Kevin, to his annoyance, woke up to a bright sunny day instead of a gloomy afternoon or night. He prepared for his Yankish lesson and exited his dorm. After a hearty breakfast of eggs and toast and a long session with Mr. Felds, seeing that Dyson wasn't coming, Kevin ventured out of the University slipping his knife into a pocket as he headed out. A carriage stopped for him, and Kevin climbed in.
He considered checking up on Carlos but decided against it, figuring he should wait a little longer before checking again. In any case, he didn't like the atmosphere of Little Havana the last time he visited. Instead, he headed downtown to the bounty board to see if there were any jobs that would make some quick money.
Kevin arrived at a bustling square where dozens of people were crowded around a board covered in wanted posters. Valuing his life, he moved away from the wanted posters and focused on reading through the posters, which had more mundane tasks. He read through them carefully until he spotted one that interested him.
"Looking for capable individuals to join security detail, Location: The Rivers Manor, Flagami, Payment: 2 copper pennies a day, variable on experience, weapons, and references provided."
Kevin figured that as long as he wasn't the only person involved, being part of a security detail didn't seem too difficult. After making a mental note of the location, he got into a large carriage which held several others. He asked the driver, "How much is it to Rivers Manor Flagami?"
The driver replied in accented Yankish, "20 copper pennies, if you want priority, 12 for a normal trip."
Kevin quickly got off the carriage and walked to Little Havana. When he tried to take a carriage there, the price was significantly lower at just five copper pennies. After a bumpy 10 minute ride, Kevin arrived at the Rivers Manor. Thanking the driver, he got off and took a look at the place.
It was a large estate surrounded by a high stone wall and an iron gate. As he approached, he was greeted by a guard wearing leather lamellar and holding a spear.
"State your business, stranger."
Kevin replied, "Here for the security detail job."
The guard eyed Kevin up and down in suspicion. "Where's your armor? Weapons?"
Kevin shrugged "Don't have any armor, I have a knife in my right pocket."
"What are you, a thief? Get outta here!"
Kevin persisted, "I'm new and the bounty board request did not say anything about this. At least let me talk to someone inside."
After a short back and forth, the guard relented and said, "Fine, follow me, don't try anything mysterious."
Kevin followed the guard through the gate and into the Rivers Manor proper. The estate was immaculate and well maintained, with a variety of trees and bushes planted on the grounds. Several flower beds dotted the landscape with multicolored flowers blooming in each. He marveled at the opulence, though he couldn't help but feel something was missing.
Where's the palm trees?
Palm trees were almost everywhere in Myami no matter where he'd been so far, whether that be Downtown, Little Havana, the University, and Flagami, there had always been palm trees nearby. Here there were none. Kevin wondered why as the guard led him inside a large building with a dome roof and marble columns.
The inside of the building was equally lavish with expensive looking furniture and picturesque paintings of all sorts adorning the walls. It was oddly reminiscent of a nice townhouse he had seen when visiting his rich cousin's house back in the day.
The guard led him further inside until they reached the door to a large study.
The guard knocked on the door. "Mr. Rivers, may we come in? There's someone who wants to see you?"
Speaking in perfect Yankish, a voice replied, "Enter."
Kevin and the guard entered the study, seeing an elderly man dressed in an exquisite black suit sitting behind a desk with his eyes closed, seemingly deep in thought. His face was clean shaven and his white hair was neatly combed back. He had many wrinkles and his eye bags suggested he hadn't slept well in a while.
He wore a necklace with a strange symbol on it which resembled an eye with a star in the center.
The study was filled with bookshelves and at the center right wall was a large picturesque painting of a heroic man standing atop a pile of bodies, sword in his hand.
Mr. Rivers opened his eyes and said, "Who is this fellow?"
The guard explained, "Another person here for the security detail job, sir."
His face brightened. "Excellent, bring him over here."
Kevin motioned closer to Mr. Rivers, who smiled and said, "Please sit."
Kevin sat across from him as the guard who escorted him placed himself next to Sir Rivers.
Mr. Rivers spoke, "My name is Artur Rivers. You may address me as Mr. Rivers."
Kevin replied, "Nice to meet you, I'm Kevin."
Mr. Rivers leaned forward and said, "Kevin eh, tell me, why should I hire you? You look like you couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag."
Kevin frowned "Well I-"
Mr. Rivers, with a hopeful tone, cut him off. "Are you perhaps a judge?"
Kevin shook his head "No I... What is a judge?"
Mr. Rivers sighed in disappointment. "You have to ask? Someone with extraordinary powers.... well if you are one of the mundane I have to ask, do you have any armor, weapons, fighting experience?"
Kevin pulled out his knife. "Just this knife, nothing else."
Mr. Rivers said "Under normal circumstances, I would dismiss you outright, but I need as many men as I can get now.... very well you're hired, your pay will be two copper pennies per day starting from sun up-"
Kevin interjected, "I'll only be able to work during the afternoons."
"Why?"
"I can't come here in the mornings, but I can come in most afternoons."
Mr. Rivers shrugged. "Very well, 7 copper pennies per week. Assuming you come in every Monday to Saturday, is this acceptable "
Kevin nodded.
Mr. Rivers smiled brightly and said, "Excellent, Alphon here will show you around and explain to you the basics of our security procedures. Welcome to Rivers Manor Kevin. Oh Alphon, give him something more suitable to wear while here."
Alphon led Kevin out of the room. As they exited, he turned and saw Mr. Rivers close his eyes again, seemingly deep in thought. Kevin was led to a storage room, where he outfitted him with a cheap lamellar vest and a saber.
As Alphon showed him around the estate and explained the basic security procedures, such as patrolling the walls, greeting guests, and making sure nobody suspicious entered, Kevin noticed an excessive amount of guards walking through the premises. He roughly estimated that for every person working at the manor as staff, there were 2 guards.
Kevin asked Alphon, "Why are there so many guards?"
Alphon replied, "There were less, but our best guards have recently all either formally quit or just stopped showing up."
"Why quit or stop showing up?"
"Who knows, maybe something came up, or they thought the pay wasn't worth it or they didn't like Mr. Rivers. The boss has been very stressed about it."
The pair finished their tour and stopped in front of a group of three, all dressed in a variety of armor and equipment. The biggest one wore a suit of plate armor and a helmet resembling the kind Kevin remembered football players wearing. He carried a large warhammer. One in the middle wore lamellar like Kevin and had a saber sheathed. The one to the far right didn't wear armor, simply carrying a device that looked like a crossbow and a bowler hat. His only notable feature was a very prominent potbelly.
Alphon introduced them. "This is one of the indoor teams. The big guy is Horace, the one in the middle is Victore, and the one with the hat is Jepson."
Kevin waved awkwardly as they sized him up.
Jepson scoffed. "What's this kid doing here?"
"I'm 23 don't take your pregnancy out on me!" Kevin shouted back.
Horace laughed. "Pregnancy, haha this guy's got spunk Horace."
Victore stayed silent as Alphon said, "Kevin here will be joining you three starting tomorrow afternoon, please explain his duties as part of your team I have other duties to attend to."
Jepson muttered under his breath, "That man is losing his shit."
Kevin said, "What man?"
Victore spoke for the first time in a low soft voice, "Mr. Rivers."
Kevin attempted to inquire further, but Victore refused to elaborate, preferring to stare at Kevin silently. Horace patted Victore on the back.
"Come on, let's show this guy the ropes."
***
After a short captivity where he made to help hang priests of the Bendici y Paz, Carlos was allowed to return home after obeying Yankee demands to, at his own expense, sacrifice an animal to the cosmos. He wasn't very zealous, so it was relatively easy for Carlos to accept Yankee demands for his freedom. Most other captives were still processing the events of the past few days and couldn't sacrifice to other deities right after the Yankees had destroyed Myami's biggest temple and executed all of its priests.
The latter still bothered Carlos immensely, who otherwise somewhat understood Yankee reasons for wanting to stamp out Ocha worship, as paranoid as they may be.
As he walked through the streets of Little Havana, he couldn't help but notice the oppressive air, the fear everyone seemed to feel. Despite the fact that most people who weren't arrested were still out and about, the constant patrols of soldiers and the presence of hung priests and judges on every corner sent chills down Carlos's spine.
He comforted himself with the fact that it would be over soon, although the Yankees had started their crackdown in Little Havana, a soldier he struck up a conversation with while he was imprisoned informed him that it would soon move on to other parts of the city, especially Lemo Siti.
The last bit of information brought joy to his heart. For whatever complaints the Yankees had about Myamians for illegal rituals and worship, Haitian rituals and religion were far more evil and destructive than anything his people did, especially in their accursed homeland, if the Yankees wouldn't interfere the Haitian community in Myami would have been driven out decades ago.
Carlos finally arrived at his small home, located behind his food stand. Entering, he saw his daughter Isabella sitting on a chair staring blankly into space, and Rosa cleaning the kitchen area with a worried expression on her face.
Rosa cried, "Carlos, you're back!"
She rushed over and hugged him.
Carlos embraced her and said, "I'm alright Rosa, I'm alright."
Isabella stood up and said, "Papa!"
Carlos hugged his daughter and kissed her forehead. "Hello my sweet."
As the three embraced, what should have been a happy moment was spoiled rotten by Rosa's next words "Ma...Mar..Maria went missing she was taken-!"
Carlos's blood ran cold.