Perilous Travels (The Southern Continent Series Book 2) (12 page)

“I should ask Lord Bartar about spending money on new clothes,” Grange blushed slightly as he answered.

“It was his lordship’s suggestion,” Gats reassured Grange.

“Then yes, what time should I expect her to arrive?” Grange wanted to know.

“She’s waiting out in the hall,” Gats told him with a straight face.  “Why don’t you put this robe on?”

Grange took the robe, and seconds later a woman walked in through the doors, a very tall, slender woman with a serious gaze that seemed to pierce Grange’s soul.

“You want to cover your body, do you?” she asked.

It was an odd way, to phrase the question, Grange thought.

“I’ll leave you two to work this out,” Gats said suddenly, and he left the room.

“I’ll need to know what you plan to do in your clothes,” the seamstress told him.

“Everything,” Grange answered vaguely, unsure of how to answer.

“Will you go to the palace?  Will you call upon pretty girls?  Will you sleep in them?” the woman asked.  She pulled a measuring tape from her apron pocket and began to measure him.

“Yes, probably not, no,” Grange answered.

“You won’t call upon pretty girls?  Why not?  Are you already settled on a sweetheart?” she asked as she knelt to measure his legs.

Grange thought of Ariana for a moment, the jewel who had become a girl who had become the energy that propelled his demon-killing sword, and then he thought of Shaylee, who seemed to no longer wish to see him.

“No, I don’t have a sweetheart, and I’m not looking for one,” he answered.

“And you don’t sleep in your clothes?  Do you have other clothes you wear to bed?” she asked as she rose to her feet.

“I slept without anything last night,” Grange blushed faintly as he answered.

“Oh, your room is so warm?” she asked as she maneuvered around behind him.

“Yes,” he answered.  “And I wear clothes to practice weapons at an armory,” he found a way to change the subject.

“You’re already practicing weapons?” she asked with interest.  “Are you really bad or really good?  Those are the only two reasons I can imagine you’d start practicing.”

“I’m not as good as I want to be,” Grange told her.  “I can be better.”

“So, we need clothes for physical action, clothes for the palace, clothes for everyday life, but no clothes to sleep in?” she ticked the needs on her fingers.

“Maybe a light pair of pants to sleep in would be good,” Grange relented, thinking about sleeping up on the open roof.

“Very good.  And I suppose you want these as soon as possible?” she asked.

“And could I have an extra set of palace clothes?” Grange asked.  “I have to perform musically for some audiences,” he explained.

“A musical outfit?  That’s a new challenge,” the seamstress told him.  She walked away two steps, her hand on her chin as she considered the idea of clothes for music.

“I’ll have something for you,” she turned to face him.  “This is your room?” she asked.

“I have a room up on the fourth floor,” he clarified.  “But there’s no shower up there; that’s why I’m here.”

“I’ll find you, where ever you are.  I’ll have something for you tomorrow, and the rest in the next few days,” the woman nodded her head, then started to walk away.

“Excuse me, my lady, what is your name?” Grange asked.

“Rigan,” she answered.

“Rigan?” Grange grasped for a fleeting memory that was triggered by the name.  It remained out of reach.  “Well, I thank you for your help.”

“My pleasure to assist,” she said, then turned and walked out of the room.

Grange dropped his robe and put on the clean clothes from his package from the palace.  He stopped momentarily as he opened the package when he discovered a folded piece of paper.

“Grange,” the note began, “these were in the canoe, and of course they are yours.  You are extraordinary, and I will always remember countless things about you, from the time that I first saw you in the sea.  I hope you remember something about our humble village as you go about the great things in your life.  Mother sends you all her fondness as well, your friend, Shaylee.”

It was a bittersweet note, and Grange stood and stared at it for several long minutes, glad the girl had written a fond letter, but sad that it mentioned only the past.  She seemed to have shut the door on a potential future relationship with him.

He pulled on the clothes from the package, then went up to his fourth floor room once again.  He spent minutes opening windows at both ends of the floor to start the breezes flowing through, before he went back down stairs to the first floor.

“I’m going back to the armory,” he told Bartar, who was in the office.  “May I have some money to pay the membership?”

The nobleman looked at him with an amused smile, then pulled out several coins.  “I’m sure it’ll be worth it.  This seems like a better expenditure of funds than the things that Astel and Grace fritter silver away on.  Now, where is this armory you’ll be practicing at?” he asked.

Grange described the directions and landmarks, not knowing the names of streets. 

“Those sound familiar,” Bartar said, “though I don’t spend a great deal of time traveling around the city.  With this heat and humidity it’s much better to stay still and quiet during the day.”

Grange left the embassy and walked slowly, mindful of Bartar’s comment about the heat of the city.  He arrived at the armory in the late afternoon, and found it much more crowded than it had been in the mid-morning.  The air was warm and moist, thick with the scent of sweaty bodies working hard, despite the many large windows that had been opened along two opposing walls.

“There’s the one I was telling you about,” Grange heard Luri exclaim.

A small crowd moved towards him, and he recognized Luri in the lead.

“I’ve come to pay my membership, and to see what the competition is tonight,” Grange said as he handed over a pair of coins.

“You go with Androp over to the mats and practice your spear work for an hour.  We’ll have the open mat competition with the sword then, and you’ll want to join that,” Luri assured him as he accepted Grange’s payment.

Grange followed the wiry man who was his indicated partner to the back of the armory, and the two sparred ferociously until the whistle blew, their contest drawing the attention of virtually everyone in the building.  Afterwards, Grange and Androp joined the dozen other people who signed up for spots in the open tournament for the night.

“I told folks there was a new talent coming in who would make them all open their eyes wide,” Luri told Grange as he reached the registration table.  “I handicapped you as one of the two best in the club already.  They all want a crack at you.”

Grange grinned at the compliment, and was immediately assigned to fence against the daughter of a local minor nobleman.

“Do you know a girl named Asper?” Grange asked his first opponent, Jadie, as the two put on their pads before starting their round.  “Her father is a trader.”

“I’ve chatted with her at several balls and plays,” Jadie answere.  “She’s a nice young lady.  How do you know her?”  That was one of the least intrusive questions Grange had to answer, as numerous observers questioned him about his skin and hair and place of origin.

They quickly finished their chit chat and stepped onto the mat that was the designated place for their first match.  Jadie fought in a style similar to Luri.   During his morning match with the armory attendant, Grange had noticed that the match involved much more slashing than Grange had learned from Ariana and Brielle, who had favored more of a balance of stabs and jabs along with slashing attacks and defense.

Grange employed the same mix of defensive actions that he had used against Luri, letting Jadie wear herself down quickly with an onslaught of efforts, before he went on the attack and successfully pushed her back to the very edge of the mat.

“I concede,” she said in exasperation as she and Grange locked swords between them when they stood chest to chest at the end of the mat.  “You fight differently,” she complained.

“It’s just the way I was taught,” he said as he stepped back from the girl.

“They taught you well, your teachers,” Jadie told him.  “You’ll be coming here regularly?” she asked.

“Probably most mornings.  I don’t know my schedule yet,” Grange answered, as they walked together back to the registration table to see their next matches.   They shook hands and parted as they found where they each needed to go.

“I’m not a morning person, but maybe I’ll try to come in a couple of times to spar with you,” she told Grange as they went their separate ways.

Grange faced a heavyset man in his second match of the early evening, and only won after a long match of grueling endurance.  The man used his stout build to push Grange backwards when they were in close contact, but Grange’s quicker blade work helped him to eventually overcome the difficulty and win their match.

The third match Grange faced was an older man, a wily fighter who was able to switch his style to match Grange’s own, so that the contest was a long one between two equals.  When Grange finally won, for the first time that evening there was a smattering of surprising applause for him.

“I had been ranked as the best swordsman in the house, but you’ll take it over if you can do this every night,” the man said as they shook hands.

Grange turned to see what his next match would be, and discovered where his applause had come from; Astel and Grace, along with Gats and Rigan the seamstress.

“What are all of you doing here?” Grange asked.  “Are you going to start weapons training?” he asked in surprise.

Rigan laughed aloud, while the others grinned.

“I overheard the young nobles,” she nodded towards Grace and Astel, “say they were going to come watch your prowess, and I asked if I could come along, to see how you move in your contests, so that I could sew your outfit together with the best fit for your needs.

“Gats felt that I shouldn’t be unattended on the walk back to the embassy, so he’s here as my escort,” she explained.

“So what have you decided about his fighting costume?” Grace asked.

“It won’t be a costume,” Grange quickly corrected.

“I don’t think he does a good job defending his lower legs,” Rigan answered.  “But I’m not sure I can provide an outfit to address that.  He defends his torso very well, but I think his neck is vulnerable the way he wields his weapon.

“Of course, I haven’t seen him use the spear to know if he has different needs for that,” she added thoughtfully.

Grange looked at her in befuddlement momentarily, until Luri called him over to the registration table.

“Since you’re beating everyone your first night here, what would you say to fighting two at once?” the attendant proposed.

Grange cocked an eyebrow and looked at him.

“It’s not my idea; Jadie came up with it after seeing you win the last round,” he nodded to the girl Grange had beaten in the first set.

“I don’t think I’d stand up very long,” Grange replied slowly as he gave the proposal consideration.

“I think you would,” Luri reassured him.

Minutes later, Grange  found himself on a mat, facing Jadie and another woman who Jadie had selected as her partner in the unusual match.

“This will be fun,” Jadie grinned, just before the referee to the match gave the starting signal.

Grange fell back defensively to begin the match, and held his own against the two opponents as he chose his spot to defend.  When he advanced against the two he grew vulnerable, and had to retreat into a corner again.

When he came out on the offensive the second time, he deliberately aimed low, trying to force the two women to defend their legs before he suddenly raised his offensive moves and attacked Jadie higher.  He forced her from the battle, but left himself exposed to her friend’s counterattack and lost the match.

“You almost beat two of our best at once,” Luri congratulated him at the end of the match.

“I’ll do better next time,” Grange grinned, as he shook hands with the two women.

“You say you’ll be here tomorrow morning?” Jadie asked.

“I will be,” he agreed.

“I’ll come by too, if you’ll give me a couple of good matches,” she squeezed his hand firmly, then released their grip.

Grange saw his followers from the embassy near the door.  “Are you leaving?” he asked.

“We’re going to a party,” Grace said as she placed her hand on Astel’s arm.

“I’ll walk back to the embassy with the two of you then, if you don’t mind,” Grange replied to the two embassy staffers.

“Come along, young warrior,” Gats said with a kind smile.  Grange quickly put away his protective padding and then returned to the front door, receiving nods and smiles from many as he passed by.

“Did the ambassador bring you along to be a wizard, as I thought I heard, or as a bodyguard?” Gats asked when they were in the fresh air of the city street and walking back to the embassy.

“If it’s as a bodyguard, the ambassador will want to protect himself against the low slices,” Rigan observed.