Mercenary Little Death Bringer (7 page)

No one takes food from each other in the
hall. It is a rule that is strictly enforced and one that you are
allowed to punish the person for. I pulled my knife and stabbed his
hand to the table before he reached my bread. “That is my food. If
you’re hungry then I suggest you return to your table and finish
yours.” I jerked my blade from his hand and cleaned it on the
bottom of my cloak.

He didn’t make a sound of pain, but I could
tell he was hurting. Being stabbed always hurt. He raised his hand
to hit me and the chef threw his ladle into the back of Brian’s
head. “You try to steal her food again and I’ll tie you up to the
post,” chef said angrily, “Return to your seat or leave if you’re
done.”

Brian glared at me and I said, “You know the
rules. Keep your hands to yourself unless we’re sparring just as
you do to the males here.”

“I hope you do get kidnapped. It would serve
you right for sullying the Academy with your presence,” he said and
then spat on my shirt.

Now he had pissed me off. I punched him as
hard as I could in the face with my right hand and then punched him
in the stomach with my left hand. He doubled over and I kneed him
in the face at the same time I made a fist with both hands and hit
him in the back. The students were cheering loudly and standing up
to see the battle better.

As I moved to knock him out Master Sean
grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back. “I’m impressed,” he
said, “You put quite a bit of force into those moves.”

“Let me go and I’ll impress you some more,” I
said as I pulled against him.

Brian stood up and wiped blood from
underneath his nose. “You’ll pay for that.”

“Pay for what? Kicking your butt fair and
square?” Micah asked. “You should have kept your spit in your mouth
and she wouldn’t have hit you.”

“Shut your mouth. We all know you want her,”
Brian said with a scowl at Micah.

Micah stepped up to Brian and smiled in his
face. “Care to go outside and see who can back up their words with
their fists? You’ve already been embarrassed by Marin, do you
really want to be embarrassed by me as well?”

“Let me finish teaching him a lesson,” I
begged Master Sean, “He doesn’t know when to shut his mouth and I
desperately want to teach him.”

“Save your strength. You and I are to spar
after lunch,” he said.
I was going to spar with a master?!
“Eat your lunch and meet me in the covered arena. Brian, follow
me.”

He released me and then waited for Brian to
walk passed me and out the door. I sat down on the bench and used
the bottom of my cloak to wipe the spit off my shirt. My poor cloak
was in desperate need of a washing after only one day.

“You alright?” Micah asked.

“Fine,” I said as I resumed eating my soup
and bread.

Micah set a mug of water on the table in
front of me. “You always forget your water.”

“Thanks,” I said as I took a drink. “And
thanks for defending me, but you know you don’t need to do
that.”

Micah shrugged. “I’m tired of his cocky
attitude anyways. I really wish I could have taken him outside.” He
watched me eat for a second and then asked, “Why are you eating
alone?”

“He’s mad at me,” I whispered so that Favian
couldn’t hear me.

“You guys are best friends and partners.
He’ll get over it. And plus, that is no reason for you to eat
alone.”

I finished my meal and picked my bowl up to
take to the bin where the chef would clean them later. “Thanks, but
I’ve got to go.” Favian was standing up and looked like he might
have been waiting for me, but I kept my eyes forward and walked
passed him without a glance in his direction. If he wanted to be
mad, two could play that game. I walked from the food hall to the
covered arena and shoved all of my girly emotions down inside where
they belonged.

It was an honor to spar with one of the
masters and the thought made me giddy and nervous at the same time.
I climbed over the railing and dropped down into the dirt arena
where Master Sean
and
Master Martin were standing together
talking.

“Masters,” I said with a bow.

Master Martin smiled. “I’m sure you’re
nervous having the both of us here, but due to your circumstances
we are going to be giving you extra lessons with sparring against
us to better prepare you for the final.”

He called it a final like it was a normal
test. Like my life wasn’t in danger. Would I become so callous when
I was their age?

“Today we are going to teach you quick
techniques which will help you get out of situations where you
might be tied up,” Master Martin said as he uncoiled a rope.

“So you’re going to tie me up and teach me
how to get untied?” I asked to clarify.

Master Martin smiled. “Exactly.”

I did not like the gleam in his eyes. It was
a frightening gleam, but I knew there was nothing I could do to
stop it and I also knew that he was simply trying to teach me how
to save my own life. Or at least I hoped that was the reason they
were teaching me this.

“Okay,” I said with a nod of my head, “Let’s
get started.”

~~~~

CHAPTER FOUR

Four hours later my arms, legs, wrists,
ankles, throat and hands were covered in rope burns and bruises and
my skills had barely improved. They promised to write down my new
schedule and have it delivered to me before lights out. Apparently
I was going to have more private lessons and a much longer day than
the others. I limped into the food hall and stood in line for food
with the other students and wished for some of the pain medicine
that Mother kept on hand for me at the castle. It was instant
relief and always made me feel happy.

“You look like crap,” Micah said with a
laugh.

“Thanks,” I muttered as I limped forward in
line.

“Training with the Masters one on one not
exactly what you dreamed it would be?”

I shrugged and then grunted in pain from the
movement. “It’s intense, but I can handle it.” Favian was behind
Micah, but he was still mad at me and ignoring me so I did the same
to him. “How were your training sessions?” I asked Micah.

He shrugged. “Not much new. We basically
recapped everything we learned before we left for break so that
they could be sure we remembered everything.”

“I practiced throughout break so I’m glad I
missed that. I would have been bored,” I said. I grabbed a bowl and
held it out for the chef to pour soup in.

He smiled. “You look mighty beat up, girl.
Don’t forget your water this time.”

“Yes, sir,” I said with a nod as I moved down
and grabbed a piece of bread. I grabbed a mug of water and made my
way to the empty table and sat down.

“Marin, come sit with us,” Micah said from
the table we usually sat at.

“No thanks,” I said and then turned away from
everyone and ate my food.

“You can’t stay mad at her forever,” Micah
said to Favian, “Don’t make her eat alone.”

“She makes her own choices,” Favian said
angrily.

“You two are so stubborn,” Micah
complained.

Lucias and Lucian sat down at my table with
duplicate green-skinned, sharp toothed smiles. They were identical
twin goblins who always tried to confuse people on who was who and
most of the time they succeeded. Luckily I had figured out the one
difference between the two and was able to identify them. “Hello
Lucian,” I said to the one on the right with the slightly larger
ears. “Hello Lucias,” I said to the one on the left.

“She always gets it right,” Lucian
complained, “It’s no fun.”

Lucias smiled. “We come bearing gifts.”

That made me very suspicious. Goblins did not
bear gifts freely. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch,” they said in unison.

I folded my arms across my chest. “There’s
always a catch.”

Lucian said, “We see the elf is angry and
you’re not speaking and we see the bruises and burns. Plus, you’re
the only one who knows us apart and we appreciate it so we want to
be friendly and give you a gift. No catch.”

“Here,” Lucias said as he slid a leather
pouch across the table. “It has healing medicine and pain relief in
it.”

“No catch?” I asked again.

They smiled and Lucias said, “You’re nice and
we like nice people. No catch.”

I took the pouch and smiled at them. “Thank
you.”

“You’re welcome,” they said in unison and
then stood up and walked out of the building. How did it not bother
them to speak in unison? I would be slapping my sibling if they
tried that with me. Not that I had any siblings, but if I did, I
wouldn’t let them mimic me.

After finishing my food I limped out of the
food hall to my dorm and collapsed onto my bed. I needed to put the
medicines the goblin twins had given me on, but I was too exhausted
to move anymore. Someone knocked on my door and I groaned. Couldn’t
I get ten minutes of peace?

“Enter,” I called our, refusing to get up and
go to the door. Favian stepped inside and I glared at him.
“Exit.”

He shut the door behind him and sat down on
the bed beside me. “What did the goblins want with you?”

“To barter for my body for a night of
pleasure,” I said angrily. “Get out of my dorm.” I tried to sit up,
but every movement hurt and I gave up.

“What did they really want?” he asked.

“Are you listening to me? I want you to
leave,” I said, this time using my anger to force myself up. I
started to walk to the door, but he grabbed my forearm to stop me.
My burns and bruises made me yell out in pain and drop to my
knees.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were in so much
pain?” he asked angrily as he released me and began inspecting my
wounds.

I slapped his hands away and used the bed to
stand up. “Get out. I don’t want to see you.”

He growled angrily and stood up. “Fine, don’t
tell me what they wanted. I’ll go talk to them myself.”

I turned my back to him and opened the
leather pouch the goblins had given me. Inside was the healing
medicine in a small wooden tube and the pain reliever in a clear
container. My door opened and closed as Favian left and I was alone
again. I opened the healing medicine and spread it onto one burn,
holding my breath to see if it would sting or not. Surprisingly it
didn’t sting and it gave me immediate relief. I stripped out of my
clothes and spread the medicine everywhere I had bruises and burns
and then put a small amount of the white powder pain reliever on my
tongue and let it dissolve. My pain vanished and I felt invigorated
again. I was definitely going to have to get the twins a present
for this!

After redressing and hiding the medicines in
the pouch in the bottom of my bag I headed out to the outdoor
training arena for a meeting with Master Martin. As I neared it I
realized this was not a meeting, but a set up. The arena was filled
with every student of the school and every teacher was there as
well, sitting up on the railings. I stepped inside the arena and
Master Martin waved me forward. I walked to him, looking at all of
the faces around until I spotted the one I was seeking. I
immediately turned away from him, having only been wondering if he
was there.

“Marin, I’m glad you made it. Did the earlier
training make you sore?” Master Martin asked.

“Yes,” I said in a truthful statement. The
training had made me sore, but the medicine the twins gave me had
cured that.

“I’m sure you’ll loosen up soon.”

“What’s going on?” I asked him, “Why is
everyone here?”

“Today is a trial,” Macon said as he stepped
into the arena.

“A trial?” I asked in shock, “Against
me?”

“More of a trial because of you,” he answered
with a smirk.

“I do not understand,” I replied, “Why a
trial? What is to be proved?”

“Those my dear are the perfect questions. We
are putting on trial whether girls should be allowed to join the
Academy more often than just your case,” Macon said as he walked to
the center of the ring.

Now I understood. I was the first girl to be
allowed to attend, let alone complete the Academy. They had to test
me to see if it was a good idea to allow girls to attend in the
future. “I understand,” I said with a nod of my head. “What trials
am I to face?” This was so sudden and seemingly random. Had Favian
known? Was that why he had really come to my dorm?

“You’ll be tested in everything,” Macon said,
“but first we will test you on your fighting skills.” Macon nodded
his head at Master Sean.

Master Sean smiled evilly at me and then
snapped his fingers. Two first year students climbed down from the
railing and approached me. I pushed my cloak back behind me and
gave myself freedom of movement depending upon the type of attack
they used on me. “Hand to hand, no weapons,” Master Sean said,
“Begin!”

The two boys charged me and I forgot about
the kidnapping attempt. I forgot about Favian being mad at me. I
forgot about everything except the trial. I would prove that girls
should be allowed. I would prove that I was a capable mercenary and
I would prove that I could be a Protector. The newbies charged
forward enthusiastically and I ducked their wild swings easily and
kicked them in the backs to use their own momentum against them.
They both stumbled forward and down to their hands and knees and
then jumped up and turned towards me again. I took a wide stance
and put my hands in defensive positions near my face.

The boys moved away from each other so that
they would both come at me from different sides and then darted
towards me again. I blocked and punched and kicked and after only a
minute had them both on the ground, knocked out.

I backed away from them so others could drag
them out of the arena and faced Master Sean waiting for his next
signal. “Swords,” he said and then snapped his fingers. Two second
year students hopped down and drew their swords. I drew mine and
fought to keep the smile off of my face. I knew it was a test, yet
I felt no fear or worry, only cheerfulness.