Chapter 11

The following day had little of note except that the food was noticeably better now that the old cook had been removed. The one time Jessa came out and tried to flirt with Andrew almost led to a fight with Brena. Andrew had decided after their fun in the shower that he wouldn’t have any more time with Jessa. He could ill-afford to have Brena angry with him in the coming months. This was going to be a trip that could very easily get them all killed if she were not focused on survival at all times while on the road. Anger would cloud her thinking and slow her reactions. Ledger just sat and sulked. He wouldn’t talk about what was bothering him, but from the glances he aimed at Brena, Andrew gained a fair approximation of what his problem was.

“Alright Ledger,” asked Andrew, “What is the problem now?”

Ledger looked up at Andrew, “I am upset. I am sure my parents are dead, and if not already, my last brother and sister will be too, very soon.” He took a sip of the water in the mug in front of him and grimaced. It was warm and had been cut with a somewhat bitter wine. He had gained an aversion to alcohol and didn’t want a repeat of the painful events a few nights before.

“Ok,” thought Andrew, “I was way off target there.”

“I don’t have a home to go back to now. No family, no home, and little money even after the sales I had when the copied stones failed.” He grimaced thinking about the money had sent to help with the market repairs.

Brena reached over and took his hands in hers. “Hey, don’t feel so bad, I’m in the same boat Ledger. My mother was beaten, raped, and beheaded by the city guard. My father died giving me time to escape the city. All my family, all my friends that I know of are dead now.” She gave his hands a light squeeze, “Even my home is denied me by that bastard, may he rot in the abyss for what he ordered done to the wives and daughters of the Thieves Guild of Planes Guard. I will go back one day, and when I do, I will claim my seat as Queen of Thieves. And Andrew, I keep getting the impression I will be the Queen of far more than that station.” She let his hands go and blushed at her sudden outburst. “I just need to be trained and gain a lifetime of experience to be ready for that role.”

Ledger looked at Brena in wonder and asked, “How can you be so accepting of what was done to you?” he asked quietly.

“Oh believe me when I say, I am anything but accepting of what I’ve been put through,” she snarled. “When I am finally able to return home, if any of his family still lives, I may give in to my anger and take revenge on them.”A dagger appeared in her hand and she drove it point first into the wood of the table to drive home the point.

Andrew sat quietly and listened to them talk a bit. When they wound down, he told them why he had been forced to leave home. “I had to leave to save my family from a worse fate than both of yours faced. Worse still, I may never be able to return and see them again if I am to protect them.” He paused and let that revelation sink in. “The only way they will be safe will be with the destruction of this, this Blood Queen. She is my reason to leave home, my mission in life.” He glared at them and went on, “I am going to Fairham’s Cove and I will learn from the men that my parents worked with. I will learn and become a warrior that will be a living legend to save my family from the evil that woman represents.” This time as he looked at them, he could see he was getting through to them. After taking a few slow deep breaths to calm himself, “In the morning, we have driving lessons for heavy loads and teams of horses or mules. I expect you both to learn and grow. As for me, I am heading to the palace to see if I can get some weapon workout time with the guards.” He stood at headed across the room to the door to the street.

After Andrew had left, Ledger and Brena sat in silence for a bit. Finally, Ledger spoke, “He made the hardest choice. We didn’t have a choice, he had to choose, and he chose exile to protect his family.” Ledger sipped more of the spiked water. He spat it out in disgust. “Gods that is awful.

Brena was of the same mind and took the mug to the counter. She dumped it in a barrel that was used for wastewater and left the mug for the barmaid. Ledger followed suit and he waited to see what Brena had in mind next. “Come up to my room Ledger, I have water you would not believe.” He followed her upstairs and was soon sipping water from the refilling jar. When she explained what it did, he tried to feel for the enchantment on it.

What he found left him stunned. It wasn’t a single enchantment, it was several dozen combined to create the effect of refilling the jar with fresh water each day. He tried to focus on one portion but wasn’t able to sort out the different spells woven together.

“The power that went into making this artifact, Brena is beyond anything possible on Gardallen. I can’t even begin to figure out how it works, much less how it was created in the first place,” he said after a moment’s thought. “What else do you have stuffed in that bag?”

“See what you can make of the bag. It is bigger inside than it is outside,” she said.

Ledger put his hand on it, then jerked it away. He rolled to the floor, holding his head while crying in pain. Brena quickly got down with him, holding him to calm him down. “What happened Ledger, how did it hurt you?”

He looked up at Brena, his eyes would not focus right away. He was still partially trapped in that horrible place of otherness. He felt like he had been turned inside-out for an instant when he tried to feel the enchantments. “Keep it away from me Brena. Please, keep it away. The place, the other place, inside. It is inside and outside at the same time.” He tried to sit up as his vision cleared but his head didn’t want him to move yet. “I feel worse now than I did with the hangover.”

Brena lowered his head to the floor. “Try not to move Ledger, I’ll be right back.” She grabbed a small cooking pan from her field gear and ran downstairs. In the kitchen, she was able to dip out some boiling water from a pot that was being readied for making soup for the evening meal. The woman that was in charge of the kitchen now yelled at her, but Brena ignored her and ran back upstairs, trying not to slosh the hot water all the way. When she opened her door, Ledger had not moved. He was hurting badly from the way he was gripping the sides of his head and groaning. She set the pan on the nightstand and pulled her poison pack out of its slot on the pack. She gathered more of the leaves she had given him before. This time she crushed them and put them in the hot water. She stirred it slowly until the color seemed about right for what she wanted.

With a small drinking mug, she held up Ledger’s head and poured a small amount between his lips. That woke him up in a hurry. She had just scalded his mouth and lips with a foul-tasting liquid that was worse than the bad ale. She held him down and tried to calm him. “I know, it’s bad, but relax Ledger. It will help your head in a few minutes.

She was right. In a few minutes, the pain behind his eyes subsided and he was able to sit back up. She held him and told him to take it slow. He moved slowly, nodded his head, turned it side to side and he decided it would stay attached for another day. It still hurt, but wasn’t blinding him anymore.

“Yeah, slow. Moving still makes my head feel like it wants to try and come off.” He managed to turn and face her now. “Thanks, Brena. Maybe you should change your field to be a healer.”

“I’ll have you know, those leaves are a rather nasty poison if prepared in a different way. I will continue my current trade, safer,” she replied coldly.

Ledger looked her in the eyes and could see she meant it. He thought he saw something else in them as well. He reached up and pulled her head down to his and kissed her. She jerked back and smiled. It was not a friendly smile.

“Ledger, for both our sake’s, never, ever try and take such liberties with me again.” Her face was now cold and blank. Her eyes said death if anybody else had tried it with her.

“Yeah, right,” he agreed. “I’ll just be going now, Brena. Thanks for the water.” He pulled a small stone from a pocket and concentrated on it. He tossed it to her. She caught it and looked at him quizzically. “Drop it in water and it will heat it for you. When you take it out, it cools right away.” He stepped into the hall and returned to his room.

Once he had his door closed, he said, “You stupid idiot.” He curled up in a ball on the bed and began to quietly sob. He missed his family, even as evil and uncaring as they were, he missed them.

Andrew was directed to the training yard and saw several heavily muscled men wrestling in a sand-filled circle. That particular sport was not what he was after today. He set his small pack down and removed his shirt, placing it on top of the pack. He thought about removing the sword but decided that it would not be a good idea. He studied the walls and soon spotted a weapons rack in the shadows of an awning. He found a full-length quarterstaff and moved to the open area of the yard. He began with the simplest forms and progressed from there. When he hit a third level form, he began to have trouble keeping his balance. That was one of the things his mother had been working on with him just before he had, had to leave. One of the men in the yard had been watching him closely since he had started. When he saw Andrew was having trouble, he walked over with his combat staff.

“You were doing fine until you hit the sweeping wings. Your balance is all over the place. You need to be centered and have a balance with one foot to the rear to pull the staff back around as you come out of the sweep. You have both feet side by side.”

“My mother was training me in the staff,” said Andrew. “She kept telling me that as well. I just can’t seem to get my left foot back as I bring the staff around.”

“She did a good job up to that point then. Why did she stop teaching you?” he asked.

“Wasn’t much of a choice. I had to leave before we could go any further with the training,” Andrew replied.

“That’s too bad, you have the size, speed, and reach to be a good stick fighter.” He looked at Andrew and noticed the sword. “How are you with that sticker there?” He pointed at the sword.

“About the same. I have enough skill to not cut my own arm off and that’s about it,” said Andrew.

The man laughed at that. “That’s how we all start-out, with just enough skill to not kill ourselves.” He looked at the sword that was sheathed at Andrew’s hip. That looks like a real sword too. May I see it?” he asked.

Andrew whispered, “No killing unless I call for it.”

“Agreed Master,” replied the sword with what sounded like a chuckle. “I’m not hungry today after the feeding the other day.”

Andrew pulled it out and held it so the man could see it clearly. The man noted how Andrew was holding it, not touching the metal with his bare hand. “I thought so. Your Lann and Lorna’s son. I would know Blood Rend anywhere.”

Andrew was taken aback. How many folks alive knew his parents? “I see you seem surprised. I used to be part of Merc’s. Names Mansure. I took the job here after we broke up the company. Not a lot of us left in the world nowadays from what I hear. Word arrived we lost Sizemore to a nutcase Duke. He is a serious loss if you needed somebody to lead a company. I have had a visit from Baron and Minda Fireham. They are on their way out as of this morning to visit some of the others that are still hanging on.” He pointed to a weapons rack, “Grab one of the safe swords kid. I know better than to let that bit of steel touch my skin, even in training.”

Andrew retrieved one of the basic steel swords after re-sheathing a grumbling aware blade. He placed it on his pack and tied it down. The guard taught him how to better balance himself with the blade and to shorten his swings. He had been making it too easy to see what he was planning with each strike. They practiced for another hour until the noon-day bell rang. Andrew returned the sword and staff, thanking Mansure for the help, gathered his gear up and said his goodbyes for the present.

On returning to the Inn, Andrew noted the regulars and a few travelers sitting for the midday meal. He wasn’t hungry so he returned to his room, gathered his shower gear and fresh clothes, then headed back down to get a shower and clean-up for the day. He was in the middle of washing himself when his day turned briefly upside-down. He heard the door to the showers open and close while he was covered in suds, his eyes closed to protect them from the harsh soap. He was rinsing his head and face when he heard a gasp of surprise. It was a feminine gasp, and a sudden, “Oops, sorry mister,” a young girl’s voice said.

“No problem miss. I’ll be done in a few minutes,” he said. He was only slightly embarrassed by having a girl walk in on him. He kept an eye on her and noticed that her gaze was locked solidly on his mid-section. She was like a bird watching a snake.

He stepped out of the water and grabbed his towel from the hook it was on and started to dry off. The girl moved around him, staying out of arms reach. She was afraid of him. She stayed turned away as she undressed and entered the water. He heard another gasp of surprise, “They have hot water, how’s that possible?” she wondered aloud.

He answered her without thinking how she might react, “There is a water tank that is kept filled by pumps from the well. The tank has a heating plate in it to heat the water.” He slid his pants on and unfolded the tunic he was going to wear for the day.

The girl remained silent as he continued to ignore her after the explanation. As he started to leave the shower room, she said, “Thanks, mister.” Then he heard muttering, “I wish I could get him in bed with that monster in me.” He closed the door and made a hasty retreat to his room.

“Oh, boy.” He thought. “If my size is going to cause me trouble...” He sagged at the thought. “It’s no wonder Jessa wants me in her bed. I will be gone from here soon. I don’t want to leave any little ones behind when I go.” He gathered his dirty laundry, went back downstairs and entered the laundry room. It wasn’t in use so he got his clothes in the washtub and began turning the hand crank. While he was doing that, the door opened and the girl from the shower peeked in. She saw him and quickly retreated, closing the door behind her. He pretended to not notice her as she fled. He nodded his head and continued to clean his clothes.

Ledger just sat on his bed and continued to mope. He had just quite possibly ruined a budding friendship. He pulled out one of the oval practice stones and began trying to figure out the spells, not enchantments, but honest to goodness spells he had felt. The bag made his head hurt even thinking about it. He let that go for now. The water jug though, that he might be able to do something with. Putting the stone away, he picked up a carved wooden bowl. In his mind, he went through each part of the spell he had been able to feel. The first was the creation of the water itself. He saw it in his mind, but it was interwoven with several other spells. He looked at each one and wondered at the complexity of them. One would activate the water creation, then the purification would begin an instant later. One little subset seemed to watch how much had been made. When the jug was full, it triggered, turning off the water creation. The purifier seemed to be set to run a bit longer. He decided that was to ensure all the created water was clean and safe to drink. “Wait,” he thought, “why isn’t created pure? Could it be drawing the water from a nearby source and cleaning up as it’s pulled in?”