“Follow me,” the king said as he walked towards a wall that people started rapidly taking apart.
Tanner followed the man and could see the faces of the crowd around him. They looked as shocked as he was, all except for Golden who looked down right relieved. Tanner followed the King into the inn where no less than twenty heavily armed guards were all on the bottom floor. The King sat at a nearby table along with his wife the Queen.
“Who are your parents?” the King asked.
“I don’t know, they died and I was young. Thinking about them never put food on my table.”
“You will show some respect while you are in my presence young man,” the Queen said as she took a sip of something in her cup.
“You sound like you were raised out in the country,” the King stated.
“I was raised out in the country Your Majesty, but that doesn’t make me daft or inferior to any of these city folks.” Tanner replied.
“Now that I see him up close the resemblance is uncanny” the Queen said to her husband. “Young man, have you always been able to repel magic?”
“I don’t know nothing about jinx flinging or how to stop it,” Tanner replied.
“I have a proposition for you,” The King said but continued before Tanner could answer. “I want you to undergo special training and be the personal servant to the princess, you would be paid handsomely.”
“No offense to you all Your Majesties, but why would I want to do a fool thing like that?” Tanner asked. “I make okay money as a tanner and I don’t have anyone out to kill me, well not anymore since I don’t think Korvan wants another dance. I’m me own man, I would be dumber than a messenger with a three legged horse.”
“What if I told you it is not a request?” the King replied.
“So then what you telling me is that you are making me a slave to wait hand and foot on your little girl because I passed your little test? I would rather go back out in the square and die with some dignity than to be a bootlicker.”
“Your job would be more than just as a servant, you would also be her personal body guard,” the King said as his eyes bored into Tanner. “Furthermore you would only be needed until the end of the war, if we win you will never have to work again and a small cottage along with a stipend will be given to you until you die.”
“You mean to tell me, you will put food in my belly and a roof over my head until I die in return for watching over your little girl? No offense to you but I’m smarter than that. You must think me as daft as baker trying to sell clothes.”
“From time to time you may be called upon to do other military things,” The King said as he rubbed his chin. “How good are you with a sword?”
“I was taught by me uncle since I could talk, I’m no Golden but I can more than hold me own,” Tanner replied.
“Golden?” the Queen asked confused.
“Golden is the name of my best friend and he is destined to succeed at everything,” Tanner said thinking about his friend. “He was already the best swordsman in our entire village and none of us were surprised when we found out he had magic in him. If you don’t know the name now I’ll bet my life you will in twenty years, everyone will.”
“Perhaps,” the King said getting back serious. “My offer?”
“Who wouldn’t accept an offer like that?” Tanner grinned. “I’m only needed until this war is over and I won’t have to spend it out in the cold gutting some poor tosser who was unfortunate enough to be sent into war and placed in front of me.”
“Your language young man,” the Queen reminded.
“I’m sorry your majesty, I’m not used to being all proper like,” Tanner said apologetically.
“You have a high opinion of your skills,” the king stated.
“If I don’t believe in me Your Majesty, who will?” Tanner replied. “If you are talking about that fight in the square, that mage had me scared to death. But when his magic went all sixes and sevens I knew I had the fight. And if that dandy in the red sash could take me then I don’t deserve the name my uncle gave me and should be food for the worms.”
“What is your name?” the Queen asked.
“My name is Tanner Your Majesty,” Tanner replied.
“Tanner I think you are the baby of Geddon, my brother’s head assassin,” the king said as he eyed Tanner. “Geddon had an unusual ability, known only to the royal houses. He could cancel out the magic of others. It was rumored he fell for a serving girl and wanted to escape the life of an assassin. My queen would know Geddon’s face better than I though.”
“Geddon was for me what you will be to my daughter,” the Queen said as Tanner could see tears threatening to form. “My father was the greatest mage in all the land and he had Tavor’s ear. Many sought to replace him and tried to do so by assassinations. When Geddon’s uniqueness was discovered, he was my undercover protector until I married your King. At first only my father knew Geddon’s secret, he was a humble man who killed three mages over the years who tried to assassinate me. When Tavor found out, he had other uses for Geddon. I know he killed many Ketian mages before the war with Tavor even started. The last time I saw him he had an important need to leave Tavor and wanted me to take him with me. I knew Tavor never would let me so I turned him down. I can see the fear in his face even today, you look a lot like him.”
“No disrespect to you all Your Majesties but I’m no Tavorian, I’m a Ket through and through,” Tanner began. “If this story were true that my real Da was some lackey assassin, that has nothing to do with me.”
“Why do you call him a lackey,” the King asked with curiosity.
“Because he never was his own man,” Tanner replied. “I have been running me own business since my uncle passed. I make my own money, no one tells me how to spend it or how to make it. I can have a day off and do whatever I want. I’m not under anyone’s thumb, the only reason I am here because it is the duty of any man to protect his country in war time. This Geddon was a lackey who probably never took a vacation or just simply rested without being told to.”
“Maybe as you find out more about him your opinion will change,” said the Queen.
“As for now I need you to gather your belongings and report to the third floor,” the King said as he got up.
Tanner rose out of his seat and waited for the king to walk away. Tanner looked around at the stoic faces of the guardsmen around him, big burly men who carried dangerous looking weapons and who were armored to the teeth. Tanner thought himself lucky that this lot wasn’t sent after him, he doubted he could have killed a single one of them. Tanner walked out of the inn and passed the guards stationed at front and made his way over to his horse who had a very nervous looking Golden around her along with Thomas, Jack and Patrick. As Tanner neared the group he broke out into a smile.
“That was the most bad arse thing I have ever seen Tanner,” Patrick said as he clapped him on the back.
“Not only did you call out the head magistrate, you called the King a tosser and faced down 30 men,” Thomas said laughing. “I have to buy you a drink.”
“I wish I could take that drink,” Tanner replied. “The king liked my fightin so much he gave me a job. I’m to gather my things right away and meet him right now.”
“And you call me the Blessed One,” Golden said with a look of relief.
“Golden, this might be our last meeting in quite a while,” Tanner said as he put his hand on his friends shoulder. “You don’t go get yourself killed before this whole thing is over. I would hate to have to track down the tosser that did it all over Tavor.”
“I’ll miss you too Tanner,” Golden said as he pulled his friend in for a hug.
Tanner wiped his eyes and bid the rest of the men good bye then headed behind the inn. He tied his horse up where the other horses were, grabbed all of his bags and went into the inn.
“Head upstairs, put your stuff into the third room on the right,” a guard told Tanner as he walked in through the front door.<
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Tanner walked up stairs and thought to himself why the princess couldn’t have picked the first or second floor, his gear was heavy. The stairs between the second and third floors were lined with guards. To Tanner’s surprise on the third floor itself only had four guards one of which were walking towards him.
“You must be the boy we heard about,” the guard said nastily.
“You think you are better than me or something?” Tanner replied as he dropped his gear and put his hand on his pommel. “I didn’t see you put down a mage or face down a crowd of tossers aiming for your blood.”
The guard was bigger than Tanner, that he was sure. His shoulders were broad, not quite as big as Golden but close enough. He had a hazel eyes, well a hazel eye. His other eye was a milky white and had a scar that ran down from the eyebrow all the way down to his jawline. The man had a funny accent like the king, he was of obvious Tavorian birth Tanner thought but he still wasn’t going to take shit off of this guy.
“Leave the boy alone Grodd,” said another voice. “If the king wants a Ketian watching his daughters back he will get a Ketian watching the princess’s back. Let me show you where your things go.”
Tanner turned around and could see another guard who looked similar to whoever this Grodd thought he was. He was tall and broad and his eyes were the same hazel. He looked to be in his thirties Tanner thought and probably in good condition. Tanner opened up the door and saw it was already crammed with stuff. He picked out a small corner and laid his belongings down then went back out into to hallway.
“I’m Herod,” the nicer guard said as he stuck out his hand.Tanner gave it a hearty shake as the man smiled. “You’ve got callouses, is that from work or training?”
“It’s from both,” Tanner replied. “My uncle knew there were a lot of loud mouths that might need closing. He taught me whatever he knew and I practice every day, rain or snow or shine.”
“My brother wouldn’t admit it, but we thought you were either very brave or foolish with all the words you said while facing death,” Herod replied.
“If you got to go out, go out like a man instead of crying like a little girl who lost her dolly” Tanner said.
“Did your uncle teach you that also?” Herod asked.
“Right as rain he did” Tanner replied. “So what exactly am I supposed to be doing?”
“Well from what I have been told you are going to need special weapons and such, none as brazen as that sword you carry,” Herod said as he looked lost in thought for a second. “But before we get to all that, your role must be kept a secret.”
“A secret?” Tanner replied. “How is it going to be kept a secret when His Majesty went on about it in a room full of people?”
“We are the King’s personal guard,” another guardsman replied. “We were with him since Tavor, he trusts us with his life and secrets. And his biggest secret right now is you, said you were some kind of anti-mage.”
“If everyone knew about your gifts then you would be a target for whoever is trying to kill the princess,” Herod stated. “We barely stopped the assassin before he could complete his deed but I have to imagine he will return.”
“How did he get so close?” Tanner asked.
“He posed as a servant and sent a fireball at the princess,” Herod replied as if reliving the memory. “Grodd saw it coming and jumped in the way, his breastplate took the brunt of it but it set his pants and all the drapery on fire. He was trying to put himself out when the assassin turned and flung a wind spell at us, scattering us out the narrow hallway. He went by Grodd and had the princess trapped, she threw up her own wind spell which knocked the cur down but he was a stronger mage. He threw his own wind spell which knocked the princess down and was going for something nasty before I got a hold of him and tossed him out the window. We were on the third floor of the palace but when we ran out to find him, all we saw was broken glass. That was the only attempt that was blatant but we are sure there were others.”
“How could you not know for a fact if she had been attacked or not?” asked Tanner.
“Well her last three servants have turned up dead,” Herod explained. “One was killed during her off day in her room, her face was blue like she had been strangled but we could find no marks. Another was found burned to death when her mother’s house caught on fire. The last one before you was obviously attacked by the assassin, the King himself identified the wound with being in line with something only the king of Tavor’s personal assassins could do with their magics.”
“With all that, you lot haven’t armed yourself with bows or those fancy crossbow things I have heard of?” Tanner asked. “A mage could fry the lot of you and you would have no way to defend yourself if he were farther than sword length.”
“Don’t take us for idiots boy,” Grodd spoke up. “We already are having special crossbows made that won’t interfere with our armor.”
“So I am supposed to pretend to be her servant and wait for whoever this jinx flinger is to show his mug and then I’m supposed to put something sharp through it, is that the gist of it?” Tanner asked.
“For the most part it is, we will have to assess your combat skills and bring you up to par,” Herod said. “It won’t happen here though, we are only in Daum for tonight. The palace should be scrubbed for potential threats. Only Tavorians can guard the king, the Ket that are in the palace are all servants. Maybe one of them will become loose lipped around you, tell you about the assassin. At the very least you will be able to recognize someone who shouldn’t be there.”
CHAPTER 3
The next morning Tanner got up and went down stairs to pack his things on Winny as the Royal family began their trek back to Ketol, the capital city. Tanner had still not met the princess or seen a glance of her or the King and Queen since yesterday. They traveled for about five hours before the caravan was signaled to halt, Tanner thought it was probably for the midday meal. Tanner took Winny for water when Grodd walked up to him holding a wooden sword.
“You said you know the sword, I’m going to see if your teacher knew what he was doing,” Grodd said as Tanner saw he had another one in his hand.
“Are you trying to insult my uncle?” Tanner said as he snatched the sword and gripped the hilt.
“Take it however you want boy, this won’t...” Grodd never got to finish his sentence as Tanner went after him.
Grodd was taller than Tanner, quite a bit more muscular too. Grodd was even more muscular than Golden, now Tanner saw the man in a thin cotton top instead of a breast plate. Tanner also knew the only way to beat Golden was to catch him off guard or try to tire him out. Speed was something he couldn’t win at with Golden but as he attacked Grodd he learned one of two things. Grodd was not as fast as Golden or even as fast as Tanner with the sword. The other thing he found out was that Grodd was by far the most skilled opponent he had ever faced. It was like Grodd knew where Tanner was going to attack before he got there. Add to the fact Tanner had to constantly jump in to get inside Grodd’s reach then out before the older man could strike back. For the most part Tanner could see Grood was just defending, not really attacking. Tanner stepped up his pace and could see Grodd starting to sweat but his defense held even if a little shakily. Tanner took a step back and raised his sword high in the air before pointing it tip down to signal defeat.
“You were playing with me old man,” Tanner said disgustedly. “You could have spit me good like a fat trout if you wanted.”
“I think you did pretty good,” Tanner heard the King say from behind him. Tanner and Grodd went to a knee as the King bade them to rise.
“The boy is adequate Your Majesty,” Grodd said to the king. “Whoever taught him was probably a regular infantryman from Ket, he knew the basics and trained the boy well. The boy for the most part has the basic forms down as well as any of your guards. He is fast and youthful and obviously used to fighting a much larger opponent. However he takes too long to adjust his timing, up until the end he was goin
g the same speed. He also steps too much to the right, I could tell he had never faced a lefty or he would have fixed this flaw. He also knows none of the higher sword forms, if he had I probably would have been in a little trouble. As it were I recognized the forms he was in and just put my sword where I knew his would be.”
“Well I heard from the others you got along well when you first met,” the King said with a slight laugh. “Your job is to teach him what you know of the sword.”
Tanner watched the king walk away as Grodd turned back to him with a smile on his face. Tanner remembered all of the times he had gotten struck hard by his uncle when he was learning the blade and did not fancy that treatment; unfortunately that’s exactly what happened. Grodd at first started with the forms Tanner knew, Tanner did okay keeping Grodd at bay. When Grodd started making subtle changes though, striking at odd angles, using his knee and feet to attack is when Tanner would get hit. When Tanner tried to do the same it seemed Grodd was ready for him. The only time Tanner got a hit on him is when he secretly picked up a handful of dirt and threw it in Grodd’s eyes. Tanner then whacked him hard in ribs, right where he knew it would hurt. Grodd for the most part smiled then made sure to whack Tanner extra hard in the ribs on the next go around. Before long it was time to pack up and leave and Tanner had missed his midday meal, luckily he had plenty jerky on him. Getting back into the saddle was awful for Tanner, his ribs were bruised as was the rest of him.
The next couple of days went by in much of the same way, except Grodd would show Tanner exactly what he was doing first, then Tanner would try to emulate it. Tanner had a bit more success in keeping Grodd off him but as he was still learning the new moves it was all he could do not to get put on his backside. At the end of two weeks Tanner had still not seen the princess yet but that paled in comparison when he set eyes on Ketol.
Ketol had a huge wall around it but he could see three towers jutting out proudly, two were the same size and the one in the middle was taller still. Tanner could not tell what they were made of but the road he was traveling on was made of stone. A stone road! Who had such money that they could get stone carved and use it for a bleeding road? The king had money like that Tanner remembered and although he thought traveling on the road was a lot nicer than the mud, it was still a bloody waste of money. The fields around Ketol looked well-manicured and numerous. Tanner thought to himself with the forest so far away he could make a killing selling his hides up here.
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