The Fireborn Chronicles: The Lost Maiden

Chapter 12: A World Covered In Lies

Meanwhile, at the top of the guard's watchtower, there stood a man with his eyes fixed on the entrance of the city gates. Orton Lodfinning was thinking intensely about what he saw yesterday. 

There is an elven girl for five-hundred gold? He remembered with a widened grin. And I saw one with silver-white hair pass by! Markus was trying to play it off, but I know what I saw, that girl's an elf, and it is as simple as that. You got to be more cautious, Markus Siegfried. 

He took the ladder down the watchtower, holding a strand of rope in hand where he stole from the basement of the guards' living quarters. Now it was nighttime, and Orton had a task to accomplish in the city. They won't care, they're all just getting drunk down there anyway, He thought.

After taking the hallway and door out of the watchtower, Orton made his way down the street. It was quiet in the night, with only guards wandering the streets with their hands holding lanterns and baggy eyes across their gloomy faces. 

I remember when I was a night-watcher, Orton thought. That is the worst job a man coming from the Knight's Guard can get. I deserved so much more from the city than the pile of shit that they gave me in return.

He walked past one of the guards with a salute, which was raising and clenching his fist on the royal crest of the Czahun royal family. This was out of respect for the Czahun family and the Czésta royal family for their long lineage and service to the good of Czahunlia. Good of Czahunlia my ass, Orton soon corrected himself. The king here doesn't care about his people and would rather wipe his ass with bronze and silver than pay his civilians with it. 

There were many times where Orton had to do services other than serving as a guard to keep himself and his family away from being in debt. These jobs had hurt his pride and honor, which was the main thing he was supposed to remember as a knight of the Czahun royal family. The Knight's Guard pushed this intention to all their trainees. With rigid training and a strict environment, most boys would soon turn into honorable men.

That was what Orton had envisioned himself to be, a man who served his nation with pride and was paid greatly for it as well. However, that dream never came to pass, and he was stuck doing tedious guard jobs and getting paid almost near the minimum wage. If only he was given a higher status, if only he had received praise and been guaranteed a good future from his teachers in the Knight's Guard, then perhaps he would be living differently than he was now.

It isn't fair, Orton thought to himself angrily. Markus Siegfried had everything given to him. He was born with wealth and status, he was blessed with powerful earth magic, and he was well-respected and received great praise from his teachers at the Knight's Guard.

Out of frustration, he threw his shield onto the ground, and it made a clanking noise on the street while also breaking the silence. One of the guards looked back at him with a puzzled expression, and Orton turned his head towards the guard and shook it. "My apologies, I just dropped my shield like that. Oh, how very clumsy I am," He said to the guard.

"Have a good night, sir," The guard responded. Orton walked away, his mind still clouded with anger. 

And what did Markus do with all his good fortune? Orton asked himself while looking at the rope he was holding. He threw it all away and left the city to do who knows what. If only I had what he was given, then I could be living in fortune without having to worry about having to pay my rent on time! And I could provide for my family and not keep having to tell them that everything is fine when they all know for damn sure that we are not fine at all!

Orton looked ahead of him and at his rope again, and he began to smile malevolently. There lay the street where Markus Siegfried now lived with his wife and two twin daughters. His son, Guren, was still in the Knight's Guard.