Benjamin Ashwood (16 page)

Ben
didn’t have a response to that.  Sometimes he didn’t know how to talk to Rhys. 
The man acted like a drunk who didn’t have a care in the world and Ben had
never seen him practice with his sword.  But his weapons showed signs of heavy
use.  He impressed Saala and the confidence he had when sitting in the Thieves
Guild in Fabrizo was impossible to miss.  Ben realized he’d hardly seen Rhys
over the last few days.

“You
seem to know a lot about what I’ve been doing but I haven’t seen much of you. 
Where have you been?”

“Ah
Ben, surely you know what I’ve been doing.  We’re in this big city sharing
quarters with the high and mighty.  It’s a well-known fact that any beautiful
city is bound to be full of beautiful women.  Why would you spend time on that
dirty practice field with a bunch of scruffy looking men?”

“Scruffy
looking men?” answered Ben skeptically.  He eyed Rhys up and down.  The man was
a born rogue and even after regular baths and clean clothes he looked the part.

“I
know what you’re thinking Ben.  You’re thinking that surely these gorgeous high
born ladies must only be interested in the foppish court dandys.  Judging by
the amount of lace and perfume the men of Argren’s court wear, that’s certainly
what they think.  But no!  You couldn’t be more wrong.  These ladies are
looking for something different.  They appreciate a man who’s seen the world
and can take care of himself.  They like a bit of danger Ben, I swear it’s
true.”

“Is
that your line, that you’re dangerous?”

Rhys
guffawed, “oh, I am certainly not dangerous.  Not to any warm willing woman at
least.  But her husband probably is.”

“Her
husband!  Tell me he’s not some lord of this place!  What are you doing with a
married woman?”

“Don’t
you worry boy, spend enough time with me and I’ll teach you the ways of the
world.  In fact, I’ve got some time on my hands now.  Her husband being
recently returned from his voyage to Fabrizo.”  Rhys stood up and stretched. 
“I’ve had quite a workout the last few days and I hear you have too, although
certainly not as enjoyable as mine.  Let’s run through the second set of Ohms. 
That will make us right.”

The
rest of the afternoon was spent working on the second of the Thirty Ohms.  By
evening, Ben felt relaxed and refreshed.  The light exercise of the movements
felt good after several long days on the practice field.

Dinner
that evening was in the small common area adjacent to their rooms.  It was just
the second time in Whitehall that all of the men in their party dined
together.  Rhys had been off gallivanting around with his Lady friend, Ben and Saala
had been spending time with the guardsmen and Renfro had been occasionally
tagging along but mostly vanishing when other people were about.  He said it
made him nervous being around so many high born and arms men.

The
food was plain and simple but Ben enjoyed it.  He also enjoyed reconnecting
with his companions.  Even though it had only been a few days, it seemed like
longer.  He had quickly grown to see the group as part of his family and over
the last month he’d rarely been away from any of them.  He turned the
discussion to the women who they had barely seen since arrival in Whitehall.

“I
wonder how Amelie, Meredith and Meghan are doing?”

“They’re
doing fine,” Saala responded dryly.  “Meghan has fallen in with Meredith and is
passing as another handmaiden to Amelie.  She doesn’t like it of course, but
it’s safer that way.  An Initiate of the Sanctuary isn’t like a full member,
but that doesn’t mean someone wouldn’t want to get their talons in her.  Amelie
has been busy meeting with the other Princes and Princesses in town.  Every
time there is a gathering like this they size each other up.  Next generation
of rulers and all.  Potential marriages to evaluate, commercial arrangements,
promises to make, promises to break, spying.  It’s the usual.”

“The
usual?” asked Ben incredulously.  “That sounds horrible.”

Saala
shrugged nonchalantly.  “It is horrible.  But that is the way business is done
with the high born.  Always something in exchange for something else.  And it’s
better of course if you can get what you want without having to give up what
the other guy wanted.  It’s all a big game, a game with consequences, but
usually that means pain for someone else.  It’s rare when the young high born
get out of hand and one ends up hurt or dead.”

“Dead!”
blurted a shocked Ben.

“Sounds
like the Thieves Guild,” added Renfro.  “You put enough power or gold on the
line and someone always ends up dead.  Same as the Merchants Guild and I guess
it’s the same all over.”

“Yep,
I gotta agree with the little thief,” drawled Rhys.  “It’s the way the world
works up top.  Doesn’t matter who they are or how they got there.  Usually it’s
by birth but maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who make it big.  Once you’re
there, it’s all about the power and the money.”

“Well,
not always about the power and the money,” smiled Saala.  He saw the
conversation was upsetting Ben.  “Someone like Amelie isn’t out to do harm, but
she still has to play the game.  She will do anything to protect her family and
her people.”

Rhys
snorted.  “Protect them or use them.  I’ll give you, she seems better than
most.  But you get that kind of power, it’s because you built it off the backs
of others.”  Rhys took a long pull of ale, strangely just his second mug by Ben’s
count.  “It’s about leverage boys.  The guy on the top of the pyramid is there
because they climbed over everyone else.  You look at this Conclave.  Argren’s
already the ruler of one of the most powerful cities on the continent of Alcott
but he’s reaching for more.  He can’t do it with just his armies so he’s
recruiting others.  It’s leverage.”

“But,
if he’s just grabbing power, why would Issen and the others join him?”

“Because
they’re scared or because they think they can grab a little bigger piece for
themselves in the process.  He’s drumming up this threat from the Coalition. 
Maybe they’re a threat, maybe not.  Maybe the Coalition is telling all the
Lords in the east that Argren is the real threat.  Either way, there’s going to
be war.  First, the Alliance and Coalition will consolidate their power bases
until they just got each other to look at.  Then it will start.  The reason why
only matters to the historians.  For us, it’s all about how to survive their
game until tomorrow and then the next day.”

Saala
raised his mug, “survive until tomorrow.”

The
next day, Ben was back out on the practice field.  Some of Seth’s friends were
eager to try their hand at the man who struck Master Brinn so there was no
shortage of opponents.  Ben found quickly that they all tended towards the same
patterns and used the same forms and strokes that Seth did.  Some were a little
quicker, some were a little cleaner in their execution, but none of them were
creative fighters.

Halfway
through the morning Seth pulled Ben aside, “wow, you’ve improved a lot since
that first day we sparred.”

“You
must be training me well,” quipped Ben.  Inside he knew that it wasn’t that he
was getting that much better, he was just able to anticipate what the green
guardsmen were going to try next because they all tried the same thing.

“Oh,
I’m not sure how much credit I can take.  But I know Master Brinn was impressed
too.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he asks you to join us soon.  We can always
use a good man like you.  In a few months you’ll be one of the best blades we
have!”  Seth was beaming with excitement but Ben struggled to maintain his
smile.  This was unexpected and a bit unwelcome.  Ben had bonded quickly with
the young men of the Citadel but he had no intention of joining them.  His
loyalties to Meghan and his other companions ran deeper.

“We’ll
see,” mumbled Ben.  “He hasn’t asked me yet.”

“He
will!  Some of the guys have already been talking about you starting in the
guards and skipping the greenhorn class.  It’s going to be great!”

Ben
started to stall but he was saved when one of Master Brinn’s other Assistants
started calling for Seth.  A new class of trainees was starting the next day so
Seth said he had a lot of work to do getting ready for them.  As he dashed off,
Ben slowly walked over to the water trough where they kept cool water for
rinsing off and drinking after practice.

Ben
stripped off his practice armor and sweat soaked shirt to splash water all over
his face and torso.  He felt like the last few days in Whitehall were boiling
over.  Saala’s warnings about questions, the discussion about the power of the
high born the night before and now the guards were hinting at an offer to join
their ranks.  His dreams of travelling through big cities had never been this
complicated.

“Hi
Ben.”

He
was startled from his contemplation of the water trough and saw Amelie had
quietly approached behind him.  Some swordsman I am he thought.  Snuck up on by
a Lady in an open field during broad daylight.

“Hi
Amelie.  How have you been?  I mean, how has Whitehall been?”

“I’ve
been busy.  I heard you are making quite a name for yourself amongst the
guards.  One of them asked me yesterday if you were going to stay.  Are you
considering it?”

Ben
thought apparently everyone but him knew about the offer.  “Uh, no, they
haven’t really asked me yet.  I won’t stay though.  I want to finish this with
you.  And Meghan and the others too,” he finished quickly.

“I’m
sorry we haven’t seen each other much the last few days.  There’s so much to do
before the start of the Conclave tomorrow.  But I was thinking, are you going
to the fireworks show tonight?”

A
fireworks spectacular was to be held to mark the start of the Conclave and was
going to go off down at the port.  The way Whitehall was built, tiered into the
side of the mountain, nearly everyone in the city would be able to see the show
with no obstructions.

“I,
um, some of the guards are going to Meggy’s and are going to watch from the
roof.  Meggy’s is a tavern they go to...  How about you?” he finished lamely.

“I,
well, I was invited to a party on the Citadel’s veranda.  Argren is hosting a
Gala.  There will be a lot of people there.  I was wondering if you would like
to go?”

“I…”
stammered Ben.

“It’s
ok if you don’t want to.  I’m sure Miggy’s, is that what you called it?  I’m
sure it will be very nice.”

“No,
no.  I want to go.  I definitely want to go.  It’s just, well, I’ve never been
to a Gala.  What do I even wear to something like that?”

“No
way!” shouted Renfro.  “I can’t believe it.  The Lady Amelie asked you on a
date!”

“It
wasn’t like that,” protested Ben.

Seth
leaned in, “I heard it was like that.  I heard she said you looked good without
a shirt on too.  Heard it from one of the other guardsmen who was walking by.”

“She
just said I was looking fit.”  Ben realized that wasn’t going anywhere
productive.  “I’ve been working with the sword a lot recently.  I’ve put on a
little muscle, that’s all.”  He cringed, that wasn’t any better.

Renfro
collapsed back into the couch he was perched on, howling with laughter.  “It’s
a fairy tale romance!  The poor brewer boy catches the eye of the high born
maiden with his beefy muscles.  Unfortunately, this tale ends in tragedy.  The
poor brewer boy doesn’t know what to do with a high born maiden!”

Ben
ground his teeth.  He’d rushed back to the rooms and immediately told Renfro
what had happened.  Seth had shown up minutes later telling how the entire
practice yard was buzzing with rumors that some foreign guardsmen trainee was
escorting Lady Amelie to the Grand Fireworks Spectacular.  They hadn’t stopped
since.  The thing wasn’t ‘Grand’ when Seth had been talking about watching it
from Meggy’s.

He
was saved from further harassment when Meredith showed up at the rooms with one
of the Citadel’s groomsmen.  They had the assignment of making sure Ben had
proper attire.

She
shooed Renfro and Seth out of the door and instructed the groomsman to draw a
bath.

“Well,”
she said with a growing mischievous smile, “are you going to undress or would
you like me to help?”

Two
bells after being briskly bathed and dressed by the groomsman, Ben was still
cooling his heels in Amelie’s waiting room.  It was a beautiful room, certainly
the nicest Ben had ever been in, but it was starting to get boring.  There’s
only so much time one can spend contemplating which farms you could buy in
Farview with the pair of gold candlesticks, the crystal bowls or the rich thick
carpets. 

A
mechanical device with two thin hands moving around a circular face took up a
good portion of his time.  It wasn’t until both of the hands pointed directly
upwards and the thing emitted seven chimes that he realized it must be a
clock.  He’d heard about them of course, and people in Farview referred to time
in bells, but even the Pinewoods didn’t have enough money to purchase one of
these.

Both
Meredith and Meghan occasionally popped in to check on him but Amelie was
nowhere to be seen.  The girls said she was getting ready and seemed outright
offended when he asked how it could possibly be taking this long.  Meghan, who Ben
felt should have been sympathetic to his plight, was not appreciating the
situation.