Benjamin Ashwood Series: Books 1-3 (Benjamin Box)

by AC Cobble

  The second man shoved his companion out of the way and set himself to face Ben. He held his club upright with firm hands. The way he set his feet told Ben he was no stranger to combat.

  The injured masked man stumbled across the street to lean against the wall of a granary. He gripped his injured arm. Blood leaked around his fingers in a steady flow. He was recovering from the shock. Judging from the blood, it was a deep cut. He wouldn’t be returning to this fight.

  “What are you waiting for, pup?” snarled the man.

  Without speaking, Ben held back and assumed a defensive posture Saala had taught him. The more the man talked, the more he might learn about what was going on.

  The man took half a step forward and paused, looking back at his bleeding friend and then at the unconscious Red.

  Suddenly, Renfro staggered to his feet and let out a curse. “I think the son of a bitch broke my arm!” The former thief used his good arm to yank out a small razor-sharp knife. His other arm hung limp and twisted at his side. “I’m going to cut that bastard’s throat and use him as fish bait.”

  “Shit, Arnold. Let’s get out of here,” barked the bloody man leaning against the granary.

  The second man, who must have been Arnold, glared at his companion then back at Ben. “I’d love to stay and finish this, but my friend here needs to go. Follow us and I’ll crack your skull open.” He swished his weapon back and forth a few times as if to show he meant it and then gestured to the still unmoving Red. “You can have him.”

  Both masked men started slowly backing down the street before getting nearly a block away where they turned and ran.

  Ben looked at Renfro, who was angrily scowling at their backs and muttering foully under his breath.

  “You think I should chase them?” asked Ben.

  “No, I think they may turn and fight. That wouldn’t do us any good. The little I saw, he looks like he knows what he’s about. You probably couldn’t injure him like the other. You would have to kill him, and we don’t need that.”

  “Well, we have him,” replied Ben, gesturing to Red. “You weren’t serious about the throat and the fish bait, were you?”

  “Oh, I want to. Believe me, I want to.” Renfro stuck his knife back behind his belt with a cringe of pain. “But not as much as I want to know what the hell just happened.”

  That evening, their warehouse resembled a fortified camp more than the brewery it was. The former porter Red was still unconscious. The physician they brought in said he would survive. Renfro got a splint on his arm and bandages wrapped around his torso. It turned out he did have a broken arm and several ribs to go with it. He was ordered to rest and remain stationary. Instead, he was stalking around the warehouse, swilling from a skin of harsh liquor.

  Renfro would heal with little permanent damage, but Evan was not so lucky. He passed shortly after they got him back to the warehouse. The physician said his skull was cracked by the blow and that he didn’t have a chance. The mood was somber, but they had to understand what happened before they could take time to mourn Evan.

  Saala was still travelling for at least another month, but Rhys had arrived quickly when he heard what happened. He gathered the details and then helped Ben set up buddy systems and arms for their work force. They were sure Renfro had been the target of the attack, but they didn’t know if it was directed at the business or him specifically. Until they knew more, no one was to move around alone. They would monitor the warehouse in shifts. Those with families were encouraged to bring them in or send them elsewhere for safety.

  Rhys was about to leave to investigate what he could at the scene when Lord Reinhold arrived.

  Reinhold marched up to the doors, which a porter quickly swung open, and walked in without slowing. He brought a heavily armed squad of guards who spread out around the building and disappeared down side streets. A few followed him in and casually started examining the entryways and windows.

  Reinhold saw Rhys and gave a hawkish smile. “I offer you a job and you turn me down, but when I really need it, I see you are here before me.”

  “Just here as a friend,” responded Rhys.

  “Very well,” replied Reinhold. “Your presence is appreciated.” Reinhold turned to Ben. “So, we are assuming it is our business that is under attack?”

  Ben shrugged. “I’m not really certain, but I think it must be. The attack was planned and they used our own man to set us up. I wasn’t supposed to be there, but they knew who I was. What else could it have been?”

  Reinhold looked to Renfro. “Our partner has been known to be involved in under the table dealings. Despite that, being set up by our own man and continuing the attack against you, we must consider this an assault on all of us. You will have my full support in this. The warehouse will be watched by my men and any of our employees who wish it may stay at my barracks with their families. There is no better protection outside of the Sanctuary.”

  “The men will be glad to hear that,” acknowledged Ben.

  “I understand this Red is still unconscious. Is there anything we’ve been able to find out?”

  “Well,” Ben answered, “the attackers were masked and did not leave anything behind. All we know is that they know us and that one of them was named Arnold.”

  One of Reinhold’s guards politely coughed and the lord scowled darkly. “I know,” he said to the guard. To Ben, he continued, “I suspected, of course, but it’s good to get confirmation. Arnold is one of Gulli’s thugs. He is well known to people who soon have their merchandise smashed, businesses burned, and customers threatened.”

  “So it is Gulli!” exclaimed Ben. “I thought so as well. I was worried that it could be, uh, someone else. It didn’t seem like their style though. Do we go to the authorities now?”

  Ben breathed a sigh of relief. He knew it was irrational, but after the latest dealings with the Sanctuary, he was worried they were behind this. It didn’t make sense, of course—a mage could easily wipe out him, Renfro, and their entire warehouse. Gulli was dangerous, but he was a man just like the rest of them.

  “Who else would it be?” asked Reinhold quizzically, then kept talking without waiting for a response. “No, there is no use bringing the Watch into this. Gulli isn’t any better than a common criminal, but he is a lord, and that offers certain protections from the law. The name Arnold is definitely not enough for the Watch to even speak with him. Besides,” Reinhold laced his fingers and glanced around the room, “sometimes these things are better settled outside of the law.”

  17

  Engagement

  The next few days were both tense and boring. They continued to serve their customers and conduct normal business, but unless necessary, no one left the protection of the warehouse. Even when making deliveries, Reinhold’s men went in force and provided support. They barricaded some entrances to the warehouse and added observation points on the roof. No one could easily approach without being seen. Racks of arms now stood by the door and squads of Reinhold’s men were always nearby.

  The City’s Watch paid scant attention to the small bands of armed men roving the streets.

  “It’s not unusual for lords to take matters into their own hands,” explained Rhys. “The privilege of having a title. Normally it’s knives in the dark, so it doesn’t make a mess in the streets and doesn’t disrupt Sanctuary business.”

  But despite their preparations, nothing happened.

  There were no more attacks and they found out Gulli appeared to have fled the City. Renfro crowed with success, “We ran the bastard off. He must have realized he bit off more than he could chew. We’re going to own this town!”

  Ben wasn’t so sure. Gulli knew before the attack that Reinhold partnered with them. The attack made no sense if Gulli was afraid of conflict with Reinhold.

  Ben exchanged letters with Amelie and Meghan and they expressed the expected shock and dismay at what happened and offered condolences for Renfro. Ben was looking forward to seeing them in person
on the next Newday but finally that morning, they got their first bit of activity. Red woke up from the week-long coma he’d been in.

  “Water!” he called coarsely over and over again. They had trickled water into his mouth while he was unconscious to keep him alive, but now that he woke, they wanted him to be uncomfortable. He was locked in a storage room in the warehouse and they were waiting on Rhys to arrive to begin questioning him.

  When Rhys got there, he tersely asked, “How is he?”

  “He wants water and he’s alive. We haven’t asked him anything yet,” answered Ben.

  “Good. Come in with me and bring a water skin,” instructed Rhys.

  They entered the dimly lit storage room, which was bare except for a pile of empty sacks they had laid Red on. The big man was huddled in a corner of the room, staring remorsefully ahead.

  Rhys tossed the water skin down next to Red and drew one of his knives, which he placed across his knees. He squatted down in front of the man.

  “You are welcome to drink as much water as you need while you answer our questions,” stated Rhys.

  Red snagged the skin and took a long drink before looking back at Rhys and shuddering. “I know who you are and I know what you do. I’ll answer whatever you need, but I don’t know much.”

  “You better know something,” growled Rhys menacingly.

  Red sighed and leaned his head back against the rough wall. “I have a problem. I like to gamble. Sometimes I go down to one of Gulli’s places, the Red Door. I, uh, I haven’t been doing too well recently. Maybe longer than just recently.”

  Rhys slid a finger along the blade of his long knife and nodded for Red to continue.

  “Well, some men, I guess they are Gulli’s, they found me down there one night. Said they had a way I could wipe out my debt. All I had to do was get Renfro to a spot over by the granaries. That was it. I didn’t know what they were going to do, I swear!”

  “Surely you had to suspect what they were going to do,” snarled Rhys.

  “You’re the one who hit Renfro with the cart!” exclaimed Ben.

  Red flushed enough that his red face was visible in the dim room. “I didn’t know for sure! I hoped, though. I never liked that little shit. Always running around like he’s something special. Everyone knows he was some two-copper thief in Fabrizo. He just got lucky hooking up with you. And, yeah, I hit him. Once it started, I figured that was my shot to get personal.”

  Despite himself, Ben gained a sliver of respect for Red. The man was their captive and had to know Renfro was lurking around somewhere nearby. He still said what he did. He must really hate Renfro.

  “How did you know they were Gulli’s men? If they were going to wipe out your debt, they had to give you some assurance, right?” asked Rhys.

  “I didn’t know for sure,” implored Red. “I mean, so what if they weren’t? I wouldn’t be any worse off than I was. Being in debt to Gulli, that’s a tight spot.”

  “You don’t think this is a tight spot?” Rhys gripped the hilt of his long knife but left it resting on his knees. “You said you know me. Are you certain you’re not in a much worse situation now? I want you to think about that. Think about what you could say to me to get out of the spot you are in now.”

  Red sighed. “I don’t know nothin’. I was just supposed to lead Renfro to the granaries. They said after I did it they’d send word to Gulli and my debt would be wiped clean. I don’t even know the guys. I think they were the same ones who attacked you.” He looked at Ben. “I’m pretty sure it was them.”

  “Send word to where?” asked Ben. He looked at Rhys, who rolled his eyes. They’d spent time planning how to get Red to talk. Now he was singing like a bird, but had nothing useful to tell them.

  “I guess wherever Gulli is,” muttered Red unhelpfully.

  Figuring out where Gulli went proved to be harder than finding out he was gone. By the next Newday, they still didn’t have any promising leads. His business associates all claimed he was in the hills around the City. There were plenty of small villages scattered around and none of them made sense as a hideout for a lord on the run. His home in town and modest estate to the north on the river were both empty. Even the household staff had vanished.

  Reinhold was fuming. He had moved into the brewery business to cut into Gulli’s profits and erode his ability to do business in Reinhold’s other markets. Ben realized that Reinhold now relished the idea of violence with his smaller rival. Whether he’d planned for this conflict all along or whether he was just seizing the opportunity, Reinhold was prepared and ready for anything except waiting. The man was a master strategist. Not knowing what his opponent was doing was driving him mad.

  Ben tried to remain calm as he left to make the regular Newday visit with Meghan and Amelie, a pair of Reinhold’s guards in tow. During the actual fight, he’d felt a weird sense of peace. The confusion of the last few months had been gone. There was only one direction he needed to move. Now, he was back to the nervous indecision he’d felt before the partnership with Reinhold. They were all ready to act, but they didn’t know how.

  When the tall copper gates of the Sanctuary came into sight, Ben looked back at the two guards following him and decided he needed to let them know the tension he’d felt recently from the Sanctuary guards.

  “These guys are pretty wary. They haven’t given me any real trouble, but you two with me and heavily armed, they might.”

  “Really?” asked one of the guards. He was clean-shaven except a thin blond mustache that matched his closely cropped hair. He was typical of one of Reinhold’s guards—self-assured, neatly dressed, and always proper with someone he considered his better. He didn’t think Ben was. “That’s strange, having trouble with the Sanctuary. I can understand Gulli. I’ve been here countless times though, and these guys don’t give a rat’s ass who comes and goes. What are you going to do in there, attack a mage?”

  “Well…” Ben regretted speaking up. “I’m just saying to be aware. There’s something going on around here and I don’t know what.”

  “Okay, whatever you say. Maybe you’re on edge about the other situation. I’m just saying, think about it. You’ve got reason to keep an eye over your shoulder, but this place ain’t it.”

  At the gates, the old and young women’s faces stared out stoically. It was funny, thought Ben, how they seemed to change in the sunlight. An overcast day lead to an overcast expression, maybe? He’d have to pay more attention next time he was there.

  The guard’s expressions had gone from watchful to uninterested. Ben slowed his pace expecting trouble, but one of the men merely lifted his hand to wave them on. “Visiting an Initiate, right? Take the path to the breezeway then five hundred paces to your right.”

  He didn’t recognize the guard, but surely they had all seen him by now. There weren’t that many Initiates or that many people to visit them. He’d been to the Sanctuary plenty of times.

  “Glad you warned us,” snarked Ben’s blond companion.

  Meghan and Amelie were both there when he got to the gardens.

  “Oh, Ben! I hope you’re okay. How is Renfro?”

  “I’m fine.” He was glad to see the girl’s friendly faces. The warehouse had gotten to be a place full of angry glares and curses when another lead came up empty. “Renfro is alright too. We had to nearly tie him to the bed for a few days, but after some rest, he’s back up again. He’ll have his arm in a sling for a while though.”

  “What about your men? Some of them were hurt as well, right? A knock on the head?” asked Amelie.

  Meghan stared over Ben’s shoulder at Reinhold’s guards. The two of them were looking around and pretending not to be eavesdropping.

  “Uh…” He couldn’t remember what he’d written about Red. Red had been press-ganged onto one of Reinhold’s long haul merchant vessels with strict instructions to the captain that he be left far away and copperless. It was better than it could have been. Rhys had seconded Renfro’s idea of cuttin
g his throat and dumping him in the river. Reinhold was only interested in Gulli and didn’t much care what happened to his minions. Ben found himself arguing to save the traitorous former porter, if only because the man wasn’t the one who’d struck the blow to Evan.

  He thought more than once that maybe the other’s ideas of how to deal with Red would have been best. At the time, he couldn’t bring himself to do it, though.

  “They’re not good. I don’t know if they’ll fully recover,” he hedged. He didn’t like talking about Evan’s death, but he felt bad sugar-coating it with his friends. The girls didn’t know the details and he hoped they never would.

  “Maybe there’s something we can do to help,” replied Amelie tentatively.

  Meghan shouted, “Amelie!”

  “I know! But these are friends of ours.”

  “They are not your friends. You don’t even know them!” chastised Meghan. “And even if they were, it wouldn’t matter.”

  Ben looked between the girls in confusion.

  “It matters to me,” challenged Amelie.

  Meghan simply rolled her eyes and stalked off to sit on a nearby bench. She stared back at Ben and Amelie impassively.

  “This place is getting to her,” muttered Amelie.

  “I don’t want to be a source of strife between you two. Aside from me and Saala, you just have each other.”

  “There’s a lot of stress here, Ben. And the Sanctuary has some strong opinions. It’s hard to stay true to yourself and not get absorbed in their philosophies.”

  Ben shifted uncomfortably on the pebble-strewn path. “What kind of philosophies?”

  “I suppose I should just tell you since I already offered my help.” Amelie sighed and spared a look at Meghan. In a whisper to avoid the eavesdropping guards, she continued, “We’ve been learning to heal. A little bit only, but maybe enough to help your friends. The Sanctuary takes a dim view of expending ourselves unless it is for Sanctuary business. Of course, Initiates are never supposed to practice off the grounds.” She shrugged. “If someone is hurt, it’s worth a try.”