The Mad Raven's Tale (The Accarian Chronicles Book 1) by Andrew Walbrown (the lemonade war series txt) 📗

Chapter 28

Ulam

Amantius is alive.

For days Ulam repeated those words, the shock of the statement never truly subsiding. He spent many hours staring westward from the top of the castle’s gateway, his eyes fixed upon the distant Silverwood Forest. He wanted to pack rations and leave the city, the desire to rescue Amantius burning in his heart. He would have left already, if only Count Aldamar had not convinced him of the folly of his plan.

“You do not know where he is,” Aldamar had said to Ulam the previous day. “The most likely result of such an adventure would be death. I would wager you would get lost within a day or two and wander until either you succumbed to the elements or a pack of hungry wolves. When the ground thaws and this bitter weather disappears we will revisit this subject. To take action now, however, would be disastrous.”

Ulam knew the Count was right; he knew his chances of finding and rescuing Amantius were nearly zero percent. It killed him inside, to know his foster-brother was out there, and there was nothing he could do. Pelecia’s promise replayed a hundred times over in his mind, filling him with great shame. He blamed himself for the situation, for not being able to conquer his fear of fire and charge into battle. He believed if only he had been able to summon the courage, Amantius would not have become the Mad Raven’s prisoner.

Is he a prisoner though? More unsettling than the realization that he could do nothing to help Amantius was the idea that perhaps his foster-brother had defected to the other side. That woman said he was dressed as one of them, had even killed a man. Ulam could not believe Amantius would do such a thing, to slay an innocent man defending a mother and child. He often questioned the validity of the woman’s story. Perhaps she was so distraught that she thought it was Amantius, but someone else had been the one to strike down the man. Yes, that has to be true.

But why has he joined the Mad Raven? Has he done so out of necessity, or because he still believes Count Aldamar is truly evil? He stared at the castle, focusing on a window halfway up one of the towers. He thought he glimpsed a set of yellow eyes staring back at him, like two beacons on a midnight coast. It had lasted for only a few seconds, the eyes disappearing as quickly as they had appeared. Frozen in shock Ulam watched for a little while longer, waiting for some sort of affirmation to what he believed he had just seen. But when nothing reappeared in the window, he started wondering if his mind was tricking him into seeing things that were not there.

I am going insane. He had been seeing yellow eyes everywhere, from dark windows to kittens roaming Silverwater’s alleyways. His sleep cycle had been disrupted lately as well; he felt as though someone was always watching him. Even when he had managed to doze off, his dreams had been so intense and twisted that he often found himself drenched in cold sweat when he awoke. Ulam kept quiet about what he was experiencing, petrified that if he confided in anyone he would be thrown in a cell on the grounds of lunacy. He missed having Amantius around, knowing he was the only person in the world Ulam could have told without fear of judgment.

I need to take my mind off things, keep myself busy. Ulam went to the arms court, hoping someone would want to spar with him. But no one was there, he assumed everyone was still avoiding the sunless sky and bitter cold. Part of him wanted to go to the Bride’s Oasis, to have a pint or two, but he knew the alcohol could loosen his tongue, and speaking was currently his greatest enemy. Having nowhere to go and afraid of Human interaction, Ulam chose to find refuge in the library, hoping a book would entertain his mind.

For the first time he lit every lantern in the room, wanting to flood the library with light. Though he told himself it was so he could see the words on the page easier, deep inside he knew he wanted the light to shield him from any yellow eyes potentially lurking in the darkness. He then sat at the desk, a pile of books stacked on one end, and began to read. He flipped page after page, but after a while his mind was no longer comprehending the words. He could only think about Amantius, and what it would take to find him.

Ulam retrieved the map he had found months prior, the one he had updated by drawing a brief outline of where he thought Accaria was located. He found the Western Pass and traced it with his finger as it twisted through the Silverwood Forest, noticing there were no towns or villages along the route, only a solitary marking indicating a lumber camp. He wondered how far down the highway the mother and daughter had been when they were attacked, and made a mental note to ask the mother if he saw her again. However, Ulam had not seen either victim since the night they brought word of Amantius, nor had he heard any news of them. Are they still in the city? If not, I suppose I cannot blame them.

His eyes shifted to the clearing where his warband had been destroyed by the Mad Raven’s Flock, the last time he had seen his foster-brother. Images of that night flashed in his mind: searing flames, a cacophony of screams, and a dead man at his feet. Shame once again spread through his soul like a plague, followed by a fresh wave of fury deep in his heart. He wanted to rip the map apart, to cause some degree of destruction as a release, but he knew that would solve nothing.