The Duelist

by Eric Vall

  “I was given basic training to survive in Asher society,” she explained, “but my expertise is in fencing and combat. That is where I will aid you, husband.”

  “Well, lucky for me, then, because I need all the help I can get there.” I moved the heavy fall of her black hair away from the side of her neck so I could admire the marks I put there with my teeth. She should never feel inadequate, and I figured my actions would be better than words, so I leaned down and kissed them one by one from her collar bone, to the apple of her delicate throat, and up to the soft spot just under her jaw.

  “I don’t want any of this to disappear,” Zoie admitted in a small voice, and I pulled back so I could look into her face. Her eyebrows were furrowed together, and her hands clutched and released my shoulders in what I realized was an anxious habit of hers.

  “This?” I asked.

  She stared off into the distance, and her dark blue eyes were hollow. “I don’t have any skills suited for estate management, Alex. This place was already run down during Kel’s time, Dagmar only made things worse, and Jenner and Arvid can only fix this place up so much. I know all about being a Varthan Warrior and what it takes to prepare you for battle, but you will need a wife who can read and write. One who can manage a business and an estate. One who was bred for this kind of life, and who will bring you more honor and status than I can.”

  “Hey,” I said as I cupped her face between my palms, and my heart ached when her eyes misted with tears. “I don’t care about honor and status, it’ll be alright, I promise.”

  “Please, I’ve thought a lot about this, Alex,” she said and clung on to my wrists as I stroked her cheek with one thumb. “When you were still unknown, we had a chance, but now the whole Isle knows about you. Everyone knows Dagmar left this place unguarded and in ruins, which makes you a desirable target not just to other Duelists, but especially to No-Ranks and mercenaries who want to join the Duelist elite. If you Duel Ren, you gain his estate, which is a lot more secure than this one.”

  I wanted to wave off her concern once more with a cheesy remark about being blessed by the Goddess out the wazoo, but the fear that pulled taut on Zoie’s pale face made me rethink my flippant comments.

  “Zoie, what would happen to you if I got killed and an Asher didn’t want to keep you for his wife?” I asked instead.

  “I would be sent back to the Traders,” Zoie said with a haunted look in her eyes, but then she snapped out of her dark memories and gripped my wrists even stronger. “But, it’s more than that. I can’t watch you die, don’t you understand? I won’t be the reason for your death if there is something I can help you do to help you avoid it. You matter too much.”

  I sat there stunned for a moment at her heartfelt words, and I wiped a tear away from under her eye where it managed to fall.

  “You mean a lot to me, too,” I said and then brought her in for a soft kiss that tasted like the salt from her tears. The stoic warrior woman was more distressed than I’d ever seen her, so I untangled our legs and slid my cock out of her pussy.

  “Ohhh…” she sighed when I left her empty, but then I tucked us both under the blanket and drew her back against my chest.

  My arms came around her front, and she melted into me with a shuddering breath.

  “You are my wife now, Zoie,” I whispered into her soft ear. “It’s my job to protect you no matter what. Even if that means killing Ren.”

  Zoie turned around in my arms so she could see my face, and we breathed together for a second as we drank in the sight of each other. Then she raised her hand and traced my eyebrows, down the bridge of my nose, and finally over my lips with one delicate finger as if she was committing my face to memory. Eventually, her palm came to rest in the middle of my chest.

  “I know your heart, Alex Brightwood,” she whispered in the dark. “You are kind even to people who don’t deserve it sometimes. You stand up against injustices, and you don’t like killing for killing’s sake. I know what I ask of you is a heavy burden.”

  I clutched her hand and brought her fingers up to my lips. “I trust you with my life, and if you say this is the way, then I’m on board.”

  Zoie sighed in relief and buried her face into the crook of my neck.

  I held her as she continued to tremble with leftover stress, and I rubbed my hand along her spine to soothe and warm her chilled skin.

  “Tell me your plan,” I said when she calmed down.

  “Shale-Lea,” Zoie murmured, and her voice sounded just on the edge of sleep.

  “Shale-Lea?” I asked after she didn’t speak for a few moments.

  “You find her attractive, no?” Zoie muttered.

  “Uhhh…” I cleared my throat.

  “I saw you watching her,” Zoie chuckled. “She is very beautiful. Her body is exquisite, her movements elegant, and her hips and plumage indicate she will give you strong and handsome children. Also… she does not seem very happy with her husband. Asher wives are made to honor and obey their lords, so she would never betray him, but I sense a sadness from her. You give me love, you give me pleasure, and you give me kindness. She would be glad to be your wife and have you fill her each night like you just filled me. She would be glad to bear your children. I am.”

  “Uhh… Yeah…”

  “If you Duel Ren and win,” Zoie continued, “then you acquire her along with his property and assets. She was groomed from birth to be an Asher’s wife, and I can’t think of anyone better to run the estate. This will be good for her, and us.”

  “And you know she’s good at running an estate?” I asked.

  “Apparently, Ren’s estate was hemorrhaging gold due to the expensive exotic animals he is so fond of collecting,” Zoie explained as she laced both of our hands together and rested them in the center of her pillowed chest. “When he gained another level in Duelist status, he gained Shale-Lea, and that was the end of his money problems.”

  “What rank is Ren?” I asked. “He’s four, right? Am I even allowed to Duel him without a public disgrace?”

  “Yes, he is a rank four,” she said and tangled our legs together under the blankets. “A challenger can Duel an Asher any rank above him, but if the gap is wider than two, the higher ranked Asher normally doesn’t issue the challenge unless there is a public disgrace, but since you will be issuing the challenge, it will be fine.”

  “He will pick swords if I challenge him,” I mused.

  “It is a fact I am counting on,” Zoie murmured, and then she let out a massive yawn as she tried to finish speaking. “We shall begin your training right away.”

  “Sleep, Zoie,” I said with a smile as her words came out all zombie-garbled, and then I kissed her head between her velvety ears. “Tomorrow we can discuss this in more detail.”

  Zoie curled up even closer to me, so I reached up to unravel the cord and lower the draperies on the four-poster bed around us in case she was cold.

  “Alex,” Zoie said a while later.

  “Hm?” I mumbled as I teetered on the cusp of sleep.

  “If you could go back to your world, would you want to?” she asked.

  “Not for anything,” I said, and I meant every word. “I am happy here with you. Happier than I’ve ever been before.”

  Zoie didn’t say anything else after that, and we both sank into sleep with our limbs so intertwined I didn’t know where I started and she began.

  I slept hard without any dreams, and it was probably the most restful sleep I could ever remember having.

  When I woke up, I could see the sun peeking through the gaps in the drapes, and I just stared at the motes of dust swirling around in the golden light as my brain slowly came awake. Apparently, the Longest Night on Aventoll was finally over, and I realized just how much I’d missed the daylight.

  I looked down and was met with a riot of black hair and twitching cat ears as a gloriously naked Zoie continued to sleep on my chest.

  I couldn’t help but grin to myself when I remembered the d
etails of yesterday. Everything from the game of Catch and Chase, the gala, dancing, and then the amazing night of sex all felt like some crazy fun dream. It wasn’t even weird that Zoie and I did it all out of order by getting married first. We just clicked, and it was a comforting feeling.

  Zoie arched against me in a languid stretch, and I ran my fingers through her silky obsidian hair. Her ears twitched again, and I tried to bite back my smile. I blew out a breath right on the fuzzy tip of one, and the ear flicked and practically swatted me in the nose.

  “Zoie,” I called in a gentle voice.

  She lifted her head and blinked at me as her cat’s eyes contracted and focused on my face.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” I chuckled as she continued to stare blankly at me. Apparently, she was not a morning person, if the “buffering” symbol her expression was making was any indication. I wondered if Nata Isle had anything like coffee, because I would kill for a strong cup of joe on mornings like this.

  “Hello,” Zoie finally said, and she clutched the sheets a little as if she was self-conscious, so I leaned in and kissed her lips.

  Any uncertainty she felt seemed to slough off her, and she responded by falling into the kiss, moaning, and pushing her delicious tongue into my mouth.

  I tucked a knee in between hers and flipped us so I was on top. That way I could kiss my way between her breasts and down her belly.

  “Alex!” she gasped when I dipped my tongue into her belly button, and I smiled into her silky skin.

  Before I could resume any further exploration, I heard the bedroom door bang open, and Jenner’s short footsteps announced his very unwelcome arrival.

  “Mr. Alex!” he called out as Zoie and I scrambled to cover ourselves up with the blanket. Not a moment too soon, because the bed drapes were yanked up a second later. “Can’t sleep the day way, there is much to do around the--”

  He broke off mid word as he did a double take between me and the top of Zoie’s head where it peeked out from the blanket’s hem.

  “Oh, my,” Jenner George Takeied as he adjusted his monocle.

  “Good morning, Jenner,” I snickered, and I really couldn’t find it in me to be embarrassed. I was too happy Zoie was in the bed with me.

  “Good morning, Mr. Alex, Ms. Zoie,” Jenner said, and Zoie lowered her sheet-shield a bit so she could give him a sheepish smile. “I’m glad to see how splendid everyone is… getting along. Well, then. I will leave you both to it. Mr. Alex, when you are situated, there are a few matters I need to discuss with you.”

  “Okay, sure thing,” I said and grinned at him like the cat that got the canary. Or maybe it was the cat that got the cat? Whatever.

  “I will be in the southern pasture when you are ready,” Jenner said with a wink, and then he turned around and closed the door behind him.

  “I am not used to feeling this type of embarrassment,” Zoie mumbled and pressed her scarlet face into my chest.

  I laughed and hugged her to me. As much as I wanted to pick up right where we left off before we were interrupted, the day was going to be a busy one, and I was still unfamiliar with just how long the sun lasted on Aventoll.

  “I should go talk with Jenner,” I said. “But please sleep some more if you want. Actually, I would really like it if you moved into my room permanently.”

  “I would like that, too,” Zoie said with a slow smile, and then she rolled over onto her side to try and get a little more sleep.

  I placed one more kiss onto the back of her bare shoulder and then made myself roll out of the warm bed.

  After I found a fresh pair of clothes, I replaced the Duelist Stone around my neck and headed down. Instead of heading to the front entrance, I took a detour to the kitchen to see if there was anything I could grab for breakfast before I met up with Jenner in the pasture.

  Arvid wasn’t around when I got down there, but there were fresh baked sweet rolls and something like butter and jam set out on the wooden table. I snatched one or three, slathered them with various jams, and ate them as I walked across the courtyard and through the manor house gates.

  I spotted Jenner over by a fallen part of the fence next to a large patch of blackened earth. In fact, the closer I got, I realized just how much of a miracle it was that the whole pasture hadn’t burned up when the lightning struck. The grass was dry like straw, and it probably should have gone up like a book of matches at the first signs of a spark, but whatever Jenner and Arvid did to stop the flames made it so only about a fifth of the pasture was scorched.

  When I approached the small koala-man, he was struggling with one of the rails of the fence. One end of the rail had rotted away and crumbled out of the rounded post, but the other end was stuck fast. Jenner tried to pull it out, but his four-foot stature was giving him trouble with finding the right leverage.

  “Let me help,” I said, and I grabbed the fallen rail and pulled it out of the post hole with a thunk.

  “Thank you, lad,” Jenner huffed and wiped the back of his neck with a handkerchief. “I’ll admit, having more hands around here will be a very welcome change.”

  “Do you have any replacement wood to fix the rails?” I asked and shielded my eyes from the sun as I looked down the long line of fencing. Every dozen yards or so, there were more fallen or saggy rails that needed either reinforcement, or to just be switched out altogether with new wood. From my position, I couldn’t tell if the posts were sound, or if they needed replacing as well.

  “Over on the wagon.” Jenner gestured to a wooden wheelbarrow device and then perched on a small boulder to rest and catch his breath.

  I headed to the wheelbarrow and grabbed one of the long post rails laying on the flatbed. There was a small basket of woot fruits sitting on the ground as well, and I grabbed one of those, too.

  “Here,” I said and handed Jenner the fruit. Poor dude looked like he could use it, and I was beginning to see what Zoie meant about how much the estate needed help. This fence alone was at least a three-person job.

  I had a lot of work to do to fix this place up, but hey, this was my place, and I was going to make it totally badass.

  I just needed to figure out how to get some money, hire some people, and do all that while training to fight with a sword.

  “Thank you,” Jenner said and sunk his teeth into the fruit so he could slurp noisily at the water inside.

  “Do you have a handsaw?” I asked him as I eyed the rail. One end was flat while the other was tapered into a point to make it easier to jam into the post hole, but I could tell it needed to be trimmed down to size by at least two inches.

  “The tool box is sitting just on the other side of the post,” Jenner said.

  I saw where he pointed and rummaged through the meager selection of hand tools. There was a mallet, an awl, some nails, and thankfully, a sharp handsaw that would definitely do the trick.

  Handsaw in hand, I turned back to Jenner. “Do you have any sort of wood preservative you can put on the wood to slow it from rotting?”

  “Back when this estate kept a stable full of manapillars, we would harvest their urine for that exact purpose,” Jenner said.

  “Okayyyy,” I remarked and inserted the flat end of the rail into the bottom one of the two rail holes. From there, the tapered end poked past the opposite post about a good three inches.

  “Definitely not a glamorous task.” Jenner smirked. “How do you know so much about fence repair? Did you live on a farm back where you are from?”

  “No, I didn’t live on a farm, but I spent a few summers working on a ranch starting when I was seventeen,” I said and went over to the tool box to grab the awl. I didn’t have a pencil, so I used the sharp metal point to mark the rail where I needed to cut. “The place I worked on had a massive split rail fence that had to remain wooden because the ‘rustic quality’ raised the value of the property, or something. The point is, it was a pain in the ass, and I probably spent my first summer there just fixing fences.”

  “Wel
l, I am glad for your help now,” Jenner said as he hopped off his boulder. Then he walked up to me so he could observe my progress as I removed the rail and began to saw off the marked end.

  Jenner helped by holding the other end of the long rail as I cut, and between the two of us, we managed to fit the new rail snugly between the two posts.

  Fitting the top rail went pretty much the same way, and in no time the fallen portion of fence was up and fixed.

  “How much of this fence do you think needs total replacing?” I asked Jenner.

  “About six posts are rotten and need to be dug out, and about eight other sections where only the rails need to be switched,” Jenner calculated and tossed me a woot fruit.

  It must have only been mid-morning, but I forgot how hot the sun on this world was, and I was already sweating up a storm. I took a grateful bite of the fruit and let the cool water run down my throat.

  “Is that all the lumber we have?” I asked and counted only two more rails sitting in the back of the wheelbarrow.

  “Arvid is in the workshop making more, but I know for a fact we only have enough material to fix two sections of rail and one post.” Jenner walked to the next post down the line, and it wobbled to the side when he pushed on it with both palms. “We also don’t have any more material to make mortar to fix the posts into place.”

  “Fucking Dagmar,” I grumbled. “He really let this place go to shit.”

  Jenner sighed as he nodded in agreement. “That’s one of the things I need to talk to you about, Mr. Alex.”

  “Zoie mentioned how the estate needs securing from any potential No-Ranks who might want to storm the place and Highlander my ass,” I said as I grabbed another rail from the wheelbarrow and walked to the next sagging section of the fence. “Is that where this conversation is headed?”

  “Indeed,” Jenner confirmed as he followed behind me with an old wooden toolbox. “That was the mistake Old Asher Kel made by letting this place lapse in basic care and maintenance.”

  “How did Dagmar manage to overthrow a level-three Duelist, by the way?” I asked as I dropped the new rail onto the ground. The rails in this section were so weak with rot that when I brought my booted heel down on the bottom one, it crumbled away in pieces.