Oh wow, all of the reviews are just overwhelming...not. Um, yeah...not feel'n the love guys. RD, if I could, I'd bake you a cake (I don't think they'd let it through customs though). I was wondering if I should write a sequel to this (believe it or not). I have so many ideas, and I don't want to make this story incredible long. Plus the sequel would have a great deal more of familiar faces. Anyways...ON TO THE DISCLAIMER!
Disclaimer: I'm tired of writing creative disclaimers...I don't own them!
Rhazier surveyed the three people in front of him. They returned his gaze as levelly and calmly as they could. In truth, they were anything but calm. They relaxed though when Rhazier finally smiled at them.
"Welcome Grer, Lilke and Fui Zhur," Rhazier began. "Because of your outstanding performance under Mac, you will now take direct orders from the Inner Circle. This includes me, Loni, Josua, Lila, Trows, and Luke. This order is also the pecking order in the Circle. Don't go to Trows with something if Loni is right there. Now, to give you your assignments."
He turned to Lilke. "I've been told you're good with horses."
"Yes sir," Lilke said with pride, "I helped raise them back home on the islands."
"You will report to the Royal Stables, and be under Derrick, a hostler there. Pick up any information you can from the other hostlers, servants, nobles, and even the royal family. Even if you think it bears no meaning, report it to Derrick."
Rhazier then turned to Grer. "You have the Gift," he said simply.
"Yes," Grer replied with a nod of her head. "I can work the weather and do very basic healing."
"Do you have any other skills?" asked Rhazier.
Grer flashed Rhazier a grin. "Other than my Gift and my knives I'm pretty ordinary."
Rhazier nodded. "Alright then, you will report to Sandra at the Golden Bear. It's on the other side of the city, and it's not in the nicest neighborhood. A lot of Alliance agents do business there. Get anything you can, but you must be careful. No one from the Rebellion works there. You're posing as Loni's niece who needed a job, so report directly to Loni.
Grer nodded. Truthfully, she'd probably done more dangerous things. She couldn't recall what they were, but she'd probably done them.
Finally, he turned to Fui Zhur. "Your obvious warrior personality makes it damn near impossible to put you into any domestic jobs," he said with a slight smile. "However, one of our agents was just discharged from his position. He was in the palace guard. You will be taking his place. Your duties are the same as the others, but you will report directly to Derrick as well.
Fui Zhur bowed, pleased with his assignment. He had been really worried he'd be assigned to something like chimney sweeper.
"Are there any questions?" Rhazier asked. The three shook their heads. "Ok then, I want you all to leave an hour and a half apart through separate exits. Use the ones from before."
The three nodded and left the room. Rhazier sighed and plopped down on a chair. The day had been pretty hectic so far. The dawn meeting with Marek hadn't gone very well. Apparently, the Alliance had started to wise up to the hit and run tactics they had been using on their shipping lines the past couple of months. Now that fall had come, shipping was picking up because of the harvest and the nearing of winter and the necessity of supplies. Things they had caught before were now slipping by them on a weekly basis.
"Rough day?" Loni asked as she came through the door and sat down next to him.
"That's the understatement of the week," Rhazier said as he put his head in his hands. "Right under the understatement of the year which was 'it's probably not as bad as we think'."
"I believe I said that," Loni said with a laugh.
Rhazier just grinned at her. "Nothing like briefing the new blood," he remarked.
"Remind you of the old days?" Loni said teasingly.
"You make it sound like I'm some grandpa reminiscing about the old days to my grandkids," Rhazier replied in mock hurt.
"You're not as young as you used to be," Loni said seriously. "I'm surprised you can still keep up with some of these young'ns."
"Oh you are, are you?" Rhazier asked with a smirk as he got up from his chair. "You know," he said as he walked in a circle around her chair, "you're not exactly as spry as you used to be."
Loni smiled. "You think so do you?"
Rhazier continued walking seemingly with no purpose. "Oh I know so," he replied. "In fact, I think maybe you've gone a little soft."
Loni opened her mouth in protest, but before she could say anything, she was scooped up in a huge bear hug from behind. "Rhazier!" she shrieked as he swung her around the room.
"Told you," he said as he laughed along with her. He set her down gently, and she turned to face him. Their close proximity did not go unnoticed by either of them as they stopped laughing and looked into each other's eyes.
In Rhazier's eyes, Loni saw the man who she depended on, the man who gave her courage, and the man whom she had loved for a long time. As Rhazier, gazed into Loni's eyes, he saw the woman who kept him stable, the woman who gave him hope, and the woman whom he just realized he wanted to be his wife.
They stood there, just looking at the other. At last Loni spoke. "It's awfully quiet around here," she said. "I should probably check to see what everyone is doing."
Before she could turn away, however, Rhazier grabbed her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "Loni, I want to ask you something," he began.
Just then, loud footsteps could be heard from outside the door. The door flew open to reveal Trows and Lila escorting a small man in a blue tunic into the room. "We brought a present," Trows exclaimed cheerfully. Lila, however, did not miss the slight blushes on both Rhazier's and Loni's faces. She raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything.
Rhazier turned to Trows. "Well," he said. "You've got some explaining to do."
Luke just stared at the man in front of him. His death threat didn't really come as a surprise to him. What did come as a surprise, however, was that he had come to Tortall to do it. The Rogue he knew never left his home turf unless he was absolutely sure he'd be the baddest guy around.
"Why are you here?" Luke asked emotionlessly.
"I thought I already cleared that up," Kris said disdainfully.
"You made the death threat pretty clear," Luke replied as if he couldn't care less. "What I want to know is what gave you the desire to come all the way to Corus to do it."
"Seems like you can't go anywhere without making a few enemies," Kris said casually, leaning back on his horse.
"I thought the Tyran Rogue wanted to stay neutral between any Alliance conflicts with the Rebels," Luke shot back.
"Oh the Tyran Rogue is neutral enough," Kris replied with a sinister smile. "But that doesn't mean one of the members can't get involved from time to time."
Luke snorted derisively. "It's a little different when the head member gets involved. Do you even know how many people you're endangering by trying to settle an old score with me?!?"
Kris sneered at him. "Don't act like you give a damn about what happens to those people. You left remember? Right when you were needed the most you left your people out to dry. Don't you dare talk to me about endangering lives."
Luke gave him a murderous glare. "How does my leaving justify your endangerment of the entire Tyran Rogue. You want the same thing to happen to them as the Tortallians? Once you might have looked out for the well- being of the Rogue, but now you're just another power-hungry self-serving bastard."
There was no trace of a smile left on Kris' face as he glowered at Luke. "You...little...punk," he said slowly with building rage. "You walked out on Rew, Thumble, Black Jack, Datria, and Ferencia during a raid. Imagine their surprise when, come morning, all that's left of you is a note and your share of the profit. You say I'm a self-serving bastard, but you're a COWARDLY HYPOCRITE."
"I left because I was who the pirates wanted," Luke yelled furiously. "Without me there, they could escape with the loot without anyone getting hurt—"
"EXCEPT SOMETHING DID HAPPEN," Kris screamed at Luke who stopped and stared at him.
"Wha-?"
"You thought you could lure the pirates away from them, and that they'd be all right," Kris said through clenched teeth. "But I bet you didn't count on any of them going after you."
Luke felt the blood rush from his face. "Who...?"
"They tried to tell her that they would look for you later and that you could take care of yourself, but she wouldn't listen," Kris said his voice full of anger and a tinge of pain. "How could you think she wouldn't come after you?" he said the pain now clearly evident in his voice, "she was in love with you."
"Ferencia..." Luke breathed unable to believe it. She had been a flower seller sealed to the Rogue. They had grown up together, but he had never seen her as anything more than a friend who was like a sister.
"The pirates caught up with her right outside the docks," Kris said shaking with suppressed emotion. "She took out two of them, but there were too many...they slit her throat before anyone could get there."
Luke fell on his knees. 'How could I've been so blind?' he asked himself silently. There had been plenty of hints. Looks she gave him, the attention, things she said, things others said, and he had refused to see it. 'I thought I was helping them,' he thought desperately, 'I thought I could make things better for them.'
Suddenly things fell into place. Why Kris had hunted him down all the way out here. It wasn't money or power that had tempted him, but— "you loved her didn't you?" he asked Kris in a quiet voice.
"Of course I did," he whispered harshly. "But she had already given her heart away to you, and no amount of courting was going to change that. I spent years trying to get her to love me, but all she could do was say how she couldn't love anyone besides you."
"I didn't know," Luke said softly.
At that, Kris grabbed a dagger out of his cloak. "Enough talk, it's time that I finally put an end to your miserable existence." With that said he charged forward.
Luke barely had time to grab his own knife and block Kris' stab before the knife changed direction. Kris wasn't the Tyran Rogue for nothing. Their knives were a blur as Kris viciously attacked Luke. The two broke apart momentarily to circle one another.
"You should'a known I would've caught up with you sooner or later," Kris said panting slightly.
"You never liked me from the beginning," Luke shot back, his eyes trained on Kris' chest looking for movement. "You were afraid that one day I'd take your place."
"Liar," Kris hissed as he sprung forward, slashing upward. Luke countered and they resumed fighting with god-like speed. Seeing an opening, Luke kicked out, sending Kris stumbling back a few steps. He locked hilts with him as they came together, trying to force the other to their knees. Kris caught Luke with a backhanded slash as they broke away, drawing blood on his cheek.
Luke didn't dare reach up to wipe the blood off his face. Kris could end this in seconds if he didn't concentrate. "You don't know what you're getting into," he told Kris. "This is bigger than you or me."
Kris' arm extended out at breakneck speed as Luke just barely twisted away from the tip of his knife. "Shut up!" he screamed. "This ends now. I won't be able to live with you still alive. You betrayed us. No one can just leave, and you damn well know it."
Luke glowered at him. "Quit trying to convince yourself that my actions have just cause for yours. People will DIE if you continue. You can't go back to how it was before if you kill me. They won't let you. You will be turned into another one of their puppets and your people will be turned into slaves of the Alliance's interests."
Kris just shook his head with a half crazed smile. "There you go again, talking about things you don't understand." He suddenly drew back, allowing Luke to regroup. "The Alliance cannot be stopped, whether or not I choose to involve myself with them. With them, I can gain great power for the Rogue. With out them, we will be as weak as you."
"Let your people decide," Luke said a pleading note in his voice.
Kris scowled. "I am the King," he said venomously. "My decision is Tyra's decision."
"How long will the underworld last with this going on?" Luke persisted. "The Royals and Nobles are bound to notice the connection between all of this sooner or later. Are you willing to risk the annihilation of the Rogue itself?!?"
Kris laughed. The horrible sound echoed in Luke's ears as Kris spoke. "A new age is coming," he said harshly, "where the Nobles aren't in charge. It will be an age of equality."
"Is that what they're telling you?" Luke exclaimed incredulously. "How can you believe that? I thought you were a somewhat intelligent man for all your faults. It seems I overestimated you."
Luke was ready for the ferocity Kris attacked him with after he said those words. Reversing the blade, he opened a gash on Kris' arm. Kris kicked out, causing Luke to flip backwards to avoid the blow. They continued their rapid fire fighting until their labored breaths were louder than the sounds of knives hitting knives.
Suddenly, hoof beats could be heard in the distance. Both fighters froze as the sound of an arrow in flight reached their ears. An arrow buried itself in the ground at the feet of Kris. Kris gave one last heated look at Luke before he ran to his horse and mounted up. "We'll settle this another time," he snarled before kicking his horse into a gallop.
Luke whirled around, knife up, to face the oncoming rider. Seconds later, Josua pulled up beside him. "Luke," he said worriedly, "are you ok?"
"Fine," said Luke tightly as he looked at the fading figure if Kris.
"An old friend of yours?" Josua asked as he took in the bleeding cuts on Luke's body.
"Not quite," Luke said as he saddled Koka. "C'mon, let's get back to the city; we don't want to get locked out tonight."
Josua followed Luke silently as Luke turned the horse around. They rode in silence for the entire trip. Finally, as the city came into view, Luke turned to Josua. "Thank you," he said. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come along."
Josua just nodded. "Just try to keep out of trouble," he said indifferently as Luke frowned. "We can't always be there to bail you out of trouble."
Luke scowled at him as they rode through the city gates, but didn't say a word. There was something about Josua that he didn't like; for all that he was a member of the inner circle. Who'd he talk to, however, was a problem.
Luke's face set with determination. It was time he came clean. Only one person could set things straight for him, and that would most likely not be a very pleasant meeting.
I think that was the longest chapter I've ever written...for a non-school writing endeavor that is. I've gone through some serious amount of paper for the sake of American History and English (damn research paper).
Hope everyone's having a great summer!