Ascendant (37 page)

Koren gritted
his teeth. Why was he fighting? Utri had only told the truth about him; he had
no family. But the smug Pendran boy had insulted Koren
’
s parents, who were good
people. It wasn
’
t
their fault they had to rid themselves of such a trouble-making son.
“
It
’
s cold out here, but Hell
will freeze over before I yield to you.
”

Utri grinned.
This was going to be fun.

Koren held up
his sword the way he had seen Kyre get ready to fight. Utri suddenly lashed
out, sweeping his sword at Koren
’
s
face. Without Koren realizing what he was doing, his right hand raised his
sword and blocked Utri
’
s
sword, knocking the other boy back.

Utri stepped
away, warily. Koren had blocked him, blocked him so hard that Utri
’
s arm hurt. The servant
boy must have had combat training! Utri had intended to toy with Koren, smack
him around until his whole body was bruised. It was not going to be that easy.
Utri swept the sword up again, but at the last moment switched the sword to his
left hand, aiming at Koren
’
s
exposed ribs.

And again,
Koren
’
s sword
moved so fast it was a blur, this time hitting the flat of the blade against
Utri
’
s left
hand, and Utri dropped the sword.
“
Ow!
”
Utri shouted, cradling
his injured hand.
“
That
hurt!
”

“
Oh, and you weren
’
t trying to hurt me?
”
Koren asked. Was sword
fighting this easy? It didn
’
t
look easy when other people were fighting.
“
Do you yield?
”
He asked with a smirk. "Or do you want
me to smack you again? I can do this all day, if you want some bruises."

Utri
’
s ears burned. A Pendran
yield to a servant boy? He lunged for his sword, picked it up with his right
hand, and stabbed at Koren
’
s
legs.

Koren knocked
the sword aside, and Utri grabbed for his legs, tackling Koren and the two boys
fell to the dirt, rolling around and punching each other.

“
Enough!
”
A man
’
s voice roared.

It was the
royal weapons master, a tall, gruff man, who was never seen without his
well-worn stiff leather combat vest.
“
You!
”
He pointed at Utri. 
”
You
’
re done. Step outside the
ring.
”
Utri
started to sputter a protest, but the weapons master grabbed him by the front
of his shirt, and tossed him toward the open gate.
“
You lost, boy. Be grateful
I stopped the fight before you got hurt, or made an even bigger fool of
yourself.
”
The
weapons master served the Regent, the Pendran family meant nothing to him.
“
And you!
”
He pointed at Koren, and
he picked up the sword Utri had dropped.
“
Who
trained you to fight like that?
”

“
N-no one, sir.
”
Koren replied, surprised.

“
You
’
re either a liar, or the
best natural sword fighter I ever saw. On guard!
”
Without another word, the weapons master stabbed
the point of the padded sword directly at Koren
’
s throat. The blow never landed, for Koren
’
s sword flicked up and
knocked it aside. But fighting the weapons master was not like fighting spoiled
Utri Pendran, for the man was not discouraged. The force of Koren
’
s sword caused him to turn
to the left, and he spun with the movement, his sword sweeping around to catch
Koren off guard.

It didn
’
t happen, Koren sword was
waiting for him when the man turned, and the weapons master staggered backward,
trying to catch his breath. Koren
’
s
sword had caught him under the ribs.

The fight went
on, weapons master against servant boy, sword clashing against sword, until
both had sweat dripping down their brows, despite the mid-winter cold. A crowd
had gathered to watch the spectacle. Word of the weapons master fighting the
wizard
’
s boy
swept through the castle like a wildfire! The excitement finally reached the
ear of Carlana, who, by chance, was  walking through the castle with
Paedris. Both hurried to the windows that overlooked the sparring ring. The man
and the boy circled each other, swords drooping toward the dirt, their arms too
tired to hold them up.

“
How can Koren have a
chance against my master of weapons?
”
Carlana asked the wizard in a harsh whisper.
“
You said he couldn
’
t use his powers!
”

Paedris
frowned. He should have anticipated this event.
“
He can
’
t
project
his powers outside himself. Using a sword like that is within
him, I can
’
t
block that.
”

“
Someone needs to stop
this, before people figure out that Koren is no ordinary boy.
”
Carlana leaned out the
window.
“
Hold!
Drop your weapons!
”

Hearing his Regent
’
s voice, the weapons
master dropped his sword to the dirt. Koren was so tired, he was slow to
respond, until the sword fell out of his hand.

“
The boy fights like a
demon, your Highness.
”
The
weapons master gasped between breaths.
“
His
technique his terrible, but I
’
ve
never seen anyone so fast. Except you, of course, Lord Salva. Does the boy have
a bit of wizard in him?
”

Carlana
exchanged a warning glance with Paedris. This is exactly what she was worried
about.
“
Ho!
”
Paedris exclaimed.
“
A wizard? Koren? No, he is
a farm boy, and a slow-witted one at that. But, since he is my servant, he
wouldn
’
t be
much use guarding my tower while I sleep unless he could fight, now would he? I
cast a spell on the boy, so he won
’
t
trip over his own sword.
”

The crowd,
mostly soldiers and guards, murmured at that remark. Could the royal wizard
cast a spell on them, also, to give them such lightning speed?

“
I know what you
’
re all thinking, and the
answer is no. You think casting such a spell is easy? I don
’
t have the energy to cover
all of you. You lazy slugs must learn to fight the hard way!
”

The weapons
master bowed to the royal wizard.
“
Lord
Salva, since the boy is your servant, would you mind if I trained him? He is
fast, but unskilled.
”

Paedris
stroked his beard, then nodded.
“
When
he has time, yes, it would be good for him to get some exercise.
”

When Koren
left the sparring ring, Utri was waiting.
“
You
didn
’
t beat
me.
”
The boy
glared at him.
“
It
wasn
’
t a fair
fight.
”

“
I never said it was. The
next time you want a good spanking, you know where to find me, Lord Putrid.
Bring your friends, there's plenty more where that,
”
Koren pointed to the
angry bruise on Utri's left cheek, "came from." He brushed past Utri
and his gang of servants, who instinctively stepped back warily. He was
famished, and sore all over, even though the weapons master had barely touched
him with his sword. When he walked out into the courtyard, Kyre ran up to him.
“
Koren, I
’
m sorry about Utri, he
’
s a bully. Baron Pendran
is a vassal of my father, I can ask for Utri to be sent home.
”

“
No, I need to fight my own
battles.
”
Koren
knew there were many Utris in the world, somehow he had to deal with them.
"Besides, I don
’
t
think Utri will want to fight me again, after today.
”
He grinned at that
thought. Koren was still in a daze, over how fast he was with a sword.

Kyre held onto
Koren
’
s arm.
“
You need to be careful.
Paedris is using you, and he doesn
’
t
care if you get hurt.
”

“
What do you mean?
”

“
He put a spell on you,
without telling you. Who knows what else he
’
s done?
”

“
Paedris wouldn
’
t hurt me.
”
Koren protested.

Kyre shook his
head.
“
Koren,
you think Paedris is your friend. He
’
s
not. He
’
s the
royal wizard, and you are his servant, that
’
s all you are. You
’
re not the first servant
Paedris had in that tower.
”

Koren blinked.
Of course Paedris must have had other servants before him, but Koren had not
thought much about it.
“
What
are you saying? What happened to the others?
”

“
I hear most of them ran
away. Some, nobody knows what happened to them.
”
Kyre hinted darkly.
“
You be careful. Paedris is
so powerful, he may hurt you without meaning to. But don
’
t think he cares about
you, you
’
re
just a servant. And Ariana may like looking at old maps with you, but never
forget that she is the crown princess, and you
’
re a commoner. Carlana will make sure Ariana
never forgets that.
”

“
I just want to be her
friend.
”

“
Koren, I may be your only
real friend in this castle,
”
Kyre lied,
“
because
I don
’
t need
anything from you.
”

Koren
shrugged. A minute ago, he had been happy that he beat Utri, and held his own
against the weapons master.
“
I
guess. If Paedris wants to hurt me, what can I do about it? Like you said, I
’
m just a servant. I don
’
t even have a family to
run home to.
”

“
I think you need to be
ready to run away, if something bad happens. Ariana can
’
t help you, she
’
s not yet the queen. And
Carlana doesn
’
t
like you.
”

Carlana had
never really been friendly to Koren. Having been thrown out of one home, he
didn
’
t like
the idea of running away from another. Koren sighed.

“
Here,
”
Kyre reached into his
pocket and pulled out a leather pouch,
“
take
this.
”

Koren looked
in the pouch. It held four gold coins. He was shocked.
“
I can
’
t take this!
”
He had never seen so much
money in his life.

            Kyre
waved his hand, as if gold coins were nothing special to him.
“
Take it, take it. If you
need to run, you
’
ll
need to run far, and never come back. I
’
d
like to offer you sanctuary, but if the Falco
’
s defy the Regent, that would be treason.
”