by Guy Antibes
This one felt better. Lotto swung the sword more comfortably.
“You look as if the king’s son has stolen your sweetheart.” Kenyr grinned. “Don’t worry. We’ve got to build your strength up. The sword is made for a strong man and that’s not you at present. However it will be. The one in your hand is lighter and much inferior as a weapon, but better suited for learning. We’ll start with some exercises to build strength and then end with some swing practice. A good swordsman needs to work at it. You’re just beginning.”
“I can’t take my sword with me?” Lotto nearly felt like crying. His expectations for the training session crumbled into despair.
“Of course you can. You won’t be ready to train with it for weeks.”
They worked out for an hour. Lotto hadn’t ever done much in the way of physical exercise and he quickly became exhausted. Kenyr took him back into his workshop. After he picked out blue-black cording for wrapping his grip and a quick lesson in how to fix the grips, he returned to the bookshop.
He had to consciously keep from hobbling. He taxed his muscles differently than he ever had and they were all protesting the abuse. The new experience surprised him and he still didn’t know what trouble he had gotten into.
Mander waited on a lady in fine clothes. “Lotto, I’d like to you meet Lady Anna. Remember the book from a few days ago? She was the customer.” Mander smiled at Lady Anna and the way she returned Mander Hart’s grin, Lotto could tell they were very good friends. “Anna, this is Lotto, my precocious shop assistant.”
“I’ve heard quite a bit about you, Lotto,” Anna said holding out her hand.
Lotto felt his neck heat up. He shook the woman’s fingers and wiped his hand on his trousers. Maybe he should have wiped his hand first. He bowed as well.
Mander and his lady friend laughed, softly, but enough to embarrass him.
“What have you got?” Mander said, looking at Lotto’s new weapons.
Lotto’s embarrassment increased.
“I’ll let Lotto show you his treasure in private. Dinner tonight? Both of you?” the lady said.
Mander raised an eyebrow at Lotto. “Say yes, my assistant.”
Lotto blinked for a bit, panicked. “Yes.”
“Good. As the sun sets,” Anna said.
“As the sun sets,” Mander repeated.
The phrase seemed like a password. Lotto didn’t want to intrude. He could barely walk from his afternoon of training and now he had to eat dinner at a noblewoman’s house? He turned to go to the back of the shop as Mander said goodbye in a quite intimate fashion turning away from the couple.
He laid his new possessions on the table and sat down with his back to the front. He took a deep breath. All of his available time had disappeared. He thought that once he had cleaned up the shop that Mander might even let him go, but now with the magic studies, sword lessons and a social engagement, he felt overwhelmed. He flinched as Mander squeezed both of his stiff shoulders.
“Well, show me. Obviously you bought more than the poker.”
“The Seytaran weapons dealer caught me at the market and showed me these. They cost two golds, but I think they are work much much more. Here.” He gave Mander the sword while he still stood.
Mander whistled after he slid the sword from the scabbard. “When this scabbard was new, I’ll bet it cost more than two golds. This is beautiful. Do you know where it comes from?”
“Serytar. Where my parents lived.”
“Right you are. Impressive. You were able to find that out from our books?”
Lotto felt more grounded now. “I did. It’s a noble’s blade. The shape is called an eagle wing.”
“Old fashioned, but much sought after by knowledgeable swordsmen. There are one or two of these at court, you know. None are as fine as this. You know this blade is very old. It won’t take a bright shine like a new sword might, if it ever did. Special steel like that is hardly ever made these days.”
Lotto sat back astonished. “How do you know all of this?”
Mander replaced the sword and laid it on the table. He sat down and took the long knife out of its scabbard. “Even more silent.” He nodded. “I’ve spent most of my time outside of this shop, you know. A king’s counselor and I’ve been on an army campaign or two. I can show you my swords tonight. You’ll need some better clothes to dine with Anna, I think. We can come up with something suitable.”
Lotto realized that Mander had never invited him to his personal residence.
“My own weapon is more conventional. Nothing like this. These are heirlooms, but I’ll bet they’ve languished somewhere, neglected.”
“The grips need to be replaced and they came in an old worn wooden box with tattered velvet lining.”
“You trained today with the Serytar?”
“He owns the Golden Blade.”
“Yes, Kenyr. I know him. A good man… a very good man.” Mander folded his arms and smiled.
“He’s going to train me.”
“I know. I hired him after he suggested it.”
Lotto sat back astonished.
“I told him that you would be interested in that particular sword. I had to run out before you left to describe how you looked. He had those swords and wouldn’t have sold them for any price except to you.”
The sword, the older Serytar and Mander’s grin made everything click in his mind. “My father’s bodyguard! He was younger then.”
“Eighteen years younger. Kenyr couldn’t return to Serytar and an acquaintance of your father helped him get established as a blade master in the city. He knew your parents and those were your father’s weapons. They traded both boots and weapons before he commanded Kenyr to leave to save you and the Moonstone from becoming the possession of Emperor Daryaku. I never understood why your father told Kenyr to toss the boots in the pond, but I know now. No one should have ever found it, but you were drawn to the stone. I’m convinced of it. Kenyr refused to join the king’s service, but I’ve enlisted his help on occasion.”
“It’s too much of a coincidence that we met!” Suddenly it all seemed too convenient.
“It is in a way. I had men observing you in the village from time to time, including Kenyr. Your transformation surprised us all. When your witch-friend and you bolted, I figured that you’d be heading to Beckondale where the Princess lived. I had you listed with the guard. When you came though the gate, I was immediately notified. You came in on a cart carrying fruit and I personally followed you from the market. If you hadn’t followed me to my shop, I would have turned around and sought you out. I truly did need a worker and that made bringing you into my clutches all the better. You’ve been a marvelous shop assistant, by the way. I say that in all honesty.” Mander laughed.
Lotto snapped. “I’m in your clutches?” This attention had overcome him. “You are playing me like a string puppet. I’m a slave. Leashed like a dog. You’ve peeped on me like a pervert!”
“Do you have any other metaphors?” The smile never left Mander’s face.
Lotto grabbed his hair with frustration and rocked in his chair. “I don’t know what a metaphor is!”
“Calm down. Listen Lotto, you can walk out that door with your swords and sell them to a proper armorer for enough to keep you fat and happy for a number of years in any small village in Valetan. Go ahead, I’ll not stop you. Or you can stay with me. I’ll employ you and teach you about the world. Fessano will make you into as much of a wizard as you desire to be and Kenyr will instruct you into becoming an accomplished swordsman. Leave at any time. No one will expect any pay. Kenyr’s instruction is freely given, even after I pleaded with him to pay for your training. He was a loyal bodyguard and held you in his arms when you were minutes old.”
Lotto couldn’t combat Mander’s reasonableness. The man remained calm as Lotto seethed with emotion. To know men watched him while in his former state upset him… but then he never knew they observed his antics and the old Lotto wouldn’t have cared at all.<
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“All right. I trust you. I certainly trust Kenyr. Fessano, not so much. I’ll continue and I do appreciate all that you have done for me. It’s easier being the village half-wit than facing all of what I’ve discovered.”
Mander nodded. “Knowledge brings a certain responsibility for one’s actions. That is a burden, for sure, but a good one. Let’s close up shop. We’ll have to go to my place first to get us both presentable enough for Lady Anna.
~
Restella lay back on her bed after her meal in the presence of the odious Louson. She didn’t trust the man at all and she couldn’t shake a feeling of something wrong. She dressed and left the little room she had been given. She paced up the corridor, as restless as a nervous cat and noticed the faint flickering of candlelight under the Captain’s door.
Could she bother the Captain? He had hardly spoken to her. She shook her head. If she came as an aide, then she would perform the proper role. She knocked.
“Come.” The words came out clear and immediate. The Captain was awake but in a state of modest undress. He shrugged into his uniform jacket. “What has prompted my most junior lieutenant to bother me tonight?” The man didn’t expect off-duty formality.
“Something is wrong. Earl Louson isn’t bothered enough about the border incursions. He feels no threat. When I’ve seen him in court, he’s more nervous than he is today.”
“This is his keep, so I would expect him to be more in charge, but I think I know what you mean. Go find Silver and tell him to rouse a double watch.”
Why Silver? She didn’t question the Captain and put on her weapons and her boots back at her room. It didn’t matter, the captain gave her an order and she would carry it out.
The troops were camped outside the keep’s walls in a large open field. She looked for the wagons and found Silver chatting with a few other soldiers round a fire. Most of the soldiers seemed to have found their bedrolls. She still couldn’t shake off the feeling of wrongness.
“Silver!” Restella called from a few paces away.
“Yes, Lieutenant.” He straightened up and buttoned up his uniform jacket. Restella looked at the men at the fire a little irritated at the grins on their faces. They all appeared to be sergeants.
“Captain Shortwell has ordered a double watch. I—”
Silver put up his hand. “The order is good enough for me, ma’am. You don’t have to justify an order, just answer questions if anyone is unclear. I am very clear and will put half of the men on alert, if you agree. The other men and I were just talking about us all feeling a little itchy being out here, if you want to know the real truth.”
“Very well. If you must know, and you obviously don’t care, I feel ‘itchy’ as well. I’ll leave you to it. Don’t delay.”
“I won’t, ma’am.” He straightened up and saluted. The other sergeants were already on their feet. “You know what to do, men,” Silver said to them. “Do you need an escort to the keep?”
Restella shook her head and headed back towards her bed. She didn’t think she’d be able to sleep, but even laying down would give her some rest. As she came up to the door to the keep, the guards who had let her out had gone and the two large oaken doors were wide open.
The glow of campfires still lit up the field, but Restella decided that she’d forgo sleep and man the gates herself. Once Restella pushed the gates shut, she struggled with the door bar and took the stone steps up to the top of the wall. She leaned against a flagpole and gazed out into the darkness. Glancing up at the sky, she noticed that no moon appeared to offset the darkness. As much as she wanted to report back to the captain, she would stay on the walk above the gate until the guards returned.
She ended up sliding down the side of a flagpole onto its base, just being able to peer over the battlement. Restella had no idea how much time had elapsed when she heard yelling coming from the camp. She began to rise when she heard the whistling of arrows with two of them hitting the flagpole above her, making it shiver.
The sounds of horses came closer and then curses as the riders milled about in front of the keep’s doors. A horn sounded in the distance and faint lights began to light up the keep windows. Restella heard metal scraping on the battlement and crawled over towards the sounds. She took out her sword, feeling more powerful with it in her hand and began to hack at the ropes tied to grappling hooks.
Fighting began to break out in the courtyard as Shortwell’s officers began to fight Earl Louson’s guards. The invaders began to climb up the walls when war horns began to blow closer. Fighting broke out below her as she fought by herself on the top of the keep’s wall. She didn’t have the time to do anything but fall into the rhythm of her sword. Part of her mind reacted to the attacks and another gagged at the carnage she inflicted on her enemy.
Lieutenant Gasolo ran up the stairs and helped her fight as the attempts at scaling the walls diminished. She looked over the edge to find Silver and the rest of the army pinning the invaders against the wall. The sounds of the conflict began to dwindle replaced by the screams and moans of wounded fighters.
The battle at the wall had ended. Restella heard Silver call up to open the gate. She descended the stairs and, with Gasolo’s help, let the soldiers in. Restella stood with her bloodied sword as her fellow soldiers streamed past her.
“You are dismissed, Lieutenant Beecher,” Captain Shortwell said.
Restella didn’t resist and fell on her bed, fully clothed.
~
The princess sat at an early breakfast along with the other officers. Injured soldiers lined the hall along with a bound Earl Louson, sitting on the floor gagged after everyone tired of his complaining. She had woken up in the early morning and couldn’t return to sleep, going through every parry and every thrust. She’d killed men in the night—‘blooded’ as the soldiers called it. The thought of actual battle had frightened her, but she didn’t let it affect her mood. The thoughts of her blade doing damage still flashed in front of her, even now.
“Good for you, Beecher,” Gasolo said, his mouth full of bread.
“Good for all of us,” Restella said feeling warmed again by the compliment. “Who would have thought we walked into a trap?”
“Luckily you did,” Captain Shortwell said from behind her. “Good work, Lieutenant Beecher. Your closing of the gate saved the lives of our officer corps, including your own. Louson’s men mixed his men in with the Oringians. It appears that he and Baron Jiffero have decided to set up their own little country on the border with fealty to the Oringians. That won’t happen now, thanks to you.”
Restella continued to chew. “That would mean complicity on the part of the King of Oringia, then.” So many back at the castle bragged about the peace. She knew that peace never lasted for very long in the history of Besseth, but she didn’t expect war to blossom on her first foray into the countryside. Her battlefield experience from the night before didn’t help her appetite.
“Indeed it does and that is an act of war. I’ll be sending you, Lieutenant Gasolo, back to Beckondale with this information. Be ready to leave in an hour and go straight to General Piroff. I’ll give you a letter for the General and chits for horse exchanges along the way.” The captain left them to their breakfast.
“There goes lunch and maybe dinner until I get far enough west to an inn I know,” Gasolo said. “I’ve done this before. I just wish we had brought some birds.” He began to shove more food in his mouth. Restella let him eat.
War. This is what she had hoped for, but as she looked at the men lining the great room of the keep, there was the death and injury side that she hadn’t integrated into her perceptions. At least she hadn’t frozen in fear when the battle started. Indeed, she felt like she fought for her life and she had.
She could have been killed up on that gate. Her stomach gave a violent turn. She had to hurry out of the keep and threw her food up against the wall.
“Not to your liking, ma’am?” Silver said as he walked up with a bucket.
“Too late for that.” She said.
“Wash your mouth out, Lieutenant. You’ll feel better. We all go through that after our first battle.”
Restella looked at Silver with new respect. “Even you?”
He nodded and gave her a grim smile, “Even me. It’s not exactly a badge of honor. This reaction might not be your last. It wasn’t for me. War is serious business and the consequences are never good for soldiers.” After Restella put a couple of handfuls of water in her mouth and spit it out, Silver dashed a few sloshes against the wall to clean off the contents of her stomach.
“Good job, ma’am. Takes guts, no pun intended, for a junior lieutenant to wake the old man up and tell him she’s got that itch.”
Restella squinted at Silver. “I didn’t tell you I woke him up, because I didn’t. He was already awake.”
He shrugged. “Sounds better as a story that you woke him up. The results were the same. I’m glad you gave me the order. It saved a lot of our men. We had them roused out of bed before the enemy attacked. The devils thought we’d be easy pickings. The closed gate made them sitting ducks once we forced them towards the keep.”
“You can imagine my surprise when arrows went whistling past me, while I sat down, wondering why the gates had been left open.”
“War stories, ma’am. You certainly earned that one. Lieutenant Gasolo told me about your work on the battlement. Warrior work. I’m moving the wagons in the keep, if it’s fine with you, Lieutenant.”
“It is, Silver.” He nodded and left the bucket. Restella slapped some water on her face and walked back inside, a bit smug with the fact that she had now seen action. She couldn’t help but smile, even though her stomach still complained.
~~~
CHAPTER ELEVEN
~
LOTTO WIPED THE SWEAT OFF OF HIS BROW as he worked with one of Kenyr’s other students. He looked up through the skylights at the darkening sky. Rain pattered on the glass and that made Lotto think of his hot sweat dripping on the floor. He saluted his opponent and grabbed a wide mop that Kenyr insisted his students use on the floor between sparring. When he finished mopping and drying the floor, he took up his weapons again.
