by D C Ware
Lyla would leave in the morning. She lied to her father and told him Maverick was coming with her but Maverick was not even going to know she was leaving. He would only try to stop her or offer to go for her alone and risk getting himself killed. She could not ask him to do that. Maverick and Tristan liked each other a lot but Tristan was her brother and her responsibility and this was something she now had to do on her own.
But for all its troubles, being the daughter of a one time merchant also had its perks. Her father had not sold everything of value he had acquired in his travels. He kept a select collection of rare and unique items he intended to one day give to Tristan in a trunk under the floor of his room. Unknown to him Lyla would ‘borrow’ items from that trunk from time to time for her travels with Maverick. With the exception of a few items Maverick had ‘misplaced’; she had returned them all more or less no worse for wear.
For this trip however she was taking more than she had ever taken before. Traveling alone and with a very valuable sailing instrument she had to be prepared for the worst. In addition to the light elven armor she was going to wear under her clothes, she was also taking a small but powerful crossbow pistol, a dagger, a charm with two Wooddam spells locked in it, three of Midas’ healing potions and a Dwarven lock pick… just in case using any of the other items brought her in contact with constables and got her arrested.
CHAPTER THREE
Arrangements
Swift and his knights rode toward the mounted riders at a full gallop but they stood their ground. “Nemesis Knights!” thought Swift. Only former knights would stand and face a full on charge by six of the king’s best knights.
Nemesis Knights were knights-errant and robber knights who had swapped their oath to the king for an oath to Morcai. Most were men who either never finished their training for knighthood and resented being denied the title and lands that came with it; or were former knights who had failed quests and became errant in lieu of returning to Kings Castle and being stripped of their knighthood. Eventually most came to Morcai and Fire Castle when their money and wealth had run out or the king’s Bane Knights had closed in on them. These then became Morcai’s “Nemesis Knights”. Knights specifically set aside to oppose the king’s Bane Knights. Few of them could stand against a true knight of the land but it was rumored all of them were supplied with special drugs by Morcai that enhanced their courage and made them prone to violence. Thus not even a charge of a squadron of the king’s best knight would easily put them to flight.
“No matter”, thought Swift, “it is always a good day to kill false knights who had betrayed their oath to the king and the realm”. Raising his sword high across his left shoulder and bringing it down in a violent arc Swift killed two of them with his first strike! His brother knights dispatched the rest in short order as well.
Mayor Brufson remembered Maverick. The kid didn’t look like much. Oh he was well built, muscular and tall and a decent looking lad to boot. But the look of a warrior had he not. But “By the One” that boy fought like the devil! And with a skill that he never could of learned in these hills.
Truth be told he kind of scared Brufson. But even still he might just be the one Brufson needed to get to the bottom of these rumors and help him decide where Milestill’s allegiance should fall if the king were in fact dead. And if the king was not dead, then Brufson would re-employ some proven assassins to make those who brought the rumor to him pay for thinking they could make a fool of him.
Brufson’s ‘office’ was in the center of a large stable with stalls for horses adjoining three of its four walls. His desk was “a log and anvil” pedestal about waist high that was used to hammer horse shoes in the center of the stables. There were no chairs or stools or other accoutrements of an ‘office’ but those with an audience would stand around the horseshoe pedestal and discuss the matters they had with the king.
Maverick had been here before and was rubbing a large quarter horse’s mane while waiting for the mayor.
“If you are really fond of her she needs to be re-shoed.”
Maverick turned to see Brufson at the horseshoe pedestal placing a new shoe and preparing to strike it with his hammer.
“Maybe I will hammer out her next set Mayor. But I fear if what I have come to find out is true I won’t be able to hang around long enough to do so today.”
“You don’t have to tell me why you have come Maverick. You want to know if the rumors about the king’s death are true. No?” KLANK, KLANK, KLANK! He hammered.
“That or as much as you know about their origin and these ‘knights’ who brought the news.” Maverick replied raising his voice above the banging.
“I see you have been talking to Brule.“ KLANK, KLANK, KLANK!
“Don’t blame Brule. The only reason you told that oaf was so that he would spread the news and you could see who took the bait. So I took it. Now I want to know the truth of it before I decide what I must do.”
“The truth of it is this Maverick. The King’s Third Knight Swift arrived here a week ago and told me personally. He said The Bane Knights were going to be calling an Assembly at Kings Castle to make it known whether or not the King had an heir.” KLANK, KLANK, KLANK!
“An Assembly at Kings Castle. By the One! Then it must be true. When is this assembly to take place.”
“He didn’t say. He said he would send word. And that those who attended – as well as those who did not – would be accounted for.” KLANK, KLANK, KLANK!
“So will you go Brufson?”
“I don’t know. I was hoping you could help me make that decision.” KLANK, KLANK, KLANK!
“By going to the castle and ascertaining the truth of the rumor for you?”
“For both of us! Look Maverick, you know your naive ‘ruffian’ act doesn’t fool me. I know your father and the king had some “dealings” at the least. And I also know that at some point in your life you received some training at the castle or maybe even by one of those Bane knights at one of their outposts. Truth is it has never been any of my business but whatever the fate of the king is I suspect your fate is somehow implicated in it as well.” KLANK, KLANK, KLANK!
“You’re smarter than I have given you credit for Brufson. That scares me. But I will track down this rumor for you and ascertain the truth of it. And we will help each other make the decisions we must make.”
The mayor stopped pounding and stood. “So it seems we will son. So it seems we will.”
Lyla was hard headed but she was not naive or stupid. Just because she intended to return to Zafton without Maverick, did not mean she intended to go alone. Which is why she had come to see Oxley. Unlike Maverick, Lyla did not think she could depend on Oxley and she had no intention of telling him the real reason for her trip to Zafton. But Oxley was big and strong (bigger and stronger than Maverick). He was not a skilled fighter (or killer) like she knew Maverick to be but he could take a lot of punishment in a fight and give a lot more to someone who did not know how to defend themselves.
Oxley was originally from Wooddam and had been a woodsman with his father. That is what had brought them to town. They arrived three years ago to sell wood during a particular cold winter when wood was scarce and firewood was commanding unbelievably high prices in the town. Oxley and his father had come to take advantage of the good market in wood but many viewed them as simply having come ‘to take advantage’ of the townsfolk. One day while haggling with a local shop owner who refused to pay for some wood he had bought for his family on credit two days before, the Constables were called after Oxley’s father gave the man a terrible beating. Oxley’s father was even bigger and stronger than Oxley and three Constables were killed in the attempt to arrest him. In the end Oxley’s father was arrested, tried, convicted and hung the next day.
Oxley had been stuck in Milestill ever since or at least he had not left. He knew Lyla and Maverick from local run-ins they had had with the Constables where Oxley would join Maverick and Lyla’s side anytime a fight brok
e out between them and the Constables. Despite this he and Maverick did not get along. Oxley resented the fact that Maverick would never take their exploits to the ‘next level’ and actually kill any of the Constables. One time during a brawl that broke out in the market, Maverick stopped Oxley from killing a young Constable he had beaten senseless and drug into an alley. Just as Oxley was about to break his neck in a choke hold, Maverick decked him with a wooden spoke from a wagon wheel. Two days later Maverick broke his leg when Oxley tried to pay him back. The two had not associated with each other since that time, though they both still frequented the Foeman’s Cave on the same nights and they both still associated with Lyla.
Lyla did not know what it was she saw in Oxley. She guessed it was pity. For all his strength and size Oxley was a young boy alone in this world. A boy who had seen the father he admired and looked up to humiliated and hung in a strange town. She knew he was hurting and she knew that was the reason he had stayed in Milestill…to get revenge. Something that held her interest in him even more than her pity. Her father and brother lived here and Maverick was not the only one who had no intention of letting him kill people to satisfy his broken sense of justice.
“So you say, you want me to go to that port city with you to speak with a Cleric about your brother?”
“Un hum, my father says there is a Cleric there that knows a Ward that can heal him instantly.”
“Is Maverick coming?”
“No. You know how close Maverick is to Midas and Midas has told him never to trust Clerics.”
“I’ll come then but I want to be paid. 3 gold pieces!”
“3 gold pieces to walk with me to Zafton!”
“I’m not dumb as I look Lyla. You don’t want me along just for walking. You are afraid there might be trouble and you want me along to do any fighting that needs doing.”
“Two gold pieces.”
“When do we leave…?”
CHAPTER FOUR
Uninvited Guests
Maddox moved the loose branches from his face slowly and stepped with expert caution. The only sound around him was the occasional chirp of a bird or grasshopper. You could hear that and the hum of the stream well enough on a cool clear night like tonight… but he could not hear Granger.
Maddox was no Ranger like Granger “Greyhound” but he had more experience in the woods and bush than a native skraeling. He could track almost any man including a Ranger except Granger.
Rising from one knee Maddox stood to move on again. Just then a soft, leather gloved hand fell on his right shoulder.
“I told you I would find you friend. What do you have to report?”
“Damn you Granger, I swear you are half elf. But I have news..”
“Not here my friend. I have a blind prepared some distance ahead. Give me your report there.”
Maddox followed Granger attempting to match his pace and movements as exactly as possible. Those he could do, but it was his speed and the command of his actions that Maddox could never master. Granger was outfitted in all gray. But to the naked eye the gray had a green hue which made him almost invisible in the woods. He wore breeches secured by ties at the calf and ankles. His breaches were pulled down over his heavily stitched and well-crafted Hamlotian leather boots. He wore a matching hooded cowl but no cloak. Instead he wore a weathered and custom made gambeson over a wool shirt with sleeves secured by ties at the forearms and wrists like his breaches. Nothing was loose or torn and nothing was frayed or worn. Granger spent as much on his clothes as he did on his best weapons.
They reached the blind. Maddox had passed this spot when he entered the woods looking for Granger, but just like Granger he had missed the blind as well. In the woods if Granger didn’t want you to see something, it wasn’t there.
Granger sat first and pulled off his gloves. He pulled back his hood and began wiping the black ash off his face that he used to conceal his natural light complexion.
“Soup Maddox? It’s rabbit and carrots and a broth that will heal most of your minor scrapes and bruises.”
“So it’s elven then?”
“The soup? No. The broth? I cannot say. Either way it’s here if you want it. Now tell me what you learned in Milestill. And most importantly, tell me of Maverick!”
Oxley had not spoken a word during the trip. Lyla did not particularly mind because when Oxley spoke it was hardly anything that would make for interesting conversation. But it was the second day of their trip to Zafton and even a banal conversation would be better than no conversation at all.
“So how is your job coming along Oxley?”
“You mean that lifting I was doing at Old Lady Marlow’s warehouse? I quit that two week ago.”
“Oh that’s good. Did you find something else?”
“No. I just quit. I did twice as much lifting as anyone else, and that includes Maverick when he worked there, and I was always asked to lift the heaviest bales of hay. I’ve saved enough from my time there to cover my food and lodging for two months. And with the three gold pieces you are paying me for this trip that will buy me another three days worth of food.”
“You mean the two gold pieces I am paying you, remember.”
“I remember it was two before we left but now that we are on the road and a day’s walk from home, it’s the three I first asked for. That is unless you want me to turn around and leave you out here on your own.”
Lyla stopped walking and stared incredulously at Oxley’s back. Her face turning red and her breathing growing heavy. She momentarily placed her hand on the crossbow pistol hid under cloak. Oxley paused and stopped walking but did not turn around.
Finally, Lyla removed her hand from the crossbow and began walking again, storming past Oxley without saying another word.
Oxley grinned and chuckled under his breath.
“Um, hum. Not as dumb as people think I am.” He said aloud to himself. Then he followed on.
“Check the bodies. Notify me at once if you find anything that proves who they were working for.” Swift said to his second in command, Sir Ebros.
“You know who they are working for, sire. These are Nemesis Knights. And you know we won’t find anything linking them to Morcai other than the black of their foul attire.”
“True Ebros. But look nonetheless. And what are our loses?”
“Few my lord, of the six of us that left Warrior’s Bane, only Ogleson fell. And he was on his first quest.”
“Young Ogleson. That is a pity. He had promise. Finish up here Ebros then meet me at Mayor Hammund’s when you are done.”
“As you say my lord.”
Swift needed to talk to Hammund. Not only to pass the rumor on to him but learn what he knew of the Nemesis Knights and their presence in Wooddam.
He was a large man who dressed in canvas breaches and wore a checkered top with the sleeves rolled up. He carried a large staff made of oak but he usually preferred fist fighting with a pair of wooden braces he had made that fit over his fingers and knuckles. These were also made of oak. With his size and his strength if he hit you with those oak braces on his fist it would almost as certainly kill you as any sword. The only thing Swift liked about Hammund was his dog Maple who was always at his side.
The King was usually very lenient with Hammund as long as he kept the timber from Wooddam coming to the castle without interruption, to fuel the king’s fires and frame his construction. But Swift was in no mood to be lenient with Hammund or anyone else after dealing with those Nemesis Knights and “By the One”, if Hammund was not truthful with him he would kill Hammund and his dog.
“So Maverick is going to king’s castle?” Granger rose and started re-tightening the ties on his breaches and top.
“As far as I can tell. An oaf in the tavern by the name of Boris says Brule the bar keep told him.”
“Then I must intercept him. Maverick must know of the plot before he reaches Kings Castle. Otherwise he risks handing this entire kingdom over to Morcai on a silver plater.”
“So we are going back to Milestill then…”
“No, I am going back to Milestill. You are going to find two of Maverick’s companions who left Milestill two days ago heading in the direction of Zafton. One is a girl and her name is Lyla. She is the most important. Bring her back however you must. The other is an oaf of a lad named Oxley. Bring him if he will come.”
“And if he won’t.”
“The girl is the most important. Bring her back however you must but she is not to be harmed. When you have her, or them, meet us at The Lost Men’s Camp. We will be waiting for you.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Rendezvous
Maverick spent what he earned from him and Lyla’s excursion in Zafton on a new tunic and some new equipment. In addition to the tunic he purchased some padded leather armor, a short sword, some new high boots, a lantern, oil and about 10 days food for three. That would have to hold him until he could make it to the next town.
Now he was on his way to Lyla’s to “borrow” a few items from her father’s trunk that the two of them were not supposed to know about. He especially wanted that crossbow pistol he saw the last time they were in the trunk.
Before reaching Lyla’s he ran into Midas, “how did it go with Brufson?”
“I don’t think the mayor knows much more than I do. But I fear he believes the rumors. Something about the King’s Third Knight Swift bringing him word of the king’s death himself.”
“From the look of the new gear you have. I presume you are going to Kings Castle?”
“I intend to leave this afternoon after I see Lyla.”
“Lyla?”
“Yes I need to ‘borrow’ some things from her.”
“I saw Tristan today and he told me Lyla had left.”
“Left?”
“Yes, with Oxley.”