Chapter 62 The Winter Wind Chills (1/2)

Aegin did not attempt to hide it. He was angered that Rassa had been left to the whims of a mad man. Everyone amongst the Ridge Men knew who Doctor Sagen Zaroth was. He was the man who had suggested to the Duke that the Ridge Men should be on the front line for testing of the Volotun Fruits. Aegin might not have been alive when it had happened, but the stories were enough to scare even the sturdiest of their breed. Aegin knew that whatever that Doctor had in store for Rassa, the boy would not come out of those mines the same.

Still, it was not Aegin's place to protest the orders of his Master.

And yet, that nagging question still resounded in his mind, Rassa's strong yet curious gaze peering at him from his memories.

Why?

It felt right to ask that question. It may have not been his place to ask it, but nevertheless, he felt he should. So upon returning to Fountain Ridge, he summoned the courage to ask his father, who had been silent much of the journey back.

”Why is the Duke so interested in that boy?”

His father had spun on him so quickly that Aegin had barely enough time to process it before he was pinned against a wall in the shadows by his neck.

”Shut your mouth, boy,” his father snapped, ”We do not protest orders. We are not curious. We simply do as we are asked”.

Aegin's eyes hardened, pushing his father off him with a burst of strength.

”Well maybe we should,” Aegin hissed, ”He was just a kid, and we handed him over to a monster”.

His father glared at Aegin, then turned away, ”I don't know what's gotten into you. That thing that was in that cage was not simply a boy. It needed Anthrite chains to contain it. Anthrite! The strongest metal known. Did you ever stop to think that perhaps we were handing it over to someone like-minded?”

Aegin's expression fell, ”You didn't speak so much as a word towards him. You don't know anything. Rassa is not a monster, at least no more than you or I”.

Then Aegin turned and left his father. He didn't ask the questions again. He simply went through the motions. In the weeks that followed, Aegin barely ever approached his father. He attended training, went on small assignments and kept to himself.

It was not until nearly a month after his return to Fountain Ridge that Aegin was summoned by his father. His father never phrased a summons as an order, so Aegin decided that this was worth listening to.

Aegin's father took him to the small reception room where the Ridge Men officially received their orders. It was only accessible from a balcony five stories up from a cliff. Their orders were received through a letter shoot in the far wall that dropped small scrolls from the Duke's office above to their small room. There was always a guard in the room to inform the head if orders were pending or not, but as Aegin and his father landed on the balcony, they noticed no one was present.

Aegin pondered for a moment if something was wrong, but seeing his father's stoic expressed, he realised they'd been ordered away.

Aegin waited for his father to receive the orders by the balcony door, but rather than reading them, Aegin's father handed the scroll straight to Aegin.

”Your orders, take them seriously,” Aegin's father stated, then he left the room, dropping back down off the balcony.

Aegin held the scroll for a moment. If his father was personally handing him orders, then they weren't for a simple assignment, this was a proper mission. Likely one of high importance, otherwise his father wouldn't have seen to it.

Aegin hesitated a moment longer, then opened the scroll. The text in it was short, but clear:

Report on the progress of Doctor Sagen Zaroth's charge. Report expected every three months unless otherwise instructed.

It was then signed by Duke Cornelius Kildare himself.

Aegin tilted his head. It seemed the Duke had a personal stake in Rassa's case. Was he simply seeking a greater power like he'd done with the Volotun Fruit? Or was this something more. As Aegin remembered the sighting of the lost third son that he'd seen on his previous mission to Cordon, he couldn't help but lean towards the latter.

Aegin paused. He was asking questions again. This wasn't his training.