The Tales of Miriela: Shadowborn

Chapter 13: Thomas Siln

With a fresh horse, taken from the Royal Stables, he started off, once again, through the Southern Gate and past The Grounds. It was becoming an all too familiar voyage for Thomas Siln. The Canstein Forest spanned far from the East to the West, but its reach from the South to the North was much less. Thomas searched the woods, riding the Canstein's main path. He looked from his horse for Odwin, and the other boy, or some sign of where they had gone. But he knew where they were. They wouldn't have stayed in the Canstein, they would have run further. They had to be in Kessex.

As he rode slowly down the path, Thomas' thoughts began to wonder and for the first time, his loyalties did the same. What was to stop him from running? If he didn't find Odwin, the King may want him dead. He may as well ride South, past Kessex and to the shores, aboard a ship and sail for Kylos, The Bloodwater Isles, or the Southern Suns either would be safer than Miriela. But to run was to leave behind his riches, and all he had accumulated in Ferenor.

Afterall, to Thomas, the thought of abandoning his power was unimaginable. If he didn't have his estate, his authority, and his gold, then he had nothing. And to return to a life of nothing was worse than death.

He had lived that life before; it was what lead him to Ferenor in the first place. An orphan in his youth, Thomas joined a band of priests. They took Thomas under their care and treated him as one of their own. But the priesthood was no calling for his ambitious heart. He had a hunger, an inextinguishable fire that burned within his core, a desire for power. And when the thirst for power seemed too great to ignore, he ran. Thomas left the Eisite Priests and sailed North, where he had heard tales of riches.

The Lord never regretted his choice to go North, but he was a child then, no older than fourteen. Thomas Siln was a man now, and he believed that true men did not run, they stood and fought. If Thomas couldn't find the boys, and the King wished for his death, then so be it, he would stand and fight. Thomas controlled the export of Ferenor, export that was guarded by tradesmen. Tradesmen who Thomas paid well, men who would not stand idly by to see their source of gold murdered.

Kline was, however, Thomas's friend, or so he often felt. Perhaps he did not know what a friend truly was, but Kline was as close as he had. Yet, Thomas knew that Kline placed his throne over everything and everyone else. And therefore, their friendship was subject to change. Thomas continued to think as he rode through the luscious green forest, ducking his head as he rode under outstretched branches that hung out over the road.

Perhaps the boys would be easily discovered in Kessex, and brought back to the King with ease. Kline would, in time, forget their escape and Lord Siln's success would be all there was left to remember. Thomas continued his search, through the Canstein and finally, to the walls of Kessex.

It was still daylight, though the black of night was not far off. The Northern Gate of Kessex was open to pass, as it always was in the light of day. Thomas entered the city with the large crowds and seas of people. He wondered where two runaway slaves would have hidden themselves.

Kessex was surely the place they would be. If they had run off in the Canstein, to the East or to the West, it was only a matter of time before they'd starve. South was the only direction the boys could have traveled and lived. And if they went South, they would have passed through Kessex.

With each of the faces he passed, Thomas became more uncertain he would never find the two. He hardly remembered what Odwin looked like, and he had never seen the other. He did not know how they spoke, only their names and that they were slaves of The Grounds.

Crowds and commotion filled the streets, and flooded the eyes and ears of Lord Siln. Peasants, many the same age as the two he was searching for, ran about the streets. Others begged, some sold goods.