The Lost Ones. Ch.14

Chapter 14

The Best Intentions, Part Five

“I hereby ordain this town, Paladin’s Rise!” Sully cheered along with the gathered crowds.

And it was crowded these days. Over a thousand souls now resided inside his former village, with dozens over the level of thirty and an average level of ten in the population. It was amazing!

Joe allowed himself a moment to bask in his accomplishments. If any lingering worries still existed, he could finally put them to rest. He was indeed a self-made hero, and the people loved him.

As he waved to the crowds, he felt a lightness in his chest that was something he had not felt since his first act of charity as a child. He had been coming out of a store with his parents, armloads of new toys being carried by them, and seen a small boy staring longingly at one of the action figures in the window.

The look of hopelessness on the kid’s face had touched him for some reason. Without even thinking about it, he grabbed the toy from his stack of purchases and ran over, handing it to the boy.

The boy’s mother had protested, but his parents sorted it out.

The way the boy looked at Joe when he finally got that toy… was a feeling he had been chasing every moment of his life since.

And now, again, he felt it.

Overjoyed, he wanted to share this joy with someone, someone who mattered. His party members would never understand. They had only known him as the Paladin who led the way. Cristoff and Annalise, on the other hand, had been there that first night.

It was long past the time that Annalise should have come to realize her mistake.

And if not, well, maybe he could forgive her for loving a lesser man.

Maybe.

At that moment, he just needed to share his joy with someone.

“Any idea where Annalise is living these days?” He asked a passing villager, one he recognized as being from the original village.

“Only that they were living in the Hall a while ago,” The villager bowed, and he waved them away. Moving to the large Hall next proved pointless. No one had lived there in months. It was now, apparently, a training area for the Crafters.

That stumped him for a while, so he started to use the tried and true method of simply walking around and looking.

He knew that Annalise was a fighter, so he checked the Guard's barracks and the Training Guild. No sign at either place. It was almost funny. A city of a scant thousand people and no sign of the one person he wanted to find.

Frustrated, he headed for the main gate. If nothing else, he could find out if she had left today.

“Annalise?” The guard frowned. “The outcast?”

“What do you mean, Outcast?” Joe frowned at the Guardsman.

“She was driven from the village, along with that husband of hers,” The Guard said in a tone that suggested Joe should have known that. “Because of their betrayal of you.”

“What?” Joe felt like he had been hit by a bus. The half-remembered conversation many months ago flashed into his head.

“I’m sorry, Sir.” The Guardsman said, “I was just informed of the status, not the cause.”

“She’s gone?” Joe asked, feeling his anger building.

“Well, not gone,” The Guardsman hedged, “She lives with the other Outcasts in the outer village.”

In the outer village, Joe winced.

It seems the slums had a name.

Joe strode confidently towards the entry to the outer village. It was part of his domain, even if he didn’t ever go there. He had meant to do something about this place a long time ago. It was just… it was convenient to have it around.

For a start, it was a great motivator; he had even heard parents telling children that they had to behave or they would be sent there.

No one wanted to live here.

It was a mark of failure, of shame, and he hated that; he really did.

But people kept coming, and there were always those that didn’t fit. The standard answer these days to those people was… send them to the outer village. It was not something he intended to let continue forever, but just for now.

Until everything was stable and there was time to dedicate to fixing the mess.

The secondary wall, the one the outcasts built to protect them from the elements, had gotten bigger, thicker, and ARMED!

Joe frowned as he saw the small ballistae on the walls. When was that allowed? Who did they get permission from?

In short, he was in a bad mood when he went to enter the outer village only to find iron pikes slamming into place, blocking his way.

“Who are you, and what business have you here?” A bored sounding voice said from inside.

“How fucking dare you!” Joe snarled, kicking aside the cheap iron pikes and snapping them off the simple mechanism that held them in place. “You would deny me entrance to my own land!”

“Aw, damn,” A voice called. “Sorry, didn’t know who you were.”

“Didn’t know!” Joe almost punched his hand through the little guard post wall and dragged whoever was inside out through it.

The sound of running feet approached, and then cries started up from further in.

Joe lowered his fist, breathing deeply and slowly.

“Who are you?” Joe asked, his voice flat, “And what are you doing?”

“I’m Chris,” The man stuck his head out of a small window. “I’m, uh, guarding?”

“From what?” Joe asked, appalled at the teenager he had almost killed. The kid was fourteen at most.

“Everything,” The kid shrugged. “Everyone and everything hates the outcasts.”

Joe was distracted as a line of armored people arrived, calling for him to step away from the kid.

Joe never got a chance to explain; someone actually recognized him and called everyone off. Even as the weapons lowered and people began to babble apologies, Joe was still stunned.

This whole thing almost ended with him killing people.

KILLING PEOPLE.

Now, more than ever, he needed to find Annalise. This whole situation needed to end. Today. Now.

His mood continued to plummet as he was escorted on a tour of the Outer Village. It was a village. He may own the land, but he had nothing to do with this place. No one looked at him; their eyes averted as they shied away.

“Why are there children here?” Joe asked his escort.

“Why wouldn’t there be?” The woman asked, her longsword carried casually over her shoulder.

“I thought this was where the ADULTS who didn’t want to fight or work lived,” Joe said waspishly.

“And you thought their kids didn’t go with them?” The woman asked.

“They, at least, could live in the city.” Joe shot back.

“So instead of just exiling people, you want to take their kids from them?” The woman swore. “That’s even worse than I expected.”

“No, I…” Joe trailed off. He had never even thought about the kids. They were all just… problems. Problems didn’t have kids. People had kids.

Shit, he had made a mistake letting this place go on so long.

“Yeah, I bet,” The woman laughed bitterly. “I never even got into your bloody city. Did you know that?”

“What?” Joe asked, confused. “Then how are you here?”

“I was a low-level tailor,” She laughed. “And when asked if I wanted to join the training list, I said no.” She looked at him. “A questionnaire at the gate.”

“It is supposed to ensure people are given the right help,” Joe said, almost desperately.

“Yeah, well, answer wrong, and you never even see inside.” The woman stopped and pointed at a large, multi-level shack built right against the main walls.

“I will personally escort you in,” Joe said. “Wait here; I’ll fix it as soon as I’m done.”

“No thanks,” The woman said. “I’ll stay here with people who actually help each other.”

“We help each other,” Joe said defensively. “I know you had a bad experience, but….”

“Stop!” The woman yelled, getting in his face. “Your city helps the people it likes and the ones who don’t fit your image? Your idea of a good citizen? They can go fucking die out in the waste for all you care!”

“That’s bullshit!” Joe contested.

“Oh, yeah?” The woman said, “Want to see the hole in the wall?”

“What?” Joe asked.

“The hole your good people carved in the wall, the one they use to bring women in to screw in exchange for FOOD!” She spat on the floor. “How many criminals have you sent out here? Do you think they didn’t attack people? Kids?” She turned and stalked away. “I could have entered the city long ago, but I would rather be changed than live there!” She waved.

Joe decided to analyze her just so he could track her down and prove her wrong, only to stop in shock.

Lvl 45 Battle Warden

A Guardian of the Outer Village, Hero of the Outcasts

Joe was frozen in shock. The woman was only a few levels below his own.

“I thought you were a tailor!” He called after her, “One who wouldn’t fight.”

“I didn’t want to be a fighter,” She laughed over her shoulder. “I’d die to protect my people, not to tick a box on a form.”

With that, she was gone, vanishing into the crowd.

Joe pushed open the door to the shanty with numb fingers. He was almost drunk with shock. He had never known it was like this. Why hadn’t anyone told him? He was just starting to recover himself, starting to get angry that, once again, he hadn’t been given the information he needed when he saw her.

Annalise sat at a table in the middle of the far room, her laugh echoing around the room as she talked to Cristoff. She was laughing at some story she was telling, unable to even get to the end of the story because she was laughing so hard.

He had missed her.

“Annalise,” He called, “I’ve been looking for you for hours!” Joe smiled.

Anna’s laughter died in an instant, tension settling on her shoulders. Her face, so full of happiness and love a moment before, set into a mask of anger and hatred.

“Anna?” He hesitated.

“What do you want, Paladin?” Her voice was cold, shaking slightly.

“Me?” Joe paused as Cristoff turned. “Cristoff, what happened?”

“Oh, this?” Cristoff grinned with half a face. The other half was a twisted mess. “A trophy I wanted to take fought back and then took half my face.” He laughed easily. “What calamity brings the noble Paladin to our door, Paragon?”

“What were you doing fighting?” Joe asked. “Hey, did you stop drinking?”

“Come to make good on your threat?” Annalise said with a sharp voice. “We are already out of your house, and neither of us is Mayor as far as I know.”

“What? No!” Joe felt like he had slipped into a mirror world. He needed to get back on script. “I wanted to tell you that you can come back to the Keep if you want.” His eyes flicked to Cristoff, “Both of you if he’s gotten himself together.”

“I see,” Anna said, fighting back tears and laughter. “You think we would ever want to see you again?”

“Why not?” Joe asked. “What did I do?”

“Tried to force me to leave my husband, let everyone know we were to be spurned, had us hounded out of the village, and then forgot we existed for months.” She said instantly. “Go back to forgetting.”

“Time you left, I think,” Cristoff said, getting meaningfully to his feet.

“What?” Joe laughed. “Am I supposed to be afraid of you?”

“Actually,” Cristoff said carefully. “I hoped your sense of manners would see you to the door.”

“You keep thinking too much of him,” Annalise shook her head. “He doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself.”

That was a step too far.

“Fuck you!” Joe snapped. “What have I ever done for myself? I built this place from nothing! Nothing! I trained people, built the place up, and all for others!”

“Hah!” Annalise laughed at him, “You do it so they love you. Nothing is more selfish!” She took a step away from the table, her form trembling with rage. “You have NEVER done anything for any reason other than making yourself happy!”

It should have ended there, he knew.

Joe should have washed his hands of them, turned, and left.

He almost did.

Almost.

“Get out!” He said quietly.

“We are out!” She sneered.

“All of you, out,” Joe said again. “Out of my land, out of my influence. You have two days.” He stormed out of the shanty, leaving them standing in shock.

“EVERYBODY HERE HAS TWO DAYS TO LEAVE!” He roared, “TWO DAYS, THEN YOU ALL DIE!”

===============

That night, as Joe lay in his bed, the anger finally began to fade. He could fix it, Joe told himself. It could be fixed. He got up and paced around in his room.

He had lost his temper, that was all. They had been vile to him.

The thing was, the longer he thought about it, the more he saw why they were angry.

They just didn’t understand. It was all crossed wires. That was it.

Tomorrow, he would return, and the Outer Village would go. They would all be welcomed inside the walls, and he would prove that he was a good ruler.

A Paragon.

It would take a long time, he was willing to admit, but they would see he had been misunderstood. It was all done with the best intentions. They just needed kindness, time, and space to understand.

He winced again, remembering the children cowering as he stalked out of the Outer Village.

It was a mess, but he would fix it all. But not now. If he returned in the dark, they would panic.

He took calming breaths. He just needed to relax.

Everything would be better tomorrow.

Everything.

He awoke the following day in a tangle of limbs. Andrea had been right about how eager the women of the village were. He didn’t even recognize this one; she was the newest one to work for him.

Slipping from the bed carefully so as not to wake her, he bathed, dressed, and headed downstairs to have a quick breakfast before starting a long day of eating humble pie. And cracking heads together. His people had gotten the wrong idea somewhere along the way. He would fix that today.

Joe put on his best-determined expression as he sat at the table in the kitchen and waited while his maids cooked breakfast for him. He noticed a few tears in their eyes as they served him and decided that he would start his long day of fixing by fixing this first.

“What’s wrong?” He asked. He was alarmed to realize that he didn’t know her name either.

“Nothing, Sir,” She tried to hurry away, but he put a hand out and caught her before she could escape.

“Stop, I want to help, whatever it is,” He said kindly.

“I would never question your will,” She said, keeping her eyes averted.

“Question away,” Joe said humbly, “I’m not a perfect person, though I try to be.”

“It’s the Outer Village, Sir,” She said carefully. “I’ll miss them, is all. I had a sister there,”

“Don’t worry about that,” He smiled at her. “I was wrong to say what I did; I’ve decided to tell them to enter the city, not leave.”

“You think you can find them?” The maid looked hopeful.

“They are hard to miss,” He laughed.

“Yes sir, thank you,” She said, wiping her eyes.

“But first, breakfast!” He laughed and dug into his food while the maids hurried away.

Andrea was waiting for him when he left his Keep. She was currently playing around with combining elements, and her knives were burning with electricity that flickered and moved like fire.

“Got a minute, Boss?” She asked as soon as Joe opened the door.

“Sure, talk as we go,” Joe said.

“About the Outer Village,” She said, “I just heard this morning, and I’m a little worried about them.”

“Don’t worry,” Joe said, holding up a hand to forestall her questions. “I was being a dick yesterday; I’m going to apologize and ask them to stay.”

“Come back?” Andrea raised her eyebrows. “You think they will.”

“What do you mean come back?” Joe asked, feeling a sinking feeling. “They are only just outside the wall.”

“Not anymore,” Andrea shook her head sadly. “They packed up last night as soon as the land changed.”

“Fuck!” Joe started to run. “Get EVERYBODY!” He called. “We're going after them.”