Pt. 9
Alwyn read through the messages sent by his fellow technomage with alarm. "Young fool! What does he think he's playing at?" The older man waved away the crystal bauble he used to view the information he had been sent and quickly began to pack up his skimmer, programming it to rendezvous with the Excalibur's last known location. He could only pray that Galen's obsession would not kill the younger mage before he got there.
The images solidified before Galen, images of the Swordsman's rooms in the dark and dingy castle. An old woman, the village healer, stood behind the Jinn's servant, murmuring healing spells and gently cleaning the marks left by the whip. A cowed slave was standing nearby, trying not to stare at the angry welts on the man's back, welts that were magically healing with each pass of the healer's hands. "You were lucky this time." the woman commented, finishing with the last open cut. "I heard he was in rare temper today."
"When is he not, Magda? He fears the others' of his kind will come one day and deprive him of his kingdom or that the rebels will finally find a way to free the land of the tyranny of Darkness. And he knows if I did not wear this abomination," he tugged at the collar still fastened around his neck, "I would be with the rebels, fighting with them as my father did." The Swordsman rose from his chair, suddenly claustrophobic in the small room. "You've done your duty by me again, Healer. This slave will see to your payment."
Magda shook her head sadly. "I am glad that your father did not live to see what your life has become. It would have broken his heart." She stopped herself from patting the young man's shoulder in comfort; a gesture she knew would not be welcome. Magda had known the Swordsman since he was a boy, had watched him grow up as a devoted student of his father, the Sheriff. She had been there the day the Sheriff's neighbors had cut him down to placate their new master and bound his young son as a tribute to the Jinn. Their long relationship was the only reason he allowed her to minister to him. She alone of all the villagers did not hate or fear the enigmatic young mercenary.
"Then I should thank my fellow villagers for murdering him in his bed before he had that experience." He replied bitterly. "Or perhaps I should thank them for selling me in to slavery to the Jinn to save their miserable lives when he demanded payment for my father's destruction of his previous champion."
"They were frightened." Magda protested, her words ringing hollow in her own ears. "They feared the Jinn's wrath would fall not just on your house but on all of them. They were not brave men like your father."
"Not so frightened that they couldn't plan an attack on an unarmed man. Not so frightened that they couldn't lure a teen-age boy from his father's side and bind him to a horror beyond his comprehension." The Swordsman yanked his shirt back on and turned his back on the old woman dismissively. "You may go now. I will summon you again if you are needed."
Magda sadly picked up her supplies and started for the door. She paused for a moment then looked back at the rigid figure standing by the table. "What do you make of this woman who brought the Wanderer's runes back to the Jinn? I hear she is still in the village, at the Brandymist Inn."
"She is a rebel, nothing more."
Magda frowned at the studied indifference in his voice. "The Jinn's magic had no effect on her. Would not the rebels have attacked in force if they had such a gift at their disposal?"
He shrugged. "Perhaps she is a rogue, looking for a Master to serve. It doesn't matter. The Jinn will set me against her soon enough."
"What happened to the stones?"
"He took them from me as soon as she had left." The Swordsman allowed himself a cold smile. "But she was right about his being unable to use them properly. They prophesied death for him every time he threw them down." He reached out and plucked a leather pouch from behind some books. "He finally threw them back at me, claiming she had cursed them to give false information."
"Have you thrown them to see your fate?" Magda asked, quietly.
He tossed the bag back on the table with a frown. "I know my fate. It is to live and die as the Jinn's slave. My only hope lies in death." He stiffened suddenly, listening intently. "GO! The Jinn is coming."
Magda scurried from the room, escaping its confines as the Master of the Castle entered them. "Well, slave, I have a task for you."
"When do you not have a task for me?" the Swordsman replied quietly.
"Silence! You will speak only when spoken to!" The Jinn made a gesture in the air and the collar began to glow. He made a pulling motion and the Swordsman found himself yanked off his feet, falling to his knees before the monster. "Now hear me, boy. You will find this woman, the one who saw the Old One die, and you will find out all she knows. Take to her my good wishes, false though they may be, and tell her I wish to speak of alliances between us. Convince her that I can be a good master for her to serve."
"She's seen your actions in the market place, old monster. What makes you think the girl is foolish enough to overlook your evilness and ally herself with you?"
"Because, boy, a human woman can be won in many ways. She can be convinced with gifts, with flattery but most of all, with the attentions of one she might find fair. Seduce the woman, and she will be more than willing to see things my way." The demon laughed evilly, a sound that sent chills up the spine of the normally composed fighter.
"It is not enough that you have turned me into your personal executioner. Now you would command me to do this thing? Send me under spell to this woman's bed like some paid whore?" His voice was low and sick as he fought the urge to lash out at the beast before him.
"No. You will do it because if you do not then I will have the woman brought here and entertain her myself, in my bedchamber. You remember the last human female I entertained in that fashion, don't you? She still lives in the village, though perhaps living is not a good description for the state she now is in. I have heard she has finally stopped screaming all the day. If you do not feel yourself up to the task, I am sure…"
"I will do as you command." The Swordsman replied, bitterly.
"Good." The beast hissed, slithering back to the door. "See you do the job well. Then bring her back here so that we can discuss the terms of her new employment." The door slammed behind the Jinn, the sound echoing through the dark hallways.
"New employment or new slavery?" the Swordsman thought wearily. "He will fit her with a collar and it will be finished." He rose and began to dress, ruthlessly pushing away the wrongness of his coming actions from his mind.
The Inn was brightly when the Swordsman arrived, a beacon against the cold darkness. Inside he could hear the voices of the village men talking about the day's events, voices he remembered from his youth. They had all at one time or another, been at his father's table, laying out their petty disputes for the Sheriff to administer. They had all sworn eternal friendship to their wise lawgiver, a friendship that had not stood up to reality of the Jinn's evil. He shrugged, knowing his presence would not be welcomed and knowing they would be too afraid to demand he leave. He entered the Inn quietly, his vivid blue eyes scanning the now quiet occupants, searching for the dark-haired Marianne of Draco.
"Looking for someone in particular or will I do?" an amused voice called out from the corner of the room. Marianne leaned forward in her chair and beckoned to him.
He moved with deadly grace across the room and sat at her table, frowning at the fact that he had to sit with his back to the open room. He noticed the meal that still sat untouched before her. "Not hungry?" he asked, conversationally.
"I've seen better meals in a charnel house." She replied, pushing the unappetizing food away. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear they were trying to chase me away."
"They are." He agreed, glancing back at the Innkeeper, who stood petrified by the door. "They fear you'll bring the wrath of the demon down on them."
"Will I?" she asked with a sad smile.
"Perhaps." He replied, his voice non-committal.
"I can't image why he would be angry. After all, I did bring the stones back to him. I assume he took them back from you the minute my back was turned?"
"Not for long." he responded casually. "It seems they no longer give him the answers he desired."
"Probably because he's asking all the wrong questions." She laughed.
"He is an inquisitive beast." The Swordsman commented. "He has more than a few questions for you."
"Did he send you?" Marianne questioned, watching his eyes as she spoke.
"Yes. He would have you entertained, the better to woo you to his service." The Swordsman stared back at the woman coldly, wondering if his blunt response would warn her of the danger she faced.
"It would be rude of me to turn away his gift. Come, my room is at the top of the stairs. I'm sure these kind folk will give us some privacy for my … entertainment." She rose and took his hand, walking regally past the cowered villagers to her rooms. He followed her somberly, gliding in her wake like a shadow.
Once in the chamber, she moved gracefully around the room, lighting the numerous candles she had scattered on all the available open space. With the last candle lit, she turned and glided up to the still figure at her door and looked up into his shuttered eyes. "Make yourself comfortable," She commanded, laying her hands on his chest, "Come and sit with me a while." She caressed his cheek then glided out of his reach, seating herself on her bed with her back braced against the wall.
He watched her emotionlessly, and then did as he was told, pulling his shirt off and dropping it beside the bed. He sat on the edge of her bed and removed his boots, then turned to take her into his arms. She smiled and laid her hand flat against his bare chest. He jerked back, suddenly, as a feeling of power flowed from the woman into him. "What did you do?" he asked, confused.
"Just touched you." she replied, quietly. "I needed to know if you were compelled to come or if you came under your own power. I may be immune to magic, but that doesn't mean I don't have a few gifts of my own in that area to use. I can sense deception when it is spoken to me, or when I lay my hands on it. You came under your own power but I think that maybe your master's command doesn't sit well with you."
"You're wrong." He replied coldly.
"See, there you're lying to me. I can hear it in your thoughts and in your words. I don't like liars." She slid off the bed suddenly and dropped into a chair by the window. "Go back to your master and tell him if he has anything to say to me he can do it himself."
"No!" the Swordsman replied hoarsely. "You do not know what you ask. You do not know what he will do to you if you force him to deal with you himself."
"Then tell me. Enlighten me so that I don't ask again."
He stood and grabbed his shirt off the floor and dressed quickly. "Why are you here?" he asked, angrily. "Who has sent you?"
"My brother. It seems your master has something my brother wants. I am to acquire it, no matter what the cost."
"Even if it cost you your sanity? Or your soul?" he demanded, standing tensely in the flickering candlelight. "Make no mistake, that is what it will cost you to take anything from the Jinn."
"No matter the cost." She repeated softly.
"The Jinn will take what he wants from you and leave what is left to his minions. Or, if you are lucky, he will set my blade against you. Pray he chooses the later fate for you. At least that will be a quick and easy death."
"What will happen will happen no matter what I pray for." She replied calmly. "But one way or another, I will finish this journey I have sworn to undertake."
"What could the Jinn have that would be worth your soul?" The Swordsman asked, bitterly.
"You. The beast has you."
