Page 12 of Zel
The Thieves Guild halls beneath the shop were in a very different state from last night. All signs of their reveling had been cleared away, and there were very few guild members about, as all had tasks to perform or missions to complete. The few that remained were primarily guards, one of which led Zel and his parents to a sanctum several twisting corridors deeper into the guild where Lothar took audiences in private.
Zel’s one solace was that his parents were able to join him.
“Master Lothar,” Zel greeted and curtsied before the guild master, who sat in a grand chair like a throne at the back of the room, with two guards on either side of him. Just in case, Zel had made certain Rudy’s pendant was hidden.
“Rapunzel,” Lothar greeted back, already having forgotten to use the name Zel, but that was typical. “No man could resist your loveliness today, pretty petal, not even an immortal sorcerer.”
As it turned out, Zel preferred his full name topretty petal. “I will do my duty, and I will succeed.”
“I know you will. But I did not call you here only to wish you well. I mean to offer additional incentive.”
“Incentive, Master?”
Lothar rose from his throne and approached Zel. “When you succeed and bring back to us all the tower’s secrets, you will become a different immortal’s bride.”
“What…?”
Zel wasn’t kneeling, but even standing, he only came up to Lothar’s nose. Lothar tilted Zel’s chin up like he had last night. “Did you think you would go unrewarded? Return to me with the sorcerer’s head, and it is I, a man poised to be more powerful than even the Queen, who will have you for his bride. Something to look forward to.” He leaned so close that Zel feared the guild master might steal a kiss. There would be no hiding his revulsion if Lothar did so, but thankfully, he merely stroked Zel’s cheek.
“What if I find no weaknesses?” Zel asked. “What if he cannot be killed?”
“I am reasonable. That is a possibility. If so, find the source of his immortality and steal that much from him to bring to me. Your family’s debt will be paid. And make no mistake.” He gripped Zel’s chin again, this time harshly. “No matter what you think that monster capable of, it is my debt you do not wish to be in.”
“Y-yes, Master Lothar.”
Zel remained numb the entire way back to their shop. Only once he and his parents were in the storeroom did his knees fail him and he crumpled to the floor, sobbing.
“Rapunzel!” His parents swept down to either side of him, holding him as he cried.
“I-I thought… if I succeeded… I’d be free. I would finally be free. But if Lothar wants me as his bride, when he finds out—”
“We will not let that come to pass,” Gregor said. “You will marry no one but who you wish to, if anyone at all. Finish your mission, and we needn’t answer to Lothar ever again.”
“Gregor?” Sophie questioned.
“We’ve discussed it, haven’t we?”
“As foolish fancy, but—”
“If we follow Lothar blindly even after our debt is paid, we condemn ourselves. We condemn Rapunzel.” Gregor held them both closer, gathering his “girls” into his arms. “We deserve more than that selfish brute. The guild deserves more. We could run it so much better than he does. We could save lives instead of only taking them and defy the Queen for superior reasons over just lining our own pockets.”
“What are you suggesting, Father?” Zel asked.
“Only what we always planned for as our contingency if worse came to worst. The Queen doesn’t care who runs the guild, so long as it appears to serve her. She didn’t bat an eye whenLothar took over decades ago by unseating the previous leader. He believes we will hand all that power over to him. We will not. It is ours for the taking. Yours. If you claim the tower’s secrets, we can finally stand up to Lothar. We can be the ones who come out ahead, and you can have whatever life you wish. Nothing else about the mission has to change.” Gregor brushed the tears from Zel’s eyes and kissed his cheek. “We can do this.Youcan do this, Rapunzel.”
Sophie looked just as supportive.
They were right, weren’t they? They had all feared and followed Lothar for so long, they knew no other way, but if Zel succeeded in claiming all that power and treasure for himself, there was no reason to give any of it to Lothar. It had only ever been discussed as a last resort, but it seemed they had reached that end. Besides, Zel’s parents could bring a new age to the Thieves Guild. Zel could too if he chose it. He might even want that life once it was truly his choice to make.
Zel blinked back the last of his tears and nodded. “I can do this.”
And when he did, he could finally,finallybe Zel.
The trip out of the city, through villages, and along the appointed path into the wood and toward the sorcerer’s tower took most of the day, meaning they arrived just as the sun was setting, exactly as the sorcerer had requested.
Any travel into the wood was dangerous, on roads or otherwise, even before reaching what some considered the most perilous area—the Dark Forest—but Zel and his parentsencountered no bandits nor nefarious magic. It seemed the sorcerer had cleared the way.
The layer of a hand-me-down surcoat lined and trimmed with fur had been added beneath his cloak to keep him warm. It was well-made, if somewhat worn from wear, another item that had belonged to Zel’s mother that he was thankful for against the frigidness of autumn. It made the skin beneath his layers no less prickly with gooseflesh when they arrived at the tower he had seen in the distance all his life like a monument to his fate.
