The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah)

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  Darrell nodded. “I’ll remember that. You aren’t planning to find a dwarf to go with us just in case we get stuck in the mud, or drop a wheel in a ditch, are you?”

  “No, sorry,” Kalen answered. “In general, dwarves and humans do not travel together well. Humans tire too quickly and dwarves are always in a hurry.”

  By the time they reached the exercise yard, Palladin had removed the top of the crate. There were at least twenty-five swords in there. Palladin, Kalen, and Duane began unloading the crate, drawing the swords out of their scabbards and laying each sword on top of its scabbard on the ground.

  A few of the swords were fairly short, only about two feet long, while others were nearly four feet long with two-handed grips. There were swords as narrow as rapiers, and there were swords with blades three or four inches wide. Some were curved and some were straight as an arrow, but all of the cutting edges had been honed to razor sharpness.

  Some of the handles were made of hardwood and some were metal. Some of them had finger grooves, some were covered with spun cord, and a few were covered in leather. Most of the handles had round or oval pommels on top, some engraved and some plain.

  The cross guards separating the blade from the handle varied as much as the handles. Some were short, extending about half an inch on each side of the blade, but most extended three or four inches. Some curved towards the blade, some curved towards the handle, and a few were relatively straight.

  As the humans wandered around looking at the swords and admiring the craftsmanship, Palladin urged them to pick them up and try them out. At first they hesitated, thinking that he was like a traveling peddler, trying to sell his goods, but then Kalen told them that Palladin had brought the swords specifically so that each of them could choose one.

  “Well, it won’t be completely up to you, you know,” Palladin said. “The sword will choose you as much as you will choose the sword. It has to be mutual, or it won’t work well for you.”

  “What do you mean, the sword will choose us?” Joan asked.

  “You’ll see. Walk around, pick them up one at a time, and hold them in your hands. If it’s for you, you’ll know it,” Palladin assured them.

  Chris and Darrell exchanged skeptical looks, but each reached for a sword to test out and soon the others followed suit. Palladin walked among them, encouraging them. He told them to feel the perfect balance between the blade and the handle, to try a fighting stance, and to take a couple of jabs with the swords. As soon as one of them put a sword down, Palladin was right there to point out another.

  After a few minutes, Joan gasped, “It’s vibrating! Palladin, what’s going on?!” Joan had one of the shortest swords in her hand. The blade was only about eighteen inches long.

  Palladin nodded and said, “Like I said, you’ll know when a sword chooses you. And that’s a fine choice for a woman. It’s lightweight, less than two pounds, and it’s a defensive weapon. No one will think that you’re looking for a fight with that sword by your side, but it also serves notice that you won’t back down either. Excellent choice!”

  As she held the sword in her hands, she felt strangely attracted to it. She looked it over carefully, tracing the ivy design that had been etched in the cross guard with her finger and then polishing the pommel with its delicate etching of an eagle in flight. Then she turned back towards Palladin and smiled.

  “Try the scabbard. It should fit nicely on your belt. See how it feels.”

  Once the scabbard was on her belt and her belt was fastened back around her waist, Joan placed the sword carefully in the scabbard.

  “Now, draw your sword.”

  When Joan reached for her sword, it seemed to leap clear of the scabbard and into her hand of its own volition.

  “Yes, that sword will suit you nicely,” Palladin said with a smile. Then he looked around at the others. “Has anyone else found a sword yet?”

  After watching how the sword had reacted to Joan’s touch, everyone else began picking up the swords with a new enthusiasm. Steve was the next to find his. It was a thin sword with a blade about two feet long and a medium sized handle that would feel comfortable with either a one-handed or a two-handed grip. The cross guard was straight and narrow, and the tip of his handle was not a pommel as much as a small cap.

  Karl’s choice was heavier than anyone else’s and had a wider blade. The three-foot blade curved slightly towards the left at the tip, and the two-handed grip curved slightly towards the right. The head of a lion was engraved on the pommel.

  Darrell’s sword was straight and narrow like Steve’s, but it was nearly as long as Karl’s. The handle was designed for a two-handed grip, but it was light enough that it could be used one-handed. A roaring cougar was engraved on its pommel.

  Chris was beginning to get discouraged. He thought he had tried all of the swords when his eyes fell on one that had been left in the crate. The sword was still in its scabbard, but he could see the hilt. The handle had two hardwood grips separated by a metal spacer. Chris asked Palladin if he could try it, and when Palladin took the sword out of its scabbard and handed it to Chris, sparks jumped from the sword to Chris’s hand and the sword began to hum softly.

  “Yes, I’d say that one’s yours,” Palladin said with a nod as he walked back towards Kalen.

  Once they had all selected a sword, Palladin, Duane, and Kalen started collecting the extras.

  “Wait a minute,” Chris said. “What about Kevin and Theresa? Don’t they need swords, too?”

  “He may be right,” Duane said hesitantly. “Although neither of them has shown any interest in having one.”

  “Theresa doesn’t need one,” Kalen said. “She’s a sister now, and they never carry a sword, but she’ll need a dagger. As for Kevin, sorcerers never bother to carry a sword, so if for no other reason than that, he’ll need one. What do you think, Palladin?”

  “Well, since he probably has no intention of using it, I’m not sure any sword will really select him, but I’ve got one here that I’d love to see him carry. It’s one of my favorites.” Palladin turned to the crate, and dug down to the very bottom. The sword he pulled out of the crate had a twenty-inch blade but only the bottom fifteen inches had cutting edges. Although the sword was light enough to be used one-handed, the five-inch section of the blade closest to the cross guard had small rounded knobs on the edges, which could be grasped in the second hand to deliver a powerful two-handed thrust.

  “Yes, I think that will do just fine for Kevin,” Kalen said as Duane nodded his approval.

  Duane and Kalen continued collecting the extra swords, sheathing them, and stacking them beside the crate. Palladin pulled a large leather bag out of the bottom of the crate and then began packing the extra swords away.

  After the humans had all fastened their scabbards to their belts, practiced drawing and sheathing the swords, and fought imaginary opponents for a while, Palladin said, “Now, for my next toys.” He picked up the leather bag and opened it. The bag was full of what appeared to be walking sticks and canes. “From what Kalen told me, you’re going to travel as a group of minstrels. You can’t really wear your swords on stage, but there’s no reason not to have a couple of these around while you’re performing.”

  Palladin emptied the contents of the bag on the ground. There were three carved walking sticks and three walking canes with large curved handles.

  Steve picked up one of the canes and took a few steps with it. “Does everyone on Terah use some kind of stick or cane?”

  “No, of course not. Watch.” Palladin took hold of a cane, flipped it over, grabbed the end, and used the curved handle to grab Kalen by the neck. “If I had jerked on it, he would have ended up on the ground at the very least. They’re great for pulling someone off a buddy during a fight, and so easy to use.” Palladin grinned as Kalen struggled to regain his balance. “And if that’s not enough,” Palladin flipped the cane again, grasped the handle, gave it a twist, and pulled a thin, sharp blade out of the shaft
of the cane, “you can always run him through!” Palladin made a playful lunge towards Kalen. “Now do you think you might like to carry my little toys along?”

  Darrell picked one of the canes up and twisted the handle to pull the blade out. He frowned and said, “Are all of the canes on Terah this lethal? Or is this something new?”

  “It’s new at the moment, just like those things you had me make for you to throw, but all you have to do is use them once and other people will start making them, too. If I were you, I’d stick to swords, daggers, and throwing knives if at all possible, and save the new weapons for emergencies,” Palladin answered.

  “What about these? Is there anything special that we need to know about them?” Karl asked as he picked up one of the walking sticks.

  “Not much really. All I did to those was run a cast iron bar down the center of the shaft. Here, look at the bottom end and you can see where I filled the borehole. But after it’s used as a walking stick for a while, no one will be able to spot it. It’s a little heavier than other sticks, but it’ll pack a good wallop and it won’t break. It’ll even stop a sword if you can hang on to it. Now let’s put those back in this storage bag. Could someone take the bag into the house along with Kevin’s sword? We’ve still got another crate to go through.”

  As soon as the yard was cleared up again, Palladin carried the crate with the extra swords up to the barn and stored it in one of Kalen’s spare wagons. Then he unloaded the second crate from the new wagon and carried it to the exercise yard.

  When everyone had gathered around, Palladin pried the lid off. The crate was separated into three sections. One section contained daggers, one contained throwing knives, and the third contained several dozen throwing stars.

  Palladin explained that a dagger was not like a sword; when it was used, it was left in the victim. He told everyone to choose two daggers, one to be worn on the belt in plain sight, and a smaller one to be worn somewhere else on the body, hidden by clothing.

  The daggers were as unique as the swords. Some had wavy blades, some had triangular blades, and some had thin narrow blades. Most of the handles were slightly curved to fit the palm of the hand, although a few were almost “L” shaped and a few were straight. While the others chose daggers for themselves, Kalen chose daggers for Kevin and Theresa.

  As soon as he had selected his daggers, Darrell started going through the throwing stars. Palladin had used Darrell’s sketches as a basis for constructing them, but after he had made a few, he had created some patterns of his own. Some of the stars had triangular blades, some had arrowhead-shaped blades, some had blades that swirled off in a circular motion, and a few had spikes.

  Palladin watched as Darrell carefully examined the stars. Then he handed Darrell a small leather bag with sections inside, almost like an accordion file. It would hold eight stars and would fit in a tunic pocket. There were leather straps on both sides so that the bag could be secured to the tunic through small holes in the pocket or tied to a belt. Darrell placed eight of the stars in the bag and immediately dropped it in his pocket. He turned to Palladin to thank him, but Palladin had already moved on.

  He was giving everyone two small leather sheaths with leather straps attached to all four corners. “Now, you need to choose some throwing knives. They are all pretty much alike, so this shouldn’t take but a few minutes. One of the sheaths that I just gave you should fit nicely on your forearm. Here, let me show you,” Palladin said as he took Joan’s from her hand and tied it around her forearm. “Notice that the wide part has slots for four knives. Now if you’ll remove your boot, I’ll show you how to attach the ankle sheath,” Palladin said to Joan.

  After Joan had taken her boot off, Palladin tied the sheath so that the pouch would be on the inside of her leg. “This sheath will hold six if you really want to carry that many in your boot. But if you do, be sure you allow for that when you buy your next pair of boots. More than likely you’ll find that three or four knives are all that you can wear comfortably with the boots you have on now. By the way, notice people’s boots if you think you might have to fight them. Boots that are loose around the calf are a dead give-away that the person’s carrying knives.”

  Soon everyone had the sheaths tied on and knives stored in the pouches. Palladin picked up the rest of the knives and put them in a wooden box. “I have just the spot for these. You know, once you throw a knife you probably won’t get it back, so you’ll need spares. If this supply starts running low, you’ll need to buy some more. Just be sure that they’re made by a dwarf. You want good quality. After all, if the balance isn’t right there’s no telling where the knife might end up when you throw it.”

  Then Palladin put the box of knives back in the crate with the stars and extra daggers, picked up the crate and started back towards the wagon. When he reached the wagon he set the crate on the ground.

  “Before I can show you the hidden compartments I built, I really need to get this harp out of the way.” Palladin lifted the harp out of the wagon and set it on the ground next to the crate. “And who did I lug this thing all the way up here for?” he asked with a smile as he looked directly at Joan.

  “Yes, it’s for me,” Joan answered as she walked around the harp, fingering the exquisite design carved into the wooden frame. “Did you make this? It’s beautiful!”

  “No, I can’t take credit for this one, but it is good work. I don’t know who made it, but I’d bet it was an elf. I traded a man a horse for that harp a while back. I was going to put a ‘for sale or trade’ sign on it and stick it out in front of the shop, but I never got around to it. Then I got the message from Kalen requesting a harp.”

  Joan strummed the harp a few times and said, “Karl, why don’t you and Darrell see if you can get the harp into the house. I want to set it up in the living room so I can practice with it. I’ll get the door.”

  “That’s all right. I’ll get it,” Palladin offered.

  “No, Palladin, please let them. If we’re going to carry this harp with us and use it in our performances, we need to be sure that we can move it ourselves, unless you plan to travel with us, of course,” Joan said.

  “No thank you. I wouldn’t mind seeing how all of this works out, but I have a shop to run. I think I’ll have to pass on that one.”

  Darrell and Karl picked up the harp and carried it carefully into the house. It wasn’t really heavy, but it would be awkward for one person to carry. They set it up in a corner of the living room.

  After they came back outside, Palladin showed everyone the regular storage compartments and then the hidden compartments that he had built inside the wagon. They stored the extra daggers and knives in one of the hidden compartments near the back door. Then he showed them the compartment he had built under the driver’s seat. No one would guess that part of the seat was hollow and contained a small metal lock box that could be opened by twisting a key that looked like a nail that hadn’t been hammered quite flush with the wood. The driver could open the box and reach in without dropping the reins, getting off the bench, or even bending over more than he would to rest his elbows on his knees.

  By the time they finished exploring the wagon, it was time for dinner. Xantha and Kevin returned just as everyone was heading into the house. Kalen waited for him so that he could introduce Palladin, and then he took Kevin inside to show him the sword and daggers that they had selected for him.

  Kevin was surprised to find that he actually liked the little sword and that it felt right in his hand. He tied the scabbard onto his belt and went outside to practice drawing it while everyone else was getting ready for dinner.

  Duane stood by the backdoor for a few minutes watching him. Then he turned towards Palladin and said, “I think you made a good choice. That’s the first time he’s shown any interest at all in weapons. He seems to like that little sword, so maybe he’ll make a real effort to learn how to use it.”

  Palladin just smiled in return.

  Chapter 16


  Reality Sinks In

  Kevin was relieved that Palladin kept the dinner conversation lively that evening because no one thought to ask him what he and Xantha had talked about during the day. Xantha had told him that slavery existed virtually everywhere on Terah, and that capturing, transporting, and selling slaves was considered a business venture. He knew that the idea would be as repulsive to the rest of the Tellurians as it was to him, and he was wondering how to go about telling them when he noticed a lapse in the conversation. The others had finished eating and were sitting back enjoying their scog.

  After a few minutes, Joan said quietly, “You know, so far this has been like preparing an act for the Pioneer Village. I hadn’t really thought of it as real, but today I had weapons strapped to my waist, my arm, and my ankle. In five days we’ll be leaving here, and I’m wondering just what we’re heading into. Are we going to have to fight our way to Glendymere’s? If we are, I don’t know that I can handle it.” She kept her gaze on the table because she could feel the tears burning in her eyes.

  “I know what you mean,” Chris said slowly. “I’ve been thinking about that, too.”

  “Well, don’t dwell on it,” Kalen said. “More than likely nothing will happen. You’ll probably travel from town to town quite peacefully, and get to Glendymere’s without having to draw a weapon once, but we couldn’t gamble on it. We had to do everything we could to make sure that if you suddenly found yourselves surrounded by a group of bandits you would have a good chance of surviving the encounter.”

  “Or assassins,” Darrell said.

  “I don’t think anyone is going to figure out who Kevin really is. You won’t be in any one place long enough. So, I’m not too worried about that threat,” Kalen answered.

  “Well, I think I’ll just keep on worrying about it until this is over,” Darrell said.