Chapter 21

As soon as he got approval for a trading house Rolly rented a house on the hillside overlooking the city. Trading went well. They traded and sold off what they came with and loaded up with some cargo that they could trade in the Intermar and along the south coast. Two of the three ships went out for what would be a three month journey.

Both he and Rachel settled into Veninan high society, which irked Mardeno because even though he was their equal in wealth, most of the high born men of the city didn't like him, and none of the women did.

Another competition was scheduled for shortly after Roly's two ships returned and Mardeno asked Rolly if he was going to enter anyone. Rolly said that some of his guards were interested. Mardeno suggested a series of single bouts between their men, which would excite the crowds more, and bring more notoriety to them, which was good for business.

Rolly agreed.

The day of the competitions came and Rolly put up eight men; two blonds, three redheads, and three with dark hair. The people were excited, and most who knew him wanted to see the arrogant Mardeno lose, especially to the baron everyone seemed to like, so there was a good turnout.

Boxing matches would alternate with wrestling matches, and the sponsor of the loser of each bout would have to put forward the next man so the winner could size him up before choosing his own. They flipped a coin to see who would go first.

Rolly lost the coin toss, so Mardeno had the advantage of seeing the opponent before choosing his man. Bets were placed and Rolly's man was beaten at boxing. Next Rolly put up a red head, for a wrestling bout, and won. Markeno put up a man for boxing, and Rolly's man lost. Next Rolly put up one of his big blonds as a wrestler. Markeno wanted to bet for the man's contract on top of money.

The blond won Rolly a great deal of money, and Mardeno became noticeable upset.

Mardeno then put up one of his best men, who beat Rolly's man – again, at fisticuffs.

Rolly put up a red head, and again Mardeno insisted that the bet included the contract, and again, Rolly won.

Next Mardeno put up one of his own red heads, feeling that his men were definitely better fist fighters than Rolly's. Rolly put up a red head too and asked for the contract of Mardeno's man as part of the bet. Both fighter's contracts were on the line.

It was a battle of flame warriors that was won convincingly by Rolly's red head.

Last was the other blond, up against Mardeno's best wrestler, one of his prized giants. On the line were the men's contracts and enough money to hurt either sponsor. Mardeno had lost one of his prized red head guards, not won three red heads that he wanted, and he had not won a blond he wanted. He felt certain that he would get this one.

Mardeno had been blustering and pushing the bets on Rolly the whole day, and the more he lost the worse he got, almost to the point of using insults to goad Rolly.

The bout looked good, but the quickness and technique of Rolly's blond won the day. At least that was what it looked like to the crowd.

Mardeno had been running his mouth during the match and was now seething in defeat. Rolly took the opportunity to rub it in.

"I guess that I just train my men better than you do. Maybe if you didn't talk so much they would learn more. I hope they are better body guards than they are fighters."

That tipped the cart.

"If you weren't a cripple I'd fight you myself and show you who is better."

Rolly pretended to get crazed angry at the insult. "Maybe at wrestling, but not with fists or a blade. About the only thing you have left of value are your house, those women, and those baubles you are so proud of."

"My women, my house, and the rest of what's in my warehouse for your bodyguards, two ships, and your trade house. – And you leave town."

"You have a deal. Here, in one week."

The bets were signed into contract so neither man could back out.

The day before the bout, Rolly was summoned to speak with the doge. The man simply wanted to have lunch with Rolly and wish him luck. The doge also informed Rolly that some of his ministers had developed a liking for the spirits, and were using it to relax after a busy day. They talked a great deal about the seeds. The doge had lands that he rarely got to visit, but he enjoyed his time there. Rolly took the opportunity to ask if he knew where Rolly could find some fresh olive seeds, or acorns from cork oak. He explained the pirates and the little valley that gained Rolly a shipping company. The doge was much entertained by the story.

Because olive oil was something always in demand, there was not really any competition, especially for someone growing trees so far away, so the doge sold Rolly all of the fresh olive pits he wanted.

When Rolly returned to the villa that evening, everyone looked glum. That was when he found out that Rachel was missing. She had been snatched while walking through the market. Men seemed to come out of everywhere. They had the guards bound and down before the guards could react. The kidnappers then disappeared into the crowd and the complex of buildings and alley ways. The guards had been told to tell the baron that he should lose the fight if he wanted his wife back.

"Shit, shit, shit! I hoped that he wouldn't do this."

Rolly's trade assistant said, "You expected it?"

"We knew it could happen. He did it to lower my will to win. Rachel knew the risks, and we planned for it, but I didn't want her in harm's way."

The next day a huge crowd was gathered, and the doge was in attendance, as was most everyone else.

After both men warmed up and were checked out by a referee, Rolly was informed by his spies that Mardeno did not have anything hidden on him because he was confident that Rolly would throw the fight.

Before they started, Mardeno spoke to Rolly.

"You can get your wife back one of two ways. Lose or kill me. I haven't done anything to her yet, but if you do lose I think that I will have a little fun before sending her back, or maybe she might fall off of my wall and down to rocks below. Your man told me how you got the barony from the wimp. Are you man enough to try it against someone who knows how to fight?"

"I love my wife, and I want to kill you!"

With that, Mardeno announced to the crowd that this fight would be in the old way, winner take all.

There was a gasp, and the crowd rose up to their feet.

The doge, sensing something fishy, asked for confirmation from Rolly who acknowledged it being so.

The fight was postponed for an hour to prepare the contract, and to let people make new bets. All original bets had been canceled.

A bell sounded to tell everyone that the bout was about to begin. Spectators then made their way to their seats, eager for a spectacle. Rolly and Mardeno had already stripped down to fighting clothes; breeches, bare feet and bare chest.

For the first time in public Rolly didn't look like a withered man. He had muscles upon muscles. Mardeno looked good, but he was not cut the way Rolly was. He may have practiced regularly, but he did not do the daily exercises that Rolly kept up with over winter and even on the boat.

Mardeno was unimpressed. By the norms of that society Rolly looked underfed to him, and to many others.

The men were called to the center of the arena, and Rolly kept up his slight limp.

They were given the signal to start.

Mardeno circled a bit and threw some punches.

Rolly, blocked and countered each with a stinging blow.

Mardeno then tried to get in close to grapple and get in body shots.

Rolly kneed him in the side of the thigh, and then in the ribs in quick succession. He followed that with a forearm-elbow strike to the side of Mardeno's head.

The combination staggered the burly merchant and he backed off.

When his head cleared the pain enraged him and he charged.

Rolly hip tossed him into the dust.

Mardeno came after Rolly again, looking to grapple.

Rolly threw lightening fast punches to his throat and solar plexus.

That bent Mardeno over, gasping for breath.

A snap kick to the side of the knee put Mardeno down to his hands and one knee.

As the gasping man tried to stand, Rolly got behind him.

Most of the crowd in the lower half of the stadium heard the sound of the merchant's neck snapping.

The crowd stood in silence for a moment before those who had won money started cheering.

Rolly arrived at Mardeno's residence with six of his men and a contingent of the city guard that had gone along to keep things under control. Rolly had also sent his men with city guards to secure Mardeno's warehouse and boats, even thought spies were at both places keeping an eye on things. There was always the possibility that news might travel faster than his men could get organized.

At the residence, there were some loyal guards inside who kept the gates and doors locked. They had been there when Mardeno was threatened previously.

The combination of the city guards at the door, and their fellow guards turning on them with swords, sorted out the situation, but it took a while to secure the house.

"We can talk about this later, Rache? Right now we have a bit of a situation. I'm trying to get your new house cleared of bad guys without anyone getting hurt or tearing up stuff."

He turned to the tall blonde standing next to Rachel.

"Damsel Heida, Product Presenter of Cassandra, I am Hero Roland here to rescue you."

Suddenly he had buxom blonde all over him.

"OK, OK. We'll get to that later; right now we have a city that is going crazy, and a business to run. Heida, how well do you know this house and the people?"

"I know most of it. He would send me off to deliver messages to the staff, and we could move around quite a bit, but the guards were always watching us."

"OK, I need to know which of the staff can be trusted, which know his business, and which can't be trusted. We also need to know where everything is; we need to get this place inventoried."

The city guards gathered all of the staff in the courtyard. Rolly's agents picked out their own men, and Rolly picked out his guards, which made up about twenty five percent of the people in the group. Heida pointed out the people she knew to not like Mardeno, those that were snitches and cronies, and those who knew the finances. She also gave Rolly the name of the bookkeeper.

Mardeno had had the same idea as Rolly and had his men watching Rolly's warehouse and boats. Mardeno's boats were loaded and ready to pull up anchor in case something went wrong and he lost under the original terms of the bet. The bookkeeper had been at the stadium. Mardeno wanted him close by to do pretty much what Rolly's people were doing now, organize and inventory the winnings.

It was mass confusion at the docks and warehouses, but Rolly's agents and the city guard helped diffuse the situation before any violence broke out.

That evening just before bed

Rachel, I've had a long day. My wife, whom I love more than words can say, was held by a kidnapper who was going to rape and kill her if I didn't fight him to the death in front of the whole city. Then I had to storm an impregnable compound and hope that the kidnapper didn't have a plan for his bodyguards to kill you and fight to the bitter end. After that, I had a full day at work, so let's get this hashed out.

I'm not going to lie to you, and I'm not going to change, and I'm not going to stay in a marriage where I have to walk on eggshells and beg for forgiveness for my actions. Yes, during the fifteen minutes I'm gone from you I diddle the damsels on Chaos. They are seductive horndogs. I do it because One: it makes it easier to escape because it keeps them focused, and Two: they get me so horny that relieving the pressure keeps me focused. Do my wedding vows stop the second I go through that portal? Yes. I'm sorry to say it, but they do. They also start back up the second I come back through that portal. And as long as you are with me on Chaos my vows hold. This is not a traditional marriage, but I don't want anything to change at home. I don't want an open marriage, I don't want us to be swingers, I don't want to fool around on you. I'm sure that Paula told you all about me. Yes, I slept with a lot of girls back home, but I never once cheated on a girlfriend. OK, say your piece.

"Rolly, I've always been a pretty girl and boys/men I dated were mostly one of two types; those that I could steal away from their girlfriends and would worship me, or those who wanted me but would cheat on me as fast as the next girl. I think one reason that beautiful women marry older men is so that their man won't be as attractive to younger women as they age. They will be happy with what they have as their wife gets older. I'm getting to the point where I can't compete with younger women any more. And my husband is good looking, and has a hobby where he impregnates beautiful women. In a few years you are going to come home from a mission with some ageless Cassandrian and see an old hag standing in the kitchen. Rolly, I haven't had makeup on in eight months, and then I get thrown into a room with Heida, who is drooling over my husband before she has even met him. Do you know what a 'Product Presenter' really is?"