An Oath of Brothers by Morgan Rice

wall of new armor.
    Ragon looked them over approvingly.
    “These are weapons to help find your way in a fierce world,” he said. “Weapons to wield with honor, weapons of light in a sea of blackness, weapons strong enough to face the demons. Honor God and fight in His name, in the cause of the just, the cause of the oppressed, and you will prevail. Fight for power, or for riches, or for greed, or for lust, or for conquest, and you will lose. Stray from the light, and no weapon can save you. You shall wield these weapons only as long as you shall merit them.”
    Ragon turned to the wall of armor.
    “Now go choose your armor, splendid armor, armor to match these glorious weapons.”
    One by one they all fanned out across the room, each looking up at the rows and rows of golden armor. Thor was about to join them, when suddenly he was struck by something. A sixth sense.
    He turned to Ragon.
    “I sense there is something more,” he said, “something else you are withholding. Some great secret.”
    Ragon smiled wide.
    “My brother was right,” he said. “The power is indeed strong within you.”
    He sighed.
    “Yes, young Thorgrin. I have one more surprise for you. The greatest surprise, and the greatest gift, of all. In the morning. You will stay the night here, all of you, in my castle. And in the morning, you will not believe the joy that is coming your way.”
     
     

CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
     
    Godfrey, on guard, kept his eyes peeled as they rowed in their small golden vessel down the canals of Volusia, the current taking them slowly, weaving in and out of the back streets of Volusia. Everywhere, he looked for a place to stash the gold. He needed some place reliable, some place discreet, some place where they would not be watched, some place he would remember. They could not stash it in the boat, and as the tavern loomed up ahead, he knew their time was running short.
    Finally, something flashed and caught his eye.
    “Stop rowing!” he called out to Merek.
    Merek, standing at the rear, used his long oar to slow then stop the boat, and as he did, Godfrey pointed.
    “There!” Godfrey said, pointing.
    Godfrey looked down and saw, up ahead, something beneath the water. Sunlight cut through the water, and perhaps six feet down, Godfrey could see the hull of a vessel, capsized long ago, sitting on the bottom of the canal. It was just shallow enough to spot, and yet just deep enough to be discreet. Even better, beside it, on the shoreline, was a small golden statue of an ox—marking a spot he could not forget.
    “Down there,” Godfrey said, “beneath the water.”
    They all looked over the side of the boat.
    “I see a capsized boat,” said Akorth. “Stuck at the bottom.”
    “Exactly,” Godfrey said. “That is where we shall leave our gold.”
    “ Underwater!? ” Akorth asked, flabbergasted.
    “Have you gone mad?” Fulton asked.
    “What if the current carries it away?” Merek said.
    “What if someone else finds it?” Ario chimed in.
    Godfrey shook his head as he hoisted a sack of gold, so heavy his arm shook as he lifted it, ensured it was tied tight, and dropped it in the water. They all watched as it sank quickly, resting cozily inside the bottom of the hull.
    “It’s not going anywhere,” Godfrey said, “and no one’s going to find it. Can you see it from here?”
    They all peered into the water, and clearly they could not. Godfrey himself could barely make out the outline of it.
    “Besides, who is going to go combing the waters for gold?” he asked. “Especially when the streets are paved with it?”
    “No one touches the gold of the streets,” Merek said, “because the soldiers would kill them. But free loot is another matter.”
    Godfrey reached out and dropped a second sack.
    “The currents won’t take it anywhere,” he said, “and no one will ever know where it is—but us. Would you rather carry it into the tavern?”
    They all looked out to the looming tavern up ahead, then back