The Weapon Bearer (Book 1) (36 page)

“You made them grow, so I won’t charge you anything. Just remember to come back and visit every once and awhile. I have a lot of customers that could use the cheap herbs.”

“I will. Can I ask you a few things before I go?” Izabel tapped a dirty fingernail against her chin and straightened her hair while she spoke.

“Go ahead and ask but don’t expect an answer. I will only answer questions I feel comfortable with.” Kilen nodded and made sure to keep his questions to any topic that didn’t directly involve her.

“When we were here last time, you cast lots for us and you seemed a little disturbed by my casting. What did you see?” Izabel reached under her counter and poured a bag of small bones out into her hand. She examined the bones in an open palm then began the casting ritual with her face towards the sky and then she tossed them onto the countertop.

“This is the fourth time I have cast this pattern with you. In my past I have always cast the bones and never gotten the same results more than twice. I found it very strange, so I did some research on what laid on the counter after you left.” She pulled a purple book from underneath the countertop and began flipping through the pages. “Each interpretation I can find about your casting says that you’re important, but not to whom or why. It also says that you are very dangerous if crossed. That is why I gave you the herbs you wanted. Although the fear has left me now, I think that you may be important to me in some way.”

Joahna spoke up,
She’s wrong. It says you’re a savior. But she’s right stating that it does not say for who or where. This casting is very hard to interpret. Each manual like the one she has can have different meanings for the castings.

Kilen spoke out loud to Joahna before he could stop himself. “What if you are wrong?”

She smiled and put the bones back inside her sack and placed the book and bones under the counter.

“I could definitely be wrong. I’ve only dabbled in it to help find honest people in my dealings. I have never seen the same casting four times in a row on the same person though, so I don’t think I’m wrong. Do you have any more questions?”

I could also be wrong, but I can only speak of what I was taught. That casting has a different meaning for me. We will discuss it later.

Kilen stood still, confused about the two different versions of the castings. “I think that is all for now. I will try and come back before you run yourself out of supplies.”

“Oh, don’t worry. They cannot afford much. The herbs I sell them keep my store running. I make no profit unless I sell to someone outside my normal customers like you, for example. My customers usually don’t make much and depend on the herbs to keep going from day to day. They use it to stop pain or aches, or allow them to keep their food down. Some have wives or loved ones that cannot eat normal food so they give them nutritious broth made from my herbs. I help the elderly or the lame of this city to live as much life as they can.” Izabel put the herbs in a small canvas sack and handed it to Kilen. “Remember to come back later this week and bring your friend with you. He might want to adjust the order. Besides, when he stares at me at least he lets me know he likes what he sees. Kilen’s face felt hot from embarrassment and he knew that he was turning red. He turned and left the store without saying another word.

In the street Kilen noticed that a line had formed again outside the storefront and old Tom from the castle was at the front of the line. The elderly man looked up and caught Kilen’s eye. They nodded to each other and Kilen turned to make his way back to the castle. He walked along the street and jumped over the wall again to avoid the guards at the front gate. He moved to the meal tents near the kitchen. When he entered the tent for weapon bearers, Jace saw him and waved him over. Gortus, Jace, and Leroy all sat at a table together. Gortus was smiling and digging into a second plate of thin meat slices covered in brown gravy. Leroy got up and moved towards him as he neared. “That was meant for you but he couldn’t resist eating yours also. I will fetch some chicken I had made just in case.” Kilen nodded then handed the bag of herbs to Leroy. “Great! If he continues to eat like this I’ll need every spice left in the city to feed him for the rest of your training. Sit down. I’ll bring out your meal in a moment.” Leroy hurried through the tables and disappeared outside the tent. Kilen did just as Leroy had said and pulled out his book to read as he waited for Gortus to finish eating.

Finally Jace spoke over Gortus’ open-mouth chewing and ripping of cooked flesh from his fingertips. “I do think that by the lack of your words, Gortus. Leroy has come through with his apart of the bargain. If that is true then you will provide training for the boy, am I correct?” Gortus stopped eating for only long enough to grunt an agreement to the terms, then kept chewing his food. Jace, satisfied, leaned back in his chair and began telling Gortus about Kilen’s lack of skill. He pointed out every flaw in the way Kilen fought, “He is ungraceful, has lead weight for feet. His arm lacks the skill for a proper swing and is too weak to pick up a decent sword without magic. He doesn’t bend his knees and he is too impulsive, not knowing the proper counter attack or attack to provide the most damage.” Max was laughing and agreeing with everything Jace had mentioned and added a couple of flaws of his own.

He thinks too slow and is afraid to take risks,
Max shouted as if the others could hear him.

“I think too slow and I take little risk,” he spoke for Max, because the others couldn’t hear him. Jace looked over the table and Gortus stopped chewing to look at Kilen in confusion. “So I’ve heard,” he added just to keep anyone from questioning him about the source.

Gortus spoke through his last few bites of meat with small pieces of food and spittle coming out with the words. “You will meet me at the sword arena every moment of your day that you don’t have other lessons, from sunrise to sunset. You will devote yourself wholly to the lessons. You will not stop until I tell you. You will not rest until I tell you. You will not quit once we have begun or I will kill you.” Kilen looked between the two warriors on the other side of the table. Jace gave no hint of what he was supposed to do.

“I agree. I will give it my total focus,” he finally said in return. Jace shook Kilen’s hand and smiled in approval of his decision. Kilen knew that in Jace’s mind it was the only one he could make and continue the training as a scout. He needed to be the best and Gortus was the best. Leroy dropped a plate of chicken with spiced rice and vegetables in front of him. Gortus reached over, took a drumstick and began eating it.

“Remember, every moment that you are not getting lessons, starting tomorrow morning. I’ll wait for you in the sword arenas.” The short muscular man in black armor strode off eating the drumstick, with others tripping over themselves to get out of the way.

“Follow every rule and do not give up…ever. The lessons will get easier as you go along, but only if you push yourself to your limit every day.” Jace let the words sink in as Kilen slowly ate his plate of spicy chicken and rice, a bite of bread after every bite of meat. “I will keep an eye on you, and if you are too tired to continue I will do my best to get you into some other training to rest.”

“Thank you, but I don’t think that it would be wise to pull me out. I think I will have enough other classes to keep me busy. I’m sure I will have to use every minute I can with Gortus to become the swordsmen you want me to become.

We will help you
, both men in his head said confidently.

“Kilen I like your attitude. I can only hope that you continue to think this way by noon tomorrow.” With that, Jace chuckled and left the tent laughing, leaving Kilen to finish his meal in peace. Kilen pulled out his book and started reading over recipes and medicine formulas given to him by Leroy. Kilen could always get lost in a book, even his own. Before he knew it the afternoon had passed and it was only a couple hours away from his dinner with Twilix. He closed his book and jogged to meet the swordsmith and collect Chit’s sword. When he arrived, the shop was quiet except for the smooth sound of a polishing stone against metal. The smith smiled and polished over a couple more spots before he held up the large sword and handed it to Kilen.

“I think it’s one of my finest pieces of manure to date.” He chuckled as Kilen looked it over. The blade was long, smooth, and polished. The cross guard was made of two animal heads facing in two directions constructed of fine polished silver. The leather handle was traced with a line of highly polished steel and topped off with a steel ball at the end. Kilen started to look closer at the animal heads and they resembled horse heads but the necks were too fat and the teeth too squared. “I made them Jackass’, so that everyone who meets him will know his makeup. Stubborn, selfish, and tough all rolled into one. If he is as smart as you say he is, I bet he will think they are stallions.”

“Thank you, it will do nicely. I don’t think I could have picked a better animal to represent him. Thank you again.” Kilen handled the sword smoothly as not to scratch it and placed it in a burlap cloth to protect it. He tied it with some string and carried it back to the castle to get ready for his dinner with Twilix. He smelled of the fight with Mary and still needed to clean the dirt from his fingernails. As he made his way he was fortunate to see Chit falling out of a bar. Kilen decided that this was as good a time as any to give him the sword. Kilen kept his hand on his hilt as he always did and handed the sword still in the burlap to Chit, who was drunk crawling, on all fours in the street. Chit with, bloodshot eyes, looked up and finally recognized Kilen standing over him. He stood, slowly regaining his balance and snatched the sword from Kilen, letting the weight throw him off balance. It probably looked light in Kilen’s magically strengthened hands. When he regained his balance he unwrapped it. He was impressed by the blade.

“Good thing for you, I like it,” Chit pushed Kilen out of the way. Kilen let him, moving to the side freely. “Stay out of my way in the training and pray you don’t become my sparring partner.” Kilen smiled, knowing that he wouldn’t encounter Chit. The next time Chit wanted to spar, he would be ready to face him. Kilen walked his normal path to the training ground’s wall to jump over. He could hear Chit walking nearby streets dragging his new blade along the ground to steady himself. Kilen was sure that his behavior would be seen as less than reputable to his trainers.

Kilen pushed thoughts of Chit from his mind and leapt over the wall. He made his way to the barracks and washed himself in the wash stand. He put on some clean clothes and strapped back on his sword and armor. He noticed that his broken shield had made its way back to the room and still had broken straps. He knew that he would have to get it fixed another time. This time he asked the same guard for instructions and received another answer than before, still not the correct instructions. Kilen wandered the corridors until he found a servant and then asked for them to take him to the gardens. He arrived and the doors to the gardens hung open. There was a slight smell of flowers in the air. Not knowing what training Twilix had in store for this evening, he kept his hand on the sword and pushed the water vision as far as he could. Soon he walked up to a table where Twilix sat alone across from an empty chair. The table was void of any items where she sat reading a book.

Kilen rounded the plants and brought her and the table into his normal view. He felt very underdressed, Twilix sat reading with her hair braided into a long braid. It hung over her shoulder and down in front of her. She twirled the end around her finger as she read. She wore a shimmering yellow dress made of a very thin material. It clung to every curve of her body. Suddenly he viewed the girl as a woman, and as she really was. Her body had not come of age to develop the features of a full woman, but looking at her in the late evening sunlight Kilen knew he could see the woman inside the child’s body. Max and Joahna both whistled inside his mind. He stood beside the table, unsure what he was supposed to do.

“Have a seat Kilen,” She continued to read as he sat across from her trying to see her as her true self. “I hope you don’t mind, I thought you could use a break from meals with soldiers and have a night of civility before your training starts.”

“Thank you for the invitation, Wizard Twilix,” She cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

“Twilix tonight, Kilen. I will have no rank or barriers at this table tonight. You will treat me as any other girl from your village.”

“I don’t know if I know how to do that,” Twilix looked up from her book already turning red. Kilen immediately knew that she thought he had meant because she looked so young. “I mean I have never eaten dinner with a girl in such a setting and I feel a bit underdressed. Uhm, it might make me feel better if you tell me how old you really are.” Twilix sat looking at Kilen. She visibly relaxed and the anger on her face was replaced by curiosity.

“Kilen, I know you are from a small town but some consider it rude to ask a wizard their age. It is a secret that wizards use to keep their enemies guessing at their wisdom, experience, or skills.” She paused, “I didn’t ask you here to teach you about wizard rules or abilities. I apologize. I will tell you my true age. I am nineteen years old. Only one year older than yourself, if I have heard correctly.” Kilen paused and tried to trick his mind into seeing a girl of the correct age sitting across from him. He then became more nervous, knowing that a girl that should have been courted and married sat across from him and had invited him to dinner. He found himself gazing at the book she had stopped reading and left on the table.