Right of the Victor

Our arrival in Umbriel wasn’t noteworthy. Even as nobility, I was only known by name here. My face meant nothing to these people, although that might change if they saw my eyes clearly. I was thought to be one of the only purple-eyed humans in the world. All it helped with was getting me into awkward situations and making it difficult to hide my identity. Fortunately, nobody walked around checking eyes, so I would be fine for the most part. As we walked through stone street after street, we ended in an alley with a small wooden door in the side. Vargos stopped there and tugged open the door, waving the other two men into the darkness within. It was strange that no light came out of there. Why would we just walk into a dark hole? Hesitating, I had only just made up my mind to follow when Vargos grabbed my shoulder with an iron grip suddenly and stared at my eyes.

“Stay close to me, keep your mouth shut, and don’t look anyone in the eyes. Got it?”

“I’ll say whatever I want, moron. If anyone tries to kill me, they’ll fail.”

“You’re good with that sword, but not good enough to fight twenty men at once. And here, your nobility doesn’t mean a thing. Except maybe that you’re a target.” He spoke firmly, making it clear that there would be no compromising. Wondering why it even mattered to Vargos that I survived, I warily approached the entrance and stepped into the empty blackness.

It was a tunnel. I hated small spaces-especially underground ones-and this was no different. As I crept forward in front of Vargos, this was one of the few times I was glad that I wasn’t tall. I hardly had to duck at all to move through the tight crevice. When it finally came to an end in a warmly lit room, the first thing I noticed was the noise. Countless voices had been competing to be heard amongst the hundreds of heads, but all quieted and every man in the room stared at me as I entered. Bothered only slightly, I raised an eyebrow and stared right back for half a second before remembering what Vargos had told me. My glare dropped to the floor immediately, annoyed. At my back, Vargos spoke up to break the thick tension.

“Back to what you were doing. Nothing to see here unless you’re in charge.”

About half the room listened to him. The other half narrowed their eyes suspiciously and kept at it. One woman, however, got up from a corner of the room and began approaching. I didn’t expect to see any females here, let alone one like her. She was completely dressed like a man, and taller than most of them. Along with that, she carried a sword and at least one knife. The air around her seemed to exude authority and danger.

“Vargos. How many times do I have to tell you to stop bringing in rats?” she looked down on me disapprovingly. Not one to take such disrespect, I stared straight back this time, hand moving to the hilt of my weapon slowly.

“If I’m a rat, you must be a cockroach or something even more pathetic.” I retorted, not expecting the rustling of countless men reaching for weapons or getting to their feet that came after. From the side came a firm slap from Vargos, sending me a few steps away with my head reeling. It took all my willpower not to bring out my sword and attack him right there, but I knew I was outnumbered and it would only result in my death. Fortunately for me, the woman’s only reaction was to laugh and keep her attention on Vargos.

“He may be a rat, but he’s a fighter. And a good one at that.” He justified his reasons for bringing me in and leaving me alive, “Not to mention that he’s a noble. If you don’t want him, we can sell him.”

“That’s a man?” The woman crossed her arms and started looking me up and down. I was offended, but not surprised. With my slim form and low height, it was easy enough mistake me for a woman. “And how do you know he’s any good?”

“He beat me, if that says anything.”

“You weren’t even that good…” I muttered. For the first time, it seemed as if the room had started to shift very slightly in my favor. Respect had entered the eyes of many of the bandits. Defeating Vargos in swordplay apparently was no easy task for most people. I was proud, but didn’t let it show too much.

“Then I dare say we do want the rat. If only his tongue wasn’t so active. Should we cut it out?” The tall woman stepped closer to me, leaning down to make direct and intentional eye contact. Expecting to see amusement or annoyance or boredom, I studied her eyes to find nothing but a faint glimmer of amusement. Somehow that was worse.

“Much as I love the idea, Audent, I’m not sure he’ll work with you if you do that.” Vargos chuckled and moved away from me, giving Audent plenty of space to inspect me.

“If you even try to do something like that, you’ll have my sword through you within seconds. And stop looking at me like I’m a piece of jewelry to buy, idiot.”

With every word I spoke, the air felt like it thickened. Everyone in there was unsure if Audent’s authority was being questioned, if it was just a joke, and if they should act. While they may not have done anything, Audent did. For the second time in the past several minutes, I was smacked on the side of the head. It was much stronger of a hit this time, and I struggled to stay standing.

“He’ll learn. Maybe we’ll have to beat it into him, but he’ll figure it out.” Audent straightened up and turned her back to me, giving Vargos a kind smile that I didn’t expect from her. Maybe they were together in more ways than a work relationship. It didn’t matter to me. What did matter was Vargos grabbing my shoulder for what felt like the hundredth time and dragging me along through the crowd.

“You’re going to have to get used to the way things work around here, Anguis.” Vargos called me by my last name for some reason, drawing several eyes our way. He knew what he was doing. I’d either become more of a target or more respected when the entire gang realized I was a member of the noble family that had been nearly entirely wiped out. As we went further into the complex-it was much bigger than I’d imagined-I spotted several doors leading off into other rooms. Even though we’d moved quite a bit, we were still in an area connected to where we’d entered from. As a noble, I wasn’t unfamiliar with huge spaces, but to see a gang of bandits in possession of a place like this was incredible. I should have left Folium much earlier than I did. It may have been somewhat safe and comfortable, but it kept me uncultured and without knowledge of the world. Arriving at one of the doors splitting from the main room, Vargos nudged it open with one foot and showed me inside.

“You’ll be living in there now. Communal quarters.” He chuckled. Once he was aside, I could fully view that the room was simply countless pillars with hammocks swinging between them, some filled with the sleeping bodies of men and even a few women. The day was full of surprises, it seemed. While I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the shared room with hundreds of other people, I didn’t complain. My reputation needed to stay somewhat upheld for now until I was solidly engrained in the bandit organization. Vargos evidently didn’t plan for us to stay there long, as he guided me out again right after. After more navigation with countless eyes on me, we reached a kitchen and it was explained that I’d have access to two meals a day under my name. No more, no less. Again, it wasn’t something that was overly important to me in the moment of being introduced to what may become my new life. Something far more pressing was happening.

We finally stopped in a room for more than a few seconds. It was dark there, but a few candles hung around the edges to provide a little light. Off to the side was a strange assortment of metal tools and blades, which I eyed suspiciously at first before facing Vargos completely.

“What is this for?” I said with a questioning tone, hand going to the only constant source of assurance I had: my sword. Before I could even touch it, though, another set of hands came from behind me and secured both my arms behind my back, keeping me immobile in that aspect.

“Let go of me.” I struggled to escape, but to no avail. Whoever had my arms held was far stronger than I was. Vargos laughed brightly, a sharp sound piercing the dark room.

“We can’t do that yet, sorry. Some quick housekeeping stuff has to be done first.” He said while someone familiar walked over to the strange metal instruments, lightly picking one up and tossing it from hand to hand. On second glance, it was Audent, the seeming to be leader of the bandits.

“You didn’t tell him yet, did you, Vargos?”

“No, I was leaving all the fun bits to you.”

“Thanks, darling,” Audent grinned and stared down at me while replying to Vargos. I didn’t know what was about to happen, but it probably wouldn’t be pleasant. I was right.

Most of the control over my body didn’t belong to me. I was being shoved around and held in place and chained to a wall without being able to stop the sequence of things happening. Before I knew it, someone had also torn off my shirt, leaving my back exposed to the air and the people behind me while my face only could see the wall.

“What the hell are you doing?” Again, I tried to get some information on the situation, but nothing was told to me. Cold metal started pressing against my back, but I wasn’t able to figure out what it was. Surely not a blade…they’d brought me here, why would they kill me? Suddenly a flash of light burst across the room, along with a small popping sound and a searing pain on my back. It ended quickly, but was still enough for me to hiss slightly in pain. It came twice more, each time accompanied with metal on my skin. The burning wasn’t that bad, but it definitely wasn’t pleasant. When it finally ended, I was released, glad to be alive but extremely confused and annoyed.

“Are you going to explain yet, or am I going to be stuck not knowing what you morons did to me?”

“Calm down, little man. If you can’t handle some burnings, how are you going to be any use to me?” Audent was still giving that condescending smile. “We were just inducting you. Welcome to the Torris.”

That was a name I recognized. I’d been taught about the Torris as a child. They were one of the two largest bandit gangs, and branded three unique symbols onto each of their members. I should have come to that conclusion earlier, but it didn’t really matter. I’d have those marks on me for the rest of my life, whatever they were. Supposedly they’d be related to someone’s house, personality, and another unknown factor.

“You say it as if I chose to be here.” I replied, taking a shirt that was offered to me and donning it.

“You did choose. We can always give you the other option again if you want, though.” She said, referring to having all of my belongings stolen and being ditched on the streets. Yes, it was a choice, but it wasn’t a fair one. Life wasn’t fair, though. I just sighed in clear annoyance and kept my glare fixed on Audent’s face.

“Whatever. Now that you have me, what the hell do you plan to do with me?”

“Just because you’re a noble doesn’t mean you get anything special,” she laughed, “You’ll start at the bottom like everyone else, and if you do well, you’ll move up.”

“Are you stupid? That was obvious enough. But where’s the bottom?”

“The bottom is cleaning, Lengin. And it’s exactly what you’ll be doing tomorrow morning.” Vargos joined in, laughing as he did so. Shaking his head in amusement, he took Audent by the hand and led her out, leaving me alone with a few random men who’d been there for the sake of holding me down.