Michael Mathias - Kings, Queens, Heroes, and Fools

Mikahl accepted Lord Gregory’s wisdom as if it were set in stone, even if he didn’t like it. The two Westlanders caught up on most everything they could think of, but Mikahl did the majority of the talking. Lord Gregory had been unconscious for the duration of the war that Pael waged on humanity. Most of the details Mikahl revealed were new to the Lion Lord’s ears and he listened raptly.

It was their third evening on the Shark’s Tooth. They were standing at the rail looking out over the sea. The sun was about to set and the slow rolling waves were tipped in molten gold. They were speaking quietly to each other about the political situation in Valleya when Captain Konrath decided to make his move.

“Turn around now,” Konrath ordered in his grisly pirate voice. “Nice and slow or my men will get you where you stand.”

Mikahl turned to see three of the pirates standing before them with their wicked curved blades held only inches from him and Lord Gregory. Atop a lidded bin, behind the three men, the half-masked Captain grinned smugly down. A shuffle of movement down the deck revealed that Grommen, and the Highwander soldier were in a similar predicament.

Mikahl searched the ship for Maxrell Tyne, but didn’t see him. He was surprised that his first thought was that the mercenary betrayed them. His instincts told him that Tyne was either being held at sword point somewhere, or had brokered a deal where he might play both sides of the fence. After all, both he and the Captain were Dakaneese.

“Crossbows in the timbers,” Lord Gregory said under his breath.

“Waves,” was Mikahl’s reply. “Give him your knee now.”

When Lord Gregory dutifully dropped to his left knee and ducked his head, Captain Konrath’s laugh was cut short. Mikahl used the step the Lion Lord’s leg created to propel himself up into a somersault over the startled seamen. Ironspike came out with a ringing sing and a bright purple glare threw shadows across the evening. The thumping of half a dozen crossbow bolts into the deck and the cry of one of the seamen who’d been struck by his own man’s bolt filled the dusk. Mikahl’s world was consumed with a different sound, a symphony of powerful magic.

After Mikahl launched himself, Lord Gregory simply fell over and rolled. While Mikahl’s radiant acrobatics drew the seamen’s attention, the Lion Lord drew his blade, and as quick as lightning, put its tip through the bellies of two of them. The third pirate was cursing and reeling away, holding the bolt jutting out of his neck.

A sizzling dart of red streaked from Ironspike’s tip toward the men in front of Grommen and the Highwanderman. They used the moment of shock it caused the seamen to get clear and draw their own weapons. It wasn’t necessary, though. The next sound that echoed through the evening was so blood-curdling that even the ocean stood still for a moment.

Konrath’s yell was gut-wrenching. With pain-filled eyes, the Captain of the Shark’s Tooth lay on the deck fumbling at where his lower leg used to be. A glance at the foot lying nearby in a growing pool of blood made him gulp and begin to sob.

“I told you not to challenge these men,” said Maxrell Tyne from the top of the wheelhouse overlooking them. Then the mercenary turned to the first mate. “I suggest you tie that stump off before your captain bleeds to death. My friend won’t want to kill him just yet.”

“I won’t?” Mikahl asked, keeping his eyes on the agonized Captain.

“If you did, he would be dead, no? This is a pirate ship, King Mikahl,” Tyne said matter-of-factly. “We cannot just sail it into the trade port of Salazar. The Captain here knows where we will be able to land unmolested. I don’t think his men know the lantern shutter codes. That’s one of the bits of knowledge that a good pirate captain hoards.”

Lord Gregory kicked Captain Konrath’s booted foot over the side of the ship into the sea. The first mate edged nervously over and put a belt around the Captain’s stump then cinched it tight. The scream that everyone expected to hear never came. Konrath passed out from the pain. Then, as if nothing had ever happened, Lord Gregory put his elbows back on the ship’s rail and resumed his conversation with Mikahl.

“So, King Broderick will be in Xwarda now under the witch’s guard?” he asked.

“She’s not a witch, I tell you,” replied Mikahl. “She is a fine and noble queen. She’s not afraid to get her hands bloody either. When Hyden, Vaegon, and I were bringing Ironspike to its cradle, she met us in the Evermore with a group of her rangers. She had dreamed of our coming and was dressed for battle. I think she thought we were King Broderick and Queen Rachel’s spies or something. That’s when the Choska and the horn-helmed rider attacked.”

“The thing that killed Vaegon?”

“Aye, but it didn’t kill him then.” Mikahl pinched the bridge of his nose as it was an unpleasant memory. “That day in the Evermore, Grrr, the pack leader of the Giant King’s great wolves, died to save me. Queen Willa carried me back to Xwarda and her healers kept me alive. When I came around, Pael was knee deep in Xwarda.”

“And now Hyden is off chasing a silver skull?” Lord Gregory looked mystified at this. He would have expected Hyden to be aiding Mikahl or King Jarrek directly.

Mikahl shrugged a “what-can-you-do” shrug. “He speaks to a goddess sometimes,” Mikahl explained. “The goddess of his people. She told him he needed to use this skull to retrieve a ring that his brother took into the land of demons. The ring is supposed to balance some great scale of power. I don’t understand any of it.” Mikahl sighed. “I envy him. He is freer than the rest of us somehow. I cannot explain it.”

“Everyone has a duty, Mik,” Lord Gregory said solemnly. “Don’t think for a moment that Hyden doesn’t have his. Traipsing into the land of the demons sounds unfathomable. I doubt he would do this if the goddess hadn’t given him the task.”

“Aye,” Mikahl conceded.

“This General Spyra, who you stood with at Valleya, he’s capable?”

“He can fight both as a leader and as a warrior. He fought bravely against Pael’s dead men, but that doesn’t make him a good candidate to run a kingdom. He was the most stable figurehead that was available to me.” Mikahl shrugged again. “That, and I trust him.”

Lord Gregory nodded. “We need to find out who is King Broderick’s true heir,” Gregory said after a long bit of thought. “That is the starting point to fixing the Valleyan problems. As for Seaward and Queen Rachel, I think that there is only one solution.”

“What’s that?” Mikahl asked hopefully.

“You will have to sneak back into Westland and free Princess Rosa. You’ll have to get her to safety, and then marry her.”

“That’s a lot harder than it sounds.”

Gregory laughed at the look on Mikahl’s face. “It sounds impossible. What’s harder than impossible?” As he had done hundreds of times when Mikahl was a fumbling page growing into a capable squire, Lord Gregory ruffled his hair. “You have the Prince of Salaya to spy for you, and his trade ships will help you in and out of Westland. You know the inside of Lakeside Castle as well as any man alive, probably better, since you caused so much mischief there in your youth. You have Ironspike, and all the power that comes with it. It won’t be easy, Mik, but unless you want Princess Rosa to wither away in some dungeon cell, it’s the only option.” Gregory smiled a sad, yet reassuring smile. “We will spend a day or two on Salazar searching for Trella and Zasha. Then, either way, we will go to the Isle of Salaya and find out what knowledge Prince Raspaar has gathered for you. We can make a plan then. From what I’ve seen, Queen Shaella has only a loose hold over our kingdom. There was no resistance when the skeeks invaded. They’re not battle tested.”