by T J Trapp
The Queen composed herself and continued, “Now comes the worst of my folly. Forgive me Daughter, because I did it for your own good. After we heard that you were lost, I sensed that you were alive. I thought we needed to send a rescue party to find you. I needed the Council to agree. But Brun refused to consider a rescue party. He said that you were dead, and my feelings were just the refusal of a mother to give up hope.”
“I knew better so I came up with a desperate scheme. I told Brun that I would agree to last year’s consort request from his son Brunder, and told him I was sure you were alive and in trouble. I told him that Brunder was honor-bound to find and rescue his intended consort.” She looked at Erin.
“Brun and Brunder were both furious, but knew I was right. That meant that Brunder had to go on a rescue mission to save you or else lose all standing in the eyes of our City. He had been delaying starting the rescue trip with one lame excuse after another. When the news arrived a few days ago that you were alive and returning, Brun has been insisting that you consort with Brunder immediately upon your return, and the Council agreed.”
Erin sat back, in shock.
“I am so sorry, but I thought it was the only way to save your life.” The Queen looked at Erin and shrugged her shoulders.
“Mother you picked the biggest pig in the whole land! I would have never agreed to that! I would have preferred to die!” Erin blurted out. She reached for Alec’s hand. “I am glad that I have already chosen.”
The queen continued, “The situation is not good. If I had died last night, the consort agreement would have died with me, so you might not have been bound by it. Since I am still alive this morning, both your decision and mine cannot stand. Either you two must flee, or the Council will insist that the two choices for consort resolve the issue in open combat.”
“Flee Erin’s home? Forever? That doesn’t sound like a good idea,” said Alec.
“Then you may have to take on Brunder,” the Queen said.
“What does that mean?” Alec asked.
The answer was interrupted by a commotion in the reception hall outside the Queen’s chambers. With an arrogant swagger, a muscular young man strode into the room.
“Why are you here? You were not invited!” said the Queen. “Leave!”
“Queen Therin, my dear step-mother, and soon to be my mother-in-law, calm down. I am here to see my intended,” said the man. “I heard that she has returned from her long absence, and I want to see her.”
“Brunder,” said Erin. “How good to see you. I would like you to meet my Consort, Alec.”
Brunder‘s eyes shifted from arrogant to wary to angry as he looked at Alec, then shifted his gaze back to Erin.
“You are promised to me,” he hissed.
“Well, it is too late. I consorted while I was traveling,” said Erin.
“No, no! Your mother, the great Queen Therin, promised you to me. You cannot break her promise,” said Brunder.
“I did not know the situation,” said the Queen. “I did not know that she has already selected her Consort.”
Brunder turned to Alec with rage in his eyes. “You are the problem! You! I challenge you to a personal dual to resolve this.” He turned and glared at the Queen. “That is the law, is it not my Queen?” He leaned forward and stared directly at the Queen.
“It is,” she said, after a moment’s pause.
“This afternoon, then – on the City combat field!”
Then Brunder stomped out of the Queen’s chambers. They could hear his heavy footsteps cross the Great Hall and the heavy outer door slam.
✽✽✽
Brunder stormed out of the royal Residence onto the common grounds, fuming. A buxom young woman was waiting for him. She came up to him and entwined her arm with his.
“Tonight, my sweet? Come to me tonight.”
“Not tonight Zari,” he said, brushing off her hand. “I have something else to do tonight. Tomorrow I will have time for you.”
“What is more important than me?” she pouted.
“Bah! The Queen’s daughter has returned! We all thought that she was dead.” Brunder spit into the dust of the commons. “Now I have to make her consort with me. But she brought someone with her – some strange man. She says she has selected her consort! This stranger! Hah!” Brunder’s eyes darted back and forth as he planned his next moves.
“I must kill him this afternoon in an open duel. Once he is dead, I will have to spend tonight riding that skinny wench to seal our consort arrangement.” He looked at his mistress, and a hint of a smile flickered across his mouth. “She will be squealing in delight, just like you, after I ride her a few times!” He patted Zari’s rear. “I will see you tomorrow. She will be the appetizer; you, my little cabbage, will be the main course.” He nipped her ear. “And the dessert.”
“Why not me tonight and her tomorrow?” Zari said, squirming under his arm.
“Because,” he said impatiently, “the only one that will defend her after her champion is dead would be her younger brother Colin. He is still out wandering around poking at slugs and managing the Queen’s affairs in the valley. I need to seal this union before Colin can round up any opposition. No one will oppose me tonight, no matter how much the fair Princess or aging Queen object. So, I must bond with her tonight to become her consort.” He slapped Zari’s round rear. “Be ready for me tomorrow.”
✽✽✽
Erin and Alec left the Queen’s chamber and went to Erin’s suite of rooms. Erin looked at Alec with fear in her eyes.
“Brunder is the toughest person and the best fighter in the land. He doesn’t lose fights. I fear for you.” She turned and stared out her open window at the gardens below. “It’s too bad you didn’t just kill him when he came into my Mother’s room.”
“That wouldn’t have seemed right,” Alec said softly. Then, scratching his head, “What kind of fight is this?” Why does it seem like every time I get to a new place, someone wants to kill me? he thought. Then, with surprise, and why does this now seem sort of … normal?
Erin turned to explain. “This will be a traditional duel. You fight at the City arena in the center of town, and you fight to the death. It is traditional that the contestants fight naked, but you can bring as many weapons as you can carry in your hands.”
“May I use any weapon any way that I want?”
“Yes.” She thought for a moment. “We have never had a wizard fight, so there are no rules against using any wizard power.” Then she took hold of his arm and said earnestly, “You should finish him as soon as you both enter the ring. Don’t give him a chance to do something sneaky, because he will.”
Alec mused about what he was facing. So here is the Queen, who is now married to Brun. And here is Brunder, who wants to be married to Erin.
“Brun and Brunder are similar names,” said Alec. “Are they related?”
“Yes!” replied Erin. “I guess you don’t know our naming customs. They are father and son. The ‘der’ is added to the father’s name to name a son. ‘Brun,’ – ‘Brunder.’ When the father passes, the son drops the ‘der’ part of the name. Your son,” and then she realized the implication, “our son, would be named ‘Alecder.’ Alecder. Alecder.” She repeated it twice. “It is a good name. I like it.”
A knock at the door broke her explanation. The Queen entered the room and addressed Alec. “You must have a second for the event this afternoon. Since you know no one, do you want me to find you a second?”
“That won’t be necessary,” said Erin.
“You will find him a second?” asked the Queen.
“No, I will be his second.”
Queen Therin looked at her daughter. If she was surprised, she did not show it. “That will not make Brunder happy,” she said.
“Too bad,” said Erin.
“So be it,” said the Queen, and left them to prepare for the duel.
✽✽✽
Erin and Alec walked to the arena arm in arm. Alec had
played in a few big sporting events in college, and this felt to him like one of those events. His stomach was fluttering. A crowd had already gathered. Venders were roasting sweet-smelling grains and roots and were selling food and ale. A carnival atmosphere, thought Alec, to watch me die.
Brun stood at the back of the crowd. The return of Erin was unexpected. He had paid the caravan master to take care of her permanently. This would not have been his plan. But this will work, he thought. My son relies on violence when treachery would work better, but he will certainly dispatch the outsider. Then I will have two paths to control Theland. One through Brunder and Erin and one through Amelia.
As they neared the arena, Erin saw a solitary figure come out of the crowd and walk towards her. Since Erin had grown up here, she knew everyone, and she recognized Zari when she approached. Zari came up to Erin and took her arm.
Zari whispered in Erin’s ear, “Don’t be too good with him tonight – I want him back. He has explained the political reasons why he must bond with an important person like you, but know that he is mine.” Then in a conspiratorial tone, she added, “He is particularly hard and good after he kills someone. Please don’t enjoy him too much!”
Erin was surprised and flustered at the comment. She started to remark back, but Zari released her arm and faded back into the crowd. Alec gave Erin a questioning look, but by now they were at the arena’s ring.
Alec guessed the ring was about thirty feet in diameter, edged by a well-defined circle of stones. Brunder was already on the other side, boasting to the crowd; a smaller man stood nearby as his second. Brunder would have drawn an admiring glance in any gym back home, Alec thought. He was a dominating physical specimen, several inches shorter than Alec but well-muscled and good-looking. Alec suspected that he also had the training and quickness to complement his strength. This would not be easy. Better body than mine, thought Alec, and knows the local customs. Knows how to be a ‘consort.’ Maybe Erin would be better off with him than me. He looked at Erin, and the look on her face dismissed those thoughts.
Alec stripped and handed everything to Erin. The only weapon he carried was his staff. He missed having his medallion around his neck but was comfortable using the medallion in his staff. Since there was no local taboo or inhibitions about nudity, seeing a naked body was not unusual for either sex. Most of the crowd were seeing Alec for the first time, and Erin sensed that more than a few of the single women were thinking it was too bad they wouldn’t have a chance to see him in bed with them. Taller than most of the men in Theland, his was a leaner physique than the warrior-gladiators of the realm, but he moved with an athletic grace that was foreign to the more muscular men.
Alec looked at Brunder. Brunder was still standing ten feet away from the ring, holding three weapons: a knife and a sword in his left hand and a small axe in his right hand. Alec turned to Erin.
“I love you,” he said.
“Come back to me,” she said.
Alec looked at Erin to make one last comment before he entered the ring.
“Watch out!” Erin grabbed him, jerking him aside and saving his life. Brunder had been looking for just this chance. When Alec turned to look at Erin, Brunder had thrown his axe at Alec from outside the ring. Only Erin’s pull had saved Alec from being impaled by the axe, but the shaft of the axe caught the side of Alec’s head. Alec was momentarily stunned and lost his focus on dark energy.
Brunder was across the ring to Alec in only a few strides. he had switched his sword to his right hand; the sword came up and swung towards Alec. Alec, still dazed, awkwardly caught the sword on his staff. Brunder brought the sword up and took a double handed swing. Alec caught the blade awkwardly again. For a third time, Brunder brought his sword up and slashed it towards Alec. Again, Alec was off-balance, and the staff came out of his hand and rolled across the ring to the other side. Brunder brought his sword up for a killing blow to Alec. The sword swept down toward Alec. Alec rolled, and the sword plowed into the ground.
Erin looked on with concern. This fight had started badly for Alec. She reached towards her sword in case she had to save Alec, knowing that if she helped him, they would have to flee her homeland forever. She would do that for Alec but wanted to wait until the last moment.
If Brunder had followed up rapidly, the fight would have been over, and Alec would have been dead – he could have chased Alec around the arena and harassed him such that Alec could not recover his staff. Brunder, of course, knew nothing of dark energy or the value of the staff to Alec – he saw the staff only as a simple weapon, and a decorative one at that. Brunder was a bully and wanted to show off his victory as well as lord it over Erin. He looked at the crowd and raised his hands in victory. Then he looked at Erin, grabbed his crotch and made an obscene gesture toward her.
Alec continued to roll towards his staff fearing a sword in his back at any time. Reaching it before Brunder looked at him, Alec grabbed his staff and crouched, ready for a sword blow. He saw that Brunder was still on the other side of the arena playing to the crowd.
Brunder turned back towards Alec. “You look like a scared bounder!” he roared. “I will make you squeal and make sure you suffer before I kill you. You will not die quietly after having tried to steal my woman!”
The only retort that Alec could come up with was, “Beware of cornered animals – they can be fierce!”
Brunder looked around, puzzled. “There are no corners, here, you fool – this ring is a circle.”
What a waste of a good saying in a literal society, thought Alec.
Then Brunder strode slowly and confidently across the ring towards Alec, ready to land the killing blow on what he thought was a cowering figure. This time Alec used the focus in his staff and felt the dark energy flow. Alec knew he could do as Erin wanted and end this quickly, but felt that would weaken Erin’s position in her society. Based on what he saw of Brunder’s strutting and stirring up the crowd, Alec felt that he also needed to make a show of this. Brunder swung his sword in a broad arc, but what now looked like slow motion to Alec. Alec stepped aside and used his staff to pop Brunder on the nose.
Brunder looked startled but came with another swing to decapitate Alec.
Alec moved aside and bashed Brunder across the back of the head. A few people in the audience cheered, and more than a few laughed.
Brunder was now angry. He took a two-handed swing toward Alec. If Alec had tried to block the swing, it would have knocked him down. Instead, Alec moved slightly and watched the blade sweep past him in slow motion. The swing carried Brunder past Alec, causing him to lose his footing. Alec took his staff and hit Brunder in the rear. The hit caused Brunder to sprawl outside of the ring. The crowd roared with laughter at this indignity.
“That is cheating,” said Alec, “you are out of the ring.” Brunder got up, now enraged and embarrassed. He had never had this kind of experience in any fight and had never before heard a crowd laugh at him.
Alec thought I could end this now and be safe, but for Erin’s status and my future as Consort, I need to put on a little more show that they won’t forget. With that, he felt for little dark energy and lit the crystal on top of his staff. It glowed as brightly as the sun.
Brunder was blinded by the crystal’s light but swung again. Alec dodged and slapped Brunder with his staff. Brunder fell to the ground. Again, after almost no pause, Brunder was up and charging towards Alec. Brunder tried a cross-handed roundhouse swing, a dangerous plan against a staff. Alec pushed the sword down and hit Brunder behind the head, driving his chin into the ground.
Brunder was up in no time and tried the same tactic again. Alec popped him behind the head, and again Brunder’s face impacted the ground. This time he did not get up. Fearing a ploy, Alec let him lie for a few moments. Then Alec prodded him with his staff. Only a slight sound came from Brunder. Alec rolled Brunder over. He could see Brunder’s knife sticking deep in Brunder’s side where he had fallen on it. He wasn’t dead, but the wound was certain
ly fatal, and everyone in the stands knew it. There was a murmur from the crowd, and then silence. Alec put out the light on the top of his staff and stood over his opponent. He was unsure what to do. Should he kill Brunder in cold blood? Or try to revive him?
He was saved from the decision. A flaming sword flashed at the edge of the ring as Erin stepped forward and took one sweep through Brunder’s neck. The head and body separated and rolled in different directions.
“Pig,” she said and spat on his torso. Then she loudly uttered the ancient curse of the victor. “‘Begone, my foe, lie in death’s shadow, and do not defile this world again!’”
Then she turned to Brunder’s midsection and with another cut separated his male parts from his body. She caught the parts on the bottom of her sword blade and flicked them to the feet of a sobbing Zari. He is yours now, she thought. Enjoy.
Then she turned to the crowd.
“I stand before you as your Princess of Theland! This is my rightful consort, the Great Wizard, Alec!” she shouted. “Does anyone here question my choice?”
For an instant, Brunder’s second looked like he would say something but then shrank back; trying to fight flaming objects was beyond him. Brun stood by the side of the arena, looking at his decapitated and mutilated son, and said nothing.
“Then let it be known that no one has challenged my intended. All hail my Consort, Alec.” After a brief hesitation, one man in the crowd cheered, then the others joined in, some weakly, some with gusto. There were no hisses, and no one spat.
“Come, my Consort, we have much to do.” With that, she took Alec’s hand and led him from the arena. He could still hear the applause as they walked away from the field.
Part Two
14 – Winter in Theland
In the weeks after Brunder’s death, life in Freeland City seemed idyllic to Alec. The majority of the population readily accepted him as Erin’s Consort. He shared Erin’s suite of rooms – apartment, really – in the royal Residence. The Queen had taken to Alec immediately. Alec found that he liked Erin’s younger brother, Colin, and they meshed as two brothers should.
