Archive of Our Own

Wick had been feeling rather cheerful. While he, of course, understood the necessity of their various less than accommodating sleeping arrangements over the course of this trip, and he was, of course, doing his best maintain the brightness of his spirit in the face of everything, and naturally, he understood that he was among the least experienced of his companions in such matters and had no wish for his inexperience to burden those who had so kindly allowed him to join him, but all that being said, camping was very uncomfortable and he missed sleeping in a bed. 

As such, he had been rather delighted and relieved when his suggestion of an inn had not been discarded, but rather had been agreed upon by the group. A feeling that had only been heightened as they actually reached the inn, and Wick was able to have a hot bath for the first time since leaving the Villa Aurora. 

Feeling properly clean for the first time in quite a while, he was happy to follow his companions, minus Thimble, down into the tavern area for some food. As they waited for what he had been told was stew, Wick couldn’t help but to reflect on how much he had changed, why before he never would have stayed at such a rough and tumble place, and now he hardly even noticed its character. And as Embers Eternalis: 22 said: Leave your old self in the shadow, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the Light; and to shine bright as the new self, reflected in the light in true righteousness and virtue. 

(Wick ignored the small ember of unease that sparked in his chest whenever he thought about the verses now, the verses his grandmother had made up..)

Anyway!

While he sat at a table in the corner, Teor waited up near the bar, chatting with some of the other patrons there, while Kattigan hovered nearby. Tyranny had just reached his table with their bowls of stew when, suddenly, a voice rose up over the crowd.

“No, no, I swear I’m telling the truth, House Tachonis has fucking snapped, going around murdering noble houses, murdering their own kin even. I reckon they’re trying to take over.” 

Wick couldn’t help but to look up that, his mind struggling to process the words he had just heard. House Tachonis had murdered a noble house? But they were, well, Wick had never thought much of them before, and although recently, he had certainly learned of some less than savory actions by them, they had paled in comparison the the revelations about his own House. But for them to murder a fellow noble house…

With a sudden twist in his belly, Wick remembered his grandmother telling him that, as their closest allies, the knives of the Tachonis’s were also the closest to their backs. Could the House they’d murdered have been Halovar?

He sat frozen at the table, wanting to know more, but also dreading the answers he’d receive. Luckily, his companions were not so still. 

Tyranny spoke up, drawing attention to herself. 

“Did you just say House Tachonis murdered some noble houses? Which houses? And also, how do you know?”

“Yes,” Teor added, “This is concerning news to hear. I was considering traveling to Dol-Makjar to look for work, but if what you say is true, perhaps I should reconsider.”

“Oh you absolutely should,” the man replied, turning to face Teor, “It’s a Shapers-damned madhouse there right now. Anybody with a lick of sense should stay away, not just cause o’ the Tachonis’s, but also all the other Houses’re getting their backs up against a wall, and it’s all going to go to shit soon, I’ll tell you that.”

“This is good to know,” Teor replied, his hand clapping the shoulder of the man, “But please, sit and let me buy you a drink. It seems you have quite a story, and I would very much like to hear the rest of it.” 

Wick had no idea how he could act so calm. He seemed totally unbothered by the picture this man’s words were painting, while Wick, Wick was struggling to breathe. 

Suddenly, a hand came down on his shoulder, and Kattigan’s voice rumbled in his ear. 

“We’ll need to borrow some of that coin if you don’t mind,” he said. “He’ll talk more the more he drinks, the more he drinks, the less he’ll remember who asked.” 

“Yes, of course,” Wick replied more out of automatic habit rather than thought, but as he went to hand over the coin, he hesitated slightly. 

“Do you-Do you think it was House Halovar they mur-attacked?” he asked, his voice having drawn thin and wavering, with none of the certainty Hal had been teaching him to use. 

“Don’t know, could be, let’s find out,” Kattigan replied, taking the coin and slinking away. 

Meanwhile, Teor had settled the man at a table near the center of the room. Wick glanced around and it seemed like almost everyone in the tavern was keeping half an eye on them, so he felt there was no danger in openly watching. 

“Go on, friend,” Teor rumbled, “Tell us this story you have.”

“Well,” the man said, “It all happened maybe less than a week ago, right after that rebel guy, Fang or whatever, got himself hanged. All the Houses, you see, they was in Dol-Makjar for the hanging.”

Kattigan appeared at this point with two mugs of ale, sliding one to Teor and the other to man. 

“Here you go,” he said, “Something to wet your throat with.”

“Mighty appreciated,” the man replied, taking a long swig, and sighed, “Ah, that hits the spot. Anyways, where was I? Ah right, the Houses are in town, and it seems like they’re all staying in town, cause there was supposed to be this big fancy gala or whatever. But then…”

His voice had dropped to a hush, and Wick found himself leaning in.

“Then one morning,” he continued, “we’re all waking up, and the House of Royce is just gone, them and all their servants, vassals, whatever, gone!”

House Royce, not Halovar then. For a moment, Wick felt deeply relieved, but then just as quickly felt terribly guilty. To find any positivity in another’s suffering was a dimming. 

“Gone?” Teor pressed, “Earlier you said murdered, but this makes it sound much more mysterious.”

“That’s the thing,” the man said, “Nobody fucking knew what was up that first day, cause there were nothing to find. Anyone who was at the fancy estate-thing that night were just gone, from nobles down to the scullery maids. But you might think, well, maybe they just left, bit weird to leave in the middle o’ the night, but nobles are weird. ‘Cept first of all, I’ve got a friend in the Marshal’s office, which is how I heard all this, by the by, and he said there weren’t any group that large through the gates that night. Now you might think, well, maybe they used some weird noble sorcery magic shit, ‘cept, all their stuff is still there, food, clothes, all of it. And that’s not even the weirdest part!”

“Yeah,” Kattigan said, his gaze fixed on the man, “What is then?”

“Well, you see,” the man replied, “Anyone who weren’t at the house that night, and I’m talking servants who lived in the city, any of their guard out on the town, that sort of people, they was still there, and they had no clue where anyone went neither. In fact, it was them who sounded the alarm!”

He sat back in his seat, and took another mouthful of ale before continuing. 

“So, it’s got the whole city on edge, right? Bunch of people, bunch of nobles vanish, and no one knows what’s what. And then, I starts hearing rumors that it were the Tachonis’s that up and did it. And at first it was just rumors, mutterings, but then people started saying specifics.”

“Specifics like what?” Teor prompted him. 

“Specifics like people remembering this Tachonis kid, ah, fuck, what was his name? I know it started with an O. Maybe Otis, or Oscar? Anyway, it don’t fucking matter, the youngest one. People saw him entering the Palazzo Davinos earlier that day, and a couple of other people swear they saw a body that looked like his dragged out later that night. Plus, some folks down at the Penteveral swear that Primus Tachonis himself showed up there looking for the kid.”

“Alright,” Teor said slowly, “But is that all? If so, forgive me for saying so, but this is rather lacking in details.”

“Nah, it’s not all,” the man said, “The thing that pulls it all together? My friend told me that the Arcane Marshals found traces of some big fucking necromancy at that Palazzo Davinos, don’t know for what, cause there were no bodies, maybe it made all the bodies and get up and walk away, I dunno.”

Wick shuddered in spite of himself. After that battle in the woods, he would happily stay as far away from any necromancy as he could manage. 

At the other table, the man took another sip of his drink before leaning in again. 

“But what I do know, is that after that came out, at first everyone was thinking, well, maybe the Royce’s had kidnapped the Tachonis kid, and the Tachonis’s came in killed’em all for it. Bit of overkill if you ask me, but nobles amirite?”

He nudged at Kattigan’s arm as though hoping to share in the joke with him, but Kattigan’s face didn’t shift, his gaze piercing and focused in a way that Wick had rarely seen from him. 

“But earlier you said the Tachonis’s had killed their own son,” he rumbled, “that’s a bit different from the Royce’s kidnapping him.”

“Well, that’s why I said at first,” the man said, “Except then, then, the Marshalls found the kid’s body, and guess what? It had the same fucking necromancy on it. And the thing is, the Royces? Nah, they don’t fuck with necromancy, never have, that’s a Tachonis game. Which means, they were the one to murder their own son, and for what? Nobody knows! Nobody knows now why they killed the Royces and Davinos neither! Like I’ve said, they just fucking snapped!”

“But the boy,” Kattigan said, leaning into the man’s space, “How sure can they be that he was the Tachonis kid?”

“Dead sure, pardon my pun,” the man assured him, “It were my friend’s lieutenant that found him apparently, and he’s one of the sharper ones, plus apparently the body still had its signet ring on it, so not much doubt there.”

“Right,” Kattigan said quietly, drawing back, his head turned away from Wick, keeping him from seeing his expression, “Good to know.”

“Again, thank you, friend” Teor broke in. “This is good information to have, I assume based on this, you would recommend avoiding Dol-Makjar at the present.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go back there now for love nor money,” the man said, “See, once all the news started getting around, the other Houses started getting squirrelly too, by the time I left, couldn’t turn a corner without smacking into an Einfasen guard or Halovar mercenary. Whole place is a powder keg, they’re going to start turning on each other any day now, and I’ll not be there when that happens, I’ll tell you that.” 

Halovar mercenaries, Wick had been peripherally aware that his family employed some, but he now found the idea more pressing. Would they be sent out after him?

“Yes, very good to know,” Teor said, “Well, enjoy the rest of your drink, but if you’ll excuse me, my companion and I must speak with the rest of our party about changing travel plans.”

“Good luck,” the man said, lifting the mug of ale in a salute, as Teor and Kattigan stood up and made their way over to his and Tyranny’s table. 

“I assume that the two of you heard all of that, yes?” Teor asked. 

“Yep,” Tyranny answered, “Super glad I didn’t end up doing the disguise myself as Occtis Tachonis plan back in Sloak, seems like it would have gone real bad.”

Yes, it certainly would have. Worse than Wick could have imagined at the time. He’d thought-well, he’d thought they would at least be willing to speak with him, that while some hostility was normal in a family, it couldn’t, it wasn’t…

Wick realized he had lost the thread of the conversation and made an effort to refocus. Teor was speaking. 

“… a part of the plan to save Thjazi, it’s likely the Tachonis’s murdered him in retaliation for his betrayal.”

Well, Wick hadn’t known that before. Or, well, he could remember something or another when they’d first been leaving the city, but he’d had so many other concerns at the time, and he hadn’t been paying much attention, he hadn’t realized that… 

“He went against his own House?” He asked, his throat suddenly going dry. It didn’t mean anything. He hadn’t drunk much today, the only non-alcoholic beverage available at the inn was water, and he hadn’t liked the taste of it. 

“Yes,” Teor said, “And unfortunately, the Sundered Houses, as we all know, are not much inclined to mercy.”

Not much inclined to mercy, that was, Wick was, he wasn’t thinking about that. 

To distract himself, he asked, “So what should we do now? I mean you told the man that we needed to discuss our travel plans, but I didn’t think we were planning on heading back to Dol-Makjar, were we? So, does this matter to us? What’s our next move?”

“You two need to go up to your room and stay there,” Kattigan ordered bluntly. 

“What, why?” Wick asked, confused, surely he hadn’t missed that much of the conversation, “Do you think we’re in some kind of, of danger? I mean, certainly that was most alarming news, most alarming indeed, but we’re not in Dol-Makjar, and we haven’t caught up with the Tachonis’s yet. Unless, do you think they’re here?”

His tone had gone up at the end, he had known what they were doing was dangerous, the fight with Casimir and his men had certainly shown him that, but now he was much more nervous about hunting members of House Tachonis. 

“No, I do not think they are near,” Teor replied, “Although this does make me more nervous for future encounters. That they’ve chosen to keep Cyd…”

He trailed off, his eyes fixed on a distant point, troubled, before shaking his head and continuing.

“But we, meaning Katt and I, must talk to Thimble, alone. And since I am protecting you, I would prefer if you do not stay down here alone where you can get into trouble, hence the room.”

“Oh, alright” Wick said, rising from his seat, hands still gripping his, now less appetizing, bowl of stew, “But, but why do you need to speak to Thimble, what does she have to do with this?”

This earned him a disbelieving look from Kattigan.

“Thimble is a pixie of the Golden Orchard,” he said, his tone implying he thought Wick rather dim, “you know the home of House Royce?”

“Ah right,” Wick replied, flushing, “You think she would have had friends or family amongst House Royce then? It’s only, the man only mentioned Dol-Makjar, and well I, I just never saw any faeries in the city in the time I’ve spent there.”

“She had at least one friend,” Kattigan replied, his tone quiet and grave, “Occtis.”

Yes, Occtis, the youngest Tachonis boy. Wick had known of him, had seen him briefly in passing at Thjazi’s funeral, but had never spoken to him. And now he never would. Because he was dead, murdered by his own family, supposedly. … Wick had been trying not to think about that part. 

“Oh, I, I didn’t know they were that close,” he said, trying to distract himself, “It just seems an odd pairing, I suppose.”

“Well, they were,” Kattigan said flatly, “They were good friends, and now we have to go up there and tell her he’s dead. So if you could just go to your room and stay out of trouble…”

“Yes, yes, alright, of course” Wick cut him off hurriedly, “I-I’ll go right away.”

And he did, clutching his bowl of stew to his chest, he hurried up the stairs, Tyranny following behind. He spared a glance for the door to the room he knew Thimble was in, seeing Kattigan and Teor go inside, before promptly putting his head down until he was in his own room and seated on the bed.

He- well, he wasn’t quite sure how long he’d sat there, determinedly Not Thinking, until Tyranny shifted into the space next to him and asked, “So, are you going to eat that?’

He startled, “Eat what-, oh.” 

The stew. 

“No,” he replied quietly, handing the bowl over, “You can have it if you like.”

“You sure?” Tyranny asked, “Because like, you seemed like you were hungry earlier, and I don’t want you waking me up in the middle of the night because your stomach’s growling, you know?”

“Yes, I’m quite sure,” he said. “I’m, I’m not really hungry.”

It wasn’t a lie. 

Well, obviously it wasn’t a lie, as lying was a dimming, and what-whatever else Wick might or not believe, that part of his faith still made sense. After all, was it not lying that had-had caused this whole mess to begin with? His sister, his father, his grandmother, all lying to the people, and, and to him. They had lied to him his entire life, his whole family…

His family. 

His family, who might now be very unhappy with him, because he’d, because he’d run off and allied with rebels and detractors of the Creed, people who’d, who had risen up once against the Sundered Houses, and he’d saved one of them from death, an execution, just like, just like…

Suddenly Tyranny’s finger poked at his cheek. 

“Heeyyy,” she said, “Are you like good? Because your face is doing all sorts of weird things, and I know we said we wouldn’t leave this room, but if you're about to like throw up or something, I could-“

“Do you think my family will try and kill me once they find me?” He blurted out, cutting off the rest of Tyranny’s sentence. 

Tyranny blinked, sitting back on her haunches as her finger left his face, looking a little stunned. 

“Uh,” she said, “what do you-, that’s, why’re you, I mean, well-”

‘Never mind,” Wick cut her off, “I’m sorry that, that was inappropriate of me to put that on you, you don’t have to answer.”

“No! No, it’s fine!” Tyranny replied hurriedly, “You can totally ask me anything you want, absolutely, of course. I-I was just a little surprised is all. So, uh, what exactly brought this on?” 

“Well, it’s just that you’ve said that I was in danger, and that we needed to get out of the city because my family was going to be upset that I went against them,” he replied, his hand reaching up to tug at his collar, which suddenly felt too tight. “And I thought that, well, I don’t really know what I thought that meant. But I know that my family tried to kill, to kill Teor when he angered them, but I didn’t, he isn’t,”

He paused for a moment, trying to make sense of the tight churning feelings inside his chest. 

“My grandmother said she loves me,” he said at last, “It, that was one of the last things she said to me, after everything else down there in that horrible basement, was that she loves me. And I supposed that I thought that, even after everything else was a lie, that that part might still be true.”

“I mean, it could be,” Tyranny replied, “I mean, I know I’m not like super knowledgeable on love, you know, demon and all, but while I was with your family, it did seem like she cared about you, and we don’t know that that isn’t true.”

“But what if it isn’t?” Wicander asked, “Or, or what if that isn’t enough? What if what I’ve done makes them so angry that they’ll try to kill me, kill me just like the Tachonis’s killed their son when he went against them? We’ve, this whole journey, I’ve kept learning how awful my family is, the horrible things they do, and, I, I just don’t know anything anymore.”

As he stared down at his lap, trying hard to keep from crying, he heard Tyranny shuffle beside him before her hands grabbed his. 

“Okay, so look,” she said, “I don’t, okay, so first of all, no one is going to let you die.”

“So you do think they’re going to try to kill me then,” he replied. 

“I mean, maybe?-” she started to reply, before Wick cut her off, feeling worse than ever. 

“That’s, well, I suppose it’s, it’s better to know now,” he said, feeling the twisting feeling in his chest turn hot, “to know that all of it has been a lie, has always been a lie, and that I’m going to have to, to have to-”

He was struggling to finish his sentences so much this evening. Hal would be disappointed. 

“No, wait, hang on, just, just let me finish okay,” Tyranny said, grabbing and swinging his shoulders around so he had to face her. 

“So, I’m not good at this,” she said, her tail lashing behind her, “I mean, I’ve only been up here for six months, and before that I was just this formless void created by a demon lord swirling in the Pit, so, like, family, love? Sure, I’ve been trying to figure it out, but it’s not, I’m not good at this.”

“Well, I think you’re doing better than you think,” Wick couldn’t help but to reassure her. 

“That’s- okay, thank you, for that” Tyranny replied, “I feel like you still don’t really get the whole demon thing, but I appreciate you saying that. Not my point though. The reason I said that isn’t because I wanted you to be like, oh, poor little demon girl, it’s because I need you to know that what I’m telling you is based on what I know of your family, but I don’t know how them loving you or not loving you changes that, okay?””

“Alright,” Wick said. 

“Okay, so,” Tyranny said, puffing out her cheeks a little, “the reason I said maybe is because I think whether or not your family will try to kill you kind of depends on you.”

“As in, it will be my fault?” Wick couldn’t help but to interrupt, feeling slightly hurt. 

“No! No, that’s not what I meant,” Tyranny replied quickly, her hands lifted from Wick’s shoulders to wave frantically in front of her, before letting them drop to her lap. 

“I just meant,” she said, “that right now your family probably is really mad, but, fuck, the truth is, Wick, the person they’re probably actually mad at right now is me.”

Her words hung in the air. Tyranny was now the one refusing to face him, her head turned down and away. 

“You think they’re actually mad at you?” Wick eventually ventured to ask, hoping it would spark Tyranny to clarify. 

“Well, maybe also Teor,” Tyranny muttered, “but yeah mostly me.” 

“I’m afraid I don’t quite understand,” Wick admitted, “I mean, I can see why they would be upset with the two of you, but I was the one to chose to save him, and to leave the city, and to bring you, my Aspirant, with me. I was the one that chose, that chose to leave and go against them, and you just said that they might try to kill me, but now you’re suggesting they’re actually mad at you?”

“Look my job was to keep you believing, you know that,” Tyranny said, now looking at him again, her expression more serious than he had usually seen her, “And that means that while you’re the one I’m directly contracted with, the reason I got contracted in the first place was to help keep you in line with House Halovar. So yeah, if they catch up to us, they’re going to be mad at me, because to them this whole situation probably happened because I failed to do my job.”

“Well, that doesn’t make any sense,” Wick replied, “I was the one who made the decision to leave, and while you did come with me, yes, it’s not as though you could have stopped me. You’re my Aspirant, I’m the one in charge of you, if anything, you can’t be blamed for following my orders. And-and I’m happy to say so, should I need to.” 

He nodded decisively at the end. He, this whole situation was horrible and confusing and he still wasn’t really sure how he felt about the whole thing, but he knew that he wouldn’t be letting Tyranny take the blame for it. 

But Tyranny looked more exasperated than touched by his pronouncement. 

“Wick, it’s really sweet that you believe that,” she said, “but I need you to understand that your family won’t see it that way, at all. It does not matter what you tell them, they are going to blame me, no matter what. Because, because..”

Wick furrowed his brow in concern, Tyranny had switched from exasperation to distress, her hands twisting her tail tightly in her lap. He waffled trying to figure out if he should say something, but before he could make up his mind, she continued. 

“Because the truth is, I kind of lied, okay? When I said we both took this huge risk and that we both needed to leave the city because the Halovars were going to come after us. They were going to come after me, they were going to kill me if we got caught, and I couldn’t leave without you, and I was scared, so I lied a little bit and made it sound like we were equally in trouble, when in reality, you probably would have gotten scolded at best, and at absolute worse, they might have like modified your memory or something so you didn’t remember, if the Photarch thought you would keep causing trouble. But I would have gotten sent back to the Pit, and- and I didn’t know if you would believe me that you couldn’t protect me, and I’m sorry! I was just scared, please believe me, I’m really sorry, I swear I am, and please don’t send me back to the Pit, I-, I-”

By the end of the rant, she was practically in tears, and struggling to get any more words out. Wick was reminded of the incident in the forest with the knife, how frightened she had been both now and then, and that more than anything illuminated his path forward. 

Reaching out his hands, he grasped hers. 

“Embers Eternalis 17:” he said, “The Light sees all, and in us exists filament and forgiveness. You once told me that I was going to have to really think about what I believe in, and although I don’t know how I feel about the Creed as a whole, I do believe in that.” 

“You’re not getting it!” Tyranny’s voice had gone high and tight, “I lied to you! I told you that I was different to everyone else who had been lying to you, and I then did the same thing because I wanted you to pr-, because I wanted to stay, but I was selfish, and you can’t save me, Wick!”

Wick’s stomach was churning again. Tyranny had said that before, back in the Villa Aurora, but he hadn’t really wanted to think about it, and besides, she had also said he needed to decide for himself what he believed in and he certainly didn’t believe that, although, now she was also saying she had been lying, so…

Tyranny was still speaking. 

“You can’t save me,” she repeated, “but for you, it could go either way. If you truly try to stand up and defy your family, then, yeah, maybe they might try to kill you, if you make them. But the truth is you could probably just go home, you’d just have to leave the rest of us. And I’m not saying you would! Or that I think you would, but I, it was selfish to make you afraid just because I was, and you asking me if your family was going to kill you made me realize that, and so I just, I had to tell you the truth, I’m sorry.”

No, that was, no. Teor had once asked him if he was prepared to choose between his ideals and his family. Wick had told him definitely not, and, well he still didn’t want to have to choose, but if he had to, he couldn’t, he didn’t want anyone to die though. 

Maybe it wouldn’t happen, they hadn’t seen his family on the road yet or any sign that they were looking for him, and besides, maybe Tyranny was wrong and they wouldn’t blame her, or Teor, or, or even if they did, then if they really weren’t as angry with him, then perhaps Wick could intercede, offer them some defense. 

Yes, yes, that was a good idea. Wick hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to his grandmother before he’d fled Dol-Makjar, but she’d always listened to him before, but her listening to him still hadn’t saved Thjazi, so Wick was sure that, if it became necessary, he could defend his friends. It would be fine if he could just make his family listen. 

(He ignored Thimble’s voice echoing in the back of his head saying I don’t think they ever wanted to talk to him. He wasn’t the same as Occtis, the Halovar’s weren’t the same as the Tachonis’s, they weren’t!)

“Well, it doesn’t matter right now,” he declared to Tyranny, “I won’t let anyone hurt you, or Teor, and if my family becomes a problem, well, then I’ll just have to have a talk with them. But, I’m sure it will work out. Now if you’d be willing to excuse me, I, I think I’d like some privacy please.”

“Wick..” Tyranny began, her tone not sounding at all reassured. 

“Tyranny, please,” Wick said firmly, “I’ve made my decision.”

Tyranny just looked at him for a moment, during which Wick struggled to meet her gaze, before sighing.

“Yes, Your Radiance,” she said quietly, before going to draw the small curtained divider that separated their shared room. 

Wick settled more comfortably on bed, well, as much as he could be comfortable on a straw mattress, determined not to think any more on the conversation downstairs. It had nothing to do with him anyway. 

Everything would be fine, he was sure of it. After all, doubt led to dimness, and Wick walked in the Light. 

(Even though the path ahead seemed so dark now…)

No, no, he wasn’t thinking about it, it would be fine. It had to be.