The Red Rider

by Billy Wong

  Red looked towards Eric, Jon, and Tonya, who stood helplessly watching Scott who had fallen asleep. "All right," she said at last, "I'll give it some more time. The young ones could probably use some support, anyway."

  Scott died later that night, which could almost be considered a blessing since some with such wounds suffered through long, tortured deaths. Red let Tonya take comfort in her arms, even if she knew it wouldn't amount to anything. She had to admit it excited her when the girl reached up and squeezed her breast, even if it hurt too due to the wounds. "So soft," the drunken Tonya mumbled. "You don't feel as strong as you are."

  "Well, women don't really have muscles there. Underneath it, maybe, but..." Her voice trailed off when she noticed the girl had drifted off.

  When they prepared to depart the next day, Red noticed something strange. "Why are we taking the kid with us?"

  Jon followed her gaze to the young lord being escorted by two armored guards. "I dunno, prince probably wants him to get acquianted with us or something."

  She didn't remember them taking along any other local ruler who wasn't considered a prisoner, though. She sighed. Maybe she'd been expecting too much for the boy to avoid any punishment. Aidan had seemed opened to it though, if only Chaser wasn't there. The longer she stayed around him, she thought, the more likely there would eventually be a reckoning.

  On the road, Eric said, "What am I going to say when I see his mom? I'm the one who bought him out here, and now he's dead!"

  "You took the lead joining the army?" Red asked. "I always thought it'd be the other way around."

  Jon shook his head. "Scott made friends more easily, yeah. But Eric was the one who always talked about doing things beyond the confines of our hometown, and when Aidan visited, he got us to sign up on a dare."

  "You're here all because of a dare?"

  "We were reckless young boys," Tonya said. "So we didn't give a lot of thought to the consequences at the time."

  Red shook her head bemusedly at her inclusion of herself in that descriptor, but didn't know how to comfort Eric. It was easy to blame oneself in such a situation, and she'd probably do so too if she was in his place. "But he decided of his own will, right?" she said uncertainly after a moment. "I'm sure he wouldn't fault you for what happened if you could ask him now."

  "It didn't seem like he did..." Tonya said, and Eric, though he didn't voice his agreement, nodded.

  "It's not your fault," Herbert put in. "But now that this unfortunate thing has happened, you should all work harder to protect each other so nobody else's mother will be sad, yes?"

  Red knew in her heart that no matter how hard people tried, sometimes you just couldn't prevent bad things from happening. But she saw in the youths' straighter postures and again determined gazes that his words had given them something to aspire to, and in a time of loss like this, such went a long way to buoy up the spirit.

  "You have experience giving inspiring speeches from being a knight?" she asked Herbert later when the others had wandered a ways off.

  "Nope, but I listened to enough. You've been quiet for the last couple hours. What are you thinking about?"

  She had thought he'd probably find her musings silly, and thus hesitated to reveal them. But since he asked, "I think they aren't really suited to being here either. I know it might not be practical... but I was pondering taking them away with us."

  "Oh, come on! I get that they're young, naive kids who didn't know what they were getting into, but how many of the other soldiers could you say that about? Why 'rescue' these three specifically, just because you know them?"

  "I know them and like them. And, they're the ones in front of us."

  Herbert sighed. "I like the snot-nosed little rascals too. But I suspect we'll have enough trouble leaving ourselves if we try, let alone taking others with us."

  She hung her head in acknowledgment of his logic. Then she smiled and said, "Snot-nosed little rascals?! They're not that much younger than me!"

  "Yeah, but you've experience enough to have had all the snot punched out of your nose."

  "Hey..." she muttered, touching her crooked sniffer.

  When they stopped for the night to rest, she decided to sneak over to the tent where they were keeping the boy in hopes of checking on him and making sure Chaser didn't bother him. But by the time she got there, she found that he was already being led by his guards out of the tent. Where were they taking him? She followed, and got a sinking feeling as a tall tent painted blood red around the top came into view. This was Chaser's tent, and now, they shoved the boy inside.

  The guards left. After waiting for a moment, Red looked around to check if anybody was watching and crept closer. She tried to listen in to see what was going on, but could only irregularly make out some soft, indistinct sounds of movement. Hmm. The tent flap was closed, and she didn't want to alert Chaser to her nosiness if he noticed it move. After thinking about it for a while, though, she decided he shouldn't have that much of a problem with it unless he was doing something he wasn't supposed to. She eased open the flap... her eyes bulged, and her mouth opened in silent shock.

  Chaser had the young noble down on his belly and crouched over him, pants down. The boy was gagged, accounting for the lack of noise, but his face had turned beet red and tears poured down it. His body shifted back and forth with the thrusting of Chaser's hips. Though she'd seen plenty of blood, gore, and death, and wouldn't ever have expected herself to freeze, Red did. She had never witnessed a rape in progress so clearly before, much less than of a child, and it appalled her. Her stomach turned and twisted as chills ran through her. Then she realized the boy must be in pain, and that she had to stop it. She clenched a fist, digging nails into her palm to jolt her unresponsive body into action. Drawing a knife, she stabbed it through the tent and dragged it downward to make a tearing noise that drew Chaser's eyes up.

  "This is how you 'punish' people?" She lengthened the cut in the fabric, then ripped it wide open.

  He stood off the boy, pulling up his pants. Red's teeth were bared in a snarl of outrage. She didn't know how this would affect him—maybe worse than a girl given societal expectations, she considered, though she'd feel equally bad for a victim of either gender. Though he wasn't bound, he didn't dare move from his facedown position.

  "It's common this is how power is shown over others," Chaser said.

  "Common? Where?" Not that rape was so rare anywhere, sadly, but his choice of victim was a little unexpected.

  "In my culture, it's traditional for a conqueror to do to a defeated leader, to show they now belong to him."

  Awful. But she could picture it. By now, many people had gathered around and looked past her into the tent. "But the old man wouldn't have changed his tune just for being poked. You did this to him while threatening to do the same to his wife, didn't you?" He didn't answer, but the shrug he gave didn't deny it. She scowled. "Pick up your sword and try to stop me from castrating you."

  He hefted the blade from beside his bedroll, and she stepped back to let him outside. He emerged from the hole she'd made in the tent, but when she raised her knives, Prince Aidan's voice reached her ears. "What is going on here?"

  She looked towards the prince, uncommonly disheveled after being woken up in the night. "You trusted right hand is a rapist!" She indicated the still prone young noble. "Tell us what he did to you!" The boy wouldn't speak, only whimper, and she felt a pang of guilt as she remembered he was probably too in shock to accuse his attacker. "Well, just take a look at him. It should be clear what's happened." Softly yet threateningly, she added, "And you better not have known about this."

  Aidan peered into the tent and made a disgusted expression at something he saw. "You did this, Chaser? Ack... I suppose you'll have to be reprimanded. Come."

  Red waved her arms in frustration. "Reprimanded? He's a rapist! Rape is a crime that destroys lives, committed against defenseless victims, and all he'll get for it is a stern talking?"

  The
prince looked conflicted, but Chaser gazed mockingly at her as he finally said, "He's my right hand. I can't very well have him castrated. Oh, and somebody take care of the boy."

  It took all of Red's will not to rush the bastard and attempt to cut him down right there. She tried to comfort the victim for a bit, but had no luck. Hearing from some soldiers that Aidan had already let Chaser go after a couple minutes of talking, she stormed back to her and Herbert's tent. "What's wrong?" he asked, and she told him.

  "I knew I was right not to like him!" she said to conclude. "Why doesn't Aidan punish him?"

  He paused before replying. "When you're a leader, sometimes you have to put up with people you don't agree with."

  "You're not going to tell me there are plenty of rapists out there and it isn't worth it to press the matter, are you?"

  "I'm not saying that. Rape is a heinous act, and now that he's been caught, it wouldn't be right to ignore it."

  "But?" she asked edgily, sensing a caveat behind his words.

  "But because he has the support of the prince, doing the right thing might be a bit more difficult than you'd like."

  "I don't care. After tonight, I swear he won't do it again."

  Herbert looked anxiously into her furious eyes. "What do you plan to do?"

  She wasn't entirely sure yet, but she did know one thing, probably. Her heart pounding with the rage that begged to be unleashed, she whispered, "Tomorrow will be my last day here."

  "Wait, don't do anything rash. Let me talk to Aidan first."

  "You really think you can convince him to do something? He saw what happened and still..."

  Herbert exhaled. "I don't know. But I'll try my best."

  He left, and she waited. An eternity seemed to pass while she mulled over the possible outcomes and their consequences. Finally her friend returned. "So what happened?"

  "He won't punish him," Herbert said, and his terse voice told her he too felt angered at the injustice. "He said he knows the behavior was improper, and warned him not to do it again. But he also said the victims weren't his people, and righting wrongs towards a couple of them wouldn't be worth losing his right hand man."

  "Then he might lose both his hands. Did you mention that?"

  "No, I didn't know if you would want..."

  "I wouldn't want it." The prince might—would—try to stop her if he knew her intent, and besides, it shouldn't take an ultimatum like that to get him to punish rape. "They are his people though, or should be treated as such if he fancies being king." Herbert nodded at that. "So do you think he really didn't know what was going on before this?"

  "It doesn't seem like he knew the exact details of what Chaser did. But I'm sure he must have known something was being done to break them."

  "So do you agree I have to do something?"

  "Somebody should. But he's tough. We should take him down together, instead of you going alone."

  She touched his hand. "That wouldn't be fair though, and also harder to get away with. I have a plan that should protect us from Aidan's wrath and keep our reputations unsullied, but I'd need to fight him alone."

  Their eyes met, and the worry she saw in his touched her heart. "What if you don't win?"

  "Then I'll probably die. I know what I'm doing, though. I'm used to risking my life."

  Herbert hugged her. "You're a tough little one for sure. I'll put my faith in your monkey arms."

  Red recoiled. "Monkey arms? Where did you get that from?"

  "They're skinny, but strong. Like a monkey's."

  "I'm not that skinny, I just have small bones compared to a man. You know, cause I'm a woman who isn't named Mountain Whale."

  "I know. Just still a little weird watching you swing around those not so thick arms and knowing how strong they are."

  She giggled. "Well, they're hardly that long like a monkey's."

  "Lioness arms? They're not that thick, but strong."

  "I'll take that," she said with a smile. "Cats are the natural rivals of canines like wolves, and dogs like Chaser, after all."

  #

  The next day, Red marched largely in silence, making the youths worry. She tried halfheartedly to take part in conversation, but just didn't have it in her for small talk. "What's wrong?" Eric asked. "Is it what Chaser did? Why's it bothering you so much?"

  "It's bothersome. But it's not just that. I won't be with you much longer."

  "Why not?"

  "Aidan won't punish the wrongdoer." And even if he had cautioned Chaser against future rapes, and didn't let him near any more prisoners, she doubted that would deter him from finding other victims. "So somebody has to. But I doubt I'll be able to stay here after."

  "I see..."

  Jon clapped her shoulder. "So it's like my dad says, sometimes a man's got to do what a man's got to do, eh?"

  "Or woman," Tonya added.

  "Or woman. Don't worry, Red, we support you. You too, right Eric?"

  "Yeah, sure." But he looked and sounded scared for her, and probably wondered if the reason she wouldn't come back might not be because she would be dead. She didn't have that much confidence she'd beat Chaser, given the way their fistfight had gone and the reach of his weapon. Yet she was hardly one to shy away from a challenge.

  "We'll miss you, though," Tonya said. "You and Herbert have taught us so much, and you'll always be our friends."

  Herbert nodded. "Glad to heard that. Happy you're taking a liking to the spear over Red's silly two knife style, too."

  She laughed. "I'm not as coordinated as her. So it's more practical. Wish you luck, Red."

  "Thanks. Hope to see you again someday, too."

  They passed a hill covered in yellow grass shortly before they stopped to camp, and she settled on a course of action. She stuck a note into Chaser's tent and snuck back to the hill to await him. Half an hour later, she watched him climb onto the hilltop upon which she sat against the lone small tree.

  She stood. "You're here."

  "I could've easily told Aidan about that note," he said with a smile, holding the piece of paper in his hand.

  "But I knew you wouldn't, because you're such a manly man, aren't I right?"

  He stuffed the note away in a belt pouch, drew his huge scimitar and pointed it at her. "Today your soul will leave this plane. With you dead, it'll be easy to say you attacked me and I killed you in self defense."

  Red readied her knives. "And that would be right. I don't necessarily plan to kill you, just castrate you. But I won't mind too much if you force me to end your life."

  "You don't have what it takes to end me," he said while they started to circle each other under the dimming sun.

  "We'll see about that."

  As his weapon had the longer reach, he naturally made the first probing cut. She dodged and darted in, blocked his backswing and took a slash of her own at him. He spun deftly away and threw a cut out of nowhere that tore her arm. "First blood. Run, girl, run."

  "You really think I'm going to be scared by your overblown reputation? You fucking coward rapist. I'll carve your balls off." She advanced again, parried a blow and made a downward slice at his groin, but he jumped back with room to spare.

  He charged at her with a series of swift strikes that kept her at the end of his range, lunged with a thrust and elbowed her in the side of the head when she hopped aside. "I'm going to do the same to you as I did to that boy when you lie unable to move. You've been a worthy opponent thus far, so my conquest will be all the finer."

  They traded more blows evenly, the rapid offense allowed by her additional blade canceled out by his reach. "You think?" she asked as she ducked under a swing, nicked his thigh and took another cut down her arm. So concentrated on his every movement, she barely noticed the sting of her injuries. "I'd be dead before I let you do that to me."

  "Then maybe I'll do it to your corpse."

  She stuck her tongue out in response, then thought how inappropriate that must look for a life and death struggle. Granted, n
o one was here to see it. He leapt in with a downward chop at her shoulder, but she reacted in a way he would never have predicted. Instead of trying to avoid or guard it, she bent forward so that the edge came down on her back. A painful hit, parting her flesh—but she'd known it unlikely to penetrate her ribs, and taking it so left both her arms free. She plowed forward slashing with her knives, putting a gash in his side and then his belly.

  He grabbed the second wound as if afraid he'd been gutted, but though bright blood welled forth, it hadn't gone that deep. Still, Red grinned while he backpedaled. "I chase you."

  She jumped into the air raising both knives as if for a double downward blow. But she only swung one down, which he caught on his sword, then thrust the other up behind his weapon to stab at his chin. He barely leaned aside, the blade grazing his cheek. He headbutted her, sending her back a step. She licked at the blood that ran from her nose. Chaser chopped down at her. She blocked, closed in before he could retract the scimitar and sliced at his throat. He leaned away, kicked her solar plexus so hard she stumbled to fall on her butt. He rushed after her attempting to cleave her skull. She rolled aside, parried a horizontal swipe, rolled again and came to her feet. He thrust at her eye. She swayed out of the way, hooked his sword with her knives and wrenched it aside. The kick she landed over his liver made him grimace before punching her, driving her back. He swiped at her with his blade, but she deflected it with her own and skipped out of range.

  "You're so good," he said, bent slightly with pain.

  "Is that respect I hear? So are you not going to rape me if you win?"

  "You can be strong. You're still allowed to pay the price for not being the strongest."

  Red dashed at him, and they met in a flashing storm of blows that left the grass around them sprinkled with both their blood. Bearing half a dozen new wounds and smelling the sanguine tang in the air, she smiled. "Leviatha would kick the shit out of you."