The group visited for a while, all smiles and laughter. Then, suddenly, the laughter died when Sera gasped softly and put a hand to her chest.
“What’s wrong?” Matt asked worriedly.
She took Gavin from him and sat back, then nodded to someone coming.
Matt turned his head just in time for a woman to slap him. He automatically stood with his hand balled into a fist at his side.
The woman was in her thirties, with blond hair that was back in a loose bun and a sweet, heart shaped face, but just then it was contorted with rage. “I wish you would die a slow, horrible death!” she cried, then spit in his face.
Matt’s jaw clenched as he glared furiously at her. He ran a hand down his cheek, then grabbed the woman’s arm, wiping it on her. She slammed her fist into his chest and he grabbed her other arm. She was about to spit at him again, so he grabbed her face and turned her head. “Do not do that again,” he said, his voice low and tightly controlled.
“Leave Matt alone!” Gavin told her.
“Gavin,” his father warned sharply.
The woman continued to struggle, trying to hit him again. Matt held tighter. “Knock it off.”
“Or what?” she hissed. “You’ll do to me what you did to my husband?”
That’s when he noticed the pain in her eyes, and his anger deflated. He sighed heavily and gave her a small shove away from him, letting her go all at once. “I’m sorry for whatever I did,” he told her. “But this won’t help anything.”
“For whatever you did?” She laughed bitterly. “His name was Aldus, do you even remember him?”
He didn’t, he rarely remembered their names. They hadn’t been worth remembering. He sighed again and glanced around at a few people who had stopped to watch the scene. “Why don’t we talk outside,” he suggested.
“Do you even remember him?” she repeated. “He was a good man who ran the Ember Rock Tavern… until you!”
Matt met her gaze, her hazel eyes were filled with grief. “Yes, I remember,” he told her solemnly. “Sorry.” It was more of a mumble this time.
“Sorry?” she repeated incredulously. “Is that what I should tell my kids? The monster said sorry?”
“Unfortunately, my death won’t bring him back,” Matt told her. His voice sounded cold and detached, though his heart twisted with guilt.
“No,” she agreed. “But at least you’ll be dead too!” she said fiercely and grabbed a dagger from her belt.
He took her wrist and pressed his thumb into the underside of it, making her drop the weapon.
Sera handed Gavin to his father, then stood and put a gentle hand on the woman’s arm. “Will you please come outside?” she asked.
“Get away from me!” she hissed.
“Hold her,” Sera told Matt.
He met Sera’s gaze, but looked away quickly when he saw the pain in her eyes. He pulled the struggling woman against him. Sera touched her face and chanted something under her breath. Then, suddenly, the woman fell limp.
“What’d you do?” Matt asked.
“She’s just unconscious. Falcon let the attendants know that everything’s fine.”
He nodded and left, bringing Gavin with him.
“Matt, pick her up and follow me,” she directed, then glanced to the others. “We’ll be back.”
Surprised by her authoritative tone, Matt scooped the woman into his arms and went. They walked in silence as she led the way to Aryst’s temple.
Matt didn’t notice the people staring as he walked by. He didn’t notice the carriages clattering down the cobblestone roads. He followed Sera blindly, feeling almost numb. It didn’t feel like any time had passed when they began to climb the wide marble steps to the temple.
Once through the tall double doors, a gray-haired woman greeted Sera pleasantly. “Any luck finding the Temple of the Gods?”
“High Priestess Salyn.” Sera tipped her head in a small bow. “Yes. We know the location. We’ll be going there soon. Thank you again for your help.”
“I’m very glad,” Salyn said with a smile, then glanced at the woman in Matt’s arms, her eyes turning more compassionate.
“This woman will be very distressed when she wakes up,” Sera explained, her voice businesslike. “She’ll need someone to see to her. I recommend that she, and her children, start seeing a healer for counseling.”
“Of course. How long until she wakes?”
“It should last for hour or so.”
Salyn nodded. “We’ll take care of her. There’s an available room through there.” She pointed to a corridor on the left. “Room eight.” She studied Sera and Matt for a moment. Her eyes became understanding and sad. “You truly are an amazing girl,” she murmured, touching her hand. “I do hope you can come back, the temple needs people like you.”
“Thank you. I hope so too.”
Salyn smiled warmly and stepped aside so they could pass.
Sera led Matt went down the hall and into a slate blue room where she directed him to lay the woman on a white bed. “We’ll leave town now,” she told him. “We can camp a few miles out, and head back to Brunya City in the morning.”
Matt continued to to stare at the woman and only nodded, hearing her voice but not her words.
Sera sighed. “I think we should stay out of Oraunt for a while too. It seems there are too many people who know you here.”
Again, he nodded.
She rubbed her chest and took a deep breath, then slid her hand into Matt’s and tugged gently. “Come on, there’s nothing you can do now.”
“He was tortured to death,” Matt said quietly, not moving.
“It’s in the past, it can’t be changed now.”
“I was sent after him,” he told her, as if she hadn’t said anything. “I was supposed to bring him back to the temple, but he was tough and mouthy, so I tortured him in his own kitchen.” Matt was barely aware that he was saying it out loud as the memory played too clearly through his mind. “Being off temple grounds,” he continued, “I had to destroy the evidence. So, when I was finished with him, I covered his body in lamp oil.”
“It’s over now,” Sera said quietly.
“That’s when she came home. She started screaming when she saw his body on the table.”
“Matt…”
“I backhanded her. She hit her head on the stove and got knocked out. Then I flicked my cigarette at her husband. The whole room was engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes. I thought she’d die in the fire.”
“At least she escaped,” Sera said gently.
“Where were her kids?” Matt asked, still staring blankly at the woman. “Were they in the house somewhere? Scared and hiding when they heard his cries?” He thought of Gavin having to live without his father because of a monster like him. The crushing pain of remorse grew, making it difficult to breath for a moment. “So many.” His words were more of a mumble now as he clenched his jaw. “And never once, did I think of their families… husbands… wives… children…”
Sera took a deep breath, then moved in front of him, blocking the view of the woman. She held his face in her hands, but he wouldn’t look at her. “Matt, please,” she said weakly. “It won’t do any good to think about it. That was a different person, not who you are now.”
He looked at her finally, then shook his head and looked down, away from her loving eyes. “I’m still capable of it, Sera. It’s still part of me.”
“Most people are capable of doing terrible things.”
He shook his head again. “But I can do them. I have done them. Too many times.”
“Not anymore,” she told him firmly. “It’s not what you can do, or what you have done, but what you chose to do now that matters. You are a good person, regardless of the past.”
She was wrong, completely wrong. He didn’t deserve to be standing there when good people like that woman’s husband were dead, and their children lived without their father because of him. He should be dead, not Aldus. But there was no arguing with Sera, she couldn’t see it, couldn’t see the monster he really was. It wasn’t something an angel like her could understand.
He just nodded and followed her back to the library in silence.
He stared off, away from the group as she told them they were leaving now instead of in the morning. They agreed easily, their voices quiet and solemn.
“Matt,” Gavin said, tugging on his jacket to get his attention. “Are you okay?”
The words felt like a knife, his chest physically ached. After what he had seen and heard, the kid was worried about him. He took a deep, steadying breath and forced himself to sound neutral. “Yeah, fine. See you later,” he answered, unable to look at him.
Gavin smiled up at him. “Okay.” He hugged him around the waist, then went back to his father.
“Sera,” Ayden said worriedly.
Matt turned, it looked like Ayden had caught her before she fell and was now holding her steady.
“I’m fine,” she said with a small reassuring smile. “A little tired is all.” She shook her head as if to say she was just being silly, but her voice gave away her weakness.
“Ayd, take her on your horse,” Tess ordered.
“No.” Sera struggled to get to Matt, but Ayden held her firmly.
“Sera, just go and rest a bit first,” Tess told her. “You’ll recover faster away from him.”
Matt came out of his guilty haze enough to realize that his emotions were hurting her. He meet Tess’ gaze for a moment. “I’ll catch up later.”
“Thank you. We’ll camp the same place as last time.”
He nodded, then turned to leave. Sera called after him as he left, but he continued walking and didn’t look back.
