Siege of Pailtar

by Robyn Wideman

  When the instructor gave the signal to begin again the roles were reversed. This time the boy came out warily while Kiana rushed across the circle. As she bolted forward she again feinted a knee lift. This time the boy took a big step back, raising his head but keeping his hands low to protect his hurting ribs. Kiana promptly pushed him back. He stumbled back and out of the circle. The instructor raised his hand signaling another point for Kiana.

  The boy looked up startled. He was being embarrassed in front of the others. His hands balled up into fists, as he returned to the edge of the circle.

  Kiana said nothing, simply returned to her edge of the circle and waited for the instructor to give the signal. With the now familiar gesture the round began. This time the boy tried circling around, going to Kiana’s left. He obviously was wary of her right foot and was trying to protect his hurt ribs. Kiana simply stepped into the middle of the circle. The boy could circle all day; as long as she was in the middle of the circle he would gain no ground. Once the boy realized this, he simply charged at Kiana in an attempt to tackle her around the waist and drive her to the ground. Kiana dropped, allowing her back to hit the ground before the charging boy could get to her. From the ground she grabbed his shoulders and lifted both her feet into his belly driving him through the air. The boy soared past the edge of the circle, landing awkwardly on his back. Once again, the instructor lifted his hand. Point and match for Kiana, she won the match three to zero. She gave the instructor another short bow and then silently walked back to her spot in the horseshoe of students.

  As she sat down, the young boy beside her leaned over and whispered, “That was awesome. That guy is such a jerk.”

  Kiana smiled, it had felt good to give the jerk a lesson. Perhaps next time he wouldn’t be so quick to volunteer to fight a girl. Kiana watched as the rest of the students took a turn. The two youngest boys wrestled with each other. Neither had much for skills, but they made up for it with their enthusiasm. The other girl ended up competing with the blonde winker. After the way Kiana handled the loud mouth, winker boy wisely kept his comments to himself. The other girl was not nearly as good a fighter as Kiana and winker beat her fairly easily, three rounds to none. The rest of the matches were pretty non-eventful and boring.

  When the instructor stood up he walked around the circle of students. At each student he would stop, look at them and say a number. The two young boys were each a one, rude boy was a one, annoying winker was a two; the other girl a one, the older man was a two. When the instructor got to Kiana he looked down at her, paused for a moment then said “three.”

  Kiana still didn’t have a clue what the numbers meant. She turned to the older man beside her, “Do you know what the numbers mean?”

  The older man nodded “One means, you couldn’t fight your way out of a rotten cotton sack and need to take the first-year course. Two shows some skill and means you can sign up for intermediate classes. Three means you qualify for advanced instruction. Congratulations, not many get to level three. The first time I enrolled in the Guild school there were many twos and a couple threes. This year’s crop is pretty pathetic in comparison. Personally this is my first time getting to level two. Took me three tries,” said the older man with a grin.

  Great, why do I do this to myself, Kiana thought, she didn’t even like fighting. Why on earth would she want to be enrolled in advanced fighting classes? Once again she had ignored her mother’s advice about blending in. Now she was in danger of having to take advanced fighting classes. Kiana shook her head, Why can’t I just ignore stupid boys and their stupid comments?

  Trying to avoid thinking about the bruises and beatings she would endure in intermediate classes, she asked the old man about his comment about continually trying to get into the Guild. “You have enrolled in the Guild school before?” asked Kiana.

  “Oh ya, this is my fourth try in twenty-five years. I would have enrolled more often, but it takes me a while to save up the coin. Hopefully, with any luck this is the year I succeed. I am pretty sure I did decent at the tests this time around. Now I just have to survive the team challenge.”

  “Team challenge? We have to work in teams?” Kiana did not like the sound of this. She, like most thieves, was a lone wolf. She worked alone, well except when with her mother, but that was different.

  “Oh yes, the team challenge is one of the most important tests. You can ace the rest and still not get accepted to the Guild if you don’t pass the team challenge. My last time here I was almost accepted, but our group fell apart during the test and everyone tried to finish the task by themselves. Some even did it, but every one of us failed because of the way we fell apart. Rule thirty-seven of Guild law, members will work together cordially when necessary,” explained the old man.

  Kiana groaned, she knew rule thirty-seven. Heck, she knew all the rules, but she didn’t really think that it was that firm of a rule. She had thought it meant play nice during Guild meetings, don’t steal from each other (very often) and never kill another Guild member (unless attacked first) and the last one was actually its own rule; rule twenty-six “thou shall not kill Guild members.” Kiana was mortified, her success in Guild school relying on others? It was bad enough she had to trust and work with others? Mother had not mentioned that!

  While she pondered that, an older boy that she didn’t recognize came around and gave each of potential students a sheet of paper. The grades thought Kiana. Guild school was not like normal school, in Guild school students were graded on skill level and then students applied for courses. Students could choose two subjects and two were given to the student by the school. The courses given to students were often more important than the ones they were allowed to choose. Guild school only lasted a maximum of three years and with only four classes per year and if stuck in dumb classes like Guild law it severally limited a student’s ability to improve their abilities. Her mother had often warned her that not studying Guild laws could lead to wasting a valuable spot having to take the Guild laws class.

  Kiana was nervous when the boy handed her sheet to her. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then looked at her sheet.

  1) Pickpocket: Four

  2) Sneak: Four

  3) Guild Law: Two

  4) Applied magic: One

  5) Hand to Hand: Three

  6) Cat burglar: Four

  7) Weapons: Two

  8) Surveillance: Three

  Kiana handed her sheet to the old man, “Is this good? Does a two in Guild law mean taking a class?”

  The old man carefully looked over her sheet. “Impressive scores you have there, young lady. Guild law only goes up to two. Getting a two means you don’t have to take the course.”

  Kiana sighed in relief. Not having to take guild law was one less thing to worry about.

  “How the hell can you get a four in three subjects and a one in Applied Magic?” asked the old man.

  Kiana shrugged, “I avoided magic studies like the plague. My mother finally gave up trying to force them on me. She said I could do it when I was ready. But now I am all about the magic. I am going to study it like never before.” Kiana then told the old man the story about the scorpion.

  The old man laughed at her “You must have pissed someone off to get that assignment. Most first time applicants don’t get things quite that challenging. Your mother taught you? So you are a legacy? Lucky child.”

  Kiana nodded, she was a legacy, but not a normal one. She avoided that subject. “So when do we find out about the group challenge thingy?”

  We find out about the team challenge any minute now. The Guild instructors compare our grades and put us into groups. Tomorrow we do the challenge.”

  As the old man explained, the same boy who had handed out the grades came into the gym and posted a list on the wall. As soon as the boy left again all the students headed to the wall to read the list. Kiana looked at the list.

  Group three

  Aldwin Appleton

  Osmond Went
worth

  Aspen Wentworth

  Kiana Clairmont

  Kiana didn’t recognize any of the names. The old man stood beside her and read the list. “Ah it looks like we are in the same group,” he said.

  “We are?” asked Kiana.

  “Well, I am Aldwin, and unless you are not one of the girl names on that list, we are on the same team.”

  Kiana laughed, “Hello, Aldwin, I am Kiana. It is nice to formally meet you.”

  The other girl walked over to them with one of the two younger boys in tow. “I am Aspen and this is Osmond.”

  Kiana looked at her group, she was pretty happy she didn’t have to work with winker or rude boy. Maybe the group challenge wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  8

  Morthon

  “I THOUGHT YOU SAID WE were going to Balta?” asked Severa.

  Everet turned sideways in his saddle so he could look at her. “Yes, we are going to Balta. But first, we need to go to Pailtar. We need safe passage to Balta and we need to arrange it so that we aren’t hanged the moment we arrive.”

  Severa looked ahead, she could see they were fast approaching the end of the grasslands. She sighed wistfully,“I do hate crossing the desert.”

  “Bad memories?” Everet knew the Severa, much like himself, had a dark past. The past was something they did not often discuss. Both preferred to enjoy each other in the moment and try to forget the darkness behind them.

  “I was a slave girl the last time I crossed the desert,” she said in a soft voice. Her mind was elsewhere, visions of her previous voyage filled her mind. “I was just a young girl when I was captured. Slave traders attacked our village. The men were sold to mines and landowners. Women were sold to them as well, to the usual assortment of whorehouses and the like. Children were kept and trained by the traders, I was being trained to be a concubine for a rich merchant, but I had a stubborn streak and was always trying to escape. Finally, they gave up and sold me to pirates. We sailed for weeks until we arrived in Pailtar. From Pailtar we were taken to Meron. We travelled in these hideous carts, slowest mules known to man. I swear it took two weeks to cross that god forsaken desert. I’m pretty sure I still have splinters from the carts. It was not a pleasant journey.”

  Everet was not surprised by Severa’s story. When he had first met her she was working as a barmaid and had been part of a plot to blackmail Bryant Bingham. When he first laid eyes on Severa, or Shelley as she had known as back then, he had recognized a kindred spirit. Someone who would do whatever it took to survive. You don’t get that look without going through Hell once or twice. “How did you end up working as a barmaid?”

  “Martel Briggs. He purchased me from the slavers. Martel was rich, old and single. He would purchase young slave girls and they would work for him. For the slave girls it was a pretty good deal. Martel didn’t abuse us, he allowed girls to choose how they worked for him. All the girls would work in the brothels for a year or two. The ones who wanted could stay after that. Others were given the choice of working in one of his pubs. Some girls would rather work on their backs instead of scrubbing floors and washing piss pots. I was cute and sassy enough to be given a serving wench job.”

  “What happened to Martel?”

  “Martel caught the eye of Connard Bingham. Connard saw Martel’s operation and thought it should be his. His thugs murdered Martel and took over operations. Connard would come and oversee things occasionally, test the merchandise so to speak. When Connard’s men started running things, blackmail became one of their favorite past times. Bryant Bingham was not the first man that I helped Connard blackmail.”

  “Such a bad girl!” said Everet. “I thought you were such a sweet and innocent girl. I shall never look at you the same.” He was teasing her of course, Everet cared not what was in her past. Nothing she had done would compare to the horrors of his past.

  Severa laughed. Everet’s bad girl comment was ironic. “You wouldn’t have looked twice at me if I was a sweet and innocent girl. You like bad girls. Now that you know some of my deep dark secrets are you going to tell me anything about yourself? It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to.”

  Everet looked carefully at Severa. He had never told anyone about his past, but he had never had anyone one he trusted. “Are you sure you want to know? I’ve done things that make men like Connard and his thugs look like angels.”

  “Nothing you say will make me change the way I feel, Everet. You don’t have to tell me anything. It doesn’t matter what you have done before. You are mine now.”

  Everet smiled. “In that case perhaps I had best tell you. I would not want you to learn it from someone else and change your mind about how you feel.” Everet paused to collect his thoughts. Where does one start such a story? “I was born Everode Elmore Evollan III, son of Lord Everode Evollan. My father was a tyrant. He was a noble who ruled his lands with an iron fist. Mercy and kindness were foreign words to my father. My mother was a kind woman who loved me and tried to install some of those qualities into me. My father would beat them out of me at every opportunity. He wanted his son to be a fierce warrior, one who would lead armies and make his father even richer and more powerful. When I was young, I watched my father torture men those who crossed him. I felt bad for them and sometimes would sneak them water. Then one day my father caught me. I then became the one being tortured. It was simple for my father. I was going to either become like him or die. My mother saw what he was trying to do so she took my younger brother and me and fled. Father caught us and took us boys home. He killed her that night and took a new wife within the week. I quit trying to fight his training. I feared he would kill my brother next. So I became the fierce, merciless killer he wanted and together we fought, expanding his lands and those of the king he served. There was a great war and we ended up in a battle that should have ended in our retreat. We had met a large force of men on the battlefield and fought them to a draw. The other commander signaled retreat and withdrew his men. He knew the battle was even and if drawn out would result in both sides losing a majority of their men. Father did not see this. He saw the other commander’s retreat as weakness and ordered our men to follow the other army. What Father did not know was the other commander had a strong troop of reserves hidden in the woods. When we attacked the retreating army, we ended up surrounded and trapped. Father refused to surrender and was cut down by enemy archers. It was a shock to me, to see my father die. He had seemed an indestructible force, a cruel, unflinching, and undefeatable man. His second in command signaled the retreat and some of our troops were able to flee. Despite only being a teen, I took over my father’s position and despite the losses my father caused was able to help our king win the war. It took years and many battles, but when it was all over I was a duke. A trusted servant of the king, but true to my father’s training I wanted more and was always working to further my own cause. I wanted to be king. I fought hard, gaining my king’s trust and years passed. When I was given an assignment to clear one of the outlying areas of bandits, I saw it as an opportunity to gain even more power. I ignored the local lord and went out with my troops searching for bandits. We found signs of bandits around a small village and Bailmont, my right hand man, who was even more ruthless and bloodthirsty than I, convinced me that we should attack. I knew he really didn’t care if the village had bandits or not. I needed a victory. So I approved the attack. Bailmont and my men murdered innocent men and woman, but no bandits. Even more unfortunate, the village happened to contain a northern prince and his southern wife. Their child ended up being my downfall. The murder of his parents almost brought the entire continent to war. My carefully built up position with my king was gone, so I turned to robbery and treachery and made my way to Pailtar. The boy followed us for the girl I had kidnapped, and when he caught us he killed Bailmont. He likely would have killed me too if I had not hidden and fled like a coward in the night.”

  “You survived. It’s your instincts. So why did you change your name? Yo
u could have kept it in Meron. No one there cares what happened in Solotine.”

  “I used the excuse that I needed a new identity. In truth I wanted change. I don’t know if I’ll ever have the kindness and compassion that my mother wanted for me, but I no longer want to be the monster my father created. I want to be something new.”

  “What is that?”

  “I’m not sure, but I know I am going to help defeat King Ganus, he is the kind of man my father was.”

  “What of the boy?”

  “If he wants his revenge, he will have to earn it. But I have done him harm beyond imagine. I am responsible for his parents’ deaths and I kidnapped his friends so that I could kill him, he has every right to want me dead. I’ll try make amends, but we will see what happens.”

  Despite Everet’s claims that kindness and compassion were beyond him, Severa wasn’t so sure. He treated her well and it was obvious he had some remorse for his actions.

  Everet stopped his horse. They had reached the edge of the grasslands, from here until Pailtar was the desert, an unpleasant and dangerous journey. “If you want to leave, now would be the time to do it. I will understand if you want to go back.”