The Tattered Banner (Society of the Sword Volume 1) (39 page)

‘You just left,’ she said, her voice quiet, uncertain, sad.

‘I just left?’ Soren said.

‘Yes,’ she replied, firmer now. ‘You just left. Without a word, without a note. Nothing. You just left me.’ Her words were edged with anger now; she almost spat the last sentence at him. Her brazenness astounded and infuriated him. His heart jumped up and down in his chest as it pounded away angrily.

‘I sent word. I sent word to let you know that I had to leave the city suddenly.’

‘Oh yes, I got a message all right. The Don’s men came looking for a barbarian and his sell sword. It was clear enough that it was you they were after! After that it was pretty obvious that you’d run off. I even went to your noble patron to see if he knew where you were,’ she said.

Soren’s thundering course of anger came to an abrupt halt, as though he had run at full pace into a brick wall.

‘Amero dal Moreno?’ he asked, his voice the one now sounding uncertain.

‘Oh yes, the great Amero. Where else do you think I got all these wonderful things?’ she said, gesturing around her, her voice loaded with spite.

This revelation was too profound for Soren to take in. Anger once again replaced his uncertainty.

‘I told you I loved you. You should have waited. He knew where I was. He would have told you what had happened and where I’d gone,’ said Soren.

‘All he told me was that he had no idea where you’d gone. There was trouble, and you’d disappeared, but I’d already worked that much out for myself. You could have been dead for all I knew, but I reckoned the Don’s men wouldn’t have come around if they had caught you. So I thought you’d just gone. And to think I’d have gone with you if you’d only asked.’ She snorted in disdain at her own words.

‘And because of that you started whoring yourself to the highest bidder. I thought you were more than that, but now I see they were right about you,’ Soren said, sneering again.

‘I had nothing else left to me,’ she said, standing as she did, her voice choked with anger. ‘Now get out. I won’t have you coming in to my own house insulting me. Just be satisfied that you’re the only man to have had me for free. Now get out!’

The intensity of her words shocked him.‘Of course, my Lady,’ he said, aping a bow. ‘I wouldn’t want to interrupt the service to your paying customers!’

He turned on his heel and stormed out, too focussed on his anger to see the tears welling in Alessandra’s eyes.

Ranph had known better than to speak to him, or to follow him, so by the time Soren got to a tavern he was alone. He ordered two men out of a dark booth at the back of the tavern, and once they saw the sword at his waist they did as he demanded. He sat and began to drink and the drink lubricated the raging thoughts in his head.

Amero had lied to her. That was the one inexorable fact. But why? Did it change anything? She was still a whore. High class or not, she was sullied. He would never have anything to do with her. There was always something else, some other option, some other way to survive. He had been on the streets with nothing. Other boys and girls had taken to it for a few pennies, but he never had. He could never forgive Alessandra for doing what she had done, but why had Amero behaved as he had?

After several more pitchers of ale he decided that he would find out for himself.

He pounded on the door of Amero’s townhouse until a servant opened it. He pushed his way in, shouting for Amero. Emeric appeared in the hallway, dressed in his dark and well fitted britches and doublet. As always, he looked like he was ready for a fight. As always, he looked as though he would welcome one. He gave Soren an inquisitive look and then nodded his bald head toward a door to Soren’s left. Soren strode up to it and slammed it open. He was faced with the naked back of a giggling young woman who was sitting on Amero’s lap, obscuring him, the lower part of her dress covering them both.

‘My Lord, I would speak with you!’ he said, his words slurred rather than authoritative as he had intended. The woman looked back at him with a petulant and irritated expression. Amero’s face appeared from behind one of her breasts.

‘Why don’t you go upstairs, Lucy, I’ll be along in a moment,’ he said to her gently.

‘Yes, my Lord.’ She giggled, kissing him seductively before bunching her dishevelled clothes up around her and left the room, casting Soren a filthy look as she went.

‘This better be good, Soren,’ he said, exasperated as he buttoned up his shirt.

‘You didn’t give her the message,’ Soren said quietly, his voice full of anger.

‘What?’ Amero asked, his voice still exasperated before he realised what Soren meant. ‘Oh, her. Come now, she’s a tavern wench. What’s the difficulty?’

‘In point of fact she’s a whore. At least she is now. Why didn’t you give her the message?’

‘Soren, I fully expected you to have forgotten about her by now. In truth I thought I was doing you a favour. In point of fact,’ he said, mimicking Soren, ‘I still think I have done you a favour! You’re a banneret. Have some bloody sense! A girl like that is no good for you!’

‘I loved her,’ Soren replied, his words slurred.

‘Find a woman of quality to love,’ Amero said angrily. ‘You’ll thank me for it later. Anyhow, you can still rut the wench if you want, it’ll just cost you a few crowns now! Your allowance will stretch to it I should think!’

‘Don’t say that!’ Soren screamed at him, tears streaming down his face.

‘You uppity little bastard! How dare you come in here and bark at me!’

In a pique of anger Soren reached for his sword. He felt a strong hand grip his sword arm and prevent him from drawing it.

‘Don’t be a bloody fool, lad,’ Emeric whispered in his ear.

Amero cast a wild glance at his own sword, sitting in its wooden mount on his desk before looking back to Soren.

‘So that’s how it is. You’d throw it all away for a whore. You bloody little fool. Well, if that’s what you’re after, then you’ve got it. I’m finished with you. Emeric, throw this piece of gutter trash back where it belongs.’

Emeric gripped Soren more forcefully and pulled him back toward the front door. Addled with booze, Soren didn’t resist.

A bucket of cold water brought him partially to his senses. He was sitting on the street outside Amero’s house. Emeric dropped the bucket and sat beside him.

‘Well, you’ve gone and spoiled it, lad. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the boss quite that angry. Still, you got further down the track than I did. Some of us just aren’t meant to reach the top, no matter how much skill and luck we have. You’ve done all right though. You’ve made a bit of a name for yourself in the right circles, you’re a banneret now, and that title can never be taken away from you, so you’ll be able to stand on your own feet from here. But to throw it all away over a girl?’ He chuckled. ‘My temper was my problem, that and I killed a count’s son in a duel at the Academy, but that one followed the other.’ He paused, becoming reticent. ‘She was a bloody mess when she arrived here you know. She’d been raped. More than once the physician said. Beaten too. Her uncle hadn’t been paying his protection money to the local gang, and they made an example of him. They killed him, burned his tavern to the ground, and, well… She came to Amero as a last resort. He had tried to get her into bed the previous time she had come calling looking for you, but she was only interested in you. He’d said that he felt responsible and guilty about the way you had treated her and that he would help her if she ever needed it. So this was where she came when she did.’

Perhaps it was the alcohol, but Soren felt as though he was in some terrible nightmare, where misery was being piled upon misery and he could not wake up from it.

‘She has the face of an angel though; thank the Gods that wasn’t permanently damaged. A face like that is worth something. One thing my Lord is good at is seeing value in folk, as well you should know. So he patched her up and set her up. After what she’d been through she seemed agreeable enough to it. It’s a better life than she might have had. Now she passes back any amorous whispers her well-heeled clients let slip that might be of use. You might not like the way the world turns, but there’s not much people like you and I can do to change it. You’re best off accepting that and getting on with it. Find yourself a rich wife and forget about this one. Good luck, Soren; be a clever lad and take my advice to heart. If I see you here again, I’ll kill you. Don’t think for a second that I can’t manage it. You’ve a trick or two to learn yet! Now, off with you!’

C h a p t e r   3 9

A CHANGE OF DIRECTION

H
e skipped lessons the next day. Soren had been so caught up in things that he had not even thought to introduce himself to his new tutor. There was no doubt that he was starting off on the wrong foot, but it was the farthest thing from his mind. He found a tavern that opened early, one that catered for dockers that worked through the night. They were a tough crowd, and after several hours of drinking he ended up in a fight with one. He couldn’t remember why when he came to several hours later in an alley outside the tavern, or even what the man looked like. He stumbled back to the Academy, bruised, bloodied and still drunk.

He sat in the dining hall the next morning trying to force some food down, but after the previous day’s excess it was a struggle. His head was still a tangle of conflicting thoughts and emotions. He could not understand how Amero could have played him so cheaply and he could not forgive him for it. He could also not forgive himself for having judged Alessandra so quickly. He thought of trying to apologise to her, but he had no idea how he could even begin to make amends for the things he had said to her.

His train of thought was broken by the appearance of Jost at the far end of the hall. Like Ranph, he had also chosen to return to study at the Collegium. Soren watched him as he collected his breakfast and made his way up to the top table. As he drew near, Soren adjusted his things in expectation of Jost sitting down next to him, as he had done hundreds of times before.