Chapter 9

It’s ironic that, even with the passing of time, there are days one remembers in every detail. Years may go by, but one will always recollect trivialities, such as what they had to break their fast. This would be such a day for Thomas.

The Rangers had arrived back at the barracks in Inglewood late the previous night. They had wanted to sleep in their own beds, so they’d pressed on after dark. Thomas had given his men the next few days off, and he planned to sleep in. Before it was even light out, though, Frost was in his face.

“What is wrong with you?” Thomas complained.

Then he heard Jemma moan.

Thomas jumped out of bed and followed Frost to Jemma’s door. The wolf acted like something was wrong, so he opened it. He found Jemma sitting on the edge of her bed, holding her side. She looked up and grimaced.

“If your brother was within reach, I would take a rusty knife to his man parts. This baby is coming. Soon.”

“I’ll get the midwife. You keep an eye on her,” Thomas ordered Frost before going back to his room to dress.

Three hours later, Jemma made Thomas an uncle by giving birth to a healthy boy whom she named Boris. By then, everyone was up, so Thomas brought the little one out for them to see.

“I take it we have to eat at the dining hall,” Jason mock-complained.

“What? Did you think she would jump out of bed and cook for you?” Griffin asked.

Thomas ignored their bickering and took his nephew back into Jemma’s room. He was soon kicked out as the castle’s female contingent began to arrive. Word was out about their new addition. Jason turned out to be right: if Thomas wanted to eat, he would have to go to the dining hall.

Thomas had just finished eating when Frost gave a little warning growl. He looked up to see Gage, the guardsman trainee who had tried to bully him the first day, walking towards where he was seated. Frost was a good judge of people, and she didn’t like Gage. Thomas had to agree that he wasn’t a pleasant person.

“I hear your brother’s whore had her whelp,” Gage said with a mocking smirk.

“What do you want, Gage?” Thomas asked in a tone that told his would-be tormenter he wasn’t willing to play his game today.

“While you were off camping in the woods, we had a tournament to see who is the best swordsman among the guardsmen. I won, but Torun made a big deal out of me being lucky you weren’t here. I thought we could go to the practice yard and see who really is the best,” Gage said. “Unless you’re scared.”

Frost was picking up on his irritation with Gage and almost begging Thomas to let her bite him.

“I’ve got this,” Thomas said to calm his wolf down before turning to Gage. “I’ll meet you there in a half hour.”

“Why not now?”

Thomas knew Gage would have his cronies there. Thomas wanted other witnesses in case the proceedings got out of hand.

“Take it or leave it. I’ll understand if you back out,” Thomas said.

“I’ll see you there.”

Thomas finished his meal before going to find Torun.

When Thomas told Torun what he planned, the commander sent a boy to inform Gage that the ‘demonstration’ would be in an hour. Thomas hadn’t known that Princess Catherine of Manito was supposed to arrive that day. That meant that the dukes and their firstborn sons were all going to be there to greet her. Torun thought the contest would be good entertainment for everyone.

“You would turn this into a spectacle. Gage will love it,” Thomas grumped.

“The more public the beating, the more it will make me happy,” Torun said.

“Thanks,” Thomas said.

“Not you; I expect you to win,” Torun said when Thomas looked put out.

“But, I’m a Ranger. We don’t practice with swords every day like the rest of the Royal Guard.”

“Alek says that in a real fight, you could take him. I’d wager that Alek would clean the yard with Gage. You’ll do fine,” Torun said reassuringly. “Now go get all dressed up. I want you looking your best for our company.”

Shepherd had been sent with Thomas to make sure he was presentable. He also wanted to see the new addition to the Ranger barracks.

When Thomas was ready, he told Shepherd, “Let’s get going.”

“No. We are to make a grand entrance. Torun wants to impress all the dignitaries.”

When Shepherd was sure they’d waited long enough, he led Thomas to the practice yard. It was good that Thomas had been warned, or he might have been daunted when he saw everyone there.

On one side of the yard were all the guardsmen from both the City Watch and the Royal Guard. On the other were most of the staff that worked in the castle. Overlooking one end was a large balcony, and that was where he spotted her.

Standing next to King Edward was another man with a crown who must be King Gabriel of Manito. With him was the most stunning girl Thomas had ever seen. She wasn’t doing anything that he could see except standing there, leaning on the balcony railing, holding his heart in her hand.

Behind the Kings, Thomas saw his oldest brother, Henry, and father, Duke Charles. Next to them were Duke Able and Duchess Caroline of Pekin with their heir, Candor. He was to go with King Gabriel to be fostered. On the other side were Duke Andric of Henning and his heir, Jacob.

Torun stepped into the middle of the yard, and all talk stopped.

“Last week, we had a little contest to see who the best swordsman was among our Royal Guard. Gage won in a close match over Simon.”

Torun paused to allow Gage’s lackeys a chance to cheer. Thomas noted it was only a handful. The rest of the crowd clapped politely.

“Lord Wolf, the commander of our Royal Rangers, was away on a training mission. While gone, he strengthened our alliance with our northern neighbors, the Wildlings.”

Thomas figured that Torun must have already talked to one of his men because he hadn’t reported on his mission yet. Torun continued.

“I jest when I call him Lord Wolf, but, as you can see, he really does have a wolf. He is, in fact, Thomas Mycroft, the third son of Duke Charles. Thomas is the best swordsman in our reconstituted Royal Rangers. We thought it would be entertaining to have a friendly competition between the Rangers and the rest of the Guard.

“Do we have any supporters for Lord Wolf?” Torun asked.

Gage’s face turned red when everyone who had been courteously clapping for him cheered for Thomas. Thomas put it down more to their dislike for the cocky Gage than to his own popularity. Gage’s group took in their surroundings. Thomas could see that several of them looked uneasy to find Gage wasn’t as admired as they thought.

Gage and Thomas were handed wooden practice swords. The crystal warmed against Thomas’s chest. He felt a need to kneel down and run his fingers through the soil of the yard. The crystal didn’t communicate directly with him; it gave him images and feelings. When he reached for the earth, its magic flowed into him.

Gage came at him before he could fully stand. Gage’s sword darted toward his head, flashed high, then low, then high again. Thomas shifted his sword to a two-handed grip and defended himself. He beat aside Gage’s attack, sidestepped, and then countered.

Gage danced back out of reach. The guardsman was quicker than Thomas would have guessed for a man his size. Thomas shifted his sword to his right hand. Gage leaped forward and began a furious attack that ended with a slash at Thomas’s head.

It was not a very sportsmanlike move in what was supposed to be a practice contest. Thomas decided that if that was how Gage wanted to play it, so be it.

He countered with a parry and gave Gage a shove to push him back when he got close enough. In the practice yard, sword work was more about fencing than fighting. Thomas’s old mentor was Sword Master Nathan, who’d been an accomplished soldier before taking the position with his father. He’d instructed Thomas in how to fight, not just swing a sword.

Gage stumbled, and Thomas took advantage of the opening. Gage jerked back, quick as a fox, but not before the wooden blade grazed his arm.

“First blood to Lord Wolf,” Torun announced to the crowd.

Gage roared as he rotated his arm over his head and brought his wooden blade flashing down in an attempt to cleave Thomas’s head open. What followed was a furious exchange with the sound of their blades clacking together.

As they fought on, Thomas began to be able to anticipate what Gage’s next move would be. He momentarily wondered if his magic was somehow aiding him. Thomas decided to trust whatever was helping him and started to press his advantage.

In a desperate move, Gage became overbalanced and had to put the tip of his blade into the dirt. Instead of jabbing his sword into Gage’s chest, Thomas used its pommel to hit him in the mouth. Thomas then reversed the sword and touched Gage’s chest.

“Second blood to Lord Wolf.”

“But he hit me,” Gage complained, and he felt his now bleeding lip.

All Torun did was raise an eyebrow because Gage had tried to hit Thomas in the head with his blade first.

“Protect yourself. If Lord Wolf scores again, he wins,” Torun reminded Gage.

Thomas began a furious attack that had his opponent backpedaling all over the yard. Thomas could see Gage slowly coming to realize that he was about to lose. Gage began to hack wildly in response. There were numerous times Thomas could have ended it, but he’d had enough of Gage trying to intimidate him and others. An example had to be made.

Then disaster almost struck. Gage made a jerky motion as though he wasn’t sure what he would do next, and somehow his blade got inside Thomas’s guard. Thomas could see that Gage planned to drive his sword into Thomas’s throat. Gage’s brief look of glee left his face when Thomas dove to the ground and brought his sword up.

His plan had been to crack Gage on the knee, but the blade seemingly had a mind of its own. It slid up Gage’s inner thigh with a resounding smack. Every man present gasped in sympathy as Gage crumpled to the ground and writhed in pain.

Thomas stood up as Torun came to him with a big smile.

“Winner! Lord Wolf!”

Since Thomas had a free day, he briefly went to the church because he heard the choir singing. They were being led by none other than his middle brother, Philip. Since Thomas had been in town, he’d yet to cross his paths with his brother. To be honest, Thomas hadn’t really tried.

It had always confused Thomas why in church, they did everything in another language. The songs they sang, the prayers they said, and even the book they worshiped were all gibberish. Shaking his head, Thomas left the church.

His next stop was at one of the town’s blacksmiths. This one had a reputation for creating the best swords and armor, even better than the castle’s smithy. As he walked into the shop, Thomas felt the heat from the forge. The shop’s walls were lined with swords on display. A young woman was working at a bench; on what, Thomas couldn’t see. When she spotted him, she hurried to greet him.

“You must be looking for a fine sword, my lord.”

Thomas closed his eyes for a moment and chastised himself. He’d come straight from his contest with Gage and was wearing his court garb. He was sure she would charge him extra for his mistake.

The girl started when Frost stuck her head in the door to see what he was up to.