Chapter 9: Holy Maiden          Rekka no Ken: Vol 3: The Tactician and the Black Fang: Chapter 1: Taking Leave

 

Chapter 10: The Farseer

 

Pent walked forward and touched the ice that sealed in Eshan. The defeated lord’s eyes were nearly bugged out. Pent’s eyebrow twitched and he turned away.

Yodel bent to pick up the Holy Maiden Staff and touched it to Pent’s shoulder. The staff glowed a little, and Pent’s colour returned and he didn’t cough anymore. Yodel went next to Roger and then Erk.

“I hope you are unharmed, Your Majesty,” Pent said to King Mordred, who was cleaning and sheathing his silver sword.

King Mordred nodded. “I am, and so are my wife and son. We are completely shocked, Reglay, completely and utterly shocked. What could have happened to Lord Eshan?”

“Lust for power,” Pent answered. “I still can’t understand what was going through his head…”

“But if you had not come, we do not think we would be alive now. Eshan would not only have taken over Elimine’s Church, he would have usurped the monarchy.” The door of the throne room came unlocked and several troops of guards poured through. Douglas motioned to them to take the iced-up Eshan away.

Pent bowed. “It is always my duty to serve Etruria.”

“And, of course, we’re pleased to welcome Lady Louise to Aquleia as well,” the king said, taking Louise’s hand and pressing it. Louise dipped a low curtsy, a shy smile covering her face.

“But who is this? He’s not dressed as a soldier or magic user,” the king asked, gesturing towards Ceniro with a smile. Ceniro suddenly felt like the floor was going to drop out from under him. His face turned white and then red as he took a few hesitant steps forward and bowed to one knee.

“My name is Ceniro, Your Majesty,” he said, trying not to let his voice fade into incomprehensibility. “I’m a tactician from Santaruz. Lord Pent hired me to direct his men as he journeyed in search of the jewel.”

“You may rise, lad,” King Mordred said to him. “Lord Pent made a good choice in you. Well done.”

Ceniro was giddy. He tried to remember what Lyn had said to him once, that a king was just another man, but the words lost their meaning as he looked wide-eyed at the smiling man in front of him.

King Mordred was no longer young, in his early forties, with streaks of silver in his golden hair at the temples, but his blue eyes were kind and full of laughter. Ceniro stammered out his thanks.

Pent smiled. “I think this is his first time meeting royalty, Your Majesty.”

King Mordred patted Ceniro on the shoulder. “Understandable reactions. Very flattering, too, we must tell you. How old are you?”

“I’m ne- nineteen, Your Majesty,” Ceniro replied, almost saying ‘nearly twenty’ but realizing at the last second that that would make him sound rather childish.

“So young. And you said you were from Santaruz? I wasn’t aware they had a military academy.”

“Oh, no, Your Majesty, they don’t. I studied in Ostia, under Lord Garlent.”

“And does Lycia regularly turn out such young tacticians?”

“Oh, excuse me, Ceniro, before you get too wrapped up in talk, could I borrow the farseer for a while?” Pent asked. “I want to make it better, now that I have the materials and tools.”

“Certainly,” answered the tactician, handing it to him. Pent took it, bowed to the king and queen, and left the room at a brisk stride, Erk jogging alongside him.

Ceniro found it very pleasant talking to the king, after he got over his initial nervousness. Soon he found himself talking, if not easily, at least with confidence about his abilities and experiences and even his amazement that he had come so far.

“Every once in a while, sire, I stop and think: ‘I’m only a carpenter’s son from a smallish territory in Lycia, and here I am working for these great lords and ladies’. I’m always astonished, sire.”

“But why should you be?” asked King Mordred. “It is indeed impressive, given that a noble-born boy would probably have more opportunities for employment within the nobility, but your abilities make it clear that you are one of the best young tacticians out there. But we do congratulate you on your achievements. Never let anyone belittle them, lad.”

“Thank you, sire.”

“All anyone needs to do, if they want to become good, is to love what they do and work hard – and perhaps have a knack for it. You have all that. We know, we have no real time to study strategy, and we should perhaps not be offering our advice, but we believe this is true for many things, not just strategy. You began this job nearly by chance, did you not?”

“Yes, sire.”

“It just so happened that this job developed into this.”

“There was certainly no way I could have stopped at any point before this, sire.”

“Perhaps one might say that it was only chance that Lord Pent happened to see your worth, giving you the ‘noble’ connection, but Lord Pent is hardly an ordinary noble, as you know. If it were any other noble, now, your chances would have been very slim; they see status, not skill. But as it was, we are gratified to be able to meet you, Ceniro of Santaruz.”

“Thank you, sire!”

When he was done, he went down in the courtyard to talk to his companions. Cavven accosted him first, giving him a tackle hug and a whoop of victory. Ceniro extricated himself carefully, kneading his crushed ribs, while he spoke with all the soldiers.

George, Caddie, Yens, and Cavven were, of course, going to stay with Pent, serving and guarding him and his lands as needed. George and Caddie clapped him on the back, and they all said how much they had experienced working with him.

Roger and Phil and Paul were going back to Deis within the hour to begin dealing with the bureaucracy of succession. Roger told him: “You’re not so bad for a tactician, you know. I might even listen to you one of these days! Too bad we’re not going to see each other again, huh?”

Lence was going to continue traveling to Ostia to see his nephews, where he had been going in the first place, and Albert was returning to Kafti.

Priscilla – and Erk – would be leaving for Lycia in a couple months, but at the moment would return to Castle Wrigley with Lady Louise and the soldiers the next day. She gave Ceniro a shy handclasp, and he bowed clumsily to her. Andy and Frank had been offered positions with the Reglay troops and were joining them. Andy was almost tearful at leaving Ceniro, with whom he was now very good friends. Ceniro told him he would visit someday.

The only one missing was Fiora. Ceniro went to find her and discovered her with her pegasus further back, a little apart from her victoriously laughing troop.

“What are you going to do now that all this is over?” Ceniro asked her.

She looked up, startled, and smiled warmly. “Hello, Ceniro. Well, Lord Pent has asked to hire my troop again immediately for another job, a long term job. All that I know so far is that it involves reconnaissance.”

“That sounds well suited to your skills… I’ve been dying to ask for days but never got the chance… what is it like being a pegasus knight? A fully trained pegasus knight.”

“It’s a hard life, but it is worth it for the pride and support of our families back in Ilia. We’re some of the finest warriors in Elibe, though as you know we find it more difficult to fight with arrows and wyvern knights.” She thought for a while. “I’m sure you know all this already. Well, have you ever been to Ilia?”

“Never. I’m planning to wander up there sometime.”

“It’s a poor country, compared to the others… nearly perpetually covered in snow and ice. There are no large cities, only tiny villages and some forts. But it is beautiful.”

“You found my weak spot,” Ceniro said, smiling.

Fiora grinned back. “I know.” Her smile slowly faded. “I fight as a mercenary to support my parents, my village, and the poor of my country. My mother was always too delicate to be a pegasus knight, and my father was a lancer, but he retired to look after my mother. So now I am their main source of income. I’m curious, why did you ask?”

Ceniro shrugged a little. “Well, I worked with a young pegasus knight earlier this year, a friend of Lyn’s… she’d just been kni-“

“Not… Florina? You know Florina!?” Fiora’s eyes grew wide with shock and amazement.

“You know her too!?” Ceniro’s reaction was almost equal.

“She’s my sister! My youngest sister!”

“Well, she’s a respected knight of Caelin, now. She was invaluable during our journey there, and she decided to stay where Lyn was. So…”

Ceniro was taken completely off guard when Fiora suddenly lunged at him and hugged him.

After a moment she released him. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ve been a little worried about her. I always am. I haven’t been home in a few months, and I didn’t even know she had left home again.”

“How did she and Lyn meet?” He was sure Lyn had told him, but he had forgotten.

“My mother’s health was very poor when she was carrying Florina. She went to Sacae to birth her, and they lived there for about ten years, until Florina was strong enough to live in Ilia. Lyn’s father was the one who offered them shelter. I was training in the pegasus recruits, and my father was working, and my-“ Fiora stopped suddenly and changed colour, then went on more carefully. “My other sister was also undergoing training as well. Forgive me. We’re not on very good terms anymore.”

“I see. Well, you don’t have to worry about Florina anymore. I was really impressed when I worked with her. She was the first real pegasus knight I ever met. She’s quick and determined, and Lyn’s there, so they can help each other out of any trouble. And there are other reliable knights around; Kent, Sain, and Wil. …You know, you remind me of Kent sometimes.”

“Do I?” asked the pegasus knight curiously. “How so?”

“Your manner. You’re so dutiful, and yet full of heart. And sometimes the way you talk is just like Kent. It was hard to tell at first. He has to keep his friend Sain in line, you know, and that makes him more serious more of the time. I meant to say that earlier, but I kept forgetting.”

“I see.” Fiora smiled again. “Thank you, Ceniro. I’m glad to know about Florina. I’ll have to go and visit sometime; perhaps after I complete my commission for Lord Pent.”

“Speaking of whom…” Ceniro said, looking up.

“Ceniro!” Pent was calling from a window high up the castle wall. “Hey there! Catch!” He dropped something out the window.

“Waah!” Ceniro dove for the small silver object and caught the farseer just before it hit the ground. “Pent, be careful! I’m not extraordinarily nimble…”

“No, it’s okay!” Pent called. “Hang on a sec and I’ll come down and explain.”

Ceniro heard scuffling from inside the tower, and then Pent burst out of the door at the bottom, cloak billowing behind him.

“Here, let me show you,” he said eagerly, reaching for the farseer. Ceniro handed it to him without comment.

Pent proceeded to chuck the farseer at the stone wall of the castle in an ungentle manner. Ceniro gasped as Pent scooped the little silver device up, utterly unscratched, and handed it back to him. “Here you go. It’s perfectly fine. I tested it several times to make sure.”

“Um. Thank you!” Ceniro said. “Now I don’t have to worry about it breaking ever again, right?”

“Should be,” Pent replied, nodding sagely. “Until the spell wears thin, which should take a couple centuries, anyway, or unless someone takes it apart on purpose. I’d steer clear of Silence staves and fireballs, as well. But other than that, feel free to do whatever you like with it. It’s even waterproof.”

“Wow.” Ceniro blinked at it. “Waterproof?”

“Well, don’t throw it down the well to test,” Pent added. “I’m not wasting a good wind spell to get it out again. Erk, on the other hand…”

“No, I don’t,” Erk replied loudly. “Master.”

Ceniro giggled as Pent looked at his student in amused bemusement.

“So, what are you up to now, Ceniro?” the sage asked, turned back to the tactician. “I’ve sent your payment on to your family, like you asked… You have the amount for yourself… Anything else you need?”

“Well, I don’t know where I’m going next, but Ilia is at the top of my list. I’m going to stay in Aquleia for a few days, and rest and see the sights, and then I’ll be off…”

“Wait, I remember,” Pent interrupted him. “Boots. You wanted boots.”

“Did I? I don’t even remember.”

“Well, don’t stand there. Let’s go see what Aquleia has to offer!”

The rest of the group waved goodbye as the count dragged the mildly protesting tactician out of the castle and down the road to the markets and shoemakers’ shops of Etruria.

 

Chapter 9: Holy Maiden          Rekka no Ken: Vol 3: The Tactician and the Black Fang: Chapter 1: Taking Leave