Sword Fight

by Nathan Van Coops

  When they reached the top of the next hill, Henry paused. His eyes drifted west. Valerie didn’t need to ask. She knew what he was looking for. Her eyes likewise settled on the distant hilltop and the terracotta tile roof that was just visible beyond the trees.

  “I’ve decided to ask her,” Henry said. “I think it’s time.”

  “Tonight? We said we would wait till I turned eighteen and ask her together,” Valerie said.

  “I know we talked about waiting, but that’s time I could spend fixing up the old house,” Henry said. “Villa Rosa should belong to us. I can’t imagine Charlotte wants to hold onto it anyway. Besides, I’m a graduate now. It’s time I claim my inheritance.”

  “Our inheritance,” Valerie corrected.

  “Of course. And you can live there too, if you like. Mom would’ve loved that. Charlotte can keep the stuffy old manor house. She can keep it all until she rots as far as I’m concerned. Just so long as she lets us have something to call our own.”

  “Listen to you sounding all grown up,” Valerie said. “What’s next? You going to go find a wife and have a bunch of kids? Turn your sword in for some vine trimmers?”

  Henry shrugged. “Maybe. Who knows? It’s just time to stop playing around, you know? I think Dad would have wanted us to take care of this land and not let Charlotte have her way with it.”

  “Why didn’t Dad see what she was like? I don’t know why he ever married her.”

  “I think she had everyone fooled back then. Even him.”

  They crossed through the sleepy hamlet of Briarwood, and Henry paused in front of the old theater that was once the heart of the village. A few window panes were missing and the front door was boarded up. “Remember when Dad used to take us to shows here after Mom died? He used to tell me that she was still looking down from the floodlights. That she could see us whenever she wanted.”

  “I don’t remember that,” Valerie replied.

  “I guess you were too little.”

  “What’s happened to this place?” Valerie studied the crumbling facade of the old theater building, trying to recall the last time she had seen it.

  “You know how Charlotte feels about actors. She knows he only brought us here to remember Mom. I heard she stopped letting performers even stop in town the last few years.”

  “She’s the worst.”

  Henry squeezed her hand. “We can fix this up along with the rest once we have what’s ours. Maybe you can start that car shop you’re always talking about.”

  “Speed shop,” Valerie said.

  “Right. What was it you were planning to call it?”

  “Black Bear Motors. After Dad.”

  Henry dipped his chin and studied her over his sunglasses. “Might want to rethink that one now, huh?”

  Valerie crossed her arms and shrugged.

  “Well, whatever you call it, if we get Villa Rosa, we’ll only have to see Charlotte once or twice a year. Think of the freedom.”

  “Sounds like a nice life.”

  Henry gripped her shoulder and gave it a squeeze, then his focus shifted back to the walk ahead of them. “We’d better get up to the house before she sends the dogs out after us. We’re not free yet.”

  They made the climb to the manor house via the same route they had used so often as kids. The footpath wound through the woods to emerge onto the back side of the manor. They passed through the open gate of the outer wall, then crossed the manicured lawn to the stone steps that led to the raised patio. After climbing the worn steps, they entered the gate next to the pool house. They emerged onto the pool deck amid the sound of laughter and discovered their stepmother lounging in the hot tub with a young man Valerie vaguely recognized.

  “Oh, look who finally made it,” Lady Charlotte said. “When your friends showed up and said you were walking, we thought we might not see you.” She indicated the nearby pool where a number of Henry’s classmates had arrived and were joking around with one another. Thea was there too, tossing her hair and laughing, and doing a great job of keeping the boys’ interest. So much so that none of Henry’s friends even noticed their arrival.

  “I hope you don’t mind the intrusion,” the man in the hot tub said. “But Lady Charlotte and I decided that we should get in on the fun, especially since she looks so great in a bikini.”

  Lady Charlotte laughed, blushing at the compliment, but obviously pleased. “Of course, you know Jasper Sterling.” Charlotte said. “Jasper is the eldest son of Lord Alister Sterling.”

  Valerie blinked. Jasper Sterling. That’s who he was. She knew she’d seen him before, on race posters and at formal events for the nobility, but never like this, half naked in her family’s hot tub with an arm around her stepmother.

  “Lord Sterling.” Henry bowed stiffly, clearly uncomfortable with bowing to someone wearing swim trunks. Valerie wondered whether she was supposed to curtsy.

  “To what do we owe the pleasure of your company, my lord?” Valerie asked.

  A corner of Jasper’s mouth quirked into a smile. “Well, I expect we’ll be seeing a great deal more of one another soon. Your exquisite stepmother has in fact stolen my heart.” He turned to gaze at Charlotte. “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but I’d like to think that if she continues to feel the way I do, that we might all become quite close indeed.”

  Lady Charlotte nestled closer to him in the water until their noses touched, then she turned her attention back to Valerie and Henry. “I wanted to wait to surprise you when you got home.” She lifted a dripping-wet hand from the bubbling water and displayed the glistening, jewel-encrusted ring on her finger. “We’re engaged.”

  Valerie’s mouth fell open.

  Engaged.

  Engaged?

  How old was he? Valerie stared into Jasper’s ice-blue eyes and thought he couldn’t be much older than Henry. He wanted to marry Charlotte?

  Jasper and Charlotte both rose from the hot tub, climbing out and coming around to join them. Valerie took an involuntary step backward as the two dripping lovers drew close. Jasper extended a hand to Henry. Lady Charlotte gripped Valerie’s shoulders.

  “Isn’t it wonderful? We’re going to be Sterlings!”

  2

  Inheritance

  Valerie stared at the bathing suit laid out on her dresser and frowned.

  “You have to come back out,” Thea said. “You promised.” Wrapped in a towel and balancing on the balls of her feet, she was practically bouncing in her enthusiasm to get back downstairs.

  “There is no one in that pool I want to talk to,” Valerie said.

  “They’re graduating seniors,” Thea argued. “And every single one of them is an heir to titled lands. How often will we have them all to ourselves? Any other girl in first year would kill for this.”

  “We don’t have to do everything the other girls do.”

  “You don’t,” Thea said. “You can just talk about race cars and engines all day, and the boys think you’re fascinating. Some of us have to get their attention the old-fashioned way.” Thea pressed her hands together. “Please?”

  Valerie chewed her cheek and finally acquiesced, stripping out of her jeans. “Fine. But I’m doing this for you, not them.”

  Thea really did bounce up and down this time.

  Valerie dressed in the bathing suit but snatched a tank top and some cut-off denim shorts from her drawer as well, pulling them over her bikini as they made their way back downstairs. Thea’s return was greeted with whoops of enthusiasm from the boys in the pool. She dropped her towel and ran to rejoin them.

  Valerie lingered on the pool deck, and her eyes drifted back to the hot tub where her stepmother was toweling off. Charlotte laughed at something Jasper said, then headed into the house. Jasper met Valerie’s stare and winked at her.

  “I can’t believe she’s falling for this,” Henry said. Valerie turned to find her brother next to her, his brows knitted. He held an open beer in one hand, but it appeared to be untouched. “She has to
know this can’t be for real.”

  “You saw that ring on her finger,” Valerie said. “I think she means it.”

  Henry was openly scowling toward the hot tub but finally pulled his eyes away. He stared at the beer in his hand as if realizing he held it for the first time, then handed it to Valerie. “I have to talk to her.”

  Valerie accepted the bottle, and Henry vanished back through the patio doors.

  Thea was absorbed in conversation with two of Henry’s friends at the shallow end of the pool and didn’t seem to be lacking for attention. The other boys had begun a game of catch that involved creating huge waves as they dove about. Valerie turned to follow her brother inside.

  “Valerie.” Jasper Sterling vaulted over the edge of the hot tub and dripped his way over to her. “Don’t run off.”

  “I’m not running anywhere,” she replied.

  Jasper reached her side and took her hand, lifting it to his lips and lightly brushing her fingers with a kiss. His grip tightened as he admired her signet ring. “To think, the House of the Bear and the House of a Thousand Swords will be joined at last.” His thumb obscured the bear claw symbol on her ring for a moment. “Last time I saw you, I think you were wearing braces. Now. . .” His eyes roamed over her figure, lingering on her bare legs. “You’ve really grown up.”

  Valerie pulled her hand away. “I’ve never had braces. You must be thinking of some other girlfriend’s daughter.”

  “Whoa, hey. There’s no need to be upset,” Jasper said. “If you escaped notice before, you certainly have my attention now.”

  Was he for real?

  “Lady Charlotte must be missing you.”

  Jasper tossed the hair from his eyes and licked his lips. “She’s getting ready for our night out. I’m taking her to the city tonight to celebrate in style.” His gaze drifted to Thea laughing in the pool. “The nightlife in a village like this must be miserable. You and your friend will have to come to the city sometime too. I can show you how the grown-ups play.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Valerie asked. “Why Charlotte?”

  “Don’t tell me an exquisite, young thing like you is already a cynic about love,” Jasper said. “That would be a tragedy.” He reached for her hand again, but this time he took the untouched beer from her and took a sip.

  Valerie narrowed her eyes. “You really want us to believe this is about love?”

  Jasper brushed the hair away from his face again and offered the beer back. “Is it so hard to believe your mother would fall for me?”

  “Yes,” Valerie replied. “And she’s not my mother.” She turned her back on him and strode into the house.

  She was walking a thin line.

  Jasper was a Sterling, and her family owed them loyalty. He wasn’t her liege lord yet, but his father was, and he would be soon enough. But when she glanced back, Jasper didn’t look angry. The smirk was back on his face, and he took another sip from the beer, his eyes never leaving her.

  She found Henry and Charlotte in the hallway outside her father’s study.

  “He’s half your age,” Henry said.

  “He most certainly is not,” Charlotte objected. “I may be a few years older than him, but who’s to say what matters. A decade here or there is all the same anymore. Something you’ll understand when you’re an adult.”

  “I am an adult,” Henry said. “And you should’ve consulted us before agreeing to join our house to the Sterlings’.”

  “Consult you? Why should I have to consult you?”

  “Father’s estate—” Henry began.

  “Your father would have wanted me to move on,” Charlotte said. “He didn’t expect me to spend my life pining away for him.” She gathered her towel to herself, noting Valerie for the first time. “Now I must get dressed. Jasper is throwing us a party in the city tonight as soon as we arrive. His family wants to congratulate us.”

  Valerie opened her mouth to speak, but Henry cut her off.

  “I want Villa Rosa.”

  Charlotte stopped in her tracks and turned around. “I beg your pardon?”

  “Villa Rosa.” Henry glanced at Valerie. “We want it. It belonged to our mother, and it’s time we had a property of our own.”

  “Valerie isn’t even eighteen,” Charlotte objected. “She can’t own property.”

  “I’ll be eighteen this summer,” Valerie said.

  “And I’m graduating university,” Henry added. “It’s time for us to have what Father and Mother would have wanted for us,” Henry said. “God knows you’ve held onto it for long enough.”

  “We’ll discuss it later,” Charlotte said. “After the wedding. Jasper wants to be married right away, and we’ll have all the time in the world after that. I’m sure we can locate some little piece of land you two can have and—”

  “Villa Rosa,” Henry said. “And not someday. Now.”

  Lady Charlotte’s mouth tightened. “Is this because of that tournament? You think if you own land that you’d be permitted to fight? More reason I wouldn’t give you Villa Rosa even if it were possible. The last thing this family needs is you playing at being your father any more than you already do.”

  “What do you mean ‘even if it were possible’?” Henry said. “Why can’t you give us Villa Rosa?”

  Charlotte scrunched up her face even more but finally broke under Henry’s stare. “If you must know, I’ve given quite a few properties to Jasper. I don’t recall exactly which ones . . .”

  “You gave our mother’s lands to the Sterlings?” Henry exclaimed.

  “I had to give him something. He’s representing our family in the tournament. And it’s not as though I won’t still own them,” Charlotte said. “We’re getting married. We’ll all be one happy family.”

  “You mean the Sterlings will be happy,” Valerie interjected.

  “You’re letting Jasper fight in the tournament as a Terravecchia champion?” Henry asked. “Are you out of your mind?”

  Charlotte frowned at them. “Honestly, I thought you two could at least show a shred of decency and celebrate this occasion with me, but all you care about is getting your hands on more of what’s mine. I never would have thought you would be so ungrateful, especially you.” She rounded on Valerie. “Considering the fortune I’m spending for you to attend that university, you could do something useful with it. Instead, you spend all your time playing around with silly cars.”

  “It’s not playing,” Valerie argued. “I’m starting a business.”

  “It’s a waste of time.” Charlotte glared at Valerie.

  “She can do what she likes,” Henry argued. “It’s not hurting anyone.”

  “Isn’t it? Every dinner I attend, I have to listen to how everyone’s children are doing so well, and my stepdaughter wants to roll around in motor oil with the peasants. And you aren’t much better. A boy, play-fighting with swords. If you want to throw away your lives, so be it, but you won’t be getting any more handouts from me.” She tossed her hair and picked up her champagne glass, then forged her way down the hall.

  Henry had been angry before, but his face was now an unnatural shade of red. He muttered under his breath at Charlotte’s retreating figure, then turned and slammed his fist into the wall. He then disappeared through the door to their father’s study.

  Valerie followed.

  Cedar.

  Ash.

  The smell of old books.

  The tension from the hallway ebbed as she absorbed the scents around her.

  This was the one room in the house that still looked as she remembered from before. Her father’s massive desk and bookshelves had been assembled in the room and were much too broad and heavy to make it back out the door. This fact had preserved the look of the study and spared it the overhaul that had occurred in the rest of the house after her father’s disappearance.

  Henry was standing in the center of the room, staring at the oil painting that hung over the fireplace. The family portrait featured
a much younger Lady Charlotte, smiling alongside their father. Valerie’s younger self stared back at her with rosy cheeks and a childish grin. Henry’s portrait appeared every bit as handsome and capable as he was in real life. Age had now brought a maturity to his muscled frame, but Valerie could still see the boy in the painting when she looked at him.

  “This can’t be what he wanted for us,” Henry said.

  Valerie crossed the woolen rug to join her brother. Her eyes fell on the empty sword rack above the mantle. “Was Charlotte right? Is that why you didn’t want to wait? You want to register for the King’s Tournament?”

  Henry shifted his feet. “Under the king’s rules, if you want to represent your family name, someone has to appoint you champion. I knew Charlotte would never name me, but I thought if I could get out from under her and get land of my own, I could name myself. I could compete as a different Terravecchia household. It would be a chance to revive our family legacy.”

  “You want to be a knight? Wouldn’t that mean leaving?” The distance across the continent suddenly became real. The Knight Warden of the West spent as much time at the king’s court as he did at home, and the king’s court was nearly three thousand miles away.

  “I’m not saying I’d win,” Henry said. “But even placing would get me noticed.”

  “Plenty of people have noticed you. You’ve won championships.”

  “For school,” Henry said. “Wearing school colors and school emblems. I’m ready to fight for myself. For the Terravecchia name. But it’ll never happen until Charlotte gives us what’s ours.”

  “She hates tournaments. If she knows you want to fight like dad, there’s no chance.”

  “I know.”

  “Mister Henry? Miss Valerie?” Valerie turned to find Eugenia, the housekeeper, standing in the doorway. “There is someone at the door who would like to speak with you. A Miss Livingston.”

  “Show her in,” Henry replied.

  A few moments later, a tall woman in a light gray suit entered the room. She had a French manicure and was carrying a briefcase. “Mister Terravecchia, Miss Terravecchia, my name is Berkley Livingston, of Gable, Livingston, and Hughes. Do you have a moment to talk?”