The Elemental Jewels (Book 1) (20 page)

“I’m from Fortune,” Grange replied.  “But people have questioned my origins before,” he dismissed the question.

“Well, go take your break and get back here before we start the next set,” Guy told him.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well,” he added to Ariana, then he slipped off the stage to join a woman who was waiting for his company.

Grange hopped down next to Ariana.  “What are you going to do if I’m not here to take care of you?” she asked affectionately.  “You would have taken his first offer of two sous, wouldn’t you?” she laughed as she reached over and took his hand in hers.  She was confounding and confusing, supportive and friendly, yet she controlled him with ease – he was captivated by her.

“This is our oh-so-talented hero, I see, and he comes with a stunningly beautiful companion.  Such is the life of a hero,” a voice said to the side.  They twisted to see a man dressed in very elegant clothes, with another man and a woman dressed just as elegantly standing steps behind him.

“So hero, are you a regular in the band?” the man asked.

“This is my first time to play with them,” Grange responded.

“Do they make everyone wield a sword for their audition?” the dandy asked with a laugh at his own joke.

“Just the good ones,” Ariana answered.

“Touché, my lovely,” he smiled appreciatively.  “And so, do you play music for other venues?  Would you be available to play at my sister’s birthday party?”

Grange leaned slightly to his side to look past the man at the woman behind him.

“Oh good lord no!” his questioner laughed again.  He seemed to laugh easily.  “She’s much too old to be my sister – more like my mother,” the man said, then ducked away as the woman slapped at him, missing him as her hand flew through the air.

“No, my sister is younger than you, and so are her friends.  They’ll be gathered at the dock the day after tomorrow, in the afternoon,” he explained.

Grange looked at Ariana, who gave a slight nod.  “I’d like to,” he replied.

“After we check the band’s schedule, to make sure there’s not a conflict,” Ariana added.  “Do you have a price to pay for the service?”

“Let’s say 10 sous.  Oh, bloody rags.  Since you were such a hero, let’s just round it up to a florint,” he decided.

“That sounds good to me,” Grange immediately said, knowing that Ariana was undoubtedly about to approve the rich offer.  He wanted to appear to be able to make some decision on his own.

“Very good; excellent.  We’ll see you at our place the day after tomorrow.  Carry on with your music here,” Grange’s new patron smiled.  He started to turn to walk away, when Ariana spoke up.

“My lord, who are you and where is the dock we’ll meet at?” she asked.

“Oh, yes, yes,” he said as he turned around.  “Of course, if you’re new to town you don’t know.

“I am Lord Selebe,” he told them, “and we’ll be the large ship at the end of the southern green dock.  You won’t miss seeing which ship has a party on board.”

He gave a smile, then departed with his companions, just as the rest of the band returned to the stage to start the next set.

Grange stayed at the stage and played until the festival finally ended, as Ariana sat or stood nearby, waiting for him.  Guy paid him for the night, told him where to play with the band the following night, and Ariana produced a cup of ale for him to drink as they strolled back towards their new apartment.  Inside the apartment the door to Garrel and Deana’s room was closed, though the sound of soft voices and gentle laughter filtered out.

“So this is our room,” Ariana said as she closed the door on the other bedroom, once they were inside.  They had no candle, leaving the room in pitch black darkness.  Grange swallowed the last mouthful of ale, and heard the rustle of clothes as he set the cup down.

“That feels good,” Ariana crooned.  “We haven’t been able to sleep in a private place in how long, a month?  Always in barns or under the wagons or on the ground – it feels good to finally take all these clothes off.

“Tomorrow we will definitely have to find a place to take a bath.  Do you suppose they have public baths here?” she asked.

“I couldn’t say,” Grange answered nervously.  He was sitting on the edge of the mattress, trying to keep his distance from the girl who he imagined was naked, in the same room.  He felt the mattress move as Ariana laid down, and he quickly stood up.

“Aren’t you tired?” Ariana asked.  “Lie down and get some sleep.  You’ve got a busy day ahead of you.”

“I do?” he asked, surprised by the assertion.  “What happens tomorrow?”

“We get to practice sword work all day long, unless we start working on some other weapon,” Ariana said.  He heard her yawn, loudly and long.  “You did well tonight, my dear.  You killed a demon and you earned the musician’s job.”

He stood in silence for a moment, and heard her breathing adopt a regular, soft rhythm with astonishing speed.  She was asleep, and presumably the bed was safe for him to cautiously return to.  He carefully sat down, pulled his boots off, then waited hesitantly, before removing his shirt.

It did feel good.  The freedom to move and stretch without the confinement of the fabric was luxurious, or it suddenly seemed to be, and he wondered if Ariana’s statement had made him believe so.

She had him bewitched.  He lusted after her at times, entranced by her beauty and grace and wit.  Yet as he lay in bed with her, he feared to even think about touching her.  She called him dear, yet never showed any disposition to make their relationship anything but platonic.  And now, after weeks of being together as a platonic couple, he couldn’t imagine that there would ever be anything more. Except that she was so lovely and always in control, tempting his soul to dream of something more.

And with such confusion rendering his thoughts chaotic, he suddenly fell asleep, settled into the place that he was about to begin calling home.

Chapter 12

When he awoke the next morning, there was dim light entering the room through the doorframe openings, outlining the door.  Grange blinked, then remembered where he was.  He turned his head and saw Ariana’s pale back, bare and only two feet away.

“You can give me a massage,” she said, seeming to know that he was awake, though she wasn’t looking at him.  “Just keep your hands where they belong.”

He rolled onto his side and began to knead the flesh of her shoulders.

“Where will we begin practicing swords?” he asked.

“Down a little,” she said.

Grange obediently moved his hands lower down her back.

“I meant down the street.  I saw an armory just two blocks away,” Ariana told him.  She curled a hand around to push his hands away, as she sat up and wrapped the sheet around her chest in one fluid motion.

“You go out for a moment while I get dressed,” she told him.

Grange obediently did as told, taking his shirt with him and pulling it on as he stood in the hallway, He heard a noise, and saw Garrel and Deana emerge from their room.

“Do you like being married so far?” he asked the grinning couple.

Deana giggled, while Garrel blushed.

“It’s better than I ever expected,” the bridegroom said.  “We’re going to go walk around the harbor front today.  Do you want to go with us?”

“Ariana wants to go practice sword work at an armory,” Grange replied with disappointment.  “Maybe this afternoon?” he suggested.

“Perhaps,” Garrel agreed. 

“She never touched a sword that I saw back home,” Deana commented about Ariana.

“Well, she’s good at it.  I’ve seen her schooling Grange day after day after day,” Garrel commented.  He took Deana’s hand, and they went out of the apartment.

“I’m ready,” Ariana said as she opened their room’s door and stepped out.

They left the building, the blue sword hidden in her skirts, passing their landlady on the way out.

“These clothes are getting so worn,” Ariana commented.  “Maybe we should get some new clothes, especially since you’ll be playing music for the nobility tomorrow.”

Grange shrugged in agreement, and three minutes later they stood in the door way of a ramshackle brick building, with a sign of crossed swords hanging above the door.

Early in the morning there were few people inside.  A desultory match between two well-padded youngsters was taking place under the inattentive eyes of a trainer.  As soon as the man saw Ariana, he abandoned his charges and hurried over to greet the new arrivals.

“How can I help you?” he addressed Ariana, ignoring Grange completely.

“We’d like to use this armory for sword practice, and possibly work with other weapons as well,” Ariana said brightly.  “What would the cost be?”

“Well, I can give you lessons for a sou per day, and you can use the facilities for a sou a day as well,” the man suggested.

“”Do you think I need lessons?  If I don’t will we still use the facilities for a sou?” she asked with a vacant expression.  “Could we practice here for free if we don’t need any lessons?”

“Little lady, if you don’t need lessons, you and your friend can practice for free,” the man leered.  “Should we test you right now?” he asked.

“How do we do that?” the girl asked, still assuming the guise of an ingénue, as Grange watched in amazement.

“Let’s put on pads, and I’ll take care of you from there,” the trainer assured her.  He familiarly placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her towards a locker room, as Grange trailed along.

The trainer, a heavyset, unathletic man in appearance, fitted protected pads onto Ariana with a familiarity that made Grange start to step up in protest, until he saw her eyes warn him off.  She placidly submitted to the pawing, then stepped back as soon as it ended.

“So now we test to see if I need lessons?” her face and voice were still devoid of any semblance of the capable woman Grange knew her to be.

“Here’s a practice weapon,” the trainer told her, as he handed her a wooden stick while they stepped out into the large training room, the open space that the two youths still occupied, though they no longer practiced without a trainer watching over them.

“Okay, we’ll start here on this mat, and see if you can block any of my attacks,” the trainer smugly said as he and Ariana settled into spots on a thick piece of cloth, a long strip on the floor.

The trainer made his first move, an attack intended to poke Ariana in the breast, seemingly as a way to embarrass and dominate her.  Instead, she flicked her wooden sword up with astonishing speed, striking the trainer’s intended attack so quickly and strongly that she struck his attack once on the way up, then stopped and struck it again on the way down, driving the tip of his weapon to the floor, where her foot stamped down hard upon it, trapping in harmlessly.

The trainer’s face was on its way to showing an expression of astonishment at the extraordinary maneuver by the girl, but before he could even react, Ariana was already delivering the next phase of the contest.  She stabbed him savagely in the groin, her wooden sword, pressing violently against his padding and indenting it indecently.  The man started to double over, but as he did, Ariana’s sword circled up and struck him under the chin, knocking his head backwards.  She then poked the point of her sword hard against an un-padded portion of his shoulder, hitting it hard enough to leave a very sore and bruised contusion.

With her assault complete, Ariana lifted her foot from the still-trapped sword, and stepped back.   She watched as her opponent feebly tried to prevent himself from collapsing at her feet.  His face struck the mat unimpeded, then he rolled onto his side, one hand trying to clutch his groin while the other hand tried to grab his shoulder, while blood began to flow from a bloody bit lip.

Ariana casually dropped her wooden sword on top of him.  “I think I passed the test.  I’ll let you put this away, while Grange and I go get some padding for him,” she said scornfully, as the trainer gasped for breath.

She silently led Grange back to the room where she applied pads on him, as he silently stood with his arms raised, shocked by the aggressive attack she had administered.

“Let’s go,” she abruptly commanded.

“You’re not going to beat me like that, are you?” Grange asked cautiously.

“I will if you don’t follow me right now,” she growled, her back to him as she left the equipment room with a pair of wooden swords in her hands.

Grange hurriedly followed Ariana out of the room and onto a floor mat in the farthest corner.  The damaged instructor was on his knees, Grange observed, the two young students huddled with him to help him up.

“Now, we start getting serious about your lessons,” Ariana was still grim-faced after her beating of the instructor, and Grange was suddenly fearful about the severity of the lesson he was about to receive.

“You managed to kill one weak and stupid demon, but if that monster had been smarter, or stronger, or sneakier, you would be dead.  So we’re going to spend every moment we can beating this into you,” she said.  “Now, assume the position,” she began the lesson.

The manager of the armory stayed away from them throughout the morning, and he spoke to other swordsmen that came into the facility, staring at Grange and Ariana as he spoke.  No one bothered them in their area of isolation, while Grange found that Ariana brought a new intensity to her practice demands.  He was drenched in sweat and suffering from innumerable cuts, scrapes, and bruises, despite the protective padding, when his instructor finally dropped the point of her sword to the ground.  He felt beaten and demoralized by her superior abilities, which seemed to have improved by a considerable degree suddenly.

“You did well today,” she told him nonchalantly.  “Let’s put the pads away and walk down to the harbor, and get something to eat.”

He appreciated her praise.  “You really think I did okay?  It felt like you could beat me anytime you wanted to,” he replied.

“Oh, I can, but you’re making it more challenging.  That’s the first step – you need to learn to stay alive longer.  Once you do that, you increase the chances your opponent is going to make a mistake,” she explained.  She reached out and took his hand.  “And after you learn to do that, someday you’ll find that your opponents are just trying to stay alive against you.

“Now, let’s go,” she released his hand and stalked back to the equipment room, where they both shed their sweat-soaked pads and returned the wooden swords.  “Pay the man two sous on the way out,” Ariana told Grange as they strolled through the hall.

“Two sous?” he queried.  “I thought we only had to pay two sous if there was a lesson,” he checked her.

“Don’t worry dear, there was definitely a lesson taught today,” she smiled a grim smile.

They left the building after Grange silently handed the coins to a doorkeeper who had arrived, and they walked down to the harbor front at last.

There were ships crowded along the quay, and there was litter floating on the water that lapped against the tide walls, but the sight was still awe inspiring for Grange.

“Look at how much water there is!” he exclaimed repeatedly.

“Let’s go this way,” Ariana tugged his sleeve.  “It’s south, and your musical appearance at the party boat tomorrow is at the southern green dock, so let’s go see it.”

They started south, the sun high overhead casting their shadows straight down beneath them and baking the tops of their heads.  The harbor front water grew clean, and another set of docks was visible ahead of them; there were no ships to interrupt the view, and the waves that lapped beneath them were clean.

“Let’s stop and cool off,” Ariana proposed.  She suddenly skipped down onto the rocks at the bottom of the breakwater, then took her boots off, and stepped into the shallow water, as Grange followed behind her.

“You’re going to buy me new clothes today, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Yes, I promise,” he agreed.

“Then it doesn’t matter if these clothes get soaked in salt water,” she grinned, and she stepped forward into the water, which rose to her waist.  With a shriek, she dove head first and disappeared, then reappeared a few feet away, her hair streaming behind her, her clothes clinging to her body, and a bright white smile on her face as she rubbed water out of her eyes.

Come in!” she entreated him.  “Come in – it’s so refreshing!”

“I can’t swim,” Grange replied as he stood atop the stones.

“Oh for the love of all the spirits and sprites, were you living in a cave?  No sword work, no swimming,” she chided him as she strode back towards him.  “Take your boots off,” she commanded.

And so Grange got his first swimming lesson.  A group of small children gathered atop the breakwater to watch, making Grange self-conscious, but Ariana would have none of it.

“Come on, stroke!  Reach those arms out!  Flutter those legs!  Breath, for the love of life!” she delivered a series of staccato commands, making Grange revise his opinion of how hard a task master she had been at swords – she was even tougher at swimming.

Ariana grew satisfied that they had frolicked enough in the water sometime later.

“We’ll do this every day,” she told him when they sat on the rocks, their wet fingers busily tugging their boots back onto their feet.

“You know, before I met you, I had a simple life,” Grange snapped.  “Now, I have sword work, swimming lessons, musical work.  I don’t have time to have fun!” he complained.

“And someday you’ll thank me for this,” Ariana said with a serious expression.  “Grange, the world is changing.  You will need to be able to do everything I push you to do, and more.  I just hope there’s enough time, and enough luck, for you to master what you need to know.”

“Now, let’s go see the party boat, then have some lunch.  I’m starved,” Ariana said.  “Then baths if we can find any, new clothes, and by then you’ll need to go to your musical performance for this evening.”

“See,” Grange said as he stood up.  “This is what I’m talking about,” he complained.  “You’ve got my whole life planned out.  It’s like being married!”

“Shall I go tell Deana that?” Ariana asked archly.  She lifted her hand, and used Grange’s grip to pull herself up, the suddenly threw her arms around his neck and embraced him passionately, her lips next to his ear.

“What do you expect from marriage, Grange?  Are there delights you think your bride will offer?  Are you hoping to sample pleasure with me?” she breathed in his ear.

“Goodness, no,” he laughed weakly.  “That carriage left the palace a long time ago,” he said.  His mind said that it was true, completely true, except that feeling her body plastered against the length of his was overcoming his good sense.

“Good,” Ariana said in her low, slow, breathy voice.  She pulled away from him.  “Because there’s a bride-to-be out there waiting to meet you,” she said.  “And if you pick the wrong girl beforehand, there will be a steep bill to pay.  Now, let’s go find the boat.”

She turned and climbed up to the top of the breakwater, and led Grange south towards the dock where the large ships of the noble class were all anchored together at three colored docks – blue, red, and green.   Under the watchful eye of strolling guards, they walked the length of the green dock then stood at the foot of the plank that led to the deck of Lord Selebe’s luxurious ship.  Two nicely uniformed stewards were carrying bottles of wine across the deck, while other crew members were polishing the brass and metal fittings to a gleaming shine.