The Rabbit Great And Terrible

by Chereta, Nelson

  “I’m afraid I haven’t brought gold coins, but a bar instead. Will that be a problem?” Valeria asked.

  “Not at all,” he pointed to the scale and lead weights on the table. The largest was two pounds, the smallest, a sixteenth of an ounce. “We can confirm the gold is pure and then credit you its value in marks. A gold mark is exactly one-quarter ounce.”

  “I see, very convenient. Is there a limit to how much can be wagered?”

  Fornette pointed proudly to the sign hanging above them.

  WE HONOR ALL BETS

  “We can accept any bet for any amount, and we absolutely guarantee to honor it. Any bet made in any gaming house in Torikai is a sacred contract which must be kept under all circumstances, without exception.”

  “And who exactly is it that makes this guarantee? This sacred contract?”

  “The Mage Guild of Torikai.”

  “Thank you, that is exactly what I wanted to hear.” She turned back to the burly servant holding a metal chest and motioned for him to place it on the floor. He did so. Valeria waved a hand at the chest. Fornette saw a slight glow from a massive ruby on her right ring finger. There was an audible, ‘thunk’ and the lid popped open. “Place my wager on the table,” she commanded.

  The man reached in with both hands and gave a grunt. Fornette’s eyes opened wide. It was the largest bar of gold he’d ever seen in his life! The man staggered over to the table and put it down. The wooden table creaked.

  “Wager this,” Valeria said. “On Belle of Tarsus to win. You will find this bar weighs precisely one hundred, fifty-six and a quarter pounds, or the equivalent of ten thousand gold marks.”

  Both Fornette and the clerk at the table were staring open-mouthed. The Arena Gaming House was the most popular in the city. Some of the richest men from across the Shattered Lands came here to gamble and place bets This bar was more gold than they would see in a year! It was certainly more than all the neighboring kingdoms had in their combined treasuries! How could anyone put this much on one bet?!! Fornette wondered.

  “I believe,” Valeria said politely. “You will need a larger scale.”

  XXX

  “Is this a joke?” A scarred veteran named Restes asked.

  He was a former mercenary who owned a small weapons shop and gymnasium in the western quarter of the Gold City. Waldo had been directed here when he’d asked about finding a trainer for Belle. Restes made his living equipping and training the young men who came to Torikai with dreams of gaining wealth and glory as a gladiator. At the moment, there were six young men in his gymnasium going at each other with wooden practice swords.

  “Well?” Restes demanded. He’d just asked Belle to demonstrate a few moves with her sword. To get an idea of her skill level.

  “I realize her swordsmanship leaves a bit to be desired,” Waldo said. “That is why I brought her here. She is a contestant in the queen’s tournament. I just need you to teach her the basics in the next five days, that’s all.”

  “She’s fighting in the birthday tournament in the Arena?” Restes asked in disbelief. “She’s got a fine sword, but I doubt she could kill a squirrel with it, never mind a trained warrior. I’ve seen twelve-year-old stable boys with brooms who are more dangerous.”

  “Now that’s just mean,” Belle said.

  “I am not asking you to turn her into a master swordsman,” Waldo said. “Just show her a few moves, that will do.”

  Restes shook his head. “Might I have a word in private with you, sir?”

  “My proper title is ‘master’ not ‘sir,’ but all right.”

  Restes walked away from Belle and across his gymnasium with Waldo at his elbow. When he stopped to talk to Waldo he was well out of ear range of Belle and the men training. “I’ll come straight to the point, why do you want her dead?”

  “Dead?” Waldo asked in confusion.

  “Not that it’s a problem,” Restes said quickly. “Everyone who comes to me for training or special advice always gets killed. It’s just how things are. But I do try and tell them the truth, that if they want to be gladiators they should try the fighting pits outside the Wall. Not as much glory, but they’d at least have a chance. But men hear about the prize money for the Arena tournaments and it always makes them stupid.”

  “I think there’s a misunderstanding here,” Waldo said. “Belle is stronger and tougher than she seems.”

  “She holds her weapon like a fly swatter,” Restes told him. “She swings it around like one too.”

  “Which is why she is here,” Waldo said. “Just show her how to be competent with her sword.”

  “That would take me six months. In five days, I might be able to show her the bare basics. Enough to at least look like she’s held a blade before.”

  “That will do,” Waldo said.

  “You do understand she is going to die, don’t you? Everyone but Varca will, but your girl won’t even survive her first match.”

  Waldo shrugged. “Belle will be fine.”

  “Please just remember I did warn you. If you are serious, I’ll train her every day until the tournament, from sunrise to sundown. My charge is two silver marks per day, payable at the beginning of each day and not refundable. I promise nothing, except that I will show her all I can in the time allotted. She can begin right now since more than half the day’s gone I’ll only charge one silver mark.”

  “I don’t have marks, but I have other coins.”

  “So long as they’re silver and not clipped too badly, it’s fine.”

  Waldo counted out eleven silver coins and handed them over. Restes took a close look at them. They all looked to be made of the right metal, and none were shaved too badly. He put the coins in his purse.

  “If you come to your senses, or she runs away, remember, I don’t return money.”

  “It’s fine,” Waldo said. “It’s only silver.”

  Restes smiled. “Maybe you White Mages are as rich as people say.” Not as smart though.

  As they walked back to Belle, there was a commotion outside. The door to the gymnasium was wide open. Seeing men training was good advertisement. In the street, a beefy fellow at least six and a half feet tall, with curly brown hair and tree limbs for arms was walking by. He had four attractive, young women hanging on his arms and looking up at him adoringly. As he was walking past he came to a sudden stop and peered in through the doorway.

  “Speak of the demon,” Restes said. He nodded to Waldo. “That’s Varca, the gladiatorial champion of the Arena for the past six years.”

  XXX

  Belle caught one good strong whiff and glanced out the door at the big man and his adoring fans. Belle began to wave a hand before her nose. “Ooh! Is there a dirty, smelly cow out there? Hey, you,” Belle called to the man. “You see a shitting cow anywhere?”

  The man bore his teeth and gave a low growl.

  Belle smiled back. She put her sword away. She then pointed at him and made a circle with one hand. She pointed at herself and stuck out one finger. Belle then proceeded to jab the finger in and out of the circle as fast as possible. The man shook the women off him and took a step towards the door.

  As he did so Waldo came over to Belle’s side. “Good news, Restes has agreed to train you, beginning now. I want… what are you doing?”

  Belle stopped playing with her hands and dropped them to her side. “Nothing, master.”

  The large man stopped. He gave Belle’s master a hard look, then turned and walked away. The women chased after him.

  “Yeah, you better run!” Belle shouted.

  “Are you actually trying to provoke Varca?” Restes asked with disbelief. “Don’t. He has a very short temper. He is the last man in this city you want to anger.”

  “You’ve never seen my master when he doesn’t get enough sleep.” Belle turned to Waldo. “Master, can I talk to you?”

  Waldo nodded, the two of them took a few steps away from Restes.

  Belle lowered her voice. “Just tho
ught you might want to know, that Varca guy from just now?”

  “Yes? The gladiatorial champion? He has an illusion cast on him, so he might not be as impressive as he looks.”

  “I kind of doubt that, master,” Belle said. “I got his scent, he’s not a human any more than me. He’s a minotaur.”

  “What?” Waldo gasped. “Are you sure?”

  “Wouldn’t tell you if I wasn’t, master.”

  Belle felt worry through the bond and saw him begin to rub his temples. “I think I can hear the Dark Powers laughing again.”

  XXX

  Alice was in the quarters the queen had given them. The palace had quite a number of guests in it. The queen had gone on and on about having nine different kings staying with her, along with a small horde of their servants and retainers. Despite that, she’d given them two rooms. Alice had mentioned wishing she could have some privacy with her husband, and the queen had been very eager to make her happy. Alice was already looking forward to making sweet, tender love to Waldo tonight. Though only after kicking him and explaining that you do not abandon your wife like that.

  The time spent with the queen had been… strange.

  Nothing immoral had taken place. Instead, the queen had taken her to a special room where she, Queen Madis, and six young maids had all taken their clothes off. There were some heated rocks and a bucket of water. Water was spilled onto the stones and the room soon filled with steam. She and the queen laid out on some benches as a couple maids massaged them and they chatted. The girls were very skilled with their hands and Alice had to admit, it was pleasant.

  The only thing that prevented her from enjoying the experience completely was the way Madis kept ogling her. It was every bit as open and obvious as the Inn of Lost Sighs. In between bites of chicken, Madis had peppered her with questions about where she’d come from and how she had ended up the wife of a White Mage. Alice had been truthful… sort of. She confessed that she’d been an orphan from Stratford in Lothas, and grown up an indentured servant working at an inn. A regular and morally upstanding inn. Waldo had arrived one day, handsome and perfect in shining white robes. They’d taken one look into each other’s eyes and fallen instantly in love. Without hesitation, he’d handed over a fortune in gold to buy her freedom and asked her to marry him. All the maids had sighed and agreed it was the most romantic story ever and she was lucky to have found someone like that. Madis had been less enthralled and shoved more chicken in her mouth.

  Nothing physical happened beyond the massages. Though the queen kept saying it was a shame she was married.

  XXX

  When a knock came at the door Alice frowned. She knew from the bond it wasn’t Waldo, he was still somewhere in the city west of her. Alice suspected it was a messenger from the queen, inviting her to a shared bath or something. But when she opened the door she instead found a blonde, yellow-eyed woman in white robes.

  “May I come in?” Melissa asked.

  Alice slammed the door shut in her face.

  Alice clearly heard the other woman sigh. “I only want to talk to you, barmaid. Nothing more.”

  “We have nothing to talk about, and my name is Alice.”

  “I know what your name is, barmaid. And we have a great deal to talk about.”

  “If you came here to see Waldo, he’s not here.”

  “I know that. If he were, I’d have sensed him. I have quite a lot to say to him as well, but right now it’s you I wish to speak to.”

  “Well, I don’t have anything to say to you.”

  “I am not leaving until I talk to you, barmaid. We can speak in private or through this door, it makes no difference to me.”

  Alice did not want to be alone in a room with Melissa. Not only because the other woman was in love with her husband, but because she was a real White Mage. Melissa believed all non-humans should be killed. Not the sort of person Alice would want to spend time with. Especially in a place without witnesses.

  Melissa continued speaking. “Shall we talk about what happened at the inn where we all first met? That rare vintage of wine you provided me with?”

  Alice ground her teeth and opened the door.

  “Thank you,” Melissa slipped into the room.

  “We really don’t have anything to talk about,” Alice growled and shut the door. The woman was at arm’s length. If she had to, Alice knew she could snap her neck or choke the life out of her before Melissa could work any magic.

  “I disagree,” Melissa said. The woman faced her with back and arms as rigid as boards.

  Alice recognized the posture, as well as the overly polite tone. In her time working at the Inn of Lost Sighs, Alice had been on the receiving end of it many, many times. A wife or girlfriend would come in and want to accuse her of trying to steal her man. Alice was always blameless, and the other women never wanted to believe her. “If this is about what happened back in Middleton I want to say I’m sorry. It wasn’t anything personal.”

  “You mean when you drugged me with love potion?”

  “To be fair, you were threatening to kill my husband.”

  “I don’t blame you for that, I hold Waldo responsible. Obviously, you were just his pawn.”

  Alice frowned. “Thank you?”

  “Has Waldo explained to you the… results of the love potion you gave me?”

  Alice nodded. “It’s been working this entire time, you’re still in love with him.”

  Melissa gave an uncomfortable shrug. “Under normal circumstances, a love potion has a duration of a few hours, a single day or night at most. No one has ever heard of a love potion whose effects lasted this long, it is almost certainly permanent. Waldo created something completely unique, something most mages can only dream about. He is wasting his potential.”

  “You know what you feel is fake, right? I mean, if it had been regular potion you’d be back to trying to murder him.”

  “Oh, I am aware of that, believe me. If it were to suddenly wear off tomorrow Waldo would be a dead man.” Melissa’s hands opened and closed without her seeming to notice. “The problem is that even knowing these feelings are false I remain completely in love with him. It turns out my heart rules my head.”

  Alice bit her lip and imagined skewering the other woman with her claws. “Well… since you love him, you must want to make him happy.”

  Alice was surprised when Melissa shook her head. “No, I will do what is best for him, regardless of whether or not it makes him happy. Which leads me to you.”

  Here it comes, Alice thought.

  “You should leave him. It would be best, not only for Waldo but for you as well.”

  “Get out,” Alice snapped.

  “Let me explain the situation,” Melissa was unruffled.

  “No. I’ll explain it! I am his wife, and unlike you, my love isn’t imaginary. That’s the situation! Do you think I’ve never heard this before? Whenever a man made doe eyes at me his woman would always come around and blame me for it. She’d want me to leave him alone as if I was the one causing the problem. Well, dearie, I have news for you. I’m the wife now and you’re the one who’s the problem. It’s not the wife who gets out of the way!”

  “That’s true normally,” Melissa admitted. “But, not in this case.”

  “Our being married doesn’t matter?” Alice demanded.

  “No. There are far more important things at issue here. Let me explain something to you very, very clearly. Waldo’s future lies with me, not you. I am either going to bring him back to Avalon with me, or I am going to kill him. Those are his only possible fates. Do you understand? There is no happy ending for you.”

  Alice’s right hand twitched. She wanted to slap this girl until she was on her knees weeping. “You don’t know a damn thing about true love. My husband is the most important thing in my life. All I truly want is to be with him for the rest of my days. I’m not about to leave him, no matter what threats you make.”

  “I am not threatening you, I am trying
to be kind.”

  “You call asking me to abandon Waldo being kind?”

  “It’s better than the alternative.”

  “Okay, now the threats start.”

  “It is really very simple,” Melissa said. “I intend to bring Waldo to Avalon, so he can truly become what he pretends to be. He has already committed many crimes deserving of death, but I have arranged a pardon for him. He will be enrolled as a member of the Order of Mist and all his sins shall be absolved. Members of my Order live our lives only for the greater good. We are expected to make many sacrifices for the cause of Unity, Justice, and Peace. One of these is that we are only permitted to marry other members of the Order. The ability to use magic is very rare and needs to be passed on. The only way to ensure that is for mages to marry one another. Given the situation I think it obvious who he will be with in the end.”