you?” the father demanded, angry, taking a step towards them. “What right do you have to charge into our home? And what have you done to our boy?”
“I did nothing to your boy,” Godfrey answered. “I only brought him back home, because I want answers.”
“Answers?” the father demanded, angrier, confused, walking towards him threateningly. He was an older man, with a large nose, covered in warts, and strong face—and he did not look pleased.
“Your other son poisoned me last night,” Godfrey stated.
The father stopped in his tracks, as the mother burst out weeping.
“You speak of Clayforth,” the father said. He looked down sadly, and slowly shook his head.
“They chased me home all the way from the grave mama,” the boy said.
“I believe that Blaine knows something about my attempted murder,” Godfrey said to the mother.
She looked at him with alarm, protective of her son.
“And what makes you say that? You know nothing of our son.”
“He ran from us at the grave. He is hiding something. I want to know what it is. I don’t want to hurt your boy. I just want to know why his brother poisoned me, and who was behind it.”
“My boy knows nothing of such devious plots,” his father snapped. “Clayforth was trouble, I admit. But not Blaine. He would never sink to business like that.”
“But his brother would?” Godfrey asked.
The father shrugged.
“He’s dead now. He has paid for his sins. It is what it is.”
“It is NOT what it is,” Godfrey corrected, his own voice rising. “I was almost killed last night. Do you understand? I am the son of a King. Do you know the sentence for attempted murder on royalty? Clayforth is dead, but that does not make amends. Blaine knows something. That makes him an accessory to the crime. By King’s Law, he can be punished. Now you will tell me what you know, or I will bring the Royal Guard here!”
Godfrey stood there, red-faced, breathing hard, more worked up than he had been in a long time. He had had enough, and he wanted answers.
The father looked alarmed for the first time, and he turned and looked at his son, now unsure. Blaine clung to his mother’s waist.
“Blaine,” his father said to him, “is there something you know that you are not telling us?”
Blaine looked from his father to his mother, shaking his head nervously.
Godfrey sighed, thinking what to do. He finally reached into his pocket, pulled out a sack of gold, and threw it on the floor before them. Tons of gold coins spilled out over the floor of the small house, and the mother and father both gasped at the sight.
“King’s Gold,” Godfrey said. “The finest. Go ahead, count it. It’s enough for you to live the rest of your lives and never have to work again. I don’t want anything in return. It is yours to keep. All I want is the truth. All I want is for your son to tell me what he saw. I know that he knows something. I just want to know what it is. I will protect him. I promise.”
The mother stroked her boy’s hair, squatted down, and kissed him on the forehead.
“Blaine, if you didn’t see anything, don’t be afraid. We don’t need this gold.”
But the father marched over sternly and grabbed Blaine by the chin.
“Blaine, these men believe you know something. That money can change our family’s life forever. If you have something to say, say it. Remember, I have taught you to always speak the truth. Do not be like your bother. Go on now. Be a man. You’ve nothing to fear.”
Blaine swallowed nervously, then finally looked up at Godfrey.
“I was with Clayforth the other night,” Blaine said. “A man we had never seen before came up to him. He knew that Clayforth was a runner, for the den, and he asked him if he would put poison in a man’s drink. At first my brother said no. But then he showed him gold—more gold than even you have here. He still said no. But he kept showing him more and more gold. And then he gave in.”
Blaine took a deep breath.
“You must understand,” he added, “my brother had never done anything like that before. But the money—it was too much for him to turn down. He said it would change our lives forever and that we’d never have to come back to this part of town. He wanted to buy mamma and papa a new house somewhere clean