Well, and chapter 2 is out ^^ There are going to be some errors for sure because I've only revised it a couple of times, so sorry in advance, I'll correct them when I have some more time. Hope you liked it :) Comments and critics are welcome!
Alvin begins to follow Gaius up the corridor. It didn't take long until he hears steps behind them, and when he looks above his shoulder, he can see Presa and the others following them too.
"Heh", smiles Alvin, "so at the end their curiosity has won".
"So it seems". Gaius keeps walking without looking behind. Alvin looks at Gaius' back, thinking to himself.
"Can I make you a question, your Highness?"
"I take that as a rhetorical question, I think that you are going to ask regardless what I say".
"Oh, your Highness, who do you think I am?". Alvin exclaims, pretending to be a little offended. "I would never dear to disobey a King, if your Highness prefers that I stay quiet, I'll accept it without complaining".
"...I seriously doubt it". Gaius keeps silent for a moment. "Very well, I will answer you, but depending on what you ask, I may demand you some explanations in other time".
Alvin doubts: on the one hand, as a mercenary, his number one rule was not to give any other information apart from the one involved in the job...but in the other hand, he could always lie if he didn't like the question.
"Kay, in that case, I'll wait until the fight is over to decide if I ask or not. By the way, your Highness doesn't have to worry: I would never ask you something too inappropriate".
"Says the man that a minute ago has suggested to call a King by his first name".
"Heeeheehee", Alvin laughs a little embarrassed, "my apologizes, your Highness, you have a nice name and with all my respects, calling you "your Highness" all the time is a little boring, don't you think?".
"I'm accustomed to it. And thanks for the compliment about my name, although it isn't my real one".
"Oh...". Before he could say anything more, Gaius speaks.
"And asking about the real one is out of the question".
"Got it", Alvin hides a smile.
Finally, Gaius stops in front of a door which is bigger than the others of the corridor with some kind of panel on its right wall. Gaius puts his hand on it making the screen of the panel illuminate and after a few seconds the door is open. By that time, Presa and the others have reached them.
"Your Highness", begins to speak the man in black (Wingul was his name?, thinks Alvin), "I ask you once again to reconsider...".
"Wingul, I think that I have made myself clear before". Gaius answers quietly and enters the room, followed by the rest.
"But your Highness, to show this untrustworthy man the littlest hint of the techniques that your Highness uses in a fight can bring bad consequences".
"So, what you are saying is that fighting with him can reveal some unnecessary information about my method of fight, isn't it right?".
While Gaius speaks, he has turned the lights on and Alvin can see now that the room in which they stay is circular and spacious, a training room.
"Precisely, your Highness", nods Wingul, "and as your tactician, I can't allow that".
"Wingul!", hisses Presa.
"Don't worry, Wingul", says Gaius quietly as he enters the circle that is drawn on the floor. "If you are worried about him discovering my weaknesses, it's useless: I have none".
Alvin bites his lip making an effort to not to comment anything about the extreme confidence of the King. He looks at Presa to see what kind of expression she has (she was always so easy to read) and to his surprise, she was looking at him with a worried expression. Alvin frowns: normally Presa was the type of woman that hated when a person (and specially a man) showed off, but when the King had made that statement about his lack of weakness she hadn't moved a muscle...did that mean that it was true that the King hadn't any weakness? That was impossible.
"Mercenary", the deep voice of the King makes Alvin startle. "When you are ready, we will begin".
"Oh, whenever you are ready, your Highness".
Although Alvin says that with a confident smile, he pulls out his pistol and points at Gaius, staring at him almost without blinking. Until now he had been sure about his chances of victory, it wasn't the first time that a client had wanted to test his combat skills, and except one time that he had lost (and that didn't count because the opponent had been a really beautiful woman and he hadn't been too focused), the other times he had always won...but this time even Presa was worried about him, when in their previous jobs together she had only been worried about the possibility of losing the job because of him being too rude with the client... how strong was Gaius then?
"The combat will begin after I count until three", when the cold voice of Wingul resonates in the room is when Alvin realizes that everybody has become silent "mortal blows are not allowed."
"Don't worry, I'll use fake bullets, I wouldn't dare to hurt the King irremediably".
"I was speaking to the King, mercenary, we needn't any unnecessary death upon our King's shoulders", Alvin almost replies but he sees Presa's look just in time and decides to not to say anything.
"Understood", says Gaius as he takes his sword and establishes his fighting stance. The sword is longer that Alvin had estimated, so he takes a mental note about it in order to remember that he has to maintain a longer distance than usual.
"Got it", answers Alvin.
"Good. I'll begin de countdown".
"Pray what you know, mercenary", says Agria with a cruel smile. Jiao only stares at them imperturbable and Presa has his arms crossed feigning calm, but his tail is betraying her, because it's moving from one side to another, nervously.
"One...".
Alvin doesn't stop staring at Gaius. He tries to ignore the fact that he is beginning to sweat and he realizes that he is grabbing his weapon with more force than necessary. Gaius doesn't seem to have moved.
"Two...". He swallows. 'Come on, Alvin, you have a pistol. He can't be faster than a bullet, focus'. With that last thought he is able to calm down and focuses only in Gaius. And then, Wingul said the last number.
"Three".
The next thing that Alvin sees is Gaius' face inches apart of his own and that his sword is just above him. He barely has time to use his pistol as a shield to prevent the hit, if he had used the sword it would have been too late. His knees almost hit the floor because of the impact, and when he makes a movement to separate from Gaius in order to use his pistol, he realizes that Gaius is not in front of him anymore, and that with his last movement he is approaching him with his back full open. He didn't have time to think how in hell the King has been able to be on his back in less than a second because he sees that Gaius' sword is already in the air again and aiming for his right side, so he instinctively turns his body to that side to defend himself to the hit that was aimed to his ribs...or that was what he though, because in the time that he has turned to his right, Gaius positions himself to his left.
Alvin can only shoot a blind shot (that evidently doesn't hit Gaius) before receiving the full impact of Gaius' sword in his left side, making him fly to the other side of the room, and when he hits first the wall at full speed and drops to the floor, he only can hear the disagreeable laughs of the girl and the voice of Presa calling his name before darkness embraces him and he passes out.
When Alvin wakes up, he feels lost at first because he doesn't remember where he is, but when he finishes opening his eyes and looks at his right side, he sees Presa sitting in a chair besides him and realizes that he is in one of the rooms of the inn.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty", she says in a mocking tone.
"Thanks for the compliment", Alvin replies. He tries to incorporate but Presa immediately stops him.
"Don't, Al, you have to be lying down a couple of hours more at least".
"What are you now, my mom?", says Alvin, but he obeys and lies down again, because it's true that his head is still hurting.
"Don't blame me, the hit that you suffered were pretty big. Besides, I'm just following orders", Alvin looks at her confused.
"From who?". Presa looks at him patiently.
"From the King, of course". Alvin's eyebrows rise with surprise.
"What? The King has ordered you to look after me".
"Yes, he has, I'm such a lucky woman", she says without enthusiasm.
"I'm glad that you realizes that...ouch!", Presa's tail has hit him in the head. "But I don't understand".
"What is what you don't understand now?" asks Presa emphasizing the word "now".
"Why is the King bothering about my condition? I'm fired, right?".
"Fired? Alvin, you've been hired". Alvin's eyes open.
"What?".
"In fact, the conditions of the job have changed a little and you are going to earn almost the double".
Alvin stares at her. He is waiting for her to laugh and say something like: 'idiot, you fell for that', but Presa is completely serious.
"You are kidding, right?".
"Al, do you see me laughing?".
"But I don't understand... I lost, I couldn't do anything, I couldn't even graze him, the battle barely lasts ten seconds...".
It's at that moment when Presa begins to laugh.
"God, Al", she says between laughs, "are you telling me that you were really thinking that you had any possibility to win?".
"What do you mean?".
"Al, since the King won the war twenty years ago, no one has been able to touch him in battle and only a few have been able to stop a blow of his sword".
"I suppose that you are among those people?".
"Yes, all the Quimerios, and lately only you".
Alvin nods absently. He had heard stories about Gaius being a prodigy in battle, but he couldn't have imagined that his skills were going to be so impressive.
"So...", continues Presa interrupting his thoughts, "now that you understand why the King wants you for the job, I expect that you act properly: don't forget that you are in this job because of me, don't ruin it".
Presa is looking at an scary look, so Alvin nods trying to calm her.
"Kay, okay, Presa, I won't screw up. You said it, remember? I am the best when a great sum of money is involved".
He ends the sentence with a smile and Presa only sighs with resignation.
"I hope so", he gets up, "as I said, rest a little more, and the next time that you wake up, please go to see the King, he wants to talk to you".
"Got it", he replies. Presa nods once and leaves the room.
When Presa is gone, Alvin stares at the ceiling, remembering his fight with Gaius. He can't believe yet that a man with such power could exist: he had always considered himself a good fighter, but when his fight with Gaius began and in the blink of an eye he had seen Gaius in front of him, he had felt fear for the first time in a long time, and now although he felt still a little embarrassed about having lost so easily (despite the fact that Presa has told him that he had done it right), now he was more interested in Gaius than before, and now he was sure about what he wanted to ask him.
Without losing any time he gets up, he still feels a little pain but he decides to ignore it, he had felt worse in other occasions. Then, he puts on his jacket, fixes his scarf and takes on his weapons. He checks that his pistol is still loaded and goes to the door.
He knows that Presa is going to kill him for disobeying but he doesn't have time to waste: first, because if he doesn't hurry to come back with Jude and the rest, this time he's going to have a hard time trying to explain his absence, and second (and with the second reason he can't avoid to make a smirk) now that he knows how good is Gaius in battle, he won't rest until he can hurt him even if is just a little, he has an honor as a mercenary that he has to maintain. And with that in mind, he leaves the room and goes directly to find Gaius.
