Accidental Champion Boxed Set

by Jamie Davis

  “It’s possible. I never met them, but she said he was a blacksmith who worked up by the castle. That shouldn’t be too hard to find. Let’s keep a low profile, though. We don’t want to get bogged down with any trouble dealing with the Duke’s men.”

  Mona perked up at the mention of the blacksmith. “I could use the services of a good blacksmith. I’m running into some trouble with the crafting of the portal device to take us home. I think I need a stronger, more light-weight alloy than I’ve been able to find elsewhere.”

  “We can ask him about that while we’re there,” Hal said. He turned to Stefan. “Lead on. We’ll be good.”

  “What’s with the ‘we,’ dear? I’m not the one who loses his temper and kills people he thinks need killing.”

  “Fine, I’ll be good. Let’s get going. Hopefully, this blacksmith friend knows something.”

  The trio started into the town and turned left to head up the hill towards the castle above them. The street wound around and through a district of warehouses and then through a residential area.

  Hal waited until yet another unit of the Duke’s guard marched past them and leaned towards the others.

  “There sure are a ton of soldiers here for a small town like this. It’s more like they’re an occupying force who’ve conquered the place.”

  “Let’s keep going,” Mona said. “We’ll learn what is going on soon enough.”

  They kept going until they could see the landward battlements of the baron’s castle ahead. The numbers of the Duke’s guard had increased and it was clear they were using the castle as a base of some sort.

  “Listen,” Mona said. “Hear that? That’s a hammer on an anvil. Come on.”

  Mona took the lead and Hal soon heard the steady hammer blows as well. They followed the sound until it took them to a small building in front of a fenced in smithy with an open forge at the back.

  Hal held the door while Mona and Stefan entered the smithy’s store.

  A young woman with her dark brown hair pulled back in a french braid stood behind a counter. Behind the counter was a wall rack full of swords, knives, and other sharp implements of various sorts.

  “May I help you?” The young woman asked.

  “Maybe,” Hal said. “I wonder if it might be possible to talk to the smith. I think he might be an acquaintance of my daughter’s and my wife and I are hoping he can help us find her.”

  “I’ll go and tell him you’re here. Can I have your name?”

  “Hal, Hal Dix. This is my wife, Mona, and the young man over there is Stefan.”

  At the mention of his name, all the blood rushed from the girl’s face and she went deathly pale. She gathered her wits about her before Hal could ask her what was going on, she held up a finger for them to wait and ran out the rear door of the shop. Hal presumed it led into the smithy’s courtyard.

  Mona nodded to the rear door. “She knows who we are based on her reaction. That means she’s probably met Cari. I think we’re in the right place.”

  “I hope so,” Hal replied. He picked up a sword from the rack behind the counter. “This is good work. It’s lighter than I’d expect for a blade this size.”

  “Let me see,” Mona said. She took the blade and examined it, then pulled a small jeweler’s loop from her utility belt and peered through it at the flat of the blade then turning it to look at the edge, too.

  “Cari’s been here. I’m sure of it,” she said, setting the blade back on the counter.

  “How can you be so sure?” Hal asked.

  “There’s no way this blade and the alloy it’s crafted from is the work of a local smith. I have yet to see a blade or anything else made of it anywhere. Plus, the edge geometry shows a sophisticated double grind. Unless I miss my guess, Cari has developed some decent crafting skills while she’s been out galavanting around Fantasma.”

  The rear door swung open and a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped through the door. He looked from Hal to Mona and back again and his shoulders sagged and he shook his head.

  “Hello,” Hal said. “I’m—”

  “I know who you both are. I had hoped Maisy was exaggerating or had misheard your names. It’s easy to see who you are, though. Your daughter resembled both of you.”

  “Wait,” Mona said. “What do you mean by ‘resembled?’ You act like she’s dead or something.”

  “Perhaps we should come over here and sit down.” He gestured to the corner where a round table and four chairs sat.

  “I don’t need to sit,” Mona said, her voice taking on a monotone and sounding cold as ice. Her hand dropped to her utility belt. “Tell us who you are and where Cari is.”

  “I’m Heath, Heath Fletcher. Cari was my friend and, in some ways, a sort of comrade in crafting.” He blinked and turned from Mona to Hal. “I can’t believe you two are really here. She talked about her parents a lot, but it was only recently that we knew who she really was and to whom she referred when she mentioned you two.”

  “You’re not answering my wife’s question, Heath. Where is Cari?”

  An anguished look crossed his face and tears filled the smith’s eyes, threatening to brim over and flow down his cheeks. Eventually, he failed holding them back.

  “She’s gone, killed at sea in a great battle with the ships of the Duke of Charon.”

  “Dead?” Mona managed to croak out through a throat tightening with grief. “I don’t believe it. We’d have known something like that, wouldn’t we, Hal?”

  “What happened?” Hal asked. “What have you heard?”

  “It’s all over town. The Duke’s ships came into the harbor a few days ago, two days after the soldiers took over the town. Cari was forced to flee in the Vengeance. When the ships came back, they were all badly damaged and I got the impression more than a few of their fleet had been sunk during a recent sea battle. The Baron’s guard captain is a customer of mine and he came in the shop after the ships returned.”

  Heath shook his head and stopped talking. He looked at the floor in front of his chair, unable to continue.

  “Out with it,” Hal said. “What did he tell you?”

  “The Duke’s fleet was waiting off the coast for Cari to flee in her ship. They pursued her and managed to sink her ship in a running battle. They were attacked at the end of the fight by a fleet of swift Raider ships and had to flee the area. They all told the guard captain there was little doubt they’d succeeded in killing the girl. Many claimed to watch The Vengeance sink. It was lost with all hands.”

  Heath looked up at Hal. “I’m sorry, Prince Hal. I am a father, too. I can only imagine what I’d do if one of my children was taken from me like that.”

  Hal, his heart heavy as grief rolled over him, tried to think of some way this young smith could be wrong. There had to be a way for him to find out if she’d somehow survived the fight despite her ship being sunk in the battle.

  Then it came to him. He opened up his personal stats menu and selected quests from the options there. It brought up a new menu.

  Quests:

  —Active quests

  —Completed quests

  —Failed quests

  Mentally clicking on the active quests item, his heart skipped a beat as the menu option opened.

  Active quests:

  —Locate Cari and take her home

  Mona sat next to him, staring at the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks. Hal reached out and took her hand.

  “Don’t cry, honey. She’s still alive.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Check your quests menu. The quest to find her and take her home is still active. If she’d died out there in the sea somewhere, we would have both gotten a failed quest notification. The fact that we didn’t means she’s still out there. Somehow, against all the odds, she survived. Cari’s alive.”

  Epilogue

  Cari listened to the children playing in the courtyard behind her and smiled. Turning, she watched as the two little girls sat and giggled a
t each other while they played with the porcelain dolls, dressing them up in a variety of outfits from a small wooden chest on the bench next to them.

  “Young Jaycee’s adjusting to being here well, it seems, don’t you think, Cari?”

  Cari nodded and turned to greet Crandall Wheldon, leader of the raider Council of Captains.

  “She and your granddaughter have become close friends in the last few weeks. I almost hate to take her away from all this. She deserves to be happy after all she’s been through.”

  “There’s no reason either of you has to leave, Cari. You are welcome to remain here. We can protect you. You’ll both be safe with us. Besides, according to the last ship in to Cairn Island from the mainland, you’re all dead, lost at sea during a great sea battle. No one knows you’re here.”

  “That’s good enough for the short term, Crandall, but it doesn’t stop the Duke of Charon from completing his task of taking over the Empire for himself either as a puppet master pulling the strings on Timron, or even as Emperor himself. Once that happens, he’ll come for you, for all the raiders. He can’t let you all live when you know everything he did to take the throne away from its rightful heirs.”

  “We’ve survived here in isolation for a long time, my dear. We’ll not let the Duke or anyone else bend us to their will ever again.”

  “I hope you’re right. You all have become my friends and I’d hate to see anything happen to you or this place.”

  “I hear a but coming.”

  “But, I’ve met Prince Timron and the Duke. I can’t let either of them take control of the Empire. Not as long as I possess the means to stop them. Plus, Jaycee is the rightful heir. It’s her throne and, like it or not, I find myself in the position to be a protector and champion for the heirs of this land.”

  Crandall laughed. “Judging from the sour look on your face, it’s something you don’t like.”

  “Let’s just say I never wanted to take on the family business. Prince Hal was the hero of this land, not me. I don’t want the job, but it’s been thrust on me. I’ll not shrink from doing what is right.”

  “Spoken like a true champion.”

  “Yeah, one who stumbled on the job by accident. If you only knew how I ended up here.”

  “Someday you’ll have to tell me. So how long do you intend to stay?”

  “I’m waiting for word from my friends on the mainland. I’ve got a few feelers out to leave messages for them here and there. They’ll get back to me once they realize I’m alive and well. After that, we’ll see. There’s nothing forcing my hand as long as no one knows we’re here.”

  Crandall grinned at Cari. “Excellent, then. You’ll be staying put here for the time being until the opportunity comes along for you to produce the young princess.”

  “I guess so,” Cari replied.

  Squeals of delight from the courtyard interrupted them and both captains turned back to watch the children. A servant had brought in a crate. Both little girls reached inside, each pulling out a small yellow puppy. They cuddled them to their chests, laughing as the puppies nuzzled and licked their faces.

  “She’s safe with me by her side,” Cari said, to herself as much as to the raider captain. “I’ll be her champion.”

  Accidental Dragoon

  Chapter 1

  Captain Cari Dix stood over the long dining table in Captain Crandall Wheldon’s estate, looking at the expanse of charts spread out across it. She stabbed a finger down on a small town west along the coast from Tandon. “Can’t we land here?”

  Crandall shook his head. “No. The Duke’s forces are spreading out across the western reaches of the Empire. The imperial naval forces under his control are blockading each of the ports as they reach them and he has situated land forces along most of the approaches to Tandon.”

  “Well, we’ve got to find some place to land. We can’t stay here forever.”

  Cari’s eyes scanned the map in front of her and then looked at the other charts showing different portions of the western coastline of the Empire Fantasma. There had to be somewhere she could get ashore safely and begin transporting Crown Princess Jaycee to her great-grandmother, the Empress.

  “What if we tried to force our way through and get into Tandon’s harbor before any naval ships were able to catch us?” Helen Doolan, Cari’s first mate, said.

  “That’s not something I’d want to try,” Crandall said. “There are more naval ships out there now than you want to run past. Even in my fast schooner, they’d be able to corner us at some point, and we won’t be able to fight our way free. That boat is equipped to run fast, not fight a pitched battle at sea.”

  Cari stood looking down at the map, her hands on her hips and shook her head. “We can’t stay here. We can’t get to the mainland.” Cari ground her teeth in frustration. “Is there any way we can avoid the vote in the Council of Captains tomorrow, Crandall?”

  The old Raider captain shook his head. “I have some sway with the majority of the captains in port, but even that isn’t enough to get past their need to trade goods somewhere. You made it so we didn’t have to be pirates anymore. Most of the captains appreciate that, but that means we have to be able to become merchants again. That’s hard to do when all the nearest ports are sealed against you.”

  “It’s like they know you and the princess are still alive, Cari,” Helen said.

  “Yes,” Cari agreed. “And that means someone here on Cairn Island got word to the Duke about not only me but also the princess.”

  “Unfortunately, I agree,” Crandall said. “All the more reason to get you ashore on the mainland as quickly as possible. Once the naval commanders under the Duke of Charon’s control think they’ve got enough ships to come here in force and challenge us in our own waters, they are going to come looking for you. It’s one of the reasons the council wants to vote to have you expelled. I think I have wrangled enough votes to allow you all to stay here with me for now but there will be another call for a vote next month, and the next, until they succeed. As long as this economic pressure is on us, one or more of the friendly captains are going to flip sides. Eventually, we will lose the vote. It’s inevitable, I fear.”

  Cari leaned over the table and traced her finger along the coastline once again. “Morton Creek is out. They’re letting ships in and out but searching them as they arrive. That also appears to be where the Duke’s pet admiral has set up his headquarters. We could put in at one of the small fishing villages along the coast between Morton Creek and Tandon.”

  “Most of those were raided by Sultanate slavers, remember?” Helen pointed out. “Even if we landed there, we wouldn’t get much in the way of supplies or support. By the reports I’ve heard, only a few have managed to rebuild again. Most are still charred ghost towns.”

  Cari continued, bypassing Tandon on the map. The strongest blockade force was rumored to be headed in that direction. “Our only option is to head northwest and hope one of the other free cities farther north along the coast is able to get us the support we need once we land. We must break through to Tandon and coordinate with the Duke there to help us reach the Crystal City and Empress Kareena.”

  “The Duke of Charon has almost taken control of the entire Empire at this point. Only the western cities remain,” Crandall said. “It’s not going to be easy to make it through to the capital no matter where you land. Once the old Empress dies, the Duke of Charon is ready to put that puppet, Prince Timron, on the throne as fast as he can.”

  “Yes, but, Timron is in hiding right now,” Cari observed. “He won’t come out until he knows it’s safe for him to travel to the Crystal City. He’ll only do that once his grandmother passes away. That gives us time to get Jaycee there first. If we can keep her safe, even the Duke of Charon would have to let her succeed her great-grandmother when the time comes.”

  “He’ll push to become the regent, you know,” Crandall observed.

  “It’ll be difficult for him to do that spitted on the end of my
sword,” Cari snarled. “He’s got a lot of good people’s lives to pay for. I intend to settle accounts with him once I get the chance. He won’t be able to avoid a public challenge to his honor and then I’ll finish him in a duel once and for all.”

  The discussion was interrupted by Francesca, one of the few surviving members of Cari’s crew. “Excuse me, Captain. I think you should come see this. There’s something going on outside.”

  “What is it, Francesca.?”

  “It’s some sort of disturbance. It sounds like there’s a mob forming outside of Captain Wheldon’s estate gates.”

  Captain Wheldon looked up in alarm. “A mob? I’ll see to this right now. No one challenges me in my home like that.”

  “Crandall,” Cari said. “You have to be careful. If something is going on out there, they might not listen to you.”

  “I’ll not let these scurvy dogs run you off the island like this. The council of captains hasn’t voted yet and I’m not going to stand by and let the mob rule. If they want things to change they have to wait for the council to vote.”

  Cari, Crandall, and Helen followed Francesca out to the second-floor balcony looking down over the stone wall surrounding the Captain’s estate. There seemed to be an angry group of people shouting and pointing at the house through the gate.

  Cari pointed at the crowd. “Look. That’s Day Ivarson. It figures he’d be in the middle of this.”

  “I’ll have his head on a stick,” Crandall said. “He’s a captain on the council and knows better than to stir up the common folk like this.”

  “It seems he’s forgotten,” Cari said.

  “I’m going down there. You all stay here. I’ll get them to disperse.”

  Crandall left them standing on the balcony as he headed for the stairs. Cari looked past the other side of the gate and saw more people coming up from the port down below. “I don’t like this, Helen. Look, there are more people gathering. Eventually, this mob is going to get out of control. We need to make plans to get out of here.”