Rune Assassin

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Tegan leaned back and a crooked smile appeared on his lips. “This doesn’t sound easy, does it?”

I snorted. “It sounds impossible. I mean, when have we ever been able to keep up a low profile for more than a few days?”

“That’s all we’ll need because the tournament will have finished by then,” Tegan assured me as he cupped his chin in one hand. His eyes showed a curious look in them. “I can only think of one tournament that would have a high-profile founder in the south and that’s the Lusio Trials.”

I c****d my head to one side. “What are those about?”

“They are hosted by a wealthy man by the name of Felix Lusio,” Tegan explained as he furrowed his brow. “He made his fortune by hiring vampires to dive into the waters and recover treasures from sunken ships and he had a hand in creating the lucrative pearl trade, as well.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Sunken treasure? What did the owners of the ships have to say about that?”

A wry smile slipped onto Tegan’s lips. “They had no say. Lusio was very coy about which wreckages he plundered and always insisted they were ancient ruins.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Sounds like a nice guy. And we’re supposed to be protecting him.”

A strange expression passed over Tegan’s face before he leaned his head out the window. “If he is our protectee then we’ll have our work cut out for us.”

A noise caught my attention and I looked out my window. The road ahead was crowded by a small group of very pale people. They stood in the shade of a small lean-to but the more daring held umbrellas and stood in the middle of the road. Many in the group held up hand-made signs written in red ink.

I read a few of them out loud. “Lusio the Liar. Lusia Has Robbed Graves. Revoke Lusio’s License or Suffer the Consequences.” I turned my head to Tegan. “License?”

“Anyone who dives into the seas around here needs a license,” Tegan explained as our driverless carriage was forced to stop in front of the group. Tegan opened his door and hopped out. I did the same and the two of us walked over to the group.

One of the umbrella owners hurried up to us with a pamphlet which he held out. “A minute of your time, please.”

Tegan smiled as he looked passed him at the blocked road. “You have forced that but what seems to be the issue?”

“Have you heard of Felix Lusio, the local dive master?” he asked us.

Tegan nodded. “The name does sound familiar.”

“He has sought to dive into even more and deeper areas around the bays,” the vampire explained as he handed us each a pamphlet. “We are trying to halt his efforts, at least until a complete map of all the sunken ships has been made. Such an act will make it not only safer for his divers since they’ll know where they’re headed but we can guarantee Lusio has the right to salvage the goods from that vessel.”

“I take it Lusio is not well-liked in the area,” Tegan guessed.

The vampire’s lips curled back in a sneer. “He is a scourge, sir. He uses the divers and pays them a paltry sum for their efforts, and he pays off the local salvage assessor so he can drag the divers into robbing vessels which he has no right to salvage. Worse yet, the fiend has threatened the divers that they will be implicated in any court proceedings should anyone turn him in.”

I cast a knowing look at Tegan. “Sounds like someone I don’t want to meet.”

Tegan lifted his pamphlet. “We’ll be sure to read this, but if you wouldn’t mind removing yourselves from the road.”

The vampire nodded. “Of course. Thank you for listening.”

He turned to the others. “Alright, everyone, off the road!”

They shuffled out of our way and we climbed back into the carriage.

“I didn’t know vampires could be awake at this hour,” I mused.

“They generally can’t,” Tegan informed me as he studied the contents of the pamphlet. “The daylight saps their strength and leaves them weakened even when night falls again.”

“So they must be really mad at Lusio to be out now.”

“Very mad,” he confirmed as he closed the flyer.

We rolled past them and I couldn’t help looking out the window. All the vampires were shabbily dressed with patches on their elbows and knees and ragged hems galore. It was so unlike the elegant attire I’d seen in the capital.

“And not all vampires manage to save up money in their long lives?” I guessed.

Tegan shook his head. “Their lives are hardly any different than ours. They’re born, they live, and sometimes they even die, and all the excitement and heartache of life weighs on them even longer.”

I winced and dropped the curtain. “I think I’ll stick to one life. I’m having enough adventures during this one.”

Tegan drew aside his curtain and studied the sights. “Our next one is about to start. There’s Lusio’s estate.”

The road curved not in my favor, so I scooted over and leaned across him to catch a peek. We rolled around a grass-covered dune and a small plateau of some twenty acres appeared before us. A large green lawn surrounded an elegant manor house. The structure was built of the finest wood with pillars of stone that held up the veranda that wrapped around the whole of the home. The blinding white of the house was in stark contrast to the many flower beds that dotted the short lane that led up to the wide stone porch steps. Stone paths wound their way through the flower beds and dozens of trees of various lineages provided shade to the weary wanderer.

The three floors of the home each featured many windows to look out on the domain of Lusio. A few were open and white silk curtains waved in the gentle breeze that blew off the dunes in front of the house.

The raised plateau stood above the high-water mark and was protected from wave erosion by a huge wall of boulders that stretched for a quarter of a mile. High cliffs to the west prevented neighbors in that direction and as far as I could tell, there wasn’t another structure for miles along the easterly part of the beach.

The detached stable that stood some two hundred feet to the left of the home was likewise adorned with all the pomp and circumstance as the house. A pair of pillars framed the large doors that opened outwardly and I glimpsed a long row of stalls with the shadows of horses in them.

“Wow,” I breathed.

“An engineering marvel crafted by the smartest minds of both the kingdom and the empire,” Tegan informed me as he, too, admired the view. “It took a decade to build and reinforce so the ocean didn’t draw the house into its depths.”

Our driverless carriage rolled down the driveway and around the circular end to park in front of the door. Tegan alighted with our shared knapsack slung over one shoulder. I shouldered my broom and he helped me out. We stepped onto the deep and wide porch and paused on the threshold. A wide assortment of elegant chairs and benches were placed against the front wall with an abundance of tables between them. The whole thing could have comfortably seated fifty people and still had room for a small orchestra.

Tegan rapped on the door and we soon heard footsteps venture across an echoing room. The entrance was opened by a man on the right side of forty with a permanent stoic appearance on his face. I could see the displeasure in his eyes as he looked over our ragged knapsack and my broom.

“May I help you?” he inquired.

“We believe Lusio is expecting us,” Tegan informed him. “We’re here by request of one of his friends.”

The man opened the door wide and stepped aside. “Come inside.”

We strolled into the large entrance hall. I tilted my head back to find the ceiling and discovered the room stretched to the very top floor where huge bare beams glistened far off like stars. All the above-ground floors had balconies that looked down at us, and each was accessed via a wide set of spiral stairs on both sides. The winding steps traveled all the way to the top and were supported by a thick metal post in their center.

“Lusio certainly likes to walk in circles a lot,” I mused.

My comment received a disapproving look in the servant’s eyes but he said nothing as he stretched his arm toward a central hall that cut the house in two. “If you will follow me. My master is at the rear of the house.”