The
Heroes of Fannen-Dar, Chapter 18
Whereas a couple days
before, no one had paid attention to Chester, now all eyes turned on
him wherever he went. It was the morning after the fiasco at the
orphanage, and Chester had to report in for morning duty. Word about
last night had clearly spread around the other guards in the
barracks. When he got up from his cot, a conversation that had been
going on nearby suddenly stopped. While he washed his face, he
spotted the faces of others watching him from outside the door. When
he put on his uniform and walked towards the training ring for the
lineup, heads turned to watch as he passed. He heard a conversation
pick up after he turned a corner, and stopped to listen.
“But why would he
draw so much attention to it like that, if there was nothing there?”
one voice said.
Another responded, and
Chester recognized it as one of the senior guardsmen, Louis. “Maybe
he wasn't just drawing attention to himself, he was drawing
attention away from something else. I don't know, he could be
up to something shady.”
“Then he'll get
what's coming to him.”
Chester had hoped he
would be applauded for saving the children, but it seemed like his
fellow guards would rather see him lashed.
Chester took his usual
place in the lineup, next to Darrik. He tried to catch Darrik's eye,
but even his friend seemed to be avoiding him. Darrik looked
straight ahead without acknowledging Chester's presence. Chester
restrained a sigh and did likewise, his fists clenched at his sides.
As the bells from
across town were starting to toll, Captain Ignatius emerged from the
barracks and walked to the front of the assembly. Chester felt his
neck grow hot just from seeing the captain. This man, from whom
Chester was supposed to be taking orders, had endangered the lives of
innocents, children no less. All for, presumably, a pocketfull of
gold that the Firemen had bribed him with. Chester wondered how such
an easily corruptible person had become the captain in the first
place. Maybe he had done some bribing of his own in the past.
Ignatius cleared his
throat. "I'm sure there are plenty of rumors going around about
last night, isn't that so?" he said. He began pacing up and
down the lineup, looking into everyone's eyes as he passed them. He
arrived at Chester and stopped. "A young watchman aroused a
stir when he was supposed to be off duty, and for what? Apparently
nothing."
The heat rose to
Chester's cheeks as he felt the sideways glances falling on him.
Nothing? he thought. What about the pile of explosives and the
extinguished fuse? The evidence that an explosion almost tore apart
an entire street of Fannen-Dar? Did that count as nothing? Or had
Ignatius arranged a cover-up after Chester had been sent back to the
barracks?
"So it seems that
I will need to remind everyone of the protocol for situations in
which you suspect a crime without hard evidence." Ignatius's
moustache wiggled above his lips when he talked, twirling like the
tip of a rapier. "It is not your duty to act on every
suspicion, but to inform your superior officer and present the
evidence you have collected." The evidence was what I had seen
you discussing with the Firemen! Chester wanted to scream. It was
his word against the captain's, and he knew that if he had tried to
do things the official way, he would have been shut down, just like
Ignatius had arranged to have the murdered bodies buried ahead of
schedule so that nobody would find out about his plan. Had those
three been a part of the team that had foiled the explosion? Is that
why the Firemen had them murdered?
Chester realized that
Ignatius was still talking. "...Due to a disturbance this
morning in the trading house, the watch in that area will be doubled
tonight..." Chester looked at the smug grin on Ignatius's face.
He had seemed upset last night that the plan had been foiled. Was
he now disguising his disdain, or had he learned new information that
put his mind at ease? The captain was keeping so many secrets from
the guards that it wouldn't surprise Chester if he only knew a part
of what was going on. What else were the Firemen planning?
"Dismissed,"
Ignatius said, and Chester followed the line to head back into the
barracks. "Except for you, Chester." He stopped, and the
other guards marched past him to head on to their duties. Darrik
gave a brief glimpse over his shoulder as he walked by, and Chester
saw that his eyes were filled with worry. Was he just worried about
what would happen to Chester, or was he worried about what Chester
had already done? He knew Darrik liked to lay low and play by the
rules, but he firmly believed that he was doing the right thing by
going against them. Ignatius stepped up to Chester, towering over
him.
"You are benched
today, guardsman," the captain said. "Your behavior last
night was far out of line, and I do not want to have you on duty,
since you are likely to either continue your dalliances, or collapse
from exhaustion, all right?"
"Sir,"
Chester sputtered, "with all due respect, you already had me
take a day off this week. If I don't work, I won't get paid!"
"Then consider
this your punishment, see?" Ignatius said, his mouth staying a
taught thin line, but amusement creeping into his voice. "You
will think twice about acting rashly in the future, won't you,
Channing?"
Chester stared down at
the ground and didn't reply. Ignatius bent down so that his face was
level with Chester's, and Chester couldn't help but look up into his
eyes. The cold, blue gaze was sharper than Chester expected. Did
the captain merely think that Chester had discovered the Firemen's
plot, or did he know that Chester had discovered the captain's
corruption? "Won't you?" Ignatius asked again.
Chester held back a
shiver. "Yes, sir," he forced himself to say. The captain
straightened up.
"Good, then,"
he said. "Enjoy yourself, and forget about that business with
the orphanage, okay? I expect to see you back here bright and early
tomorrow."
Chester let his breath
go, feeling deflated. The scattered thoughts and worries that had
crowded together in his brain flew away, leaving only the dull ache
that comes when you tried your best and still failed. Chester had
gone out of his way to do the best thing for his hometown, and had
fallen down in the process. He needed to pick himself back up again.
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