Chapter 20

Roxanne

“I love you too.” Greeves whispered after her as he watched the person he had spent a minute fraction of his existence with, walk away. His heart hung heavy in his chest as he watched her get further away, then she turned and was gone. He closed his eyes and felt a lump swell in the back of his throat.

Foolish, he raged at himself internally. Letting himself become so attached to another had been self indulgent. It had gone against the creed he had lived most of his long life by. He thought of his youth then, long long ago, long before the change.

Indoctrinated into warrior caste as a boy, emotion flayed from him one bitter cut at a time. Until all that had been left was the bare flesh of obedience. Some might have found that sad and pitied him, but there had been no greater gift than the freedom of no choices and no love.

Learning these things again had been a mistake he would not repeat again.

Not long later Greeves was galloping through the city, he dug his heels into his horse. He needed more speed. Burn and blast Zanzo. He thought. After leaving Mercy he had travelled to the southern gate to meet with the expedition.

Zanzo hadn’t been there but some of the others had and they’d told him where and what Zanzo was doing.

Greeves picked up speed, he bellowed and hissed at startled towns folk to get the hell out of his way as he galloped past. He hoped he would not be too late.

Up ahead the idiot’s elephant came into view, it was chained to a post and was gently nudging away curious children with its trunk that had gathered around it.

Greeves jumped off his horse and quickly tied its bridles to a desultory fence outside the hideous establishment: the buggery.

He stormed up the dirt track towards its entrance, his anger flaring with every step.

“Why hello there Mr. Rugged-handsome,” came a flamboyant voice in greeting as he walked up its steps.

A tall, skinny man half wrapped in blue-yellow silks approached him, his bare hairy chest puffed out before him like it was something to be proud of. Greeves hissed at the man displaying his teeth. “Ooooo!” The silky man cooed with a mock shiver. “You’re a big scary Orak, with a big scary sword” he put his index finger to his lips.

“Why don’t you come in and have a drink, sniff some Haste, see where things g—“

Greeves grabbed the fool by his silks and threw him down the steps to the dirt and dust below. He yelped as he sprawled to the ground and rolled around screaming.

Greeves entered the building leaving the silky worm behind.

Inside was even more troubling than its exterior. Long satin tapestries covered every wall dotted here and there with questionable and disturbing stains splattered across them.

Men and boys alike rushed around the place, coming and going from rooms with beaded curtains in their entrances. The place stunk like sweat and bad decisions, somewhere he could hear a series of heavy grunts “Ugh!.. Ugh!..Ugh!” Accompanied by equally heavy slap sounds.

Greeves grimaced and moved down the hallway past many beaded entrances, a myriad of unpleasant sounds and smells assaulted his senses that he knew would haunt him forever.

He finally heard what he was looking for.

“—as I said already the boys are extremely talented and will do whatever you tell them, really they will, why I bet there’s not a man in town they couldn’t satisfy. Don’t be shy boys tell him!” came Zanzo’s careless words.

Greeves found their room and watched through the curtains.

“Well they certainly are a delectable pair Zanzo—“

a huge dark skinned, bald man wrapped in an orange kimono purred, he had a thick Balhasi accent. He held out a gaudy, gold leaf chalice out to a servant boy in a white toga, the boy rushed over and eagerly poured his wine.

“—But like this wine my friend, I never pay for a drop unless I’ve had a sample, no matter how well the vintage is praised by others.”

Zanzo was out of sight but Greeves heard him shuffle around, “of course! How terribly rude of me. Jax! Go take a seat beside our new friend!”

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The huge man chuckled and began shifting his kimono.

Greeves had heard enough, he pushed his way through the beaded curtain. Inside the room Zanzo sat lazily amongst a dozen brightly coloured and patterned pillows smoking from a shisha pipe facing the huge bald pervert.

Eli and Jax stood behind Zanzo, backs to the wall, terrified expressions on their faces. They looked up seeing Greeves enter and their faces shone with hope. “What in five flames is going on here?!” He barked at Zanzo.

Zanzo’s blood shot eyes narrowed as they swivelled over to Greeves, he took a long suck of the shisha pipe. Greeves glared at the big man “Eli and Jax aren’t for sale!”

The Bald, dark man looked outraged at this intrusion “What is this Zanzo!?” He fumed, re-adjusting his kimono. “Who is this grey skinned lunatic?!”

Zanzo blew out the foul, sweet smelling smoke in one puff. “I'm sorry Demor, this is Master Greeves, a companion of mine for my venture in the savage south.” He shifted in his pillows to look at Greeves. “Greeves, you misunderstand, I’m not selling the boys, I am merely renting them to this fine gentleman. Would you have me take them with me at this stage in their training?” Zanzo shook his head in profound disapproval.

“The southern desert really is no place for young boys don’t you think? Very dangerous, they’ll be far safer and happier here making me money while I… we! avenge young lord Haiden and his father and the other dead people of less importance.”

Greeves grabbed him by his flamboyant lapels and hoisted him from the greasy cushions to his feet, upsetting the shisha in its place, it wobbled and crashed to the floor, the intricate glass work of the apparatus shattering across the mosaic floor. “Arrghhh!!” Screamed Demor, “get out of here! All of you!!. Zanzo, come back when you can do business professionally!”

Zanzo groaned and slapped Greeves hands from his shirt, “well I hope you’re happy Greeves, you just lost Eli and Jax a job and a home! Come on boys! We don’t need this Orak’s toxic negativity.” He strode from the room with injured dignity. Eli and Jax looked at each other devastated, about as devastated as men at the gallows suddenly given a last minute reprieve. They hurried out of the room after Zanzo, not looking back.

Greeves looked over at Demor and spat at his slippered feet

“Men like you are the scum of Vega.”

He turned his back on him and followed the boys out ignoring the outraged abuse being shouted at his back.

Greeves exited the buggery hoping what had just transpired would be the end of the days hysteria, in this he was disappointed as he walked down the entrance stairs to hear yet again Zanzo’s raised voice.

“You think simple gold can buy you a mount as worthy and loyal as noble Roxanne?! Well, do you?!” A few men in fine cut, lilac tunics stood gathered around Zanzo and his elephant.One of them, a short, old man with a crooked nose, spoke back to him sheepishly.

“Well Lord Peskar has offered a very generous sum of gold, with the promise to look after the beast and to even sell it back to you upon your return…” he rasped.

Zanzo took an angry step towards him, his face turning furious shades of red with anger.

“.... it?!... you… dare… call her it!!” He screamed the last word in the small man's face, prompting one of the other men to take an intervening step between them. “Look, you’re free to refuse us but to be honest you’re not going to get a better deal.”

Zanzo laughed. “A better deal!? You have no idea! Do you think I give an Orak’s nutsack about money?! No, no a thousand times no.”

The older man tried once more. “But your elephant is not suited to the desert at all, it would drain all your resources and the poor thing would die.”

Zanzo sluggishly removed his sword from its sheath, it was a two foot long mirror bright blade with a golden hilt fashioned to look like the open maw of a hippo. Stupid, Greeves thought.

“Die would she?! Die? Well let me tell you something Mr. gold pays for all!”

The old man and his comrade took a step back, their hands upraised; Eli and Jax did too.

“I’d rather see Roxanne dead than for her to see me sell her for gold!”

Zanzo raised his blade, “Shit!” Greeves hissed and began to run to them.

Zanzo’s blade flashed and blood spattered the floor. The elephant cried out a piteous moan as it blood spurted out from its slashed throat, it stumbled down to its knees then crashed to the floor next to the stunned boys and men. Greeves stopped his run and gaped.

Zanzo dropped his blade and sank to his knees by the elephants head, embracing its face as it thrashed and twitched.

“Oh Roxanne!! My poor, poor girl!!” He wailed, he turned and began beating his chest with one fist. “Why do the gods bless and curse me in equal measure!!!” He cried out to the heavens.

He dropped to the floor entirely and began beating at the dirty ground with his fists. “Curse and blacken these savage days!”

Roxanne stopped twitching, her eyes became glassy and still.

Zanzo dipped his hand in her blood and stood to his feet slowly, he raised his bloody fist to the sky, purpose and grim determination taking hold over his tear streaked face.

“For Roxanne I will right the wrongs of this world! For Roxanne I will tear the south asunder if I must, I will capture the treacherous princess and kill the Skeleton god!”

To Greeves astonishment and disbelief the old man and his compassions began to clap, one even wiping a tear from his cheek. The boys, long suffering veterans of Zanzo’s eccentricities began to slowly clap as well, unsure of themselves they shot each other and Greeves confused looks.

Greeves shook his head and wondered if she should even be going south. That amulet.. he thought, he had suspicions about it and knowing it had been stolen had only deepened his suspicions.

For now he would put up with this nonsense, but not forever.