by
Joel Levy
Dreams of Love and Revenge in Brocalinde
“Gentlefolk of all degree, merchants, soldiers and street urchins not all tales end tragically .I Redveldt the Bard give you a tale of murder and love with a happy ending.
“Jonnie and Carola were brother and sister; serfs born upon and tied to the lands of Archduke Rodolfo Von Mechlund , city lord of Lothian . Many nights they went to bed hungry after working all day for the Archduke. One hot summer afternoon they watched the Archduke' s daughter and younger son ride out to cast falcons. It was a scene they had witnessed many times before. This afternoon they turned to each other and said simultaneously, ‘Why do we labor with red necks in the sun while the Duke' s children get to play all day?'
“They decided to have Corinne and Stephan Von Mechlund for their lovers, and perhaps even their spouses. Carola wanted Stephan, who was engaged to the daughter of another city lord. Jonnie wanted Corinne , who was still unattached. They had a crush on the two young nobles for years, but Stephan and Corrine never noticed them. To the nobility all serfs looked alike and were classified as barely human.
“It was October when a party of noble travelers crossed the forest of Brocalinde to Lothian . The leader was the ambassador from Eaglenest and his entourage. A small band of knights protected the party and the ambassador' s niece, Princes s Helena Eagleton . The ambassador was chief priest of Odin and a power broker whose contacts stretched throughout Volante . Prince Stephen and Princes s Helena had not seen each other for several years. If they still found each other attractive, the ambassador was authorized to sign a military alliance, trade agreement and marriage contract.
“With the sky threatening to rain any moment, the ambassador' s party spurred their horses into a canter to reach Mechlund manor before the storm broke. One knight with a broken saddle cinch fell and was left behind, unnoticed by the others. It was only an hour later, when the party had been assigned quarters and was busy washing up that Sir Garrett was discovered to be missing.
“A search party found his horse grazing a few miles away in the fields of a neighboring baron. Sir Garrett had been tied to a fence. To their horror, they saw that his chest had been smashed open and his lungs removed and placed upon his back. It was the death of ‘the blood eagle'. The killing was probably no more painful than others, but it surely made a mes s ! The area was searched by riders and then by dogs, but no clues were found as to the identity of the sadistic murderers. The ambassador threatened to return with the princes s to Eagle' s Nest, but was convinced to stay which turned out to be a bad mistake.
“Nobles and guards alike were exhausted from searching the entire night and through the next day. Jonnie slipped into the manor, past snoring sentries, and into the suite of the ambassador and his charge the princes s Helena. A pillow over the old man' s face muffled his wheezing and cries and eventually suffocated him. Jonnie had no training in killing and so his victim suffered needlessly before expiring: A point in favor of trained assassins perhaps. He then bound and gagged the sleeping princes s and forced her at knife point out of the manor and into a pony cart he had stolen.
“The ambassador' s body was found around three hours past dawn. No alarm was raised, simply because his servants thought he had died in his sleep. It was midmorning before an alarm was issued for the missing princes s . Ten hours had already past since she had been abducted. The horses of the guard had been ridden to exhaustion the day before. No meaningful pursuit could be organized, and there was little chance of finding the pony cart and its occupants before they lost themselves within the depths of the forest of Brocalinde .
“The search party was intercepted by the Carola wearing riding clothes stolen from Princes s Helena' s wardrobe. She told Prince Stefan that her brother had kidnapped Helena and was taking her to Skull Mountain. ‘You have all seen what he did to the knight he captured. That was an attention getter! If you ride after him you will find pieces of the princes s as you go along. He will negotiate her release only with Princes s Corinne whom he has loved from afar for years.'
“‘Are you aware that your brother will die a horrible death and that he has caused a war between Lothian and Eaglenest ' Stefan asked.
“Of course we are both aware that we are starting a war, she responded. I may be just an ignorant serf, but I' m not stupid. Princes s Corinne , you and I had better ride out alone and see if we can make a deal to save the Princes s Helena and return her to her father. She will never be your wife. I love you and you could have had me anytime. Now, the price of Helena' s life is a double wedding Corinne and Jonnie, you and I.
“It would be a good idea to have the embassy from Eaglenest thrown into a secure dungeon or better yet killed before one of them escapes to tell of this.”
Redveldt put down his lute and took a swig of ale. He would finish the tale tomorrow evening and thus earn another few silver coins and a free bed and ale.
*
Meanwhile the Abbott of Shaolin Monastery in the far south summoned the Blind Monk and his protégé Mantis boy. “A former student at this monastery has come out of hiding and may be found at the Black Dragon Inn. Ginger Sadowa has brought great shame upon our brotherhood by making evil use of the skills we taught her. Take some of our best fighters and go to the Talos Valley and kill her. The Dragon Gods look favorably upon this righteous death!”
The blind monk bowed to the Abbott and replied ‘Reverend Abbott your command shall be carried out as our sacred duty and our pleasure as well. My protégé Caradane ‘Mantis Boy as he is known has always wanted to test his Mantis technique against the Monkey Fist style of the bitter monks and their protégé Ginger. Now, we shall see which style is best, which fighter the most deadly. Ginger Sadowa shall die at our hands along with anyone else who tries to interfere. Lord Abbott your will shall be done!'
In due course, word was carried to the Black Dragon Inn that a group of fighting monks had set up camp nearby. Later, a challenge to fight was sent to the renegade Ginger Sadowa , a guest at the inn. The blind monk who delivered the challenge stated that if Ginger won the fight, the Shaolin Monks would pursue her no more.
“Raquel Druscard , the Valkyrie, rode out to the monks' campsite. ‘This is insanity she urged. What is to be gained by two people trying to kill each other? Ginger now rides with me and atones for her past crimes with good deeds and defense of the innocent. Let her live to make amends to the Goddesses.'
“Such is not in the order of things” was the only answer she received.
The 2 fighters met at dusk in an open field in front of whatever spectators cared to attend. Many guests from the Black Dragon Inn were present for the free entertainment. Ginger bowed to Caradane “It has been a long time Grasshopper since we practiced our skills in friendly matches at the temple.”
Caradane responded “We never were friends. Today we battle to the death. I am no longer ‘Grasshopper' who you remember. I am ‘Mantis Boy' the one who is going to kill you now.”
“Mantis Boy bowed to both Ginger and the blind monk then attacked with low kicks aimed to break a kneecap. The favorite attack position of monkey fist fighters such as Ginger was denied to her. She could not get under his attack to launch her own strikes at nerve points and groin with her hands. Instead, she rolled over the attack, launching a back kick aimed at the kidneys. The battle continued for several minutes without either fighter gaining any advantage.
Mantis Boy threw stars that Ginger deflected with her reverse curved knife and closed with Mantis Boy who drew a weapon made of iron bars chained together and entrapped Ginger' s knife hand. But, the knife attack had only been a feint. Ginger kicked Caradane savagely and repeatedly in his groin and stomach. The air was suddenly full of throwing stars as the monks attacked.
The Valkyrie drew her broadsword but had no time to fasten her shield as the blind monk attacked her face and groin with lightning fast thrusts of his staff. ‘Beware the young man with a sword and the old man with a staff.' The Valkyrie had heard that saying, but never before had she faced a true master of Shaolin mantis pole technique. His attack was too swift to counter without a shield. Accepting that she could not match the monk' s speed, the Valkyrie swung her broadsword in strokes meant to kill. She could take a bit of punishment from the tip of the staff, but one stroke from her magical broadsword ‘Silver Dragon' would kill the monk. He smiled at her as though approving of her response. His staff attacks switched from her face and groin to her hands to strip her of her weapon.
Some of the other guests from the Inn had drawn weapons and attempted to keep the monks from swarming all over Ginger. They were following the adventurers' instinct to band together against trouble. Then, from out of the woods, Werebeasts appeared upsetting everyone' s plans.”
To be continued next issue...
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