Rune awoke to find himself resting in his cot. Beside him, Elsie had her arm tightly wrapped around him as he saw her eyes closed, fast asleep.
Carefully, without wanting to wake her, he got out of the cot and went into the sitting room, where he found the Madam and Scar deep in conversation.
"She must've been a Seer. It's the only thing that could explain her behaviour." Scar's voice.
"I know Seer's tongue when I hear it, and she most definitely was speaking a tongue not like anything I've heard from any of the nations established in Terra." The Madam replied, her fingers soaking in dark black ink by the table as she faced Scar, worry written across her face.
"Then what do you suppose it was?"
"I have my theories, but the boy was out cold before I could confirm anything."
"If what I think is true—" She stopped, noticing Rune's presence.
Scar turned to follow her gaze and nodded his head in greeting to Rune.
"Good to see you on your two feet."
"Rune, so nice of you to join us. Quite the commotion you have caused."
"Good morning, Madam." He tipped his head in her direction before doing the same to Scar.
"How do you feel?"
How did he feel? Well, his body still ached. Every step he took had his back muscles protest against movement. He still felt the phantom hold that had left him immobile each time his back moved.
"Like a carriage ran over me."
She looked at Rune. "Sit."
Rune sat on a chair facing both Scar and the Madam.
"I reckon you've already seen her fate."
He nodded.
"Your mother is dead. The authorities were about to confiscate her belongings and home, but I told them you're her son."
Scar spoke. "A physician will stop by to check to see if your blood matches. Since the Madam claimed you as your mother's son, you will have to receive a scar on your arm."
Rune's eyes widened, realizing his arm would resemble that of Scar's as per custom. It was something he never imagined having to do. After all, his mother had abandoned him.
He didn't have much feelings for his mother. He certainly didn't feel the equivalent respect for those who bore scars harboured for the deceased. If anything, he was the last person who should wear a scar to honour his birth mother, but for the Madam claims to emerge as truthful, an arm marking along with a blood check were both requirements as mandated by the guards.
The sound of footsteps from the hallway drew their attention as Uma walked in.
"The physician has come." She announced.
The Madam waved her free hand. "Let him in."
A short, round-looking man with spectacles entered, a large briefcase tucked beneath his arm. He had a grown moustache that twisted up at the edges, though his head remained devoid of any hair. He entered the room with a bounce in his step despite the prevailing heaviness in the air.
"Madam, Scar, it has been some time now since we've last met."
"Greetings to you, Hubert. If we'd seen each other often, it wouldn't be for anything good."
"I suppose you are correct, but an invitation for tea is something I never decline."
Scar interjected. "That is if there was anything of importance to discuss with a physician that has deep connections throughout all of Alta."
"Ah, I can see your reluctance, but do believe when I say I don't share my patient history with others."
"I hope for your good you speak true," Scar replied, then turned to the Madam, signaling he had to leave before getting up.
"I would love to stay to see what comes out of this visit, but I've got places to be on the wealthy side of the city."
"Of course, of course, you're a busy man, I've heard."
Scar stilled, giving the physician an icy stare. "Hopefully from the right people."
Hubert's eyes glanced at Scar's eyes and the ground nervously.
"Uma see scar out."
Uma gave a slight nod and led the Madam's right-hand man back into the hallway where the physician had arrived.
Hubert looked at the Madam expectantly as he waited.
"The authorities need to confirm the blood of this boy."
The physician, who had yet to notice Rune, turned to look at him.
"I'm guessing you already have the blood of the relative."
"I do." The Madam picked up a vial that had been sitting on the table alongside the ink one set of her fingers was in.
From his bag, Hubert took out an ivory bowl and filled it with a clear liquid that smelled nothing like water. He dumped the black blood from the vial and into the bowl. The substance caused the clear liquid to be slightly grey.
"Your hand, boy."
Rune placed his left hand in the awaiting hand of the physician. With quick execution, Hubert swiped Rune's open palm with a silver knife with precision, letting his ink blood drip into the bowl's contents. Immediately after a couple of drops had fallen, Rune's blood stopped flowing, showing Hubert's expertise that he'd done the exact technique many times.
Using a cloth, Hubert wrapped Rune's hand.
The physician's attention returned to the bowl, Rune following his gaze. Inside, his blood mixed into the grey mixture until the contents turned entirely black. Hubert continued watching the bowl, waiting, and to Rune's astonishment, the liquid slowly lost its color, becoming clear once again.
"Well, I'm not sure if this is good or bad news, but you are related to this person, boy."
It's old news.
The Madam took her blackened fingers from the pot of ink and into clean water. In another bowl filled with clean water, she washed the remaining ink away, drying her hands with a cloth she kept nearby.
The fingers on her right hand were all ink-black and carried the smell of incense.
The Madam got up and walked to a shelf where a sheathed knife rested untouched. All around its hilt, Runes of various shapes and sizes surrounded it, drawn with careful precision. In all his years of being in the house, Rune had always seen the weapon but couldn't determine its use.
She handed it to Hubert, who looked at it with recognition, his eyes lighting up as he turned to look back at Rune.
"Ah, a parent's death."
"Correct. I must make the mark on his arm. Hold him down."
Hubbert nodded in understanding.
"Will it—hurt? A lot?" His voice quivered.
"You are making a tear on your arm. A very neat one at that. It's bound to hurt. The pain is inevitable. I do have to say, it's my first time seeing an eight-year-old having to bear such a mark so young."
"Lie down." The Madam instructed.
Rune lay down on his stomach on the long sitting chair Scar had once sat on. Hubbert pressed into his back, hindering his movement while through the corner of his vision, he watched the Madam approach with the now unsheathed knife. The sharp glint of metal caught Rune's eye.
"Put a cloth in his mouth."
At the command Hubbert grabbed a wad of fabric from his bag and stuffed it in Rune's mouth. He almost gagged, the smell of medicinal herbs slamming into him hard. Nausea had him trying to keep from hurling his guts.
The first piece of his flesh had Rune screaming. He had never felt such a physical injury in all the years he had lived on the streets. Cuts, scratches, bruises, and the occasional gash were all he had encountered before.
Tears rolled down the corner of his eyes as he struggled to get up, but the physician held him down tightly.
The knife continued down his arm, painfully slow. By the time it reached the back of his right hand, Rune's mouth opened in silence, his voice gone from screaming.
The Madam walked off, wiping the knife with a white cloth before placing it on the table.
Rune's arm was on fire. He felt as if he were burning deep down in his chest.
Hubert let go of him and began applying a cool, minty ointment along the back of his arm, covering the entire length of his bleeding mark. He then wrapped dressing around his arm while Rune tried to find his voice.
All this pain for someone I don't even know of?! What mistreatment is this?
"It is done." The Madam said, bringing forth a pouch of coins.
"Your payment."
"That is not necessary when it comes to you, Madam."
"I'm not paying you for the treatment. It's for your silence. To leash that mouth of yours."
The physician quickly took the money and scrambled to collect his materials. Without so much as a goodbye, Hubert left, not once looking back.
"If the guards had given me more time, I wouldn't have had you go through this today, right after your incident, but it was urgent."
The Madam sat across from him where he lay. "They'll be coming sometime today to verify everything is in order."
"Get some sleep."
At her words, Rune's eyes involuntarily began to shut as the realm of sleep took him under.
*****
The guard was looking at Rune with suspicion.
"A home and jewels is what she left behind."
"Are your doubts cleared?" The Madam patted her crossed arm impatiently,
"I assure you everything will be in order after we receive the physician's assurance." The guard seemed to think that they were lying.
Lies. A voice in his head whispered, causing Rune to reach his head with his left hand.
He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. The nap he had taken had been more than enough, but he questioned if he was still tired.
"I had sent Hubbert immediately to the guards the moment he left earlier on."
The guard feigned cluelessness. "He did not tell us anything."
Lies. The man speaks of lies. The voice was louder. No, voices. They were voices. Rune stood there in shock, questioning his sanity.
It wasn't his mind playing tricks; this time, Rune heard it.
Rune examined the guard, taking in the way he held his hands in reaching distance close to the sword strapped along his side.
"He's lying," Rune said. He didn't know what prompted him to speak, but he was sure the man was not telling the truth.
"The doctor did already visit them."
"How would a boy who stayed cooped up indoors all day know a guard's whereabouts?"
"You mind yourself. If you think you can push a couple of Eastern Nythians around, you'll regret it."
The guard seemed young, probably new, given he had no stars lining the uniform he wore.
"Who is your unit commander?"
Rune watched the man smirk. "Ajax."
"Ajax? I know every one of his guards, and none look like you."
The voice in Rune's mind giggled at the guard's response. He lies again. His tongue will kill him.
Rune repeated what the voice had said. "He's lying again."
Hearing Rune call him out, his face twisted in a snarl as he raised his arm to strike Rune.
He didn't flinch, not when the Madam's hand reached out and stopped his hand midway.
"Guard of Ajax, might I ask you your name?"
"It's Wester."
"Anything you have to say to your commander?"
"What nonsense is going on now—"
Effortlessly, the Madam's inked hand shot out quickly and snapped the guard's head. The body slumped to the ground, and she cleaned her hand with a handkerchief from her vest pocket.
Rune felt disturbed. The guard had just lost his life, just like the voices said. A chill spread throughout his body.
"It seems they didn't teach manners to this one. Suppose it was on purpose, the question would then be, why omit such information on Alta's inhabitants?"
Her cold gaze landed on Rune.
"How did you conclude he was lying?"
Rune hesitated. "A gut feeling."
"You called him out twice. Once, I would believe, but twice, that is not something 'gut' can pinpoint."
He stayed quiet, not wanting to disclose something he did not understand.
"Silence, your best skill. Well, whatever it is, an excellent tool, I will say."
A greedy glint shone in her dark eyes. "In all honesty, I'm quite envious."