Crystal Throne (Book 1)

by D. W. Jackson

  Did you enjoy your first day?

  “It could have been worse,” Thad replied to the staff. After looking around and seeing no one on the streets, Thad called Thuraman to his side. The staff appeared in his hand and Thad put some of his weight on the staff as he walked. The second the staff touched his hand, Thad felt some of his pain and exhaustion flee his weary body. “That is much better,” Thad said with a heavy sigh.

  Then why did you push yourself so hard. I watched you through your own eyes and I felt your fatigue. Even when your body faltered because it was weak you still pushed yourself. This plan of yours doesn’t call for that level of self-destruction.

  Thad laughed. “I was enjoying myself. I doubt that you will ever understand, but it was a way to relieve myself of some of the stress that has been heaped upon me since this trip started. The so called gods wouldn’t even give me a chance to fight any of the scions to get rid of some of the stress.”

  Such as the talk that you will be having with your son tonight?

  Thad cursed himself. He had completely forgot about that, and wished that Thuraman hadn’t reminded him or at least waited until he had reached the house, which now loomed in the distance. “You had to remind me of that,” Thad said out loud.

  When Thad entered the house, he found most of the group in the living room sitting around a small fire that sputtered in the brick fireplace. “Has anyone seen my son?” Thad asked, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible, but not seeing his son among those in the room.

  “He is down the hall in his room. I believe that it is the second door on the left,” Humanius said, looking over his shoulder at Thad.

  “Speaking of rooms,” Thad said trying to distract himself for a few moments while he thought of what to say to his son. “Where are you and Belaroan, as well as the scions, sleeping?”

  “My sister is taking the last room,” Humanius replied. “I and the scions will be staying in here. They don’t require sleep and I don’t wish to leave them completely untended.”

  “Ah,” Thad said. When his mind could think of no other way to delay him, Thad let out a heavy sigh and turned and started a slow walk toward his son’s room. If anyone had watched how he shambled down the hall, they would have thought he was walking to his doom from the way his steps dropped heavily on the stone floor.

  When Thad reached the door, his arm felt as heavy as lead as he raised it to softly rap on the wooden door. “Come in,” Thad heard his son’s voice say from behind the door.

  Shaking the doubts and fears from his mind, Thad pushed on the door and entered the small room to find his son sitting on the edge of his bed. “I thought you would be here hours ago,” Bren said with a weak smile.

  “Do you already know why I am here then?” Thad asked, looking gravely at his son.

  “My guess is that mother wants you to intervene on her behalf and talk me out of my foolishness,” Bren said defensively.

  “Actually it was Sandrea that asked me to talk to you,” Thad replied. “Though I am sure that your mother would love to hear that you changed your mind, but we both know that won’t be happening and somewhere deep inside she does too.”

  Bren visibly relaxed his defensive posture and relaxed his shoulders. “She wants me to talk with mother. I can’t father,” Bren said with a look full of warring emotions. “Every time we talk, all we do is fight and I spend the next fortnight full of anger looking for anything to strike against.”

  Listening to his son, Thad couldn’t help but laugh. “Your mother has that effect on people, but do you really want to leave it like this? Your mother is having trouble contacting us as it is and I don’t think she will be able to once you go to the center. I can’t force you to talk to her, but just think on that…please son.”

  Bren didn’t respond, but Thad hadn’t really expected one. He had delivered the message and said what he could. The rest was up to Bren. He just hoped it was enough. He knew that Maria would never forget it if they were left on bad terms, and that would mean that she would never let him forget it either.

  CHAPTER XIX

  The next few days passed quickly. Thad continued his training and found Jarrod a good teacher. There was little the man could teach him he didn’t already know when it came to the sword, but he did learn a great deal about being an arena fighter that he would never had if not for him. As long as it didn’t go against the rules of the great lord which there were few, the Arena fighters were the law of the city. If a fighter wished something, they could take it and few would raise a word against them; any were allowed the right of challenge, though who could go against a trained fighter in a duel. To offset the unfairness, one could hire another fighter to replace them. While this didn’t sound very fair as one would think as only the rich could afford a proper fighter, it worked out well. All of the fighters came from the streets, and from what Jarrod said, many of them would offer their services for a pittance; it still happened time to time, though more often among those named champion. It seemed that once they reached the highest ranks, they tended to forget where they came from. When Jarrod spoke of some of the champions, you could hear the distaste in his voice.

  There were only seven champions at any one time and the only way to reach their ranks was to challenge one in a duel and win, but to challenge one, you must be rank five in the arena. This rule was what allowed them a free reign within the city. Unless one could afford a rank five or a champion of his own, then you couldn’t challenge them, but they could challenge you and few would back you in such a fight.

  Thad soaked up anything he could learn and found Jarrod an apt teacher, one who asked few questions of his own. One of the most interesting things he learned was that if he was moved up a rank he was paid that day and it became his new stipend day. It was the reason that most fighters tried harder just after they received their stipend, in hopes of receiving an extra pay.

  Today Thad sat in a small room looking at a large door that would lead him to the Area floor and his first fight. Taking advice from Jarrod, Thad had bet most of his remaining coin on himself. If he lost he had enough left for food, but little else. If he won then he would have a heavy purse as the odds were set against him. The fighter was the same rank as him, but was expected to reach the next rank soon and thankfully the people who set the odds didn’t spend any time watching the fighters unless it was an arena battle, and to them Thad was unknown.

  Thad didn’t know what he would do with the extra coin if he won, but he was sure that he would think of something. Most likely, he would put it back so that when he reached rank four he could purchase the materials to make his own sword. One interesting thing Thad had learned was that magical weapons were not a rarity for high ranking fighters, as they were often purchased from the homeland. To Thad, that meant that there were mages on the other side of the portal, but he hadn’t been able to give it much thought. When the door was opened, Thad strode through it and found himself in a large open area surrounded by a raised wall, with rows upon rows of people staring down at him from their seats. Thad’s hand nervously gripped the hilt of his sword that still remained sheathed and hanging on his hip. When his eyes fell on the other man standing in the large arena, Thad remembered him. He had seen the man a few times practicing at the same time as he had. The man had even asked to spar with Thad a few times and now Thad knew why. There must had been a place where one could learn who they were fighting. Thad cursed himself for not thinking of it earlier, but it’s not as if it really mattered until he fought a few more fights. The rules were simply that no one could move up a rank until they had won five fights out of ten. Once they had, then they would fight against a fighter from the next rank and should they win they moved up, if they lose they would start over.

  As the other man moved toward him, Thad let the thoughts that cluttered his mind fade away. There would be plenty of time later to think of things; right now the only thing on his mind should be the other man and the sharp sword held in his ha
nd. Jarrod said that it was uncommon for a fighter to die in a battle, but it did happen. Much more common was a debilitating injury, which kept up the need for new fighters to make their way up the ranks.

  As the other fighter approached, Thad watched him closely. The man moved slowly, watching Thad with weary eyes. They had spared and Thad knew that the man’s skill was below his own, but that didn’t mean he would win. Many fighters lost not because of the lack of skill of their opponent, but because they were too sure of themselves and made mistakes.

  Thad knew that leaving his sword within its sheath could be considered a mistake, but he didn’t want to give too much away about his fighting style. While he was in the fighters ring practicing, he only worked with either his sword or staff never both at the same time. He wanted to save that for when he fought against an opponent that would be a real challenge; even so, he was not going to take the man in front of him lightly.

  Thad let the other man make the first strike. It came swift and hard, but didn’t catch Thad off guard. Thad stepped back from the strike, letting the sword pass harmlessly, by inches, in front of him. The other man didn’t relent when his first attack was thwarted, but continued with a flurry of attacks to the roar of the crowd.

  Thad batted the attacks aside with little trouble. He knew the basics of fighting, not only one on one, but against greater numbers, and this man was breaking one of the most important rules. One should never lose himself in the fight. Sighing on the inside, Thad continued to use as little energy as possible while defeating the other man’s attacks, letting the man tire himself out.

  Thad waited and bided his time until the man’s swings started to slow. Once Thad was sure that the bulk of the man’s energy had been spent he went on the offensive. Thad bent down under a clumsy swing and swung his staff as he turned, sweeping the man’s legs out from under him. As the other fighter fell to his back, Thad jumped up and stuck the man once hard on the side of the head and was rewarded when the swathe man’s eyes rolled into the back of his head.

  The crowd above sat in stunned silence for the space of a heartbeat, then as if a dam breaking, the crowd roared in applause, though Thad could still hear a few curses coming from the stands, most likely coming from those that had bet against him.

  Thad had to admit that he enjoyed the cheers of the crowd as he made his way off the field. It had been a lifetime since he had fought for the pleasure of others and he knew he enjoyed their attention. A part of him felt bad about this knowledge, but he shook it off. It might have been wrong, but he was who he was and at this time it was working toward a noble end.

  So you enjoy a good fight and for people to look on you with favor. I have told you for years that if you wished it, you could have used your power to bring the whole of the world to bow before you. Instead you let yourself be bound to that infernal woman and deferred to her.

  “The adoration and applause are good, but there is much more to that when one becomes a king. I got as much of that as I wanted when I married Maria and I was more than happy to let her keep her throne. I wanted nothing of the headache that comes with that power,” Thad replied, as he walked back through the doors he had entered through.

  “Nice win, though you could have worked on the audience a bit more,” Jarrod said as he walked though. “The people watching give gifts to their favorites and while you won, you could have given them a better show. Instead of some young maiden, it looks like you will have to do with my company for now.”

  “I should pay,” Thad said grinning. “It is thanks to your advice I won such a good sum today.”

  “No, I insist I pay,” Jarrod said with a wide grin. “I won much more than you today I am sure. I only bet when I am sure of victory and when I am sure I bet heavily. Talking about bets, we should go receive our rewards from a few unhappy men,” Jarrod added with a laugh.

  The man who they had placed their bets with was anything but upset, even though he had to pay the men a large sum. It would seem that a large majority of the bets had been against him, so that in the end the bookies had made a large profit. To show his gratitude, the bookie even threw in an extra silver into Thad’s pouch. “Got to love it when both sides win,” Jarrod said with a laugh, as they walked toward the town center.

  “Someone lost though and from the look of the smile on his face it was more than a few,” Thad said feeling a little guilt about the new weight in his pouch.

  “If they can’t afford to lose it, they shouldn’t use it to bet with,” Jerrod said dismissively. “If I lost more than I could afford my wife would strip my hid and I can promise you that I would do it no more than once…Or twice.”

  “You’re married,” Thad nearly shouted in surprise.

  Jerrod laughed heartily. “I know, a surprise isn’t it and she is a beauty to behold. Far too good for me, but the arena has its benefits. When I was just starting out, she was just a young lady and one of her suitors brought her to a bout and she took a liking to the fights and to me. When I was injured, I thought she would leave me, but she slapped that thought out of my head and before I knew what was happening, we were standing in the church awaiting the priests to bind us to one another.”

  Jarrod chuckled to himself and shook his head as if shaking off old memories. “If you are lucky, you might find a wife for yourself among the ladies in the audience.”

  “I think I can do without a wife for now,” Thad said with a thin smile. If I can ever get back home I have one waiting on me.”

  “Ah… so that’s your reason for joining the arena. I had heard it was something about needing money, but it didn’t seem to fit you. I can tell you that your chances of becoming a champion and getting to travel through the gates are slim, but in all honestly you stand a good chance. I just hope that you don’t get your hopes up to high. I never heard of the lord letting anyone return home other than to accompany him.”

  “I will take what chances I have,” Thad replied. “It is better than giving up.”

  Jarrod didn’t prod him more, instead the man led him to a small dinner. From the outside, it looked like an unassuming place, but inside it was far different. Three glass chandeliers hung from the room and the walls were painted to look like rolling plains. They were greeted with smiles and led to a small booth in the corner. Thad let Jerrod order for them. “What kind of place is this?” Thad asked, as he looked around at the sheer opulence arrayed before him.

  “It is the best restaurant within the city,” Jerrod replied. “It is a place to relax and enjoy some of the food from the homeland. The nobles bring it though when they visit and it costs a fortune to eat real food, but it’s worth it.”

  “What is the other stuff, if not real food?” Thad asked slightly confused.

  “It is real… but it is common foodstuff,” Jerrod replied. “What they have here is better. Only here can you get roasted Hornail eggs or fentil bread.”

  Thad had never had either, so he remained quiet about the food and passed the time with idle chatter about the arena and fighters. When the food arrived, it was placed upon the plates in a fashion meant to please the eyes, much the way the ones he was used to in the Farlan palace.

  If the food looked pleasant, that was nothing compared to the taste. The meat was new to him and shown as white as a pearl and almost melted in his mouth, with a sweat aroma and a light taste of honey and spices. The bread was warm and soft and tasted like nothing he had before. In the end, he couldn’t tell if it was good or not, as it was so different than anything he had eaten before. No matter what he thought, he had found himself more inhaling the food that eating it and within a matter of moments his plate sat empty.

  “You look as if you have enjoyed your meal,” Jarrod said with a bark of a laugh. “Though given that each plate cost a gold mark I truly hope so.”

  “A gold mark,” Thad gasped. “That was enough for a man to eat for a month with some to spare.”

  “Don’t fret,” Jarrod laughed. “I won over fifty gold marks th
is day with only a wager of five. It was a great day and giving a little to the man who helped me earn such a sum is welcome to a good meal.”

  Thad could barely believe it. Fifty gold marks. Thad looked in his own purse that hung at his side and quickly opened it. Inside he found far more coin than he had thought. When he had first bet, he didn’t pay attention to the odds, but from what Jarrod had said it had been ten to one and had earned him a tidy sum. He knew that next time the odds would be on his side, but that would mean that he would earn far less for his bets.

  After the meal, Thad bid Jarrod farewell, then returned to his home to find everyone waiting for him. They welcomed his winning, though Belaroan still took every chance to complain about the sheer amount of time that it would take for them to reach their goal though his plan. Humanius quickly tried to bring the attention away from his sister, though Thad didn’t know why. Their band consisted of the four and the four scions and only Belaroan seemed to care about what she said.

  After the small welcome, Thad quickly retired to his room. He was tired and all he wanted was to have a good sleep. There would be plenty of fights ahead and victories as well. That was as long as things went well. Thad didn’t hope though, he would fight and lay everything on his skill with the sword. If the plan didn’t work, there was always another way, no matter how unpleasant.

  CHAPTER XX

  The battles of the arena continued and Thad found himself watching as many battles as he fought in. His second battle came and passed and Thad once again enjoyed the cries of the crowd. After the battle, Thad was met by Jarrod and, as they left the arena, they were assailed by a number of people wanting to talk with what they saw as a rising star in the arena.

  Just as before the two friends bet upon Thad, though this time their winnings were much less as the odds were three to one in Thad’s favor. Even though he had won little, he still found his way to the Matron’s Root, where Jarrod had taken him after his first win.