The Troven (Kingdom of Denall Book 1) (33 page)

There were at least fifty archers lining up and firing practice shots at their targets. Kaz took careful note of how many shots were hitting direct bull's eyes. He took some of the regulation arrows, and with his first shot, he hit the outside wood of the target.

“Wow, we've got a challenge here in this one,” said the strongarm standing three people away from Kaz. The smirk on his face made Kaz want to shoot the nock off the next arrow that he fired, but he took a deep breath and continued to do as Boon had instructed. He missed the bull's eyes constantly, but he was honing in on what he wanted to hit. First the line between the yellow and white circle, and then the knot on the wooden target stand, then the feather of an arrow that was way off target. After hitting all the targets he selected, he also aimed at some pieces of wood, or arrows in the ground much farther down range. This helped Kaz get a feel for the bow at all distances.

After two dozen practice shots Kaz was completely comfortable with how the regulation arrows flew using this bow. He continued to shoot arrows, but from this point on he watched his competitors closely. The smart mouth three people down, whose name Kaz had learned from the recently placed placard was Sir Trevor, was actually very good with his bow. He was wearing full armor, but was able to shoot quickly and accurately despite the extra weight. There was a man down near the end that also hit most of his targets. Kaz couldn't see his name posted behind him, and his face was hidden by the hood of the long, black robe he was wearing. People around him gave him a little more space than he needed. Although Kaz had never seen a magician before, for some reason it surprised him to see the man in an archery tournament. He hit bull's eye after bull's eye; it seemed this competitor was, ironically, not playing any tricks. There was a young lady in red next to Kaz. Although she was inconsistent with hitting the targets, when she did hit a bull's eye, it was dead center. Kaz thought perhaps she was playing the same game that he was. He didn't mind keeping an extra close eye on her as she was very easy on the eyes.

Then he saw a contestant who was not shooting any practice arrows. She had arrived after Kaz and just stood there. This girl had matted hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in ages. Her clothing was dirty and hung loosely on her skeletal frame. She had a dark brown birthmark that extended down the length of the right side of her face. Kaz noticed that some members of the crowd were making fun of her and calling her “Mangy Dog”.

Although she didn't seem to notice their jeers, it bothered Kaz to see this behavior. In an effort to distract her from her tormenters, Kaz boldly walked over to her.

“Hi,” he began, extending his hand and standing between the audience and the frail young lady. “I'm Kaz, from Dungan.” After a long pause, with no response, he continued. “I see your name is Maggie,” he said, gesturing toward her placard. “Don't you want to try some practice shots?”

Maggie stepped close to him and Kaz involuntarily stepped back. She smelled as bad as she looked. “They look the same as last year. I don't need the practice.” Then she turned away and stood silently by her placard.

“All right,” Kaz said, still trying to be friendly. “So, do you have a stage name, or title they’re going to post for you, or is it just ‘Maggie’?”

Maggie turned back to him and then looked down the line of people. “I’m not here to put on a show for them,” she replied pointing out to the crowd. “I just want to win and get this over with.”

The person next to Maggie stopped taking practice shots and tapped Kaz on the shoulder.

“Hi, Kaz, was it?”

“Yes, what's your name?” Kaz replied to the friendly competitor who greeted him.

“My name is Gorgal,” The man in his mid-thirties then gestured toward Maggie. “She likes to be left alone.”

“Oh, I wasn't trying to bother her; I just didn't like how they were treating her,” Kaz said as he pointed at the audience, who had quieted slightly since he had approached.

“Well, she'll win again this year, take the money and leave -- like she does every year.” He said it so matter-of-factly that Kaz froze.

“She won last year?”

“She wins every year. We're shooting for second place, boy.” With that, the man picked up an arrow and shot at the closest target. If his stance, grip and shot were any indication, he wouldn't be getting that second place prize.

Looking back at Maggie, Kaz saw a look of deep sadness. He watched her face for several moments, wondering what kind of life had led to her being here like this. As she turned and looked into the crowd, Kaz thought he saw a glimpse of fear in her eyes. Following her line of sight, he saw a man a few years older than himself coming toward her. He was parting the crowd as he made his way to the archery firing line. The man looked to be in his twenties, with the build of a warrior, and he was wearing full, gleaming, plate armor. Kaz slipped through a small space in the fence and fearlessly walked directly up to the man, determined to keep him from Maggie.

“Hi,” Kaz said in his most casual tone.

“I don't have time to speak with you right now. I am not interested in any offer you have to make,” the man said, then tried to push Kaz aside.

Kaz looked at the man, confusion all over his face, and asked, “Why on earth do you think I would want to make you an offer? Do you owe me money?”

Pride bruised, the man stopped. “Do I owe you money?” he repeated, clearly offended. “How dare you insult me!” The man walked up to Kaz and stood within inches of him. The crowd around them parted into a small, tight circle.

This question had the desired effect. The man was completely distracted from his prior fixation on Maggie, and all his attention was on Kaz. Unfortunately, Kaz was beginning to feel that he did not want this man's full attention.

“I meant no offense, big guy. I was just saying hello.” Kaz gave the man an innocent smile.

“You're not stopping me to hire my blade?” When Kaz shook his head he tried to push on, holding a small, jeweled box in his hands.

“Why would I want to hire you?” Kaz asked.

“I really don't have time for this,” he said, turning his back on Kaz.

Kaz, knowing that his chances to delay the man were slipping, tried a different approach. “I'm only interested in hiring winners.”

This stopped the man in his tracks again. He stepped over, looking squarely into Kaz's eyes.

“I am Mylot of the house of Tran.” Seeing that this meant nothing to Kaz, he continued. “I am not only going to win today, I'm going to win the single handed sword fighting, the double handed swords, and the jousting.”

Kaz then looked over at the sword ring where Farin and Angela were getting registered. “I bet that girl over there can beat you. Hopefully, you don't have to face her today. However, if you want to have any
hope
of winning, you'd better get back over there. It looks like they are calling out the contestants for the first match.”

With this last comment, Mylot shoved Kaz out of the way, made one final look over to where Maggie was standing, and briskly strode back to the fighting ring. Kaz breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the firing line. He looked over at Maggie, who didn't give him a look of thanks, but of confusion. Kaz simply shrugged his shoulders as the announcer began to give the archers instructions.

* * * * *

From the stage, Trae watched Kaz’s interactions with Maggie and he made a quick conclusion: he liked the boy.

Trae had also spotted Edgar in the crowd. The seeker was looking for him and waved enthusiastically when he finally spotted him.

“Hello there!” Edgar called. Trae gave the slightest inclination of his head, just enough to acknowledge Edgar’s existence, but not show any sign of friendship. Edgar tried to push his way to the stage, but before he could get far, the crowd shouldered him out and Trae turned his back on the man. Trae looked to his right, trying to make subtle eye contact with Dune, but Dune was still loosing practice arrows down range, not interested in anything but the tournament. Trae realized that he also needed to get into the right frame of mind. It was time to force a tie.

Trae was familiar with the rules for archery tournaments, so he only half listened as the announcer stood and spoke. Five rounds of shooting, five people shooting at each target, each person hitting the bull’s eye earned a point per round. The closest arrow to the center of the bull’s eye gained a second point each round. If an archer hits the exact center of the bull’s eye, the other archers can aim at the colored feather of his arrow for an extra point. With this many archers he didn’t know if there was anything he could do to help, but he wanted Dune to make it to a tie breaking round while he edged off the stage and got Edgar alone.

The announcer loudly bellowed, “We will now begin the first round at forty paces.” Trae watched as the first archer in their group, a woman in green, not only missed the bull’s eye, but almost missed the target completely. It was then his turn to shoot. Trae shot his arrow into the bull’s eye pretty close to the center. He noticed that a small crowd cheered when it hit the target. Trae turned around and found that Edgar had made his way closer to the stage and had a small cheering section of faces Trae recognized from the green tent. Getting Edgar alone was going to be harder than he expected.

After Trae’s shot, Kaz hit the bull’s eye just inside of Trae’s arrow. The boy definitely knew how to shoot. Trae checked the score after the first round of target shooting. He had one point, Dune had a single point and ‘Bull’s Eye Bebe’, a woman down the row, had gained the second point for the first round, a fact which was loudly announced to a healthy round of applause once all the first-round contestants had completed their shots. Things were working out so far.

Round two began at forty-five paces. Trae hit the bull’s eye again, and again Kaz landed his arrow right next to Trae’s, only slightly closer to the center. Trae began to wonder if the young man was toying with him to make up for his earlier jeer. Trae also realized that if this boy could put his arrows so accurately on the target, it was just a matter of time before he started aiming for the center of the bull’s eye and not for the inside of Trae’s arrows. At the end of round two, Dune had earned the extra point, placing him in a tie for first place. Even greater applause met this announcement as the contestants were reshuffled ahead of round three.

The third round began with Kaz shooting, and almost missing the bull’s eye because an unexpected gust of wind carried his arrow off course. Trae watched as other archers hit their marks down the range. Although not a visor, he could see that Dune was not going to gain the second point for this round, and he also knew that Dune would struggle as the distances increased. He was a good shot, but he was up against the best in Denall. Then the woman in red’s arrow landed very close to the center of the bull’s eye.

Trae tried to stay in character as an uninterested knight, while his eyes darted to the other targets to see if another archer would get closer to the bull’s eye. While looking down the range he felt he was being watched, and slowly looked over his right shoulder at the other archers. Maggie, the girl with the matted hair and rags was looking directly at him. At first he was repulsed by her dirty appearance, but then he looked into her eyes and he was truly unsettled. She looked at him as though she could see right through the armor, arrogance, and act he was putting on. For a moment he paid attention to nothing but this girl. Then she smiled slightly and nodded.

Trae looked away, and his first inclination was to peek over his shoulder in the other direction to see who she was nodding at, but he knew it had been him.
What did she know? What did that smile mean? Most importantly, what had he missed while staring at her?

It was Trae’s turn to approach the shooting line. He looked at the other targets on the field and felt confident that Bull’s Eye Bebe, the woman in red who had won the first round, would earn the extra point in round three. Not having full faith in Dune’s ability to gain the extra point in the next round, Trae made a decision that he was sure Dune would not approve of. He aimed at the center of the bull’s eye. Trae’s arrow sailed into the target just right of the center of the bull’s eye. He had earned the extra point for this round and moved into a three way tie for first place. While this was not part of Dune’s plan, Trae had helped keep Dune in a tie for first place, which is what he wanted. He could always miss the target on the final round and let Dune move on. Still, he avoided looking down the line of archers toward Dune as the announcer tried to yell over the shouting crowd to officially declare the tie moving into round four.

In the fourth round, Kaz shot second. The boy did what Trae feared he would, he hit a direct center bull’s eye. The boy had the ability to win the entire tournament, and now he had moved himself into a four way tie. Trae knew that if Kaz shot like that again, the tournament would be over. Unsettled and looking for advice on how to proceed, Trae instinctively looked toward Dune, but he found nothing there. Dune was focusing on his own shots and keeping himself separated from the other people in his group. He made no attempt to return a look to Trae. However, Maggie was looking at him again. Trae shot another bull’s eye, keeping himself in a now increasing tie for first place with Dune, Bebe and now Kaz, a fact that was putting the crowd into a cheering, singing mass of excitement as the tied contestants were announced.