Portals of Infinity: Book One: Champion for Hire

by John Van Stry

  “Are ye sayin’ ye are some sort of cleric?” He said eyeing me suspiciously.

  “I ain’t sayin’ nuthin.’” I grinned at him.

  I threw the two dead bodies over one horse and tied them to it, and then I put the live one on the other and stuck George on it in front of her. He didn’t care, they’d actually had some food and he was rather happily eating it. I had to laugh when she came around a few minutes later and started to struggle. He smacked her on the head and told her to behave.

  It was about three hours later when we finally got to the city gate at Riverhead I was rather happy to see the guards there, including my friend Sergeant Chaucer.

  “Well as I live in breath, Will, we were startin’ to wonder if we’d ever see yer smiling face around these parts again!”

  I hopped off the horse and shook hands with him, exchanging hearty back slaps. “Oh believe me, there isn’t anything that could keep me from my wife, and truth be told a lot of things did try. It’s been a most trying year. But I’m back and if it wasn’t for this bit of business,” I jerked a thumb at the other two horses and their passengers, “I’d be begging off already to go see her!”

  Sergeant Chaucer laughed at that and nodded. “Can’t say I’d blame you either, so what have we got here?”

  “Two things, lets take the simple first. George, come here.”

  George got down and came over. I still had his hands tied of course.

  “I caught this one and a friend trying to rob me last night. Second time they tried. Now the friend was more of the easily led type, so I turned him over to the parson and thought I’d let the church deal with him, see if they couldn’t turn him around. But this one here, well he’s got a knack for trouble, a taste for danger, but once he gets it pounded into him seems to listen to authority and take orders moderately well.”

  Sergeant Chaucer grinned at me, “Oh I know just the place for him.” He turned to George and looked him over and then got in his face rather loudly, “As of this moment boyo ye’re in the infantry in service to the lord of this here land. Ye will do as ye are told and ye had better do ye damned best or ye will be far more regrettin’ being borne than anything me good friend Will could ever have done to ye’. Do ye understand me son?”

  George wilted, “Yes.” He said in a small voice.

  “What was that?!” Sergeant Chaucer yelled at him again.

  “Ye...Yes, Sir.”

  “Better!” He turned to the other men at the gate who had all suddenly become much more orderly and professional looking. “Joseph, take this new recruit to Sergeant Rhymes, make sure he knows the circumstances of how he came to us.”

  “Yes sir, Sergeant!” Joseph barked out and crisply saluted, then took George in tow in led him off.

  “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen your men so sharp off the parade ground,” I laughed.

  “Oh they love to put on a show for the new recruits, even more so than for the lords. Cause they get to torture the recruits!” He laughed as well, the others smiling and nodding. “So what’s this other business then?”

  “Ah, well I was beset by these bandits about three hours from here. The lady had a bow, the other two attacked with swords. Fortunately she missed her first shot, I heard her before she released thankfully. Anyways, those two are dead, she’s alive. I’ll leave the rest up to you now I guess. If you need me any further you know where to find me of course.”

  Sergeant Chaucer nodded. “Aye. And thank ye, we’ve been having problems with this new bunch of late. A few travelers met unwelcome fates at their hands.

  I nodded and got back on my horse, “See you later then Sergeant!” and I rode off into the city, to my home.

  Seven

  I walked in the door dropped my things and caught Darlene as she threw herself at me. To say she was happy to see me would have been an understatement. I waved to Harold as I made my way to the back room, with Darlene plastered up against me kissing and hugging and telling me how happy she was to see me.

  When we made it back to our room we didn’t come out again for a very long time. If it weren’t for our son, it probably would have been even longer still. Hearing her say how much she missed me, and having her show it as well was hands down the best part of coming home.

  Holding her in my arms again I realized just how much I really cared for her, how much I loved her. How much I’d missed her, and how much she meant to me. She was as beautiful as ever, and as sweet, and yes as good in bed. Where Rachel was talkative, Darlene was quiet, where Rachel was a fighter, Darlene was submissive, where Rachel took over the room, Darlene lit it up. They were very different in so many ways, yet the same in the one basic way that mattered most to me: they both loved me and needed me, and I loved and needed them.

  “I’m sorry I was gone so long,” I said to her the next day when we finally got around to talking about things. “A lot happened.”

  She smiled, “I had guessed that were the case. After four months had gone I went and got the priest down at the temple to pray to the goddess for ye and every week he’d tell me if ye were alright, and when it looked like ye’d be back.”

  I was surprised by that. “He can do that?”

  She nodded, “I guess so, ‘cause he did. He even said ye would be back sometime this month.”

  I had to laugh at that.

  Things at ‘home’ settled down fairly quickly, after a few weeks it was almost like I had hardly been gone. The big difference was that I had a family of sorts living with me in the back of the inn with Harold and his wife Emma, and now my new son Travis. There were the in-laws I had now too, but I only saw them about once a week. I tried going back to fighting lessons with Master Burdon, but there wasn’t really anything he could teach me anymore and he said as much.

  “Your skills have progressed beyond the point that I can improve on them William.” Master Burdon’s accent tended to remind me of English people I’d heard on TV back home on earth; very formal.

  I nodded, I’d realized that myself and felt rather surprised that I’d managed to improve so much so fast. I guess combat and constant practice did that.

  “A question or two Sir if I may?” I asked.

  “Sure William.”

  “What do you know of champions Master Burdon?”

  “What, people who’ve won competitions?” He was putting the practice gear we’d used away.

  “No, I mean the type that the gods have.”

  He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at me, “An interesting question. What leads you to ask that?”

  “Something I came across in my recent travels,” I said hedging a bit.

  “Hmm, well I ran across Aryanna’s champion once, many years ago when I was in Kingstown. This was back when I was still in the king’s army.”

  “Oh? What was he like?”

  “She,” he said, “Aryanna’s champion was a woman. Very down to earth, people said she was down right blunt at times. No nonsense too.”

  “Did you ever see her fight?”

  “Hmmm? Oh no. She rarely went out with the army, only occasionally from what I heard, and then only if there was some sort of major battle. I gathered she traveled alone mostly. But I did hear from one of the senior officers once who’d seen her fight. He said it was the most awe inspiring thing he’d ever seen, because she was cutting through the enemy like a scythe through wheat and just having her there with them boosted morale tremendously.”

  I nodded thoughtfully. The plain truth was I wanted to meet Aryanna’s champion, I had a lot of questions about being one and I was hoping she might have some answers for me. Then again I had a lot of questions for Aryanna as well.

  “Does that fit in with what you had heard?” He asked curious.

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  The only other thing that changed a lot was my bank account. Of the three dozen bows I had brought back, I sold ten of them in the first two weeks. Apparently I had developed a back log of customers in my absence.
Then there were all those gold rings I’d brought back as well, most of them went into the bank. I was still walking around with a small fortune on my person these days though, about ten gold. But my bank account was nearing the triple digits in gold pieces. I decided that my trading days were pretty much over. If I went back to earth I’d probably take some bows to sell just for folding money, but I didn’t need any more cash. Darlene and my son Travis would be set for life no matter what.

  Having a son was interesting. But Travis was just a baby, so I couldn’t relate to him much though. Just knowing he was my son was, like I had said, interesting.

  I did spend more time with Sergeant Chaucer and the other members of the guard than I had before. Same for the Captain of the Guard, and I also met Duke Lias, who was the Lord in Charge of Riverhead and the surrounding areas twice. I gave him one of my bows as a gift, which pleased him greatly. Of course, a few weeks later I sold another six bows as the other local nobles saw his and decided they had to keep up with him. I was definitely gaining in stature and connections. I had a suspicion that my account balance at the bank wasn’t exactly secret from the neither the duke nor the captain, which probably also added to their interest in me.

  I continued to go to the Temple on Sundays with Darlene, however the first time I went with her after my return, the senior parson was out front, he was the same priest who had married us. When he saw me, he started and looked a bit wary. I had a feeling that he knew what I now was, or at least had some sort of suspicion, so I strode up to him with Darlene on my arm.

  “Parson, it is nice to see you again,” I said and bowed to him starting the conversation on a polite note.

  “Yes,” he said and paused a moment, “What brings you here today?”

  “I thought I would accompany my wife to today’s services, if I may be allowed? I count Aryanna as a friend, and I hope she counts me at least as an ally?”

  He paused a moment and got a distant look in his eyes for just an instant and then nodded. “You are more than welcome here in Aryanna’s house,” He said with a relieved smile and he waved us by.

  “What was that all about?” Darlene whispered to me as we went to her usual seat, which was with her family.

  “I’m not one of her followers, but apparently my god and she are allies. I was told that it’s good manners to ask permission first.”

  “Oh,” She nodded. Then a moment later asked, “How did he know who your god was?”

  I smiled, she didn’t say much at times, but she was a sharp one. I showed her the broach on my cloak; it was one of several things, including the ring I now had on my right hand, which had the insignia of Feliogustus on it. I hadn’t bought them or inscribed them; they were just there when I came out of the portal. More divine magic I suspected. I guess that the gods liked to mark their own. That or it was part of the ‘rules’ Fel mentioned every so often.

  For the next two months after I got back, it was pretty much domestic bliss. I did pick up a little about working the bar, working there was okay, but running an inn just wasn’t my thing, in fact after a while it was a little dull. Fortunately it looked like it was right up Darlene’s alley. Harold and she would work the bar in shifts during the day and together at night, which made things a lot easier on Harold who was enjoying the new free time. As for Darlene’s sister, well she was rather popular; she had quite a bit of Darlene’s looks, and the same pleasant personality. I felt a little guilty at times about it, when she first started here, her parents had hoped she’d only be doing it a few months, and here she was still doing it a year later, and I suspected enjoying it quite a bit. But the cultural mores here were different; no one thought less about my wife for having done that work and no one appeared to think less of her sister for doing it. So I decided not to try applying my social beliefs here and to stop concerning myself with it.

  “So how much longer until the snow’s gone?” I was sitting with Sergeant Chaucer and his usual group of drinking buddies. He was eyeing up Darlene’s younger sister again, I knew he spent regular time with her, and he’d just been promoted to senior sergeant and could now afford to raise a family if he wanted to. I was thinking his exposure to me and Darlene here at his father’s place might have just had him considering it.

  “Another month and I think it will be gone. Why? Ye thinking of going somewhere?”

  I nodded, “I have a little business in Kingstown I’d like to take care of.”

  “If I had a wife like ye’s, I’d be stayin’ a lot closer to home!” One of the others said with a laugh. He was one of the younger sergeants, I hadn’t met him before coming back, I got the impression he was new to the area.

  I shrugged, “Man has to take care of his business and his responsibilities.”

  “Yea, that be true. Makes comin’ home all the sweeter I bet!”

  I laughed, “Oh yes. Having something to come home to makes all the difference, trust me.”

  “So Will,” Chaucer started turning his attention off of Darlene’s sister. “That George ye brought us. He said ye said something about a battle ye was in?”

  I nodded and sipped my ale. “Yup. I didn’t give them the full of it, it was a much nastier business than I let on, I’d rather not go into it to be honest.”

  He nodded.

  “Kill anyone?” The younger sergeant asked curiously. He wasn’t a bad sort, but I was pretty sure he’d never been to war. He looked worried about it; I think he was afraid he’d screw up if his time ever came. Chaucer had been there though, he understood.

  I looked at the sergeant and nodded, “Yes, I did.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. I really didn’t want to brag about what had become a slaughter. I turned back to Chaucer, “How is that kid working out anyway?”

  “George? Not bad, he has potential. Rhymes is still beating him into shape, but seems to think the kid might turn out alright.”

  I nodded, “What about the gal I brought in?”

  “Oh we hung her a few weeks ago.”

  “Sorry to hear that.”

  “Don’t be. They weren’t just robbing people; they killed more than a couple as well. Some of it weren’t pretty either.”

  I nodded again, “The way they attacked me I’m not surprised.”

  Chaucer grinned then, “You sure seemed to have impressed George there rather well. He seems to think ye are some kind of demon!”

  I laughed, “Well, I think subjecting him to the tender mercies of guard training alone qualifies me for that, don’t you?”

  We all laughed rather loudly at that one.

  The conversation turned to other things, mainly guard house politics, and a little about city politics; nothing really major beyond who was bitching about whom, and trying to one up them.

  “Ye should talk to the captain about going to Kingstown soon, Will,” Chaucer told me before he left later with Darlene’s sister Sarah. “He could set ye up to travel with one of the caravans if ye wanted. There’s not much danger usually, but ye still may find it more pleasant travelin.’”

  I thanked him and the next day did just that. There was a caravan leaving in two weeks actually that would have several guard members going with it to deliver the usual official documents, dispatches, and such. I decided to travel with it and he gave me the necessary permissions. I let Darlene know that evening I would be off again in a few weeks, and she understood. To be honest things were a bit dull for me now, I wasn’t actively selling the bows, and while I still practiced my fighting daily, I wasn’t doing any new training. I’d have to find something new to hold my interest when I returned. My life had become rather busy the last year and I was finding I enjoyed it that way.

  Going up the river was done by sail. Apparently the wind was rather constant, at least during the day, and the river was fairly wide, if a bit shallow in places. The boats that traveled the river were somewhat different than the ocean-going kind, having wider shallower bodies that didn’t need as much depth.

  The trip up
the river itself was rather enjoyable, the young sergeant turned out to be the one in charge of the guard detail; it was just him and two others, so we all got along rather well. The merchants going on this trip were all from foreign lands, bringing goods to the markets in Kingstown and the towns along the way. Mostly for Kingstown though as I suspected their wares were of the more expensive types for the rich nobles in the kingdom’s capitol. I was bringing a few bows along; I thought I might have to make a gift or two, depending on circumstances.

  The Caravan itself was a rather good size, it took five boats to carry all the men, carts, and animals involved, and the boats themselves were rather large, more like barges when I thought about it. They reminded me of the Egyptian ships I’d seen drawings of in high school. The deck was completely open; there was no covered storage at all. But then the trip wasn’t that long, so I guess there wasn’t much need of deckhouses or any such thing. And the draft was shallow enough that holds were pretty much out of the question.

  As the end of the day drew near, I discovered just what had happened for the river route to take over from the land one: Locks. There was a rather shallow waterfall, say twenty feet high, in the river. More than enough however for any boat to be able to successfully navigate. But someone had figured out how to make locks and then made them, giving river traffic a way around the impassible falls. They used what I suspected were Oxen to pull the boat into the lock, and then the water did the hard work of lifting the boat, and we were pulled out and upstream to a docking facility where the boats tied up for the night. A rather nice town had grown up there, for the purposes of entertaining, feeding, and housing the passengers on the boats. A strong and obvious guard presence also kept everyone behaving; the king obviously didn’t want his commerce messed with.

  At the end of the second day, we made Portsmouth, and I was amazed by its size. It was as big as Riverhead, which I thought was a fairly large city. The young sergeant, Habe was his name, told me that there was a large amount of agriculture in the area, small farming towns up to four days riding in all directions that traded their wares through Portsmouth to the rest of the kingdom, or put them on the boats to be shipped elsewhere. Portsmouth apparently was the breadbasket of the kingdom.