table of contents – (spoilers)
With Balan gone, Peep and Choke sat in silence in the officer’s dining room of the barracks digesting what he had reported to them.
“What do you make of these two men he’s talking about?” Choke eventually asked her.
She blew a long exhale out her mouth with her eyes wide. “I dunno, man. I don’t like it. But what can we do? They’re just a couple of travelers, right? Seems fishy, but… I can’t see them playing it the way they did if they’re coming out here to kill us. They might just have other business.”
“That is so. But what should we do about them?”
“Well, what can we do? What, ye wanna go and snatch them up, or something?” Peep asked.
“No! Of course not. But, do we head down to the south gate to seek them out, or do we ease back and wait to see what they do? And if they do come calling on us, as they did with Bob, how do we receive them?” asked Choke.
“How should I know? This whole civilization thing is supposed to be your deal, aint it? But, I don’t think we go out looking for them. That seems jumpy and weak. We ease back here like we aint bothered and see what happens.”
“Yes, that seems the best course.”
It turned out that they did not have to wait long to hear more of the mysterious travelers. Before dinner, Choke and Peep went outside to join Pinch and Knuckle who were supervising the men who were cleaning themselves up after their day’s labor. Peep had just finished telling them about Balan’s news, when one of their sentries from the south gate came huffing up the street.
“Sir!” the man said, stopping in front of Choke with a salute.
Choke returned the salute. “Yes?”
“Two horsemen come into town through the south gate. We asked them their business and they said they was looking for a place for the night. They went on to Royce’s tavern. They didn’t seem like trouble, but we thought I should come and report, since we’re on the lookout for Outfit men, and all.”
“Quite right, man. Good work. You may return to your post. Your relief will come as soon as they’ve had dinner.”
“Yes, sir!” the man said, exchanging salutes with Choke once more before turning to go.
“Wait a sec, man,” Peep interjected. “Did ye see them go into the tavern?”
“No, they rode up to the square and then up to the stables. They was just finishing up with Stadnick there when I come by heading up here.”
“Alright. Good. As ye were,” Peep said to the man, who scampered off. She then turned to Choke and the others: “well, looks like that’s that for them. At least for today.”
“Fuck, why don’t we go down to the tavern and see what’s what?” Knuckle said.
“That is a thought. But how do you think that’s going to seem to them, Knuckle?” Choke asked.
“I dunno. Who gives a shit? It’ll seem like we’re on top of shit. It’s a small town, they show up, and we wanna know what’s up with them. That aint weird, is it?” Knuckle said.
“No, I don’t suppose it is,” Choke said. He then looked to Peep and Pinch. “What do you two think?”
“I think he’s gonna complicate matters,” Peep said, pointing towards a youth who had just jogged around the corner of the street from the main square. As he saw them, he turned to head straight for Choke and the others.
“That’s one of the tavern’s lads, isn’t it?” Choke asked, his voice low.
“Yup,” Peep said, as Pinch nodded.
“Yes! How can I help you?” Choke said as the lad stopped in front of them. He looked an energetic and capable young fellow in his early teens.
“Lieutenant Pekot, sir! I’m sent from the tavern by a gentleman guest, arrived just now. He told me to come up here and ask ye if ye would honor him by joining him for dinner. He said to tell ye that he’d be honored if you, Lieutenant Pekot, and Miss Otilla of the Holy Fire could come have dinner with him and his friend. In the tavern. Where I work. He said he’s freshing himself up, and that dinner should be within an hour. He said I should wait here until ye give me yar reply.”
Choke nodded his understanding of the message to the boy and then turned aside with a questioning look to Peep, Pinch, and Knuckle. Peep nodded when he met her eye.
“We gotta go, right?” she said.
“I think, yes. Absolutely,” Choke said. He turned back to the lad. “Very well. Please tell the gentleman in question that we would be happy to join him for dinner. Thank you.”
The lad nodded smartly and turned to run back to the tavern.
“Well, that’s settled that, then,” Choke said.
“I aint so sure about all that,” Pinch said. “Just you and Peep going? Fuck that. I don’t like it.”
“I understand where you’re coming from, Pinch, but he only invited Peep and myself. All four of us can’t show up. That is overly aggressive, don’t you think?” Choke asked everyone.
“Okay. And all four of us shouldn’t go,” Pinch replied. “For one, for all we know, they got more guys with them that Balan didn’t see. Maybe they’re sneaking up in the bush right now. One of us needs to stay with the men, right? But just because he invited just the two of ye, it doesn’t mean ye gotta abide by that, right? Yar the boss here. Who ye show up with is yar call.
“Fuckin rights it is,” Peep said.
Knuckle groaned. “So, what? I gotta sit around with my thumb up my ass with the men again, while ye bring Pinch along for dinner? I’m pushed out again!”
Pinch reached out and clapped Knuckle on the arm. “Actually, no Knuckle, that’s not what I’m saying. You need to be the one to go with them. I’ll stay and watch the men. I’m better at looking out, so I’ll go up the watchtower and do that. If Peep and Choke are going into the tavern with these two guys, yar the better one to back them up. In tight quarters, yar the one that’ll make them think twice about starting anything.”
“Yeah, that’s right! So… yeah! Fuckin rights,” Knuckle said, his ire bleeding away to contentment.
“What do you think, Peep?” Choke asked.
“Pinch is right. On all counts. We go and we bring Knuckle. And I don’t give a shit about how that seems.”
“Okay, then. That’s what we’ll do. The lad said within the hour, so let’s clean ourselves up. Now, Knuckle when we go there, you will sit with us at the table. But I don’t want you to do any talking. Be polite, but stay on alert. You did a fine job supporting Father Morrenthall in his investigations. More in that vein is what I would like from you.”
“No problem, man. I got ye,” Knuckle said.
“Thank you. And thank you, Pinch, for your good thinking. Okay, let’s get on it. As polished as we can manage! Knuckle, you and I shall not bring our bows, I think. But bring your sword and warhammer. Let’s go!”
Choke and Knuckle went to the well and stripped down for a quick bucket shower with soap. It was the second time Choke had bathed that day, having already done so more thoroughly that morning before heading to the church stables. However, he had done so privately, so it would seem odd to Knuckle if Choke were not to bathe along with him.
Once bathed, Choke went to his quarters where he quickly polished his boots, helmet, and sword. He armored up with his finer wool tabard with its epaulets of rank.
Choke, Peep, and Knuckle met in the barracks to confer quickly with Pinch and Corporal Dom. By that time, the guards at the gates had changed, with the relieved ones having nothing further to report. Then the three walked down to the tavern together. Knuckle looked good enough and smelled a fair bit better. Peep was outfitted just as she always was, but had washed herself up and given her boots a quick polish and her wolf cloak a good brushing. Choke was armed just with his cavalry sword and dagger on his weaponbelt.
Knuckle was the first through the door into Royce’s, and had to bend low to get through the door. As he moved into the room, he had to continue ducking to avoid the ceiling beams. Choke followed him, with Peep keeping in the rear with her shortbow in hand. At least she did not have an arrow notched.
This was, in fact, the first time any of them had set foot inside Royce’s tavern. It was actually a fine-looking establishment. With a low ceiling, it had a cozy feel, with a large common room that had three semi-private dining areas attached to it. There were about a dozen patrons enjoying drinks and lively banter that recovered quickly after their entrance.
The tavernkeeper Royce and his wife sprang to greet them.
“Lieutenant Pekot! Miss Otilla! Welcome! Please, come right this way. Our esteemed guest is down in the dining den, and expecting ye. Would yar sergeant care to sit here in the lounge while ye and Miss Otilla dine with him and his man?”
“No he would not,” Peep answered for Choke. “He’s coming with us.”
Choke smiled pleasantly and nodded when Royce looked to him.
“Well… uhh… yes, okay, then. Please follow me!” Royce said.
Two of the semi-private dining rooms were small and just off the main lounge through open doorways. The third that Royce led them to was much better. At one side of the lounge was a railing blocking a one meter drop down into the larger dining area. In the middle of the railing was a wooden gate in front of steps down. With a lower floor, the dining den shared the same ceiling as the rest of the place, which made it feel much more open. It had its own hearth, with a fire. There was a large table with proper, cushioned chairs. Set into one wall, off to one side and not visible from the lounge above, there was a sleeping nook filled with furs and blankets. The walls of the dining den had lamps in sconces and many deer, elk, and moose antlers up as trophies.
With Royce leading the way, Choke followed right behind him. Peep was next, with Knuckle now taking up the rear. Royce opened the gate down into the dining den and stepped aside with his head dipped low.
Seated at the head of the table was a handsome gentleman indeed. He was wearing a finely-tailored wool suit of rustic browns and greens, with leather patches at the elbows. He had immaculately chiseled muttonchop whiskers with a fine mustache and goatee, along with a marvelous head of hair. In looking him over, Choke could see why Balan had thought he had a southern look to him. His features were not quite that of a foreigner, but they were suggestive of it.
The man stood up as Choke reached the top of the short stairs. He did not have a weaponbelt on him, but Choke could see the antler handle of a knife on his hip. Choke immediately noticed that a chair in the corner back and to the right of the head of the table had a weaponbelt slung over it, housing a short, wide-bladed hunting sword with a brass knuckle guard. Leaning against the chair was small crossbow in a leather carrying case with a quiver. All of the gear was obviously high end.
“Lieutenant Bartholomew Pekot, I presume! Welcome! And Miss Otilla of the Holy Fire. You are most welcome, miss,” the gentleman said, bowing low as he spotted Peep peeking around from behind Choke. “Ah! And I see you bring along your man. That must be Sergeant Theodas, if I don’t miss my guess. Come! You are all welcome! Please! Please! Do join us!”
The gentleman’s choice of pronoun reminded Choke that he was meant to have another man with him. He blinked as he suddenly noticed the man sitting away from the table in a low, comfortable chair by the hearth. This man was exactly as Balan had described. He was in later middle age, and dressed in skins and furs. His beard was shaggy, if not unkempt, and shrouded deeply creased features roughened by the elements. He was staring into the fire, and had yet to move in the slightest.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Aoelric. It is my pleasure to meet you,” the gentleman shook Choke’s hand. He then bowed again to Peep, before shaking Knuckle’s hand as well. “Pardon my colleague over there. His name is Hargarl. He is antisocial and suits only himself. Completely irredeemable. Please forgive us as you do your best to ignore him. He, thankfully, makes that easy. What is that old expression? I can abide a cat’s blackguardism in the house so long as it remains quiet about it. Please, do have a seat!”
Aoelric moved to pilot Peep towards the seat to the right of his. However, this would put her between him and Hargarl, and she immediately veered off with a scowl to sit down in the chair two down from Aoelric’s left, directly to the right of the foot of the table. This put her on Hargarl’s flank, with the table between them.
Aoelric, nodded with a pleasant smile as he deferred to her judgment. She glared at him as she pulled off her shortbow and quiver rig and hung it from the back of her chair. The bow itself she kept at her side, leaning against her leg.
“Do you have a preference where we sit, sir?” Choke asked.
“No, not at all. Do make yourselves at home.”
“Thank you, sir,” Choke said. He nodded for Knuckle to take the seat at the foot of the table and sat down himself in the one to Peep’s right, directly on the left of Aoelric. Knuckle pulled his greatsword from its back mount and leaned it against the wall behind him before sitting down, making a point to position the head of his warhammer for an easy draw as he did.
Aoelric dipped his head and gestured up to Royce, who was still up at the gate.
“You may begin dinner service. Thank you,” Aoelric said.
Royce nodded deeply and gestured to his wife behind him, who scampered off. He then came down the stairs.
“What can I get ye all to drink?”
“I think ales all around, yes? Yes. Thank you,” Aoelric said. When Royce had left, Aoelric sat down himself. “I can’t imagine they have anything better than that available, can you? Not cider season yet, after all. And I think we can safely give the potato wine a miss. We wouldn’t want things to get silly, now would we, Lieutenant Pekot?”
“Yes, I think so. Thank you. And please call me Bartholomew,” Choke said.
“Well, thank you, Bartholomew. I most certainly shall. Now, I take it, Bartholomew, that I was correct in naming all of you, seeing as I have not been corrected. And I hope you will forgive me that presumption.”
“That’s fine. I suppose we have developed something of a reputation in these parts, after all,” Choke said.
“Oh, yes, indeed. And quite beyond these parts, I should add. I have to say: I am quite thrilled to finally have the chance to meet you all. Quite thrilled, indeed!”
“Well, thank you. I, uhh… I hope we can be of assistance,” Choke said.
“So, Aoelric. That’s yar name, right?” Peep interjected, her tone hard.
“Yes, Miss Otilla. It is indeed.”
“First time I’ve heard that name. The LT here says it’s a noble name. From the old heathen kings. Is that right?”
“It is indeed.”
“So ye must have a second name to go along with it, then,” Peep said.
Aoelric was interrupted in answering her by the arrival of the serving wench with their ales. She was a sturdy heifer who managed five full ale steins one handed so that she could get the gate. She set them around the table, but paused with the last one, clearly scared of Hargarl.
“Oh, I am sure you are all right, miss. Old Hargarl does not usually bite those that are bringing him ale. At least not fatally. But I understand your trepidation. Allow me. Thank you,” Aoelric said, rising from his seat to take the last stein from her. He then moved around the side of the table to the hearth to hand it to Hargarl. When the woodsman reached up to take it, that was the first he had moved since they had arrived.
“Well, allow me to propose a toast,” Aoelric said when he reached his seat, remaining standing to raise up his stein. “To you fine, young Stronians, spreading the word of the Faith at the points of your blades in these wild heathen lands. May you always carry the day! Cheers to you and your exploits!”
Choke, Knuckle, and Peep all raised their glasses to this. Once Aoelric had taken his seat again, he nodded Peep’s way.
“Now, if I am not mistaken, I believe, Miss Otilla, that you had just raised the question of my paternity. And I grant you, that with my given name, along with how I present myself, it certainly seems that I should at least one more name to call my own. However, I do not. My father, I can proudly say, has many. As do his right born sons.”
“So yar a lord’s bastard,” Peep said.
Aoelric continued to smile at her with his mouth. His eyes now showed a different aspect.
“Yes, I believe that is what I just said.”
“Well, then, yar fancier than any of us,” Peep said.
Aoelric chuckled at this. “This from a budding saint. You are too modest, miss.”
“Is that what I am? Aint I just a killer?”
“Aren’t most of Stron’s saints? And, yes, that is what you are, Otilla of the Holy Fire,” Aoelric said, his syrupy manner gone completely. The man that spoke now was hard, cunning, and dangerous.
“And ye know this, huh? Okay, man, enough of this,” Peep said, leaning forward to bang her elbow down on the table and stab her index finger at Aoelric. “What the fuck is this? What are ye after here?”
“Peep. Please,” Choke said, raising a cautionary hand her way.
Aoelric flicked a sharp look Choke’s way at his mention of her personal name, before allowing himself a predatory smile. Then he raised both his palms in a gesture of surrender.
“I see I have touched a nerve. I apologize, miss. I did not mean to presume.”
“Yes, ye did. And I still wanna know. What is this?” Peep said.
“All in good time. Ah! And here is our first course. Let us break bread together and I shall do what I can to set your mind at ease,” Aoelric said as the wench and Royce arrived.
The first course was a rustic soup, almost a stew, thick with fresh wild root vegetables and cured pork. It was good. When the smell of it hit him, Hargarl came over from the fireplace and joined them, sitting down to Aoelric’s right.
“Would you care to say grace, Bartholomew?” Aoelric asked, even as Hargarl began slurping the soup out of the bowl directly.
“Yes, thank you. Stron, bless this food that we are about to eat. Let it nourish us so that we can do your will in this wicked world. And thank you for the chance to meet these two travelers. Let this be an auspicious day. Amen!”
“Amen!” everyone but Hargarl said.
They ate in silence for just a while before Choke spoke up:
“Aoelric, I hope we haven’t gotten off on the wrong foot here, but I think you should be aware of our situation. We have been in conflict with evil men for some time, and must take all caution. And you do seem to have us at a disadvantage, since you know all about us, and we know next to nothing about you. So, if our manner has seemed hard to you, it is only down to that.”
“Thank you for your candor, Bartholomew. And I do understand your position. As I also understand that the two of us appearing as we have out here must be off-putting. So, if I may, I will do what I can to set your minds at ease.”
“Thank you,” Choke said.
“You are most welcome,” Aoelric said.
He and Choke sat looking at each other in silence for a while then, Aoelric with an increasingly amused smile at Choke’s growing unease.
“Okay, then!” Peep snapped. “If yar gonna put our minds at ease, how’s about fuckin doing it? What are ye doing out here, man?”
“Yes. My apologies. I am prone to indulging myself in petty ways at times. As you no doubt can tell, the two of us are out here in a professional capacity. On the job, if you will. Now!” Aoelric again raised both his hands in surrender as Choke, Peep, and Knuckle, in particular, tensed at this. “I am not in any way affiliated with the rascals you have been having your troubles with. And I say this well aware of the conflict you have been embroiled in with their organization. I assure you of this. We have no professional interest in that matter. And, further, personally, I am very much sympathetic to you. We have no interest in harming or hindering you in any way. Nor do we have any intention of helping those that wish to harm you.”
“So what are ye doing out here?” Peep asked.
“Quite simply, we have been sent out here to find out what is going on.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“Miss Otilla, surely you must understand that intelligent and competent people in power have been made aware of the situation out here. There are portents of doom. There is word of a goblin hoard gathering to the north. You, Otilla, have been touched by a member of the Holy Host; anointed to carry the weapon of holy fire. Inquiries and deliberations are being made at the highest levels of the Church about you, and your likely role in whatever is to come.”
“So you say,” Peep said, glaring at him.
“I assure you: they are.”
“And how can ye be so sure?” asked Peep.
“I have spoken in Strana with people affiliated with the Cathedral. They are rather pestered with it of late. They do so like to complain about their petty grievances, these drones of bureaucracy.”
“Sir, you say you have been sent out here to gather information,” Choke said. “So may I ask who it is that you are working for?”
Aoelric smiled. “Well, you can certainly ask. And would you look at that! Here is our main course!” he exclaimed happily, looking up at Royce and the wench, who were descending upon them from the gate.
Royce brought a wooden platter with a large beef roast with broiled potatoes, carrots, and onions heaped around it. Behind him, the wench brought a large basket filled with quartered round loaves of hearty brown bread, and a very big gravy boat.
“Shall I carve, sir?” Royce asked Aoelric after he had set the platter on the table in front of him.
“No thank you. I will carve.”
Royce nodded and came around the table to present Aoelric with his carving knife and fork.
“Thank you. This looks excellent. I think we could all use another round of ale, and then we should be well situated indeed! For the time being at least.”
“Yes, sir.”
Aoelric stood up and tested the carving knife with his thumb. Satisfied, he stabbed the roast with the carving fork and began slicing into it.
“Excellent! Cooked to perfection. We are in for a treat! Let’s have your plates now. Plenty for everyone!” Aoelric said with a happy smile as he began to serve the meat.
Muse Vassal 