Chapter 21: The Boy in Chains [1]
Aries was still staring at nothing when Cedric crouched down beside him.
"You look troubled. What’s the matter? Did something happen?"
Aries blinked out of wherever he’d been. The balcony. Frost-blue eyes. The mark on his palm burning hot enough to drag him under. "Uh— actually, I—"
’Tch. What do I even say?’
"You what?" Valea was watching him from the doorway.
"I was thirsty," Aries said. "Woke up in the night, went to get water. I was so tired by the time I came back that I—I think I just sat down here and fell asleep." He scratched the back of his neck and forced a loose smile.
A beat of silence.
"Seriously?" Valea said.
Cedric looked at him a second longer than felt comfortable, something working behind his eyes that he kept to himself. Then he sighed. "You really need to stop worrying us. Be careful next time."
Behind them, Eren and Nico were already packing, moving with the quiet efficiency of people ready to be gone.
Aries got to his feet. "So — we’re leaving Kaelenor today? Heading for Ashton?"
"That’s right," Cedric said.
"YAY! Let’s go already!" Valea and Eren excitingly cried almost exactly the same moment.
_____
A few hours later, the road had gotten considerably worse.
The ground was muddy from last night’s rain, boots splashing through puddles with each step. The buildings around them had changed too — smaller and worn.
Walls patched with whatever was available, laundry hung between windows.
Eren bent forward at the waist, legs dragging. "I’m tired already. How long?"
"Why aren’t there any carriages here?" Valea looked down at her boot, mud halfway up the side. "How long do we actually have to walk?"
Nico glanced back over his shoulder. "These are the slums, Valea. No carriages come through here. No horses. People here just try to survive same as everyone else."
"Patience," Cedric said, with the slightly labored tone of a man carefully choosing his words. "My poor Valea. Once we clear the outskirts, I’ll personally make sure we get the most comfortable carriage—"
"NO! PLEASE!"
The scream cut through the street from somewhere ahead.
Everyone stopped.
At the far end of the street, three men stood in a loose circle around a small boy. His arms were bound with rusted chains, his clothes torn, his face visibly swollen even from a distance.
The largest of the three grabbed him by the collar and yanked him off the ground like he weighed nothing.
"We didn’t purchase you to carry you around, you little shit." He struck the boy across the face. "Now give us the damn ring. A rat like you shouldn’t have something that expensive."
The boy — collar still in the man’s grip, feet dangling — clutched something to his chest with both chained hands. "P-Please — this ring, it’s all I have. It’s everything I’ve had since birth. Please don’t take it—"
"Tch. Stubborn little brat."
He slammed the boy into the ground. Dust rose on impact. The child coughed against the dirt and tried to push himself up, and the man set his boot on the boy’s leg and pressed down.
"Aargh—please—it hurts—it hurts—" The boy’s voice broke. "Stop, please, stop—"
The other two laughed. One crouched beside him, grabbed a fistful of his hair and lifted his head. "Look at those eyes. Filthy little pest."
"What the hell are they—?" Eren took a step forward. "We have to stop them—"
Cedric’s arm shot across in front of him.
"Don’t."
"Professor?" Valea stared at him. "Why are you stopping us? That boy, they’re going to hurt him badly—"
"This is the slums." Cedric’s arm stayed where it was. His eyes stayed forward. "Things like this are legal here. Slavery is legal here. Interfering would draw exactly the wrong kind of attention to us."
"But he’s just a child!" Valea’s jaw was tight, hands pressing into fists at her sides.
"I know, Valea." Something shifted slightly in Cedric’s face. "I know. But sometimes the world doesn’t let you help. Not here."
The street was quiet around them except for the men and the sounds the boy was making.
The men ripped the ring from his hands and kicked him away. He hit the dirt and lay still for a moment.
Then started crawling. Fingers clawing through the mud, moving toward where the ring had landed.
He got close enough to grab the nearest man’s pant leg.
"Please." His voice had been worn down to almost nothing. "Please give it back. I beg you. I’ll give anything else instead, just not the ring, please, I beg yo—"
The man glanced down at him with contempt. "You filthy brat."
He kicked him. Brutal and deliberate. The boy’s cheek hit the edge of a stone and split open, blood mixing with the mud. He lay there for a second, then reached forward again.
Something hit Aries.
A flash of small hands clawing at something they couldn’t hold, the same specific fear in a child’s face, the same shape of helplessness. A memory that didn’t belong to Aries Aerwyn. It belonged to his past life as Shang. Buried somewhere in a life that was supposed to be finished, surfacing now.
His chest felt heavy in a way that had nothing to do with his lungs.
Around him, Valea had turned her face aside, jaw so tight it was visible from where he stood.
Nico’s eyes were on the ground, his jaw working.
Eren’s hands were curled into fists, veins standing out at his wrists.
The boy, still clinging to the man’s pant leg, pulled hard and accidentally tore the fabric in his grip. He didn’t even notice. He was still begging.
"I’m sorry, I—"
The man looked down at his torn pant leg.
"Tch. Now you have done it you brat." He reached slowly into his coat and pulled out a small knife.
The boy’s eyes found the blade.
"N-no, please. I didn’t mean to — I’m sorry—"
"You’ve caused more than enough trouble, you little brat." The man raised the knife. "Now die."
TWAK.
A booted foot connected with the man’s jaw. He left the ground completely and hit the back of an abandoned wooden stall skull-first. The knife clattered to the dirt and skidded. He didn’t get up.
"What?!" One of the remaining men spun around. "Who dared to—"
Aries stood between the boy and the two of them. His hand rested at his side, level with the boy curled in the dirt behind him. Fireball dancing on his hand. His eyes moved between both men.
"If you even touch him," he said, "I’ll kill you."
