“Ladies and gentlemen,” Alaezdar announced, “I have a nice surprise for you all. While our boys are resting, we have a little spectacle to show you involving one of your very own. Boys, release the pig!”
Five younger boys came into the pen, one of them carrying a small pot bellied pig. He let the little animal go and as soon as the pig was on the ground, it began to run around squealing and all the boys started to chase it. The pig tried to escape through the pen, but small boards had been placed around the outer edge to stop him. The crowd laughed as a few boys dove for the pig, but missed and landed in the soft sand.
Then, without any warning, Morlonn jumped into the pen from one of the oak tree limbs overhanging the pen. With his bow in hand, he reached into his quiver, nocked an arrow and released. He hit one of scarecrows in the chest. The boys kept chasing the pig, oblivious to Morlonn, who went to the next scarecrow, nocked another arrow and fired hitting another scarecrow in the forehead.
The boys now ran randomly around Morlonn as he rolled on the ground, nocking another arrow and firing from one knee. His arrow flew above one of the boys’ heads and hit the scarecrow in the chest again.
The crowd screamed in terror and began yelling curses at Alaezdar for Morlonn to stop before he hurt one of the boys, but Morlonn continued. He fired another arrow that landed directly in front of the pig, and the pig changed directions one more time. Morlonn then ran to the edge of the pen, climbed to the top and did a back flip off the top rung while he nocked another arrow and fired at another scarecrow. He hit it in its head right where the nose would be.
He fired off three more arrows in succession, hitting each scarecrow in the same spot where the first arrows had landed. Then he stood up and fired a series of arrows, so quick in succession that his hands were a blur as they went from quiver to bow. He fired inches in front of the pig’s path, each time forcing the pig to change directions, until it ran into one of the boy’s hands.
The kids cheered and now even the crowd cheered.
Alaezdar wasn’t sure if it was from relief that the spectacle was over or if it was from their pure excitement watching the spectacle. Maybe a little of both, he figured. Two adults, obviously parents of one of the boys, were still yelling curses at Alaezdar and Morlonn, but Morlonn took a sweeping bow, spinning around while doing so to incorporate everyone who had surrounded the round pen.
Alaezdar went over and raised Morlonn’s hand as if he had just won a tournament.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your village hero. Morlonn! At no time, I promise you, was your child in any danger…as Morlonn has just proven to you!”
The two parents grabbed their children and left the round pen. One of them, a heavy-set woman, was still yelling curses until her husband finished whisking her away.
Alaezdar smiled deviously. He knew he would never hear the end of it, but he could not help himself. He knew the kids were in no danger, but not having kids himself, he figured he would never understand a parental perspective. He had once known how to use that powerful emotion to gain advantage, though, because he had witnessed it when his leader, Commander Carsti Balron, had sent them on that final mission of kidnapping the children of his nemesis Reiker-Kol. Now Alaezdar was witness to that love bond again, but was still calloused to his reaction because he knew that the skills of Morlonn were beyond any he had seen in his life. He had felt this would be the best way to display those skills, by using other peoples’ kids for an emotional effect. For the most part it had worked.
“Now it is time for the tournament to continue,” he called out to the remaining crowd.
Two boys came out on cue and Alaezdar gave them a brief instruction on the rules and let the boys fight. They sparred for a few minutes before one was victorious, and another two came out and fought. They did this for about an hour before they worked their way down to a final fight between the two boys who were undefeated.
That ended the tournament for now, and Alaezdar sent the crowd away after assuring them of a safe final fight on the evening of the dance. As everyone left, Alaezdar went to Morlonn, clapped him on the back and smiled.
“Are you okay with your new and eternal criticism?” he asked, referring to the angry parents who had left early.
Morlonn smiled.
“Oh, yes. I know them very well. They have never liked our family, anyway. There has been a feud between us going on from when I was very little. I used to shoot at her brother with my arrows all the time. My dad beat the snot out of me for that, but I kept teasing him.”
“I am surprised you are still alive,” Alaezdar chided him, laughing.
“Yeah, I think my dad’s belt might have been the only thing that would’ve stopped me.”
“Well, I need to get back to Tharn and see if he needs help at his booth,” Alaezdar said. He smiled at his friend, pleased with both of their efforts.
“I’ll walk with you for a bit,” Morlonn said.
As they walked back to the village center and down through a row of booths, they began to smell the air clouding the area with the smoky smell of the burning wood in the cooking pits. Pork, beef and chicken would soon be thrown on the grills in preparation for the feast. The smoke lingered heavily in the air just above their heads and they both smiled to themselves and enjoyed the smell.
They were both feeling festive when they saw Tharn’s booth and, without saying a word, Morlonn parted and left Alaezdar to Tharn.
When Alaezdar had approached, he noticed that Tharn was talking to Ambassador Krostos, now dressed in his dark blue and black garb that signified he was from the Kingdom of Triel. They were standing in front of Tharn’s booth, full of the ripened honeydew melons that were known throughout the realm for their juicy sweetness, but as Krostos talked with Tharn, the ambassador did not seem too interested in his melons.
Alaezdar heard the pitch of the ambassador’s voice increasing and he saw Krostos grab a melon, smash it to the table and point his finger in Tharn’s face.
Alaezdar ran over to the booth, but when he got there, Krostos seemed slightly calmer although he was still red in the face.
“Tharn! Sorry I am late,” Alaezdar said. “I wanted to be here to relieve you earlier, but I just returned from the tournament.”
Krostos turned to Alaezdar, barely acknowledging him, and then faced Tharn again.
“You are running out of time!” Krostos said. “I need an answer from you soon, little man.”
He emphasized the word “little,” for Tharn, well past late middle age, was no longer as muscular as he had been in his prime and he was now getting paunchy around the middle, and other places. Tharn took the word “little” to heart.
Krostos shook his head, pointed at Tharn’s face with his finger one final time, turned and walked away.
“What was that about?” Alaezdar asked.
Tharn exhaled and ran his round hands over his bald top.
“Oh, nothing really, I guess. We have been friends for such a long time, but sometimes he gets like that and then apologizes later…after a few meads.”
“Are you sure that is the extent of it? I have already seen enough of these Trielian friends of yours to make me nervous. Triel is a powerful kingdom with a powerful influence among the other kingdoms, Tharn,” Alaezdar began, trying to be careful not to sound too educated about the nature of kingdoms and power. “What could he possibly want with a vale man merchant other than his merchandise?”
Tharn looked at Alaezdar unemotionally through his wizened eyes. The leathery wrinkles on his face barely moved as he spoke.
“Free merchandise,” he lied.
“What do you mean?” Alaezdar asked. “He wants you to give him your harvest?”
“He threatened to take the vale and steal the food from our crops every year if I did not give him this year’s entire melon crop.”
“Tharn,” Alaezdar spoke quietly. “Take a break, a walk, or whatever you need. I’ll take over for a while.”
Tharn took a towel and wiped his brow.
“All right. I think I will. I’ll be back in a few hours. Sure you got it?”
“Go! Relax for a change.”
Tharn, confident in Alaezdar’s ability to run the booth, gave a few brief instructions and left.
Alaezdar had seen enough of Triel through the years to know something was brewing in the realm, and whatever it was, it must now be seeping into the Valelands. He could not imagine why this area would be so important to have a Trielian ambassador struggling so for power over an area they could just take by force.
After a few minutes, Morlonn returned with a grilled beef and onion sandwich.
“Hey, have you seen Aaelie?” Alaezdar asked him as he handed him the sandwich.
“No, I haven’t seen her since the morning feast. She was with Rivlok last I saw her.”
“Oh, just as well, I guess,” he said gazing blankly in the distance and taking a bite of his sandwich.
“Hey, I’m going to go. You seem to have your hands full here at this booth,” Morlonn said, half laughing, half insulted. He walked off to join in some of the other festivities.
Alaezdar worked the booth for a few hours, dealing with the customers and all the ambassadors of the many kingdoms of Wrae-Kronn, but his mind was wandering. He couldn’t stop thinking about where Aaelie might be and what she was doing. Was she with Rivlok or was she with her mother?
He thought again about what was going on with Triel. There were so many representatives there from all the Northern Kingdoms. They had all begun to arrive, rolling in uncelebrated, nothing at all like the Trielian entrance. The inns and pubs were bursting with coin and carnage, all of it flowing full and fast. The Trielian soldiers were both the biggest violators and the biggest destroyers of the peace.
It seemed to Alaezdar that they had quite an elaborate rotation for who was on guard and who was on free time. They seemed to be treating their time there as an actual duty station, much as if they had actually overrun the village and were now in charge. If a fight broke out, whether it was between two kingdoms such as Battleworth and Triel, or even Triel on Triel, the soldiers on guard were diligent in breaking the skirmish up and reprimanding their own if necessary. They were rough on the other kingdoms’ representatives, but none of the other kingdoms arrived with such a full-blown aggressive military force as Triel had.
Alaezdar was dealing with an ambassador from the province of Korlond in the Kingdom of Battleworth when he finally saw Aaelie out of the corner of his eye. She had actually seen him first and was walking toward him with a brisk walk. Seeing her apparent determination to meet him, though, Alaezdar decided not to attract her attention, but continued to work with his customer.
“Alaezdar!” Aaelie called to him after she had reached a short shouting distance.
He ignored her as he gave the Korlond ambassador some melons and a note of intent to sell.
“Alaezdar!” she yelled again, her left hand waving over her head, frustrated that he was ignoring her.
Alaezdar finished with the ambassador, and then quickly switched his gaze to Aaelie just in time to see her change direction and walk away. She was moving her arms quickly back and forth to exaggerate the speed at which she walked.
She was just about out of Alaezdar’s sight when he heard and saw Rivlok call after her. She either did not hear him or ignored him, too, because she continued to walk on. Rivlok called her again, and Alaezdar smiled because she kept on walking even after Rivlok had caught up to her. He tried to slow her walk down so they could talk, but still she would not do either.
After the two of them had gone out of sight around the corner of one of the booths, Alaezdar saw Tharn walking back with Krostos. As Aaelie passed quickly by them, Krostos turned his head, grabbed Tharn by his shoulder, turned, and pointed at Aaelie as she walked by. This seemed to make Tharn angry, and he pushed Krostos in the chest and caused him to stumble back three steps before he caught his balance.
“You are beginning to test our friendship, Tharn!” Alaezdar heard Krostos yell, but he could not hear the response. Though heated, Tharn’s grisly voice did not carry like Krostos’.
“The day may come when you will regret those words, old friend,” Krostso continued loudly. “Triel is just in the infancy of its power, and if you don’t get on board, you will be eaten alive. In fact, I will make sure that you and this tiny community are the first to go!”
Krostos then turned away and stormed down road, but he kept looking left and right as he walked as if he were looking for something or someone.
Tharn shook his head and looked over at Alaezdar and started to walk toward him, but he changed his mind and walked the other way and disappeared out of sight.
Chapter 9
“That should do it,” Tharn exhaled as he tied down the final strap, securing the tarp of his booth. “All we have to do is tear it down tomorrow,” he joked.
Alaezdar stood up and wiped the dust off his knees. They both looked at the booth for a moment. They had taken everything out of it, including the last of the honeydew melons, loaded them onto a cart, and taken them to the food tent where the dance would be starting in a few hours.
Alaezdar swatted at a gnat flying near his face and noticed the sun dipping below the mountains, leaving a purple orange sky. For a few seconds he continued to gaze at the sun going down behind the mountains as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
“It is still hot,” he said, almost unconsciously. Tharn just grunted in agreement.
Alaezdar stood there thinking of Aaelie and what she was doing. He didn’t like admitting it to himself, but he could not wait to see her that night. He even wondered what she would be wearing on such a hot evening. The clouds in the sky were orange from the sunset, but a strange black tint was changing the sky to purple. He thought how beautiful a sunset it was, even though it was very odd. He remembered Gartan the Dark saying something about a purple sunset, and that thought caused him a brief pause and a sense of foreboding as the darkness overcame him.
“What do you say we go back, get cleaned up and get ready for the evening festivities?” Tharn asked. He looked at Alaezdar staring blankly to the sunset. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, sure. I think it is time we got out of here,” he said as he walked away from the booth.
They had not quite left the main street when they saw the Ambassador and Azrull coming towards them. Ambassador Krostos had a wrinkled and worried brow, and Warrior Azrull had his sword in his right hand. He was in full combat gear, except that he was without his helm. He looked angry and his pace was as brisk as a dog coming in for an attack.
Tharn sensed there was a problem and he put his hand on Alaezdar’s shoulder.
“Do not say anything. In fact, you can keep going. They won’t bother you.”
“No, I’d rather stay, if you don’t mind.”
“Suit yourself. Just keep your mouth shut,” he said and he turned to Alaezdar to make sure that he understood.
Alaezdar nodded.
“Tharn!” Ambassador Krostos shouted. “I have something to tell you.”
Tharn and Alaezdar stopped walking and waited for the men to approach.
“Move away!” Azrull said and he pointed his sword at Alaezdar’s chest.
Alaezdar looked at Tharn and Tharn just nodded, so he sidestepped a few feet away.
“Stay there and do not move or
I will remove your head from your shoulders, rancher.” Azrull said and moved the tip of his sword from Alaezdar to Tharn.
“What is wrong?” Tharn asked as he bowed his head before the ambassador.
I have just been to the storage shed to load up our supplies and your shipment is very much lacking from our agreement.”
Tharn nodded slowly. He knew this conversation would be coming.
“We have been having problems with the goblin tribes on the other side of the river,” he said.
“That is not my problem. What is my problem, though, is that the King is going to be very disappointed in this shipment and I am going to have to try either to defend you or disregard you and let someone else take over the procurement of the ore, which would mean soldiers taking over this village of yours. Now, is that what you want?”
“No, it is not,” he admitted.
“Too bad. It is going to happen regardless!” Azrull said.
Krostos looked at Azrull and smiled at him.
“Please, Azrull. Tharn is my friend. I do not want to jeopardize that friendship. However, you, my friend,” he said turning back to Tharn, “are putting me in a bad spot, and I do not like having to cover for you.”
“We are doing the best we can with what we have. I do not want or need soldiers milling about our village. However, it would be nice to have a small -- and I mean small -- detachment at the mine.”
“I am sorry, Tharn, but the king has trusted you to do with what you have. If he sends in troops, it will be in full scale.”
“Then I do not know what to tell you,” Tharn admitted.
“Well, it just so happens that I have come up with a solution that will help us both. Azrull, please escort Tharn’s man to his cabin so that Tharn and I can talk.”
The Warrior's Bane (War for the Quarterstar Shards Book 1) Page 10
