by Rick Brown
Barad started going through the movements as I walked along and helped the men who seemed to struggle with the positions. I walked up to one whose arm had sagged out of place when keeping his sword extended. "Like this private. Keeping your arm stiff is important. It will build the muscles in your arm and shoulder. Something you will appreciate when you face an opponent." He nodded and straightened his arm.
“And just what are you doing with my men?” came a voice from the entrance. I turned to see a captain and his officers enter the training grounds.
Sergeant Whilhoit stepped forward. “Captain Hannen, I asked this gentleman to show us some new techniques. He was just demonst..”
The captain interrupted him. “I wasn’t talking to you, Sergeant Whilhoit. I was talking to this man.” Great, I thought. Trying to keep a low profile and I immediately garner the notice of the one man I was told to avoid.
I step forward and try to diffuse the situation. "I am Captain Eberon, and this is lieutenant Aldrick. Your men requested a demonstration of some new techniques we were using, and we chose to oblige."
“Captain Eberon, you are out of uniform,” said Hannen with a sneer.
"We are not here on active duty. Instead, we were invited on the generosity of the palace while escorting some priests from Coneer."
"Guarding priests, were there no sheep about that needed watching?" Hannen replied getting a laugh from this officer flunkies. Oh, I didn't like this man. "Our troops are trained as Vaelinian's, not... well, whatever that was."
“Of course, Captain. These are your men. I bow to your responsibility for them. My Lieutenant and I have business elsewhere anyway.” With that Barad and I started to leave with what dignity we had remaining.
“You weren’t dismissed, Captain.”
That did it. I froze mid-step and turned. I could hear Barad mumble "oh gods” under his breath.
I turned to face Hannen. “Captain Hannen, maybe you missed the fact that I am also a captain. If you had, I assume you would have spoken to me as the equal that I am.”
“You? You are no equal of mine.” He said with a sneer. “You may be a Captain, but you have no house. Oh, yes, I know of you. Made a name out there in the dirt by the border. I also know that you aren’t anything but a peasant with a sword.”
“In that case, Captain, maybe you would like to demonstrate for me the superior nature of your training,” I said is a casual way, even though I felt anything but casual. What I wanted was to tear his arms off and beat him with them.
Captain Hannen looked a little unsure of this turn of events. If he had heard my name from the battlefield, he would know I am a proficient swordsman. Still, he could not back down now that he was challenged in front of his officers. One of his smarter lackeys recommended practice swords.
“Yes, since this is just a demonstration.” Hannen jumped to the safety of the practice swords. I was still holding mine.
Sergeant Whilhoit moved his men to the side. He was trying to hide a smile. Everyone loved seeing a smug officer brought down a step. I suspect no one ever challenged Hannen's status, but I was no longer active military, and I didn't give a damn.
I did the standard bow of honor before a match, but I didn’t trust Hannen. Good thing I didn’t as he immediately went for a blow that would have crushed my skull, practice sword or not. I swiveled to the side and let the sword fly past. His officers were cheering him on, but his sergeant looked down shaking his head.
"Bad form swinging like that," I told him mockingly. "But not as bad as the form you just showed by overextending your swing." This time I went into a defensive stance and waited. Hannen appeared to be a reckless swordsman. All I would have to do was wait. It didn't take long. He came again with an overhead swing. I blocked it easily and spun around inside his guard, still blocking his sword high. I pulled down my pommel and struck him in the gut with it. He sank to his knees gasping for air.
"By swinging high like that you left yourself exposed. That move should only be used if you have a shield on your other arm." I said, continuing the lesson. I could hear the man growl as he stood back up. Looks like he offended easily, I could use that to my advantage.
Once again he took his position opposite me.
"Ready then?" I asked innocently. This time he pulled a dagger from his belt and charged with the practice sword in one hand and the blade in the other. There were gasps among the enlisted at their officer's treachery. With my sword I blocked his dagger, I grabbed his sword arm with one of the Chakaran moves. With practiced easy I twisted him around and tossed him over my shoulder, sending him flipping through the air and crashing in front of me.
"This practice seems to have agitated you, Hannen," I said ignoring his rank. "Maybe you should rest a while, so you don't make any more stupid mistakes, like drawing your dagger on me. That concludes the day's lesson." With that, I turned and headed for the sword racks to return my practice sword.
I heard Barad shout my name as Alynon’s voice yelled ‘Down!” I spun down to one knee fast enough that I still had time to flick away the dagger thrown at my back. I pulled my own dagger and started walking towards Hannen.
“Enough!” shouted a voice from the back of the yard. There stood Colonel Smith and William. “Captain Trigg, did you witnessed what happened?”
"I did," William replied with a smile on his face. It seemed at least one person would be glad to see the fall of Hannen.
“Sergeant Whilhoit, Did you see what happened?” Colonel Smith asked.
“I did Sir!” Replied the captain stoically.
“Very well, Sergeant. Place Captain Hannen in chains and take him to his room. He is hereby confined to quarters. Have guards assigned to his door. No one in or out without my permission. When that’s done come to my office.”
"Yes Sir," The sergeant responded he ran out of the training area and returned with irons placing them on the stunned captain's hands and ankles."
“Smith, you can’t arrest me! I have all these witnesses that will testify that man attacked me.”
“That’s Colonel Smith, you son of a bitch! And I was standing here the entire time. I witnessed everything that happened. Your bunch of followers won’t be able to lie to get you out of trouble this time!” With That Sergeant Whilhoit stood the prisoner up and signaled for two men to follow him as they left the yard.
“Captain Eberon and Lieutenant Aldrick, come with me.”
Chapter 16
(Lee)
We followed the Colonel and Captain Trigg back to the Colonel's office in silence. As soon as William closed the door behind us, the Colonel started laughing. "I haven't seen something that fun in years!" He said wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "Captain Trigg saw what was about to happen and came and fetched me. Good thing too. If I hadn't been there, they would have gotten away with it again." He sobered a little. "A lot of good men had been besmirched and run out of the army by that lot. Those they didn't just kill. They have no honor."
At that moment Sergeant Whilhoit knocked on the door. "IN!" yelled Smith. The sergeant obeyed and joined us in the office, closing the door behind him. "Well for better or worse we are all in it now. Eberon, you chose the biggest and the worst to pick a fight with on your first day. His father advises the king, and until now, we have been unable to prosecute him. Today though, he bit off more than he could chew. Still, as of now, you are all in danger. Do not leave the palace grounds. In fact don't go anywhere alone. Sergeant until this is over bunk with the men.
“As for you two, do you have somewhere safe you can stay?”
“I’m sure the priests we traveled with would allow us to stay in their suite. We should be safe there.”
“Well let’s hope so. At least I will know where to find you. It won’t take long for this to explode. They will be throwing every bit of dirt they can come up with and invent it if they don’t find it. All right, everyone dismissed.”
Barad and I started back to the priest’s room. “Couldn’t ev
en get through the first day could you?” He said with a smile. I started laughing, I couldn’t help it. That was too much fun.
We made it to the priest's room and knocked on the door. Brianna let us in. "Ahh, Lee and Barad. Glad you've come back," Said Father Yagen as we entered. "We sent our request for an audience with the king, but I fear it may be some time. His advisor arranges appointments, and I fear he'll be ignoring us."
“Oh, he won’t be ignoring us,” Barad said grinning with mischief.
“Oh dear,” Brianna said looking at Barad. “I know that look. What have you done?”
"Nah uh. Not me," he said pointing in my direction. "Captain Dangerous over there just put a wallop on the advisor's charming son. In return, the godless fool tried to throw a dagger into his back in front of about twenty witnesses. A Colonel, and captain, and a sergeant included."
“Alynon, help me,” prayed Father Yagen, his face going pale.
“That’s not all. The colonel had him put in chains right there in front of everyone and hauled off for house arrest. I think it’s safe to say we will be hearing from the advisor much quicker than you originally thought.”
Brianna looked at Lenux. "Word of this will travel quickly. Let's visit the servant's area and listen for gossip." The two of them hurried out of the room.
The joy of embarrassing Hannen was wearing off, and I was feeling a bit guilty. "I hope I haven't interfered with your plans, he really left me no choice."
“I understand, Lee,” Father Yagen replied, Father Pild nodding next to him. “I know you are a good man and didn’t intentionally start this fight. Advisor Hannen’s son already has a bad reputation. Thank goodness you have powerful witnesses.”
“Yes, and those witnesses recommend we find a safe place to lie low. Do you mind if we sleep on the floor of your suite tonight?” Barad asked.
“Of course you can. I should have thought of that myself.” Yagen replied with a smile.
There was a knock at the door. Father Pild went over and let administrator Waith into the room. “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,” he said as he came in. “I heard you were assaulted by Captain Hannen. I came to check on you and was told by the Colonel that you had moved up here. Are you ok?”
“Oh yes, I am fine. Thank you for asking.”
There was another knock on the door. "Once I heard you moved I asked that your things be brought up here,” Waith explained as he opened the door. “I hope you don't mind." Two servants carried our bags in. He waited until they left before speaking again. "Once word gets out, they would have confiscated everything in the name of the investigation. In reality, they will just do anything they can to discredit you." I thanked him appreciatively. He waved me off. "May I sit?" he said, not waiting for an answer but plopping himself into a chair.
“Oh my, it’s been a long time since the hornet’s nest was disturbed like this. Luckily I am an old hand at the political games if you will accept my help?”
Yagen smiled as sat across from him. “Gladly, Mr. Waith. I fear I am not politically savvy enough for this.”
“Call me Stiven, if you would.” Yagen nodded in agreement. “If I understand, you are friends with the Ayishian church? Good, they have a powerful lobby here in the court. They can help.”
“Excellent. Father Jameson and Father Ganes should be visiting this evening. I suspect they will bring the head of the local temple with them.”
"Ahh. Father Lowen. Excellent. Captain Eberon, if I understand correctly, Colonel Smith was present when you were attacked?"
“Yes, and Captain Trigg and Sergeant Whilhoit as well as all his men.”
Stiven gave mischievous smiled. “Oh very good. Those are all respected men. This could be fun. I’ve never liked Lord Hannen. He’s an arrogant ass. You said Father Lowen was coming here to meet you prior to this incident? He wouldn’t get involved in just any old business. May I ask what has brought you to the hallowed halls of King Kendrick’s palace?”
Father Yagen grimaced. “As to that,” He signaled to Father Pild who nodded and went to Father Yagen’s room to collect the ledger bringing it back out. He handed the ledger to Mr. Waith. Stiven started looking through the ledger. “This was taken by our people a month ago from a Dommerian run brothel in Coneer.”
"Oh my," said Mr. Waith as he flipped through the pages. "Oh dear." Father Yagen sat and nodded with a grimace on his face. "Yes, I can see why Father Lowen is coming. In fact, I wonder why he isn't sprinting here now."
“He actually hasn’t yet seen the ledger. I think Father Jameson is just telling him it’s important for now. He didn’t want to say too much before we met.”
“Yes yes, discretion is wise,” Stiven said as he flipped through the ledger. Barad and I went and sat by the fire as the older men read through the ledger. Our own drama forgotten in the unknowns of what the book held. An hour or so later the priests of Ayisha arrived.
“Father Lowen,” Yagen greeted as father Pild let them in. Along with Father Lowen were the familiar faces of Father Jameson and Father Ganes. “It’s is good to see you again.”
"Yagen," He said warmly. "It's been too long. Now, what have I been called here for? Is it about the rumor of one of your men attacking Young Hannen?"
Stiven was the one who responded. “Ah, is that how they are addressing it? Well if that’s the only arrow in their quiver than we’ve already won!” He said with a smile.
“I don’t understand, sir. How have we won? It sounds like that are trying to run my name through the mud.” I stated indignantly.
"Because spreading rumors is the weakest ploy they can use. With the rank of the witnesses to the attack, it won't work. Men like Colonel Smith won't be intimidated by rumors."
“Stiven,” Father Lowen greeted. “Are you involved in this too?” Stiven smiled and told the father the truth of what happened.
“Ah,” said Lowen. “That is serious. Still,” he turned to Yagen. “With Stiven here you are in good hands. What do you need me for?”
They had the priest take a chair and handed him the ledger, once again repeating the story of where it came from. The priest’s expression darkened as he looked through the book. “This is troubling, very troubling.” He set the ledger down in his lap and leaned back in thought. “Stiven, what is your opinion of bringing Lord Albright into this?
Waith smiled. “Yes, a worthy ally. Captain Eberon, would you be so kind as to pull the servant’s cord?” I did as he asked and there was soon a knock at the door. I opened it and let in a servant.
“Can you see if Lord Albright is still in the palace?” Father Lowen asked. “If so tell him that Father Lowen would like to visit with him in this room.” The servant nodded then sprinted away.
Soon after that Bri and Lenux returned. They carried food platters and wine that they sat down on the table between the priests. The fathers wasted no time digging in.
“Where did the food come from?” Barad asked.
Bri shrugged. “We needed an excuse to hang out in the kitchens. Feeding the priests was the perfect cover.”
“So what did you find out?” I asked.
At first, the rumor was accurate, for what it was. ‘Hannen attacked some stranger in the military training yard.' As we were down there though it started changing. One that you attacked an unarmed Hannen, another that Colonel Smith ordered you to."
I whistled. It was one thing to try and slander me, it was another to do so with the Colonel. Stiven stood to stretch, and I waved him over. Bri repeated her story to him.
He stared at her a moment. “Excuse me for stating the obvious, but you are no servant.” She smiled and did a pretend curtsy. “So, two sneaks..” He waited for confirmation that Bri gave with a nod, “And two officers as bodyguards. You come from Coneer, so I am going to assume Fox guild? Max always did produce the best. Well, it is concerning that they would try to stain Colonel Smith’s reputation, but I cannot see the gain in it for them. Let’s continue to watch. We still hold all the cards.”
>
A few minutes later Lord Albright and his son arrived. Lord Albright was a middle-aged man, young compared to the troop of elderly priests and Stiven. He was perhaps a little older than Pild and Ganes. “Well, isn’t this a merry group,” he said as he joined the men. “It looks like we might have outgrown this little room. Should we find a conference area so you can fill me in on whatever trouble this group is causing and how I can help?”
Stiven shook his head. “Let’s keep this low key for now. Meeting you in a conference room will attract too much attention.”
Lord Albright raised his eyebrows. “That bad eh, why don’t you fill me in?” The men started discussing again as they passed around the ledger. Albright son approached us. “Hello, I’m Ryan.” He said to our group.
“Ryan,” I said nodding to him. “I am Lee, this is Brianna, Lenux, and Barad.”
Ryan looked to me, “Are you the one that fought Hannen today?”
My eyes narrowed as I looked at him. I wasn’t sure where this was going. “I am.”
Ryan lit up. "Wonderful. It's nice to meet the man that put Marcus Hannen on his ass. And then in chains! There's never been such a wonderful day." I relaxed. It was obvious Ryan was not one of Hannen's lackeys. Looking at Ryan, I guessed he was seventeen. A few years younger than the rest of us, and probably a prime target for a bully like Hannen.
Ryan spent the evening talking with us while the priests and policy men sat and discussed the ledger. As the evening wore on, they agreed to meet again tomorrow with refreshed minds. I still didn't know what was in the ledger, but they all seemed very concerned.
Chapter 17
(Lee)
It was late by the time everyone left, but after such a chaotic day we all needed time to relax. It was no surprise that Father Yagen and Father Pild found their customary spots by the fireplace. Brianna, Lenux, Barad, and I moved to the sofa and chairs. There was always a warm camaraderie when I spent time with my friends.