Frowning slightly at the idea of being told she was just a girl, Acheri shook her head, “I would rather my body remained as it is. Men like my cousin here like girls slim and their chests must not matter from the ones I have seen him associating with so far.”
The woman looked at Palose raising an eyebrow, “Oh, he likes the ones that are more girl than woman. You would think that he would be growing out of that by his age.”
“I’m not even nineteen for another month,” he protested. “Of course I like girls, because I am still a boy.”
As the two women began to laugh at his expense, he realized that Acheri had managed to pull him in again with Mistress Leyren’s help.
Acheri hugged his right arm to her smiling up at him and he shook his head. “You are definitely still a child and will probably become quite plump when you grow up,” he stated in annoyance.
Sticking her tongue out at him, she released him again to look at the trinkets on the table even as Bratha shook her head at him. Threatening a girl’s figure, even a cousin’s in jest, was close to receiving a verbal thrashing, but Palose refused to let her new glare affect him. Acheri had needed to be taken down a peg after teasing him, so it was only fair. Thinking of Sylvaine suddenly, the young man realized that he doubted he would have said such a thing to her. She was sixteen and already blossoming, though the girl was similar in size to Acheri. He had a feeling she was the one the princess had alluded to and wondered why she thought that.
While his mind had wandered, the girl picked up a brass pin with stones that looked like rubies, which was surprising as he looked at the general quality of the goods. An expensive pin with rubies would have certainly been placed in a more secure place.
Acheri looked at the pin closer and asked, “What kind of flower is this?”
“It is the crimson tremara,” Palose stated surprising the merchant who nodded at his accurate guess.
“The stone is just almandine, but this one is of good value and looks more like a ruby. Since it is set in brass, it is only eight silvers,” she added trying to influence a sale.
Without much knowledge of coin or money in her limited life span, Acheri apparently hadn’t received much in the transfer of knowledge from the emperor either, Palose thought as the girl told him, “Buy it for me, Cristin.”
Her voice had become tender as if she were a girlfriend or wife to be asking him to spend money on her. “But you don’t need it. Since you haven’t brought money with you, why do I have to buy it for you?”
Staring at him as if he was stupid, she replied, “If I have no money with me, then who else will buy it?”
Being tight with his money, Palose tried to bid the merchant down, “How about five silvers?”
Before the merchant could respond, Acheri interrupted his attempt by telling him, “Pay her price and my brother will pay you back with interest.” Feeling Mistress Leyren’s eyes on her for using her brother instead of her father as they had originally mentioned, the girl added, “My brother tends to the financial part of the family business. I can get him to buy me anything.”
The dark haired girl grinned sweetly making the merchant laugh even as Palose fought to not scowl. Paying full price in most markets of Southwall was like giving in to highway robbery, but with Kolban’s treasury to back her promise, the mage figured he didn’t need to fight her over it.
While Acheri ignored him as he paid Bratha, the mage said quietly, “The way she spends money, you would think the girl was only a baby a month ago, wouldn’t you?”
Chuckling at his predicament, the woman replied, “If she can manipulate her father and brother as well as you, I would say that she is older than she looks actually. I do, however, enjoy receiving my price without a fight for once.”
“I’m sure,” he agreed grumpily placing the silver on the table for the merchant to collect. “Well, good day, Bratha. I think I need to collect my cousin to try and herd her along before we spend all day here.”
“If she would get you to open your wallet a few more times, I wouldn’t mind,” Bratha said with a greedy smile.
Moving through the booths and tables extended into the cold from stores closed to the winter air, Palose began to follow the girl who was nearly skipping at times as she enjoyed her first trip to Windmeer. They found a vendor selling warm cider and bought a pair of cups. He didn’t even fight the idea after so many hours out in the cold.
“What is this again?” Acheri asked as they started away. The cups were cheaply made reinforced wax paper. Only vendors seemed able to find the things, but they allowed them to include the cups as part of the price so people could continue shopping and they didn’t have to continually clean permanent containers.
“Prapple cider,” he replied taking another sip. The refreshing drink was something he hadn’t noticed was missing in Ensolus. Prapples were a hardy plant, but North Continent had proven harsher than the tree brought from Taltan could handle well. Outside of the southern areas of Southwall, few of the trees could be found. Winter often destroyed any orchards that were attempted closer to the wall, so the southern cities were needed to grow them and had a steady business supplying the north.
“I have never had this before,” the girl declared looking happy as she warmed her fingers around the steaming cup. “I wonder why brother never had such a sweet drink brought to the table?”
Palose shrugged. “I doubt there are any of the trees north of the wall to get the fruit from, Acheri. Most of the orchards which produce Windmeer’s supply are down by Siltrene or New Harbor. We transport it here.”
Sighing, the princess looked at the crowd which was beginning to thin as the sun continued to drop through the sky towards sunset. “It is getting late and we need to go home, don’t we?”
He nodded and found her surprisingly pliant as they disappeared into an alley and then through another glowing portal.
Chapter 22- Know Thy Enemy
Pushing at her food, Rilena yawned wondering what made her mind unwilling to deal with the day. It was the breakfast for those following the second bell and once upon a time, the falcon had always eaten at first bell. Rung while it was still dark outside from fall to spring, only summer let those breakfast diners see the sun as they began their early day.
The dining hall was filled to maybe half of what the nightly dinner gathering would bring into the room, but the noise of people talking created a hum that seemed energy draining as she wanted to fall into that monotonous noise. Her eyelids closed in a blink that lasted long enough for Elzen to appear in front of her carrying a tray. A young woman in a falcon uniform with red hair moved to sit beside him and Rilena woke up slightly more wondering who his new friend might be.
Casting her eyes back to the boy in front of her, Elzen suddenly smiled and said, “You look exhausted. I would say terrible, but I’m told that girls don’t like to hear that... at all.” He grimaced as if the mage was thinking of some girl he might have tormented until she heard such a thing from his mouth.
“I have barely slept in days,” Rilena agreed leaning on her left hand as her elbow braced against the table top. Table manners had been instilled into the mages during their schooling, but a solid surface to keep one’s head from hitting the table came before manners sometimes.
Shaking his head, the younger mage asked, “Is he getting to you that much? Garosh has been a model prisoner for all the details guarding him so far. Why are you losing sleep over him?”
Pointing over her plate with her free hand at the new girl, Rilena asked, “Aren’t you going to explain this first?”
Elzen turned to the red head whose sparkling blue eyes suddenly looked amused at his discomfort. “Oh yeah, Rilena, this is Siobeth. She was promoted to falcon at the same time as me and we manned the Gale Tower on our last trip here.”
“Not by ourselves, of course,” the red head clarified with a warm smile for the tired girl across from them. “There was usually a score of men and women at Gale.” Her eyes turne
d curious as she took a pause before asking, “You served with Sebastian Trillon, the mizard, for awhile didn’t you? Is he as brilliant as they say?”
“I suppose you can call him brilliant. If you’re a friend of Elzen’s, why didn’t you ask him? He’s known him longer than I have,” the woman asked before covering her mouth as another yawn struck.
Nodding at her point, the redhead responded, “True, but that was only as a cadet before he started creating mage magic out of wizard spells. Now they say he’s gone to Hala to take his shot at Winter’s Edge dueling wizards.”
“Only Sebastian can possibly stand up to a wizard in their own competition,” Rilena agreed. She had known that he had been roped into the tournament by the ravens of Windmeer. In fact, Sebastian had assembled a team of wizards here and fought several duels. As far as she knew, the mizard had yet to lose a duel against any type of wizard. Whether it was luck or skill, Rilena didn’t truly know, but the girl had seen the wizard’s duels and knew that her friend was certainly wading in the deep end of the magic pool.
Elzen grinned at the new girl and added, “He’s leading a team of wizards of his own to Hala. They’re training together and I bet he’s even begun teaching them to fight like battle mages. Can you imagine wizards actually learning from a mage?”
Shaking her head slightly dubious despite her earlier enthusiasm, Siobeth looked from Elzen to the brunette falcon asking, “Do you think he has a chance?”
With a tired shrug and a moment taken to yawn again, Rilena finally answered, “I don’t think Bas would go into any competition to look foolish, but I think winning it all might be a bit much. There will be a lot of top notch wizards competing over an entire week. Thinking he won’t find someone better than him among wizards who having been dueling for years would be unlikely.”
“There is always someone bigger and stronger,” a deep voice came from behind Rilena sending a chill of displeasure running up her spine. Elzen frowned slightly at the interruption, but his disapproval came from the originator of that voice.
“May I?” Garosh asked taking a place beside Rilena. Tensing up and suddenly wide awake, the falcon looked ready to bolt, but managed to stay in her seat to avoid giving the giant the satisfaction of driving her away.
“Apparently you can help yourself,” Elzen replied testily. Only Siobeth appeared even remotely willing to be in the man’s presence.
Rilena felt the strong wood bench give beneath the weight of the large man. As he leaned over the table to take his first bite, the woman took note of his power and the silver gray hair of his beard and full head of hair. Regardless of the color, he was not an old man. The skin around his dark brown eyes hadn’t even begun to etch in the crow’s feet of even a middle aged man. As much as she hated to admit it, Garosh was actually a handsome man. Perhaps that was part of why she was having problems sleeping, since her heart’s hatred for the man had to look at a pleasant visage.
Elzen latched onto the giant’s comment as he had walked up and said sarcastically, “You probably don’t have that problem of finding someone bigger or stronger then.”
“Hardly,” Garosh replied almost with contempt at the idea. “In a world where trolls, kiriaks and armored viles make up an army or where the emperor’s magical might holds sway, I find that I am rather insignificant.”
That comment brought Rilena’s eyes to him with a questioning look. It wasn’t as if he asked them to be sorry for him, when the giant was complaining of being smaller than the monsters in the emperor’s army. Still, thinking of Garosh as an insignificant power felt rather disturbing.
Elzen wasn’t through pushing at the giant, “Sometimes things in smaller packages can surprise you. Not everything large is exactly impossible to defeat.”
Eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at the smaller falcon, Garosh stated darkly, “You actually wish to test me, don’t you, falcon?”
Replying first with a confident smile, then with a nod; Elzen declared with self-assured bravado, “I bet that I could beat you in a fair fight. People have been underestimating me for my whole life, but after a fight with me they learn better.”
Thumping the table loudly enough to startle several diners bringing eyes towards their table, Garosh declared his acceptance, “Fine, first we eat then we fight. I have been spoiling for some exercise, so maybe you can do more than just run your mouth when we reach the practice field.”
Eyes turning evil as the smaller falcon’s mouth tightened looking ready to start the fight right there, Elzen merely nodded and finished the last of his meal. Despite his arriving first, the mage barely beat the giant leaving Rilena looking at her plate only half eaten in the same time.
“I am ready, little man,” Garosh stated standing from the bench and stepping back. His hand engulfed her shoulder as the giant exited the table and Rilena felt the strength in just that light touch worrying over what Elzen had just done. She also doubted that he needed to use her to maintain his balance, but wondered why he needed to demonstrate his strength on her since she wasn’t his opponent.
Worry was echoed on Siobeth’s face as she moved to follow the two men. Garosh’s entourage of soldiers, mages and wizards trailed them through the castle until Elzen led the giant to a courtyard. By the time they arrived, a large crowd had chosen to follow the two men. With all the talk of Winter’s Edge and the wizard duels, Rilena thought maybe everyone was ready to see something more basic, though a fight involving Garosh was likely to be anything but that.
Empty tables and benches surrounded an open area of withered grass. The snow was cleared from the regularly active training area and those coming to see a fight spread out leaving the central section open. It was likely to be a dangerous fight, so no one was willing to put themselves too near the heart of the courtyard.
“What types of weapons do you want?” Elzen asked gesturing to several closed cabinets that were quickly flung open to reveal everything from swords and shields to more exotic weapons like flails and cat’s eyes.
Eyeing the smaller man, Garosh asked the falcon, “What weapons do you prefer?”
“Shield,” the mage answered calling forth the blue magic over his hands. “I prefer my hands, but feel free to take whatever you wish.”
The giant spotted his choice and returned with a pair of three foot long batons. In his hands they looked like twigs, but a solid blow from one of the clubs could crack a man’s head open easily. Garosh questioned, “Any rules I should know about?”
“Since you aren’t allowed to use magic, this will be all that I will use,” Elzen stated as the two began to circle slowly feeling each other out even before the combat officially began. “If the two wizards can shield us from death blows, then I think no one will be in trouble from Lord Bryon or Duke Gelan. We can keep this... friendly.”
Taking a grim look at the boy’s sarcastic tone, Garosh simply nodded. “Whenever you are ready to get this beating over with, please feel free.”
“Fine. Rilena call it out.”
The woman wanted to ask ‘Why me?’, but refrained as she stepped close enough to be seen out of the corner of their eyes. Raising her hand, the dark haired falcon started, “Ready, then commence.”
With her words spaced just enough to leave a moment open, the last word sent both men into motion. Elzen leaped in going for the legs as Garosh struck from above with his right. Even without a mage spell increasing his reflexes unfairly, the boy was fast.
Sliding on the damp, hibernating grass, the mage struck the giant’s leg around the knee three times in passing before changing direction and rolling away to the left. Garosh winced at the strikes, but turned chasing the smaller man a bit more cautiously.
Elzen closed again standing straighter and took the attack towards the giant’s stomach. The short staves quickly obstructed the mage. Shielded hands swatted powerfully driven wood clubs and for several seconds the two exchanged blows. The smaller man’s head and body movement shocked Rilena and everyone who had never se
en the mage in action. He looked like he was magically enhanced as hands deflected every strike of the batons shifting Garosh’s power away from his head and shoulders. He dropped lower and kicked the left knee with exact precision making the powerful giant wince again.
In a bit of a stalemate, the battle mage dropped back bouncing on the balls of his feet switching from left to right stances at the drop of a hat. He’d hint at an attack causing Garosh to tense and bring the staves down defensively. When Elzen closed the distance once more, he danced to the side guiding the left hand strike of the giant back to the man’s right. An elbow struck the forearm. His shielded fist connected above the elbow as his body continued to turn. A kick to the left knee and successive punch to the kidney brought a groan of pain from the big man’s throat reflexively.
Instinct and speed brought Garosh’s left arm swinging for the mage’s head, but he ducked striking the abdomen of the larger man. Dodging back out of his reach, Elzen looked calm and poised. His breathing was steady while Garosh was shaky in his breaths and fighting some pain. The giant gauged the smaller man warily, but maintained his guard.
“You’re better than I would have thought without even using your magic,” Garosh stated as if his words could buy him time while he tried to figure out how to deal with the quicker fighter.
“Be glad I’m not using a reflex spell then. This is me in slow motion compared to that,” the boy replied arrogantly. He felt like the giant had no chance in a fair fight. While Garosh had his strength, the mage wouldn’t allow him to use it and could pick him apart if he wanted to.
Giving a crisp nod of readiness, the giant suddenly changed his stance. Rilena thought that she felt a rise in his magic, but it only moved through his body. Without a spell actually cast, Garosh’s movements became smoother. “Careful, Elzen, his magic seems to be helping him even without a spell,” the girl stated even as many of the surrounding caster’s began to nod. Not every wizard or mage could sense the movement or build up of magic in another, so she just hoped her warning helped.
Battle Mage: The Dark Mage (Tales of Alus) Page 33