But the Zhiberian lived. How that thought… galled him.
A servant entered with a lit lamp and placed it on his desk. Another bottle of wine was thumped down beside it, and the man left without a word or a sound, retreating into the escalating gloom as though swallowed whole. The light burned brightly, the fiery curves shifting, although it barely reached the warship painting on the far wall. Grisholt stared at that fearsome beast of battle setting sail on what now appeared a moonlit ocean with nary a ripple on the water—lost at sea or waiting for a breeze. It was open to interpretation at this late hour, and Grisholt simmered where he sat and drank, smacking his lips at times.
A figure appeared in the doorway, and in Grisholt’s drunken capacity, it seemed as if the shadow had magically formed.
“Master Grisholt,” a voice asked. Grisholt recognized it as belonging to Brakuss. “It’s late, but Ballan is here from the city.”
“He’s here?” Grisholt croaked, his throat slick from drink. “Step into the light then.”
Ballan appeared with Brakuss’s one-eyed bulk towering over him. The smaller man’s eyes looked as black as the darkest corners of the study, and he had a weary look about him, as though he had travelled hard to reach his employer’s home.
“What then?” Grisholt said gently, the alcohol pacifying him as effectively as a hammer to his skull. “Speak now, good Ballan. And we can all retire for the night.”
“I bear news from the city,” Ballan reported.
“Yes, yes, I heard that part already. Out with it before I piss my breeches here.”
“As you’ve asked, we’ve kept an eye on the Zhiberian and his companions. This afternoon, they formally registered a house with the Gladiatorial Chamber. A small house composed of ten names, ten fighters, although three of them are badly hurt. Two have already been eliminated from competition. Caro wanted you to know and sent me as soon as his contact within the Chamber informed him.”
Grisholt sat and stared as though he was about to retch. “They’ve established themselves as a house?”
“They have, Master Grisholt.”
“You hear that, Brakuss. The enemy has built a foundation for itself. We missed our opportunity and they… they didn’t. Well.”
“They still are unaware of our involvement with the six,” Brakuss rumbled, not nearly as drunk as Grisholt wished him to be.
“That’s good. Good, isn’t it? We live to strike another day.”
“Caro wishes to report he’s seen other agents take note of the new house,” Ballan said.
“Word travels fast, eh?” Grisholt grinned in the lamplight. “Sometimes, like a blood poison seeking the heart. By now, most of the others are aware of the new competition. It’s an unheard-of time to introduce a house but permissible all the same. Those… bastards.”
Grisholt didn’t say anything else for several moments, but Ballan and Brakuss were accustomed to their employer’s long lapses of silence.
“Go on and get some rest,” Grisholt finally rumbled. “Eat something if you wish. The castle is no longer crumbling around us, and the pantry is no longer bare. In the morning, when you are rested, you’ll return to the city with a few extra coins. Give these to Caro. He’ll disperse them as he sees fit. Keep someone watching the Zhiberian bastard and his friends. I want to know what they are doing. Find out who the fighters are and their records. Find out everything you can about these men, for our lads will be meeting them bearing arms soon enough.”
Ballan nodded and moved to depart.
“By the way.” Grisholt stopped him. “What is the name of the house?”
“They’ve called themselves the House of Ten, Master Grisholt.”
Grisholt, set adrift on a strong riptide of sweet wine, thought about the name before repeating it with grim feeling.
“The House of Ten.” He tasted the words, attempting to grasp a greater meaning, his tongue wetting his lips like that of an old but still-dangerous serpent.
“Ten,” he hissed in the dark.
131 Days: House of Pain (Book 2) is on sale now…
Enjoy the story? Try these other titles by Keith C Blackmore:
Horror
Mountain Man
Safari (Mountain Man Book 2)
Hellifax (Mountain Man Book 3)
Well Fed (Mountain Man Book 4)
The Missing Boatman
Breeds
Breeds 2
Cauldron Gristle (novella—contains Mountain Man short story “The Hospital”)
Private Property (novella)
Isosceles Moon (novella)
Heroic Fantasy
The Troll Hunter
White Sands, Red Steel
131 Days (Book 1)
131 Days: House of Pain (Book 2)
131 Days: Spikes and Edges (Book 3)
Science Fiction/Fantasy
The Bear That Fell from the Stars
Children’s
Flight of the Cookie Dough Mansion
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About the Author
Keith lives in the wild hills of Canada.
CHARACTERS
*The Free Trained*
Halm (Zhiberian), seasonal pit fighter
Pig Knot (Sunjan), seasonal pit fighter
Muluk (Kree), seasonal pit fighter
Goll (of Kree), seasonal pit fighter, pupil of the Weapon Masters of Kree
Tumber (Vathian), seasonal pit fighter
Brozz "Crowhead" (Sarlandish), first-time pit fighter
Torello (Sunjan), pit fighter
Kolo (Sunjan), pit fighter
Junger (Perician), the Perician Weapon. First games.
Kolem “Sapo” (Sunjan), pit fighter
Clades (Sunjan), survivor from the Third Klaw
Skulljigger, seasonal pit fighter
The Masters, their Houses (Stables/Schools), and their people
*House of Curge*
Curge, the oldest, most successful owner.
Bezange, agent
Baris, trainer
Tubrik, trainer
Bechar, trainer
Demasta, burly head of Curge’s household guard
*School of Gastillo*
Gastillo, once gladiator, now Master of his House, wears a golden mask
Varno, agent
Prajus, gladiator
*School of Nexus*
Nexus, wealthy wine merchant turned Master
Bojen, agent
Tino, spy
Bernd, trainer
Rezzo, trainer
*Stable of Grisholt*
Older house, which almost grasped glory within the games, only to fall short
Borl Grisholt, owner and master of the house
Brakuss, once gladiator and head of household guard
Caro, once gladiator, now agent
Ballan, spy
Marrok, cook
Sarkus, smithy
Gunjar, pit fighter.
Turst, taskmaster.
Golki, once gladiator, now a hired thug
Kurlin, once gladiator, now a hired thug
Morg, once gladiator, now a hired thug
Sulo, once gladiator, now a hired thug
Lantus, once gladiator, now a hired thug
Plakus, once gladiator, now a hired thug
*Others*
Clavellus, exiled taskmaster
Machlann, trainer of Clavellus
Koba, trainer of Clavellus
Nala, Clavellus’s wife
Ananda, house servant
Borchus, free agent
Bagrun, wagoner
(Karashipa, town of)
Miji, tavern owner
Thaimondus, once taskmaster
Torcul, Thaimondus’s son
Neven, Thaimondus’s son
131 Days [Book 1] Page 54