“I could stand a little hospitality,” William said.
“Aye, a bed not made of rock would be nice,” Karthor seconded. The others followed suit and before Alto knew it, he’d been suckered into a small but lively party.
The Kelgryn were able hosts, telling tales and adding in song and music. Namitus used his pipes to join in with them and added his own voice to their songs. As time passed, fresh food was placed in front of them and Alto found himself drinking more and more of the ale. He kept looking for Trina but she was either absent or talking to someone else.
Alto found himself whisked away at one point by a Kelgryn woman. He spilled his ale, drawing a laugh from William, and then found himself being spun around as the strong armed and spirited woman forced him into an awkward dance. The spinning left him dizzy and out of breath. He collapsed back on the bench and found himself next to Namitus.
“This is wonderful!” Alto grinned. He sat up straight and reached for what was left of his ale.
Namitus smiled but the gesture didn’t reach his eyes.
“Oh, that’s right, you’ve been banished,” Alto said. He frowned, and then burst out laughing. “Sorry, I don’t mean anything by it. I’m just,” Alto hesitated, trying to understand what he was saying and why. He shrugged. “This ale is really good!”
Namitus chuckled. “Enjoy it, my friend. They have strong brews here. Everything about these people is strong; never underestimate them.”
“I’m sorry you got in trouble,” Alto offered. “Why’d she say that it was a gift? I don’t understand.”
Namitus sighed and pulled out his pipes. He ran his fingers over them. “She gave me this, long ago. The gift of a pretty girl who didn’t understand the world.”
Alto watched him. He wanted to ask him to get on with it, but he suspected Namitus was trying to tell him something important. He kept his silence by taking another drink.
“Today’s gift is banishment. Had her father or even Ayerl had their way, I’d be killed.”
“For lying to stay alive? I thought you were their friend?” Alto slammed the table with his hand. “That’s terrible!”
“For ingratiating myself into the royal family? They consider it a betrayal, treasonous even. What if I were a spy?”
“But you’re not!”
“But I might be,” Namitus said.
Alto blinked at him, confused. He took another drink to ease his mind.
“Celebrate tonight, Alto. Tomorrow is another day full of worries and hardship. And headaches, I dare to guess!”
Alto nodded. He raised his cup. “To headaches!”
Namitus laughed and put his pipes to his lips. He began another lively tune and soon had inspired more dancing and storytelling. Alto found himself spinning with another Kelgryn woman, his fourth or fifth of the evening, and then ended up stumbling out through the open doors of the hall.
Alto picked himself up from where he fell. The sun had dropped and only the lights of lanterns and houses showed the small village. He turned about, ready to head back inside when he heard something.
He turned toward it and staggered a few steps in its direction. “Who’s there?” Alto babbled. He rounded the corner of the hall and reached for the knife at his hip when a dark shape lunged toward him.
Alto found himself lying on the ground, his knife forgotten. The shape sat on top of him, knees pressing into his arms to keep him still. He started to struggle and then stopped when he realized the entrapment seemed all too familiar to him.
“Alto!”
Alto stared up, confirming it was Patrina on top of him. He grinned and started to sit up. She pushed forward, proving that leverage was sometimes more important than strength.
“Promise me you’ll keep Namitus safe,” she hissed at him.
“Namitus?” Alto slurred. He frowned. She didn’t want him; she wanted Namitus. This had nothing to do with him. “He said the same thing to me about you.”
“What? When, tonight?” She pressed against him.
“The bridge, when he fought the trolls. He made me leave because he had the sword to fight them. I need a sword, and then I can fight, too.”
Trina sat on top of him without saying a word. Alto stared at her, and then felt something wet fall on him. He glanced up and saw the stars above. How could it rain without any clouds? He heard a sniffle from Trina and realized he was an idiot. A drunken idiot, most likely.
“You like him?” Alto asked her.
He saw her nodding above him. Alto let out his breath. It was disappointing. No, it was more than that; it left a hollow in his belly that even more ale wouldn’t fill. He liked her. He liked Namitus, too, but not the same way. Namitus had known her longer and the man was his friend. Namitus didn’t deserve him getting in the way. Especially when Trina liked him back. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Trina asked. She slammed her hands into his chest, making him grunt. She grabbed his shirt in her hands and squeezed. “Men are so dumb,” she hissed at him.
Alto was heating up in spite of the cool night air. He felt his face flushing and he struggled underneath her. “Why am I dumb?” he asked when his struggling didn’t do him any good.
“Well, I’m out here with you,” she said. She pulled on his shirt and leaned down toward him. Alto fell back when she pressed her lips against his. “See if you can figure it out.”
Alto stared at Patrina as she rose up and walked away from him. He rolled onto his side to follow her with his eyes but she turned a corner around a building and disappeared. He’d only made it to his knees when Tristam found him on the ground and laughed.
“First ale?”
Alto looked at the man’s boots and then tried to pick his head up to follow them. Failing to do that, he twisted his head and lost his balance. Tristam laughed again as Alto rolled onto his back again and stared up at him.
“You answered my question,” Tristam said with a grin.
“She kissed me,” Alto slurred.
“Aye,” Tristam chuckled as he moved to a shadow to relieve himself. “In the morning, you’ll realize she shield-bashed you in the head!”
“Bashinz!” Alto cried out. He erupted into laughter, remembering Thork.
Tristam’s chuckle turned into a curse when he realized Alto had passed out.
Chapter 17
“Shouldn’t we be doing something?” Alto asked. He sat with two of his companions, Karthor and Namitus, and pushed the plate of uneaten mutton away. “It took us almost two weeks to get back to Portland and now we’re just drinking our reward? What about Highpeak? What about the Kelgryn?”
“Eager to leave so soon?” Aleena walked up behind Alto and asked. She slid her hand lightly along his shoulder as she passed him, and then took the empty tankards in front of Karthor and Namitus to refill them.
“What? No, that’s not it,” Alto stammered. Namitus smirked at the young man’s red face.
Aleena paused by Karthor and said, “I’ve heard of the wanderlust in young men’s hearts. Do the teachings of Leander teach a man to appreciate the hearth?”
Karthor smiled up at her. “Indeed they do,” he said. Alto gaped as Aleena turned away with a promise to bring fresh ale. Namitus laughed.
“She’s got you wound up,” Namitus said.
Alto clamped his mouth shut and scowled. “It’s not that,” he muttered. “I’m just worried about, well, things!”
“What can we do that an army can’t?” Karthor asked. He popped the last bite of mutton into his mouth and chewed it before adding, “We’ve done well this time around. The reward for the goblins was reason enough to do it, but the information we returned and the thanks we received has placed us in good favor. Just wait and see; Tristam will have something for us soon.”
“Just seems wrong to leave things as they are in the north. It’s not that far from my father’s land. I’m worried the fighting will spread that way.”
“It already did; that’s why you’re with us now,” Karthor remin
ded him.
Alto dropped his fist to the table. “You’re right! It could happen again!”
“We thinned the goblins out a bit, might take them a few years to recover,” Namitus suggested.
“That’s not what I mean. What about all the other monsters we saw? The trolls and the ogres? And the men working with them. There’s a plot afoot and it won’t end well!”
“You sound like my father,” Karthor said.
“He’s a smart man that can read the signs of things to come,” Alto defended the wizard.
Aleena returned with more ale before Alto could respond. She walked around, placing one next to Karthor and then she bent over to slide the other across the table to Namitus. Her position put her, and the drooping neckline on her peasant’s blouse, next to Karthor and directly in line with Alto.
“Still trying to leave?” she asked innocently.
Alto managed a grunt as he stumbled over his own tongue. Namitus laughed again, causing Aleena to straighten and a blush to come to her own face. She was spared by the door to the tavern opening and Tristam walking in with Kar and William behind him. Aleena escaped before the more seasoned Blades could join the others.
“Pull up a chair,” Karthor offered.
“We’ve got a job,” Tristam said. He leaned over and snatched some mutton from Alto’s plate. He tore a chunk off with his teeth and said through a mouthful of meat, “No time.”
Alto all but leapt to his feet. “Where to, the north?”
Tristam nodded and took another bite. Kar sighed for effect and explained, “The duke is upset by what we’ve learned. He wants to know more, but his forces have to retake Highpeak. We’re to head north and scour the mountains for more information on what’s going on.”
“That didn’t go so well last time,” Karthor opined.
Kar scowled at him. “We’re better prepared this time!”
“Better prepared for fighting trolls?” Karthor challenged his father.
“I’ve the right spells prepared and this time, we know what we’re up against. We’ve got new steeds and our anxious new recruits have new equipment.”
Tristam turned and glared at Kar, but the wizard ignored him. Alto watched them with his eyebrows drawn together in confusion. He had another broadsword waiting for him at their home, but against a mountain troll, anything smaller than a siege weapon was as good as a stiff breeze.
“Come on, our supplies are waiting for us at the gate,” Tristam said. He ate the last of the mutton and turned to walk out of the tavern without waiting. Alto stared at the others and then jerked into action and hurried after him. Namitus and Karthor rose last, though Namitus beat him to the door.
“So you’re off again after all?” Aleena called out clearly from behind the priest.
Karthor turned and nodded. “Aye, duty calls.”
She glanced meaningfully at the table. Karthor grimaced and then dug into his pouch and counted out several coins. He handed them to her and saw her smile. “Be safe,” she said to him. “And hurry back; it gets lonely around here.”
When Karthor caught up to the others, his face was still red. Alto stared at him until the priest shook his head. “I had to settle our bill.”
Namitus grinned and slipped ahead of the others to walk near the front of the small convoy.
“I didn’t think of that, I’m sorry,” Alto said to him. “I’ll buy the next one.”
Karthor shrugged. “No matter. I think your friend was disappointed you’d left so quickly.”
Alto risked a glance at Karthor and saw the priest was grinning at him. “She seems quite interested in the teachings of Leander,” Alto teased back.
“Rightly so,” Karthor said with a twinkle in his eye. “Leander’s one of the greater saints. And what about a certain Kelgryn lady?”
Alto groaned at the memory of Patrina. He didn’t know what to make of the girl, nor was he even sure what had really happened the last night they’d been together. The next day had been miserable for him and he vowed he’d never drink the Kelgryn ale again. She hadn’t even been there to see them off, confusing him even more. Had she kissed him or had it been a dream brought on by the ale?
He shook his head. It didn’t matter. Namitus had a thing for her and that meant he could go no further. That left Aleena, and now the serving girl seemed taken with Karthor. Would he ever have a chance for a woman of his own?
“I doubt my path and Patrina’s will cross again,” Alto said. “And that’s fine if it doesn’t. I’ve my own responsibilities to follow.”
“What responsibilities?” Karthor asked. “You’re young and have no family—the world is yours for the taking!”
“I do have a family,” Alto insisted. “And I’m here to help earn enough to restore my father’s health. The years have been hard on him but he was once as fit and hearty as any of us, maybe more so.”
Karthor nodded. “I believe you. No lesser man could have lived through what he did.”
Alto grinned. “Besides, I don’t want the world. Maybe just a small part of it someday to call my own. A barony or something.”
Karthor chuckled. “When that day comes, I’ll be sure to build a temple to Leander there to keep it properly blessed.”
Grinning at their outlandish dreams, they fell silent. A few moments later, they arrived at the stables where six new horses were already saddled. None of their horses had returned from the last trip to the mountains. Alto hoped that Sebas had escaped and was running free. If Thork was correct and there really was a dragon named Sarya in the region, he doubted they’d ever see any of their mounts again.
“Alto, try this on,” Tristam held out a shining bundle to him.
Alto took it and let it fall open. It looked like a shimmering shirt of metal at first, but he quickly realized it was nothing more than a thickly padded leather shirt with metal scales sewn into it. He slipped it over his head, pulled it on and then tightened the laces under his arms to draw it in. With the laces drawn and tightened, the scales under his arms hid the seams.
“It fits,” Alto said with a grin. He twisted and moved his arms about, hearing the jingle of the scales against one another but finding no pinching or catching it. “I like it, thanks!”
“It comes out of your share,” Tristam said. “Wasn’t time enough to have a proper suit of chain mail made for you.”
“The way he fights he doesn’t need chain; he needs plate!” Kar jabbed.
Tristam laughed. “We’ll need to be raiding dragon hoards to earn enough to have one of those made!”
Alto felt himself blushing but the image of him in gleaming mail popped into his head and wouldn’t go away. “One day I’ll wear such at thing,” he vowed softly.
“Future barons should wear such finery,” Karthor said to him, drawing an embarrassed chuckle.
Tristam hadn’t replaced his broken bow but Alto saw his broadsword and a shield were already secured on his new horse. He lifted it and his belt off and tightened them around the armor, taking some of the weight of the scale mail off his shoulders and chest. He took care in mounting his horse to account for the added weight of the new armor.
“I’m ready!” Alto couldn’t stop grinning.
“Here.” Tristam tossed him a helm. Alto caught it and looked at it. It was a simple, open-faced metal helm padded with cloth on the inside. Rings of steel were joined in a four-in-one pattern to protect his neck from all sides beneath his face. He put it on and fumbled with the chain to attach it across the front of his throat.
“Now wipe that smug grin off your face or I’ll test your new armor with a bolt from my crossbow,” William added.
Alto tried, and failed, to stop smiling. The others laughed before mounting their own horses and then following Tristam out the gate. Another long ride lay ahead of them but the rigors and hardships of their last adventure had already been forgotten.
* * * *
A few days later, they learned how things had progressed in their absence.
Highpeak had more than just fallen; it had been occupied. The duke’s army had set up camp along the road and on low grassy hills on either side of it. They’d listened to the soldiers gossiping and had learned that Highpeak hadn’t been repaired with any skill, but ogres, trolls, and goblins had been seen on the grounds and walls. Alto had also taken pride in noticing that his armor was better than the majority of the foot soldiers’.
They moved through the army easily, the only distinction between them and the soldiers being the tabards of the Kingdom. Even without them, they were seldom questioned until Tristam led them to the tents that hosted the officers of the army.
“Hold there, friend.” A guard stopped them outside the largest tent. “By what right do you seek entry?”
Tristam swung down from his horse and handed his reins to Alto. “Kar, show him our papers.”
Kar turned to one of his own saddlebags and pulled out a folded paper with a partially broken wax seal on it. He grimaced at the damage to the seal and then shrugged and handed it down to a scowling Tristam. The warrior turned and handed it to the guard.
The guard looked at the seal, scrutinizing it at length. Satisfied, at last he nodded. “Two of you may enter.”
“Kar.” Tristam beckoned the man. The wizard dismounted, handing the reins of his horse to William. William tossed them to Namitus as soon as Kar turned his back. The two men entered the tent while the others sat on their horses awkwardly.
“Nice weather we’re having,” William offered.
The guard shook his head and pointed to a small field where the ground had been churned up by the hooves of many animals. “Go and wait over there; messengers come and go and your steeds will get in the way.”
They moved over to the small pasture and waited. The sun climbed in the eastern sky and began to fall in the west before Tristam and Kar emerged. From his posture and clenched fists, it was obvious the meeting had not gone well.
“He’s a fool and a coward,” Tristam sputtered when he reached them.
Alto looked to Kar while Tristam angrily mounted his horse. “General Fisk,” the wizard supplied, “is reluctant to commit his forces to an assault.”
Child of Fate Page 17
