Chapter 6: Happy Days

Amanda fully expressed the depth of her ambivalence about these new developments. In simple terms she could have cared less about what I thought was important any longer once she saw Peter. She had suffered and wanted her reward. I could understand that and yet knew that what I was doing would build my skills, help my understanding and build a network that would help me much like Samuel’s did.

Shortly after breakfast, we took inventory of the items we had acquired last evening. Sold off what we didn’t need, resupplied what we did and then left going away from the farm.

“How long are we going to be doing this?” Amanda asked with some disdain in her voice as we were going down the road.

“I need more experience and understanding. James and Peter need weapons training.”

“What about what I need,” she whined.

“It is safe right here with me. I know you’re unhappy now. I can only promise you will not leave Crossroads before you are very happy. Just have a little patience.”

“If I wanted patients I would have been a doctor or a dentist!” James and Peter were of no help laughing at her joke.

“I believe that you are still a slave according to the documents I carry. Do not make me have to remind you what the penalties are for disobeying your Master on Chaos.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” I cut her off with the look. She turned white and the discussion was over.

We camped out and I began my instruction with James and Peter. The goals I had were to make them fighters. I needed to be able to have people I could count on and help me. The position of Master did not hinder their ability to learn. I would have to think about how to change that before I left.

We wandered from town to town, looking. I spent a fair amount of money as we did that. The trip was as much of a bonding experience for us, as training. I came to know James and learned to like him. He had been the younger brother who was a surprise to his parents. They had stopped having children eight years before. That explained their willingness to indulge him if not outright spoil him.

Peter was the bond slave but more of a brother to James than a slave. As a slave William would not let him take up arms even if it was to protect James. But they went everywhere together. They knew how to make Amanda smile and helped her with her anger at being delayed.

Since we were away, few looked at us. The news of James being my slave was not important enough to mean much outside of the neighboring community. Given that we were all armed now, except for Amanda, few wanted to tangle with us.

I had kept Amanda at arm’s length about returning for over six weeks. I believed that what I wanted to accomplish with James and Peter was now complete. So I asked James the way to his family’s farm one morning and we packed up and headed that way.

I told them of my plans to be back shortly, but that they would need to keep working on their fighting skills. Peter gave me the look that said I was not all there if he thought that William would allow me to dictate to him about Peter being able to continue this path. I had cooked up a little plan of my own and figured that I could pull it off.

William was one to want his way and get what he wanted. I had used that to acquire Amanda as a gift from him. I would use that to free Peter. The cost would be my freeing James, but I was not going to own slaves here anyway.

“When we get back to the farm, I am going to free both of you.”

“I am not yours to free, sir,” Peter said.

“Did you see how William gave me Amanda when I asked for her?”

“I saw. He thought he would score points with Martha for doing that.”

“What points do you think he will score with her if I offer him James, if he frees you?”

“But you will lose a slave to free one.”

“I have not wanted any of you as my slaves. It only served a purpose for me to do that. That purpose is now complete.”

“I wish to stay with you,” James said.

“Where I am going next you cannot, but it is my goal to be right back here as soon as I have completed my obligation to my Damsel.”

“You will free us and return to Crossroads and then come back here?” James asked.

“I didn’t think you could just do that,” Amanda said.

“This needs some explanation: In my world, I am a lawyer, that is a person who is trained in the rules of law. Now the rules are black and white but a good lawyer can expand the rules and help his client. So I have looked at the rules, and I see small places where there is wiggle room.”

“Wiggle room?” Amanda asked.

“It’s a legal term for the gray area between the black and the white. My job it to use those gray areas to accomplish what I can for my client. In this case I am the client which is a foolish thing, but I am the only lawyer that I know of who is a Hero. So I am stuck being my own client and lawyer for better or worse.”

“Do you always win when you bend these rules?” James asked.

I went on to explain about my bending the rules and how I was then required to do the community service. I didn’t go into the exact details of it so that Amanda was not fully aware of everything. But I did mention that my community service involved eleven years of my labor impregnating over four thousand women during that time.

“You don’t look that old, sir,” Peter said.

“There is a time differential issue that I do not understand. No matter how long I am away, I am always only gone for fifteen minutes on my planet.”

“How do you adjust to that?” James asked.

“It is very difficult at times. So much happens and then I have really not missed anything.”

We traveled along for a while longer and got down to eat lunch. “I have told you a great deal more than is known by others here. I must ask that you tell no one about any of this. I know that as my slaves you would not. But before I leave, you will both be free men again. What I have told you could cost many their lives if it was common knowledge.”

“Why did you tell us all of this?” James asked.

“I believe that when I return, I will want to travel on Chaos without the need to rescue a Damsel. This is to accomplish much of what I have planned, and I want to travel with the two of you while I do that.”

“But you could have us do that with you as your slaves,” Peter said.

“True, I could do that. But I prefer to have you as brothers in arms rather that as slaves beholding.”

“You’re different than most,” James said.

“He is a Hero and Heroes have no need of slaves,” Amanda spoke up then.

“He must be to be willing to give up so much to accomplish his goal. That is not the way of Chaos,” Peter observed.

“It is the way of a Hero and why so many women from my world come here to be rescued by them.” She came over and gave me a kiss.

“I have not liked waiting and did not see why we had to. I am sorry for all the aggravation I caused you, my Hero. You were right to do this, and I was impatient. I await your command, my Lord and Master.”

I swatted her rear and said. “Mount up. We have miles and miles to go before we sleep.”

“I have heard that before,” Amanda said.

“It’s part of a poem by a man from my planet named Frost.”

It took three days before we made our way back to the first town; we had traveled in a large circle during our wanderings. We stabled our horses and then got rooms at the inn because it was late in the afternoon. The stew was not great, but it was better than camp food. Rather than stay in tonight I suggested we all clean up and head off to the tavern later and enjoy Amanda’s last night on Chaos.

James and Peter had a room and Amanda and I shared one. As much as I wanted to I resisted the urge to be with her, those rules were not worth pressing if it would trap her here. All cleaned up an hour later, we made our way. We sat in the back and drank; James told Peter how the games were played and how he had been cheated.

Amanda simply sat next to me and hummed to herself, the sound of being content. I watched as people came and went. And three men watched us for a while and then one of them left.

“Trouble is coming,” I said. That got their attention.

“I saw him; do we stay here or leave?” James asked.

“We can control more and protect our backs here.” They will confront me just like before. Your jobs will come when you are out of the way.”

“What should I do?” Peter asked.

“You will protect Amanda. If you can do that and help then by all means join in. If they attack, you protect her.”

I readied my weapons and had Amanda stand while I removed my sword out of the line of sight of the two left at the bar. I was certain that the news of how I had dispatched the other three was known. If they knew of James actions was anyone’s guess. This time I would simply bring my sword to bear. If they had not come in with theirs out I would kill one or two of them before they knew what happened.

Four more returned with the one who had left. This was going to be a fight. Patrons started leaving almost as soon as the others came in. We sat in our place, and I waited for them to come to us.

It didn’t take them long to make their way over. Rather than Peter and James backing away, I stood with my sword in hand. My guess was that the first one to speak would be the leader of this group. They went to pull swords and the one in the center started to say something. I pierced his vocal cords then. He would suffocate as the battle raged around him. I killed the next one with a belly stab and blocked a thrust with my sword then. Peter and James were now engaged with a man each, and I had three of them in front of me.

From behind me flew a dagger and stuck in the eye of the man to my right. He screamed out and that got the attention of the other man. I was thankful now that Amanda had finally made us include her in our training, but I never thought she would be using that. I had dismissed her as a woman; if she had been against me, I would have been the one with a dagger in my eye.