Sins from the past

The rise of the Vonder family brought joy to some and fear and headaches to others. Some, such as Prince Seigmur, Habdlan, and former Van Ferra business partners, had benefited greatly. Others, such as the princess Mable, the Van Trell family, or the Liev's Tower masters, had suffered to a greater or lesser extent. But of all of them, the most vocal was Sven Van Ferra.

'That poser, that country rat, that starving peasant, is living in my house, in my mansion,' he yelled again in front of the tired eyes and ears of his family.

Ever since the Vonders were granted ownership of the former Van Ferra statehold, Sven kept cursing on and on. His new routine was to spy on the De Vonder mansion from afar and then go to a bar, get drunk, scream all the time that 'it wasn't fair', go back to his humble home, and complain to his family.

'Oh, shut up!' cried Emer. 'Every day is the same bullshit. We're no longer nobles, we're not rich, there are no servants, we are not the powerful house of Van Ferra, we're a bunch of poor nobodys who survive as they can, and you're a worthless mercenary with whom no one wants to work and a drunkard. This is all your fault.'

A few seconds passed, Sven's hand moved at a feline speed, and the slap left Emer dizzy. Before he recovered, Sven's fist hit him again. Emer lost his balance and fell to the ground.

'How dare you?' asked Sven as he kicked Emer in the ribs.

'I am your father, a magician, a nobleman, I am the one who puts the food on the table.' With every expression, Sven kicked Emer. 'You fat fool,' Sven said, raising his hand, as his fire magic began to concentrate.

'The regulators!' Biela screamed.

Sven stopped and stood there, frozen. The heat in his hand dissipated. He turned around. 'When I come back, I don't want to see him here,' Sven ordered, getting out of the house.

Biela sat back on the chair at the table in the living room/kitchen with a sigh. She didn't really care if Sven killed Emer; he was a failed, fat man who was unable to do anything useful. But if Sven killed him, the regulators would jail him. Sven was the only member of the family who was able to produce some money. Biela looked at her hands, her fingers wrapped to cover the cuts and punctures. She had had to learn to wash dishes, cook, clean the house, and sew, among others, but she still didn't get used to it. Her life was a living hell. The family from which she descended cut all relations with the Van Ferra once they fell into misery. Biela's only option was to find a husband candidate for Martel. Martel was in the other room, which he shared with Emer; she hid in there as soon as Sven got drunk and began to yell.

'Get the fuck up!' cried Biela to Emer.

Emer rose up in pain, with a broken and bleeding lip.

'Get out of here as soon as possible.'

Biela's words made Emer forget the pain in his ribs and face. "What am I going to do? I have no money, no work, no place to live, or anything to eat; they only taught me how to manage the family's lands, and there is nothing to manage; I can't do anything else; I'm not a brute; I'm an administrator; the family has fallen into misery; no one will want a Van Ferra to administer their property."

'Get Out! Leave now!' Yelled Biela.

'But where am I supposed to go?' asked Emer.

Viela approached him and, standing face-to-face, said, 'I don't care!'

'This is not my fault. You guys put everything in favor of Clinton when he became a magician. I was supposed to be the future heir to the family.' emer complained.

'I don't care about your nonsense or what you think; just leave before that loser you call your father's comes back,' replied Biela, moving away from Emer.

'I am your son!'

Biela looked again into Emer's eyes; her gaze was cold and her voice indifferent. 'You're only a stinking, fat, and useless excuse of a man, just a mouth to feed. I don't care what happens to you or what you do with your patetic life.'

After the initial shock, Emer's mind filled with rage. He screamed at the top of his lungs, grabbed the kitchen knife, and stabbed Biela several times. Biela was too thin and weak to resist; she fell to the ground. Emer laid on her and continued stabbing her as the blood spread on the floor. When he was tired of stabbing his mother, Emer rose up. He was covered in blood, and with a smile on his face, he walked to the room he shared with his sister. When Martel saw him, she began to scream.

'Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!' Emer repeated as he stabbed her to death, then he walked outside the house bathed in blood with a knife in his hand.

When the neighbors saw him, a woman began to scream, and Emer threw himself on her like a maniac. A nearby mercenary pulled out his sword and cut off his forearm. Emer fell on his knees, shouting while holding the bloody stump of his forearm; the mercenary's sword passed through his chest.

Sven was at a bar drinking cheap beer when he got the news. Sven went back to his house with no hurry; the knights and guards were already in the place. His reaction was very indifferent; he answered a few questions, and then he just turned around and went back to the bar. Now, drunker than before, he openly berrated the De Vonder family in front of the amazed gaze of the locals. No one would dare publicly offend a family with two titled fire magicians, rumored to have close relations to the royal family.

'I know what you're talking about,' another drunkard aproached Sven.

'You don't know shit. That filthy De Vonder dog was in my house; we invited him out of kindness when he was a nobody; he ate at my table, you know. I was a high-class nobleman.' Sven began to beat himself in the chest. 'A rich and respected man. I was invited to the big parties, and the royal family had great respect for me. One day, the regulators showed up at my house. They killed my son with absurd accusations; they took my land and my mansion. Now they give it all to that son of a whore.'

'I know some stuff about Xavier De Vonder's past; I know the things he did when he was a wanted criminal; I can give you that information for a fair price, that is,' the drunkard commented in a low voice.

Sven poured him a drink from his rum bottle, which brought a smile to the drunken man's face.

'I saw the Vonders by chance a few days ago. I recognized Xavier. A few years ago, before the Dragon War, he was a wanted criminal in the dynasty who escaped to Veldat.'

'Everyone knows that,' said Sven, annoyed.

The drunken man continued to speak in a whispered voice. 'Yes, what they do not know is that, while he was in Veldat, he was called Aleum, and he joined a group of mercenaries called Marea. Shortly after, the war between Veltat and the dynasty started. Xavier de Vonder was part of the assault on the citadel of Mennor, where Dalila, the mistress of his good friend, the third prince, was tortured, raped, and killed.'

Sven's eyes opened, his drunkenness had decreased considerably, and his mind was filled with all sorts of machinations and ideas.

'But that's not all.'

Sven's look was inquisitive. But the drunkard said nothing more.

'How much do you ask for?' asked Sven.

'A gold coin.'

Sven laughed. 'I am a mercenary with whom no one wants to do business. Do you think I have a gold coin?' asked Sven.

'Meh... at least buy me a bottle of decent rum.'

Sven went to the bar and came back with a bottle. The drunkard looked at the liquid inside the crystal and licked his lips.

'You better tell me something good,' Sven warned him.

'After the attack on Mennor and the death of Dalila, the Dynasty took the invasion seriously. The kingdom had no interest in a total war; the invading army of Veldat would not receive reinforcements, so they decided to separate and attack the villages and towns without approaching the citadels. Xavier de Vonder devised a plan; he knew the terrain and knew how to get around Farpas and get to other areas. We attacked a town called Humol and its villages. As far as I know, Xavier had his family killed by the army. Along with the mercenaries of Marea, they murdered the family and servants of the lord of Humol and then burned the house; only one girl survived. He is a traitor who killed many of his fellow countrymen and even his own family.'

Sven was all smiles. He gave the bottle to the drunk and left the bar. He went to the house in which he lived. There was blood everywhere. The owner of the house he rented demanded the cleaning of the place.

'The funeral costs must be paid,' complained the man.

Sven looked at him with contempt, entered the house, and picked up his scarce belongings.

'You bury them; it is your house, isn't it?' He said to the man, leaving without paying attention to his demands.

A few days later, Sven was frustrated. He had no way to approach the prince; all the nobles rejected his requests for an audience. In the end, he could do nothing with the information he had. After thinking for a few days and wondering a little, he got wind that the girl who survived the massacre was the daughter of Efrir of Exel. The girl had grown up in the care of one of her uncles, who was now in charge of administering the lands of Humol. Humol's new master paid no attention to him, but the girl did.

'I am honored and glad that you agree to receive me, Miss de Exel.' Having to bow down to an inferior noble was painful, but it was the only option Sven had.

'Speak mercenary. I don't have all day' the girl had the classic prepotent behavior of all young poor nobles. She had inherited the brown skin of her father; her eyes were brown, and her black, straight hair covered her ears. She was about fourteen years old, Sven calculated.

Sven swallowed his pride for the greater good. 'I have information concerning the death of your mother.' These words had an effect on the girl. "That was all I needed," Sven thought.

Sven told the girl everything he knew about Xavier, his time as Aleum, his involvement in the attack on Mennor, and how he was the strategist behind the attack upon Humol and other Farpas towns and villages.

'All this information can be easily confirmed; the spies of the dynasty in Veldat can find out this and a lot more, my lady.'

'What do you want in exchange for this information, mercenary?' asked the girl.

'Nothing,' said Sven. 'I just want that peasant to pay for his crimes.' Sven got up and left the household of the Exels.

That same afternoon, the girl was telling her uncle what had happened; the information would get to Habdlan's ears a day later. A few weeks later, Habdlan met with Prince Seigmur.

'That bastard!' yelled the prince, his red face, furrowed eyebrows, and clenched jaw. 'I'm going to kill them all. Because of idiots like him, I lost Dalila and the support of her family. I wouldn't find myself in such a weak position if it weren't for what happened in Mennor. My power in court was reduced to almost nothing; the titled magicians and masters bowed to my sister and left me aside. All my work went to shit.'

'I understand your anger, majesty, but we can't get rid of those Vonders yet. We've lost progress with Uruk; he almost never comes to visit; he's obsessed with dragon eggs; he spends almost all his time in the jungle of Morr.'

'Get all the dragon eggs you find,' said the prince.

'Majesty?'

'The dragon eggs are useless anyway. They won't hatch, so we might use them to lure the vonders in. First we will regain confidence and closeness with Uruk, and then we will kill Xavier,' replied the prince.

'Poisoning won't work. He's very paranoid; he doesn't eat anything that hasn't been tasted by others first; our only option is a direct murder,' Habdlan reminded him.

The prince fell onto the couch with a sigh. 'If we use assasins, the boys will know that some nobleman is behind it. That could help us put the Vonder's against my sister.'

'Perhaps, but thats a dangerous game. Uruk is very unstable; he could attack the royal palace on his own and ruin our plans,' Habdlan commented. 'But don't worry, Your Majesty, I have a plan. Remember the Exels?'

Yes, what about them?′

'Although the current lord of Humol does not really care so much about the matter, Efrir's daughter, Natasha, wants revenge. I have given a large sum of money to the Lord of Humol to allow the young woman to go as a servant to the mansion of the De Vonder. No one would suspect the girl. Once Xavier is dead, we will decapitate the Lord of Humol and that fool of Sven van Ferra to align ourselves with the De Vonder. If we are lucky, when we take the palace, the Vonder will be killed by the masters of the tower. If not, we will poison them later,' Habdlan explained.

'What if Xavier survives? She's just a girl; I don't think she can kill him.'

'I know that girl. After the death of her father, she has become a dangerous woman. She reminds me very much of your sister; she is cold and methodical. Anyway, if it fails, we'll kill the Exels and Van Ferra anyway. As long as Xavier is alive, we will not be able to control the two young magicians. But we can still trick them into our plans.'

The two men continued plotting plans until the middle of the night.