[u]Chapter Two[/u]
Luckily for Darius and Ian, the walk (or rather, the [i]fast[/i] walk) to the old man's house was only a few short minutes. Without the rain it would have been shorter, or at least it would have seemed shorter. But again, neither Darius nor Ian cared about the rain.
For a second Darius thought the man lived in one of the city's hotels, for when they stopped they stood in front of a whopping three-story building, the door bordered with silver, and some sort of gold-plated shield fastened to the top middle of the door. Such a manor reminded Darius of the luxurious manors in the Imperial City, but he also thought perhaps this particular manor beat all of them. It wasn't just that the manor was three-stories tall. No, it was more than that. A certain vibe that Darius couldn't quite put his finger on.
A balcony rested at the third level, a place of comfort that the old man used in times of hardship and when he simply needed to be alone. In fact, the man had been sitting up there when his servant had made him aware of Darius' and his men's presence, but under the roof of course and out of the rain.
"Here we are!" The old man announced. "Please, please, follow me out of this rain!"
He opened the door to the manor, and the three walked in.
The first thing Darius noticed once they were inside was that the old man had an obvious love for plant life. The room they entered was a large one that seemed to be the foyer of the manor, and strewn about where various types of flowers of all different sizes and colors. Darius wasn't a botanist by any means, but nevertheless he found the flowers absolutely gorgeous.
Also in the room where two young Imperial men, both of them wearing a black and white suit with their hair gelled back. Darius easily recognized them as servants. They looked rather fancy, and both of them were placing some sort of portrait on the wall. It was a painting of the old man himself, and beside him were two children; a boy on his left and a girl on his right. Both had colorful blonde hair, unlike the old man's hair that was as white as the fur of the wolves that prowled the snowy Jerall Mountains.
But they didn't stay in the foyer for long. After the old man whispered in the two servants' ears, they quickly left the room heading for an open doorway in the far right corner. After they left the old man smiled and motioned for Darius and Ian to follow him through an open doorway in the far left corner. And that is exactly what they did.
Through the doorway they went, and then immediately up a flight of stairs, and then yet another flight until they finally reached the third level. They walked down a hallway decorated with various portraits and paintings, most bearing the children and the old man. Surprisingly there was no woman to be found in neither the portraits nor the paintings. No mother to accompany the father. Darius thought this exceptionally strange, but he said nothing, mostly because it wasn't any of his business.
At the end of the hallway was a door, a door with a similar silver frame the outside entrance had. Like the front door, this one had a decorative shield as well, but unlike the front door, it was red instead of orange. To Darius it looked like painted stone. Chiseled into the stone was VENCINE, in fancy writing that took Darius a few seconds to make out. But as soon as he actually made the writing out, the old man opened the door and told them to step inside.
Inside was the old man's room. There was a large bed in the far corner, a couple of desks, a few dressers, several books shelves, plants scattered about throughout the room, and plenty more portraits and painting on the cream-colored walls. Looking at the cane and then the walls, Darius noticed they were the exact same color.
"Welcome, welcome!" The old man said. "As I'm sure you're already aware, this is my bedroom. The entrance to the holding chambers of my wealth is in here somewhere, but before we get to that I would like to introduce myself. I would have already done so, yet I thought we'd wait until we escaped the rain's pelting arrows.
The old man bowed, his long, stringy wet hair dangling over his head, hair not yet quite as white as his beard.
"My name is Remulas Vencine, owner of this magnificent manor. But please, do refer to me as Remy. That was my nickname during my years at the Arcane University a long, long time ago, and I've grown quite partial to it over the years."
Darius did a short bow of his own.
"You already know who I am. This here is my great friend, Ian Goldsmith."
The old man's eyebrows rose with curiosity.
"A Redguard with a last name? How strange. Such a thing is quite…rare, if I may. Or at least, I've never encountered many a Redguard with a last name."
Ian chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "I was raised by a family of Imperials, pretty much from birth if I remember right. The last name isn't really my true last name. I've never met my real parents."
"Oh, I am sorry for bringing up such a sad remembrance."
"Don't be. Like my adopted father liked to always say, "What you do not know cannot hurt you'."
Remulas smiled. "Ah, and what a true saying that is! Now, enough with the chit-chat. We all know why you two are here, and it certainly isn't to stand here and listen to me ramble along like the old geezer that I am! Please, follow my lead and I'll show you to my holding chamber."
Remy limped over to the bookshelf closest to his bed, the soft pitter-patter of his cane against the carpet the only sound in the entire room. He grabbed the brass handle of an unlit candle stick on the middle part of the three-row shelf and tugged. A rumbling vibration began to fill the room, and as Remy began to walk backwards the shelf swung open, revealing an open entrance into an extremely dimly lit tunnel.
At first Darius and Ian saw nothing much but darkness, but as they stepped forward to where Remy was standing, they saw the few torches that lined the stone walls of the very thin corridor.
"And this," Remy began, a smile spread across his face, "is the hidden pathway to the hidden entrance of my hidden chambers. Follow me, and do please be careful. There isn't much room in this tunnel, and if one is not careful they'll bump their arms and legs."
Darius and Ian trailed behind Remy as he led them into the hidden entrance, the warmth from the many candles back inside the room fading little by little, until behind them the bookshelf itself closed back to its original space once everyone was inside the dark, stone passageway.
Down the tunnel they went, until finally coming to another door. Except this one had no silver frame, nor did it have any fancy shield. It was as plain as a door could be, and with one mutter of Remy's breath it swung open with a speed so slow that Darius thought Remy was doing it on purpose for effect.
But as the door opened, the tunnel began glowing with a shimmering light that actually blinded Darius and Ian for a second. They quickly shielded their eyes with their forearms, and once they regained their eyesight the door had fully opened, and what they saw next was something they had only dream of. Through the doorway was a large room, a room at least two times as big as Remy's room. Covering almost the entire floor of the room were gold coins, gems, silver and gold cups, and other various and expensive items. The room glowed from the beauty of the riches, helped along by the torches that lined the walls as well.
"I…what…by Talos," Darius whispered, amazed at what he was seeing, wondering for the slightest second if he was dreaming.
Remy laughed a deep laugh that filled the corridor. He stepped inside the room and onto a bare path on the stone floor. He snatched one of the torches from the walls and motioned for Darius and Ian to come. For what seemed like an eternity they simply stood there, gawking at what had to have been millions upon millions worth of gold and other treasures. Finally Darius took a deep breath and stepped forward, Ian following close behind just a second later.
"So, am I still lying?" Remy asked, chuckling.
Darius shook his head. "I never thought you were outright lying. I just…I…"
"You didn't trust me."
"Right. Sorry."
"There's no need for an apology, Darius. I'm not surprised in the least that you didn't trust me at first. In fact, I would have been an eency bit tentative if you [i]had[/i] trusted me from the get-go. 'A man must earn trust', or so said my father." He looked over at Ian and smiled. "It appears your father isn't the only one with clever sayings."
"Indeed," Ian said, his eyes not having yet left the gold.
Remy picked up a handful of coins and then let them fall by back down into the enormous pile on the ground.
"Now that this has been taken care of, I presume that we are in agreement?"
"Yes," Darius said. "But we need to know more of this Kjeld the Bold, and also of this Rockthorn Island. I don't believe I've ever heard of either."
"Unfortunately there isn't a whole lot I can say, for I've never actually been the island myself, and I've only met with Kjeld once. I'll tell you this, though, the Nord is a snake. If I wouldn't have needed the money I never would have sold my children to him to begin with."
And the fact that Remy had sold off his kids to a slaver finally hit Darius, and rather hard at that. Before, Darius and Ian were too concerned about the gold. However, now that the novelty was starting to wear out, he realized that he didn't yet trust this man as much as he thought he did. Darius didn't have any kids of his own, but at the same time he couldn't even dream of selling his kids into slavery if he did have any.
"About that…why did you sell your children into slavery?"
"I'm sorry, Darius, but such a question you are not entitled to. It's a very shameful story, and I do not wish to speak of it ever again."
"Yes, of course, I'm sorry I asked."
"Again, Darius, you don't have to be sorry. Curiosity is as natural as breathing. Let me just say this. I was in dire need of help, and Kjeld was the only man who would give me that help. The way he explained things was that I was only giving my kids up for a few months, until I scrounged up enough gold to buy them back. But apparently that wasn't the case, and Kjeld won't even recognize me. I sent a letter to him weeks ago, and he replied saying that he didn't know who I was. I told you the Nord was a snake!"
"What about all of this gold? All of this…stuff?" Ian asked, his eyes having finally left the treasures and riches strewn across the floor.
Now he was looking into Remy's eyes, attempting to figure out whether the old man could be trusted or not. In the beginning he didn't care simply because he wanted the gold, but now he wondered. Where did it all come from? And apparently it had all come suddenly. How?
"Again, these aren't questions of your concern. Let me tell you this…Ian, since your eyes are telling me that you're having doubts about all of this as well. I obtained these riches legally. I swear to Talos on that."
Ian looked to Darius, who simply shrugged his shoulder. Deep down inside, neither of them trusted Remy. But at the same time, they could say that for a vast majority of their past clients, and it hadn't stopped them then.
"Fine," Darius said, motioning with his hand for Ian to back down with the questions. "We'll do it. Still, that doesn't change the fact that we know literally nothing of this Kjeld, nor do we know anything about Rockthorn Island. I take it I should already know of these people?"
"Well, I would say so," Remy began, "But on the other hand I'm not surprised. Kjeld likes to keep things hush, if you know what I mean. And don't even think the Emperor cares, because he doesn't. I went to him and told him about the slave children, but he sent me away calling me insane. The worst thing about it, though, is that I'm not sure whether he knows about the slaving mines or not. I really don't. Something tells me Kjeld goes at great lengths to make it seem as if nothing is afoot. I know all of this sounds crazy, but it's true. And you may not believe that there are slaving mines to begin with, but you'll simply have to trust me. As for more information, though, I'll have to give you a name of a person I know in Anvil."
"Why a person in Anvil rather than yourself?" Ian asked.
"Because I don't know anything else myself," Remy replied curtly, his eyes squinting at the Redguard. He was starting to dislike Ian and his pestering questions. "You act as if I am trying to stab you in the back, when in reality all I want is my children back." Then he looked back to Darius. "Now, do you want to the name of the informant or not?"
"Of course we do. Don't mistake Ian's attitude for rudeness. He only wants best for our team. Surely you can understand that."
"Yes, I do. Excuse my terseness as well. Now, the informant. His name is Shabae Assonirishpal. He's a Dunmer, obviously. Worry not, though, he's harmless. Crazy perhaps, but harmless. Now, please do leave as soon as possible. I wish to see my children." He handed Darius a small blue jewel. "Here is an amulet that will allow us to communicate. Just rub the sides, and if I'm available, you'll hear my voice."
"What?" Darius asked, confused at such an item. "How does it work?"
Remy shook his head. "It's too complicated. And no offence to you, Darius, but you probably wouldn't understand it anyway."
"Very well, we'll get your children. But you're going to five us half of the gold right now."
"Excuse me?"
Darius shot a look at Ian, and even he looked surprised.
"This is a dangerous mission. While I do trust you, you're still a stranger to me. There's no telling whether you'll end up backstabbing us. I do trust you, but I'll trust you even more if you're willing to give us half the gold right now."
"And what if [i]I[/i] don't trust [i]you[/i]?"
"Our organization is known throughout the province. If I were to lie to you then you'd easily be able to get your revenge. Please, sir, give us half now and half when we bring you your children. I swear you can trust me."
Darius extended a hand and for a moment Remy didn't even look at it. Instead he glared into Darius' eyes, not sure whether he was trustworthy or not. In the end, though, he figured he was. And besides, trust was a mutual tool.
"Very well, you'll get half now."
The two shook hands and Darius nodded.
"Ian and I will go for our men and we'll be back for the gold. And don't worry about transporting the gold, because we have plenty of bags and a few crates."
The two's hands parted, and Darius and Ian left the hidden room of riches. Ian still didn't fully trust the man, but that was okay. Darius didn't either.