by Guy Antibes
“Not so common as you might think, young Valian,” Minnie said.
“Hey, it’s my story,” Tobia said. “Just be prepared to be challenged. There are protocols to such things in Gruntal. Anyone likely to challenge a visitor will be surprised by you, no doubt.”
“We will have to fight to the death?”
Tobia stuck out his lower lip and shook his head. “Not at all. You will see dueling sites spread across the city. Duelists have to use wooden swords. The officers don’t want to spend excessive money on healers to fix up trained men and women who can’t keep their aggression in check.”
“You’ve dueled?”
Tobia nodded. “Many times. I’ve only lost a handful. You’ll see the difference between a well-trained swordsman and one who has had sporadic training, like most of the Gruntalian military.”
A woman wearing a dark-blue uniform with gray cording knocked on the carriage door. “Papers, please. I’ve already talked to your driver.”
The woman looked at the first set of papers. “Dastoya? Are you Gruntalians?” she asked Minnie.
Minnie lifted her chin towards Tobia. “He is. I’m from Duteria, but he is my man, and I took his name.” She grinned at the woman, who pursed her lips.
Ricky thought the guards didn’t have much of a sense of humor.
“Did they spawn you?” the guard said, examining Ricky’s folder.
“They are my servants,” Ricky said. “I am from Paranty.”
“Heading for Duteria? Most of your kind, do. Aren’t you too young to enter the Rings?”
“And what kind am I?” Ricky said.
“Parantians with power like leaving their stifling country to make an attempt to reach the Tower,” the guard said. “Everything seems in order. Don’t get yourself killed on Gruntal’s streets.”
She smiled and winked at Ricky, as she gave Minnie three tokens and closed the door. Ricky had to change his first impression of the woman not having any humor.
All women had layers, Ricky thought, and some women had harder layers than others. He pondered Minnie, Mara, and Princess Pira, and nodded to himself. Collections of layers, and that made each one different.
The carriage lurched ahead and once past the massive gate, it stopped.
“Out, if you please,” a guard said. He stretched out his hand. “Tokens, please.”
Minnie presented the three tokens to the gangly young man who didn’t fill out his uniform very well.
“These are the three available inns today.” He handed Tobia a document. “No special regulations this time.” He waved them past to another guard station and an older man who sat at a table. The driver rolled the carriage slowly behind them.
“Which inn?” the next guard said.
Minnie looked at Tobia. Ricky was glad he didn’t have to make such a choice. The Gruntalian entry process didn’t have to be so involved.
“The Jilted Corporal,” Tobia said. “It’s been a long while since I’ve been there, but my cousin said if it appeared on the list, spend the night there. That assumes he isn’t playing a trick on us. It’s been known to happen.”
The driver asked Tobia for directions, and they ended up on the other side of the city. Ricky didn’t see gracious buildings in Gruntal. Everything looked severe. Ricky was surprised when the carriage halted in front of a bright yellow building. Ricky could hear singing in Hessilian from the coach.
“It looks like the corporal is busy drowning his sorrows,” he said.
A stableboy climbed up with the driver, as soon as their lighter bags had been taken from the carriage’s boot. Their conveyance rolled away, leaving them facing the garish inn.
“It hasn’t changed on the outside,” Tobia said. He looked at Minnie. “You are in for a treat, my dear.”
“And what am I in for?” Ricky said.
“Hessilian lessons, I’m afraid,” Minnie said. “See what you can pick up in all the buzz. You will likely hear more than you want to.”
Ricky nodded and grit his teeth. Not only did he have to absorb the language, but he’d have to do it in the context of a foreign culture. Minnie and Tobia looked excited to enter the inn, but Ricky couldn’t match their mood.
Tobia arranged for their rooms, while Minnie found a table close to the center of the common room. Ricky would have rather sat against the wall. Three musicians played an unfamiliar horn instrument, as well as a lap harp and a handheld drum. The singing stopped along with the musicians. Talk and laughter took up the lull.
A young man, not much older than Ricky, bumped into him. “Oho! Do we have a little noble in our midst?” the youth said loudly.
Tobia translated the comment. Ricky didn’t need Tobia to tell him the boy was about to challenge him. Ricky looked at Tobia and spoke in Parantian. “This is going to be a challenge?”
Tobia nodded. “Don’t worry. Think of it as a sparring match.”
“What if I lose?” Ricky said.
“You will pay tribute to the winner. With as many people in this inn, it will probably be a few silver coins. We can cover the loss.”
“And if I win?” Ricky said.
“Ah, if you win, you will get more exercise before we leave this room,” Minnie said, leaning over as a server took their order.
Ricky took a deep breath and turned around as the youth slapped him hard in the face.
“This is normal?” Ricky said.
Tobia nodded. “He is trying to provoke you. ‘Anger gets you nowhere’ is a Gruntalian saying.
Ricky stood and punched the youth in the mouth, sending him to the floor. “Is that permissable?”
“It is, but don’t let him hit you again,” Tobia said. “Walk to the open area a few tables over.”
Ricky saw a barrel of wooden swords and began to select one.
“You use what you draw from the barrel,” Tobia called out.
Ricky shrugged and looked into the barrel to make sure he didn’t pick a broken sword. He slid aside to watch his opponent test his weapon, except there was no testing. Tobia hadn’t warned him that duels started instantly.
The older, bigger youth held his sword over his head with two hands and began to slash vertically towards Ricky. He slipped aside and avoided the first slash, hitting his opponent’s sword downward as the youth tried to raise it for another slash.
Ricky never had to defend against such a blow, but once he did, he recognized the weakness of the approach. As the youth raised his sword again, Ricky thrust his sword into the boy’s belly, but the youth was a bit faster than Ricky thought, and his sword was wiped away; however, Ricky wasn’t about to let his sword follow his opponent’s parry, so he disengaged by pulling his sword back and then pushed it into the boy’s chest until he backed up and bumped out-of-bounds into a table.
The boy angrily tossed his sword to the ground and cursed in Hessilian. Ricky spat on his hand and rubbed his saliva on the hilt before putting his sword back into the barrel.
“I think I can repeat the words,” Ricky said, “but you’ll have to translate.”
“Not me!” Minnie said.
Tobia did the honors, and Ricky raised his eyebrows. The Gruntalians were creative with their swearing.
His opponent slammed two silver coins on the table and stalked out of the inn.
“He likely had to borrow that money,” Tobia said, “because he thought you were a rich tourist and an easy win.”
“So what happens next?”
“Ready to go to your room?” Minnie said.
“I haven’t had dinner, yet.”
“I’ll bring it up to you,” she said.
Ricky felt a tap on his back. He turned around and had to duck out of the way of a meaty hand that grabbed air instead of the side of his face. Ricky lightly slapped his new opponent’s face. He looked up at a taller youth wearing a fancy uniform.
“An officer?” Ricky asked Tobia.
“I said the competition gets better.”
“I can lose and break
even?”
Tobia frowned. “You would lose on purpose?”
“No. I’m concerned about being in debt.”
Minnie laughed. “Don’t worry about that. Go show them all what a Parantian swordsman can do.”
Ricky walked to the dueling space and didn’t find a barrel of swords but a small rack of staffs. His opponent grinned.
Tobia stood with others ringing the dueling space while tables were moved to make the ring bigger. “Since he missed challenging you, he gets to choose the weapons.”
“It’s not fair, not knowing the rules!” Ricky said.
“You didn’t ask.” Tobia said. “If a royal bodyguard had taught you how to use weapons, she would undoubtedly have schooled you in the use of a staff.”
Ricky picked his weapon and turned around, ready for an attack. His opponent hadn’t selected his staff and laughed at him along with everyone else in the common room. Other than Tobia’s encouraging nod, the crowd was for the Gruntalian.
Mara Torris’s words about naivete that had hurt echoed in his mind, but he took a deep breath and was ready to duel. Ricky had spent plenty of time since the first of the year using a staff in his sessions with Effie, learning unconventional methods.
Ricky’s bigger opponent made a show of twirling his around. Ricky put a quick end to that by poking his staff in the Gruntalian’s side. and moved behind to sharply hit the Gruntalian in the back of his knee, sending him to this knees. Ricky then poked his staff into the soldier’s neck from behind, forcing the man to let go of his weapon when he outstretched his hands to keep his face from hitting the floor.
The crowd groaned.
“You won when he let go of his staff,” Tobia said.
Ricky helped his opponent to his feet. “Thank you for the fight.” he hoped he said it right.
The man laughed and hugged Ricky before pulling two silver pieces from his jacket, thrown to him from someone in the crowd. “To a better man,” Ricky thought his opponent said.
“I think it’s time you retired. Minnie or I will bring your dinner up to you. If you don’t, the Gruntalians will be challenging you all night until they wear you down.”
Ricky nodded. “An honorable retreat?” he said.
“Honorable, yes,” Tobia said. “Just head up the stairs and wave as you leave. Above all, smile.”
Minnie nodded and urged him on. Ricky did as Tobia said. The crowd clapped as Ricky retreated. He made it to his room and sat on his bed. He hadn’t realized how much the two duels had exhausted him. His stamina had not advanced as much as he thought. Ricky leaned over and lay on top of the bed, closing his eyes.
Ricky would have liked to have stayed and listened to others, but Tobia knew more about these things than he did.
He rose to a knock on the door. Ricky opened it, expecting Tobia, but the face of a uniformed stranger surprised him.
“You…” Ricky didn’t understand the rest. This Gruntalian caught him without an interpreter.
Ricky backed into his room, but the intruder rushed along with four of his fellows. Ricky’s sword was against the wall on the other side of the room.
He contemplated using his magic on them, but he was a stranger in Gruntal and didn’t know the laws. The men were all laughing, and that confused Ricky. He had fought thugs before, and they never laughed about it. Gruntal must be a different. He should have asked Tobia if the city of Gruntal permitted sorcery. He would have to wait to see what happened to his friends, so he let them drag him downstairs. Perhaps Tobia or Minnie would see his plight and come to his rescue.
The common room erupted in applause. Tobia grinned as he led Ricky to the table where three plates were lying. He guessed he’d be eating in the common room, after all.
“What is this?” Ricky said. “I didn’t know what to say or how to act.”
“I told your last opponent that you were still recovering from your wounds at the hand of the Crown Prince of Dimani. When they heard you fought the man off with a stick, they understood they were about to dishonor you with a string of duels.”
“I didn’t understand what the man said. I just heard ‘You’ and the rest…?” Ricky shook his head.
The innkeeper came to their table. Tobia translated, but Ricky could make out that the man was asking about sorcery.
“He wondered if you could do a performance with his musicians. Parantian sorcerers are reputed to be the best. We get free rooms if you do it. The soldiers were rather excited about it and ran upstairs to get you, before I could follow.”
“It’s not that we can’t afford it. I suppose I could, after I’ve eaten, of course,” Ricky said.
“I’ll run up and get your wand. Is it still in your bag?”
Ricky nodded.
“I’ll keep him company and make sure he eats enough,” Minnie laughed.
Tobia disappeared upstairs.
“I could have done something wrong,” Ricky said. “Luckily, I didn’t.”
“Were you afraid?” Minnie asked.
“Not afraid that I’d get hurt, but I was concerned. The dueling fatigued me more than I thought, and I didn’t want to use magic on them,” Ricky said. “I don’t know Gruntal’s rules, and I didn’t want to make things difficult for the both of you.”
“If it were me, I would have probably jumped out the window,” Minnie said.
Ricky took a bite of his dinner. He wasn’t excited about the bland seasoning of the food, but after he swallowed, he shook his finger. “The windows are barred, at least in my room.”
“Oh, then I guess we were lucky,” Minnie said.
“Who was lucky?” Tobia said, placing Ricky’s wand on the table.
“Ricky showed a great deal of restraint when the overly-eager soldiers went up to get him.”
Tobia frowned. “I know. I tried to tell them Ricky didn’t speak Hessilian, but they forged ahead, anyway. I nearly went up with them, but I have faith in our master.” He winked when he said ‘master.’
Ricky continued to eat as the musicians began to play their instruments. He listened to the music and tried to get a feel for the tune. He had never heard the tune before, but he tried to get a feel for the dynamics of the song.
Ricky unsheathed his wand and leaned over. He tried out the words for ‘same song’ and got a nod from Minnie. Ricky took a swallow of the water he was served, for the first time noticing that his servants were given ale. He walked up to the musicians with a program in his mind. He couldn’t do anything flashy, and every element had to be an illusion. With a low ceiling, he couldn’t fly more than a few feet off the ground.
The musicians nodded to him, and Ricky stepped out in front of them, facing the dueling space in the center of the common room. He told them to play the same song.
Ricky used techniques he had learned for his first performance with Loria Mansali over a year ago in Tossa. He conjured colored bubbles and disks of flame, all to the beat and intensity of the music. He finished his performance with a disk that he sang as a vertical disk spinning just below the ceiling. The illusion spun through the wooden beams and hanging lamps. He made the disk drop to the floor in a shimmer of sparkles. He had used the same illusion in Dimani, but then it was much larger and vertical.
The music stopped at that point in Ricky’s performance, and then the room erupted with applause and cheers.
The effort wrung the final embers of energy within him, so he walked as steadily as he could and sat at the table with Minnie and Tobia.
“I told you he performed like a professional,” Minnie told the innkeeper, who had sat at their table to watch Ricky’s performance. “I helped him a bit.”
Tobia translated. “A little bit,” Tobia said.
She glared at her husband.
“But a significant little bit.” He turned to the innkeeper and said something. Ricky caught a few words, but no more. “I told him that Minnie helped you turn a real disk of fire into an illusion.”
Ricky thought he understood th
e words ‘real fire’. The innkeeper had looked a bit concerned, but whatever Tobia continued to say brought on a look of relief. Soldiers put coins on Ricky’s table.
“Tell the innkeeper to give the money to some needy people, perhaps widows and their children? Does the Gruntal Military have such funds?”
Tobia grinned. “They do. He’d be happy to do that. All Gruntalians would.” Tobia talked to the innkeeper who swept the coins into a pocket of his apron and compliemented Ricky in front of all the patrons.
“It helps when I don’t need the money,” Ricky said. Rising from his seat, Ricky bowed to the soldiers and went up to bed, hoping he wouldn’t stumble as he climbed the stairs.
~~~
A BIT ABOUT GUY
~
With a lifelong passion for speculative fiction, Guy Antibes found that he rather enjoyed writing fantasy, as well as reading it. So a career was born, and Guy anxiously engaged in adding his own flavor of writing to the world. Guy lives in the western part of the United States and is happily married with enough children to meet or exceed the human replacement rate.
You can contact Guy at his website: www.guyantibes.com.
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BOOKS BY GUY ANTIBES
SONG OF SORCERY
Book One: A Sorcerer Rises
Bound to a cruel grandfather, thirteen-year-old Ricky Valian is an orphan and a theif. Compelled to steal a valuable item in a public place, Ricky uses the only trick he knows, a magic trick. His crime doesn’t go unobserved. The Dean of Doubli Academy witnesses the theft and recognizes Ricky’s latent talent, volunteering to become Ricky’s guardian at the boy’s trial. Ricky finds himself, unlettered and untutored in sorcery, in a place filled with students. As he struggles with his unexpected circumstances, Ricky becomes a target of a vicious bully, who may not be above taking the life of someone who gets in his way.
Book Two: A Sorcerer Imprisoned
Ricky Valian always dreaded the Juvenile Home in the city of Applia. Killing a member of the Council of Notables is enough to sentence him for a stay. The lord’s widow is anxious for revenge and Ricky has to scramble to stay ahead of people out seeking his life. While there are strange things going on at the Home that will put him in peril, he finds a priceless treasure long forgotten at the Home. Can he stay alive long enough to save it?
