Book 3 Chapter 61: I Am This City
It was late morning when Gavain reached the edge of the city. Dantes first saw him through the eyes of a pigeon circling just outside the main gate. He looked different from the last time he’d had seen him. He still had a spear at his back and wore the segmented armor he’d seen before, but now his face that had been blemished by a single scar was now covered in them. His hair that had been thick and lustrous was now thin and graying. His cheeks were hollower and his brown eyes were no longer lit with warmth, but instead glowed with rage. Dantes watched him, realizing very quickly that he knew exactly where he was waiting for him.
How that was possible, Dantes wasn’t sure, but he’d guess it had something to do with the newborn god that seemed to have granted him his blessing. He sent a few rats to look at him more closely, and could see some kind of symbol burned into the back of his neck, whether it was a godmark or some kind of brand from his time in a Frasheid prison, Dantes couldn’t tell. He sent a few more rats to watch him more closely, but when one got within five feet of him, he grabbed it. Dantes barely even saw him move, but he felt it as Gavain snapped the poor things neck with his thumb before he continued his walk toward Dantes.
When Gavain made it through the outer gate and a few streets further, a number of guards cut him off in a narrow street, with Pacha in the lead. That surprised Dantes, he had no idea that Pacha knew Gavain. Had they communicated? Or had he been trying to track Gavain’s movements since news of his regicide had spread as Dantes had?
“Gavain,” said Pacha, giving him a deep nod of respect. “I’m glad to see you well.”
“I am not well.”
“Alive is well.”
“Not always.” He jerked his head to the side. “Move out of my way. There’s someone I need to see.”
“Come now. You and I serve the same god. Let’s talk for a bit. I know you likely feel bitter for what treatment you received, but we can talk. We can see what reparations the city, the guild can give you. There’s no reason to cause chaos in the streets.”
“The treatment I received did not leave me bitter. It was its lack of reason that upset me. I gave myself up to stop a war and confine an evil man. That war happened anyway, and that man now roams these streets freely. My sacrifice was meaningless.”