The duelist 2, p.4
The Duelist 2, page 4
“When Zoie and I were in Gatetown, we spotted Ren,” I explained. “His presence seemed suspicious, especially since my wife pointed out he should have been here preparing for the races. So, we followed him and witnessed how he planned to infuse his sword and kill you with it.”
“Are you sure, Alex?” Mec asked as he pulled out a dagger with a wicked curve to it.
I stepped forward and leaned down so I could get a good look at the man’s face.
His features twisted into a grimace of disdain, and he tried to spit on me, but he couldn’t get the right leverage with his neck trapped in the stockade like that.
“I’m sure,” I said without a shadow of a doubt and stepped back.
“I bet you were the second one Asher Ren wanted to kill with his poisoned blade!” the bitter man hissed when he realized the game was up.
Before I could respond, however, Mec’s shiny curved dagger flashed, and the scarred mercenary gave out a guttural choking noise when his blood gushed from the slash across his neck.
“Ren is Asher no longer and shall remain in disgrace and banished from Mercedes’ arms for all time, as will you,” the ram-lord intoned as the life drained out of the man before us.
The mercenary twitched once more before he rattled out a final gasp and was still.
“Sorry to have you bear witness to something so distasteful right after your joyous celebration, Alex,” Mec sighed as he cleaned off the sharp dagger and then sheathed it against the small of his back where it belonged. “There were too many stories floating around, several to discredit you, I’m afraid, and I had to be certain.”
“Some of the rumors were trying to discredit me? How?” I cocked my head and then followed the horned-man out of the small cell.
“There was gossip that you were working with Ren in a plot to take me down together, but I saw what he did to your wife during my Blue Night Gala, and I knew you would never ally yourself with his ilk,” he explained.
“You couldn’t be more right,” I growled when I remembered how the bastard left his stupid inheritance dagger-ring on the palace steps so Zoie would cut her bare foot.
“Then it seems as if I really do owe you a deep debt of gratitude once again, my friend,” Mec said as he squeezed my shoulder with one of his large mitts.
“I was already gunning for the bastard before I heard all that anyway, but you’re welcome, Gavlain,” I said with a smirk.
“Is what Gella Vane implied true, then?” he asked with a curious expression on his bearded face. “Were you targeting Ren for his status, or just for Shale-Lea as you said?”
“Actually, it really was for Shay,” I said and rubbed the back of my neck. “At first, it was a practical idea to get a wife who knew how to properly run an estate because Zoie didn’t feel confident in her ability with the gaps in her knowledge. But when it was clear Ren was also abusive to Shay, it became even more necessary to take him out.”
“Ah, I see,” The ram-lord nodded. “And the fact you interrupted his attempt to assassinate me was just a happy accident along the way.”
“Yeah, but you’re an alright guy so far, so it’s all good,” I said with a shrug, but my grin belied the aloofness of my remark.
“Hah! You are a riot, my friend, Alex!” The roar of Mec’s laughter then ricocheted off the dungeon walls, and when he finally caught his breath, he turned to the guards still standing on either side of the cell door. “Guards, get rid of that garbage in there, and then you are relieved.”
“Yes, milord,” they both answered in tandem, and then they went into the cell to deal with the corpse of the co-conspirator.
“You did well,” Mec said and began leading us out of the dungeons the regular way without the use of the hidden stairways in the walls. “I would like to invite you out tomorrow morning on a brisk hunt throughout my favorite forest glade before you leave. It is stag-beetle season, and I never miss a morning. What do you say?”
“Sounds interesting, but I will definitely need a wake-up call for that,” I said through another yawn. Then I squinted through the blurry glow-stone lights. “I’m guessing it’s really early, huh?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so, but I promise you will not regret it,” Mec said and summoned a pair of black-clad palace servants from the shadows. “Follow my escorts to your suite, and put the rest of this evening’s unpleasantness out of your mind.”
“Thanks again for your hospitality,” I said with a small tip of my head, and then I began to trail after the attendants as they started to lead me up a large staircase.
“Rest up, because you will definitely need your strength for tomorrow,” the ram-lord called out, and with another grin, he waved me away.
Chapter 3
“Kree,” a soft caw had me rising through the thick syrupy unconsciousness of the truly restful.
“Go’way, Roo,” I murmured and turned my head away from where the little crow-moth was preening a few locks of my hair. I didn’t have to know what time it was to know it was Way Too Fucking Early, and I really wanted to just sink into this warm bed where I was surrounded on either side by my two gorgeous wives.
When I returned from the conversation with Gavlain last night, it was to the most beautiful sight my weary eyes had ever seen.
Zoie and Shay had been clothed in gauzy, lacy little nightgowns that made them both look soft and open in the light coming from the fireplace, and I relished in the fact I was able to hold both of them all night in the luxuriously huge bed in the palatial guest suite. I’ve never slept so well in all my life as I did when I was cradled by my steadfast lover on my left, and my new adventure on my right.
And now I had a little pest bothering me which was Way Uncool.
“Skra!” the gold-seeker said as he hopped on my head with his little crow feet, and then he shook his yellow dusty head as he eyeballed me upside down with his bulbous scarlet eyes.
“Roofus!” I hissed out as Shay mumbled and snuggled closer to my right side.
“You told him to wake you up early, don’t you remember?” Zoie whispered, and I looked down at where she was gazing sleepily up at me with her head on my chest.
“Ah, hell,” I groaned when I remembered I was supposed to get up and go hunting with Gavlain for something called a stag-beetle, which, considering this was Aventoll, I figured what they meant by stag-beetle resembled more stag than beetle in this world. “The hunt. I forgot.”
“The Asher Lord invited you on a hunt?” Zoie asked as she patted Roofus, who then returned to his preferred perch on the headboard and tucked his head under his wing now that his task was over. She chuckled at his antics and then began to absently swirl her fingers through the sparse hair on my chest. “That is a high honor.”
“Really?” I asked as I rubbed circles into the small of her back with my thumb. “Haven’t I been honored enough?”
“Never,” the beautiful cat-woman sighed and stretched against me in a way that wasn’t even trying to be sensuous, but just was.
“You are making it impossible for me to want to leave,” I murmured as I buried my face in her clover-scented hair and inhaled her warm sleepy essence. “Can’t I stay? Tell me I can stay.”
“You must go.” She chuckled a bit as I tugged her even closer and nibbled on her pulse point. “Mec has taken a shine to you, and there is no greater ally for you to have, my love.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled as I nosed my way behind her velvety pointed ear.
She flicked it rapidly against my face, which felt like a cute butterfly kiss, and then she flattened them both so she could push her head snugly under my chin without crushing her ears. “What is it the Asher Lord wishes to hunt?”
“He wants to find something called a stag-beetle,” I said. “Any advice?”
“Hmm.” Zoie thought for a moment as she continued to draw idle patterns on my left pec. “Watch out for the giant pincers.”
“Oh, no big deal,” I deadpanned. “Avoid giant pincers, easy.”
“Just be fast like I know you can be, husband,” Zoie purred in a drowsy voice, and I could tell she was close to dropping off to sleep again. “No challenge is too great for you.”
“I am humbled by your confidence,” I said through a smile as Zoie’s dark head grew heavier and heavier on my chest. “But I think I have a bigger challenge I need your help with.”
“Hm?” Zoie made a questioning noise and opened her blue eyes again so she could peer into my face.
I smiled at her and glanced down at my right where Shay was doing a good impression of a jungle vine as she wrapped herself tightly around my right arm. “I don’t want to wake her. Help?”
“Let me,” the cat-woman whispered, and between the two of us, we were able to do a switch up similar to Indy at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark when he replaced the idol with a bag of sand. Only, this situation had Zoie slipping into my spot at the same time as I left it, and Shay reached for the next available warm body without even fluttering an eyelash.
“Now I really don’t want to go,” I said as I stood by the side of the bed and looked down at the two beautiful creatures twined around each other like a fucking vision.
Shay slept on with her crimson hair tied up in a coiled braid as she rested her cheek against Zoie’s silk-clad breasts. Her arm was flung artlessly over Zoie’s toned waist, and the cat-woman embraced her and casually tangled their legs together.
“You must,” Zoie said through the purr that started up deep in her chest, and she swished her tail to and fro as she slowly rubbed her cheek back and forth over the top of Shay’s head.
This caused Shay to coo like a dove and snuggle in even harder until her face was pressed into the dark cavern where Zoie’s neck met her shoulder.
“But--” I whined and then flung out my arm toward the endearing scene as if I was impossible to argue with because who could willingly walk away from something like that, honestly?
Only a monster, that’s who.
“I know she is precious to us, but there will be time to savor her the way she deserves later, my love,” Zoie murmured with a look in her eyes that told me she knew exactly how I felt. “Now, go, but I promise there will be a surprise for you later.”
“Only because you promised,” I groaned, and I knelt on the mattress with one knee so I could kiss first Zoie on the brow, and then Shay on the only part of her cheek that was visible through Zoie’s hair. “Take care of her.”
“I shall,” Zoie hummed, and she already sounded halfway back to Slumberland.
I tore my eyes away from the ravishing sight like a starving man staring through the window of an all-you-can-eat buffet, and I groaned again as I hurried through getting dressed. I really hoped there was breakfast before this hunting thing because if I couldn’t satisfy the appetite I really wanted to, then a different kind of appetite would just have to do.
With that, I tucked my Duelist Stone under my tunic, tied on my hunter-green riding cape, and fastened my herald blade to my armored belt before I reached for the door.
I told myself not to look back and forced my legs to carry me out into the corridor even though it took all of my willpower as a hot-blooded male in his prime twenties not to turn around, crawl right back into that snuggle sandwich, and see where the morning went from there. Hopefully, it would have been in the direction of first kissing my wives awake, some heavy petting, ditching the clothes, and then some rubbing and stroking in or around that order.
A big sigh gusted out of me as every step took me away from my dream morning.
I hope they both realized the sacrifices I had to make for the benefit of us all.
Then I told myself I was just a little grumpy my wives both got to stay in the warm bed while I had to go rub elbows with the Asher Lord whose policies were dubious at best, and tyrannical at worst, in a world that still didn’t have any coffee.
However, just the image of my women cuddled together was enough to replace the spring in my step, but I did earmark the concerning thought about Gavlain’s morals and leadership values for later.
It was one thing to abide by a government, but when leaders were forced to oppress the people they were supposed to protect, wasn’t it the responsibility of those people to overthrow the Powers That Be? Apparently, this world had done so in the past given the annual race I literally just won which memorialized the guy who started the uprising that created the Duelist faction way back when. But now the world had fallen back into a status quo rife with an imbalance of power, down to the Ashers even controlling the people’s drinking water. It was a cycle of oppression that never seemed to be broken, and I really wondered why.
I also realized things were rarely black and white, and I only knew a fraction of what made this world turn. For the most part, the citizens of Nata Isle didn’t seem to mind the status quo, and they actually looked to the Ashers to save them. In fact, even if there had been murmurings of social unrest, I would bet all my new gold that since the Demon Scourge had returned to Aventoll, no one was complaining about the Ashers now.
And Gavlain Mec, the ram-lord of Nata, never struck me as a guy who particularly wanted to oppress and control his people.
There had to be something else under the surface of the Asher Lord, and I admit, I was eager to find out how much I could truly trust him. So far, he seemed to have my best interests at heart, but I wasn’t sure if that was just because of my status or something else.
All these questions would have to be stowed for later as I spotted Rylan, my faithful stable boy, hurrying toward me down the corridor.
“Hi, Asher-- I mean… hi, Alex!” Rylan said as he remembered, finally, to drop the pesky honorific in front of my name.
“You remembered to call me, ‘Alex!’ Great job, bud.” I hooked my arm around the back of the kid’s neck so I could scruff his mop of sandy hair. Ever since he showed up in the middle of Aventoll’s first Demon Moon in over seven decades and needed rescuing from a six-foot Lovecraftian abomination with snapping bifurcated jaws, a writhing mass of tentacles on its back, and one pissed off disposition, he’d been kind of attached to me like a stray puppy.
Or, more like the little brother I never had. Yeah, that seemed to fit and explained my fondness for the kid even though I’d never been the ‘kids-type,’ so to speak. Any time I was working for a bit of side cash, babysitting-type gigs were never something that interested me.
“I’m glad you are up because I have been waiting all morning to show you something brilliant,” Rylan said with one of his happy, puppy-dog wiggles. “Come with me to the stables.”
“Lead on,” I said and followed him a few steps before I grabbed him. “Or, better yet, I’ll race you.”
“What?” Rylan asked and cocked his head just like my old neighbor’s Jack Russel Terrier who looked exactly like the dog from the old show Wishbone.
“A race! Ready-set-go!” I took off in a blur past the kid and darted a glance over my shoulder. “Come on! Last one to the stables is a rotten egg!”
The kid let out a whooping laugh and pounded after me like it was his job to beat me to the stables.
It became obvious pretty quickly that I was much faster than the kid and could outstrip him if I really wanted to, but he really was a scrappy little thing, and I pulled my punches just a bit so he could feel like he had an edge on me.
Of course, I couldn’t actually let him win this time. How would he ever build any character otherwise?
“Yes! I am the Master Commander! Everyone goes wild!” I cheered as I jogged to a stop outside the stables. I then thrust both fists into the air and cupped my hands around my mouth so I could do my best impression of a ‘crowd-roar.’ “Haaaaa!”
“I almost had you!” Rylan hollered and practically leaped on me as if trying to tackle me to the ground, but he was probably a total of ninety-eight pounds soaking wet, so that wasn’t going to happen.
“Maybe next time, small fry,” I laughed and shoved him off. Then I laughed harder when he came after me again and ran into my unyielding palm as I straight-armed him.
“Hey!” Rylan shouted through his playful glare. He tried to swipe at me, but he couldn’t reach with my hand on his forehead like that. “No fair!”
“All’s fair in love and war, young one,” came the deep rumble of Gavlain Mec’s amused voice as he led two of the black-coated pegasus creatures out of the stables.
Something about what the ram-lord said hooked my brain, but before I could think more about the idiom, my noble steed, Prosper, gave me his customary greeting whistle, and an image of those purple root vegetables called ash-roots popped into my head.
“Goodness, Props,” I said and scrubbed his long black neck. “Can you give me a second before you bombard me?”
“He has definitely bonded with you closer than he ever did with me, if he is able to send you images from afar like that.” Mec cocked his horned head as he regarded me with an expression I really didn’t know what to make of. “Your reputation really does precede you, Alex, my friend.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear,” I said automatically, and then his words caught up with me. “Wait, what have you heard?”
“Only that you continue to be a surprising individual,” Mec laughed and handed me an ash-root as he fed his own mount something that looked like an apple, if apples were striped green.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that once or twice,” I snorted, and Prosper’s anteater snout uncoiled so he could slurp up the purple carrot. Then, when he reared his head and extended his black and orange monarch wings under the early morning dawn, I finally noticed the shiny glint of Prosper’s riding saddle and gear. “Hey, you got new threads. Very snazzy.”
“Aren’t they grand?” Rylan burst out as if it had been killing him to hold back all this time. “Lord Mec allowed me to switch out Prosper’s tack for a proper set worthy of the Champion.”
“Now, don’t start up with that Champion stuff after you just finally started calling me Alex,” I warned, but then I grinned at the stable-boy to let him know I wasn’t really mad.
