Chapter 9: Marooned

Minara made her way to a small Inn in the center of the village and she pushed open the door and walked to the bar. Conversation stopped and everyone turned and looked at her, and she noted there were no female customers. The inn keeper looked her up and down, raised his eyebrows, but did not comment; she half expected him to say it was for men only and women were not welcome when she noticed a barmaid standing with a tray of drinks between two tables against a far wall.

"Where is this?" Minara asked.

"The village of Yaton in Matheros," the innkeeper answered.

There was some whispering followed by the scraping of a chair and a burly man sidled up to her towering over her by at least a foot and twice as wide. "Ere, love, I like the tight outfit and the boots, you offering a good time?"

The silence in the bar continued as everyone turned to watch what happened next. Minara ignored him and continued addressing the innkeeper, "How far to the nearest city?"

The burly man towered over her and grabbed her arm. "I'm talking to you."

She moved fast, grabbed his arm, twisted and knocked his feet from under him; he fell on his back and she stamped on his face, bloodying his nose and smashing his head on the floor knocking him out. As she turned back to the bar she heard the other customers whisper behind her, "Did you see that? That little slip of a thing just floored Big Joshan!"

The innkeeper stared at her wide eyed as she repeated her question. "Where is the nearest city?"

"You mean the capital city of Matheros?"

"Yes." Any city will do, so I can contact Varna and warn her to stay away from the human fleet and get a lift off this world.

"Are you traveling there for the games? The young Princess is holding competitions and interviews for a new bodyguard." He looked down at the now groaning Big Joshan. "Never seen anyone move that fast before, or get the better of Big Joshan for that matter."

To prevent further questions Minara decided to confirm she was entering the competition for the Princess's bodyguard. "Well you need to hurry as the city is still three days away and the competition starts in four. You need to take the north road out of town then you will reach a fork in the road - take the left fork, it will lead you directly to Matheros. Minara nodded to the innkeeper, turned, and walked out of the inn back to the road.

The morning of the fourth day saw her at the city gates. She had already decided to enter the competition for the Princess's bodyguard, because as soon as she saw the city in the distance it confirmed her growing suspicion there was no technology on this planet. She would not be sending any messages or requesting rescue. The roads had become busy with travelers and warriors, all making their way to the competition and games, and the evening before she had traded her gun for a sword. There was only sufficient power for five shots, or four once she had demonstrated what it could do. She told the traveling arms merchant it contained limited magic so he had to conserve it. He seemed happy with the deal and Minara had a replacement weapon before her pistol became nothing more than scrap metal and plastic without power.

As she neared the city, she could see the city walls were stone, topped with a wooden palisade. Soldiers dressed in a short mail hauberk, dome helmet, spear and sword patrolled the walls and guarded the gates.

The gate guards stood by and just surveyed the people streaming through the gates. Minara walked through with the crowds unchallenged. There were smells of unwashed bodies, animals and refuse, coupled with baking, perfume and spices. The noise of crowds of people, playing children and the shouts of store holders, assailed her senses. The houses inside the walls were wooden and ramshackle, but as she followed the crowds to the central walled palace the houses started to look grander and better cared for. It was obvious that nobles and wealthy merchants resided close to the royal palace.

Minara had expected the nobles to be Grojan, but so far all the well-dressed people she had seen were Grojani. If the nobles weren't Grojan then the royal family had to be. She followed the crowd through the palace gates guarded by uninterested, bored guards. Through the gates she found a vast palace courtyard filled with colorful tents and stalls. In the center of the courtyard stood an arena. To the side of the arena was a raised stand with seating for a hundred or so people, and placed right in the center of the seating, a raised throne. Some of the seats were occupied but most still empty. At the side of the arena a table had been set up. A smartly dressed officer sat at the table and a small queue of warriors faced him. He appeared to be taking details from each man in turn.

Minara walked up to the end of the queue. "Is this where you apply to be the Princess's bodyguard?" she asked a soldier standing to one side watching the proceedings.

The soldier eyed her up and down. "Yes, but you are a female."

Minara bit back a derogatory retort and smiled. The soldier gasped and took a step back. "Your teeth!"

"Is this for the bodyguard position or not?"

"Yes."

"Thank you." Minara joined the end of the queue. When she reached the officer, he did not look up. "Name?"

"Minara."

He looked up with surprise on his face. "You are a woman!"

Minara looked down at herself and then back at the officer. "Oh you noticed."

The officer flushed then stammered, "B ... b ... but this is a competition for the Princess's bodyguard."

"So who better to guard the Princess's body than a fellow female?"

"But you have to fight miss."

"If I can prove I can fight and win could I have the job?"

"Well yes, I suppose so."

"Good."

"But you are beautiful."

"So?"

The officer realized what he had said and his face colored a deeper red than it had done before. He swallowed. "I'm sorry, but I will have to check with my commander. I don't know if you would be permitted to fight."

"Ancestors! This is a primitive society!" She leant forward and glared at the nervous officer. "Get the commander then."

He looked round at the soldier she had first spoken to. "You, find the commander and bring him here."

"Yes sir."

"Well jump to it, man." The soldier scuttled off into the crowd. The officer turned back to Minara. "If you would please stand to one side for the moment miss I can process the other entrants."

Minara rolled her eyes and stepped to one side of the table. The man who had been standing behind her in the queue leered at her. "I won't fight you, lovely, but I'd happily wrestle you in bed." Minara snorted and pointedly looked at his crotch.

"What with that little thing?"

He growled and opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by the commander. "What's going on?"

The officer at the table stood and saluted. "Sir, this woman," he nodded in Minara's direction, "wants to enter the contest."

"Does she now." The commander frowned and looked Minara in the eyes, then smiled. "If you can knock down this lecherous brute who you just insulted you can enter."

The brute in question laughed. "I'm going to make your eyes water with this little thing." He held his hand against his crotch and thrust his hips in a suggestive manner.

Minara stepped away from the table, then side stepped as he made a grab for her. She dodged several more lunges at her causing him to lose his temper.

"Stand still, bitch!" He threw a punch. Minara ducked under it, spun and landed a kick in his gut. He gasped, the breath knocked out of him. As he bent forward she brought a knee up into his face, and at the same time, clenching her hands together into a single fist, she smashed them down on the back of his head. There was a dull crunch as his jaw and nose broke under the impact of her knee, blood sprayed from his ruined face as his legs crumpled under him.

She stepped back from the now groaning man, writhing on the ground, holding his face. She stuck her chin out at the commander. "There seems to be one less competitor."

The commander laughed and nodded at the soldier standing next to him and indicated the squirming brute on the ground. "Take him away and get him seen to." He turned to the officer standing at the table. "Captain."

"Yes sir?"

"Sign her up."

The captain regained his seat, picked up a pen and looked at Minara. "Name?"

"Minara."

"Place of birth."

Minara thought quickly, to say she was from another planet when the people were so primitive was probably not the best idea, so she gave the name of the village she had first visited. "Yaton."

"Current residence?"

"No fixed abode."

"Age?"

"Twenty-four."

"Thank you, your name will be called once the lots have been drawn. The first round will be using wooden swords, and if you win then the second round will be hand to hand combat. He eyed her again, his gaze coming to rest on the curve of her breasts. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Put your eyes back in their sockets if you don't mind, and yes I do."

"It is probably irrelevant, but once you have won your rounds the Princess will interview you."

"All right, thank you." Minara turned away from the table and joined the crowd looking at the stalls.

She kept close to the arena and watched as the stand filled. Once everyone was seated, the Princess, escorted by two guards walked down the palace steps towards the stand. Minara noted she was a pretty girl of about seventeen or so, but she was still a Grojani. There were no Grojan, they would certainly have arrived with Grojan leaders so there must have been some disaster, or with the declining Grojan birth-rate the original population was not viable. Whatever had happened, she wondered if that were the reason they had slipped back into the dark ages.