Chapter 157: Foolish Mortal III

Chapter 157: 157: Foolish Mortal III

Lucard’s interest deepened.

If he handled Elowen correctly, she could become more than a burden. She could become a thread leading into Stoneford, Velkhur’s local influence, and perhaps even the private filth of an elder who thought young girls were decorations for his bed.

Lucard did not care about Elowen’s wounded dream.

But he cared about useful openings.

Aldren stepped closer to his daughter.

Lucard’s blood thread moved slightly.

Aldren noticed it and stopped at once. He smiled bitterly. "Even now, he moves when I come near you."

Lucard said, "Because you are still a threat."

"To her?"

"To the situation."

Aldren looked even more convinced. "Careful too. He watches the father, the guards, and the exits. Elowen, this is good. Very good."

Elowen almost choked. "Father!"

Lucard thought again about killing him.

Not because Aldren was dangerous.

Because the conversation was becoming painful in a new way.

He decided not to. Aldren alive was more useful. A dead baron would bring Stoneford, Velkhur, and every local guard down on the hollow before Lucard had finished reading the map. A living baron with a guilty heart could slow pursuit, create false reports, and confuse Velkhur. That was worth enduring foolish words.

Barely.

Aldren looked at Elowen. "Live, Elowen."

She froze.

His voice became rough. "Be happy if you can. Hate me if you must. But live long. Do not return to Stoneford now. If you return, I may not be strong enough to stop them from taking you. Lord Garrick will not accept insult easily. Men like him do not only want women. They want obedience. If he learns that a baron’s daughter ran from him and returned, he will make an example of you and me both."

Elowen whispered, "What will you tell them?"

"That you died in the Maw Range."

She shook her head. "Father..."

"It is the only story that gives you time. If I say I lost you, they will search. If I say you escaped, they will hunt. If I say a beast took you, some will believe it. Others will pretend to believe it because a dead girl cannot embarrass Lord Garrick by refusing him."

"That is horrible."

"Yes," Aldren said. "But useful."

Lucard looked at him with a little more approval.

At least the baron could recognize a practical lie.

Aldren continued, "I will show torn cloth. Blood. The dead cave stalkers. I will say you were dragged away before I reached you. Red Hook will repeat it. The guards will repeat it. If anyone asks why there is no body, I will say the Maw Range does not return what it eats."

Elowen cried silently.

Aldren’s eyes trembled, but he forced himself to continue. "You will become dead to Stoneford. Dead daughters cannot be married. Dead daughters cannot be sent to old men. Dead daughters also cannot return home."

The last sentence wounded her more deeply than the rest.

Aldren looked at Lucard. "Take her away from this region. If you keep her near Stoneford, someone will recognize her. If Velkhur hears even a whisper, they will send better men."

Lucard said, "You are giving orders now?"

"No," Aldren said. "I am begging badly because I do not know how to beg properly."

That answer made Elowen cry harder.

Lucard studied him.

Aldren was a fool, but not without courage. It took a strange kind of courage to let the daughter he had tried to sacrifice walk away with a stranger because that stranger looked stronger than his own bloodline. It was not pure courage. It was mixed with guilt, desperation, and the need to believe a better story. But many mortal actions were mixtures. Very few were clean.

Lucard said, "She is not my responsibility."

Aldren gave him a tired look. "Every man says that before responsibility sits on his shoulder."

"No. I am saying it because it is true."

"You will understand later."

Lucard looked at him in silence.

Elowen wiped her face. "Father, he truly does not care like that."

Aldren’s expression softened. "Men who care too quickly are dangerous in another way. This one is cold. That may keep you alive."

"I am standing here," Lucard said.

"I know," Aldren said. "That is why I am saying it now. If you were warm and sweet, I would not trust you with her."

Lucard had no words for several breaths.

Not because he agreed.

Because the man’s wrongness had become too complete to attack directly.

Aldren reached into his cloak with his uninjured hand. The guards behind him tensed, but Lucard only watched. The baron pulled out a small silver token marked with the Stoneford crest and threw it toward Elowen. It landed near her feet among the glowing flowers.

"Keep it hidden," Aldren said. "Do not show it unless you have no other choice. It may open doors with old Stoneford servants, loyal villages, or supply houses that still remember my mother’s line. Do not use it near duke men. Do not use it near anyone wearing Velkhur red. Do not use it near merchants who smile too much."

Elowen picked it up with shaking hands.

Aldren then pulled a ring from his finger. It was not the heavy city lord ring. It was smaller, plain silver, with a faint line of earth magic inside it.

"This was your mother’s travel ring," he said. "It has a small storage space. Not much. Enough for medicine, coin, and letters. I should have given it to you earlier."

He threw it gently.

Elowen caught it with both hands and nearly broke down.

Aldren looked away before his own face broke. "There are gold coins inside. Not enough for a lifetime. Enough to not starve while running."

Lucard’s eyes moved to the ring.

Better.

A map, a token, a storage ring, old family records in the girl’s head, and a connection to Velkhur’s dirty elder. The burden was gaining value.

Aldren looked back at Lucard. "Protect her if you can. If you cannot, at least do not hand her to Lord Garrick."

Lucard said, "You are asking much from someone you attacked."

Aldren looked at the cut on his arm. "You took only blood. You could have taken my life. That is already a better answer than most noble sons would give."

"I was considering it."

"I know."

"Then you are more foolish than I thought."

Aldren smiled sadly. "Fathers often are."

Lucard studied him.

Aldren’s stupidity was becoming less annoying and more useful by the breath. If Velkhur thought Elowen was dead, Lucard could move with her more freely. If Velkhur doubted it, they would investigate Stoneford first. If Lord Garrick felt insulted, he might send people quietly instead of openly, because a man with fifty mistresses would not want every noble family laughing about one runaway girl. Quiet pursuers were easier to kill and absorb.

Lucard almost hoped they came.

A Velkhur elder’s private hunters might carry better blood than Red Hook thugs. They might also carry letters, tokens, and information. If Lord Garrick himself moved later, that would be even more interesting.

A junior brother of Duke Velkhur.

An elder of the family.

A rotten man with many women and too much confidence.

Lucard wondered what his blood would taste like.

Aldren turned away before Elowen could speak again. His voice became the voice of the city lord once more.

"We are leaving."

One Red Hook man looked shocked. "My lord, but the young lady—"

Aldren’s eyes turned cold. "My daughter died in the Maw Range tonight. That is what you will say if anyone asks. If any man here says otherwise, I will bury his tongue under the city wall and send the rest of him to Lord Garrick as monster bait."

The Red Hook man lowered his head at once. "Yes, my lord."

Aldren looked at every guard and every Red Hook man one by one. "You saw cave stalkers. You saw blood. You saw torn cloth. You saw me arrive too late. You did not see this young man’s face clearly. You did not see my daughter alive. You did not hear me say anything else. Anyone with a different memory will lose it permanently."

The men bowed quickly.

"Yes, my lord."

Elowen made a broken sound. "Father."

Aldren did not turn back.

"If you call me again, I may not be strong enough to leave," he said.

That stopped her.

He walked toward the passage with his guards and Red Hook men following him. Before entering the darkness, he paused once and looked back at Lucard.

"Young man."

Lucard looked at him.

"If you ever bring her near Stoneford again, do it when you are strong enough that Lord Garrick Velkhur has to lower his head before speaking. If you are not that strong, keep her far from him."

Lucard’s eyes became calm.

Always Velkhur... causing trouble everywhere.

Either way, Lucard was interested now.

"That will not take as long as you think," he said.

Aldren looked at him for a moment.

Then he laughed once, tired and low. "Good."

He disappeared into the passage.

The guards followed.

The sound of their steps faded little by little until Moonwater Hollow became quiet again.

Elowen stood among the glowing flowers, holding the silver token and her mother’s ring to her chest. She did not chase after him. She did not call again. Tears ran down her face, but she stayed where she was because some part of her understood that her father’s back had been the last gift he could give her.

Lucard looked at the passage where Aldren had vanished.

Then he looked at Elowen.

"You are troublesome."

She wiped her face with her sleeve. "I know."

"Your father is more troublesome."

Her voice came out weak. "He is not bad."

"He is stupid."

She looked up sharply, then lowered her eyes again because she could not fully deny it.

Lucard turned the matter over inside his mind. Aldren had misunderstood him, refused every correction, and then handed him the girl as if Lucard had come here to save her. It was absurd. It was also useful. A dead girl in the eyes of Stoneford could move more freely than a living daughter. A Velkhur elder with a wounded pride could become prey. A baron with guilt could become a hidden ally without even understanding what he had offered.

Mortal foolishness was sometimes more profitable than mortal wisdom.

Lucard opened the old map and looked at the next marked path.

"We leave before he changes his mind or someone smarter follows him."

Elowen looked toward the dark passage one last time.

Then she nodded.

Lucard walked first.

She followed.

Behind them, the glowing flowers of Moonwater Hollow slowly closed under the moonlight, and the place that had shown Elowen her dream became only another secret path on Lucard’s map.