Chapter Nine: A Royal Mess
"Good morning sunshine, did you sleep well?"
"Why are you waking me up so early you dumb familiar? The ship doesn't leave until tomorrow morning."
"It's part of the job. I wake up the nobles in the room at dawn."
"Your job is to wake up Louise, not all the nobles in the room."
"I only wake up Louise because she is usually the only noble around me in the morning. As far as I know my orders could logically extend to any noble. I will ask Louise later about the details of that issue later. Speaking of which, hey Louise it's time to wake up."
"Blarg, morning Therum what time is the ship leaving?
"According to Sir Wardes, it's not leaving until tomorrow. We have an entire day to burn here."
"Um if that's the case, I think I am going to sleep in this morning."
"Sure thing little master, I will wake you up again in a couple of hours. Would you like me to wake you again in a few hours as well Viscount?"
"That will not be necessary. The bed was unusually hard last night I think I will be better off if I just stay awake."
"Have it your way pal I just made the offer."
"Are you going to wake your little feathered friend as well?"
"She's a big girl that can take plenty good care of herself. If Louise is having a lie in this morning I don't see why I should bother Kistna either. See you later."
"That man is an annoying pain in the ass."
"I heard that!"
***BREAK***
"Familiar can I talk to you for a minute?"
"I am sure you are physically able to speak for that long but you only may talk with me if you can remember to address me by name." Wardes' stony expression faltered momentarily but be pressed on.
"Mister Magnus, you displayed some impressive swordsmanship yesterday against those bandits. I am not totally convinced though that you are the right man to be protecting Louise. Your actions are too rash and violent to protect the girl I asked to marry me last night. You will have to beat me in a duel if you wish to gain approval to continue living with her at the academy."
"That explains why she seemed so distracted last night. If you want a duel I'd be happy to give you one. Name the time and place. As the one being challenged, I get to name the terms."
"That sounds fair what are your terms?"
"How about this, anything nonlethal goes until one participant is rendered unable to continue or admits defeat? If I win you give up on marrying Louise and if you win I will give you the same respect and obedience that I give Louise."
"It's a duel sir; I will see you outside in two hours. I am going to love having you knowing your place."
***BREAK***
"Are you sure you have to do this you two?"
"He just wants to be sure that I am worth of protecting you considering the fact that I can't use magic."
"This is not what I wanted to do first thing after getting out of bed."
"I still think the two of you should just whip them out and put this whole mess behind you."
"I agree with the little lady, I think that there is a lot more to this issue than testing each other's qualifications. Maybe you should just compare your reproductive organs."
"Derf, Kistna, please drop it. We are just going to have a friendly sparing match this morning to kill some time while waiting for the ship tomorrow."
"I assure you my precious Louise I will not harm your familiar too badly."
"Whatever, you two do as you please." 'It's not him that I'm worried about anyway." "Begin the match."
Louise had become mildly familiar with Therum's dueling style through all of the training that they had been doing over the last few weeks. She could tell right away that this match was not going to be like those matches. He had taken up a similar stance to the one he had taken against Agnes. He was going into this fight expecting real resistance. At least he was not using that terrible sword, and was only fighting with Aurora. Wardes was also moving into a strong defensive position. He had seen just how fearsome this familiar could be in a fight and he was not taking any chances. His movements had been a bit wild and overly gruesome, but there was definitely some skill there. The only problem with his analysis from yesterday was that it was taken after the familiar had partially given into the blood lust and not when he is in full control. That was nowhere near an accurate representation of how his opponent normally fights.
Slowly losing interest in sizing up his opponent, the mage familiar decided to make the first move against his opponent with a slow and overpowered overhead swipe. As expected Wardes chose to dodge the attack with greater than natural speed, he tried the same tactic from a few more angles before Wardes finally made a return move. Thinking that he was up against a novice swordsman Wardes moved in with a serried of fast jabs and swipes to try and throw the younger man off balance. Each of his attacks was easily parried with almost lazy looking movements. As his attacks were constantly being parried, Wardes slowly began to lose his cool and threw more and more power into each attack until Therum was showing obvious effort in having to defend his self. One thing that Wardes failed to notice in his onslaught was the numerous nicks and gashes appearing along the length of his sword wand. A weapon Like Wardes' is designed to be a wand first and a sword second. Therum's sword on the other hand was designed to be the ultimate defensive weapon, where the best defense is a good offence. Like its sister sword, to a lesser extent, Aurora is enchanted to cut through any offending weapon not magically enchanted to resist such actions. It is only the inherent enchantments and the quality of the metal that has kept the sword/wand in action to his point.
Finally Wardes grew angry with his lack of progress in finding a weakness in his opponent's sword style. It was a very simple technique that seemed to rely on a mixture of strength and precision as opposed to variety of attacks. It limited the offensive potential against another sword master like himself but made for an outstanding defense. Realizing this he started chanting under his breath until he was able to back away and cast his 'air hammer' spell. The spell lives up to its name perfectly it was literally a compressed block of air thrown at a target at high speed. He was so confident that this was going to be a game ender that he allowed his defense to relax, a mistake that he was unlikely to make again. Instead of sending the troublesome familiar flying, he cut through the spell with his sword and made a very fast overhead attack upon Wardes. The latter barely had enough time to raise his sword to meet the attack. The weakened structure of his weapon could no longer take the abuse and snapped in two where the heavier blade met it. This left Wardes looking down the end of a still immaculately sharp sword with nothing to defend himself with.
"Do you yield sir knight?"
"It looks as if I have no choice sir familiar. My sword seems to have been of inferior quality."
"Don't feel bad I spent three months forging this blade with the enchanter to see that it is the finest blade in existence. I am not surprised that your own weapon was unable to withstand its power."
"That sounds like quite the weapon. Would you mind if I took a look at it?"
"That depends, how much do you value your sword arm?" At the looks of disdain from Wardes and horror from Louise he decided to explain a little more. "There is a security device built into both of these weapons. If anyone but me tries to mess with them they will receive a nasty shock. They are tied to me by my blood and even gloves will not easily fool them."
"Are you telling me that the one who enchanted those for you not only knew blood magic the most corrupted form of water magic, but you willingly let them cast it upon your weapons?"
"Sure why not it is the easiest and most foolproof way to secure something you don't want other people to mess with. Magic is magic to me."
"Spoken like a true ignorant commoner. If you will excuse me I seem to be in need of another sword." Wardes stomped off to the tiny weapons shop located at the edge of town they passed yesterday.
"Damn boss those were some fancy moves you had there."
"Thank you Kistna, he is a very good sword master. If he had come at me with a decent enchanted sword, I might have been in real trouble. I am pretty sure that he is slightly better than I am."
"You made it look so easy though how can you say that he is better than you?"
"I felt an influence from both the runes and the sword. When I am on defense the sword will augment the user to help keep him from harm just like the other one will improve your ability when attaching. They are two sides of the same coin."
"You told him that the person who enchanted that sword cast blood magic on it. Didn't you tell me that you are the one who enchanted that sword?"
"Yes I am the one who made the sword from start to finish. Forging blades and enchanting are somewhat of a hobby for me. Why else would I have so many magical blades?"
"That means that you can use blood magic then! That is a really evil form of magic Therum. If anyone else were to find out you could be thrown in prison for practicing it."
"Magic is a form of knowledge. No knowledge is inherently evil there is only evil intent for how you choose to use it. For example I am teaching you to use a sword. Those robbers wielded swords yesterday and have probably used them to kill innocent travelers. That doesn't mean that all sword users are going to do that does it?"
"No I would never do something like that and I don't think you would either."
"Exactly, the same thing is true of magic. Just about any spell can be used for as much good as bad. I am teaching you the summoning spell for mundane objects, with a little more work the same spell could be used to summon people over the edge of that cliff there. It is all about your intent."
"I think I understand what you are saying, but it doesn't mean I have to like it."
"If it makes you feel any better milady, I only use blood as a security device when enchanting. I would never do something like turning all of someone's blood into acid or something. Let's go grab some lunch." He walked away leaving the two girls in more than mild confusion at his words.
"Do you thing that he can really do something like that?"
"Are you sure that you want to know that information?"
"I agree with your partner, Partner no weapon or magic spell is all good or all evil things are almost always a shade of grey."
"Good point, but I am allowed to not like things that go against my beliefs. Let's get going before he has lunch without us." Louise took off running after her familiar while Kistna opted to stretch her wings a bit.
***BREAK***
The rest of their off day was spent between touring around the little town and resting for the likely difficult travels ahead. Therum spent much of his time looking around the various shops and stalls scattered around the town. Despite its small population, the town of La Rochelle is able to boast a number of very well stocked shops due to its status as a port city. One store of particular interest to Therum is the same one that Wardes ran off to earlier. When he entered the shop with Louise and Kistna in tow they found Wardes sitting in a corner of the shop just looking at his battered weapon. The man looked slightly like a child who had a favorite toy taken away. Louise went over to talk to him in an attempt to ease his battered pride. Therum ignored the man as best he could in order to keep himself from doing anything that might upset the girl. Instead he kept himself entertained by looking at a collection of those sword/ wands the nobility seemed to like so much. They were basically a big fat blunt rapier with a magical focus in the center. A decent idea if you relied on a want to use magic but nearly useless if you run out of mana to make the blade sharp. You would be much better off working a focal device into the hilt of a proper sword instead. Sure you lose a little bit of effectiveness but you don't lose having a reliable backup weapon. He let his opinion know with a loud scoff as he put the weapon back on the rack
"Any luck finding a decent replacement for your sword Wardes?"
"I am just waiting on the earth enchanter to finish reinforcing the blade properly this time. I don't want to have another mishap with poor workmanship."
"May I look at that weapon for a minute?" Wardes reluctantly handed the two pieces of the weapon to the other man. Therum accepted the pieces and studied the remains carefully inspecting the blade from every random angle possible. "This was a fine weapon sir, it was just outclassed. My sword is very heavily enchanted against damage or dulling it takes a similar weapon to stand up to the offence. It is also several times heavier than yours even with the light metal it was made from.. These factors combined with each other to cause the failure of your weapon. I guess you could say that you lost to the sword not the wielder."
"Didn't you also say that there is blood magic in that weapon?"
"That I did and I will tell you the same thing I told Louise earlier. No magic is inherently evil so I will continue to use this sword even if an element or two of it are considered taboo."
"I was actually going to ask if you could get me in tough with the one who did the enchanting. I would like to ask him a few questions."
"Nope."
"What do you mean no? Are you saying that you won't tell me where to find this person to keep me from knowing their secretes?"
"Not really, I am declining you request for three reasons. First the person is from my homeland where I am currently not, second I don't like you, and third I am not going to tell a palace guard where to find a practitioner of a restricted art. Mostly the first and second parts though."
"Has anyone ever told you that you are a very troublesome individual?"
"Daily," Therum left the shop with a smile on his face.
***BREAK***
Without the familiar there to grind on his nerves Wardes was able to collect his new sword right around dusk and make it back to the tavern in time to join the others for dinner. The other three were already eating when he arrived so he quickly placed an order and joined them. The meal was a subdued affair with relatively little chatter taking place. At the end of dinner Therum pulled a small bottle of brandy out of his satchel and offered some to each of the people at the table. Filling Kistna's custom mug was a challenge all in its own.
"I want to offer a toast to our fine group may our mission go smoothly tomorrow." Each person raised their glass to the others and accepted the toast. The small Avorian was forced to hover to take part in the festivities and Wardes fought back a scowl. He had to admit that this was some of the finest brandy he ever had even as a noble. Just as they were finishing the toast the front of the building caved in on itself thanks to the presence of a large stone fist. Acting on instinct Therum grabbed Louise and shielded her from the debris as best he could.
'If I ever meet Murphy I am going to kill that bastard.' "Wardes you know I don't like you but I need you to get both girls out of here right now. Louise, Kistna, go with him and do as he says. I'll meet up with you at the ship as soon as I can, if things get too bad leave without me."
"I will protect them on my honor as a captain in Her Majesty's mage guard."
"You better. If any harm comes to either of them you will pray to whatever higher power you believe in that you had stayed with the golem. Now get out of here!"
Wardes ran out the back entrance with Louise by the arm and Kistna flying in close pursuit. Therum unsheathed both of his swords and advanced towards the destroyed stone entrance. He moved Umbra into his right hand while Aurora took on its shield form such as these weapons were best suited to be used together. Judgment offered in one hand salvation in the other. Outside the Inn was an all too familiar sight. The form of Fouquet was clearly visible atop another of her giant golems.
"Aren't you supposed to be in jail?"
"I was until a secret benefactor decided I was eligible for an early parole. All I have to do is take care of the pesky swordsman that is becoming a thorn in his side."
Noticing a number of rouges closing in on him from around the feet of the Golem Therum decided that he needed to end this conflict quickly before any innocent got seriously hurt in the cross fire. Thinking quickly he sheathed Umbra and drew his revolver. Remembering how she was defeated last time the golem master was not interested in letting the same folly happen twice. She summoned a shield from the construct's shoulder to protect herself before instructing the golem and her mercenaries to kill the man. Realizing that his bullets had little chance of stopping the stone construct or getting to the mage on it he unloaded the gun into six of the attacking bandits before switching back to the sword. Alternating between dodging the blows from the golem and blocking arrows from the bandits, he was able to move in close enough to dispatch the rest of the thugs from close range leaving only the golem to deal with.
"My my aren't you the quick one. Still it's no matter the stone in this area has made my golem much stronger than before and you can't dodge it forever."
"I'll give you one last chance to surrender yourself peacefully."
"You are a bigger fool than I thought if you think you are in any position to order me about. An ignorant commoner like you doesn't stand a chance against my stone golem."
"I knew you'd say that, prepare to be judged then." Having Aurora revert to its natural form he sheathed the blade and started chanting while still avoiding the damn rock monster. As he chanted energy began to arc off his weapon as the blade began to glow red. If the wielder is not in immediate need of the energy the blade absorbs from those it fells, it stores it for later use. This makes the bloodlust that much stronger in the blade but it allows for a ready supply of offensive energy in a time of need. This energy is what the Battle Mage was preparing to unleash. Too late Fouquet realized that she might be in trouble as her advisory finished his chant and looked up at her with glowing red eyes visible even from her high vantage point. She realized at that instant that this man was not just some commoner, he is a mage! The next and last thing she ever saw was a solid beam of blood red energy engulfs the side if the golem she was standing on. Nothing the beam hit remained as it turned into a deafening explosion on impact leaving nothing of the golem but rubble. He barely held onto his consciousness as he saw a ship sail off into the night. Using the last of his energy he ported himself into where he imagined the cargo hold of the ship would be before succumbing to a much needed nap.
A/N Sorry to leave you all in a cliff hanger with such a short chapter but I really wanted to keep up the theme of ending the chapter with one of the main protagonists falling asleep. The exciting conclusion to this story arc should be up sometime in the next few days. What I want to do in the next chapter with one event isn't something I can personally recall happening in another fic I hope y'all like it.
