A/N: Sorry it took so long lost my muse for a while.
A Melody of Water - Chapter 21: Grip of the Blood Red Gauntlet
"Are you alright, Charles?" Sayaka asked as Charles rubbed his bruised forehead.
"Besides a sore head and my wounded pride," Charles replied, "I'm perfect."
Sayaka looked up at the trading ship which was lying on the shore, a gaping wound in its hull, the crew standing around miserably while tending to their many different minor injuries.
The storm had pretty damn furious, but luckily the crew and passengers got through it with only small injuries and wet clothes; unluckily, the ship took the brunt of the impact and was in a less than a seaworthy condition.
The captain approached Sayaka's group. "I hate to bring this up, but I assume your ship won't be moving for quite a while?" Charles said.
The captain rubbed his forehead, which was sweaty from stress. "I won't lie, the damage might some time to fix, but luckily there is a logging town called Antler's Rest. I will need to negotiate with the lumber mill owner, which shouldn't be too hard since we have a history... but actual repair, well, given how close we are now King's Landing, if you decide to ride the rest of the way, I will repay you half of your coin."
The magical girl, the hedge knight, and former tax collect huddled together.
"I might be able to use my magic to repair the ship."
"I'm not sure that is a good idea, you might use too much magic, and we still don't know how your soul gem has changed since coming to this world, and magically repairing a ship would attract unwelcome attention. I say we wait to see how this deal with the lumber mill goes before making up our minds."
Not long after that, the group followed the captain to the town of Antler's Rest and Sayaka was immediately won over by its appearance. Unlike Saltpan, which had a misty, damp, kinda depressing feel to it, Antler's Rest looked like it had been ripped straight from a painting that could be found in an art gallery. An idyllic patchwork of log houses with a mighty, rushing river running through them, with a lush, green forest on the opposite side.
The group was immediately met by a man with a bald head and a long black beard; he smiled upon seeing the captain.
"Captain Adam Cage, you sea dog! It's good to see you again! What brings you to this humble town, and who these fine people?"
"They're passengers on my ship which suffered greatly in last night's storm. I require your aid in repairing it."
The wood mill owner rubbed his chin. "I will take a look and see how much I can do."
"While these two are inspecting the ship, we should see we can restock on food and water," Charles suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea," Sayaka said while stretching her arms, "To be honest, I was starting to go a little crazy after being cooped up on that ship; it will be nice stretch my legs for a bit."
After a short discussion, it was decided that Sayaka and Clifford would go shopping for food and Charles would go looking for water. It didn't take them long to find a stall selling vegetables.
"Let's see... our choices are dried carrots or dried mushrooms," Sayaka said. She pondered: there were other vegetables on sale, but they're all fresh and wouldn't last long, and Sayaka's group needed food that was cheap and would be edible for mouths. She understood the necessity, but Sayaka couldn't help but miss the glorious taste of ready-made convenience store meals.
Suddenly the villagers all stopped; they began whispering and pointing. Sayaka and Clifford turned to see a small band of men riding on horseback. The group was lead by a man on a dark brown horse. The first man had blonde hair that was already starting show signs of greying. He was dressed in a fine crimson doublet, announcing to the world that he was a nobleman.
To the left of him was another man, holding a rectangular banner which depicted red, steel-plate gauntlets that were grasped tight, which stood out against the grey field. To the right, riding on a much smaller horse, was a boy a bit younger than Sayaka with curly hair; unlike the rest of the small party of riders who seemed in high spirits or at least neutral, he was looking downwards with a miserable expression, like he had just had an awful day.
The party came to a stop and dismounted. The nobleman was greeted by an official with a short ginger beard, who was wearing a feathered cap.
"Greetings, Lord Cornwell, how was the hunting trip?"
"It was some of the best fun I had in years. How is my wife doing?"
"She is in good health; better not keep her waiting," Lord Cornwell said as he shoved his horse reins into the boy's hands without giving him a second thought and wandered off to his keep.
By this point the townsfolk lost interest and went back to what they were doing, Sayaka was about to do the same when she noticed that Clifford scowled at Lord Cornwell.
"Is something wrong, Clifford?"
"I think I have seen Lord Cornwell before, and if I'm right, we might want to leave this town as soon as possible." Clifford's eye never left the Lord.
Sayaka wasn't eager to find out what he meant.
The rest of the day passed without incident, though the friendly atmosphere was now ruined by a sense of dread. After everyone completed their task, the trio had gathered around a table in a local inn.
"So, Clifford, what is it about Lord Cornwell that you find so distasteful?" Charles asked before taking a sip of ale.
Clifford expression darkened as his mind turned to bleak memories. "It was during the twilight of Robert's Rebellion. King's Landing had fallen, devasted by the Lannisters; my brother and I still worked as squires for our father, so we part of Robert Baratheon's army. The violence had stopped a week early, but the smell of death and blood was still thick in the air, the bodies were being piled onto the backs of carts, both Stark and Lannister were constantly glaring at each other, the tension was so thick you could cut through it with a knife.
"While nobles sorted things out, we ended up resting at the inn." Clifford stopped as scowl of disgust appeared on his face. "Just down the street, there was a small house with a door that was covered in blood; next to it, a crooked banner with the crimson gauntlet on it. Against my better judgment, I asked about the house. The one who answered me was a young woman who had lost her hand recently. During the sack, an armoured group of men went down to the house and then started chopping the inhabitants to pieces; the only survivor was the young woman telling the story. The man leading this group was a sellsword called Andrew Cornwell."
Sayaka felt the room go cold; even after everything she had seen, such horrific things still managed to turn her stomach.
"He murdered all those innocent people, and they gave a town to rule over!" Sayaka shouted, unable to comprehend the insanity she had just heard fully.
"An unfortunate reality of war," Charles explained, "If you lose, everyone is up in arms about your crimes and the victors' hammer of justice deal a swift punishment, and your name is damned throughout history; but if you win, you are held as a hero and your crimes swept under the rug and forgotten."
Sayaka wished to argue against Charles' points, but after seeing how unjust the world was, she couldn't really say he was wrong, even as every fibre of her being was disgusted by it.
"Though I do understand why you might be uneasy around the man, I must point out that thousands of men took part in the sack and doubt all of them were as monstrous as Sir Gregor Clegane."
"It isn't just what he did that unsettles me; according to a young woman, he seemed to take pleasure in the act of murder."
"You mean like bloodlust, or the other kinda of pleasure?" Charles asked.
"The other kind," Clifford's answer causing some colour r to fade from Charles' face, as the former tax collector pushed his meal of dried mushrooms away.
"Suddenly I'm in full agreement with Sir Clifford; we should leave as soon as possible unless our Sayaka has any other ideas?"
Both Charles and Clifford looked to Sayaka for an answer.
It was only then that it dawned on Sayaka how strange it was. These were grown men who had way more experience than she did, and at least one of them was way smarter than her, and yet she seemed to get the final word on every major decision; talk about pressure.
"After hearing that story, I'm eager to get out this place as soon as possible."
The rest of the day was spent getting their horse and cart while getting their refund from the ship captain, before getting a room at an inn. By nightfall, Clifford and Charles were fast asleep, but Sayaka just couldn't relax enough to drift off.
She just kept thinking about Lord Cornwell. The idea that anyone could sadistically murder all those people and get rewarded for it, and go about their daily life as if it never happened… it was a hard pill to swallow and pissed Sayaka off. Not too long ago, she would've run off and try to impulsively beat the crap out of him. But that wouldn't really accomplish anything but make more trouble for Clifford and Charles.
Still, Sayaka really needs to blow off steam otherwise she wouldn't get any sleep. Luckily it was a full moon tonight so Sayaka would be able to go out; she would go just a bit further down the road and then she would come back. The teenager carefully got out of bed, taking care not to disturb anyone else, and walked out the front door.
If there was one feature about this world that was better than her own, it was the night sky. Without any light pollution, the stars were able to boldly shine, creating an amazing, majestic view.
Sayaka's star gazing was interrupted by the sound of feet walking across the dirt road.
"Where do you think the brat went?" The voice was of old, hard, annoyed man went.
"Giving state, he was in, couldn't have gotten far." The second man sounds uneasy, nervous, and full of dread. "I hope we do find him; otherwise I don't want to be anywhere near Lord Cornwell."
Upon hearing this Sayaka ducked behind a nearby fence to keep out of sight. This definitely needed looking into, but who were they looking for? Must have been pretty young to be referred to as a brat.
That was when Sayaka heard someone crying; it was pretty faint. She began carefully approaching the source until she reached a tree just outside the town.
"Hello," Sayaka said carefully.
The cry stopped. "Don't come any closer!" a young boy weakly sniffed out a threat.
Sayaka took one step around a tree, to see a boy. It was the same boy who had come into town with Lord Cornwell, and he was in an absolute horrible state: a black eye and several small, deep cuts on his arm. He was grasping a tiny knife in a shaking hand, his expression filled with fear and mad desperation.
"Stay back!" The boy blurted out while pointing his weapon weakly at Sayaka.
She raised her hands. "I don't…"
The boy lunged forward, Sayaka acted immediately, grabbing his arm and placing a hand over his arm.
"Look I know you're hurt and that you are scared, but I just want to help. Please calm down and then explain what is going on."
A few seconds passed, and the boy stopped shaking.