Mighty Hammer Down (9 page)

Letting his sword fall, he did his
best to comfort her, holding her head in the crook of his arm so
that she would not have to hold it up on her own. "It’s not very
deep, but I am going to have to pull it out, and it will need to be
sewn shut. Can you handle that?"

"I think so," she said through gritted
teeth.

"Good because that’s the only choice
you have."

He took a firm hold of the bloody
handle and yanked it out, causing her to scream again. He tossed
the knife aside and took off his shirt.

"I didn’t realize you were the kind of
man to take advantage of a woman in a situation like this," she
said with her best attempt at a smile.

He paused a moment to consider what
she meant, the joke finally hitting him. "No, this is to wrap your
leg in so that we can reduce the bleeding. We’ll have to get you to
the Emperor’s Hall. It’s not far."

"No!" she protested. "No I don’t want
to be anywhere that people might think I am that other Vindyri
woman. Please can we just leave Brinn?"

"Leave Brinn?" he asked as he tied his
shirt around her wounded leg. "We can’t leave Brinn now, you can’t
even walk. They already released you, they know you’re
innocent."

"Please Rommus, don’t take me there,"
she said softly as tears filled her eyes.

She stared at him through that watery
gaze until his heart melted with pity for the woman.

"All right. I shouldn’t go walking
around these busy streets shirtless anyway. If we take this alley
to the end, it connects to another alley that leads to my forge. I
live above it, so I can look to your wounds there. But let me tell
you right now, I am not skilled in the arts of healing." He slipped
his arms under her, getting ready to pick her up.

"Are you skilled in the arts of
carrying women back to your home?" she said with a smirk as she put
her arms around his neck to help him bear her weight.

"This is what you think of at a time
like this?"

"A time like what? How do you know I
don’t do this every day?"

"Well, since you seem to have a knack
for finding trouble, I guess I can’t assume this isn’t your
everyday routine. You must lead a very exciting life."

She sighed and laid her head against
his bare chest as he carried her. He was a little embarrassed
because of how sweaty he was from the fight, but she made no
complaint, and he made no attempt to stop her.

After a long silence, Rommus spoke.
"Thank you for saving my life back there. If those men had caught
me alone, I’m sure I wouldn’t have made it."

"I should thank you, good sir. I
wouldn’t have made it without your help either."

"Yeah that reminds me; where did you
learn to fight like that? I don’t know of any women who would hold
a sword, much less use one. Do they train women to fight in
Vindyrion?"

"No. Vindyrion is much like Medora,
except there is not as much wealth or as many pretty buildings. Our
women are not warriors, just as the women here are not. We also
don’t have statues of the gods everywhere like you have here. You
Medorans seem to take your religion seriously."

"Oh don’t let the statues fool you.
Most people who believe in the gods are just reaching out for
something to believe in or belong to. I think it’s all rather
absurd really, but I do appreciate a well-carved statue." He smiled
down to her when she looked up at him. "You never answered my
question. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Oh, I had two brothers who were in
the Vindyri army. I had to learn to defend myself against them or
they might have killed me in their games. I guess you had some
training of your own?"

"Yes. As I mentioned, my father is the
General of all the Medoran Legions. I joined the army years ago,
but I left. It wasn’t for me."

"Did you ever see any
battle?"

"I encountered a few enemies, but
nothing epic like you’re thinking. There are always rebel bands of
Vindyri who attack us when they feel our guard is down, but we have
had no wars since I was a boy."

"Have you encountered any
Bhoors?"

"No, I have never seen one. We are too
far from Bhoor-Rahn to run into any here. Besides, your country
stands between our lands, so you would see them more often than we
would. Our people are not fond of the Bhoors; most of us
anyway."

"You don’t accept them among your
people?"

"No. Of course there are exceptions,
but most people here feel they are too dangerous to have so near.
The older men tell stories about them, and from how they describe
them, I never want to meet one.

"Well they are people just like you
and I. It’s only fair to give them a chance."

He laughed. "It’s only fair that I am
allowed to not trust them. I assume you have seen many in your
country?"

"I have seen a few. Most
of them are terribly ugly. They almost don’t look human. Their
faces are long, and their teeth are as well. Some of them grow
beards to hide their odd looks among us, but you can always tell.
Their eyes are usually brown, but not like yours
¾
more like the
color of wine. The ones I saw in Burnhamheade lived just like the
rest of us, but if what I hear is correct, they prefer tents rather
than buildings."

"I suppose in a land full of tents
there aren’t any well-carved statues to look at," he said as he
turned up the alley that led to his forge.

"Well I wouldn’t know. I have never
been there. Maybe they don’t carve statues of their god, but they
do spend a lot of time worshipping Rohni."

"Rohni is their god? They only worship
one?"

"Yes, but Rohni is just the name they
use for Oderion. It’s the same thing."

"I see. How does your leg
feel?"

"I can bear it. I don’t like it, but I
can bear it."

"Well we’re almost there. See that
gray building up there apart from the rest? That’s my
forge."

He was relieved to finally arrive at
the forge. He didn’t want her to know it, but carrying her all that
way was not easy. As soon as he took her up the stairs, he laid her
on his bed and gave his burning muscles a break.

"Tear the hole in your pants open some
so that I can sew the wound. I need to get some things
together."

She did as he asked while he gathered
the necessary items. When he returned, he set them on the table
next to his bed.

"You live alone here," she said as she
looked around the room.

"Yes that’s right. How do you know
that?"

"Well I can see there is only one bed
here, so you don’t share the room with a brother, and I see no
flowers or feminine decorations. Don’t you have a wife or a
girlfriend?"

"A wife!" he chuckled. "Hardly. But I
am seeing someone, yes. As for a brother, I have none. My father is
my only family," he said as he threaded a needle with black
thread.

"Your girlfriend doesn’t like
flowers?"

"She doesn’t live here. She says she
can’t stand the banging at night when I work downstairs. I built
the walls twice as thick as they needed to be to keep the noise
down for the neighbors, but it doesn’t help much in
here."

She made herself useful by mixing the
herbs and water in the bowl he had brought to the bed. "So not only
are you strange, but you are a builder as well as a
metalsmith.

"Strange? Yes I built this place with
the help of some friends I had in the army. But what makes me
strange?"

"You are strange because you forge
your weapons in the darkness. Why on earth would you do that? Isn’t
it hard to see what you’re doing?"

He laughed. "No, it’s not hard. I have
oil lamps I use so that I can see. I do it at night because I have
always done it at night. I am afraid that if I change my ways, I
won’t end up with such good work."

"So you’re superstitious, but you
don’t believe in the gods." Her smile turned to wincing as he began
sewing the gash in her leg.

"I don’t know if I’d call it
superstitious. I just pride myself on my work."

She breathed in ragged, irregular
breaths against the pain. When he paused she managed to speak
again.

"Well can I see something you
made?"

"Most of the interesting stuff is
either downstairs or sold already, but there’s a dagger there in
the drawer." He reached over and pulled the drawer open a few
inches.

She reached inside and pulled it out.
She was stunned. "It’s beautiful! I have never seen anything like
it. It reminds me of all the beauty I have seen here in Medora. How
did you do this?"

"I am a metalsmith. It’s my
job."

"Yes but I have never seen anything so
graceful and exquisitely detailed. How did you get it polished like
that? It’s like a mirror. I can see all my cuts on my poor
face."

"Well polishing is no secret. There’s
a process to it, and to get it really shiny you use very fine
abrasives on a cloth."

"And the gold? How do you get the gold
parts on there? Will it come off?"

He smiled. "No it won’t come off. But
I can’t go telling you all my secrets or no one will come buy my
weapons anymore."

She looked at him with a pleading look
that made him smile even more. He was happy that she was so
impressed with this dagger of his.

"I’ll tell you what. I get to keep my
secret about how to get the gold to stay on, and you get to keep
the dagger."

She breathed in a quick breath as her
face lit up. "Really? No, I can’t take this. It must be worth a
fortune. I can’t keep it."

"Sure you can. Accept it as thanks for
saving my life. Really, it’s no big deal. I want you to have it.
Besides I can see you’re missing yours."

She felt the empty sheath attached to
her belt. "Thank you Rommus, I love it. But I’m afraid it’s a
little longer than the dagger I lost. I don’t think it will fit in
this sheath."

"That’s okay. There is one around her
somewhere that fits it. I’ll find it later. But for now let’s
finish up on this wound." He continued to weave the coarse black
thread through her cut, and then added the mashed herbs when he was
finished. She made grunts of complaint while he worked, but she was
mostly focused on the gift he had given her.

"How do you cover a whole sword in
gold?" she asked as he started to clean up.

"A whole sword? That can’t be done. It
would have to be made of solid gold, and that would be way too
expensive and far too heavy to be used as a weapon. And most
importantly, it would bend and break under any kind of stress. Gold
is too soft to make weapons with."

"Well, you obviously know more than I
do, and maybe it was just a trick of the light, but I could have
sworn that Mage with the blue sleeves had a gold sword."

"I didn’t get a good look at him, but
you have to be wrong. I’m the only one I know of in Medora who
could make anything like it, and I’m telling you, a sharp stick
would make a better weapon."

Alana’s eyebrows drew together as she
struggled to remember the details of the man and his sword. "I
guess you’re right, maybe it was just my imagination. It all
happened so fast."

"Well, if he shows up again, I’ll ask
him to see it," he said with a crooked smile. "Get comfortable and
I will make us some food. Then you can rest."

She returned his smile and covered up
with his blankets, all the while admiring her treasured gift he had
given her.

Chapter 9

Uritus ran his finger around the
flowing curves carved into his throne. It was made entirely of
black marble except for the soft red cloth seat. Two of his men
stood at the wall behind him, protecting their leader in the throne
room connected to the secret chamber under the Temple of Inshae.
All was quiet except for the occasional hissing of
torches.

Suddenly, he heard the sound he was
waiting for. The grinding of stone against stone shook the room
slightly as the secret stairway lowered. Excitement rushed through
his body as he waited for his messengers, eager to hear of their
success. His eyes narrowed when only one came though the doorway.
Instantly he knew something had gone wrong.

"Why are you alone, Brother? And why
have you arrived so late? It is an hour past sunset," he said with
restrained anger.

""I am sorry, Red Master, I was in
hiding. Please forgive me. I feared that I was seen by the people
in the street after the incident in the alley."

"Where are the others?"

"They have fallen, Red Master. We
encountered Rommus in an alley near the market. He was with a
Vindyri woman. We were unable to take him. The woman fought us as
well. It all went horribly wrong."

"Where is the sword?" Uritus yelled,
finally letting his anger show.

The man shrank back some as he
stumbled over his words. "I have it here, Red Master. I would die
before losing it." He carefully pulled the sword from his robes and
laid it gently at the purple carpet leading to the
throne.