“Thought I would get a chance to use this whip again” the fatter woman said and shook her head. “I’ll work him good for you, how much fat are you trying to get off him?”
“I’ll leave that up to you” Tabitha replied. “Where is the mage that was here?”
“You mean Samson?” the thin woman laughed. “He threatened that if he ever saw any one of us outside of Maduro he would show us who was boss. Sorry Lady Mage, we had to give him a taste of the whip a few times since we couldn’t send him off to someplace else. He is as meek as can be now though, I haven’t had any trouble out of him in two days now. I think he is over helping the carpenter build new houses, he wasn’t cut out for smithing. He lacked the muscles for it, now that he isn’t so obnoxious I can see how handsome he really his. If he ever puts any real muscle on that frame I think he would be as fine as Ricky in your master’s household.”
“Well you can put this one at smithing” Tabitha replied. “Maybe banging a heavy hammer all day will make him appreciate things.”
“Come on you” the tall woman said and pointed towards a large square building. “I will show you where you can sleep then you will be off to help out one of the smiths.”
Sawyer followed her inside the building and could see a bunch of neat looking sleeping mats were laid out on the floor covered with blankets. The thin woman pointed to one then motioned for Sawyer to follow her back outside. Their trip didn’t last long, the woman walked a little ways down the street to a small stone building. Sawyer could hear hammering coming from the building followed by a bit of cursing that sounded like it was coming from a female.
“Janessa are you alright?” the thin woman said as she walked inside the door with Sawyer behind her.
“Do I dammit sound like I am alright?” a woman in a thick leather apron replied. “I am an old woman and this work ain’t getting any easier. The workers you send me are too worried about their damn looks or they are just too damn frail or clumsy to swing a hammer. You got any real men out there instead of those just trying to impress.”
“Well I have a worker behind me” the thin woman replied. “I want you to wear this one out, when he comes back his muscles should be good and aching. This one belongs to the High Mage I think, her apprentice dropped him off and I think he is carrying around too much fat or something for her taste.”
“Well I don’t know about fat but this job will put some muscle right on him” Jaessa replied. “I don’t have it like the rest of the smiths making little forks and other fine things. I make the shit that get things done, like plows, chains, iron bars and other heavy stuff. Leave him here and I’ll sort his ass out. He looks kinda young doesn’t he? I didn’t think he would be the High Mage’s type at all.”
“Don’t know the story, but he is now yours” the thin woman replied. “If he gives you any trouble come find me.”
“What is your name boy?” Janessa asked.
“Sarlon” Sawyer replied.
“Sarlon I aint interested in anything between your legs and I don’t need any kind of eye candy” Janessa replied. “I am forty-five and am only interested in doing my job, I don’t have time for any of that shit the other women here are about. Have you ever swung a hammer?”
“Only in fighting a few times” Sawyer replied. “Never a smith’s hammer.”
“Well the job aint that hard to learn” Janessa replied. “It is a lot of hard work though, I am going to start you off by just smelting the ore into usable metal. If you are halfway decent at that then I will show you how to mix metals. Survive that and we can actually make some shit.”
Sawyer worked with Janessa for the rest of the day, for a moment he forgot where he was and just enjoyed her company. She reminded him of his father a little when he was explaining to Sawyer different fighting techniques, Sawyer found himself interested in smithing and was able to smelt half of the different ores she had in her shop and even got the chance to mix different metals. Janessa had given him an old book to write everything down in and he learned a lot about her. She was a widow, her and her husband used to run their own smithy outside of Maduro but when he died her son wanted nothing to do with it. Her son loved alcohol too much and had stolen from her and eventually wound up in so much debt that he sold the smithy. The business went to the oldest male child, it was still law in much of Perdomo for the male of the family to inherit everything . Janessa petitioned the queen who gave her a place in Maduro, she liked her life but regretted the chasm that was between her and her oldest son. He had tried to search her out in Maduro and wanted either money or for them to get another smithy business together, she had rejected him and told him she wanted nothing to do with him until he got himself together. Janessa seemed like she liked him, she enjoyed teaching him and wanted to show him how to actually make an item when the thin woman walked back inside.
“I came to pick up your worker" the thin woman said entering the shop. “Did you work him hard?”
“This is the best one you have ever sent me Holly" Janessa replied. “He aint scared to get his hands dirty and he actually likes the work. I don’t know what fat you are talking about though, this one looks thin but there is nothing but muscle under that shirt. I aint got to see it to know it’s there, he has working man hands."
“Well I just found out he is a mage" Holly replied.
“This one is not a mage" Janessa replied. “I have met mages, all prancing about like their shit don’t smell. This one is respectful and doesn’t need someone to worship him.”
“Well he is a runaway mage from Colten" Holly replied. “Tried to hide he is a mage so he wouldn’t be pressed into service but ran over here and was captured by the High Mage and her apprentice. Now he is upset about the entire thing and would rather spend his time doing hard work than hanging around the High Mage in her home."
“What man wouldn't like being a mage in Perdomo or hanging around the High Mage's home?” Janessa said looking at Sawyer.
“The married kind who can’t stand the idea of slave labor” Sawyer replied. “No matter how it is packaged or what you tell each other to make yourselves feel good."
“Oh yeah" Holly laughed. “He is married and claims to have no interest in laying with multiple women or any woman. Apparently he is some kind of peasant sword master, maybe he has some kind of honor code.”
“Well that woman of yours had a fine man Sarlon" Janessa said sadly. “You are built like a man but have a young face. Do you have children?”
“No" Sawyer replied. “But we have been trying. We were separated during a vicious battle and I had to flee, if she tried to follow I am positive she would have been killed."
“You should forget about her Sarlon" Janessa said sadly. “It is unlikely the Queen would let you have anything to do with her even if she does live. The fact many people now know you are a one woman man would justify her position. The fact that a man can father many more children than a woman can carry has a very unique unofficial law. You are almost forbidden from settling down with anyone that is not a mage."
“Well that is a load of…” Sawyer began as Janessa stopped him
“No foul language from men” Janessa replied. “I wouldn’t want you to get any lashes, Holly and her associate do not mind whipping a mage. Just ask that pretty blonde one that is around somewhere.”
“Don’t feel sorry for me” Sawyer replied. “I won’t be with anyone then. I’m not ruled by what is in between my legs and a pretty face means nothing to me. Even if I never see my wife again, just out of spite I would never give anyone half a chance."
“And I believe you" Janessa replied. “Are you going back to your master's house now?”
“Tabitha is not my master" Sawyer replied.
“Don’t you mean Lady Tabitha, you are in Maduro" Janessa replied.
“Lady Tabitha is not my master and I would rather learn under anyone else" Sawyer replied.
“Well do you want to come back here tomorrow?” Janessa asked.
&n
bsp; “I would love to" Sawyer replied.
“Well bring this one back then” Janessa said looking at Holly.
“The High Mage's apprentice seemed to think this one was intimidated by the men here" Holly said looking Sawyer over.
“Why would he be?” Janessa replied. “The rest are criminals and slaves and he is an actual man. He is a young man, but a man nonetheless that is comfortable in his skin. Lions can only be intimidated by other lions, do you think any of the other so called men are lions?”
“Maybe a few" Holly admitted. “Come mage, your work day is over and I have to make sure you are fed and cleaned up for tomorrow.”
Sawyer followed her back to the Stocks and could see a lot of other men there now. They looked at him oddly in his choice of outfit but Sawyer ignored them. Holly pointed him over towards a stone building and told him that is where he could wash up at. Sawyer took off his shirt and walked inside. Sawyer's clothes were drenched in sweat and smelled like a fire, the forge was hot and he had burned himself a couple of times and all but ruined the clothes he was given. Inside of the stone building there was a big bath that looked like it was lined with stone, it looked like it was hot and Sawyer ignored the men around him and stripped off the rest of his clothes and went inside the water. The water was hotter than he would have liked but his aching muscles enjoyed it, he had no idea how Janessa made things happen with any young muscle there.
Afterwards Sawyer got up out of the tub when an odd thought caught him. Sawyer looked around the room for a bit and although there were eight other men inside, none of them were fighters. His adopted father had told him how to spot the differences, any man not scared to take a blow normally had a certain look about them, their eyes were always searching for danger and they typically had a different stance, even while resting. Marlon had called it a ready stance, the side of their body from which they would draw their sword was normally pointed away from everyone so an enemy couldn’t grab your sword before you could draw it. The stance also gave you enough distance that you could strike out even if you couldn’t draw your weapon although your strong side wouldn’t be in the dominant position. Unless there were a lot of left handers in the room, Sawyer was sure he was in the company of a bunch of dandies. No one had any lean muscle, the kind you got from a lot of hard work over the years, Sawyer saw he was easily the most defined person in the room and thought this group probably never knew any hard work until they came to Maduro. They most likely still wouldn’t know it either, if they were worked too hard then they might as well be outside of Maduro. The fact Janessa had such a hard time finding people for a job that was tough but not impossible for any man let Sawyer know he was probably right.
Sawyer looked over to where the clothing was kept, he was happy to see they had a couple of outfits that looked like the one he wore for most of the day and put it on. The top was a little baggier but the pants fit better than the last pair. Sawyer looked at his hands and stared at the bone ring, happy it had not been taken from him. Many probably thought it was a wedding band, the fact he wore it on the correct finger is probably why no one had asked him to take it off. Sawyer’s real wedding band he had to sell, it provided decent enough money during his journey into Perdomo. Sawyer walked outside again and could see Candace was there talking to a blond man dressed similar to Sawyer. The man couldn’t have been older than twenty five, he had a thin build and stood in such a way that Sawyer could tell he was either sore or tired. He possibly could have been both but had a sneer on his face while he glared at Candace. Sawyer could see why the man could have been called handsome, he had big green eyes that looked like some of the emeralds Sawyer had seen and his face was clear of any blemishes. His eyelashes were on the longer side, many females would kill for such a trait along with his high cheekbones. Sawyer went to ignore Candace but she called him over, Sawyer could see the fat woman from earlier standing with Holly and decided not to test any of the punishments.
“Samson this is the mage I am training” Candace began.
“What does that have to do with me” Samson said as Sawyer could tell the man was angry before he added “Lady Candace.”
“Why are you so angry, you put yourself here” Candace replied. “You were the one who had to flirt with the princesses while you were supposed to be with me. You should be lucky you didn’t receive a nastier punishment for leading them on and then being caught with me. I forgive you though, as soon as I heard you were here I came.”
“You think this entire thing is funny don’t you?” Samson said as Sawyer could see the man was literally shaking and trying his best not to ball up his fist. “Have you seen my back? Have you seen what the people here did to me? If I ever see them away from this place I will kill all of them. You could have lied for me but you didn’t.”
“You were trying to run around on me” Candace replied. “Both of the princesses needed to know you were already spoken for.”
“I am not spoken for by you” Samson snapped. “I can have any woman want outside of this place and I don’t need to be some mindless brute with more muscles than brains to do it. I don’t want anything to do with you, not anymore. You are a little girl who thinks too much of herself. You enjoy my pain for now, in a week or two I will be finished and leave this place behind entirely.”
“You don’t really mean that” Candace said with a slight smile. “Because if you did I could make your time here much harder than it is now and outside of this place you still couldn’t beat me.”
Sawyer focused his magic and examined Samson’s magic. The ring was harder than his staff was at doing magic but not overly so, Sawyer could still make out Samson’s magic and almost laughed at what he saw. Despite being one of the prettiest men Sawyer had ever seen he was definitely the weakest mage he had seen. Elena was far from a strong mage and didn’t have an affinity, she was what was known as a level one since she could cast with a staff. Elena didn’t have much magical reserves either but it was almost double with this man had. If Sawyer thought about magic using the water analogy Candace had talked about earlier then Samson wasn’t even holding a cup of water, more like a couple of thimbles. Samson though had an affinity, in fact he had three of them, fire, water and air. Sawyer doubted the man had more than a few spells in him, he would lose to any mage within seconds if they attacked first since his shield would most likely run out of power within a few seconds. If Samson went on the attack then a mage could throw up their own shield and just outlast him. Candace would wipe the floor with him without breaking a sweat, Sawyer even thought a heavily armored man could probably give the mage fits if he had a sturdy enough shield.
“Just take me out of here” Samson replied. “I heard you have a home somewhere and I can recover in there until my time is done.”
“I can’t” Candace said as her face fell. “This is where her majesty wants you.”
“So that is the way she is treating all the men” Samson said looking over at Sawyer.
“That idiot is here of his own free will” Candace replied. “My master’s house servants intimidated him so he would rather come out here and work. My master sent me to fetch him, he is still angry at me for capturing him. He is from Colten.”
“So you came to rub it in my face you have someone new” Samson said and narrowed his eyes.
“You are mistaken friend” Sawyer replied. “I would never be with such a woman under any circumstances.”
“I am not your friend” Samson said with such anger it surprised Sawyer when he looked at him. “You are just some idiot, don’t speak to me unless I ask you for your advice or opinion, something I would never do.”
“Excuse me?” Sawyer said and went into a fighting position.
“You heard me fool” Samson replied. “You are taller than me but that means nothing, I am a three affinity mage.”
“And do you think that can save you here?” Sawyer said and spread his arms. “I am not one of these dandies like most of the men here. You should watch who y
ou are talking to.”
“Is this a fight brewing?” the short fat woman said as she walked up holding a different looking kind of whip. “Two angry men fighting over the same prize. I haven't seen a good slave fight in quite a while, normally they just handle business away from my sight.”
“They are just posturing” Candace replied. “I came to check on Samson and he and Sarlon got into it.”
“If you two want to fight, I will sanction it” the fat woman said. “Just make sure it is a good one, I love to see two pretty boys beat the blood out of each other.”
“You can hardly call Sarlon cute Madeline” Candace replied. “I guess he is okay to look at, he has his height going for him but I am not big on the bald look.”
“I don’t fight for amusement, it was just a misunderstanding” Sawyer replied answering her question.
“You better keep it that way” Samson said angrily. “You don’t want to be embarrassed here or out there when we leave.”
“I change my mind, I want the fight” Sawyer said as he stripped off his shirt. Sawyer heard Candace give a shriek as if she was startled as Sawyer got into his fighting stance.
“Well this one definitely looks like a warrior” Madeline said as Sawyer started swinging his arms to loosen them up. “You see those scars all over his body, all with different shades and thickness mage? Those were done in multiple sword fights, I have been with enough soldiers to tell he didn’t receive his from a good whipping like your pretty blondie.”
“So he is hiding muscle under all of that” Holly said joining the conversation. “Janessa said he was the best worker she ever had and spoke highly of him. I think this young one could probably take any man here.”
“You want to make a bet on that?” Madeline replied. “He hasn’t got a sword and there are stockier men here.”
“What do you want to bet?” Holly asked.
“If your man wins then I will personally make you a meal” Madeline replied. “If my man wins I want the same.”
The Mage of Mages 2 Page 5
