Mercenary Little Death Bringer

by Banks, Catherine

  “Marin…” Favian said, “That’s not helping.”

  “Thirdly, I am not an evil temptress. We shared a bed and slept nothing else. My virginity is still intact thank you. Fourthly, if you ever call me an evil human or insult me because of my humanity again I will kill you. Now remove yourself from my quarters before I change my mind about showing you mercy,” I finished.

  She stood up and glared at me. I had to hand it to the girl, she was tough for getting punched and having someone threaten her life. “Who gave you that necklace?” she asked, “Was it Favian?”

  “No, actually it was me,” Maddock said from the doorway. “And obviously I missed one hell of a party.”

  I grabbed Amile by the throat and pushed her backwards so that she stumbled out of my room. “I was being serious Amile. Next time I will kill you.”

  Her face paled and I yanked Maddock inside the room and slammed my door shut. “What happened?” Maddock asked Favian.

  I walked to my window and opened it, drawing in deep breaths to calm myself and keep the female emotions away. I could hear Favian updating Maddock on the events, but I couldn’t look at them yet. I was upset, but not because she had assumed I was sleeping with Favian. I was upset because of the other things she had said. Why did it bother me that she thought I would have to be an evil temptress for Favian to share a bed with me? Was I that hideous?

  “Marin, what’s wrong?” Favian asked.

  I shook my head and pushed the emotions down. “Nothing. Let’s get our things and head out. The sooner we get to the Academy, the better.”

  Favian and Maddock looked at me and then shared a look with each other. I ignored them and grabbed my bag, making sure I had everything and then put on my boots and strapped my sword on since I was already dressed. Favian and Maddock left me and I turned to look at myself in the full length mirror Mother had forced me to put in my room. I stared at myself and couldn’t see an ugly girl, but neither could I see a beautiful girl, or a beautiful elf like Amile. Maybe she was right. Maybe I was too ugly for Favian or any other elf to ever be interested in.

  I shook my head at my ridiculousness and jogged out to the courtyard where Favian, Maddock, Father, Mother and the horses were. Amile gave me a dirty look and then started to try to talk with Favian, but he spoke quickly and angrily to her, interrupting her and then gave her the bracelet she had given him. She spoke angrily back to him and then burst into tears and ran out of the courtyard. If I didn’t hate the girl so much I might have felt sorry for her.

  I climbed onto Fire’s back and waved to Maddock and Father. “Good bye. I’ll see you soon.”

  Favian mounted Ice and cantered after me to catch up as we exited the gates and went on the main road. We cantered slowly for a few hours and then we slowed to a walk to preserve the horses, especially since we might need to escape from other mercenaries.

  “So, are you going to tell me what’s bothering you or are you going to make me pester you again?” he asked me as he moved Ice closer to Fire.

  “Am I ugly?” I asked him.

  He stared at me with the most priceless stunned expression and said, “What?”

  “Am I ugly?” I asked again.

  “No,” he said, “Why?”

  “Do not lie to me. Am I ugly? I mean I know I am not beautiful, but do you think I’m unattractive?”

  He stopped Ice and Fire stopped beside him even though I hadn’t given her a command. “What’s going on? Why are you asking me this?”

  “Please answer me. I must know. I promise I won’t hold it against you if you think I’m hideous,” I said pleadingly.

  “You want the honest answer?” he asked.

  I nodded my head.

  He took a deep breath and then he said, “You are beautiful.”

  I groaned and squeezed my legs to make Fire go. “I hate when you lie to me.”

  He grabbed Fire’s reins and stopped her so he could face me completely. “I am not lying, Marin. You are beautiful. You wanted my honest answer and that is what I gave you. I think that you are beautiful. I assumed you already knew that.”

  “I think you’re crazy if you believe I am beautiful, but thank you.”

  “What brought this on?” he asked, releasing Fire’s reins.

  “Amile seemed so sure that you wouldn’t sleep with me unless I was some evil temptress so I assumed it was because I was ugly,” I answered him honestly. I sighed. “She was probably just upset since she fancies you and she thought I had defiled you.”

  Favian went back to being silent as we continued on our way. We kept focused on everything around us, looking for any sign of danger. We left the forest, passed the fields and made it to the gate unscathed.

  “What are you doing back so soon?” the gatekeeper asked when he saw me.

  “I escaped from the dungeons of the Elves and they decided to let me come finish my training,” I said, teasing Favian.

  Favian rolled his eyes. “We had a change of heart and decided that it was only right to let her finish her schooling since she’d worked so hard.”

  The gatekeeper nodded his head in agreement. “I feel the same way. Alright boys, let ‘em in.”

  We walked through the gate and into the town and then continued on our way to the shops. We stopped at the butcher just long enough for me to purchase a piece of barbecued beef. I ate it happily as we made our way through the rest of the town. “This is so delicious,” I said around a bite in my mouth.

  Favian looked at me with disgust and shook his head. “You’re foul.”

  I smiled with beef in my teeth. “Thank you.”

  He shook his head at me and then turned his attention back to protecting me. “Who approaches the gate?” asked the back guard.

  “Favian and Marin,” Favian called out, “please grant us permission to pass to the Academy.”

  “Permission granted.”

  The gate opened and we cantered out onto the main street and towards the Academy. “So far, so good,” I whispered as I patted Fire’s neck.

  “Don’t get complacent,” Favian said.

  “I know, I know,” I muttered.

  The forest converged around the road and we galloped two more miles towards the Academy when we spotted the trap. Thankfully it was midday so we had plenty of light to see the trap strung across the road ahead of us. It was simple trip wire which our horses would pull with their hooves when we ran across the road.

  “Innocent lives could have been taken by this trap,” Favian said angrily.

  We dismounted and surveyed the sides of the road to look for any other traps, finding three before we finally made it around. “How did they know I was even coming back to the Academy?” I asked.

  “These traps weren’t for you,” he said quietly.

  I turned and stared at him in shock as I comprehended what he was saying. They were traps set for him. They were going to capture him in order to lure me to them. It would have worked too. If I heard that Favian was being held prisoner and they wanted to trade me for him, I would go in an instant. “Well we know they’re smart,” I grunted.

  “So you’re admitting that you would have fallen for their trap knowing they would have probably just killed us both in the end?” he asked me.

  I nodded my head. “Yes and you would do the same.”

  He ignored me since he knew I was right. We were each other’s weakness and if they grabbed one of us, they would get both of us. Most mercenaries didn’t have partners for that very reason, but having grown up together with his overprotectiveness had made the transition to partner inevitable.

  We finally made it to the Academy and were ushered inside immediately. As we untacked the horses Macon came into the stables. “Good to see you, Marin.”

  I smiled. “Thank you, sir. I’m glad to be back and ready to finish up this year.”

  “So you are ready to complete your final test then?” he asked.

  I nodded my head. “Yes.”

  He looked at F
avian. “Are you ready?”

  Favian nodded his head. “I am, sir.”

  Macon smiled. “Good. Get some food and rest today. We will brief everyone tomorrow morning on the plan and then execute it that day.”

  “One day?” Favian asked in shock. “I thought we were going to wait?”

  “We were, but the attack at the school shows just how serious these people are. We must act quickly and we must find out who is after Marin before it is too late,” Macon said seriously.

  I nodded my head. “I completely agree. I am tired of being scared and looking at every leaf like it could be hiding a kidnapper.”

  “Finish up and then head to the food hall,” Macon said, “And Marin, it truly is good to have you back at the Academy.”

  It was the nicest thing Macon had ever said to me and it filled my heart with joy. I finished putting away Fire’s tack and then followed Favian to the food hall where we waited in line with everyone else for lunch.

  “Marin!” Micah called happily. “I am so glad to see you. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw them taking your unconscious body away.”

  “Yes, that was fun,” I said sarcastically as Favian purposefully avoided eye contact with me. “How have things been since I left?”

  Micah smiled. “They haven’t been the same without you around, but it has still been very busy. Everyone has been preparing for the final test and I have to say I’m really looking forward to it.”

  “We all are,” I said with a smile.

  The line move forward and Micah waved good bye to us as he left the food hall. “He seemed different,” Favian whispered.

  “What?” I asked, “How?”

  He shrugged. “I can’t really say. It was just a feeling I got when he was talking to you.”

  “You are being super paranoid,” I said angrily, “He has been a good friend to both of us the past six years.”

  “I know,” he said as he grabbed a plate, “Just remember that our enemies could be anyone.”

  “Even you?” I asked him with cross eyes.

  He rolled his eyes at me. “Yes, even I could be a potential enemy.”

  “You are so dramatic sometimes.”

  “You need to keep guard at all times,” Favian said seriously.

  I took the plate back from the chef and asked, “Is this safe? Or have you poisoned it?”

  The chef waved his ladle at me. “Watch your tongue, girl.”

  “Blame Favian, sir. He’s the one telling me I need to be on guard from everyone.”

  “He is right that you need to be on guard, but one must not forget their comrades when enemies are after them. Your comrades may be the only ones who can save you,” the chef said as he served the student behind me.

  We ate our food and then I went to my dorm and took a nap. Favian’s protectiveness had exhausted me. I had planned to take a short nap, but ended up sleeping through the night and waking up just as the morning call rose in the school. I rolled out of bed and screamed when I tripped and fell on top of Favian.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked him.

  “You left the door unlocked,” he chastised me as he roused himself from sleep. “And I wanted to be sure you were safe and the only way to do that was to sleep in your dorm.”

  “You cannot sleep in my dorm. Rumors will spread and…”

  “I do not care about rumors,” he said angrily, “I care about your safety.”

  I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry I snapped at you, but you scared me.”

  “Better I scare you then an enemy.”

  I resisted the urge to kick him and quickly grabbed my belt with my sword and throwing knives. He followed me out the door and as I expected students were already out and we received quite a few stares. I held my head high, refusing to be embarrassed since nothing had happened and walked confidently to the food hall to eat breakfast.

  Usually people tried to keep their voices down when gossiping, but today it seemed that no one cared. Wild gossip raged within the food hall about my night with Favian, but unlike with Amile, the people here assumed that he had pushed himself on me. For some reason that made my day a little bit brighter and put a smile on my face.

  “You seem chipper for someone who is being gossiped about,” Favian commented as we exited the food hall.

  “Well it’s not bad gossip for me,” I said with a smile.

  “You’re incorrigible,” he muttered.

  We headed to the covered fighting ring and thankfully found it empty. The arena was filled with a soft dirt that was easy to move around on and didn’t hurt you when you were thrown on it or tackled.

  “You want easy or hard?” Favian asked as we stretched.

  “Hard,” I said as I stretched my hamstrings. “No weapons though.”

  He gave me the do you think I’m stupid look and then took a ready stance in the center of the ring. I met him, mimicking his stance. “You attack,” he said with a smile.

  I took a deep, calming breath and then attacked him. My attacks were essentially pointless since he blocked each and every one of them, but it was still good to practice the punches. He kicked at me and I blocked it with my leg while trying to hit him with my hand. He let me attack him for forty minutes and then switched from defensive to offensive.

  I blocked as many hits as I could, but he still managed to land a few on my ribs. His fist flew just passed my face, barely missing my cheek as I leaned backwards to avoid it. I hadn’t known we had attracted an audience until I heard the reaction to the near hit. For some reason the audience made me fight harder and I could see the frustration in Favian’s face as he tried to hit me and kick me, but none landed.

  Finally he grew tired of the hand to hand combat and tackled me to the ground. The air rushed out of me in a loud grunt when we landed, but I immediately brought my knees up to keep him from pinning me. I pulled my leg up slowly from between his legs and then used it to propel him up and off of me.

  Some of the crowd cheered while others booed. I ignored them all to focus on Favian. It wasn’t often that we got to goof around like this and I was enjoying myself. I lunged forward and slowed to use a low kick, but Favian caught me off guard with a downward punch that caught me in the cheek and knocked me onto my back. My vision blurred and bright lights danced across my vision as I groaned in pain. He really was playing hard because he hadn’t held anything back from that punch. I’d been punched by him before, but never in the face. It was a whole other type of pain that I was not used to.

  I shook my head to clear it and stood up to face him again despite my throbbing cheek and the embarrassment I felt at getting caught so off guard. I took a step to engage him again when Master Martin’s whistle pierced the noise of the crowd and brought me to a halt.

  “You’re supposed to be resting,” he chastised Favian and me, “Not fighting each other.”

  “We are resting,” I said with a smile, “We’re sparring, not fighting.”

  “Go to your dorms,” he told everyone. “Today is a day for meditating and preparation mentally for the upcoming final test.”

  “Yes, sir,” Favian said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the exit to keep me from talking.

  “I don’t want to meditate in my dorm,” I complained to Favian as we walked towards it.

  “Just stay silent until we get to your dorm,” he said as he looked around nervously.

  “You’re not coming into my dorm again,” I said seriously.

  “Yes I am and there’s nothing you can do to stop me,” he answered in his prince’s voice. It was the voice that told me not to even try to argue or he’d tie me up and throw me over his shoulders. He had done it once and I did not want to relive that embarrassing moment again so I followed his orders and ignored the curious stares of the other students as we walked into my dorm and Favian shut and locked my door behind us.

  I sat down on my bed, feeling tired and still shaky from the hit that Favian had
landed and took deep, slow breaths. Favian squatted down in front of me and turned my head with his fingertips against my chin. “How does your face feel?”

  “Like I got kicked by a horse,” I answered truthfully.

  “I’m sorry, Marin. I thought you were going to block it. I would have held back if I had known you would miss.” He probed it and I hissed in pain.

  “Don’t apologize. It’s my fault for not paying attention,” I whispered as he continued to inspect the swollen spot.

  “Do you still have some of that pain medication?” he asked as he looked underneath my bed.

  “Yes, it should be in the leather pouch,” I said as I lay down and tried to hide the blush now on my face. I did not like these new feelings which made me feel uncomfortable when Favian touched me in certain ways. I’d been his friend for too long for stupid things like this to bother me!

  “Here it is,” he said as he pulled the leather pouch out and scooted out from under my bed with it. He opened the bottle and said, “Open your mouth and stick out your tongue.”

  I did as he asked and he sprinkled some of the pain medication onto my tongue. I let it dissolve and then closed my eyes. “Thanks.”

  “So be honest with me,” he said quietly, “How do you feel about the mission?”

  “I am terrified, but know it needs to be done and I am really looking forward to it all being over,” I answered him. “How are you feeling?”

  “Worried because I am scared something is going to go wrong and using you as bait will be your death sentence. There are too many variables and too many things that could go wrong, especially since we are facing other mercenaries that attended this school and learned everything we did from the same teachers.”

  “If they do capture me you have to promise me something, okay?”

  “What?” he asked skeptically.

  “If they try to lure you with me, don’t do it. Promise me you will stay with the Academy and work with them to figure out how to rescue me. Please promise me that you won’t come after me yourself.”

  Favian looked down at his hands. “I can’t promise that, Marin.”