45 Hugo
Hugo
Hugo, Eira, and Evangeline left the Griffon’s Nest just as the sun was about to set. The air was tense, the three of them
barely speaking as they walked toward the city. Hugo, using memories from his time in Luwha years prior, had built out a plan
in his head to get them to the center of town without being seen—or at least being seen by as few people as possible.
They were cloaked, the two women dressed in their leathers and riding leggings, their hoods up. Hugo thanked his past self
for spending his dwindling coin on leather armor for both of them—it might save them yet. Evangeline had gotten the last black
set, Eira in a deep blue that, while pricier, Hugo thought would complement her hair. If they weren’t in so much danger he
would have hoped that she would notice, but the tension between the three of them was thick.
“I still think this is a bad idea,” Evangeline whispered to the two of them. “It’s too risky. Even if we get in, will we be
able to get out?”
“I’ll make sure of it,” Hugo said. Even if it’s the last thing I do, he thought.
“Evangeline,” Eira snapped. “If you don’t want to be here, you can just go.” Eira had been quickly losing her patience all day with Evangeline’s quips. In a way, it was refreshing for Hugo to see. Back in the capital Eira had never spoken up at Evangeline like that, at least not in public.
“Eira Eckhart has an annoying new spine. I liked it better when you treated me with some reverence,” Evangeline sniped back.
“Both of you, hush,” Hugo said as he grabbed Eira’s hand and squeezed it, his silent affirmation that she hadn’t done anything
wrong, that he was there for her.
They approached the city gates and slid in through a darkened corner, the city guard still not guarding Luwha as they should
have been. Nerves lit up along Hugo’s body; everything about this felt wrong.
Hugo led the group through back alleyways, the map of Luwha in his head thankfully remaining true to his memory as they approached
the city center. They skirted the base of the mountain, buildings and scaffolding above them. He knew the tavern they needed
was on the base level of the town, near the mine entrance. The alleyways were blissfully quiet as the sun set. Hugo had strategically
started their mission after the day shift had walked out of town, meaning that even if someone saw the three of them, it would
be easy to mistake them for miners going to their night shift.
“Something feels wrong,” Eira whispered, her hood shadowing her face.
“What do you mean?” Hugo answered.
“It feels too quiet,” she said, looking around nervously.
“It’s Luwha,” Hugo said, trying to calm her. “It’s cold here, people stay inside. It’s not Cilirien.”
“Okay,” she said, continuing hesitantly. “If you say so.”
It took them only a few more minutes to reach the town clearing.
Hugo spotted the Crooked Carp across the way, a wooden sign shaped like a lopsided fish crusted in ice and swinging slightly in the cold winter breeze.
He quickly scanned the town center. A handful of townspeople walked through the clearing as a group of miners headed into the cavernous gap in the mountain just beside the Crooked Carp.
He looked to Evangeline and Eira, motioning for them to follow him as he wove through the back alleys behind the other shops until they got to the back door of the Crooked Carp. He could hear music through the door.
He twisted the door handle, and it gave way without any lock. Adrenaline shot through him, his worry increasing with each
step they took. Why wouldn’t the Crooked Carp keep its employee door locked? A million possibilities raced through his head
in an instant, each of them worse than the last.
“Everything okay?” Evangeline asked, Hugo’s hand still frozen on the door handle.
“Yes,” he said, panic spiking in his chest. It was Luwha; crime rates were low, and it was normal to keep your doors unlocked.
They hadn’t been seen, the guards were nowhere to be found, and they were here. Right here, finally ready to be able to get the clue they needed to get Eira’s memory back. If something was wrong, it was too late
to turn back anyway. He had promised to get her memory back.
Hugo swung open the door and walked in, through the kitchens and into the side hallway, leading Eira and Evangeline into the
open tavern to make it, hopefully, seem like they hadn’t come in through the back door. The three of them stepped through
the hallway and into an empty tavern. Music played from a player piano in the corner, no one manning it. There wasn’t a soul
in the tavern, no one behind the bar.
“Hugo?” Evangeline hissed. “Something’s wrong. We need to go.”
His head was buzzing. He knew this feeling; this was an ambush.
A slow, rhythmic clapping sounded as Carth came out from a side room, wearing the same outfit he had worn this morning, the towel he kept draped across his shoulder replaced with the strap of a sword behind his back.
“What are you doing here?” Eira asked, her voice laced with fear.
“This isn’t personal, ladies,” Carth said. “I’m sure you can make a deal with the Iron Empire.”Carth looked Eira up and down.
“Except you, probably . . . They frown upon witchcraft.”
“What did you do?” Hugo growled, stepping toward Carth.
“What did I do?” Carth said, voice rising. “What did you do!?”
At his scream Evangeline and Eira stepped back as Hugo’s hand hovered at the hilt of the sword on his hip.
“What did I do?” Hugo said, voice full of deadly calm, stepping forward again. He watched Eira and Evangeline scatter out of the corner
of his eye, trying to find a way out. He turned to the front door and spotted familiar Iron Retinue plate armor through the
glass. They’d been set up.
“You don’t even remember, you monster,” Carth scoffed, and all at once the dots connected for Hugo. How had he thought he’d
be recognized in Lichton and not Luwha? What an unbelievably stupid misstep. Of course the people of Luwha knew him, and they were feral, starving for vengeance.
“Who did I kill?” Hugo said dully.
“You’ve been to the Crooked Carp before,” Carth said. “My mother owned it. Now I do. Thanks. To. You.” He punctuated each
word with a single step forward.
Hugo thought back to his brief time here, mindlessly chasing down witches and killing them without thinking too hard about
it, because if he thought too hard he wouldn’t have been able to survive it.
“She gifted me the Griffon’s Nest as a way to build our family’s legacy, and then. You. Killed. Her!” Spittle flew from his lips as his face reddened with the depth of the guttural scream.
Hugo took it all, silently stepping forward again, hoping Carth wouldn’t notice his closeness in his rage.
Hugo caught Evangeline’s eye as she peeked through the window and mouthed, “Eight.” It was the six Iron Retinue soldiers he’d
seen and two more that had already been here, or two city guards. They were outnumbered. They were doomed.
Hugo frantically tried to figure out how to convince Eira to run, to run, and survive.
“Imagine my surprise when the dashing commander who killed my mother showed up at my tavern.” Carth’s hand shook at his side,
the fury radiating through him. “I wanted to kill you and your woman in your sleep tonight, but imagine my joy when you told
me your plans today. Then, you told me the Iron Empire was looking for you and, even better, that your woman is a witch. It
was perfect, too perfect.”
“I know what I did was wrong, but I’ve learned from my mistakes. Siding with the Iron Empire only harms the memory of your
mother,” Hugo tried to speak calmly, one hand reaching toward Carth as he tried to figure out a way to strike the man down
before he could signal to the Iron Retinue knights outside. Anything to buy Eira time to get to safety.
“You don’t even get to speak of her, you monster.” Carth’s voice shook. “You’re going to go out there and I’m going to watch them execute you for what
you did to her, and every other life you ruined in this city, and it’s going to feel so, so good. Maybe, if I’m lucky, they’ll
kill your witch first so you can watch her die like I had to watch so many people I cared about die.”
“At least let Eira and Evangeline go,” Hugo begged. “They didn’t do anything to you. They don’t deserve this.”
It was the best he could do.
“Hugo, no!” Eira walked and stood beside him and grabbing his arm as she tried to force him to look at her. He wouldn’t, couldn’t.
“This is the best I can do,” he whispered, voice shaking as he finally looked at her. “Let me save you.”
“I need you,” Eira whispered, her voice thick and her eyes wet.
“You two don’t need to argue,” Carth growled, the rage and anticipation of their deaths clear as day in his gaze. “I believe
in guilt by association.”
Before Hugo could speak, Carth whistled, and Hugo turned to the windows to see the Iron Retinue soldiers outside nocking arrows.
They’d shoot out the windows and kill them in here if they didn’t get out. It only took the moment, but as Hugo turned his
head Carth slunk out of the room, leaving the three of them alone.
“We have to act quickly.” Hugo placed his hands on Eira’s arms and looked into her eyes. “I’m going to go out there and we’re
going to hope that gives you a moment to get away, both of you.”
Evangeline shouted from her corner, sword in her hand and braided hair whipping behind her. “They’re getting ready to fire!”
“No,” Eira said, eyes welling up. “I’m not leaving. We’re here because of me. I’m not leaving you.”
“I can’t watch you die,” Hugo pleaded, weaving his fingers through hers and trying to savor the feeling for the last time.
“I will never forgive myself.”
“This isn’t your choice.” Eira’s voice cracked as she begged him. “There’s a better chance of getting out of this alive if
all three of us fight.”
The glass shattered and an arrow flew into Hugo’s arm, a grunt escaping his lips as the pain shattered through him. “Are you
okay?” he said, ripping it out and looking Eira over for injuries.
“Are you?” Her hands hovered around his bleeding arm.