Chapter One
Bars themselves are quite noisy. The one of Igros is no exception. Besides being a great place to go with your friend and get drunk, the bartender himself always knew where you could find a job if you needed one or if where to find someone if you had a job that needed to be done. Right now, a knight bearing the crest of Igros came, gestured for him to come aside, and started talking to him rapidly. The bartender looked bored for a moment, and said something the knight didn't like. The knight restrained himself from smashing the bartender's face, but then went ahead and said one more thing. If not for how noisy the bar was, the speed at which he shot up would have drawn attention. Things like that are of small concern here, though. He immediately pointed at a game of dice in a corner, and gestured toward one man who was watching the other throw. The knight gestured as well, and the bartender nodded. The knight now began the formidable task of wading through the sea of people toward the table where the people were playing dice.
"Not again!" the thrower of the dice roared, glaring at the dice with hatred.
"You really should have given up when you were up a hundred on me instead of going for the hundred-fifty. Now you got fifty in the hole," the other man replied. "Well, you going to drop out?"
"No way! I'm going to win it back! Twenty on this throw!" the man yelled back to his friend.
"Fair enough, evens, six and two." The man said as he tossed the dice on the table. Sure enough the dice turned up a six…and the other fell on the floor. The knight reached down, picked it up, and tossed it back on the table. It was a two. "Thanks, man, you just won me twenty more," replied the new roller of the dice.
"No fair, you didn't roll it!" his friend shouted back.
"Well, if you REALLY want to have ano…"
"Sir, are you Lance Dearnis?" the knight said, cutting into the thrower of the dice's sentence.
"Yes. Why do you want to know?" Lance replied, looking the knight over.
The knight himself was looking Lance over, wondering if this guy really deserved his reputation. While he couldn't see any weapon on him, he was well known for not letting it be seen unless he wanted it to. Otherwise, he didn't look like much. Strongly built, about, six foot two, and anywhere between one hundred seventy-five pound to two hundred. However, there was no doubt that he was aware completely of his surrounding, even laid back as he was now. After a short pause, the knight said, "A job. I, in the name of the government of Igros, wish to hire you for a job…the details are not public, however, so if we could go somewhere a little more private…"
"Fair enough, " Lance replied to the knight. Redirecting is attention to his friend, he said, " Well, blade, looks like our round for tonight is canceled. And no, I'm not going to insist on taking you extra twenty…a hundred is enough for me to take off from you at a time."
"Well, a least tell me when you might be back this time...if you can," Blade shouted to Lance, as he started moving through the crowd to the exit. He did it a great deal better then the knight, half-drunk though he was, due to his much greater experience of bars.
"Do you seriously want to discuss it or not?" Lance said to the knight, has he begun to leave. He had a much easier time of it, not so much as skill as the fact that the people here gave him room if he asked for it, when he did. The knight noted this, and moved almost as quickly directly behind Lance. After they stepped outside, it was Lance's turn to follow the knight, this time as he led him directly into the nearest military fort, which was not far from the bar, considering the fact that many soldiers were frequent patrons of this tavern. The knight led him to a small room with a man they both recognized at once – Halcyon Grasion, the current commander of Igros's military. Lance's eyes narrowed a little, in anticipation of dangers ahead. Men like this one rarely make contact with mercenaries, even those as well known for their honor as he was, unless absolutely necessary. The knight saluted Halcyon, then immediately left, closing the door behind him. To the knights surprise, Lance had handed him a long katana, still in it's sheath, one which hadn't seen on the mercenary even though he had given special attention to looking for any kind of weapon on him. He hadn't seen it until Lance shoved it in his arms as he walked through the door.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Halcyon sat down, motioning for Lance to do so as well. After a short moment's pause, Halcyon spoke.
" To get to the point, we have a…problem. Before I can tell you anything about it, you must swear that, whether you accept or reject this job, you will tell none other anything about it."
"You already know my answer, or you wouldn't be asking me. I so swear on St. Ajora and Glabados," Lance responded.