26.3 Papa Voice's happiness, it be the happiness that never turn dark and never wound. It be the happiness that stay happiness.
Jake awoke the next morning. It was Wednesday. He was still lying on his back in the back of the wagon and the sun was shining brightly on his face. He looked up to see Hannah rubbing his shoulder, coaxing him awake gently. She was standing outside, next to the wagon, reaching within.
"C'mon Jake. Let's go." she said.
Hannah waited momentarily until she was certain that Jake was awake. She then turned and went back inside.
Jake, sat up on his elbows and watched her leave. He was happy that he could live with people that cared about him.
Jake lay back down, and began to think. The first thoughts that came to him were of Quick. Then, his mind drifted off and back to his dream of Gideon, himself, his family and the dragon. The dream was significant somehow, but he could not understand why.
"Why was I so cruel to Gideon?" he thought to himself.
Jake stood up in the back of the wagon. Gideon was eating his bag of oats. Quick was still gone. Jake reached over and petted Gideon tenderly.
"I'm sorry boy." apologized Jake for his actions in the dream.
The deaths of his family members had been a tragedy. It was the greatest tragedy Jake would ever face in his life. The death of Quick though had burned him in a surprising way that Jake had never felt before. The death was remarkable simply due to the sheer meanness of it. Perhaps it was just that this death was newer. Perhaps it was just that Quick had been so important to him. There was just such a petty cruelty to this death though that the sting of it felt like a never ending slap across his face. Jake was now being forced to know that death and misery were permanent and frequent parts of his life and would be from this day on. A frown came to Jake's face that Jake did not realize was there.
Jake walked into the apartment. Hannah walked up behind him and hugged him sympathetically.
It was Wednesday morning. Jake was supposed to be to work within an hour. He did not feel like going, but knew that he should. He sat down at the table and began to eat. Hannah let him go and went back to her life. Slowly, the frown on Jake's face faded as his mind began to think about other things. The frown would return later though.
Jake rode Gideon to the Fighter's Guild. He had unhitched the wagon and had saddled him instead. Now that Quick was gone, there was no reason for him to not ride wagonless just as most everyone else did. As he rode, a darkness settled about him. He had a hard time seeing because of it. The darkness consisted wholly of brooding and bitterness. Jake found it difficult to watch where he was going.
Jake arrived at work late and not caring about his lateness. He walked the halls of the TTB towards his custodial room hating his world. Everything that he saw, felt, smelled, and heard somehow offended him. And it all continued to offend him until he opened the door to his room. There he found two things that changed his life.
A stunning large black dog of some random combination of breeds lay quietly on the floor looking at Jake dispassionately. The dog then yawned, put his head down and went to sleep. Jake looked at him carefully. He was beautiful.
He then walked up to his desk where he saw a small note that had been left there for him. It was folded over once and had the unmistakable childlike printing of Zeb's on it. It said simply "Jake."
Jake then opened the note to see the following.
Jake,
We thought you might need a new dog. Please accept this one. If he suits you, please keep him. If he doesn't, we'll take him back. Don't judge him too soon though. He's much smarter than he looks.
P.S. Please come to Main as soon as you come in. Talk to Shane. He'll tell you where to go. Some people here need to talk to you.
P.P.S. The dog's name is Monk. He knows quite a few tricks.
P.P.P.S. Hurry. Zeb
"So, you're smarter than you look?" asked Jake breaking out of his gloom.
Monk, upon hearing his new master's voice, abruptly stood up and sat down on his rear legs, patiently waiting as if he somehow knew that Jake was about to ask something of him.
"Lie down." said Jake to test the dog's intelligence.
Monk obediently lay down, resting his head on the floor. In spite of his pose though, his eyes were wide open and alert. He was very obviously waiting for the next command.
"Roll over?" said Jake tentatively. Jake wondered exactly how much this dog knew and why anyone, if he knew so much, would be willing to give him up.
Monk began to roll his big beautiful sloppy body. He didn't stop rolling. He continued to roll until he came to the wall of Jake's room. The dog then looked at Jake as though he were waiting for Jake to say something. Then, when it was obvious that Jake wasn't going to say anything, Monk began to obediently roll in the opposite direction.
Jake simply stood there watching Monk in total disbelief.
Monk eventually rolled all the way back to Jake's desk and looked up at Jake again. He seemed to once again hope that Jake would say something. But, seeing that Jake had no intention of saying anything again, Monk began to roll the opposite direction towards the first wall one more time.
Monk began to look frustrated.
"Stop?" said Jake with a smile. He wasn't quite sure how to turn the animal off.
Monk stopped rolling and lay on the ground, his head slightly spinning.
"Most dogs that know how to roll over only do it once Monk. They stop after that." said Jake still smiling.
Jake picked up the note and was about to walk out of the office with it. Monk lay his head down on the ground and closed his eyes. Jake, realizing that Gideon stood outside alone, decided that perhaps Monk could spend his day outside watching him rather than staying inside.
"Monk? How talented are you? Can you watch my horse for me?" said Jake somehow hoping that Monk really was as talented as he thought.
Monk casually stood up and walked to Jake and then sat down on his back legs. He sloppily looked up at Jake and waited for him to walk away.
Jake walked out the door and down the long hallway towards the exit of the TTB. Monk followed him closely on his right side. Jake stared at him the entire way smiling.
Eventually Jake walked outside and up to Gideon who was loosely tied to a hitching post by a tree outside of the TTB drinking from a trough. Gideon looked down at Monk and looked slightly concerned.
"Don't worry Gid." said Jake who then patted his horse's chest. Jake looked down at Monk and said "Monk, could you please hang out here today?"
Monk immediately sat down next to Gideon and instantly felt at home and at peace.
Jake looked carefully at Monk and Gideon once more. He then smiled a very quizzical smile, turned and walked away.
Jake held the note from Zeb tightly in his hand and entered Main. There, far off in the distance, sat Shane at his desk. As soon as Shane saw Jake, he stood up and began walking over towards him. He somehow looked upset.
"Who are you kid?" asked Shane. He looked angry.
Jake furrowed his eye brows slightly wondering what Shane was talking about.
"You're fourteen, right? You don't even have a gift. How did you get this job? You're going to be making two gold a day soon. Who in the world gets two gold a day who's only fourteen and has no gift?" Shane was angry.
"I don't understand." said Jake who was concerned with Shane's behavior.
"You stopped the break-in on Tuesday morning? How in the world did you do that?" asked Shane.
"I didn't. My dog was barking. He woke everyone up I guess." said Jake who looked as though he was willing to apologize if only he knew what his crime had been.
Shane then looked at Jake and began to speak overly carefully. He annunciated each syllable with perfect sarcastic insulting condescension.
"The Viceroy of Eastbrook and Master Williams are waiting in the Headmaster's office for you! They want to speak to you! YOU!" said Shane.
"What's a Viceroy?" said Jake looking puzzled.
Shane stood there with a look of complete astonishment on his face. This child was surrounded by greatness and was not even aware of it.
"Viceroy? You don't know what a viceroy is? A Vice King? Y'know? Like a Vice President? It's like a mayor, only not for a city, but for a whole prefecture instead." said Shane, full of jealousy and anger.
"Prefecture?" said Jake still looking very puzzled.
Shane had had enough of Jake's ignorance that was so perfectly disguised as purity and innocence. He grabbed Jake by the back of his head and pushed him towards the Headmaster's office.
"Just get in there!" said Shane.
Jake began to walk towards the Headmaster's office filled with confusion and apprehension.
Jake still didn't fully understand the words "viceroy" or "prefecture." He could guess though. For whatever reason, important people wished to speak with him, again. Jake was a farmer's son. He did not want this kind of attention.
In front of him was a large beautiful door. The handle was made of the finest of brass, as were the hinges and other hardware. By either side of it stood three guards that normally did not. Each were armed with pole axes. Each wore perfectly and precisely made suits of plate mail. And across each guard's chest was a sash of bright blue and yellow. This sash identified each as a kingsguard. Something of major importance was happening in the office behind them. Jake did not want to open this door.
As Jake neared, a guard approached him.
"Name." the guard said stoically as if Jake's own life depended on the answer.
"Jake Tunnis. I'm supposed to see a 'viceroy' and a 'Master Williams'." said Jake making sure that he got all the words right.
All six guards looked at Jake as though he had just misspelled the word "I."
The front guard then, with a subdued look of curiosity on his face, said "Follow me." He then walked to the door, opened it, and said aloud "Mister Tunnis is here, sir."
Within the room were over a dozen men. Jake recognized Zeb and Adam. They each held the ends of a rope that was tied to some kind of beautiful ornate dusty glass sculpture. Another man, apparently of great import, sat on what seemed to be a portable throne. To either side of him were two guards, dressed and armed similarly as the guards outside.
Master Williams, the Fighter's Guild headmaster, sat at his desk. Next to him, stood another man. He recognized him at once as Master Bremin. Master Bremin was the wizard that had given Jake the two pieces of platinum that had made Isaac so happy. There were others there that Jake did not know.
"Mister Tunnis, I wish to thank you for your assistance to this guild on Tuesday morning." said Master Williams from his desk.
"Had you not intervened, the thieves very possibly could have taken ten times as much as they did. Thanks to your willingness to approach them, we were able to find them."
"We would also like to offer you our condolences for the loss of your animal. We hope that the one that we have given you is to your liking."
Jake, not knowing what else to do, bowed slightly and said "Thank you. He is beautiful."
"Mister Tunnis, thanks to your memories, Master Bremin here was able to find the two thieves that broke into our treasury. But, because the third was a ghost, and we have no physical description of him, we require your further assistance."
Jake stared at Master Williams. There was nothing else for him to do. Master Williams was huge. But, he was quite old. Simply from looking at him though, Jake knew that this man was once extremely dangerous. His manner. His demeanor. The way he held his body all pointed toward absolute confidence and absolute ability.
But today, the dimming brown eyes showed the world that this man, who was once more titan than human, was growing old and would soon return to the dust. Jake stood in silent reverence for the power that once was.
"You told Masters Zeb and Adam that you knew the third man?" asked Master Williams.
"Yes sir. I believe so." said Jake.
"You believe so? So, you are not certain then?" asked Master Williams.
"I'm certain, sir." said Jake.
Master Williams then nodded his head once in a very business like way and stood. He then walked over to Zeb and Adam and the dusty glass sculpture that was tied to the rope between them. As Master Williams approached it though, the dustiness began to shake and tremble. Jake then realized that the sculpture was not a sculpture at all, but was alive. Jake knew immediately who it was as well.
"STAND, YOU MEANINGLESS PIECE OF INSIGNIFICANCE!" bellowed the Master.
The dustiness trembled again.
The Master then, in one mighty movement, kicked the form that lay between Zeb and Adam. This master was old, but he was still dangerous. He had even learned to use his advanced years as a weapon. He fooled people into believing that he was far frailer than he really was.
A cloud of dust exploded from the figure as the impact of the kick disturbed it. Within the cloud, the dusty form of something moaned and fell backwards. The kick of the master had wounded it.
Jake then saw the form stand up hesitantly and shake. Once standing, Jake could see that it was a man. There was simply no way to be sure though who the man was. He was still invisible.
Master Williams then walked to a bowl of something that lay on his desk. He picked up a handful of whatever was there and threw it into the face of the invisible man.
A cloud of intense whiteness enveloped the man who then began to choke and to cough at it. The man raised his arms so as to cover his face, still gagging and choking from what Jake believed to be chalk. The smell of it was strong in the room.
"GETS YOUR HANDS DOWN AND LET THIS BOY LOOK AT YOU, OR I'LL RUN YOU THROUGH." said the Master as he drew his long sword.
The figure slowly lowered his arms, but still stood with his head turned in shame.
It was Hank. Hank had had brown hair and brown eyes and a somewhat ruddy complexion. This being that stood before him was colorless and had no eyes, but still, from the contours of his face, Jake knew that it was Hank.
Hank stood there, in a state of absolute compelled humility. He was a thief now. And in Eastbrook, as with everywhere else in this world that Jake was aware of, they hung thieves. Hank was going to die. The only thing that could possibly save him was Jake.
"What's going to happen to him?" said Jake quietly.
The Master paused, glanced at Zeb and Adam, and then back at Jake carefully.
"Zeb and Adam told me that this man attacked your sister and has since attacked you three times, each time sending you with injuries to the healer's? Is this true?" asked Master Williams who was amazed. He could sense that Jake was considering lying and was of such a different strain of human than Jake, that the Master simply looked at him and thought him stupid to be so potentially and unwisely forgiving.
"What's going to happen to him?" insisted Jake humbly.
Master Williams looked once again back at Zeb and Adam and then back at Jake.
"If he's the one, he'll be hanged along with his partners tomorrow morning. Otherwise, he'll be set free." said the Master, blinking in amazement that Jake was even slightly concerned for the welfare of this miscreant.
Jake bowed his head and began to think. Jake remembered how Hank had slapped Jolie. He then remembered how he had punched him when first coming to Eastbrook. He also remembered his attack that late and lonely evening after having failed at finding a job. He thought of Quick. He then thought of all the money that Hank had robbed from these people. He then thought of himself once again lying on the healer's table again Tuesday morning.
Hank looked at Jake and silently pleaded for his life with nothing but his hollow broken empty eyes.
Jake wanted, with every fiber of his being, to find a way to help Hank out of this. There just had to be some way for Hank to repent.
Jake had known Hank for a very long time. He had known him all of his life in fact. Jake remembered Hank and Shane playing when they were children. All three of them, sometimes, would go out swimming, or would go out to play, or to work. Hank had been Shane's friend. But, Jake, in a way, had been Hank's friend, too. Something had happened though, somewhere, to Hank. Something had made him change and grow darker. Jake forced himself to remember though that Hank had once been his friend and that he had once been a source of joy in his life. There just had to be some way to get back to that.
But there wasn't.
Hank had done so many things that were wrong, and there was no way to undo them.
"What happened to you Hank?" said Jake with a face full of pity for this man who would soon die.
Hank had changed. Hank had become the man that Hank had intended to become, and he would hang tomorrow because of it.
"Why did you do any of it? Why couldn't you just be nice and get along? Everybody loved you. What happened to you?" cried Jake.
Hank fell to his knees in the knowledge that he would soon die. His world was gone. His Jolie was gone. His freedom was gone. His integrity was gone. His soul was gone. And now his life itself would soon be gone as well.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU JAKE! YOU WORTHLESS IDIOT. YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. DO YOU UNDE..." cried Hank fully frantic.
"Shut up." stated Zeb blankly who then rudely yanked on the rope tied about Hank's neck. As Hank's body fell to the ground Zeb kicked him once and Hank ceased moving. Jake would never see him move again.
"Thank you Jake. That will be all." said Master Williams who angrily began walking over to Hank's still body. Zeb handed Master Williams the rope he held and walked over to Jake and began to escort him outside of the room. As he left the room though, Jake looked behind him to see the huge ancient fighter standing over Hank's broken body saying "Heal him again. I'm not finished."
Jake left the room and began to cry. The frown that Monk had relieved him of crept back onto his fourteen year old face and would not disappear for the rest of the day.
He walked out of Main and across the courtyard. He entered the TTB and kept walking, silently crying to himself all the way. He entered his office, sat down and felt more alone than ever.
It was nearing nine o'clock in the morning and already Jake's day was as bad as it could be. Jake pulled out a sheet of paper from his desk and began to write the word "Asmireen" all over it. He angrily allowed his compulsion to take control of himself. He would do no work this day, and no one would care, not really.