Page 53 of The Warrior Priest
She chuckled then stood and, remembering the book in her hands, tapped the cover. “Why were you looking through this?”
“I’m researching the old family legend about the sorcerer placing power into my pendant. The sorcerer is a Zemayan belief, so I thought a book on that subject might teach me something.”
“I read this not long ago and there was nothing about that in here, but you could try another.” She scanned the bookshelf then pulled out a thick book with black lettering on the spine. “Try this one. It’s about the history of the peninsula.”
“How will that help?”
“Never discount history. Knowing the past is always helpful. The legend is old, and the Zemayan culture and belief system is old…the book might mention the sorcerer.”
I accepted the book, but something else had just occurred to me. “The pendant hasn’t given Uncle Roderic the power he sought, so he thinks I can unlock that power for him.” I pointed at his letter. “That’swhy he wants to find me. It’s not because I’m family. It’s because the pendant isn’t working.”
“You’re probably right. He certainly hasn’t taken over the city yet, let alone the entire world.” She gave a rueful laugh. “He probably thinks your mother told you a secret to unleash the power. Perhaps a spell.”
I looked down at the history book in my hands. “I’ll look through this.”
She held up the book on Zemayan beliefs. “And I’ll read this one again, just in case I missed something last time.”
Spring brought warmer weatherand an announcement from Giselle that I was ready for my first mission.
I didn’t feel ready.
“I’ve only been training six months,” I said after we completed a light session in the park. “Shouldn’t it be longer?”
“For most people, I would agree. But youareready, Jac. Your excellent memory accelerated your learning, just as I thought it would. The client has sent me a sketch of the target and a potential place to carry out the job. It shouldn’t be too hard for your first.”
Job. Target. It was all so clinical. “Who’s the victim?”
She grabbed my arm and turned me to face her. “He’s not a victim. He’s a cruel, sadistic man who preys on women right here in Upway. One of the brothel madams is the client. She sent me enough information to satisfy me that he deserves to die. I’ll say it again.Heis not the victim. Those women are. You must understand that, Jac, or this life will destroy you. Before you go any further along this path, tell me you understand.”
“I do.”
She squeezed my arm. “Good. It is difficult the first time, but you’ll get used to it.”
I followed her out of the park, feeling somewhat numb about the evening ahead, still not believing that I was ready to go on my first mission, or that I was going to end a man’s life. Perhaps being numb was the only way to get through it.
Several hours later, as clouds came in and obscured the crescent moon, I set off alone. The target, as Giselle called him, was a sailor from Freedland whose ship was moored in the deeper part of the river. Every night he rowed ashore with some fellow sailors, and while they visited taverns and brothels, he picked out his victims from the whores who worked the streets, the ones with no brothel madam to protect them. I’d studied the sketch of his face but added my own knowledge to the identity. As a Freedlandian, he would be short and stocky with tanned skin, and powerfully strong. The sand people of the republic on the southern point of the Fist Peninsula were known to be rough and lawless, so he would likely fight without honor. He would be armed, but probably just with a knife, not a sword.
With weapons secreted about my body, I prowled through the streets in search of him.
I never found the Freedlandian sailor. In fact, I’d never expected to. I was ambushed by three men on the very street where I should have seen him. They’d been waiting for me behind barrels and crates, stacked on both sides of the narrow street. I quickly dispatched the first with my knife, which I was already holding. He fell to the ground and did not get up. As the two others came at me, I ducked under the sword blade of one and swept out with my foot at the other, tripping him. Springing up to my full height, I parried a strike then another and another.
The third fellow came at me again, this time from behind. I managed to dance out of the way of the second man’s blade just in time to also avoid the sword of the third. A swift kick to the knee had him shouting in pain and falling to the ground beside the first attacker. With two men removed, I concentrated all my effort on the third, who proved more resilient. He was an excellent swordsman.
But Giselle was right. My memory served me well. My body recalled all of the training and instinctively reacted to each strike and parry with a countermove. The most difficult part was ensuring my reactions were unpredictable. I beat him by cutting his sword hand across the knuckles, slicing open his glove. He dropped the sword, but he wouldn’t be permanently injured.
“You can come out now, Giselle,” I said, not yet sheathing my sword.
Giselle emerged from the shadows further along the street. “Well done, Jac. Not only did you defeat them, but you also realized it was a test.”
I waited until the men had retrieved their swords and sheathed them before I thrust mine into the scabbard. “I didn’t know at first. I hope you’re not too hurt,” I said to the first man I’d cut in the side.
He winced as he drew his hands away from the bleeding wound. “I’ll recover.”
Giselle paid them and put her arm around my shoulders, steering me back the way I’d come. “How did you know?”
“I went to the port this afternoon after you told me about the target. There were no Freedlandian ships docked. It’s possible one could have arrived after I left, but the port master said none were expected. So I assumed you were testing me, but I wasn’t completely sure until I saw you. Those three were determined. They didn’t hold back. Did they know it was just a test and not to hurt me?”
“Of course. You did very well, Jac. Very well indeed.” She patted my shoulders before releasing me. “I suspected you’d gone to the port this afternoon, but what I meant was, how did you know I was there? I no longer use the orange blossom soap.”
