Death Or Fortune (14 page)

     I stood
there in shock.  Looking into this woman's eyes, I could see she was
serious.  It was all I could do to restrain myself.  Part of me
wanted to run, the other part of me wanted to cut her down where she stood.
 Yet I remained calm, I decided to play her game if that was what she
wanted.  I told her that I had seen her in Arcadia, that I had seen her
watching me here in town.  I also told her that I should kill her on the
spot for the homeless man who tried to kill me at the Red Dragon Inn.
"Oh
I had nothing to do with that but I knew someone who would try something like
that. I say knew because you don't have to worry about him anymore. I have been
watching you though. I saw what you and your friends did to Lakarus. He washed
his hands of you two by the way. I was thinking of taking on the contract for
your head but you are much more interesting alive I believe. No, I do not want
you dead Lord Kromwell. I have much better ideas on what to do with you."
     I could not believe my burning ears.  She spoke
to me in a soft tone yet very direct.  With every word she moved her body
closer to mine.  As if she was trying to seduce me.  Had I met her a
year before, things might have been different. Then again, a year before that I
wasn't very interesting or so I would say.  I just took a step back from
her and asked her who she was again.
"I told you, you can call me
Cynthia. I am what some people would call an assassin, a very good one I might
add. If you were not so pretty, you might be dead now. I could never bring
myself to slide my blade into your flesh. Unless you get in my way in the
arena. Then I may just have to take you down but I am here for someone
else."
I tried to get her to tell me just who it was that she was
after but she would not tell me. She once again put her hand on my arm and told
me goodbye.  Said she had some things to look into.  I felt my
temperature rising as I watched her walk away.  I will never forgive
myself for what I did to her.  That is one sin I will have to answer for
at the foot of the gods.

      I
stood there for another moment or two.  I could not believe the things she
had just told me. It made no sense to me.  Perhaps she was trying to push
me off guard.  Was she really an assassin? Today I know it is all true but
then, I wasn't so sure.  I couldn't quite put my finger on it, why she was
so open with me.  I could not stop thinking about what she said to me or
her cold blue eyes.  As the day went on, I signed up and got tested. They
tested my strength and other things.  It was all rather simple stuff.
 Truth be told, the whole time I was thinking about her.  By the end
of the day, I was given a spot among the thirty two men who would fight in the
tournament.  Not because of my test but because of who I was. When I told the
games master what my name was and where I was from he did a quick double take.
"Lord
Kromwell from Arcadia, the same who fought in the war up that way?"
When I told him yes he had quite the laugh and said
"Have I got a match
for you. Crowd will love it."

      I
didn't care who he thought I was, honestly I didn't know the news of the war
was all that important in Eystlund.  Today I have a better understanding
of how things work in and around the sister kingdoms.  I have seen and met
folks who think we would all be better off if all three lands were reunited
under one crown.  I for one, think too much time has passed for such a
thing to ever happen.  It is better to be on good terms with our
neighbors.  Darius is a good man and I have found respect for the elven
city in Tanglewood Forest.  Then there is the problem of Toryth Vol.
 No matter how bright a new crown might shine, it will never lift the
darkness that flows from the heart of its king.  Just thinking of the
place makes me want a bath.

      As I
returned to the inn that afternoon I saw Pare jumping up onto a bar stool.
 I went in and sat down next to him.  He quickly shouted to the bar
maid to bring two.  I asked her for water instead.  I asked him if he
was staying out of trouble and the smile on his face made my gut clench with
fear.  The bar maid set down a tankard for the little man but before he
could take a sip I placed my hand over the top of it.  He looked at my
hand, looked at my face and then back at my hand.  He seemed to be in a
bit of shock.
"Hey! What’s the deal Darmot?"

     
"I need a favor Pare, a favor only you can do for me." He looked at
me and smiled a bit.

 
    
"Anything for you Darmot, you know that."
So I told him about the
woman I met including, the things she told me and then I told him to go find
out what he could.
"Gee, I don't know Darmot. Poking around in stuff
like that might get me in trouble. The bad kind you can't get me out of."
Pare had a gift for getting into places without being seen.  I needed to
know what this Cynthia was up too.  So I told him the only other thing I
knew would affect him.  That she might try to hurt Jasmin.  I don't
know where he pulled the dagger from that he jammed into the bar.
"Anyone
hurts Jasmin and that is what they will get. I will find out what you want to
know Darmot. Don't you worry, you can count on me."
He put the dagger
back where it came from and hopped off the bar stool.  When it was clear
he was going now I asked him to wait.  I told him that when I was
fighting, I would need him to stay with Jasmin.  He just nodded at me once
and took off out the door.

     
Later that night as I was lying in bed with Jasmin, Pare returned to my room.
 He let himself in the locked door with a small candle in his hand.
 He crept over to the bed and with one finger he opened my right eye lid.
"Hey
Darmot, are you awake? Come down stairs."
I was not awake and before I
could question him about how he got into the room he was gone again.  I
sat there on the edge of the bed wondering if it had been a dream.  I
thought about going back to sleep but knew it would only be a matter of time
before he was back in there.  I got dressed and headed down to the common
room.  I found him in the same stool as before.  I sat down next to
him and waited.

 
    
"So I did some looking around.  She told you the truth, she isn't'
here for you. I guess there are more than a few people upset with some guy that
is in the tournament, big ugly guy named Rogar. Turned his back on a few folks,
they put a
huge
contract out on his head. More than anything they are
afraid of him and what he might do should he every turn back around and pick up
his old habits again. I don't know, I didn't ask. There are something’s a
halfling shouldn't know. You were right about one thing; her eyes are just like
ice. Kinda pretty once you look at them for long enough."
I shook my
head twice at that last bit and asked him what he meant.

 
    
"Well, my old guild friends are all in jail or dead. I don't know any of
the new guys. So I just went to spy on her. She saw me, invited me to join her
for dinner. I was real hungry Darmot."
I could only roll my eyes at
him.  He did his best and came home alive, that was all that mattered to
me.  I told him I had to fight in two days and that I wanted him with Jasmin
when I was fighting.
"Sure thing Darmot, anything for you."
I
gave him a wave and went back to bed.  Two days later I was standing there
on the arena floor.  Looking across the platform at a ghost of every man I
killed in the war or so that was the feeling I had that day.  That first
day of the tournament sent me Salazar from The Sultanate of Katja-Lor.

    
The first day of the tournament the games master explained the rules to us.
There were two ways to win. Kill the man in front of you or make him leave the
ring. The ring was a large platform, ten feet off the arena floor. If I had to
guess it was forty feet on each side. More than enough room to die I thought to
myself as I stood and looked at it. During the fights I had Hetaron and Hans
with me at ring side. I had hoped Hetaron would stop me from being foolish and
Hans would help me when I would not listen to Hetaron. He would help me stay
alive should anything go wrong. Using the potion that he gave me, all of my
gear passed inspection. I sat with the two of them deep in the arena, waiting
my turn.

    
During the war in Arcadia the Messiah used his vast horde of gold to buy
mercenaries. While he got them from far and wide most of them came from one
land, the Sultanate of Katja-Lor. You knew the men of that land from the black
head wrappings they wore.  I remember watching them march in formation
towards us.  Each man’s head covered in the same black head dress, all
moving together. It reminded me of a dark angry cloud that had fallen to the
ground. I am sad to say that I killed a countless number of them that day. They
all knew the risk they were taking, live by the sword and you can die from it.
 The Sultanate of Katja-Lor had no bad blood towards Arcadia but for the
amount of gold they were paid, they would have been foolish to reject it. After
their bodies were shattered on our front lines, I never expected to see another
soul from that land again. I am sad to say, I was mistaken.

    
As our names were announced we were on opposite sides of the platform.  I
could not see him and he could not see me.  Hetaron was standing there,
holding my sword.  Hans was standing in front of me, saying a prayer to
Solarth, asking him to bless me.  I could see the look of contempt on
Hetarons face. The games masters’ voice was clear and loud as he introduced
Salazar from the Sultanate of Katja-Lor. Salazar rushed up the steps to the
platform.  He was wearing the traditional garb of his people with a sword
in each hand.  Each blade held high over his head, drawing a good amount
of cheers from the people in the stands. The look on Hans face was one I will
never forget.
"This should be interesting"
said Hetaron as I
took my sword from him. Then they introduced me.

     "
Home
in Eystlund for the first time since leading Arcadian troops to victory in
their civil war, Lord Darmot Kromwell.
" As I mounted the final step to
the platform you could hear a pin drop.  Salazar stood there looking at
me, I could only see his eyes behind the vale covering his face. He knew who I
was and while I could not say the same I knew those eyes. They were the eyes of
a hundred ghost who haunted me in the night.  I looked at him a moment
longer and gave him a salute.  I then turned towards the crowd.
 Finding Jasmin and Pare, who was waving as fast as he could I raised my
sword above my head to them. When I turned to face Salazar again, the entire
place erupted.  The floor was shaking under my feet. The sound of the
crowd was like a solid wave of energy pounding down on me.

      I
started to move towards Salazar, looking to meet him in the center of the
platform.  As he started to run towards me, I assumed he had something
else on his mind.  He charged towards me with all the speed his feet could
manage, waving his swords around in the air.  Had he not been running
towards me I might have been impressed with his ability to handle his blades
like that while running at a full sprint.  I don’t know what he was
thinking at the time. Perhaps he was looking to score a quick win.  I set
my feet, raised my shield and waited for him.  I expected him to launch
into a quick flurry of blows, to put me on the defensive.  I knew one
thing and one thing only.  I had to be faster than him.  I knew I was
stronger but I had to be faster.  Then he did perhaps the dumbest thing I
have ever seen.

      Just
as soon as he was within striking range of me, he jumped up into the air and
launched himself at me with both feet.  It might have seemed to be a sound
strategy, if he knocked me back far enough, he could then force me off the
platform.  Had I not stepped to the side, it may have worked.  As he
was flying by me I reached out with my shield, he was lucky I did not take his
head off right then and there.  Salazar landed there in a heap of weapons
and armor.  I stood back and let the man get to his feet.  At the
time it seemed like the proper thing to do.  Not that I would ever make
that mistake again.  The man did want to kill me.

     
Salazar got to his feet and quickly moved to attack again.  It seemed to
go on for quite some time, him attacking and me blocking.  Each time I
tried to counter he was able to dodge.  We each had minor wounds but
nothing to worry about.  He was fast, agile and never showed any signs of
getting tired.  There was no crowd.  There was no arena; there was
only the two of us, blades clashing there in the center of that stage.  I
honestly don’t know how long we fought that day.  I could see the anger in
Salazar's eyes.  Perhaps he thought I was toying with him when in truth,
it was all I could to do keep his quick wrist from sending me home on my back.

     My
breathing was hard and fast, my body aching and many of the small blows he had
scored had started to take its toll on me.  I knew I had to turn things
around and I had to do it quickly.  I backed away from him, letting my
shield arm hang just a little, my sword pointed towards the ground.  I
could see a look of satisfaction in the eyes of Salazar, he thought that he had
won.  He thought that he would return home with the tale of how he killed
the man who slaughtered so many of his people.  He charged towards me
again for the final time.  His right arm held one of his swords high, he
planned on taking my head off with some great swinging blow.  As soon as
he was close enough I moved in.  Lifting my shield to meet his blow yet I
did not try to block the blade, I turned just enough to ram the edge of the
shield into his wrist.  I could hear the bones shatter as his sword went
flying from his grasp.  I then rammed my shield forward towards his body.
 He was stunned and in blinding pain.  Helplessly flailing as I
pushed him backwards.  He never saw the blow coming.

     Trying to
keep his balance, falling backwards away from me I moved in for the kill. The
first strike was down and hard.  The tip of my blade hit him just above
the left shoulder, scoring a flesh rending gash across his body.  As his
life blood began to run down his legs and fill his boots, I rammed my blade
deep into his chest.  I could feel his body going limp on my blade, I
almost expected him to try to strike me with his other weapon but he forgot it
was there.  I then pushed him away from me, pulling my blade from his near
lifeless body.  He fell down on that platform, arms and legs all askew,
his face looking towards the sun.  I went to his side and looked into his
eyes one last time.  He tried to speak but all I could hear was the sound
of blood bubbling in his mouth.  I knelt down there at his side and told
him his people would have been proud.  That he had fought well and with
honor.  That he died a brave and glorious death.

     As Salazar
closed his eyes for the final time I bent my head and asked the gods to give
favor to his soul.  I then stood up and turned back to see my two friends
standing near the top of the stairs.  I nodded to them once and then
turned to the crowd.  For the first time since the fight had started I let
myself hear them.  I stood there in the sun, lifting my sword high above
my head. It felt good to hear them cheer. It felt good to be alive. Yet at that
moment, I was more. I was the victor and I felt like a god.