The Paladin Order Reformed - Chapter 39

We finished our briefing, the plan we developed wasn’t extremely creative, but that didn’t matter as long as it worked. Our plan entailed me infiltrating Whitehall, the capital of the Lord’s Union located 250 miles northeast of Hampton, while everyone else enforced the stronghold and massed more men.

This part would be more important than my mission, if we had any chance of persuading the King of the Lord’s Union, then we need to have enough of men to back up our claims. Rett told me we could expect up to 1,500 or 2,000 wolf-men, depending on how many found our message. Although, I’m not going to leave it up to chance, while we were refining our plan I convinced Rett to send 20 of his best men from the recon unit to locate and recruit any Moon Claws they could find.

While Rett’s men did their magic, Sir Richard would try and recruit some of his old friends that he was able to contact. We needed to locate any remaining Knights of the Order, the best choice of action is to use the chaos to organize a retaliation force before the Forsaken could crush us before we grew into a threat.

I, on the other hand, would infiltrate Whitehall and discreetly make contact with Sir William Sone, the King of the Lords’s Union. We haven’t been able to gather much information on the state of his court or his kingdom in general, but he should still be in the capital. That’s the only thing we do know, and we aren’t even completely sure about that.

I had to make a decision, do I bring some men in the case I’m discovered and I need to fight my way out? Or do I use my stealth experience and go in alone? But then I would risk the possibility of being caught and then killed.

It’s a decision that I spent hours mulling over in the confines of my empty room. To be honest, I didn’t think that I would return back here so soon, but the universe is full of surprises I suppose. I sat there idly strumming my mandola, trying to make a decision until.

My thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at my door, perplexed as to who would visit me, I set down my mandola and opened the door. The figure on the other side was none other than jake, the good-natured rouge himself, wearing an impossibly large grin. He seemed giddy, but I returned the sentiment. I hadn’t seen him since before I met Lili, I had feared the worst since I hadn’t seen him manning the wall during the siege.

Enthusiastically, I step forward and wrap him in a tight bear hug. He did the same before beating my back a couple of times with well-intentioned slaps. He grabbed my shoulders and yelled.

“Christian! I’m so glad you’re alive, I was so worried about you! Aliece was the only way I knew you were still alive, thank god for that bound wisp.” I smiled infectiously and summoned Shade saying.

“You mean Shade? That’s her name, but anyway, how are you doing? Did everything go alright? Did you find your sister and mother?” I asked worriedly as shade began floating aimlessly.

His eyes brighten, he stepped to the side and said. “How about you ask them yourself?”

Past him ran a little girl with black shoulder-length hair and bright emerald green eyes and a small frame. She grabbed onto my waist, nearly tackling me in the process. She squealed with excitement saying.

“Are you Christian? My brother has told me so many good things about you, he said you beat up an Archdemon with your bare hands, he said you can fly and shoot lasers out of your eyeballs. Show me!! Show me!!” She demanded while crushing my waist with surprising strength. Confused, I look at Jake while he tried suppressing his laughter. Scowling I said.

“As Jake knows,” I add pointedly. “I can’t fire lasers indoors, I like to save that for special occasions, it’s supposed to be secret.”

I suppose I could “technically” fire lasers from my eyes if I were to cast [Arrow of Light] close to my eyes, but why would I? More importantly, what has Jake been telling this girl?

She looks down, slightly disappointed, but quickly recovers and said. “Thank you for saving my brother and my mom and me. I really missed my brother ever since those bad men took him away from us, mom said he went to a better place, but I’m glad he came back. I would wait for him every day, I was so happy when he actually came back.” Even as she said this with a child’s innocence, I could see Jake turn away in grief laced in his eyes. I kneeled to look her in her eyes and asked.

“How about we introduce ourselves? I’m Knight Christian of the Paladin Order, I was your brother’s best friend when we were fighting. What’s your name?” I asked, she beamed at my question, then let go of my waist and curtsied like a little princess.

“I’m Cassandra, but you can call me Cassie. All my friends call me Cassie, you’re my friend, ok? We’re going to be best friends, just like you are with my brother. I’m going to be even better friends with you than my brother is, see Jake, I’m his bestest friend. Beat that!” Jake just smiles at her provocation.

I asked Cassie. “How old are you?” She stood up proudly with her chin lifted high, saying.

“I’m 9 years old, my birthday’s soon. I’m almost a grown-up! I want a pony for my birthday, my mom won’t get me one, will you get me one Christian? Pretty please? We’ll be even better bestest friends!” She promises.

Her cuteness compels me to listen, almost forcing me. Her puppy dog eyes entrance me, “I don’t think I can refuse.” I think.

Before I can respond, a voice commands Cassie. “Don’t bother Sir Christian, he’s done a lot already. I don’t think he appreciates your demands.”

I look back to see a middle-aged woman in the corridor next to Jake. She’s slender, but she seems to have only recently started gaining weight. She has clear green-blue eyes like the churning sea, but she has bags under her sullen eyes.

Her long black hair is peppered with grey strains and her tight smile hides the verge of a frown. She seems to have born great weight on her shoulders, I can guess that from what I know and just from looking at her. She frowns slightly at my worried gaze, but then steps forward and bows in front of me.

She said as bowed. “Thank you for helping Jake, you rescued us from the terrible lives were living and gave us a new beginning. I can’t thank you enough Sir Christian, you’re the most benevolent man I ever met.” I was deeply touched by her words, but still, they didn’t sit quite right.

I lifted her head and said humbly. “I just did what I thought was right, It’s one of the few things I haven’t messed up. Please, you don’t have to be so humble around me, what I did was just to repay the kindness of my friend.” I smiled at Cassie as she tried to catch Shade as she floated just out of her reach, then said. “So, I take it you like Hampton? I hope Sir Richard hasn’t worked you to the bone.”

She shook her head smiling and said. “No, no, he’s been very kind to us. He’s given us a place to stay and a stable job. I can’t thank him or you enough.”

We continued to talk for a few hours, mostly about their family and what happened in Jake’s absence. Mrs. Parsons did her best to omit the worst parts, but I could tell that they struggled. I imagine she did everything she could just to feed Cassie since I can’t imagine she was eating very much.

When Jake returned he was able to pay off their family debts, but it took all the remaining gold he had. They had to sell their home and most of their possessions for the trip home. I could tell it didn’t matter much to them, it was the first time they had truly felt freedom, maybe ever.

After returning Mrs. Parsons worked for Sir Richard as his maid and caretaker, which I found pretty humorous. I imagine Sir Richard had hoped I wouldn’t find out about that, but I guess I shouldn’t heckle the old man too much. I’ve just returned after all.

After every story had been told and daylight started to wane, Cassie and Mrs. Parsons excused themselves, but Jake lingered. Once they left I questioned him, asking.

“You need something, Jake?” He sat on my bed adjacent to my desk where I was, then said. “I heard you’re going to Whitehall, when were your going to tell me? You were going to take me right?”

I recoiled slightly, he caught me red-handed. I was leaning towards going in alone, I didn’t want to risk anyone else’s lives. I looked him in his eyes and said with steel.

“You know what could happen if you go with me, your family just reunited with you, how do you think they would feel if you were to die right after seeing you again? Do you think I would be able to look at your mother in her eyes as I told her what happened to you? How about your sister, do you think her “savior” would be able to explain why she would never see her brother again?” I looked away and quietly said. “If anyone deserves to die, it’s me. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself If you were to die on my watch.”

He stood up and held my gaze before he simply asked. “How would I feel? How do you think I would feel if you died when I could have helped you? I’m not a liability Christian. You may think you’re some kind of one-man army, but what happens when someone slips a blade between your ribs when you aren’t looking?” He squats to look me in the eyes.

“We’ve been through a lot of stuff together, we’ve been through stuff kids our age should never have to, but you know as well as I do that there are things that need to be done. This needs to be done, but I don’t have to let you go at it alone, you can rely on me. Please, let me help you.”

My own fears drove me to want to refuse, the gruesome scene in the barn flashed through my eyes, but with Jake in its stead. My own thoughts willed me to rebuff him, I clenched my fist until my knuckles turned white. I looked up and said against my own discretion.

“Fine! Just don’t die on me. That’s my only requirement.” He grabbed my hand in a firm shake and said. “You have yourself a deal, when are we heading out?” I told him in the morning and gave the general detail of my plan. He went to his room and I got some sleep, we’d have a long travel ahead of us tomorrow.”