Shadowguard

Hearing that her parents had crossed paths with Shroud throughout their years was not surprising. They'd spoken of them before, though vaguely, in their retellings of their more prolific deeds. Now Everna had a name to associate with the robed figures, vicious assassins, and evil mages they encountered.

To hear that Shroud once controlled Pendel in its entirety left her questioning everything she once believed.

Throughout her life, she'd been told that Pendel was nothing but a podunk town on the furthest fringes of the kingdom, crumbling beneath the weight of poverty and neglect before Mayor Ashburn arrived some thirty years ago. Under his leadership Pendel freed itself from the rut it'd fallen into and grew into the bustling town that it now was. That's what her parents said, what Mayor Ashburn said, and what her teachers and historical texts claimed. No one said otherwise.

The truth painted a far darker and more sinister picture. Pendel had suffered — not from negligence, but from intentional devastation wrought by Shroud. They owned the people of Pendel, bled them dry, and reveled in their disparity. Shroud stole children from their families and forced them into their order of thieves, murderers, and zealots — silencing or coercing anyone who dared oppose them.

Even the capital was powerless to break their hold. Every High Knight, adventuring party, and mercenary they sent to rectify the situation met a gruesome end or found themselves pulled into their fold. It wasn't until Mayor Ashburn, a Pendel native fortunate enough to escape Shroud's notice, arrived and liberated the town.

In the five years following, Sir Swiftbrook assumed control of the town as the Guard removed the remaining agents. Pala took over from there, serving five years as the Courts worked to sort out the matter. Most of the townspeople received a pardon from the Courts, as their plight was not of their own doing. They eradicated the town's history at all levels to ensure the kingdom's incompetence never graced the pages of the historical texts. It took but one generation and unanimous silence to hide the truth.

Corden came along only a few months later, and it was five years after, a year before Everna came into the world, that Arden won the town's first official election. By then, Shroud was little more than a distant memory for most, and the town had grown substantially. The houses that lined the palisade walls were all that remained of the time before Mayor Ashburn.

"That's why the town's been a little off about the matter," Ronan said. "The younger folk, who wouldn't know better, dropped the ball when Arden died. The rest of us knew. That's likely why no one spoke out in your defense, either. Except Banor and Andryll, gods bless them."

"But what would that have to do with Windmore?” Wil asked. “He's nobility. Why would he stay in Pendel, of all places?"

Her father threw him a caustic look, one of many since their conversation began; Wil merely raised a brow, unimpressed. "I'm the one keeping the Courts from putting her to the gallows. I need the details. They won't just take her word for it. Not after the issue with Sir Swiftbrook."

"Dad, quit being a pain in the ass and answer the question, please," Everna groaned.

Her father snorted and raised a brow — or he would, if he had any left; he'd lost them during his fight with Dulzraran, that part of his face marred with faded burn scars.

"A pain in the ass? And just where do you think you get off with that attitude? You think you're grown, huh?”

Though she knew he meant it in jest, she scowled. "I am, not that you could ever accept it. Besides, I am standing right here. I'd like to know how everyone conveniently overlooked Windmore this entire time."

"I don't know," her father admitted. "I can only assume it has something to do with his pardon or his family situation. Windmore, as hard as it is to believe, had little to do with Shroud. He hated them just as much as the rest. At least, that's what Evelina says."

He wanted revenge, Everna assumed. It was a common motive, perhaps one of the most common. Every other case she'd studied dealt with it — spouses killed for adultery, business partners murdered as retribution for ruined reputations and lives destroyed, and young women killed for rejecting men. Banor claimed Windmore tried to ruin Mayor Ashburn once. He was on her father's ass for every little thing over the years.

Shroud must've taken advantage of it. As much as he hated Shroud, he must've hated her father more, and that hatred made him an ideal accomplice to Mayor Ashburn's assassination. If things had worked as he intended, he'd have taken her from her father, just as her father had taken his sister from him.

Wil pursed his lips, something dark and bitter in his eyes. "Shroud's good at taking advantage of people's grievances with others." He turned to her and asked, "Anyone else who'd have an issue with you or your family?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Windmore's the only—"

"Landen," her father said, stopping her short.

She bit the inside of her cheek. Landen certainly didn't like her; he hadn't since they were children, though for what reason, she couldn't say. After the one scuffle they'd had when they were much younger, she never spoke to him unless it was necessary. She hadn't seen him since Mayor Ashburn's death, not that she had a chance to. She'd only been home for a week before Wil hauled her to the safe house.

Wil cocked his head, inquisitive.

This time, her father was all too eager to talk.

"He frequently accompanied Arden on his hunting trips," he said, disgust dripping from every word, "and has a rather disturbing obsession with Everna. He always has."

"He hates me," she corrected. "I—"

Her father scoffed. "I know depravity when I see it, Ever, and there's been a few times he looked like he was getting ready to try something."

"It isn't just your old man being paranoid, either," Banor slurred as he stumbled past, a small mound of corks in his hand. "I've had to stop him from following you out the door once or twice. He's not right in the head. I've been saying that for years."

She always thought him a touch creepy, but so were a fair few of the travelers that frequented the tavern. He wasn't the first man to leer at her, even before she came of age, though she took it as a matter of distaste. The others all made crass remarks and crude innuendos when they approached the bar, and more than once, she had to swat away a stray or wandering hand. Landen merely glared at her, ordered his drink, and left. They'd spoken maybe a handful of times since their school days.

Suppressing a shudder, she swallowed another mouthful of whiskey. "Back to a less disturbing topic. Why Pendel, of all places? What could Shroud possibly want with the town?"

Her father motioned vaguely to the south. "Pendel's the southernmost settlement in this part of the region. Far enough away that no one would notice."

"An easy one to take, at that," Wil affirmed. He turned and leaned back against the bar, sighing. "The division is more ideological than physical, but the region's split in half. Shadowguard controls most of the south, while Shroud dominates the north. Problem is, Shroud's bigger and more organized than Shadowguard — and the bulk of our members are up near the front lines."

"You're talking like this is some sort of war," Everna said.

Her father tossed another piece of splintered wood into the fire. "Because it is. It’s what the military folk call a 'shadow war.’ It's fought behind the scenes, often in the political sphere. There are no armies out in the open, just a lot of maneuvering in the shadows and strings pulled."