Chapter three

Chapter Three

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               

 

                “Preparations have been set milord. We now have reserves set up in the surrounding countries to overthrow the king when he builds up his rebellion.”

                “Good. Now watch him carefully. He is one of the best kings out there that is why we are going to face him first. When you cut off the head of the snake what happens?”

                “The body dies milord?”

                “That is correct. If we can exterminate this king once and for all and put an end to his reign, then we will be able to secure all the lands and make them bow down!”

                “Yes milord that is brilliant! But how are we to do this? Why not just attack now and finish him off?”

                “You really have not learned have you? Very well, I will tell you why: We must ensure that he has built a contingent of followers so that they will be devastated when he finally is killed. They will bow down to me as their leader because they won’t have anyone to run to. I will be there, their liberator and protector.”

                “I see milord.”

                “Stop hovering around me and make yourself useful. We have work to do.”

                “As you wish.”

 

                “Hello Hawthorne.”

Cleric Borese stood over me as I backed out of my hiding place.

                “Hello Cleric Borese.”

I replied with a hint of snide in my voice. I still remembered how he ruthlessly knocked me out during our last encounter. It must have been obvious because his face slithered into a sly smirk showing that he knew that he had gotten to me.

                “I see you have been spying on the princess and her love affair with your soldier. I hope that this problem won’t have an overlying effect on you and your squad.”

                “I am more than capable with handling my own men thank you cleric. Besides, how did you know about the princess and Michael?”

                “I am the cleric of his majesty. There isn’t a whole lot that goes on that I don’t know about, you see?”

I stood in front of him watching his facial features and body language for any duplication of what he did to me the other night. He seemed to be in a less hostile mood so I chose this time to rescind my previous decision.

                “Cleric, there is something I would like to talk to you about. I would like to accept your offer of learning from you. I was not in the greatest of mind when you asked me and I was very skeptical. I have had time to think about my decision and would be more than willing to be taught by you. That is if you are still willing to teach me.”

                I looked up at him and made sure my face portrayed the utmost sincerity. I messed this up once before and couldn’t afford to let this opportunity pass again. Cleric Borese seemed to think this over, as though he was contemplating whether I deserved a second chance or not.

                “Here is the deal Hawthorne, what I am going to teach is not something that will come to you right away. It does not use a certain form or style. It is everything but also it is nothing. You will need to use spirit, body, and mind to pass my tests. I need your full cooperation with this though. You have to want this. It isn’t something that is just given, it is earned every step of the way.”

                Every word that Cleric Borese said just fueled me more to be taught by him. I don’t know what I was thinking by not accepting his offer but the more he talked about what he was going to teach me, the more I was anxious to learn. This brought up a question in my mind too; what exactly was I going to be taught? Something that used my mind, spirit, and body, but that could be a lot of things. I wanted to get this training started as soon as possible.

                “So, when do we start?”

                I asked, hoping that my excitement wasn’t too noticeable.

                “You won’t know when we begin. I will need to speak with Vasquez and James though to make sure that they are willing to accept my offer also. Your training will begin when I say so but you will never know when I am actually training you. Expect to be on your toes for the next few months. I will be testing you when you are not ready and when you are most vulnerable. After each test, I will sit down with you and tell you why you have failed and what you can improve on. Other than that, you will have no other teachings from me for the first few weeks. I will let you know what you need in order to learn. But for now, be vigilant, be ready, and don’t let me win.”

                With that he turned toward his carriage and for the first time since the attack, I was afraid.

 

 

                Michael walked away from the princess with one of the worst feelings that every young man comes to know and hate. All he could think about was how her brown hair cascaded down her back and was tied in sections because it was so long, the way her powder white cheeks would turn deep red when she did something embarrassing or how her golden eyes could change color depending on the mood she was in. The taste of her sweet red lips when they would kiss and the warmth of her small body pressed against him left him with the unsteady notion that he might not ever have that again with her.

                How can she be so stupid? I put everything on the line for her but all she could think about was how her reputation would look or what her father would think of her. He should be proud that she has such high taste of men, especially one that is part of the greatest fighting force of the world. Silly princesses. All they ever care about is how people view them, not of the effects that they have on the commoners that make their lives so simple.

                “Hey Vasquez everything alright? You look really down.” James asked as he noticed Vasquez coming towards him to tend to his horse.

                “Yeah I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” Vasquez replied, trying to steel his emotions as he realized that showing the true effects of this break up would only cause more questions and the last thing he needed was having a the royal family find out what was going on with him and princess Arema.

                James gave him a stern look but let the issue fall as he realized who he was talking to. Vasquez and he had always been together from the start of their military career. They met on the training grounds when they were partnered up to spar. Surprisingly, James with his small one-hundred and twenty pound frame, was able to stave off the short but burly Vasquez for the duration of the fight. They were both nearly equal in height with James just being slightly shorter. Strikes met parries, slashes missed armor and flesh by near inches, fists met open hands and it seemed as if the methodical dance of sword play was never going to end. It was hard to even tell that the two of them were even tiring because their composure and vigor never slouched. Neither of them was going to let the other get the best of them.

                Both sides of the story are different depending on who you talk to but the thing that happened next caused the fight to finally end its course. The way Vasquez always tells it is that he was able to feint to his left, bringing up his sword and slash down into James’s ribcage, making him the victor of the battle. Vasquez would say that it was because of his legendary feint that caused him to win. James tells it a different way.

                Since he was a little boy, all James would ever do was train with his older brother, Warren, who joined the army when James was just six years old. Warren wanted his brother to learn the ways of the sword so that in case anything ever happened to his family, he wouldn’t have to worry because James would be able to protect them.

                “No Collin, that wouldn’t work. Do you see how open you left yourself with that thrust?” Warren would say as James worked at a special moved that he was taught. Collin James was the happiest when he was learning how to use his sword as it was the only time he had with his older brother. After Warren left for the academy after his sixteenth birthday, he gave Collin his lucky sword.

                “Collin, this is yours now. I want you to take care of it and use it to help you be stronger. I know it is heavier than the practice one that we would always use, but this is what a man uses. You must protect momma and papa ok?”

                Collin looked into his brother’s eyes and made a promise that he would never forget. Warren would soon go off to the warrior school and fight amongst the world’s best. Collin wanted nothing more than to follow in his big brother’s footsteps. He dedicated all of his free time training with his practice sword so that one day he would be able to use the real one that Warren had given him.

                One day, while Collin was going through a simple warm up routine, he saw two horses ride up to his house. Now this wouldn’t have been a strange thing if they weren’t baring the howling wolf of Evalena’s army. The sound of wood clunked against the dirt path as Collin set in a dead sprint back to his house. Tiny legs moved as fast as they could while similarly small arms pumped at his sides, propelling him closer to the place he was most safe. Up over the stone steps and through the brick archway, he was finally at the large wooden door that was pushed ajar by the two soldiers.

                The sound of wailing pierced his ears the moment his little sandaled foot crossed over the threshold into his house. What was going on? Why was mom crying so loudly? Collin, only being seven years of age, had no idea that his brother was killed in battle earlier that day.

                Years would soon pass by, shaping Collin James into a fighter. His brother did all he could to make sure he could fight, and being born into a family that produced small men meant that he had to work that much harder. This was the reason that he was able to hold off Vasquez for so long considering the height and weight difference. When Vasquez did his feint, James would always say that he looked up and saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and hesitated instead of blocking the oncoming blade that would spell out defeat.

                Of course there was never any way of knowing whose story was right although it was pretty plain to see that Vasquez was able to trick James with a very well performed move.

                James continued packing his horse and setting up his gear as he reminisced about old times. Something was up about Vasquez, James thought. He didn’t think that would ever happen because he always portrayed such a solid, threatening demeanor.

                “James, why are you taking so long to pack? We should be on the road already. Move with some haste and let’s go.”       

                Vasquez said as he walked past with his horse’s reigns in his hands. James just shook his head and put the final touches on securing his gear. He was ready to get this little journey over with so he could finally start training again.

               

 

 

 

Thoughts were racing through my mind as I played through the scenario of what just happened. Secret arts, training that was actually hard, not knowing when you started training, it was a lot to take in all at once. Hopefully I can get some thinking in while we are on the road. There is just something about Cleric Borese that I’m not quite sure of yet. He is such a mysterious person that not too many people know very much about. All I know is that he was put into office around the same time King Ethelred was. Other than that, his history is a tightly kept secret. I wasn’t too worried though as it seemed I would soon learn all I could about my new mentor.

I returned to my horse and gear as the king commanded everyone to start moving again. I looked around and noticed I couldn’t see Vasquez or James around me. I wasn’t too concerned as I figured they would be somewhere close to the royal family. I settled into the rhythm of my horse’s footsteps and prepared for the last half day’s ride to Fort Winfard.