Chapter 32 Bounty
#46’s mother was angry and came after us, of course. The older Prince Eaters fought her off. Before anyone was seriously hurt, though, the magi separated them. She was still alive when they took her somewhere else. – Prince Eater #34
Liam and Grace appeared at the inn a dimming later. Liam had his quarterstaffs tied across his back, while his younger sister clutched her new slate tightly. They entered the pub tentatively, and when Craig Doherty scowled at them, Grace ducked behind her brother for protection. Liam quickly asked if Mr. Jon and Mr. Seán Holdingfree might be available to help them with practice.
Craig Doherty blinked in surprise and said, “I’ll send Rory up to ask. In the meantime, please wait in either the dining room or out in front of the inn. It isn’t suitable for the little girl to be in the pub.”
They walked hesitantly into the dining room and waited until Seán came bounding down the stairs. As he neared the bottom he called out, “Grace! Liam! It’s so good that you’ve decided to take us up on our offer. Alec will bring Jon downstairs shortly.”
Grace’s smile widened when she heard Seán’s voice, then spread from ear to ear when he came through the door. She tugged on her brother’s sleeve and asked, “Liam, am I supposed to bow?”
“Of course not,” Seán replied before Liam could speak. “We’re best friends, and this is my home.”
“I have more arithmetic,” Grace said with a plea in her voice. “Momma wrote them out for me to do earlier today, but I don’t understand them.”
“Are you hungry?” Seán asked.
“No, thank you,” Grace said, glancing down to the left.
“Yes, she is,” Liam spoke up. “Our mother refused to let her have breakfast again. I don’t know how she expects Grace to be able to figure anything out when she’s so hungry.”
Craig Docherty had been standing just outside the door, waiting to indicate to Seán that he didn’t want the little girl in the pub again, but as soon as he heard Liam’s response, he said, “Well, don’t you worry about it, Grace dear. My Kenzie is in the kitchen cooking right now. We’ll fix you something straight away. Seán, there’s at least another hour before customers start coming for a midday meal, so go ahead and set up anywhere. I’ll be right back with something for your friends.”
As Seán helped Grace into a chair and she set her small bits of chalk beside her slate, Liam spoke up, “You said that someone would bring Mr. Holdingfree down. Is he all right?”
“He is,” Seán said, smiling congenially. “Stairs are still difficult for him, so his husband carries him. Well, Jon comes down or goes up as far as he can, and then Alec helps him the rest of the way. Every day he does a little better, goes a little farther.”
“Alec,” Liam said pensively, and then asked, “Alec Mulrian? The Legendary Royal Archer?”
“Holdingfree, the Broke and Ordinary,” Alec said from the doorway. Jon stood next to him leaning heavily on his cane.
Liam’s face flushed with embarrassment, and he stammered, “I’m, I’m sorry. I did it again.”
“Liam, you simply have to learn how to behave yourself,” Grace admonished her 17-year-old brother seriously.
Seán, Jon, and Alec burst into laughter, and then Jon hobbled forward and dropped one arm over Liam’s shoulders, and inquired, “How’s the sparring going?”
Liam swallowed to regain his composure and answered, “I don’t have anyone to practice with. I just pretend that someone is fighting me and follow the movements you taught me.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place, at the right time,” Jon responded. “I’m in a little too much pain today, but Alec the Broke and Ordinary is actually better at fighting than I am. He’s done it for real, and he’ll be happy to train with you. Let’s go on out back.”
“Mama told me that you have a daughter now,” Grace spoke up hastily before the men could walk away. “Can she come out and play with me after I do my math?”
Jon winced remembering how the other girls in the park had ridiculed Grace. He smiled at her and said, “She is much younger than you are. She’s only two.”
“Oh,” Grace responded sadly.
“I’m sure that she’ll be happy to play with you, though” Alec chimed in encouragingly. “You would need to treat her as if you are her big sister since she’s so little. But I think she will be happy to be friends with you.”
Grace brightened at that, so Jon headed toward the door, asking over his shoulder, “Seán, are you coming?”
“Not just yet,” Seán answered. “I’m going to work with Grace on her arithmetic. Maybe we’ll come out when that’s done.”
“Will you teach me how to fight, too, Mr. Broke?” Grace asked.
“Mr. Broke,” Jon laughed. “Good one, Grace. Good one.”
The girl looked at Seán in confusion and he whispered, “His name is Holdingfree. Broke and Ordinary was a joke.”
“Oh,” she answered. After a moment she looked at Alec and said sincerely, “I’m sorry.”
“No, no don’t be,” Alec answered kindly. “Mr. Broke is as good of a description for me as anything else. And yes, I’ll be happy to show you some defensive moves you can use.”
“Coming through,” Craig Docherty called from behind Jon and Alec. When they stepped aside, he hurried into the dining room with two plates of food on one arm, a glass of milk in one hand, and a small mug of ale in the other. He set the food on the table next to where Grace’s slate and remnants of chalk were laid out and gestured for her and Liam to sit.
“The fighting and the numbers can wait until you two have eaten,” he encouraged. “Seán, there’s a large slate and boxes of chalk in the storage room back of the kitchen. Kenzie saves everything. Rory and Callen used it when they were Grace’s age. You’re welcome to them, and they will give you more space to write.”
Seán jumped to his feet and said, “Thank you, Mr. Docherty.” He leaned way over so that one ear was pointed directly at Grace, arched an eyebrow at her, and waited.
“Thank you, Mr. Docherty,” Grace obliged. Seán smiled his approval and left to search for the larger slate.
Grace looked at the food in front of her with such longing that Craig cajoled kindly, “Go on, Hon. Eat it while it’s hot.”
“Go ahead and eat with your sister,” Jon agreed. “We’ll be out back when you’re ready. Alec, would you bring Liam’s quarterstaffs? That way he can relax while he eats.”
Alec crossed the room, so Liam drew the weapons off his back. When he surrendered them, Alec smiled reassuringly and said, “I’ll take good care of them.”
With one more nod to Liam, who still seemed uncomfortable, Jon and Alec left the siblings to their meal. Seán returned before they were finished, so he quietly moved a table against the wall so he could dust off the slate, lean it up to write on, and then busied himself arranging the chalk and eraser. Once everything was ready, he took up Grace’s slate to review the problems Mrs. McCreesh had assigned her.
Liam was so eager to spar with Alec that he gulped down his food and hurriedly gathered his dishes to take them to the kitchen.
“Go left down the hall,” Seán instructed. “Say something nice to Mrs. Docherty when you drop off the dishes, and then head out the back door. Jon and Alec will be right there somewhere.”
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Seán and Grace focused on her arithmetic for nearly the full hour before patrons began to file into the dining room for the midday meal. Seán asked Grace to gather up the chalk while he returned the table and chairs to their original spots, and quickly took Grace’s dishes to the kitchen. When he returned she had secured the box of chalk and her small slate in her bag and was waiting for him.
“We’ll put this away later on, so we won’t be in Mrs. Docherty’s way,” Seán told Grace he as tucked the large slate under one arm. He and Grace held hands as they walked to the back garden where Liam and Alec were sparring intensely. Seán and Grace sat beside Jon on one of the back garden benches to watch.
After a few minutes, some of the inn’s patrons also gathered to enjoy the practice battle. When Jon called for the two fighters to break, Alec and Liam bowed respectfully to each other and walked toward the bench to sit. A gentleman with two teenage sons stepped up to Alec and said, “Good afternoon. My name is Lachlan O'Hara. I am wondering if you are accepting new pupils. Both of my sons are interested in learning proper fighting techniques.”
“I, um…” Alec stammered.
“I’m happy to pay, of course,” Lachlan interjected.
“I don’t have money to pay,” a woman standing nearby spoke up. “But I would be happy to exchange something with you so that my son can learn, too. My name is Catrin Evans. My son is Morgan. I could sew up some nice shirts for you, or baby clothes – I heard you have a baby now and growing babies always need clothes. Or I could trade some jars of my beet nut preserves. Beet nuts have an abundance of protein and in preserves, they soften and are easier to chew.”
As Alec drowned in the impatient looks from the small crowd who were now intent on his answer, he glanced toward Jon for guidance. Erienne said from the kitchen doorway, “You’ve asked at the perfect time. He just opened the training calendar for this season. He’s an expert in other areas too, such as archery.”
Jon and Seán both laughed at the look on Alec’s face when he realized that Erienne had outmaneuvered him into accepting students and that there was no turning back.
Rolling her eyes at the two brothers, Erienne brought Alannah over to where Grace was sitting and set the baby beside her. Alannah tipped her head to look at Grace, and then smiled and held out one finger to touch Grace’s cheek. The girl laughed and touched the baby’s cheek. The baby touched Grace’s nose, and then Grace touched the baby’s nose, which made Alannah giggle. They played that way until Erienne gestured toward the large slate Seán had removed from the dining room, and asked, “Grace, dear, would you take down these people’s information so that the master will be able to make a record of it when he returns to his office? It was a good thing you brought this along, that was very clever of you.”
The little girl smiled proudly, jumped to her feet, and eagerly started to print out the names and contact information. Fia, who had followed Erienne outside, was thrilled to see her young friend again and waited beside the girl as if the wolfhound would help Grace with her printing. Alannah pulled at Fia’s fur and batted her affectionately, then decided to lean against the dog to sleep. Fia obligingly moved closer to the bench.
Alec was soon teaching three groups of students daily. One group would assemble early in the morning before the students had to head home to do their chores and the other students would gather in the evening after their chores were complete. His third group of pupils was an assortment of girls around Grace’s age whose mothers wanted them to be able to defend themselves. Aside from the obvious value of the extra income and various items he had accepted as tuition, Alec found that by once again using the skills he’d trained in all his life, he’d begun to feel better about himself. Simultaneously, children in the neighborhood began to come to the inn asking for help with their studies. Many of them were being taught at home and tutoring had never been available to them before Seán began helping Grace. Seán started meeting with pupils in the dining room between mealtimes. When either Seán or Alec had more students than could be readily taught alone, Jon found himself assisting. Between that and parenting Alannah, Jon steadily began to return to his former, happier self.
The days settled into a comfortable routine for the makeshift family in the little attic room. Seán tutored children with their studies daily. Alec was in demand as a trainer and needed to occasionally add extra sessions. Alannah continued to cling to her favorite Papa Jon, and even Erienne seemed happier without Annie’s pressure hovering over her.
One morning while Alec shaved him, Jon asked, “What are you up to today? I’d like to go outside if you’re not too busy. Walk for a bit. Sit in the shade on the inn’s front porch.”
“I’m never too busy for you,” Alec responded sincerely. “I’m almost done here, so we can go out in a few minutes.”
Alec and Seán helped Jon downstairs, and then Seán and Fia headed to the kitchen in the hope of getting a snack or finding Rory and Callen. Jon and Alec sat on the veranda for several minutes while Jon caught his breath. Alannah clung to Jon and babbled incessantly in that universal toddler language understandable only to them. The three strolled through the neighborhood without any particular destination, Alannah dashing from pebble to flower to stick, fascinated by everything. The two men allowed the tapping of Jon’s cane to say all that needed to be said between them. When they returned to the inn, they sat on the porch again, until they thought enough time had gone by that Erienne would have completed her morning routine and was dressed. Jon climbed halfway up the second flight of stairs before he wore out and allowed Alec to take him the rest of the way.
“Are you going to be around, Erienne?” Alec asked as he set Jon on his feet and paused to be sure Jon was steady. “I’m thinking about shopping for some clothes and a couple of things we need. If you plan to be out, however, I can go another time. Alannah is taking a nap. Seán has students coming by, but he says he’ll be up here afterward.”
“I’m going to take a nap, too,” Jon contributed. “I won’t need much looking after while I’m asleep.”
“Still,” Alec responded. “I don’t have to go today if Erienne has plans of her own.”
“I don’t have any particular plans,” Erienne answered. “I’m happy to stay here with Jon this afternoon. It will give me a chance to work on the blanket I’m knitting.”
Alec strolled along the crowded sidewalks of Market Lane on his way to Second Chance Clothiers. Alannah, Seán, and Erienne were squared away for the moment, however, Jon was finally starting to regain weight and needed a new wardrobe. At the door of the used clothing shop, he paused to allow two customers to come out, and then entered and went straight to the best garments at the rear of the shop. Jon’s recovery was proving to be an ongoing challenge to their finances, but for Alec the alternative was unthinkable. He would deny himself something, rather than see Jon ill-dressed or having to make do. Jon was strong enough to walk the sidewalks of the neighborhood, interact with students, or socialize with other guests of the inn. In Alec’s mind that good news brought with it the urgency of Jon having a wardrobe suitable for a former prince.
He pushed aside his reverie and focused on his task when a finely made cotton shirt caught Alec’s attention. He purchased that shirt and two similar ones, along with three sets of trousers.
With his purchases wrapped securely in paper and string, Alec turned toward home, hoping Jon would want to sit in the more private garden behind the inn before Alec’s evening students came by. The sidewalk was even more crowded than it had been earlier, and the slow progress was trying Alec’s patience. He had managed to go only a few blocks when Erienne’s voice caught his ear. Alec paused and retraced his steps, hoping that he was mistaken. He stopped to scrutinize the narrow lane where he had heard her voice. Between the used furniture store and the tinker’s shop, he saw her. The soft breeze caught her hair while her eyes and smile were radiant. One of her hands rested tenderly on the arm of the Commander of the Magi Soldiers. He’d eschewed his uniform for rough work clothes and covered his baldness with a flat cap, but he was still, unmistakably, the hardened commander.
“Erienne!” A few passersby turned at Alec’s audible gasp, curious, but not overly interested. Erienne, herself, gave no indication that she’d heard at all.
When she moved close to the officer, he wrapped one arm around her waist and Alec heard him say clearly, “You’ve done well, Eri. We don’t need Jon since we managed to get Seán. You were right to get in touch.”
“I expect the bounty for both Jon and Seán from the Most Revered,” Erienne declared as she moved more closely to the commander. “I gave you both of them.”
“You did,” the Commander of the Magi Soldiers agreed. “I’ll see you get your full reward.”
Alec spun on his heels, tucked his package closer to his chest, and raced through the crowd toward The Exiled Soldier, sometimes pushing folks to one side, other times jumping over children. Uncharacteristically, Alec wasted no precious time apologizing, or acknowledging whispers of “That’s the Archer!”
Behind him, in the narrow lane, directly between the used furniture store and the tinker’s shop, the Commander of the Magi Soldiers pulled Erienne against him. A second soldier stepped from the shadow with a length of coiled wire. As the commander placed a warm, deep kiss on Erienne’s mouth, the second soldier tucked the wire between the couple, snapped it taunt, and garroted Erienne. The commander held her arms immobile and gazed unflinchingly into her eyes while she died.
The tinker looked up from her work just as the commander pushed Erienne’s limp body away. Springing to her feet, the tinker shouted, “Murder! They’ve killed her!”
In the City of SnakeIn, this would not always be enough to gain anyone’s attention, but one of the passersby who turned toward the commotion bellowed, “They’re Magi Soldiers. The one with the hat is their commander!”
Another voice hollered, “I saw him at the Ritual! He kept them from rescuing Reginald and Ethan. Get him!”
SnakeIn residents poured from the shops and ran from other streets into the narrow lane brandishing whatever weapon came to hand: clubs, sticks, boards, knives, and in the tinker’s case, a heavy iron kettle which she bounced off the back of the commander’s head, dropping him to the sidewalk. The second soldier turned to run only to find the other end of the lane packed with more of the angry mob. As half of the throng pulverized the downed Commander of the Magi Soldiers, the rest pounded and beat the trapped soldier until the narrow lane ran red with vengeance.
Alec didn’t stop running until he was at the top of the four flights of stairs where members of the Armed Watch stood guard. One of them opened the door as Alec raced up and waved for him to hurry through.
Craig Docherty and Padraig MacGavin were crouched beside a body that had Jon’s phoenix-topped cane embedded in its head. Rory was quietly picking up scattered clothing and broken dishes. Callen was carefully collecting the broken glass from Jon’s medicine bottles while Kenzie mopped blood from the floor.
Liam McCreesh perched on the edge of Alec’s cot holding his sister Grace and Alannah as the two children sobbed intensely.
Jon sat in the center of the room cradling Fia’s dead body and crying.
Seán was nowhere to be seen.
©2022 Vera S. Scott