so long as you promise me something, and by god if you betray me I will track you down, and throttle you myself"

"...Alright" said Rowan apprehensively, feeling that the Acturan fully meant what he said "What is it?"

"Promise me that once I sign over ownership of Toren's assets you'll never surrender Seth to Kunzes" said Luthay "Seth is my friend, and would rather die than become his again. You can punish him, cull him, or sell him to a plantation, but swear that you will never let Kunzes have him"

"I have no issue promising that, I didn't even realize he was also a slave until now" said Rowan with sadness in his voice "I swear that I will do all in my power to protect him from Kunzes and try to emancipate him as soon as possible, I swear it"

Luthay seemed pleasantly surprised by his earnestness, athough the brief smile he gave would fade as soon as it appeared "This is all worthless if Kunzes decides to just kill you for refusing to sell Seth to him... or if he drags him off to his compound instead of back to Toren's manor... which I doubt he will, he still wants some of Toren's wizard shit and bringing back the bastard's lost pet free of charge would make most people trust him more" Luthay paused for a moment, thinking of something "I'll send Joey and another one of my troops with you as security once Kunzes gets back"

"Alright, no complaints from me" said Rowan with a sigh of relief "I guess that leaves Kunzes motive and the paperwork right?"

"Indeed it does" replied Luthay.