Free Suriax by Amanda Young

no
matter what happened, you weren’t alone. Tomorrow, he would meet
his family, and he had no idea what to expect. That thought in the
back of his mind, Kern went to sleep.
     

Chapter 4
     
    Things were oddly relaxed between Marcy and
Thomas the next day. He wore a loose tunic, borrowed from Bradley.
While he looked dashing, charming and dangerous in his Flame Guard
jacket, the casual clothing seemed to fit him better. He was a
natural with the children. They ran up to him, wanting to show him
a rock or piece of string they decided was an ogre, and he played
right along, pretending to be scared. They would laugh and run off,
only to come back a short while later with a new imaginary monster.
This was who he was, not some hired assassin or mercenary. She
could easily picture him turning his back on Suriax and never
regretting it. The funny thing was, while she watched him, she
could easily picture herself doing the same.
    The adults sat around the dining room table
for most of the morning. They drank tea and ate a late breakfast,
talking about how Thomas and Bradley met. As it turned out, Thomas
knew Bradley from his village. They grew up together, getting into
much mischief in their younger years. When Thomas decided to leave,
they traveled to Suriax together. While Bradley never had any
interest in the Guard, he decided he too could find a new start
there.
    Veronica tilted her head to the side, her
keen elven ears hearing voices only her and Marcy seemed to notice.
“Is someone outside?” she asked, interrupting a story of how Brad
talked Thomas out of letting a practicing mage try to burn his hair
shorter for a bet. Bradley shot up and went to check on the
children.
    Going to the window, Marcy felt her blood run
cold. “It’s the Royal Guard.” She and Thomas looked at each other,
wondering how they were found so quickly.
    “Can I help you?” Bradley asked, putting a
protective hand on Max’s shoulder. Vivian hid behind his legs.
    “We are looking for a half elf Flame
Guardsman who goes by the name, Kern. He may be traveling with an
older elven man and a young elf woman.”
    “I haven’t seen anyone like that around
here.”
    “I’ll need to check the house to confirm
that,” the guard said.
    Thomas reached for his sword at his waist,
but Marcy stayed his hand. If they got into a fight here, someone,
possibly one of the children, could get hurt. “I have an idea.”
Running to her bag, she pulled out a book with several scrolls
loose inside. She flipped through the scrolls quickly, looking for
the one that could help. “Ah, ha,” she said triumphantly. Putting
the book down, she ran over to Frex and took his hand. “Apelai
Chamealton,” she said. The scroll disappeared in her hand,
dissolving into a glowing mist that surrounded them. When the mist
was gone, Frex and Marcy had the appearance of humans. Before
anyone could say anything, the front door opened. Bradley was the
first to enter. He faltered a half step at seeing them, but quickly
recovered. Marcy could see the look of relief on his face.
    The guard looked around the room and then
down at a paper in his hand. “It says here there are only four
people living at this residence.”
    “That is correct,” Bradley said. “Some of my
family is visiting for the Solstice Festival.”
    The guard nodded and proceeded to check the
rest of the house. He looked in every closet and cabinet, He even
pulled back the curtains. After checking the rest of the house, he
came back in the front, looking around again for anything out of
place. Marcy looked over at Thomas and felt her heart catch.
Directly behind him, on the arm of the chair, was his Flame Guard
jacket. One look at that jacket would give them away. If he found
out any of them were with the Guard he would know they lied about
their identities, and he would not be inclined to look the other
way. The Royal Guard hated the Flame Guard. They were constantly
competing for the crown’s attention.