Richard Tuttle - Web of Deceit

Klavin turned and headed down the path without waiting for Rejji. The other men had questioning expressions on their faces as Rejji rose and followed Klavin towards the field. Rejji could see that he might have been a little childish with his remarks in front of the other men, but Rejji knew he only had limited time to learn before Mistake pressured him to leave. When Klavin tossed Rejji the wooden sword, Rejji grabbed the sword and held it point down to the ground.

“Klavin,” he stated, “I know you don’t want to be teaching me, and I know you are taking that frustration out on me by punishing my body, but think about this. There may come a time soon when I am at your back in battle. It might be my blade between you and some opponent you can’t see. I don’t ever expect to be a warrior of your caliber, but I do want to learn to handle myself. I need your help to do that. Will you train me?”

Klavin stood for a long time staring at the boy. Finally, he nodded.

“Alright, lad, I’ll train you,” he said. “Don’t think that means the bruises will stop though. You aren’t going to learn without feeling your mistakes. If you are serious about learning, I will make you learn, but trust me, you will be sleeping well every night.”

“Thank you,” Rejji said as he picked up his wooden sword and held it before himself with two hands.

Klavin was true to his word and he taught Rejji until the evening meal. Rejji was bruised anew, but the new bruises represented Rejji’s mistakes and not punishment from Klavin. Klavin nodded approvingly when Rejji suggested more practice after the evening meal and they returned to the field and continued training.

By the time Rejji returned to the command center from the practice field, he was dead on his feet. As sore as he was, he did not stop at Gregnic’s hut, but went straight to the meeting room and stretched out on the floor. He was vaguely aware of Wyant checking on him and locking the door and he thought he saw Mistake again that night, but he wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not.

The days began to blur together as Rejji spent every free moment training with the giant. Klavin was indeed a good warrior and a good trainer. After the fifth day, Rejji was able to stay awake after he reached the meeting room and he found out that Mistake had been visiting him every night. He also found out that she was stealing food out of the storage sheds and had managed to acquire some throwing daggers with arm and leg sheaths. Before Rejji knew it, his two weeks had gone by.

“You said two weeks,” Mistake complained as they sat in the dark corner farthest from the door. “Now you want more time? I knew you would not leave.”

“Just a little bit more,” pleaded Rejji. “I have just started to learn to ride a couple of days ago. I could not acquire knowledge this quickly anywhere other than here. What is wrong with me learning to take care of myself?”

“It is not the learning,” Mistake stated. “I think you are beginning to enjoy your life here. Have you forgotten your pledge to help me find the Sage?”

“Of course not,” protested Rejji, “but surely that search can wait another two weeks. You have been looking for years already. What does it matter if we take a little bit longer?”

“And at the end of two more weeks, then what?” she pouted. “You will ask for yet another two weeks. No, Rejji, it is time for me to go. I want you to come with me, but I think you have found a new home here. Soon you will be pillaging villages with the rest of them.”

“That is unfair,” Rejji began, but he stopped when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. “Out quickly!”

Mistake swiftly climbed the rope while Rejji moved to the spot in the wall where he could listen.

“Are the preparations made?” Wyant asked.

“They are,” Brakas replied. “I still don’t like the idea of taking everyone with us. What if they decide to ambush us once we are on the road?”

“If they can ambush our entire tribe, then what does it matter?” retorted Wyant. “They are strong enough now to walk all over us. Our only hope of survival would be to band with the other tribes.”

“But here we have the fortress,” Brakas complained. “It is a very defensible place.”

“Yes it is,” agreed Wyant, “but it is not impregnable. And if we only took a portion of the troops we would be setting ourselves up for just that. I am already leery about the Jiadin holding this meeting on sacred ground. Something smells to me.”

“You think it is a trap?” questioned Brakas.

“I do,” answered the Zaldoni leader. “The Jiadin have broken every agreement the tribes have made. They have attacked villages in our territory as well as others. Now they appear to have set up camp in the sacred lands, where no tribe is to be. If this is not a ploy to put all tribes under the Jiadin, I’ll eat my horse.”

“Then why go at all?” asked Brakas.

“Because we need to show strength to the other tribes,” explained Wyant. “I am hoping to convince some of them to join with us in opposing the Jiadin.”

“If Grulak finds out about that he will attack us for sure,” commented Brakas.

“Then he had best not find out,” frowned Wyant. “By the way, Rejji is not coming with us.”

“So you do think he is a spy then?” questioned Brakas.

“No, I don’t,” answered Wyant. “He has trained hard to be one of us and Klavin says he has learned well and swiftly. It is his desire for revenge against the Jiadin that troubles me. To take him there would be too tempting for any man to resist and it would expose our entire tribe to danger. I like the young lad, but I am going to turn him loose in the morning when we leave. Perhaps he will rejoin us someday in the future.”

“Makes sense I guess,” Brakas responded. “Vandegar Temple is not the place for us to start a fight.”

“It sure would be nice to have that gold Brontos gave you,” needled Mistake, “or at least something other than my daggers to get food with.”

“The villagers gave us what they thought they could spare,” replied Rejji. “You are just looking for an excuse to start stealing again.”

“It would have been easy, Rejji,” she grumbled. “They weren’t even watching me.”

“We will find another village or some travelers we can ask for food,” Rejji promised. “Maybe I can find some work at the next village and pick up a few gold coins.”

“Maybe,” Mistake frowned, “but we have been a week on the road now and haven’t seen any other travelers and the villagers are suspicious of everyone.”

“Can’t say as I blame them,” responded Rejji. “If Wyant was right about the Jiadin gathering all the tribes together, Fakara is going to become a much more dangerous place than it has been.”

“It never has been safe,” Mistake pointed out. “You have lived in a idealistic world, Rejji. Outside your little village, people have been robbed and murdered daily. That is the way of this world. You take what you can get and guard it from others.”

“Well that is just stupid,” Rejji stated. “If people worked together, there would be more for everyone. Our village survived because we shared everything. Nobody was left to fend for themselves.”

“And where are they now?” Mistake blurted out and immediately regretted it.

Rejji halted on the trail and stared at Mistake. “The people who attacked our village will pay for it,” he promised. “If all the young men of the villages weren’t running off to join the bandits, the tribes would think twice about attacking the villages. Somebody has to stand up to them.”

“I am sorry, Rejji,” apologized Mistake. “I shouldn’t have brought that up, but you should not believe that everyone is good at heart either. While all of the tribes are bandits, not all bandits are members of the tribes. There are other bad people in this world. Someone will always be there to take what is yours, tribesmen or not.”