The Finisher

VIGINTI: An Unlikely Ally

I OPENED THE DOOR, revealing Krone standing there. I could see that he was armed with a long-barreled morta and a sword.

“Yes?”

“You were at the Care this light?” he barked, the anger clear on his features.

“Was I?” I said dully.

He drew closer. I felt Destin tighten and turn hotter around my middle.

“You were,” he said firmly.

“So what if I was?”

“Non has accused you of attacking him.”

“Why would I attack Non? He’s three times my size.”

Krone looked me up and down. “But that is not all.”

I knew what was coming. I waited for him to say it.

“Your parents are gone from the Care.”

He leaned in closer so his face was nearer to mine. “What did you see, Vega? You need to tell me. What did you see there?”

I felt my fingers curl into a fist. I squeezed it so hard I felt the blood stop flowing to my fingers.

“I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“That answer is not good enough,” he snapped.

“Go to Hel!”

“Do you want to go to Valhall for this?” he asked with maddening calm. “Or worse?”

He put a hand on his sword. I felt Destin turn ice-cold against my skin.

“Krone,” a voice said.

We both turned at the same time.

It was Morrigone.

I looked around for the carriage but did not see it. It was as though she had materialized in our midst on the Low Road.

Krone looked perplexed by her appearance.

“Madame Morrigone,” he said stiffly. “I was just about to arrest this female for criminal acts against other Wugmorts.”

Morrigone drew closer, her gaze fully on Krone.

“What criminal acts?”

“She has attacked Non outside the Care. He has given evidence of this. And Hector and Helen Jane have disappeared from the Care. These are serious matters that must be brought before Council.”

“Have you spoken to Thansius about this?” she asked.

“I have only just been made aware —”

She interrupted him. “What does Non claim she has done?”

“He caught her leaving the Care. He was about to arrest her for that when she attacked him for no reason.”

“Attacked him? How?”

“Non says that she struck him a terrific blow and knocked him out.”

“A Wug as large as Non was knocked out by a fourteen-session-old female,” she said skeptically. “I find that very, very difficult to believe, Krone. And you simply accept Non’s word for this?”

“You say that Non is lying?”

“You’re saying that Vega is a criminal based only on Non’s statement.”

“Did you know she has taken up residence here, in her old home? A Wug under the age of fifteen cannot live by herself, but she does not care for rules, do you, Vega?” He glanced menacingly at me.

I didn’t answer Krone because I was unsure how to. I looked at Morrigone, whose gaze held steady on Krone.

“I am aware of it, Krone. As is Thansius,” said Morrigone in a low, even voice that still managed to carry more menace than his louder words. She stared at Krone for a few moments longer. “Unless there is anything else, Krone, I think you may safely leave us.”

Krone stared at me and then Morrigone. He bowed curtly. “As you wish, Madame Morrigone. But I trust this will be followed up appropriately.” Then he turned and marched swiftly away.

Morrigone waited until he was out of sight before turning to me.

I started to say something, but she held up her hand. “No, Vega, I do not need to hear anything. I will speak to Non. He will not refer charges.” Her gaze dipped to my hand. I looked down and saw that it was swollen and cut from where I had struck Non. I hastily slipped it into my pocket.

“I am sure you had good reason,” said Morrigone quietly. Then she added, in a more heated tone, “For Non is a git.”

I was about to smile when I found her piercing gaze upon me. Neither of us spoke for at least a sliver.

She finally said, “I know there has been much change in your life, and that this change has been difficult.”

“Do you know what could have happened to my parents?” I blurted out.

“I could not possibly know, Vega, since I, unlike you, was not there.”

This statement split us like a wall of blood.

“What exactly did you see, Vega?”

“I saw nothing,” I lied. “I went to visit my parents.”

“At night?” she said sharply.

“Yes. I wanted to see them. I … I was … sad.”

“And?” she said expectantly.

“And when I got there the room was empty. I ran outside and that’s where Non grabbed me and pushed me down. I struck him to defend myself.”

She considered all this and then said, “I ask you not to tell your brother about your parents, Vega.”

“What?” I said, gaping at her. “He has to know.”

“His knowing of their disappearance cannot help in any way. And it will distract him from his duties on the Wall.”

“His duties on the Wall?” I cried out. “So we keep him ignorant of his mother and father being gone?”

“I can assure you that he is indispensible. I have given instructions to Krone and others on Council to say nothing. And all Wugs involved at the Care have been similarly cautioned. I would ask that you keep this information to yourself as well. Please.”

Something struck me. “But if you’ve done all that, you knew that they had disappeared before Krone told you.”

She looked a bit chagrined that I had deduced this, which boosted my spirits just a bit.

“It is my job to know such things, Vega. Will you not tell him?”

I couldn’t say anything for a sliver while she and I stared at each other over the width of my doorway.

Finally, I nodded my head. “I won’t tell him.”

Her next words truly astonished me.

“I admire you, Vega. I really do. I can even say that I envy you.”

“What?” I said. “Envy me? But you have so much. And I have nothing.”

She said wistfully, “I have things, possessions only. You have nerve and courage, and you accept and take risks like no other Wug I know. All these things come from within you, which is the most important place of all.”

I stared at her blankly. She was both looking at me and not looking at me. As though her words were directed at a distant place that only she could see.

Then her gaze settled squarely on me. “You are sure your parents were gone when you arrived at the Care?”

I nodded my head, not confident of my tongue to deliver another lie in a convincing way.

She nodded, sighed and looked away. “I see.”

And I could tell that she did see, quite a lot, actually.

She said, “I hope, after all this darkness, that good fortune shines on you, Vega, indeed I do.”

Then she turned and walked away.

I watched her until she disappeared from view. Then I looked to the sky. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe to find answers I could never hope to discover down here.