Song Of Fury (Gods Of Blood And Fire Book 2)
Page 16
“That if most kind of you, but I can take care of myself.”
“As you wish.” The mercenary checked his sword and tightened the belt around his slim waist.
“I am going to see the sights of your city and I could use a guide, would care to join me?” he asked with a crooked smile.
“Oh, thank you, but no. I haven’t let Lucan know I’m here yet, I am waiting till he is finished.”
The young man gave her a quick bow. “Then I bid you good day, Lady Sweet.”
Ashlyn smiled at Upton as she watched him stroll away, wondering what the young man would think of her city.
***
Upton glanced back at the woman that had stirred his heart to life. She was simply beautiful, with large, brown eyes and hair a dark brown mixed with a touch of auburn. The young woman was athletically built, taut and strong. Her looks were quite pleasing, but it was something else that had turned his head. Innocence, perhaps? “She is stunning, don’t you think?” he asked the woman at his side.
She brushed her fine, light brown hair from her face and curled her thin lip. She looked just like Upton except that her lips were painted red and she smelled of perfume. The woman wore a green gown and golden earrings dangled from beneath her hair. “She’s too skinny and has tiny breasts, and she thinks entirely too much of herself. Lucan could do much better.”
“Lucan loves Ashlyn. You should not start down that path, Ursula. Remember last time,” he said, shaking his finger at her.
She put her hand over her mouth and giggled. “You would be more than happy if I stole him away from that little sparrow. It’s painfully obvious that you want her.”
“I was just admiring the girl. I think she is kind and has a good heart, unlike some people I could name.”
Ursula slid her hands down over her hips. “When you look like this, you don’t have to be kind.”
Upton shook his head at his sister’s conceit. She had always been terribly vain. The young mercenary grew silent when he saw Beck coming down the street towards him. The unkempt mercenary held up his hand, signaling Upton to stop. “Where are you going, Cryer?”
“I thought I would go see the sights since we are just sitting around on our hands.” Upton shrugged.
“Well, K’xarr said don’t go wandering around town alone. You should take someone with you.”
Upton patted Beck on the shoulder. “I will be fine, I’m not going far.” Beck nodded and headed towards the barracks.
Upton turned the corner and struck out for the busy part of the city. “I don’t think Beck likes you, brother. In fact, I don’t really think any of them like you,” Ursula chided.
“Shut up,” Upton whispered as he walked into Gallio’s crowded market district.
***
Everyone in the barracks was laughing and smiling. The wine and ale flowed freely and the mercenaries were drinking their fill. Late in the afternoon, a man and woman had come into the barracks and gathered all the warriors of the company together and announced their betrothal.
Ashlyn didn’t know the two, but she was happy for anyone that had found love. She and Lucan were standing near the back of the barracks; he was sipping ale from a huge mug the Toran had given him. She had declined the ale in favor of a very small cup of wine. Neither she nor Lucan had much experience drinking. If Lucan stayed with these men, he might have to learn, she thought as she looked around at the half-drunken mercenaries.
Her young man could not stop smiling at her. It had thrilled Lucan when he found her waiting for him after his lesson. Ashlyn could see how much he loved her. The truth of it was right there in his eyes. The fact was she needed him to love her. How was she ever going to let Lucan leave her? She wanted to try to convince him to forget this charade and return to the Wheel so things could get back to normal. Ashlyn opened her mouth then closed it quickly. This wasn’t the time to start nagging. She would enjoy this day and keep the dark thoughts of the future to herself, for now.
***
The celebration was loud and boisterous; of course it always was when it came to the men of the company. They never did anything halfway. “All the way to the hilt,” as K’xarr would say. The warriors he had been riding with for the last two years fought hard, lived hard, and died hard. It was no different when it came to their drinking. None were men of temperance or moderation, even Ivan had come to enjoy a fine mug of ale. As much as he delighted in the mercenary’s good humor, he had things to say.
Rhys crossed the room and took Rachael by the hand, leading her outside. The revelry inside the barracks was far too loud to have a conversation. It wouldn’t be easy for her to hear what he wanted to say, but it had to be said. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Morgana had left a half-drunken Cromwell armwrestling Adisa and drifted outside with her siblings.
The three stood in the soft light of the warm evening. The street traffic was down to nothing along the avenue where Malric had housed his sellswords. The few who still frequented the street were men from the various companies on their way back and forth from other parts of the city.
“What do you want, Rhys? I need to get back to Rufio,” Rachael said, glancing at the door.
“I just want to talk with you privately for a moment, Rachael. Rufio isn’t going anywhere,” Rhys said sternly.
The slim young woman raised her chin and pushed her shoulders back. “I don’t want to hear any unpleasant talk about Rufio. If you brought me out here to change my mind or criticize my decision, you’re wasting your time. We informed everyone of our betrothal right after I said yes, no one was keeping any secrets from you, so you should not be angry about the abruptness of our announcement.”
Rhys rolled his eyes. “If you would be quiet for a moment, I would tell you what I wanted to say.”
Rachael folded her arms across her chest and began tapping her foot. “By all means, say what you have to say.”
“Rufio is my friend and I think he is a fine man, but we discussed this. You and Morgana agreed that you would both take a ship back home to Tara after we got here. It’s time for both of you to go home now. It won’t be safe for either of you to stay in Masaria after the fighting starts.”
The two women looked at each other knowingly. “Do you think to split Rufio and me apart by holding me to something I agreed to in Bandara? You must be mad; Rufio and I have already made plans. After your company is finished in Masaria, we are both going to leave. He is finished with this awful life, Rhys. We have decided to raise horses and start a family, but I’m not going anywhere till Rufio can go with me.”
Rhys opened his mouth to answer but Morgana cut him off before he could speak. “I have no plans to leave either; I am very content with Cromwell. I know you think he is a vulgar brute, but I love him. You will just have to come to accept the fact that Rachael and I are not going to leave the men we love.”
Rhys closed his eyes, trying not to lose his patience with his sisters. He had to find a way to convince them that their starry-eyed notions were nonsense. There was no guarantee the war would not reach the capital and he didn’t want to have to worry about them if that happened.
Besides, ignoring the conflict that was soon to come, both his sisters thought they were in love. Rhys didn’t know if either really knew what the word meant. He cared a great deal for Rufio and Cromwell, but neither would be a wise choice to marry.
He needed his sisters to grasp the fact that these men were not some romantic warriors from a bard’s tale; they were bloodstained mercenaries who killed for a living.
He wanted desperately to spare them from experiencing the terrible reality of war. “You two don’t understand, you haven’t seen what can happen. I have. If you would have been in Bandara two years ago, you would already be on a ship north. Soon there will be nothing here but blood and death. And when the fighting starts, you will see the dark side of the men you claim to love. Please, as your brother, I urge you to go now. Trust me, Cromwell and Rufio will understand.”
Rachael smiled and pulled her sister into a huge embrace. Rhys slapped his hand to his forehead. “You must be joking. Cromwell is Toran and I have told you about his blood. Did you give any thought to any of what I said before you let this happen? How could you be so irresponsible? By all that’s holy, Morgana, have you taken leave of your senses?”
Morgana’s lip quivered for a moment as she stared at her brother. She jerked away and went back inside, slamming the door without a word.
Rachael looked at him with her mouth half-open. “That was very nasty, Rhys. She tells you she is going to have a baby and that’s what she gets? What is wrong with you? I thought you were a gentleman as well as a healer. You should be ashamed.” Rachael shook her head, stepping back inside to join the others.
Rhys sighed loudly and ran his hand through his hair. They hadn’t even given him a chance to make much of an argument. The men of the company were his brothers, but they would never make good husbands, and his sisters had made it clear they would never listen to him on that point.
He would have to hope the war stayed in the north and the girls could ride it out here in Gallio. He was no military man, but he had heard what K’xarr and the others had said about the pope and his armies. He didn’t have the heart to tell his sisters that neither of them may have a lover when this war was finished.
A tiny part of him wished the two women could be at the front and see what he had seen. Maybe they wouldn’t be so eager to wed his sword-brothers and put him through all of this if they had a taste of war.
Rhys shrugged. It was hopeless, he thought. He'd better go try and make amends with Morgana. He needed to see to her pregnancy and check if his little half-Toran niece or nephew was heathy. He looked up at the darkening sky and almost cried.
***
The celebration went on into the night. K’xarr and Cromwell watched as the men ate and drank their fill. Rachael had compelled Morgana to make the announcement about her and Cromwell’s baby, and that news had sent the men into a fine frenzy of back-slapping and toasting Cromwell’s upcoming fatherhood. The mercenary’s good humor was authentic, but K’xarr knew some of the merrymaking was due to the fact that they all knew the order to head north could come at any time. The men knew as well as he did that by mid-summer many of them might not be alive.
He truly wondered why Malric hadn’t sent them already. Most of his soldiers were gone, the bulk of the fighting men that remained in the city were members of the watch and the sellswords. He was pondering the strangeness of it when Cromwell clapped a big arm around his shoulders. “Well, my friend, my line is now secure. You need to sire a child soon, K’xarr, it makes a man feel immortal.”
K’xarr had to grin at the Toran. He had seldom seen the man this happy. “Why didn’t you tell me Morgana was with child?”
“She wanted to keep it secret till she could tell Rhys.”
“You know I can keep a secret,” K’xarr said, giving Cromwell a knowing look.
“Aye, that you can, my brother.” The two men laughed. K’xarr hadn’t been in this good a humor for a long time and it felt good.
“I told you the girl would come back,” the mercenary captain said, pointing to where Ashlyn and Lucan sat holding hands and nursing their drinks.
“I am going to watch over that boy, K’xarr. It is wrong what you are doing with him. I decided I’m not going to let him die.”
K’xarr smirked at the big man. “And just what are you going to do to prevent that?”
“I will train him and keep him close to me. He deserves at least that. You made him my brother when you took him into the company, I will do my best to keep him alive.”
K’xarr gently elbowed the Toran. “You know who you sound like, don’t you?”
“I know he would not let you do this if he were here,” Cromwell said.
K’xarr drained his mug and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “You’re most likely right, that half-breed bastard has a way of making me have a conscience.”
“Aye, he also has a way of scaring the shit out of a man,” Cromwell said with a crisp nod.
Both men laughed deeply. K’xarr refilled his mug and shook his head. “I do wish he was here, Cromwell. This fight is going to start soon and we will need him. He and Endra should at least be on the way back by now.”
Cromwell wrinkled his brow. “We will hear something soon. I worry for them too.”
“I didn’t say I was worried.”
“You didn’t have to, Captain.”
Rachael’s scream silenced the festivities. K’xarr and his officers ran to the door. Two members of the city watch had entered the barracks carrying a bloody and beaten man between them. “He told us to bring him here,” one of the watchmen said.
Cromwell gently took the young man from them and carried him like a child to one of the bunks. K’xarr stared down at the battered man, his fists clenching into tight balls. “Who did this, Upton?”
The young mercenary looked up at his captain, trying to swallow the thick blood in his mouth. “The Serpents,” he muttered though cut and swollen lips.
Rhys knelt down beside the bunk. “Everyone stand back and let me work. K’xarr, could you give us some privacy?”
He knew what Rhys meant; the healer was going to use his power on the young fighter. “All of you, outside. Let the man work.” The mercenaries all slowly filed out of the barracks, grimly looking down the street at the building where the Scarred Serpents were quartered.
“What do you want to do, Captain?” Rufio asked.
K’xarr paced back and forth, the rage in his eyes easy to see in the moonlight. “I am going to have a talk with their captain, Rufio, try to find out why his men beat Upton like that. Then I am going to cave in that bastard’s skull.”
K’xarr started down the street. Rufio threw up his hands and looked at Ivan. The former Asconan Knight ran up ahead of their furious leader. “Wait, Captain, they out number us almost three to one and I doubt the king would like his hired swords quarreling in the streets. Besides, shouldn’t we talk to Upton and see why this happened? Maybe he started it.”
“I don’t give a damn if he did start it. They beat one of my men and left him for dead, I’m not going to let that go, are you?”
Ivan could only shake his head and reluctantly shrug.
K’xarr turned and faced his men. “Upton is our sword-brother. What they do to him, they do to all of us. If any of you don’t agree with that, you can get on your dammed horses and leave right now.”
Not one of the mercenaries moved. The captain gave a satisfied nod. “Good, now follow me.”
***
Thirty men marched down the street towards the Serpents' barracks. Lucan swaggered behind the group of angry mercenaries like a he was a battle-hardened warrior. Ashlyn was right on his heels. “This really isn’t your fight, Lucan, you hardly know that Upton fellow.”
Lucan gave her a grim look. “I do know Upton, he has been very kind to me the last few days, and you heard the captain, he’s my sword brother. These men are like my family now, Ash.”
She didn’t know what to say. Lucan had never had a family and Ashlyn knew he wasn’t about to let down the one that had just adopted him. She understood his newfound loyalty; the circus was no different for her. “Please try to be careful and stay by Cromwell.”
“Don’t worry, I will,” Lucan said.
The Falcon took a deep breath. This was going to get ugly.
Two members of the Scarred Serpents lazily stood their post in front of the barracks. One casually glanced down the street and immediately tapped his companion on the shoulder. Both sentries briskly came on guard and dropped their hands to the hilts of the swords, alarmed by the large group headed their way.
“Go get your captain, now,” K’xarr commanded as he stormed up to the uneasy mercenaries. One of the men dashed inside and quickly brought his captain out to the cobbled avenu
e.
Aldun Eyes wasn’t tall, but his shoulders were broad and his neck was thick. Dark greasy hair stuck to his face, almost hiding the serpent brands he sported on both his cheeks, and callous grey eyes and a scar that cut through his lips like a jagged road completed the mercenary’s severe look.
The shorter man’s hand rested on the basket-hilted broadsword at his side. He sneered at K’xarr, shaking his head. “What do you want, Strom? Nobody here asked for your company or counsel.”
K’xarr’s body tensed as he tried to rein in his temper. “One of my men was attacked tonight and it was your men that did it. I want whoever was responsible for it.”
A nasty grin spread across Aldun’s face. “If one of your boys got their head thumped, he most likely had it coming, and it is no problem of mine. Now take your scavengers and get back down the road. I have better things to do than listen to you whine.”
A pounding began in K’xarr’s ears. “Hand them over and I will leave. If you don’t, we will have a problem, Eyes. Trouble with me and mine is not something you want. I want those accountable for the deed and I intend to have them.”
More of the Serpents poured out of the barracks and lined the street behind their captain. Aldun glanced at the men behind him and presented K’xarr with a bemused smile. “My men answer to me and me alone.” Aldun stepped closer to the Camiran, but K’xarr stood his ground. “I don’t care much for your kind, Strom. You had a stroke of luck in Bandara, so you get a few amateurs together and start stealing work from professionals like me and my bunch. Take your trash and go home, or you might get a taste of our steel. You and your thugs wouldn’t want that, now would you?”
“Are you going to hand over the men I asked for? It is the last time I will ask,” K’xarr said flatly.
Aldun put his finger on K’xarr’s chest, the vein in his head pulsing with anger. “Did you not hear what I said, northern scum? I wouldn’t give you a bucket of shit; now leave and take your dogs with you.”