Along the Forest Road: Chapter 3, part 2

May 06, 2008 01:33

And here's the rest.


I slept in the next morning, and when I awoke Kit wasn’t there. Loud noises from the street came in through the window as I splashed my face with water from the basin. When I was done I looked out to see what it was about.

Below me was the wide spot in the road that passed for North Bend’s village square. The day after tomorrow it would be occupied by the farmers selling and exchanging their goods at market, but today it was the arena for the village boys at their local ball game.

I never could figure out the rules to the thing, which usually involved two teams, sometimes more, and getting an oblong ball past a line. How you did that and how the score was kept seemed to change every time I visited. The one consistent feature was that the guy with the ball was fair game. Someone must have just been tackled to judge from the pile. The victim would be on the bottom.

As they unstacked themselves, I was surprised to see a familiar braid sticking out of the tangle of boys’ bodies. Kit was right there in the thick of it, and in fact was the one who’d just been taken down. Aside from the queue and his fairer skin, he appeared to fit right in. He wasn’t even as tall as some of the others.

I watched them go for another couple of rounds, and it was obvious Kit wasn’t taking the game seriously. He got knocked down more than once when I was sure he could have avoided getting touched at all. To judge from his laughter he was having a great time.

I dressed and went downstairs. By the time I stepped out the door, Crispian was already there. “Break it up, boys! Shim and Grig, back to work!”

A collective groan arose. The two boys who worked for Crispian slouched toward the innyard and its stables, but the rest didn’t disperse until Mora, the large, powerful wife of the miller arrived. “Jonn, you layabout! Your pa wanted you half an hour ago!” Jonn was one of the older boys and the effective leader of the group. She hauled him off by the ear and he went under protest.

Kit flung himself onto one of the benches flanking the inn’s front door. His hair was in disarray and he was as scuffed and scraped as any of the boys, but he looked entirely content.

Crispian came back out just then, having set Grig and Shim to their tasks. “I guess you’re feeling the worse for wear from last night, huh?” he asked me.

“A little,” I admitted. “Haven’t eaten yet either.”

“Why, what do you need?” asked Kit.

“I like to keep in shape,” said Crispian. “Not that I have much occasion to use a sword these days, but it’d be a shame to let myself go. Trouble is I got no one to fence with unless Tamarick here is around. But sometimes he likes his beer too much to be a lot of use.”

“It’s not like I get any the rest of the time!”

“I wouldn’t mind having a go,” said Kit.

Crispian thought about it for a moment. “Sure, why not?”

I followed them to the innyard. I still hadn’t seen Kit draw his sword and was very curious to see what he could do with one. Crispian was not an opponent to take lightly.

Crispian strapped on a padded jerkin, and offered a second one to Kit, who refused. “I doubt it fits,” he said. “And I’m not really used to armor.”

“You should use it anyway, unless you want a nice collection of bruises,” said Crispian. “I don’t pull.”

“We’ll see.”

“No shield either?”

“I never use one.”

Crispian shrugged. “It’s your hide.”

The practice swords were of oak, the same length as a real sword but thicker to get them a little closer to the right weight and balance. Kit made a few experimental cuts with the one Crispian handed him. It had the shape of the shorter, leaf-bladed swords used in the Imperial legions, very unlike the long, curved blade he carried.

“Ready then?” said Crispian.

The two circled. Crispian was in the usual stance, legs bent, sword arm forward with blade upright and toward the target, shield guarding the body. Kit stood casually with his sword down at his side, seemingly unprepared.

Crispian lunged and cut to the inside, opposite Kit’s sword arm. The sound of the wooden blades smacking together came before I was even certain I’d seen Kit move. Crispian probed a few more times. Kit parried each with lightning speed, without apparent effort and with no attempt at a counterattack.

Then Crispian charged forward, leading with his shield. Kit stepped to the outside, which avoided Crispian’s sword but which had the shield blocking any line of attack. With his left he gave Crispian a shove at the back of the head. Crispian overbalanced for a moment, then caught himself and pivoted on his left foot, bringing his sword around in a high line for a cut. Kit parried, again not following up with a counter. The two sprang apart.

“Don’t abide by dueling rules, huh?” said Crispian.

“I don’t duel,” said Kit. “I fight.”

Crispian chuckled. “What did I tell you about that, Tamarick?”

“Look, that stuff is just a habit.”

“Habits can get you killed,” said Kit.

“Damn straight,” said Crispian. “So can failing to counterattack.”

“I was trying to make a good workout for you.”

“Never mind that. Show me what you can do. Ready?” Kit nodded. “Go!”

Kit began an attack toward Crispian’s outside, who made to block with the shield. Once again I heard it before I saw it, this time a blade striking leather. There was Kit with his blade on Crispian’s inside flank. I hadn’t even blinked, but Kit had reversed his line of attack so quickly I couldn’t follow it.

“Again?” said Kit.

“For all the good it’ll do me.”

I’d fenced Crispian many times before, and while I was a bit better than he was, either because of my longer reach, speed, or greater stamina, he’d lost none of his guile and could score a hit on me three or four times out of ten. But even though Kit was obviously taking it easy after that first hit, Crispian never came close to getting through his guard, and when he chose to attack he always hit. Crispian was thoroughly outclassed. I’d have been too.

A half an hour later, red-faced and puffing, Crispian called for a halt. He threw off his jerkin and plunged his head into the rain barrel before sitting down in a shaded spot. “You gave me a damn good workout all right. Kid, you’re dangerous. And what are you two gawking at?” That last was directed toward Shim and Grig, who had been watching the action from the stables. They disappeared inside.

“Useless, the pair of ‘em.” Said Crispian. “So what someone like you doing with a big lout like him?” He indicated me with a thumb.

“He has his points,” said Kit. “Besides the one on top of his head, I mean.” That got a laugh out of Crispian. Kit didn’t dodge when I cuffed him.

“Seriously, though. Got any plans?”

“Nothing definite,” said Kit. “I figure if I wander around for a while something will turn up. There are places I want to see. The cities on the Spice Road. Alfheim. New Regellus....”

“Hmph. Don’t be in too much of a hurry to get to the capital,” said Crispian bitterly, “unless you like getting stabbed in the back.”

I figured he wouldn’t have mentioned it unless he wanted to talk, and I was very curious to know. “You were an officer, weren’t you?” I said.

“Not for very long. You know anything about the battle of the Dinein?”

I shook my head. “I know where the river is, but―”

“No reason for you to, I guess. Even in the City they can’t keep track of all the defeats anymore.

“The Denein was the western border of Transdenia province. That battle was the last-ditch attempt at keeping the province in the Empire. There I was, a freshly promoted centurion, proud to be in charge of my own men. The most junior centurion in the cohort, but that didn’t matter to me.

“The battle was... well, I’ll spare you the details. Old soldiers’ stories will go on forever if you let them. It was going well. We had them engaged at the front and stopped them cold. The cavalry was supposed to flank them, and between three wings of the legion we should have crushed them. We waited and waited until we almost couldn’t hold them anymore, but nothing ever came. When I spared a moment to look around, there was the rest of the legion marching away. They left us alone with the enemy.”

“What!” I said. “Why in the dozen hells would they do that?”

“Didn’t know at the time. It made no sense. We were winning. Later I found out that the legate was feuding with our First Centurion’s family back in the City, and he’d abandoned us on the field to score a point against them. That he threw away a whole province and the lives of five hundred good men along the way was nothing to him.”

“How could he get away with something like that?” said Kit.

“Kid, getting away with whatever you want is what power is for in the City. That it’s come to this means nothing more than what everyone outside the City already knows. The Empire’s dead. What’s left of it needs to be pushed over and buried.

“We managed to escape losing fewer than we might have, but not many of us wanted to rejoin the legion after that. The cohort scattered. I think some of the men ended up forming Free Companies―lots of work for them these days―but I was sick of fighting other people’s wars and found a place to settle instead.”

“But you haven’t put down your sword,” said Kit.

“Would you?”

It was a good question, but I wondered if there was more to it than that.

● ● ●

The sounds that drifted in through the door as I ate lunch the next day sounded almost martial. I poked my head out to see Kit drilling the village boys in footwork. When I finished eating I went outside and took a seat on the bench next to Crispian, who was keeping an eye on things. The drill continued until it was time for most of the boys to return to their chores.

“So when can we use swords?” Jonn pleaded.

“When I say you can,” came Crispian’s growl.

“It’s true,” said Kit. “You have to know what you’re doing with your feet before you can do anything useful with a sword.”

“You didn’t do anything like this when you kicked Crispian’s butt yesterday,” said Grig.

“And when you can do as well, you can forget about it too,” said Kit.

“I bet I can,” said Jonn. He was half a head taller than Kit and had a broader build. Kit shook his head and laughed. “What’s so funny?” said Jonn. “You took him, and I bet I can take you!”

“Don’t try it, Jonn.” said Kit. “You’ll just hurt yourself.”

Jonn tried it anyway and ended up face down on the ground. “All right,” Kit said to the rest. “You guys all did really well for your first time. Stop by again tomorrow morning, and― duck!”

Jonn had gotten up and tried to come at Kit from behind while he was talking. The boys directly in front of him ducked. Jonn went sailing over their heads, landed on his back and skidded a good five or six yards. He was writhing in pain before he came to a halt. Kit walked over to where he lay.

“That wasn’t a very good idea, you know,” Kit told him. “What happened, you hit something?”

“Rock,” Jonn gasped.

“All right. Try to hold still”. He looked Jonn over with his thousand-mile stare, and then planted two fingers along his flank. Jonn twitched like he’d been stung, but after a moment he sat up. Kit grabbed an arm and hauled him to his feet. “Better? Good. Tomorrow then.”

Jonn looked at Kit uncertainly, but finding no anger grinned and went on his way. Several of the other boys were headed in the same direction, and their voices faded into the distance.

“What’s it like to fly, Jonn?”

“Yeah, that looked pretty funny.”

“Aw, shut up.”

“Make me! Ow! Awright, awright...”

“Interesting,” said Crispian. “I’ve never seen moves like that. And how’d you make him stop hurting? Pressure point or something?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“So how’d this come about?” I said.

“I guess Grig couldn’t shut up about us fencing,” said Kit. “So by the time the guys got together today they all wanted to know how to use a sword. I hope you don’t mind, Crispian.”

“Hells, no. You got those boys wanting to learn something for a change.”

“But after tomorrow you won’t be here for a while,” I said to Kit.

“Oh. Yeah. They can keep it up on their own for a few weeks, I guess.”

“That won’t do,” said Crispian. “I’ll take them.”

“Really? I don’t want to make any work for you.”

Crispian dismissed that with a wave. “What work? Training the troops is something I used to know better than making beer. It’ll feel good to do it again.”

Market was the next day. The square was small enough that even a couple dozen farmers selling their goods crowded the place and gave it the festive air a market always had. Folk were circulating around and socializing, catching up on any gossip they might have missed over the past month. The older boys Kit had made friends with were helping their families along with their sisters, and the younger children giggled as they scampered around.

We stocked up on the usual: barley, meal, cured meat, dried fruit, and beans. Kit turned out to be totally useless at bargaining, so I ended up doing the buying as usual. Once we had everything we needed, we said our farewells and headed back to camp. Kit insisted on carrying all of it, maybe to make up for buying some of it at the asking price. It had to be at least twice his own weight, an impressive load at such a quick pace for a half-day’s journey even if he did end up napping for an hour afterward.

It was a rare chance to watch him closely in the full light of day. At night, with the fire highlighting every angle on his body and concealing as much as it revealed, he seduced me just by lying there. It had come to the point where I burned for him constantly, and I nothing I did relieved it for long.

The sight of him now brought out other feelings. He looked peaceful, vulnerable, and very small. If I didn’t still want him so badly I’d have compared him to a younger brother I wanted to shelter and protect. I knew he had no need of it, but that didn’t drive away the desire to take him in my arms and shield him from anything that might harm him. A few stray hairs lay upon his face. Without thinking, I carefully brushed them back. I caught myself just as I went to stroke his cheek.

I couldn’t put a name to this strange combination of feelings. And I didn’t know how much longer I could keep them to myself.

sword & sorcery, along the forest road, fantasy, tales of the tempest, gay, yaoi

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