“Let’s get Goldeneye under your thumb,” said Ichibod. He tied both jesses around Elisa’s protected thumb. “Here, pull down a little,” the lord suggested. Elisa was amazed that a slight tug of her thumb could pull the bird closer. The huge female wore quite an extravagant blindfold. A hood made of kip leather, studded with mother-of-pearl and a huge silver plume on top caused the falcon to constantly bob her head around. The master removed the hood and the bird wiggled around, adjusting to the bright light.
The falcon opened her wings and Elisa saw the elegant animal up close. The bird looked to be wearing a black helmet that stopped at a silver breast. The hooked beak, feet and talons matched the golden eyes but the overall layered pattern of black, white and slate blue-gray extended to the pointed tips of her wings. Goldeneye’s underparts had blue-gray spotting and barring and Elisa saw how Ichibod could grow to love these birds. The master untied the jesses around her thumb and the majestic flyer took off into the blue sky with rapid wing beats. The ringing bells tied to her feet sounded soothing even though one of the wings almost slapped Elisa in the face as Goldeneye took off. The bird effortlessly rose to about one hundred feet and the queen marveled at how the animal had just been on her arm. They launched the sea eagle next and Elisa watched the two birds circle above as she shielded her eyes from the sun.
Lord Ichibod pulled her a few feet away and casually said, “I hear you granted freedom to people that don’t belong to you.”
“People shouldn’t belong to anyone. Everyone should be free,” Elisa argued.
“I couldn’t agree more. So I suppose you will free the Prograggers before we go into battle, right? Or do you plan to make them fight and perhaps die so that you can achieve your personal goal of becoming queen? You need them to serve your purpose and you know it. It’s quite convenient to have strong convictions before you are Queen of Donegal but you need to understand our realm first. Giving the Prograggers freedom will only fill your yearning heart with goodwill. No citizen of Donegal will see this as a noble action. Unleashing barbarians around the kingdom will not please anyone. Decisions often have a greater impact on those who appear to be uninvolved. While this decision directly involves about two thousand men, it may turn hundreds of thousands against you. Nobody wants to live in constant fear that the barbarian Prograggers will put their family to the spear,” Ichibod countered.
“Our kingdom acts more like barbarians than I would bet these men ever have. They do as they are ordered because they are slaves,” she said.
“Be that as it may, you can’t constantly ruffle a bird’s feathers. Concentrate on becoming queen first and then start making promises. Remember, we don’t need a queen, only a king,” Ichibod said with a wry smile.
Is he going to kill me? Was that a threat?
“Look, my queen,” said Ollie, pointing up at Goldeneye. Elisa noticed the raptor making a high-speed dive toward a rabbit in the open grassy field. The speed of flight increased substantially as she closed in on the quarry. The rabbit sensed the predator and took off, changing directions unexpectedly. The bird deftly veered left and right, keeping up with the dodgy moves of the fast land animal. The falcon made a final stoop and sunk her talons into the defenseless rabbit’s neck. The group hustled over to see the tri-colored bird mantling over the wiggling prey. Ichibod gave the bird a treat to coax her into releasing the prize. They praised and stroked the predator and tied Goldeneye back to the cadger.
“Look, look,” said Ichibod. The sea eagle circled the pond before diving swiftly into the water. The bird disappeared for a moment before rising up with a fish in her mouth. Spearhead brought the trout over to the group to receive her treat. As they walked back to the mews, a great day had been blemished by a few words. Elisa kept trying to figure out what Ichibod had meant earlier when he said, ‘we don’t need a queen.’
A-BREHAN
He didn’t know how many days he had been locked in the cage. He couldn’t understand why Elisa hadn’t come to see him yet. Brehan wanted to believe she was orchestrating his release but the second guessing tore at his heart and soul. Why does the love of my life turn her back on me? If she no longer loves me, there’s no need to even fight this duel. There’s no reason to live with only half a heart.
Brehan’s thoughts consisted of darkness and a constant questioning of the situation. He was starting to go mad running through all the possible scenarios. He wondered if he should have stayed with Kopar and the pirateers. A perpetually flickering candle in a wall sconce provided just enough light to help fight away the rats. He kept hearing the guards telling each other that they were moving out in a few days. Brehan had been hearing short conversations among the guards but he couldn’t put all the information together. Nobody talked directly to him. The guards referred to him as bear food. They protested against feeding someone who would be dead in a few days, but always followed the queen’s orders. The guards told tales about the Grizzly Bear in an attempt to make Brehan uneasy. It was working. Brehan knew firsthand about the cruelty of the big ogre, and some of the stories were downright sickening.
He heard rumors of Elisa and Lord Ichibod being lovers, Darryg Ellsworth’s homosexuality, Jon Colbert trying to usurp the crown and even details of plans to kill an unnamed guard. The dungeon guards assumed Brehan was already dead so they did most of their whispering and plotting near his cell. It took Brehan a while to understand their vernacular, but now it stood as his only form of entertainment. A bright light appeared before Brehan, blinding him for a moment. By the time he refocused, a vision of loveliness captured his sight. Elisa Wamhoff stood in front of the latticed barrier with a lantern. She looked like an angel wearing black. All the anger and frustration he had felt for the past ten days seemed to melt away. He finally got a chance to speak with the woman he loved and had tried to forget. However, he was still bitter.
“So you finally came to see the prisoner?” Brehan asked.
“You don’t understand. Things are so different from when I saw you last. Then, I was just a queen in name. Now, everything is expected of me and then some,” she explained.
“Are you saying you no longer love me?” he wanted to know.
“Lower your voice. Lord Ichibod has someone constantly spying on me,” Elisa said.
“Of course he does; why wouldn’t he spy constantly on his lover?” Brehan told her.
“Lover? Ha, I am not his lover. I’m the farthest thing from that,” she laughed.
Brehan retorted, “That’s not what your guards seem to think, Queen Ice Heart.”
Queen Ice Heart? I thought they called me Queen Black Ice. It matters not, I like both nicknames.
“The men around here talk more than women in a sewing circle, it seems. A position of authority comes intertwined with false rumors concerning every facet of your life. You can trust me. There is nobody,” she explained.
“Except me, right? Say it. My first, my last, forever my…”
Elisa cut Brehan off, “Quiet. We said that back when we were careless children. So much has changed since then. I still have strong feelings for you but they have been modified to be more practical. Our stations in life will prevent us from pursuing a legal marriage.” She sounded stern, almost cold even through the whispers.
“Love is never practical and last I heard, you are Queen Ice Heart. Kings and queens set the laws in this realm. You set the rules, my queen,” Brehan pleaded.
“I can’t just change laws that have been in place for hundreds of years without consent from the nobles. They will have my head. I want to but I can’t, I just cannot do it. It’s difficult to understand fully unless…”
Brehan cut her off, “Yeah, sure, it’s too difficult for a stupid bastard like me to understand.”
“I would never say or think that and you know it. I’ve been put in an unenviable position for all those who’ve never served as queen. All my time is spent in royal obligations. I wake before light and retire deep into the night. I barely get to see my siste
r who is starting to resent me and I couldn’t even get you out of this death match,” she said, fighting back tears.
“I don’t even care about the fight anymore. Half of my heart just died,” he told Elisa.
“No. I’m not ready to say that we can’t be together,” she looked around and whispered, “I’m only saying that you need to adjust your expectations of this fabled romance.”
“Say it,” Brehan sternly demanded.
“I cannot repeat our special saying. I’ve already told you that. I am being spied on by ears and eyes coming from everywhere. You will always be special to me. Is there anything you need for the fight? I want it to be as fair as possible,” she said.
“How can it possibly be fair? I’m confined to this cage while my opponent is free to move about, drink and eat whatever he should hunger for. I’ll barely be able to raise my sword for this fight. I’m like quarry for the peregrine falcon.” The words felt like ice on her spine.
“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do for you?” she asked.
“Other than retrieve my sword, some knives and daggers, I suppose I’ll give you half your heart back. Wouldn’t want that to die in the fight,” he said.
Tears streamed down her face and she said, “This doesn’t have to end. I don’t think I have been completely clear in my words.”
“Say it, just say it once,” he demanded one last time.
Through the tears, she said, “Best of luck in the fight, good sir. May the Gods be with you.” She stared into his jasper eyes that reminded her of the gems in her sword’s pommel before turning and leaving.
Brehan cried uncontrollably for hours. The next day, the guards opened his cage and pushed in a cache of weapons and belts. He wouldn’t have any armor but Dragon-Bite and the other knives and daggers would have to suffice. An hour later, several guards led Brehan to the fighting arena. His rigid movements started to regain coordination along the walk. Brehan could feel the anticipation of the buzzing audience. The guards made him wait outside the main entrance and he did his best to stretch out his weary body.
ELISA
“Did you give your little lover a kiss, one final kiss?” the Grizzly Bear guffawed.
“Keep laughing. I’d laugh too if I thought I was going to die and didn’t want people to know I was scared. And he is no longer my lover. I am married to Ali-Varis Wamhoff, King of Donegal and First of his…”
Elisa was cut off by her main guard. “Save that proper talk for someone that gives a good damn. Are they going to let our wise and powerful King out for the day?” he teased.
“The King shall remain in his quarters today. Seeing you die might overexcite the poor old dear,” Elisa fired back.
“Careful now, you’re starting to spew icicles that start in that frozen heart of yours,” the Grizzly Bear said.
“So you think I’ve grown cold too?” she asked.
“Aw hells, I like it. I can finally talk to someone who isn’t scared shitless of me. I don’t get that too often. And last of all, who cares what anyone else thinks. You’re the fucking queen. Ruling will turn a person cold. You became the mother of thousands of helpless citizens in the blink of an eye. You may get a better understanding of your awful father soon,” he told her.
“I will never be cruel like him,” Elisa promised.
“Not yet my queen, not yet,” said the Grizzly Bear.
She heard the crowd already going wild as they neared the fighting arena. They walked silently through the twenty-foot-wide entrance. She could feel the energy when they hit the hard dirt in the fighting pit. The soldiers filling the seats exploded when they saw their champion arrive. The circular, open-air arena had a huge fighting pit in the center surrounded by raised stone benches completely encompassing all angles of the combat area. There was a special stage near the main entrance on the ground floor to which the Grizzly Bear led the queen. The Ellsworths were already seated and Elisa took her spot between the lord and lady. About five hundred of her best swordsmen sat in this area. None of them knew that Elisa was rooting for the prisoner.
The Grizzly Bear put on his black bear head helm and pulled his enormous sword to the delight of the audience. He started to pander to his fellow warriors until a chorus of boos rained down. Brehan Castaway was being pushed through one of the small openings into the fighting pit. This looks hardly fair. The Grizzly Bear is wearing chainmail and a battle helm while Brehan is as good as naked out there.
She turned to Lord Ichibod, “Why does only one man get to wear protection? This is supposed to be chosen by the Gods.”
“Only one man is accused of a crime. Those are the rules of trial by combat as put forth by the Gods. Your prisoner requested a trial by combat, do remember,” smirked Ichibod.
As the two men faced each other, Brehan stared directly at the chest of his elephantine opponent. He looked like a boy next to the Grizzly Bear. Her enforcer’s shimmering silver blade took to the sunlight much better than Brehan’s greenish sword blade. Without realizing it, Elisa’s fists were clenched tightly and her palms were sweating profusely. She kept nervously tucking her hands under her thighs. She couldn’t believe that one of these men would be dead soon. The reality of the situation finally hit her. She fidgeted back and forth in the seat waiting for the fight to start.
With a blow of a bugle, the death match was underway. Each man sized the other up, patiently waiting to take the first swing. Brehan started to back away and Elisa thought neither man would ever do anything until the Grizzly Bear wound up and unleashed a deliberate strike. The knight from Mattingly easily blocked it and countered without success. The two men went back and forth, the green blade frequently colliding with the huge glinting steel of the Grizzly Bear. Elisa could barely breathe as Brehan backed away and his opponent chased him halfway across the pit area. Elisa could see the Grizzly Bear panting like a dog and knew he was already getting tired. Suddenly Brehan went on the offensive with a vengeance. He tried a combination of attacks with spin moves but the big man easily fended them off as if he was swatting flies away from his beard. However, Brehan kept up the onslaught and seemed to overwhelm the gigantic man. Elisa felt that Brehan could be on the verge of victory because the Grizzly Bear dropped his sword hand down to his waist. Sir Anderley had taught her that was how men got killed in battle. He said they got tired and couldn’t get their swords up in time to defend themselves.
Brehan wound back and came with a mighty overhand swing that was met plum by the blade of his enemy, causing an emerald spark to shoot off the point of impact. The two men awkwardly yanked their swords around until Elisa realized the two blades were stuck together. The combatants stared at each other until the Grizzly Bear lifted his leg and kicked Brehan in the chest. The knight of Mattingly tumbled backward, but quickly jumped up to his feet. The smaller man drew a dagger and flung it at the hairy beast. It harmlessly flew well wide of the target. Brehan heaved three more in desperation without any of them connecting. He had never practiced throwing knives and when the Grizzly Bear started laughing, the queen knew her former lover was in deep trouble. The Grizzly Bear mocked Brehan’s knife throwing skills and threw the tangled swords away to the delight of the audience. Elisa realized without swords, the gargantuan Grizzly Bear had an even bigger advantage.
Brehan let out a mighty scream and rushed his opponent and tried to use his shoulder to plough into the big man’s legs to tackle him. The Grizzly Bear didn’t budge and held Brehan with one hand as he popped off his black-painted iron helm and smashed Brehan in the small of the back with it. The smaller man collapsed face down to the ground and before he could get up, the Grizzly Bear pounced on him. He dropped the helm and wrestled Brehan onto his back and punched him repeatedly in the mouth. A fountain of shattered teeth and blood spurted upward before landing back on Brehan’s face. The crowd went wild, screaming for their champion to tear the criminal’s heart out. As Elisa had expected, the biggest cheerleader was Lord Ichibod Ellsworth. She liked both men but she o
nly loved one of them. Even though she might never be able to marry Brehan, their love was strong and would always outshine the tough conversations she had with the Grizzly Bear.
Her guard took his sword gloves off and raked down both of Brehan’s cheeks with his razor-sharp fingernails. Brehan writhed and wiggled helplessly until a thunderous punch to the right eye caused his head to bounce off the firm soil, and his body went still. He’s dead. He’s dead. I couldn’t even tell him I loved him one last time. I couldn’t even give him that satisfaction. I killed him. I should paint myself in his blood and wear it as shame for the rest of my days as punishment for this.
Elisa hadn’t even noticed that she had been bawling uncontrollably through most of the fight. The Grizzly Bear raised his arms in victory and exhilaration surged through the arena as guilt collected in the deadened soul of Elisa Burke Wamhoff. The queen didn’t realize how strong her love for Brehan was until she saw him lying bloodied and helpless under the grip of the Grizzly Bear.
The gigantic man must not have been satisfied because he leaned down and bit off most of Brehan’s nose. Elisa noticed Brehan’s head and arms start to slowly move again. The Grizzly Bear held up Brehan’s nose like a trophy and laughed along with the crowd. He threw the body part into his mouth, chewed it up, and ate the warm flesh as Brehan’s blood ran from the side of his mouth. His fans loved this too and screamed for their champion to take the prisoner’s life.
A lightning quick motion from Brehan’s right hand struck in tandem with a wounded animal yelp from his opponent. The Grizzly Bear jumped up with blood squirting from his head. Brehan had jammed his final short-blade knife into his enemy’s eye, all the way to the cross-guard. The big man fell down with a sharp screech of agony and rolled around uncontrollably, lightly touching the knife, unsure of whether to pull it out. His got back up and his left eyeball tried to look for the knife, but the big man only looked cross-eyed as he stumbled around aimlessly. Blood gushed from the wound and collected in his heavy beard before ultimately falling from the long matted whiskers and finding its way to the dirt.
Six Heads One Crown (The Pearl of Wisdom Saga Book 3) Page 4
