The Merchant and the Menace (24 page)

 Flair’s concentration was so utterly focused on the
tray he balanced that he missed the entire outburst. Smiling he finally managed
to reach the table and set the tray down. Ader quickly snatched two mugs from
the tray and forced them into the hands of the northern princes. The Elves took
his lead and helped themselves, passing a tankard to Kael. Ader lifted a mug
into the air.

“To unity and brotherhood,” shouted Ader.

The Elves raised their mugs high. Kael remembered
something his father said when facing a particularly difficult chore.

“To a beginning of the end,” mumbled Kael raising
his mug.

Granu’s deep, dark eyes looked into Kael’s.

“To a beginning of the end,” boomed Granu raising
his tankard.

Manfir’s eyes focused on Kael, and the hard lines
of his face became even harder. He nodded toward the boy then raised the mug to
his lips and emptied it. The others at the table followed suit and Manfir
walked to the head chair and sat.

The meal lasted a full hour as Flair brought food
and drink from the kitchen. Manfir would periodically rise from the table and
go to the inn’s windows. Ader stopped telling him not to worry.

It was getting late and the food and dishes
disappeared. The ale produced a definite sluggishness in the travelers and
exhaustion came down hard on Kael. Ader rose from his seat next to Granu and
addressed the party.

“A long road lies ahead of us. I suggest you
gentlemen find sleeping quarters and rest. We must maintain our wits as we
journey ahead.”

Teeg rose and moved to the stairway, followed by
Eidyn. The Elves lightly ascended the flight without making a sound. Manfir
mumbled something about checking the mounts and left through the kitchen. Granu
rose and turned to Kael.

“I thank you for your hospitality, Kael Brelgson,”
smiled the giant. “You make your household proud.”

He spun and climbed the stairway aided by his
staff. Ader smiled to Kael.

“You forge an important alliance with the giant,
whether you want it or not,” stated the Seraph.

“An alliance against what?” questioned Kael. “I
used to think he was what we needed alliances against, and now I’m not so
sure.”

“The world is a complicated place. It’ll get much
more complicated in the days and months to come. Just remember to trust in your
instincts and do what you believe is right,” said Ader. “It’ll be nice to sleep
in your old bed, eh?”

Kael smiled and nodded as Flair stepped from the
kitchen with a broom. Hamly shuffled forward with a mop and bucket and the pair
cleaned the floor. Ader turned and disappeared up the stairs. Kael thought it
would be wonderful to crawl into his bed, but memories of Aemmon flashed into
his mind. The room held only sorrow and guilt for him now. He walked toward
Flair and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“You look exhausted,” smiled Kael. “Let me do that.
Everyone keeps praising me for my hospitality and I’ve yet to lift a finger.”

The boy smiled wearily and looked to his
grandfather.

“Well, the lad still has quite a few dishes to
clean,” said Hamly. “Six hands are better than four.”

Flair handed the broom to Kael and disappeared
through the doorway. Kael swept the floor as he heard the squeaky well pump in
the kitchen. Hamly set his bucket down and mopped up. Kael wondered if Brelg
struck a deal with the old man. Hamly was often around the inn doing odd jobs,
but Brelg never employed him full time. The old man lived out west of the
village on a small horse ranch. Hamly’s daughter and son-in-law lived there as
well with a brood of children. Kael saw Flair from time to time as the boy
entered the village to pick up supplies. Kael wondered why the old man accepted
the job. Hamly’s ranch was small, but it produced exceptional livestock. Kael
was sure Hamly didn’t need the coin.

“Master Hamly, what did my father say when he
left?” asked Kael.

Hamly stopped his mopping and looked to Kael. He
carefully considered his answer.

“Ah, he needed to depart hastily and wanted a
reliable soul to keep things here in order,” started Hamly. “Cefiz followed
‘im, so he called fer me.”

“Don’t you have responsibilities at the ranch?”
asked Kael.

“Nothin’ my son-in-law can’t handle,” stated the
old man, then he glanced at the kitchen door. “But if he gets the call, it’ll
be upta the boy.”

“The call?” questioned Kael.

Hamly looked down at the mop and shuffled his feet
a bit. He struggled with his words and finally looked Kael hard in the eyes.

“The prince said you were told, but how much, I
dunno,” Hamly said half to himself and half to Kael.

“Well, I know my father was called to the capital
for a meeting of the court,” interjected Kael. “Trouble has begun, and we must
put an end to it.”

“Yes, rightly so,” returned Hamly, his eyes
narrowing.

“I ... I’ve a role to play,” offered Kael. “Ader
... told me.”

The old man’s face relaxed and he smiled at Kael.

“Yeah, I’ve always known ya did. All these years I
wondered and I guess it’s come to it. Well, I served and am proud of it,” said
Hamly.

“Yes, uh, yes you did, and I suppose they’ll reward
you for it,” prompted Kael.

“Never wanted any reward!” said Hamly quickly. “It
was my duty.”

“Duty?” asked Kael.

“Those of us who chose to come with Brelg. We were
still in the Guard ya know. Fact is, I feel like I’ve always been in the
Guard.”

Kael’s mind raced. What was the old man talking
about? Hamly in the Guard? Was he referring to the Zodrian Guard. Certainly the
old man meant the town’s militia.

“Yes, you serve well. Um, the militia is helpful
here,” said Kael. “For what little they do in this quiet town.”

“Ha! No militia in the South is built around such
well trained military men,” laughed the old man. “Why, when we first started to
filter into Kelky, we took orders from that buffoon, Ipson the tanner. He was
the captain of the militia then. The man didn’t know which end of a sword to
hold. At first, he was annoyed by your dad’s suggestions, but after awhile he
came around. You just can’t ignore good sense.”

“My father’s suggestions?” questioned Kael.

Hamly laughed and shook his head.

“Good old Brelg. At first he played it real slow.
He’d make a suggestion ‘bout drillin’ or trainin’ and just act as if he
stumbled onto a good idea. Ipson thanked him for the idea then acted like it
were his own. Ya see, we intended to make the militia of Kelky stronger. It was
important to get the village defended proper. We couldn’t wait till the locals
figured it out.

“Brelg sorta pushed it along. Pretty soon we were a
pretty snappy unit. We weren’t able to train much cause we were supposed to fit
in. Act like regular folks. After a couple of years, more ‘n half the militia
were old Guardsmen. Some o’ the locals couldn’t keep up with our trainin’ once
Brelg got control from Ipson. Sakes, even Ipson himself dropped out, claimin’
the tannery needed more attention.

“Don’t get me wrong. Ipson was a good man, tryin’
ta defend his village. But we held more important things in mind and he was
kinda in the way. Some o’ the villagers turned out to be real good men. Men you
could rely on. Men you wouldn’t mind havin’ next ta ya in a tough scrape. Brelg
hated ta do it but secrecy was important.”

“Hated to do what?” asked Kael.

Once again a broad smile crept across the old man’s
face.

“We drummed some of ‘em out, a course,” replied
Hamly. “Durin’ trainin’ some ‘accidents’ happened. A course nobody got truly,
truly hurt, but a couple of the good uns needed to get a few bones broken. Once
they was down, well, Brelg made sure they couldn’t catch up to our trainin’.
Some of them boys might have left the Hold as tops in their recruiting class if
they were chosen for the Guard. Poor souls don’t even know it. They got hurt
and just stopped playin’ soldier with the militia.”

“The Hold? What Hold?” asked Kael.

“Why,
the
HOLD boy. The military barracks in
the capital,” said Hamly as he caught Kael’s bewildered expression. “Where
every recruit for the Zodrian Guard goes through trainin’.”

Kael looked down at his broom in confusion. The old
man’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head.

“The ale must be workin’ on your head, boy. The
Hold in Zodra, where me an’ yer dad were master drill sergeants.”

“Drill sergeant!” exclaimed Kael.

Hamly stepped back with a mixture of surprise and
shame in his eyes.

“Course I was a drill sergeant!” exclaimed the old
man. “I know ya think awful highly of yer dad, but truth be told, I’m the one
who taught ‘im everything he knows. I’m the one who trained ‘im and recognized
the potential right away. I’m as proud as a father could be over Brelg Kelson!”

“Oh, that’s right, you recruited him,” said Kael,
fishing for more.

“No, no. I never recruited him. He just showed up
one day at the Hold. Demanded to be put to the test. We’ll put anyone to the
test if they ask. Most don’t pass, and those that do normally don’t make it
past the first month of trainin’. Good old Brelg. Just a skinny lad, full of
heart. He wouldn’t say die. He passed the test and we found ‘im a bunk. The
other drill sergeants took one look at the lad and said he’d never make it. I
bet a month’s wages he would. I’ve always been pretty good at pickin’ out the
ones that’ll make it. Somethin’ in his eyes told me he would.

“Wish I’d never made that bet though. They was hard
on the recruits that just showed up and took the test. They wanted you to be
called like most of the Guard is. You know, a king’s messenger arrives in the
village and reads a couple of names. They hear about you, or a town elder
nominates you. When you just show up, some figure you’re a bit full of yourself
and need to be knocked down a few pegs. It was worse for your old dad. He
wasn’t even from a village. Just a lad from the wilderness. He’d come from near
the border. Livin’ with his family by the seat of his pants. Tryin’ to scratch
out a livin’ raisin‘ goats and sheep, while tryin’ to avoid Keltaran raiders
and Ulrog packs.

“Well, the other drill sergeants made that bet with
me and figured it was easy money. Yer dad proved ‘em wrong. They made it double
worse for ‘im while tryin’ to take my months pay, but he would have none of it.
He stuck it out all right.”

“That’s ... ah, when they made him a drill sergeant
right?” questioned Kael.

“Sakes no, Kael! Yer old man was just a green
recruit. He handled the toughest trainin’ we threw at ‘im but he still never
seen a real battle. It was right to the front lines for Brelg and the rest of
his group. He marched off to the Scythtar. I knew I wouldn’t see many of those
boys again, I never do. But somethin’ told me I’d see Brelg.

“Three years later there he was, a sergeant of his
own battle squad. He was covered in scars and looked twenty years older, but it
was him. Walked right up to me on the trainin’ yard and saluted. Told me I’d
saved his life more ‘n once out there. Ya know, things I’d taught him an the like.
They’d promoted him in the field for saving the day not once or twice, but
three times. Turned the tide with some pretty quick thinkin’ when the Ulrog
pushed the Guard up against the wall.

“He asked me to show him one more thing, how to
teach. He’d become a leader of men, a natural commander, who men readily
followed. He led by example, and those quick enough to keep up with him learned
a great deal, but those who struggled got left behind. He realized he was
wastin’ good men by not teachin’ them what he knew. The command assigned him to
the Hold for a year to get a break. He was goin’ at it pretty hard over those
last three years.

“Well, I took him under my wing and taught him how
to talk to the men. How ya get somethin’ into their heads so it becomes an
instinct. How ya get other men in a squad to know what your thinkin’ and
suddenly yer all actin’ as one. Brelg learned quickly. He transformed into one
of our best drill instructors. Quite a few men thanked Brelg for savin’ their
lives with the trainin’ he beat into them. Those were the days. The Hold
churned out the best soldiers the world ever seen. Course, the General Staff
needed somebody like Brelg on the front lines. After a year he returned to the
Scythtar.“

The old man’s eyes took on a faraway look as his
memory traveled back to the Northern Mountains. Kael was desperate to keep
Hamly talking.

“When did my father meet my mother?” asked Kael.

Hamly came back to the present.

“Yanwin,” sighed the old man. “A man couldn’t ask
for a better woman.”

“Indeed, a fine woman,” came a voice from the
stairway.

Kael turned to see Teeg standing at the bottom of
the stairs.

“Ya startled me, Master Teeg,” said Hamly. “I
didn’t hear ya approach.”

“Ah,” smiled Teeg. “That
is
reassuring. If
you did, I would be quite cross with myself.”