Exiles of Forlorn (20 page)

“Outstanding.” Arn shook his head.

I beamed and looked back at Reiwyn. She gave me her biggest smile, and the heat in me threatened to burn a hole in my chest. That wasn’t all that was burning, though: Ferun’s glare was enough to ignite a rock. The happier she was with me, the more displeased he became, and conversely the more satisfied I grew. Who knew something as simple as building a wall would be the key to a river woman’s heart?

“It seems sturdy enough,” said Melvon, pounding one of the fixed logs. “But I don’t like that there’s only one entryway.”

I shook my head. “No defensible structure should have more than one means of egress. That the old wall had no less than four was one of the main security issues. That, and it wasn’t properly anchored to the ground, making tunneling a simple deed.” I stepped up to my wall and kicked the rock and dirt base. “This one is embedded a full stride into the ground. It would take a full night to burrow under it, and by then they’d be intercepted by one of Ferun’s expertly trained guards.” I glanced over at him and smiled as insincerely as possible. He gave me another one of those rock-bursting looks.

“He makes a wise point, Melvon.” Arn stepped passed the rotund quartermaster and put his hands on his hips. “Let’s see this gate of yours.”

I was overjoyed he’d asked about that. The gate was the crown of my construction. I led him to it and the group followed. It was then I noticed my wall had attracted quite a crowd. Work had all but ceased in the colony as exiles gathered around to marvel at my wall. Antioc and Sharkhart climbed down the ladders and joined us.

I put my hand on the iron-shod, wooden locking bar when we arrived at the gate. “This is an ancient design but one still in use in most modern fortifications.” I demonstrated the horizontal bar that slid back and forth between grooved sockets carved into oversized supporting pillars on either side of the gateway. These pillars are embedded even deeper than the wall: three strides each and fixed to the gate with nails and generous amounts of Uller’s mortar. I slid the beam along its path and fixed it with a transverse latch, the end of which fit neatly into another socket on the gate itself. Once secure, I slid a metal rod with a distinctly carved recession at the upper end into a hole in the latch that corresponded with another hole in the beam, sliding down into it. I then used a key to twist the end of the rod so that it fell into the hole, locking the whole mechanism in place.

I handed the key to Arn. “The Balorah called this a
balanagra
, but it’s really just a primitive key. This one is yours, I have the other. Once this gate is locked, you or your authorized agent will be the only ones able to open it.”

Arn stepped to the gate and grabbed the handles. He tried pulling it as hard as he could, but it wouldn’t budge. He took the key and fitted it into the hole, turning it until it slid free and came up the top. Once he’d removed it, the transverse latch was easily slid back and lifted, and the locking beam pushed along its route until it was clear of the gate. He then pulled the gate open. We all backed away as it swung in.

Arn was ebullient. “Never did I imagine we would have such a wall.” He turned to look at me. “You have done this colony a great service, Lew Standwell.” He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed, eliciting cheers from many of those in attendance, including Reiwyn. She was the only one who mattered.

After a lot of back slapping and arm shaking, we adjourned for the mid-day meal. We took to our regular table in the mess, which included my normal retinue plus Gargath and Hratoe; and our most recent addition, Zin: who insisted upon sitting as close to Uller as possible. Something I strongly encouraged her to do, as I found the look of tedium on his face quite enjoyable when she spoke. She was everything Uller was not: sunny, optimistic, humble, and pleasant to be around. As a side motive, I hoped the longer I spent with her, the more likely she would be to accidentally reveal more details about Arn’s shadowy identity, the ignorance of which had never stopped plaguing me.

Reiwyn was the last to join us, as she usually was. That was assuming she even deigned to show up. Usually she took her meal with her paramour in his personal yurt. But today was my day, and so she graced us with her presence.

“It really is a nice wall,” said Blackfoot through a mouthful of noodles. “Very big. Though, I think I could still climb it.”

Reiwyn rubbed his little bald head and laughed. “You can climb just about anything.” Then she looked at me. “See, don’t you feel good now?”

“Of course I feel good,” I replied with a snort. “I managed to get a bunch of ignorant colonists and exiles to build a marvel of engineering. That’s no small task.”

“No.” Reiwyn shook her head. “I mean from doing something noble.”

I crooked an eyebrow at her and chuckled. “I wasn’t aware that I had.”

She tilted her head and frowned at me. “You know full well what I mean, Lew.”

“You did do a good thing here,” said Antioc, with that slow, steady voice that was his way. He could always be counted on to give me affirmations when needed, but it still felt nice to have his support. I nodded to him in thanks.

“He didn’t exactly do it alone,” said Uller with a scowl, which he promptly erased from his visage, replacing it with a begrudging smile. “But we couldn’t have done it without him, and I doubt anyone else could have designed it so well.”

“I agree,” chimed Zin, nodding. “It really is . . .”

She was cut short by a dark presence standing at the end of our table.

“I need to talk to you.” Ferun stared down at Reiwyn. He was flanked on either side by lackeys: one-eyed Stree to his left (it made sense they would gravitate together, both lacking the use of an eye and all) and stocky, dark-haired Boran to his right. Why he felt the need to come so fortified was beyond me, though it spoke to a more sinister intent than simple dialogue.

“Of course.” Reiwyn studiously avoided looking at him and calmly took a drink. “When I’m finished with my meal.”

“No. Now.”

That was when Antioc stood. Like a mountain, he was. Anger seemed to make him bigger. Ferun wasn’t quite as impressed, nor the least bit intimidated. He stepped forward, and though he was shorter by a hand, he faced on my large friend with his single eye. At least he had the decency to spare us the ghost of his dead one, unlike Stree.

Reiwyn stood and put her hand on Ferun’s arm. “It’s fair. I will speak to you now.”

“In private,” he said, not breaking his daggered glare at Antioc.

“Yes, of course.” She turned to Antioc. “It’s fair, my friend.” She patted his rocky shoulder. “It’s all fair.”

It turned out “in private” meant around a corner between two buildings, with Stree and Bronta standing at the entrance of the alley with their arms crossed. I gave Blackfoot a look and nodded to the alley. He immediately understood and scampered off, disappearing before I could turn my attention to Antioc.

“You’re going to attract attention,” I said to him.

“I don’t care.”

Uller and Gargath rose too, leaving me and the two ladies still seated. I couldn’t have that, so I got up as well. Others in the mess who’d spotted the tense exchange had turned their attention to us again, anticipating our next move. I needed to keep this from getting out of hand.

“They’re probably just having a little lovers spat,” I said, shaking my head. I tried to hide my concern. This was what I wanted, wasn’t it? For strong-willed Reiwyn to break away from that thug . . . if I knew my river woman, she’d never put up with this kind of treatment from a man.

A few minutes passed and Blackfoot returned to the mess. Our group gathered around him like flies on meat.

“What are they arguing about?” I asked, hushed.

“You!”

“What?”

“Yeah.” He took a deep drink from his cup. “He said he’s sick of tonerating her talking about you all the time.” He meant ‘tolerating,’ I think.

My cheeks turned red. “Talking about me?”

“Yeah, about how smart you are, and how great the wall is. She said that you’re just her friend and she admires you, but Ferun said the way she behaved today in front of the colony while Lew was showing off to Arn was disinspectful.”

“Disrespectful?” I looked at the others. “All she did was stand there and smile.”

“Well, apparently that angered him,” said Uller. “What a charming fellow our river woman has landed.” He shook his head. “The pretty ones always go for the bad boys.”

I was silent, in shock about the revelation that Reiwyn talked about me to her boyfriend. Not just that, but she did so to the point of making him jealous! How intriguing.

“I don’t like bad boys,” said Zin, with no subtle hint.

Uller looked befuddled. “Well you’re diff—”

He was cut short by a familiar shout from the alley. It was Reiwyn. She wasn’t exactly screaming for help, but she might as well have been. The moment we heard Ferun’s voice rise to match hers, we were in motion. All of us, even Hratoe, moving as one toward the alley. I moved to the front next to Antioc. If we were going to her rescue, I was going to lead. Uller, Gargath and Blackfoot lined up behind me, while the two girls took up the rear.

Boran got in the way first, so he was the first to go down. Antioc put him in his place with a meaty blow to the gut. As he doubled over, another great fist came down on his jaw and knocked him askew to the ground. Stree challenged me, grabbing me by the shoulders in an attempt to overbear me. I brought my knee up into his groin. He groaned in pain and released me. I then shoved him aside. Antioc grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground next to Boran. He tried to rise as we passed, but Blackfoot kicked him in the face.

Their argument had indeed risen to the point of shouting, but it was seeing Ferun’s hand on her arm, with a violent look in his eye, that set my blood to boil. “Get your hands off her!” I shouted, charging the length of the alley.

Without letting go of her, Ferun turned and intercepted me with a forceful blow to the face. I don’t remember spinning and hitting the ground, but I must have because the next thing I remember was Antioc charging past me while Gargath took hold of my shoulders. I turned to look after my man while Gargath dragged me to safety. A long stream of blood poured down my face as Antioc met Ferun.

Antioc swung high, a bad move for him. Maybe it was the rage at seeing our friend manhandled, but he didn’t attack with the grace I’d come to see in his battle style. As a result, Ferun easily dodged and countered with three lightning fast blows to Antioc’s body with his tight fists. Antioc roared and stepped back, holding his side. Ferun leapt in the air and brought his fist down like a hammer on Antioc’s face. The blow turned him aside as Ferun landed, then kicked the back of his knee. My mighty friend began to crumble to the ground, but was interrupted by another blow to his face.

Even on his knees, Antioc was large. When Ferun tried to plant his knee in his face, Antioc grabbed his leg and twisted, pulling Ferun to the ground with a loud thump. Antioc crawled toward his downed enemy, red faced from a cut on his brow. He brought up his fist and brought it down on Ferun’s jaw, extracting a cry of pain followed by a curse. But when Antioc tried to climb onto Ferun to overbear him, the latter brought both of his legs up and shoved him away.

A few seconds later, both men were back on their feet. Reiwyn was shouting for them to stop. A crowd had gathered around both ends of the alley to watch the fight. Ferun brought his fists up and grinned at Antioc with bloodied lips. Antioc took a fighting stance and began to circle his enemy, though his movements were obviously strained. As I was on my feet again as well, I tried to step in, but Antioc blocked me with his arm and shook his head. This would be his fight.

Ferun came in low and swung at Antioc’s kidney. Antioc blocked him, but was opened to a rabbit punch to his face. It didn’t look that impressive, but it staggered Antioc and forced him to lower his guard. Ferun punched him twice in the gut. A lesser man would have doubled over, but mighty Antioc only groaned in reply. Antioc stepped into one of Ferun’s wide haymakers, intercepting his arm with one hand and striking him in the gut with the other. Ferun gasped and spun away, but it was a feint. He replied with a kick to Antioc’s exposed flank, bringing my mighty friend to his knees again, gasping in pain and holding his injured side.

“Stop this! Stop this at once!” cried Reiwyn. Zin had gone to her side and was holding her back, lest she charge into the melee and be hit with a wayward blow.

Antioc swung at Ferun clumsily from his knees. Ferun laughed and stepped back, then kicked wide. His foot struck the side of Antioc’s head, throwing him to the ground. He trembled, but didn’t rise. Ferun laughed at him and kicked him again. Antioc shook with the blow, but didn’t respond. He was unconscious! The fight was over, but Ferun continued to kick him.

“Stop it!” I shouted, breaking away from Gargath. I was still somewhat woozy from the blow, but I had enough of my wits about me to draw my blade. Red looked awkward in my hand, but it was better than nothing. There was no way I could defeat a man unarmed, especially one strong enough to lay Antioc low.

Ferun looked at me and wiped blood from his lips with the back of his arm. He had a wild look in his eye. One I’d seen on the battlefield before. There were several kinds of men one met in war. Most were craven, some were brave, but there were the rarer few who cared little for anything but the opportunity to engage in slaughter. Violence for violence’s sake. That was the look I saw in Ferun the moment I met him, though hidden under a veneer of civility. Today, that veneer was gone, and the beast was unleashed. Ferun would not be satisfied until he’d killed one of us.

“You want to have a go, wall builder?” he said, drawing a fat, sharp dagger from his belt. He tossed it between his hands and spun it around in his fingers. “Let’s have at it!”

A whip crack interrupted us both. In a second, Ferun’s dagger was gone, knocked to the ground. We both turned with surprised looks and found Sharkhart standing there, re-coiling his whip. Next to him stood Arn, who didn’t look the least bit pleased. “What is going on here?” He spoke with authority that seemed more than learned.