Once the boys entered their room,Fredrik stripped off his traveling clothes and donned the redvelvet suit, which he was wearing when he left Cidal. Arik and Tedibegan teasing him about it, until they noticed his serious look ashe started fastening knives to his legs and arms. Another sheathwas strapped to his back at his waist and one between his shoulderblades. Two more went into his waistband in the front, one to eachside and Fredrik arranged his jacket so they were notvisible.
“Are you planning for abattle?” Arik asked.
“I want to try them out andsee if anyone detects them,” Fredrik explained. “People in citiesare used to hidden weapons and one game they play is to try to spota newcomer’s hidden cache. I plan to fatten my private coffers witha little gambling. Would either of you care to join me?”
“I promised Tanya that I wouldjoin her in a trip to the weapons merchants,” declinedArik.
“No, Thanks,” Tedi said. “Ithink I will just walk around and see what a city islike.”
Arik left soon after Fredrik, and Tediwent down to the common room to get a bite to eat. The inn wasstill serving the midday meal and the common room was fairlycrowded. Tedi found a seat at an empty table and waited for someoneto offer him food. A guard in the orange and black livery of Melbinand a man in a light green woolen tunic occupied the table next toTedi and he listened to their conversation as he waited. Theconversation was fairly boring as it centered on women, gambling,and crude jokes and Tedi was glad when a young girl finally came tooffer him some food and drink. Tedi was elated that fresh fish wasone of the food choices and ordered a plate of flounder andpotatoes with a green salad. The price was a bit high, but all ofthe Rangers had a fair bit of coin taken from the bodies of theDark Riders and Tedi desired a good fish dinner.
Tedi let his eyes rove over the crowdin the common room while still listening to the conversation at thenext table. The men started talking about other people and Tedi hadno idea who they were talking about, but every once and a while hepicked interesting comments about other places. He heard themmention a mercenary company from Cidal in a favorable light. Therewas talk of two rival factions fighting for control of Trekum andsome game that was played in Tagaret called, The Game of Power,that was killing people. There were mentions of places that Tedihad never heard of and creatures that sounded impossible toimagine.
Tedi’s food arrived and he savored thesmell and flavor of the seafood. He had never thought that he wouldmiss eating fish, but the mere flavor of the flounder brought asmile to his lips. He thought about Fredrik’s comments beforeleaving the room and looked at the people in the common room anew.There were all sorts of people about. Most of them were travelers,of course, but the room seemed to be favored by locals, as well.Tedi saw several tables where the people kept coming and going, butthose who were already at the table always knew the newcomers. Thisobviously marked them as locals having the midday meal.
Others looked around cautiously asthough they were unfamiliar with their surroundings and fearful ofeverything and everybody that came into the room. These wereobviously new travelers and Tedi laughed to himself that heprobably looked just like them. Still others had the look of beingseparate but familiar. This group was used to traveling and stayingin strange places, perhaps they had even stayed here before, butthey were still wary. They didn’t shun the companionship of theothers, nor were they eager to invite it. They gave the impressionthat this was a normal occurrence in their profession and,therefore, familiar, but had had enough experience to know thatdanger always existed, even in familiar territory. They wereprobably messengers, merchants, and couriers.
Tedi had seen much of the same behaviorin the Fisherman’s Inn in Lorgo when he spent several weeks therefollowing his mother’s disappearance, but the Fluttering Jibpresented it on a much larger scale. From the number of inns theyhad passed on the way to this one, he knew that Melbin must be acity of considerable importance for quite a distancearound.
Tedi finished his meal and sat drinkinghis weak ale. He watched as a guard in the orange and black liveryentered and began searching the room. The man was obviously lookingfor someone and when he looked in Tedi’s direction, his eyeswidened and he started forward. Tedi felt a moment of fear as theguard marched towards him and he relaxed only when he realized theguard was interested in the table next to him.
Tedi berated himself for being sofoolish, as the newcomer joined the guard and man at the nexttable. Tedi drained his ale and prepared to leave when theconversation at the next table caught his ear.
“So, there you are, Hanjel,”the newcomer said. “The Captain will have your throat if he findsyou in here. You are still listed as on duty.”
“Easy, Lomar,” the seatedguard replied. “He thinks I am delivering a message and when I getback my shift will be over. Join us for a bit.”
“Did I just hear you offer tobuy me a drink?” chuckled Lomar.
“Now, why would I do that?”Hanjel coughed.
“Because I know something thatwill interest you,” smirked Lomar.
Hanjel signaled the serving girl andsaid, “Sit and convince me that you know something interesting,Lomar, before the serving girl collects my money.”
“I just saw Mikal Obanik walkinto the Bosun’s Chair,” Lomar grinned.
Hanjel choked and spit ale across thetable. “The devil, you did!” he cursed.
Chapter 16
King Alfred
When the serving girl arrived andHanjel had ordered Lomar an ale, Tedi ordered another one forhimself and continued to listen.
“Sure, he did, Hanjel,” Lomarsaid as he drank his ale greedily. “I saw himself not five minutesago. I’ve been looking for you ever since.”
“Who is this Mikal Obanik?”the third man asked.
“An old friend of Hanjel’s,Chekst,” Lomar chuckled.
“Friend, my foot!” Hanjel spatangrily and Chekst looked confused.
“He is an ex-Targa Ranger,”Lomar supplied. “Supposedly was a personal friend of ColonelAlexander Tork. I never met Tork, but this Obanik is the meanest,toughest son of a mother that ever walked the face of the earth.Hanjel and two of his friends had the displeasure of meeting himabout five years ago and you can tell that Hanjel still remembershim, fondly, of course.”
Hanjel smashed his mug down on thetable, drawing attention from all over the common room. “I’llfondly you, Lomar, if you don’t wipe that grin off your face,”Hanjel growled. “The man’s a bandit and a liar and deserves to die.Friend of Tork, indeed. Tork is just a myth, and a dead myth atthat, but seeing as they was friends, maybe Obanik ought to go seeTork, whatever hell he is in.”
“Oh, Tork is no myth,” Chekstobjected. “I had a friend in the Sordoan Royal Guard that was inthe Royal Palace the day that Tork assassinated the Sultan. He sawhim again the day the Empress died. No, Tork is no myth, but whydoes this Obanik bother you so much?”
“Obanik was supposedly passingthrough town about five years ago,” Lomar began. “Three men startedgetting on him about him having been a Targa Ranger and how KingByron of Targa was the cause of the Collapse. When Obanik tried toignore them, they got rowdy. Obanik got up and left the inn andthree fools followed him out into the street and drew their swordson him. Most amazing display of swordsmanship I ever saw. Obanikdrew his sword and fended off the three men and called for theguard to arrest the fools so he wouldn’t have to kill them. Well,the guard showed up, all right. Three senior guardsmen came and oneof them was Hanjel here.”
“I think you’ve said enoughfor one day,” threatened Hanjel.
Lomar ignored the other guard andcontinued. “The three guards started taking bets on the outcomeinstead of intervening. Finally Obanik shook his head and in onetwirling motion, cut the three fools in half. Hanjel and his twobuddies arrested him for murder and took him before King Alfred whosentenced him to death. Some of the citizens objected and the Kingordered an investigation. When King Alfred discovered what hadreally happened, he offered Obanik a choice, become the General ofthe M
elbin Army or leave the city and never return. Either way,Obanik would be required to teach the three guards, who had notbroken up the fight, a lesson. Obanik chose to leave the city andsaid that his sword was already too bloody to use against theguards.”
“Well, Hanjel should at leastbe happy about that,” Chekst said.
Hanjel threw his ale mug at the walland stormed out of the inn. Lomar shook his head and continued thestory. “The King was not pleased with either of Obanik’s responses.He decided to throw Obanik in the ring against the three guards,anyway, but without Obanik’s sword. Hanjel and his friends werethrilled and they all gleefully drew their steel to kill Obanik,but it didn’t quite turn out that way. Obanik beat the three ofthem without his sword, killed one of them even, and knocked theother two unconscious. Hanjel and the other guard were demoted tonew recruits and Obanik was shown the gate out of thecity.”
“Will Hanjel arrest him forreturning to the city?” Chekst asked.
“I don’t think so,” Lomaranswered. “Hanjel curses the day he arrested him the last time. Ifear he will try to kill Obanik and that, I am sure, will result inHanjel’s death. I would arrest Obanik myself to save Hanjel, but Ithink the King might impose his original sentence on the Ranger andhe doesn’t deserve to die for killing those fools.”
“You said you saw the fight,”Chekst asked, “why didn’t you stop it?”
“I wasn’t in the guard then,”Lomar stated. “It was Hanjel’s poor performance that made me wantto join the guard. I was ashamed of his performance and thought theKingdom deserved better than that.”
Tedi rose and casually walked out intothe street, eyeing the door to the Bosun’s Jib. Hanjel was nowherein sight, so he marched across the street and entered the commonroom. He found the innkeeper and inquired about Mikal Obanik andwas told that he had gone out. Tedi wanted to alert Garth, but hedid not want to leave a message with the innkeeper, so heleft.
* * * *
Arik was amazed at the wealth ofmerchandise available from the weapons merchants. There were swordsof every shape and size, battle-axes, crossbows, longbows, horsebows, staffs, pikes; the list was endless. The variety of knivesalone would keep Fredrik busy for a week just picking out the typeshe wanted. There were weapons that Arik could not name, or evenguess what they were, or how they were used, and these were theones that Tanya were interested in. She had already purchased fivefinely polished and balanced fighting staffs and something called abola, which looked like a heavy cord with a ball on each end. Thebola confused Arik until the merchant demonstrated its use. Still,he had no idea what Tanya intended to use it for. Perhaps she wouldgive it to Niki and Niki could use it to snare herself aKing.
Arik found himself fondling a longbowand the merchant asked him if he would care to try it out. Ariknodded and the merchant handed him a bowstring and threemetal-shafted arrows. Arik bent the longbow, which was much stifferthan his Lorgo bow, and attached the bowstring. The merchant was onthe edge of a practice field and there were several targets erectedacross the field at even intervals. The merchant suggested he shootat the closest target.
Arik stuck two of the arrows into theground and saw the merchant wince. He held the third arrow and feltits smooth finish and fine balance. He had never seen a metal arrowbefore and shuddered at the thought of leaving a dozen of them inenemy bodies after a battle. Killing could get to be an expensivehobby, at the price of these metal arrows.
“Remember,” the merchant saidsoftly, “your drawback will be half again greater than your countrybow.”
Arik nodded thoughtfully as he nockedthe metal arrow. He mentally adjusted for the difference in forceand smoothly let the arrow fly. His arrow struck lower than hewould have thought and he quickly pulled an arrow from his ownquiver and repeated the procedure. His wooden arrow hit dead centerand the merchant smiled approvingly. Arik plucked a second metalarrow from the ground and, after mentally adjusting for the extraweight of the metal arrow, sent it sailing into his woodenarrow.
Taking the third metal arrow, Arikadjusted for the furthest target. The merchant saw the elevationArik was applying and shook his head with his eyes closed. Ariksmoothly let the metal arrow fly and it sailed into the target, nota thumb’s width from the center. Applause broke out and Arik turnedto find several people had become spectators to hisdisplay.
The merchant beamed as he said,“Excellent shot, Sir. If you can repeat that last shot, I’ll gladlygive you a tenth off the price of that longbow.”
Arik laughed at the merchant’s attemptto sell his longbow. He was well aware, from watching Tanya, thatany of these merchants would give you a tenth back to make a sale.Still, the longbow felt good to his hands and it was extremelyaccurate.
“I will repeat it threetimes,” boasted Arik, “if you will give me three tenths off theprice and a quiver full of these metal arrows.”
The merchant was taken aback by theaudacious request, but the crowd, which had swelled greatly,applauded again and he quickly acquiesced to Arik’s request. Hehanded Arik three more metal arrows and Arik again stuck two ofthem in the dirt while he waited for the boy to clear the targets.When the field was clear Arik nocked his first arrow and easilysent it through the air, driving it into the center of the distanttarget. The crowd that had become very large applauded.
“What happens when one ofthese metal arrows strikes another?” Arik questioned.
“It is the same as a hit,”answered the merchant, “but it may damage the arrow. I will havethe boy remove the arrows after each shot if you think that it is apossibility.”
Arik nodded and the merchant signaledthe boy as murmurs ran through the crowd. Arik’s second arrow flewas true as the first and Arik noticed that a man in the crowd wascollecting money and making wagers on the final shot. The merchantwas sweating now and wringing his hands as Arik nocked his thirdarrow. A hush fell over the crowd as Arik’s third arrow sailedthrough the air and pierced the center of the target. If the secondarrow had been left in, the third would have hit it. The crowdroared its approval and many a hand slapped Arik on his back as thecrowd dispersed.
“You are as fine a marksman asI have ever seen,” the merchant admitted, “and I have seen a few.Still, a deal is a deal and you have won your discount fairly. It’ssafe enough to say that my shop will be the talk of the town for aweek, at least, and that brings paying customersaround.”
Arik paid the merchant and alsopurchased a fine, soft leather case for the bow. Tanya was suitablyimpressed not only with his shooting, for she knew him as a goodshot, but with his negotiating skill. He and Tanya spent the restof the day shopping and Tanya made a few more purchases of items,which Arik had no idea what she was going to do with.
* * * *
Fredrik’s luck was fair with cards aswell as any other game, but the young gambler earned his money atdice and wheel games where his magic could affect the outcome.Fredrik’s attire marked him as a wealthy man and saw him admittedto the more lucrative games where the stakes werehigher.
Fredrik had played this game for solong, he knew the rules well. He did not win too much at any oneestablishment, but moved on to the next before people startedhowling about his luck. With a city the size of Melbin, Fredrikcould gamble for a month before anyone would get wise to hisextraordinary ability to win. Still, he kept in mind Garth’swarning about cheating the merchants and he was sure that appliedto gambling as well. By working his way from the poorerestablishments to the richer, Fredrik had managed to amass severalthousand crowns for his several hours of work. At the lastestablishment he had encountered two other gamblers he had run intoearlier in the afternoon and decided to end his gambling for theday.
Fredrik made his way back to theFluttering Jib and noticed Arik and Tanya in the common room. Heworked his way over to them and sat down.
“Where are Tedi and Niki?”greeted Fredrik.
“We haven’t seen either one ofthem since we arrived,” Tanya stated. “We spent all day at themarket. I picked up some knives for you at the market in cas
e youdidn’t get a chance to get there before they closed.”
Fredrik kicked himself for forgettingabout the market. When he started gambling he always lost track oftime. He was thankful now for the conversations he had had withTanya about what he was looking for in knives. “Thanks, Tanya,” hesaid. “I lost track of time and didn’t make it to the market. I’lllook at them after dinner, but I’m sure that what you bought willbe just what I want. If you haven’t eaten yet, it will be my treat.I’ve had an exceptional run of luck today.”
Tanya grinned knowingly and Arikgritted his teeth. Tedi came into the common room looking harriedand slid into a seat at the table. “We have some serious problems,”Tedi whispered.
Arik looked around the common room tosee if anyone was paying too much attention to their table.Satisfied that no one was paying any attention to them, Arik askedthe obvious question. “What kind of trouble is serious?”
“There is a Melbin guardtrying to kill Garth,” Tedi whispered, “and Niki wasarrested.”
Ale slopped out of Arik’s mug as helowered it to the table and his jaw almost dropped as low. Lookingaround again, Arik suggested that they retire to one of the roomsto talk.
The four Rangers beat a hasty exit fromthe common room and went upstairs to the boys’ room. Everyone founda spot on one of the beds to sit before Arik demanded anexplanation.
“Garth, or rather MikalObanik, is not welcome in Melbin,” Tedi began. “He was shown thegate by King Alfred five years ago after killing four men andwounding two others. Three of them were Melbin Guards. One of thoseguards is out to kill him. I overheard him and another guardtalking earlier and I’ve spent the day trying to find him. While Iwas down in the Oddities Market, I saw two guards escorting Niki tothe Palace. She did not look happy.”
Sapphire of the Fairies soh-1 Page 19
