Chapter 17

Lord Tailem was surprised to see me. I was more surprised that he didn't just start screaming for my head. Thankfully he didn't. The man was about thirty years old. He was short, slender, and a tad bit effeminate in his attire and mannerisms. I ignored that. He was wearing silken gowns that dragged along the floor of his great hall and it looked to me that he was wearing mascara. At a glance I placed him amongst the people of the subcontinent. He certainly wasn't of European or African stock and he wasn't swarthy enough to be from Arabic or Mediterranean descent. He had short straight black hair and wore rings in his ears and on his delicate fingers. He wasn't even armed.

He was however used to giving commands and once he got over the shock of my appearance in his court, he demanded to know who I was and what I was doing there. Having decided to play nice, I didn't just pull out a throwing knife and kill him. Instead I told him exactly who I was and why I was there. That caused him pause for a second or two and I smiled while he scratched his hairless chin, looking to be very deep in thought. Finally he stopped his musing and called for a chair to be brought for me so I could sit and chat with him. He also called for wine and food. I accepted his hospitality with gratitude. It had been a long day and I hadn't eaten much considering what I'd been up to for much of it. Food was greatly appreciated.

He wanted to know about the seizure of the bireme so I told him about it, leaving very little out of my description of the battle. What he was most fascinated about was the fact that I'd flown into battle on the grav bike. Of course he didn't refer to the grav bike as one. Instead he called it a flying horse. I smiled at that simple description and didn't correct him. All I said was that I had powers that worked only for me and I left it at that. From the fact he was meeting me alone, save for his guards, I got the feeling that any advisors that he employed were no more conversant with advanced technologies that he was.

Eventually the conversation turned to Lord Barnabas and what I intended to do with the ship. Politely I put forth a few options for his lordship to consider. I suggested that he buy the craft from me and man it with his own troops, thus giving him an advantage over Lord Barnabas. Surprisingly, Lord Tailem shook his head no to that idea. He wasn't a military man and Lord Barnabas was and in these waters there was a need for military men. Given that attitude I suggested that he buy the ship from me and then gift it back to Lord Barnabas to win favour with him. Lord Tailem was against that as well. Without admitting it, he made it clear that his coffers were limited and that he felt his money would be best spent elsewhere. Besides, as he pointed out, Lord Barnabas would ask why his lordship had even treated with me, instead of just seizing the vessel and returning it along with my head. I pointed out that he could try but that better men had also tried before him and I was still alive. That brought a frown to his lordship's face, but it faded quickly when I made another suggestion. I suggested that I go and speak with Lord Barnabas myself and resolve the issue to the satisfaction of all. Lord Tailem was all for that as I thought he would be. So after a bit more chatting I excused myself and returned to the Windrunner. As I left Lord Tailem's great hall, I returned the sword that I'd taken back to the spokesman. He was still there, waiting upon the whim of his master and he wasn't happy that his master had let me go. Still he did nothing but glare at me when I gave him back his blade and then turned my back on him and walked away.

Tagus, my mates, and my friends were all ecstatic to see me upon my return. They'd stood watch the whole time I was gone and they'd been discussing what to do if I hadn't returned. While none amongst the citizens of Blue Harbour had bothered them, their situation had become precarious when most of Tagus' crew had demanded to be paid off. Of his original crew only six men remained including his quartermaster and his helmsman. Fortunately, during the interlude between arriving and my return, both Tagus and Nimue had interviewed the ex-slaves that had served the Swordfish. Of the eighty men that we'd freed, two dozen had served as sailors upon merchant vessels before they'd been captured by Lord Barnabas and made into slaves. Of them, twelve wanted to stay with us and join us on our adventure and of these men, eight were from alternate Earths. These men all spoke English, whether as their mother tongue or a second language and they all took what had befallen them poorly. It hadn't taken much to sign most of them on as crew for the Windrunner. Naturally, we'd have to keep an eye on them for awhile, not knowing how many of them might have served as pirates in the past.

Once back and after assuring everyone that I was fine and that we were not in any immediate danger, I had a quick chat with Felicity. I wanted to go back to Oak Hall and I wanted to do it tonight and to complicate matters more, I wanted to bring the man that we'd spared back with us. Unfortunately it meant that Felicity would have to make two trips. One would be to drop me off on the promontory and the other would be to bring over our prisoner. Fortunately, with the speed that the bike could obtain the whole operation would only take us an hour. Once that was discussed, I went and had a chat with our prisoner. I made him an offer that he couldn't refuse. When I was done talking with him, I had a second meal with my mates before kitting up and getting ready to go. The last thing I did was have a chat with Tagus about what to do if I didn't return. If I wasn't back by dawn, I wanted him to scuttle the bireme and to put back to sea with all haste. It would be best if he kept going west. I knew that if I didn't return, the Windrunner would be a marked ship and everyone on board would pay dearly if taken.

Twenty minutes later I was standing on the promontory above the city watching Felicity speed off once more. Forty minutes later I was kissing her good-bye and leading my prisoner down the slopes of the promontory, heading slowly towards the city gates. By now darkness had fallen completely and the town lay silent before us.

"Who goes?" questioned the guard on the gate, almost in a casual manner. His tone was quizzical but not threatening, with a hint of surprise.

"A man with a message for Lord Barnabas," I replied firmly but politely.

"And who is that with you?" the guard asked more assertively, noting the man standing beside me.

"He is a citizen of Oak Hall," I informed him bluntly, "and a former crewman of the Swordfish. I've brought him with me to introduce me to his lordship."

That caused a bit of a stir and the guard was soon joined by two other men. They all wanted to know where the Swordfish was and why the crewman was escorting me to the Lord of Oak Hall. They didn't take it well when I said I'd captured the Swordfish and that the man was the sole survivor of the ill fated crew. By then an officer of the watch had appeared to take charge of things. His attitude was definitely sour. I just settled him down before he started something that he'd regret.

"Mind your tongue man," I said to him sharply, "and send word to Lord Barnabas that I wish an audience with him and note this before you think of doing anything else; I slew the crew of the Swordfish myself in open combat and any man drawing a blade against me will meet a similar fate. If you doubt my word, just ask this cur that I've brought along to vouch for me and my tale."

The prisoner spoke up then just as I'd had told him to do before we'd started this trek and he spoke emphatically about me cleaving a bloody path through the crew of the Swordfish starting with its captain. It caused the guards faces to turn white and the officer to rethink his actions. Considering that I was at the city gates and wanting to speak with his lord, the man decided that it might be a good idea to send word to the keep and find out if Lord Barnabas wanted to speak to me. We all waited for a messenger to go with the word of my presence and to return with the lord's response. Thankfully it didn't take long and to my pleasant surprise, Lord Barnabas sent word that he'd be more than pleased to meet with me and that he would vouchsafe my safety while I was in his court. I smiled at that and hoped in silence that he was telling me the truth.

Lord Barnabas was an old man. He was tall and gaunt and white haired and if he had been strong once, he didn't look like it now. He certainly wasn't what I'd expected to find running a town that sold protection to passing ships. Out of courtesy I bowed my head towards the man and then waited for him to speak. Surprisingly, he had a very deep authoritative voice.

"So you are the one I was hired to kill," Lord Barnabas stated bluntly. "Obviously, I failed."

"You did," I replied without hesitating.

"So now what my young warrior?" he asked me, raising an eyebrow as he did. "Are you here to kill me?"

"No," I told him in all honesty, "I am not; or to be more precise, I don't intend to kill you if we can come to terms. I thought that you might be open to a bit of diplomacy."

"Diplomacy," Lord Barnabas chuckled in response, his laughter echoing through his hall. "Now there's something I haven't heard of in a long time. Do you use diplomacy much?"

"No I don't," I told him, sighing heavily as I did, "The truth is that until today I'd normally just kill whoever pissed me off and then move on, but I'm beginning to find that a little tedious, so I decided to try something new and see what happens. The question is ... are you interested in talking?'

Lord Barnabas was very interested in talking, although unlike Lord Tailem, Barnabas preferred doing it in comfort. He took me to his private office and allowed me to get comfortable before we got down to business. He also provided me with food and drink. When I asked him if he would be joining me, he waved me off with courtesy, informing me that he actually ate sparingly these days and that I should not concern myself with his needs. Then he assured me that the food and drink would be fine. He wanted to talk to me, not poison me. I just smiled at him and thanked him for his honesty. In return I told him that my time was limited and that I needed to be gone well before dawn for I had friends waiting for me. With that not so subtle caution mentioned, we got down to business.

First he questioned my prisoner about the taking of the Swordfish. Lord Barnabas looked surprised at the man's description of me flying over the water and landing like a bomb upon the poop deck of the vessel. He then listened carefully as the man described the carnage that I had wrought. Again the man left out the fact that I'd been backed up by archers, but it was really only a minor lie and one that really didn't change the fact that I'd boarded the Swordfish and that I'd cleaved my way through almost forty men. When the man was done, Lord Barnabas dismissed him.

"So you fly through the air do you?" the old man asked with a smile upon his face. "That must have scared the crap out of the ship's captain and his crew. Obviously, it gave you both surprise and tactical advantage. The man who had hired me had told me you were resourceful, but I hadn't imaged that you'd be that resourceful. Well done."

I didn't answer him right away and given my silence the old man pushed on with his thoughts about things.

"So the Swordfish is yours now," Lord Barnabas pointed out, "and I am certainly at a disadvantage given the fact you're capable of flying, yet you come to me openly and offer to parley with me. Why is that may I ask?"

"I'd like to be your friend," I told him bluntly. "Like I said before, I've been killing every man who's pissed me off since I arrived on Game World a little over two months ago and I'm getting tired of it. I know who you are and much of your history here on Game World and besides this protection racket that you're running, you're a pretty good ruler as far as tyrants go, so I thought to myself, why not make friends with you. It would be better than the alternative."

"True," Lord Barnabas acknowledged, "but we might have a problem doing that, considering I was hired to kill you. I'm fairly certain that the man who'd hired me to do the job, wouldn't be happy if I didn't complete the job, especially since he's already paid me. Don't you agree?"

I did agree with Lord Barnabas and I told him so. Then I asked him a few questions. I learned that the man who'd hired him was another suit from the other Earth. Lord Barnabas described him as being short, plump, and greasy looking, dressed up in a pin-stripped suit. The man had shown up with a small guard of warriors and a large chest filled with gold. I smiled when he admitted freely that he hadn't even thought twice about accepting the job or not. The gold outweighed any qualms that he might have had about the right or wrong of the thing. After all, he'd been at this business for a long time and on Game World people died all the time.

The fact was that Lord Barnabas had been on Game World for almost fifty years and he'd been fighting and killing since the first day that he'd arrived. Fortunately for him, he was better prepared to survive here than most who'd been picked up and dumped by the bastards on the other Earth. He'd been a soldier on his world and he'd arrived here fully kitted out, except for his firearms. His kit and military experience had given him the edge over everyone he'd encountered and eventually he'd been able to seize control of Oak Hall from the previous ruler of the town. Since then he'd been a firm but fair leader and he'd made life better for everyone in the town. It was one of the reasons that I was talking to him instead of just killing him.

Having listened to his story I decided to tell him the truth about the world he was a part of. Much of what I told him didn't faze him a bit. He had suspected something like what I ended up telling him long ago and my telling him just confirmed his own opinions. Unlike many that I'd told the tale of Game World to, Lord Barnabas didn't get upset and curse the other Earth. In fact he was very accepting of the reality, which in a way made sense considering that he'd spent most of his life here and for the most part, it had probably been better than what he'd have experienced back on his own Earth. Here he was a lord and commander of a military force that controlled the length of the Sea of Marmara and back home he would have been just a retired soldier living out his days on a government pension, hoping to get by. I accepted his perspective on things and pushed on, bringing us back to the possibility of becoming friends.

"It still comes down to the same issue," Lord Barnabas stated bluntly. "I was paid to kill you and I failed and while I'm in no hurry to try again, if I aid you or even make friends with you, the man who hired me will not be happy and from what you've just told me about their capabilities, making them angry might not be a smart thing to do at this stage in my life. I am not as strong or as fit as I once was and I have no desire to die upon another man's sword if I can help it. Besides, I have no heirs and therefore there is no one I can hand the city over to who'd run it as I've been running it these last few decades. If I died helping you, I would be setting in motion a period of chaos in Oak Hall that will probable only end when several others have died as well. To be honest, most of my underlings only serve me for the money I give them. They have no love for each other or for the city and the common folk. It is for them I must refuse your gesture of friendship."