City Guardsman
Copyright© 2026 by Ka Hmnd
Chapter 1
I took another sip of coffee as I looked out over the square. I had been in or with one military unit or another most of my life. I was twenty-five and had finally decided to settle down. That meant finding a wife and a job I could expect to survive in. I was the youngest son of the youngest son of a minor noble, so the only thing I got was a good education and weapons teachers that were more than willing to give me lumps while they taught me.
Whitecliff was a large port city and seemed like the place to start. I was trying to think of how I could get into the city to see the duke to see about a job as one of his officers in the city militia. I shook my head and stood. The young serving girl appeared at my side, and I smiled at her pretty face and handed her the money for the meal and coffee.
I crossed the square and walked quickly down a small side street. At my small set of rooms, I stopped at the door. I looked at the open door and pulled my dagger before stepping in. The first thing that struck me was that my weapons were missing. My bags had been dumped on the bed and gone through as well.
I stepped out and looked around. Several people working on the street seemed to avoid looking at me, and I nodded as I memorized them. I turned and walked back to the square and crossed to the City Guard building. I nodded to the guard as I entered and stopped at a desk with a sergeant behind it. I told him what had happened, and he just looked at me. “What do you want me to do about it?”
I looked him up and down. “How about finding the thief that stole my weapons?”
He sneered. “You probably don’t even know how to use them. Leave it alone, kid. Find another line of work.”
I looked at him for a minute and nodded to myself. “So you aren’t going to look.”
He growled. “Listen, punk. The Guard has better things to do than look for your toys.”
I nodded. “Fine. I will find them myself, and on your head will rest the fallout.”
I turned and walked out and back to my set of rooms. I crossed the street to a couple of toughs standing on the corner. I had seen their type before: bullies and lookouts for the thieves’ guild. I stepped up to them, “You made a mistake.”
The bigger one laughed, “Beat it, kid, before you get hurt.”
I was done talking. I kicked his kneecap from the side, shattering it, and struck the other man in the throat. I knelt beside the man on the ground, screaming and holding his knee. I drew my dagger and put it against his throat, “I will count to three, and if you haven’t told me where my stuff is, I will cut your throat and find someone else to tell me.”
I looked at him as he glared at me, “One.”
“Two.”
He screamed, “The Silver Swan.”
I sliced both his cheeks, “If I ever see you again, I will kill you.”
I stood and walked away, not even glancing at the second man as he died. I stopped a Cartier and got directions to the Silver Swan. It was on a street that was poorly cared for. The front of the shop was dirty, and three men lounged against the door.
As I approached, they looked at me, and one of them stood away from the wall. I kicked him in the groin and stepped to the side as another pulled a dagger and lunged. I grabbed his hand and twisted. I spun him into the other man that had just started to move.
I whipped his arm around and brought my other hand down in a strike that broke his arm at the elbow. Taking his dagger, I stabbed the other man through the eye and then pulled the dagger back to cut his throat. I knelt by the one on the ground and stabbed him through both thighs.
I stood and walked through the door and into the shop. The two men in the shop had been watching and held their hands up. I stopped a few feet from them, “Your guild stole my weapons. I want them back, now.”
The one on the right had narrow eyes. He looked me up and down, “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
My quick step as I closed surprised him, as did my dagger as it sliced across his stomach. He dropped to his knees screaming until I kicked him in the face. I looked at the other man, “My weapons, now!”
He nodded and quickly opened a chest beside him. I stopped him before he could reach inside. I reached in and pulled my weapons out and a small bundle that I recognized as mine. I turned and started walking towards the door. The man I had left was feeling braver, “The Guild will kill you for this.”
I turned at the door, “If they want to try, they can, but if they do, you tell them I will do more than kill a few replaceable punks.”
I walked out and started back to my rooms. I buckled on my sword and slipped the other weapons into their place. When I got to my rooms, there were ten guards and that sergeant across the street. When I stopped at my door and looked across the street, the sergeant was staring at me. He stood and gestured as he started walking towards me. I turned and waited for him. When he stepped close, he gestured again, “Take his weapons.”
I smiled as my hand pulled the sword a couple of inches free of the scabbard, “That wouldn’t be wise.”
He looked me up and down, “You killed a man, boy.”
I nodded, “I killed three men. If you had done your job, I wouldn’t have. If you want to take my weapons, it will be a lot more.”
He looked at his men and could see none of them were going to try to take me. He looked back at me, “We’ll be back.”
I smiled thinly, “Make sure you tell the men that come with you that it is an Armsmaster they face.”
I turned and went into my room. In the small side room, I stripped and washed. Back in the main room, I put my light padding on and lifted the mattress to remove the steel chain shirt. I slipped one of my good shirts over that and replaced my weapons. I straightened up the bed and cleaned the room.
I sat at the table and pulled out a clean parchment and began writing to the duke. I had just finished when someone knocked on the door. I turned in the chair and called for them to enter. The door opened and three men entered, the first was a guard lieutenant, the second a captain, and the third... the third man was older and wore the tunic of a sworn man with the duke’s crest on his chest.
I smiled and gestured toward the bed, “I’m sorry, but I don’t have anywhere else for you to sit.”
The lieutenant and captain stood, but the older man smiled as he sat, “It seems I have a problem.”
I looked at him, and he glanced at the captain, “My Captain and Lieutenant think they wouldn’t have that much of a problem in arresting you. I, on the other hand, know what a trained Armsmaster is capable of. So tell me, are you a capable Armsmaster?”
I grinned, “Very.”
He nodded, “So how do I resolve this?”
I smiled, “How about with courtesy?”
He blinked and glanced at my shirt, his eyes lingering on the small gold crest sewn into the left shoulder. His smile was more relaxed, “My apologies. I am Jonathan Whittel, Sheriff of Whitecliff and the surrounding county. This is Captain Hurst and Lieutenant Belet.”
I nodded, “My pleasure, gentlemen. My name is Charles Edward Simon Winston.”
All three men started, and Jonathan smiled, “It seems I was right to come speak to you first. What is the highest regarded Armsmaster doing in Whitecliff?”
I smiled and leaned back in the chair, “Looking for a wife and someplace to work away from the mercenary companies.”
Jonathan smiled again, “Retiring already?”
I nodded, “A request from my grandfather.”
He again looked at my crest, “Too far away to be in the line.”
I nodded, “My grandfather and I have always been close. I think he just wanted to know I wasn’t in the middle of a battle every other week.”
Jonathan grinned, “I think I understand, but that brings us back to what has happened here. You killed three men.”
I nodded, “Yes. I asked the Guard for help and was told the Guard had better things to do than find thieves and stolen property. The sergeant told me to leave it alone and find another line of work.”
He looked at Captain Hurst, “Who was the sergeant?”
Captain Hurst’s face was red, but I don’t think he was angry with me. “Harris.”
Jonathan sighed, “Take his strips and have him walked to the edge of the duchy. We don’t need that kind of man.”
He looked at me, “Are you looking for the Armsmaster’s job or something else?”
I smiled sourly, “Armsmaster Henry has been with the duke for a long time. I won’t try to push him out. I was thinking of an Officer posting.”
Jonathan looked at the captain and lieutenant, “Would you gentlemen excuse us for a minute?”
He waited until they had closed the door behind them and then looked at me, “Armsmaster Winston, have you submitted your letter yet?”
I handed him my letter; he read it through and sat back looking at me thoughtfully. “I know you aren’t trained as a city guard, but how would you like a job?”
I smiled, “As one of your Guardsmen? I don’t think so.”
He smiled, “How about as the Duke’s Kristin?”
I looked at him in surprise; Kristin was an old term. It meant Judge and fact finder and a lot more. “Why?”
He knew what I was asking and smiled, “The Guard is good for what it was meant for, but now we are getting new types of thieves and killings. Ones that take someone that has a different outlook, I think.”
I looked down at my hands, thinking it wasn’t what I expected and not really what I had trained myself for. I looked at Jonathan, “Will I be working alone or do I get someone to help?”
He sat forward, “Charles, listen to me, some of these people have to have had inside knowledge.”
I nodded, “Do I get help?”
He nodded, “Fine, I’ll put anyone you want in uniform.”
I shook my head, “Give my letter to the duke, and if he agrees, then we can talk.”
Jonathan stood, “Some of the Guard were not happy about the way you threatened them.”
I grinned, “They would have been a lot less happy if I hadn’t.”
He smiled and turned for the door. I rose and opened it for him. There were six guards standing outside the door waiting for him. He turned, “It was a pleasure to meet you, Armsmaster, and I hope the duke sees things my way.”
I nodded and watched as he walked off with the guards around him. I shook my head. Jonathan was something else, something I hadn’t figured out yet. I walked out and closed the door before walking back towards the square. I sat at one of the small tables in the open front of the tavern.
The pretty girl from this morning appeared just as quickly as she had this morning. I ordered a light meal and another coffee. When she brought it, I stopped her and got directions to a banking house. When I finished eating and stood, she appeared, and I smiled. “You wouldn’t be single, would you?”
She grinned, and an older man at the next table laughed. She shook her head, “Sorry.”
I sighed, “All the best girls are taken.”
She laughed, and I started off to the banking house, and then it was to a tailor and boot maker. I was walking back across the square towards the tavern when the attack came. When I felt a man suddenly move towards my back, I turned and then sidestepped his lunge.
I struck his throat with a knife hand blow, and the crowd around me cleared to reveal a dozen men with daggers. I drew my fighting knife, and my other hand made a throwing motion, and a man fell back with a small dagger in his throat. I drew my sword and smiled as they backed away. “Tell your guild I will come for them.”
I sheathed my sword, and they turned to walk into the crowd. One man turned quickly, throwing his dagger. My fighting knife knocked it away as my other hand flicked out. The man stumbled and fell with another small dagger in his throat. The dozen guardsmen that broke through the crowd caused the men to melt into the crowd faster.
Lieutenant Belet led the guardsmen, and another captain joined him shortly, as well as another half dozen guards. He walked up to me. “The guild has decided to settle the score.”
I smiled as I put my knife away and walked with him and the new captain. “Apparently so. Would you like to take care of it, or should I?”
Lieutenant Belet smiled crookedly. “I wish I could. We don’t have any idea who is running the guild.”
I knelt and pulled my small dagger out before moving to the other man and removed my other dagger from him as well. I stood to face him. “I could let some of your men tag along, I guess.”
He grinned and looked at the captain and back at me. In a loud voice, “Captain Able, this is Charles Edward Simon Winston, Armsmaster.”
Captain Able smiled and bowed. “Armsmaster.”
I looked around and gestured to the tavern. “Would you care to join me for dinner?”
The captain nodded and looked at a nearby sergeant. “Sergeant, have this mess cleaned up and send the sheriff a message about the incident.”
The sergeant started giving orders as we walked towards the tavern. When we reached a table and sat, the same girl was there to get our order. She didn’t seem too happy though and kept looking at the captain. I looked at him. “I think she wants to speak to you.”
He looked up. “Tess?”
She frowned. “William ... Teresa is missing. We thought she went to her classes this morning, but she never arrived. Could you have the guards look for her?”
Captain Able nodded. “Of course, dear.”
He stood and called to one of his guards nearby. I looked at Lieutenant Belet. “Dear?”
He smiled. “They’re married.”
I smiled and nodded and pulled a small scrap of parchment out of a pocket. “Tess? Would you ask your cook if he or she can make a small pot of coffee using this recipe?”
She took the parchment and nodded. “Of course. I’ll have your dinner sent out.”
Captain Able returned to the table with a frown. “That is the sixth girl today. I didn’t want to say anything to Tess, but this is happening more often. I doubt if we will find these girls.”
We ate quietly, and Tess brought out a small pot of coffee. She grinned at me. “Momma said to tell you thanks for the recipe. She tasted it and fell in love. She said that if she were single, she would have grabbed you up just for this recipe.”
I sighed. “The story of my life.”
Tess laughed, but there was still a shadow in her eyes. I poured a cup and sipped. The square was getting thinner, so I saw the group of guards enter with the sheriff in the middle. Lieutenant Belet sighed. “William, time for me to be off. I have a young lady waiting.”
The captain nodded and stood as the sheriff approached. Jonathan smiled at me and sat in Lieutenant Belet’s seat. “Charles, it seems things have escalated. The duke is on his way here. One of his daughters has gone missing. She has been missing since this morning. How they could not miss her for this long, I don’t know.”
He looked at the captain. “How many reports of missing girls so far?”
Captain Able frowned. “Seven with the duke’s daughter.”
Jonathan reached out and poured coffee into a cup that Tess set down as she picked up plates. “Would you like something to eat?”
He smiled up at her. “No, Tess. My wife is waiting for dinner on me. If I ate here, she would lock me out.”
She smiled and moved off. Jonathan took a sip and looked at the cup. He looked at me. “Your recipe?”
I nodded and filled my cup and sat back. “Tell me all you can about these missing girls. While I am out ... visiting tonight, I’ll look into it.”
Jonathan smiled and looked at Captain Able. The captain shifted in his seat. “There’s not a lot to tell. We never find where they are taken from. No one sees anything, and we have never found a single girl that has gone missing.”
Tess gasped from behind him, and he turned quickly and went to her. I looked at Jonathan. “Tess’s sister is missing.”
He slammed his hand onto the table. “Damm it, Charles. I want this to be a priority.”
I sipped my coffee and watched as a dozen militia entered the square and changed direction from the city guard building to us. Jonathan stood as they approached, and Captain Able turned towards them as well. Jonathan bowed, and the captain knelt. One of the militia guards stepped towards me. “Kneel.”
I smiled. “I’m not one of the duke’s subjects yet.”
He started to take another step when a richly dressed noble stepped out of the crowd of guards. “Jacob? I wouldn’t push it. The Armsmaster is correct, and I don’t feel like finding someone new to spar with.”
The guard froze and then hesitantly bowed. “My apologies, Armsmaster.”
I nodded. “Accepted.”
The duke sat in Jonathan’s chair. “Jonathan said your grandfather wanted you to retire from the mercenary companies. Did he tell you to come here?”
I nodded. “Yes, I don’t know why. He was so ... cryptic.”
The duke looked over his shoulder at Jonathan and back to me. “What do you know about my family?”
I shrugged. “Not much. We never worked in your duchy, so there was no reason to find out. I do know about Armsmaster Henry.”
The duke nodded. “Most Armsmasters know about Henry. The reason I asked was that I have one son and four young unmarried daughters.”
I sighed and shook my head. “Grandfather is playing matchmaker. I am sorry, my lord. I had no idea.”
He smiled. “I believe you. Your grandfather is a very smart and capable man.”
He looked at Jonathan. “I have seen enough. I’ll schedule his oath for the morning.”
He looked at me as he stood. “Jonathan should have told you about my daughter, Samantha. Find her! The sooner, the better.”
He turned and walked off with his guards surrounding him again. I looked at Jonathan. “Would you like to accompany me to pick some guards?”
He shook his head. “Time for me to get home. Send a runner if you find out anything. Be here tomorrow morning, and we’ll walk up to court together.”
I nodded and finished my coffee. Standing, I looked at Captain Able, “I’ll need a few men.”
He looked at Jonathan, and he nodded, “He’s the duke’s new Kristin.”
Captain Able’s eyes widened, and he nodded, “I’ll see he gets whatever he needs.”
I gave Jonathan a slight bow and started for the Guard building. The captain matched steps with me, and the guard opened the door as we arrived. When I walked in this time, it seemed like a different atmosphere. I stopped inside the door for a minute and watched all the guards. Finally, I walked over to a dark-haired, slim man, “Tracker?”
He didn’t turn towards me, only giving a short nod. I looked at another guard about five feet away. He was short but very stocky; he was sharpening a dagger that was already sharp. “Hunter?”
He gave me a glance and nodded. I looked at a guard across the room; he seemed to just blend into the surroundings. He was leaning against the wall, and after a minute, he nodded. I glanced at a huge blond guard sitting alone at the next table. After a minute, he sighed and turned towards me, “No halfway, Armsmaster.”
I smiled, “It’s Kristin, and I don’t do things halfway; you know that.”
The guardroom stilled as all the guards looked at me. The man I was talking to stood and walked to a weapons rack along the wall and pulled a worn sword belt down from above it. I looked at the captain, “Send runners out and tell all your guards. I’ll be leaving a trail a blind man could follow. Have runners ready at your guard meeting places.”
I started for the door, and the four men fell in with me. Once outside, I looked at the men, “If you need to speak, call me Charles.”
The Tracker nodded, “Dett”
The hunter was scanning the square, “Edward.”
My assassin shrugged, “Chris.”
The large man only returned my smile, “Sergeant Joules sent word you were coming.”
I nodded, “It wasn’t a secret. It’s been a while, Peter.”
He nodded, “Mona will want to say hello.”
I laughed, “Did she get on with the militia?”
He grinned, “She’s a sergeant.”
I nodded, “This is going to be a dirty, no-holds-barred run. I need a starting place. Do you know of any guild houses or people?”
Peter nodded, “Dett? Let’s take it to McSire.”
Dett smiled thinly, “My pleasure.”
As soon as we reached a street, I signaled, and our group seemed to dissolve into the shadows. All except for Dett. He walked on as if unconcerned. He stopped at a door, and we melted out of the shadows. I nodded to Peter, and we followed him through the door as he kicked it out of its frame.
I slammed the first man that I came to into a wall and let him fall to the floor. Chris followed me in, and Edward followed him. I let them take the lead. They knew this McSire, and I didn’t. There was only one woman in the house, and seven men. Three were still alive when we stopped: two men and the woman. I knelt by a struggling McSire, “I need information, and you are going to give it.”
He spit at me, “I know the law. Take me to the goal.”
I smiled, “Unfortunately, your guild declared war on me, so that is out. You also messed your bed when you took the duke’s daughter, and that is treason.”
His face went pale, “We didn’t touch her.”
I pulled a wicked-looking knife from the small of my back, “Too bad we can’t take your word for it. I will start off by removing your manhood, and then I will start asking questions. Each question you can’t or won’t answer will be another part of your body. Hand, foot, arm, and so on. I’m sure you get the picture.”
I looked at Peter, “Would you cut his clothes off, please?”
Peter’s grin was very sinister, “Want us to tie him up?”
I shook my head, “I don’t have time to be fancy. Just cut them off so we can get on with it.”
He pulled his dagger, and McSire screamed, “WAIT! I’ll tell you everything.”
I looked at him as I tested the blade of the knife I held, “Where is the guild master, and where are the girls being kept?”
He swallowed, “The ... the guild master is in Hermon’s. I’m not sure where the girls are. I heard they take them to one of the inns on the docks.”
I looked at Edward, “Tie them up.”
I stepped to the side with Chris, “Go to one of the meeting places and send a runner. I want a platoon of militia just back from the docks, not Guards. Meet us at this Hermon’s.”
Chris nodded and left at a trot while I looked at Peter, “Is there someplace close we can put them without anyone finding them?”
Twenty minutes later, we were in the shadows across from a tiny, unknown tavern. Chris slipped out of the shadows, and we crossed the street. Edward drifted to one side of the building while Dett went to the other. Peter didn’t even slow down at the door. It splintered and flew across the room as we entered.
Edward pushed two old women out of the kitchen as he came in, and Dett shoved a stunned young man into the room from a back door. There were six men in the room at the only two tables. I pulled my sword, “Gentlemen, the guild has committed treason by taking the duke’s daughter. I want the guild master, and I want him now. If you don’t give him to me or tell me where he is, I will start cutting pieces off you until you do.”
A man that was a little better dressed than the others stepped away from his table with his hand on his dagger, “The guard doesn’t have the authority to do that.”
I smiled, “I am not the Guard. I am the Duke’s Kristin, and if you don’t remove your hand from that dagger, I will remove it permanently.”
His hand jerked away from the dagger as his face paled, “I didn’t know this was a guild house.”
I walked up to him and touched his hand with the tip of my sword, “These tell me you are lying.”
My sword swung up to his face and touched him next to one of his eyes, “These tell me you are lying. Which would you like me to remove first?”
He shuddered and glanced at a man across the table, “The guild master left. The night master knows where he went.”
I smiled and pushed against his chest with the point of my sword. When he had stepped away, I faced the man across the table, “Talk!”
He smiled, “I am not as gullible as he is.”
I walked around the table and kicked him off the bench. I stepped on his wrist as Chris knelt on the other side. I knelt, pulling my fighting knife and cut his fingers off. While he screamed, I looked at the men, “I will have the guild master, the duke’s daughter, and everyone else that had a hand in it, or you will be in small pieces when I leave.”
I slapped the night master, “Where is he!”
“The Sharks Fin!”
I put the knife at his throat, “The girl.”
He swallowed, “She’s there too. They have a shipment going out in the morning, though.”
I looked around the room, “If you are in the city tomorrow, your lives will be forfeit.”
I looked at Chris and tilted my head; he left without glancing back. I looked around the room, “If word of this gets there ahead of me, I will hunt you down and use you as bait.”
I turned and walked out. Outside, I looked at Dett, “We need to get there as soon as possible.”
I looked at the others, “When we get there, no one goes in, and no one comes out.”
Dett turned and started off at a trot. I stopped when we came to a runner, “I am Armsmaster Winston. Go to the sheriff and no one else. Tell him, The Sharks Fin, and the Militia. Now go, run.”
I didn’t even wait to see him off. I turned and started after Dett and the others. They had slowed but did not stop. Five minutes later, Dett was pointing out a rundown two-story tavern across the street. I signaled to Peter about a man leaning against one corner of the building, and he slipped away.
Dett and Edward slipped alongside the building and then around back. I watched as the man leaning against the wall suddenly jerked back into the shadows.
“About time he started using his skills.”
I smiled, “You know why he stopped.”
Mona stepped forward and put her hand on my shoulder, “I know. I just don’t like admitting he was right.”
I turned my head and smiled, “Mona, you were always a bloodthirsty bitch. If he didn’t love you so much, he would have gone back to the farm we found him on.”
She grinned, “It goes both ways, Charles.”
I nodded, “We are going to have a lot of company soon. I want this settled before they get here. Split your people and don’t let anyone get away. Make sure they watch their backs and the windows.”
I watched as they split up, crossing the street to surround the tavern. I nodded to Chris as he stepped out of the shadows, “You four hold the main floor, I’ll take the upper floor. Bring the militia in if you need them.”
I walked across the street and opened the door. Chris was right behind me. The room fell silent as I continued across the floor. A large man stepped in front of me at the stairs. I didn’t hesitate. My knife swept up and across, and I continued up the stairs as he fell to his knees, trying to stop the blood that flowed from his cut throat.
Peter and Edward stepped in the back door before I was halfway up, and I heard Dett chasing people into the room from the kitchen. At the top of the stairs, another man stepped out. This one I stabbed through the gut and shoved out of my way. There were four men in the hall, and then there were none.
I walked to the end and opened a door. A large man was raping a struggling girl. I quietly stepped next to him and grabbed his hair and cut his throat as I threw him onto the floor. “Stay where you are, girl, and be quiet.”
That was the way it went until the last room. When I stepped into the last room, a man was crouched next to the bed, holding a dagger to the girl’s throat. “Let me go, or she dies.”
I smiled as I stepped further into the room. “You would be the guild master. I am afraid you aren’t going anywhere.”
He tilted the dagger. “This is the duke’s daughter. Let me go, or she is dead.”
I pulled my sword. “I’ll make you a better deal. You let her go, and I will kill you quickly and painlessly.”
I was moving from side to side in such a way that he didn’t even realize I was moving closer until my sword struck and his dagger fell. I twisted the blade up and away, and since the blade had pierced his hand, it went with it. I stepped forward as he fell to the floor. He glared up at me, “You don’t know who you are dealing with.”
I smiled as I struck him with the pommel of the sword, knocking him unconscious. “A dead man.”
I looked at the girl. She had bruises on her face and body. Even though she had been beaten, there was something else there. “Samantha?”
She nodded, and I smiled gently. “I will get you home as soon as I can.”
She shook her head. “No.”
I looked at her. “Why not?”
She looked down as silent tears fell. “They used me. I am no longer fit to be my father’s daughter. Just leave me.”
She looked down at the dagger on the bed next to her. I stepped closer and took the dagger. “You are still your father’s daughter, and it is his decision to make that choice.”