The Dragon and the Sparrow - Chapter 2

Chapter two of the Dragon and the Sparrow saga.

 

D & S: Chapter Two

 

 

A Lieutenant of the guard came running up to them. “Your majesty! Captain! My men and I have closed off the streets surrounding this plaza. If there are any confederates hiding about, my men will find them out.”

 

“Where have your men come from? Which part of the city were they to stand guard in? Have you brought all of your men, or did you leave some behind to guard against a sneak attack?! Hmm?” Sindara asked with barely controlled anger.

 

“Nnnn-no Captain! We brought all of the men available throughout the city! When I heard of the attack on the Prince, I felt that I should bring all force against the perpetrators of this attack!” The lieutenant answered. “I didn’t think…”

 

“Yes, that is the problem. You did not think! The Prince is accompanied by a Hunter-Killer Squadron! Did you think you and your men to be more capable fighters than us?!! Did you think us not capable of defending your Prince against a mere 15 men? Did you not think we could handle 10 times the amount of men brought to bear against us?!”, Sindara seethed. “Oh, wait! Of course! YOU DID NOT THINK!!!”

 

 The lieutenant cowered in fear of Sindara. He and everyone in the Queen’s City Guard knew very well the capabilities of a Hunter-Killer. And standing in front of him, filled with wrath, was the most dangerous of them. He was literally shivering in his boots.

 

Balthazar felt sympathy for him. “Please Sindara, relent. He is but a boy next to your experience and know how. What’s done is done. Have the lieutenant gather the men and prepare to move them out towards the palace. I want four men to scout ahead and to make sure the way is clear. Instruct them that as they move along, to station any groups of City Guard coming in this direction to stand posts at the intersections along the way. This way we can keep the amount of men we are moving to a minimum, and thus keep the confusion to a minimum also. That will also ensure that the festival continues to run smoothly throughout the rest of the city while we go about our business.”

 

Sindara, quickly moved to assemble the men in the immediate vicinity into a platoon. The Prince, Sindara and the guards moved quickly towards the palace. Moving through the crowds quickly was made easier by the four scouts who went ahead of Sindara, Balthazar and the rest.

 

“Sindara! Send someone to tell the men we sent ahead that if they should encounter any more enemy combatants, they are not to engage them until we move up to their position. Four men against a larger force will just result in four dead men. I have no wish to throw away the lives of my men in order to just slow them down momentarily. From this moment onward, we act like a military command and not like some nobles out on a lark!”, Balthazar commanded.

 

Four men stopped and received their orders, then moved ahead to clear the way. Balthazar and Sindara formed up the rest of the men and followed behind. They quick marched through the streets of the city, passing stalls filled with goods of one kind or another. While people looked curiously at them when they marched by, most people ignored them in favor of reveling in the sights, sounds and smells of the ongoing festival.

 

Balthazar and his contingent were now coming to the last festival locale on his way to the palace. They entered plaza from the western end. He stopped in the western entrance to the plaza and looked around at everyone and everything. There was a group of acrobats performing in the center of the plaza near the fountain. They had gathered quite a crowd. From the little he could see, their gymnastic abilities were amazing! Little wonder that a large crowd would be gathered around them. There were also a number of food vendors scattered around the plaza, and someone had set up an outdoor bar to serve wine and beer from.

 

As he scanned the plaza from left to right, he saw a group of soldiers escorting someone within their ranks through the plaza. Probably, some stuffy noble, who probably didn’t want any of the “common people” to get too close. Balthazar peered through the group of soldiers to get a glimpse of whoever was there. If he knew who it was, he could give warning and perhaps combine the two forces together in order to batter handle whatever attack was coming on the palace.

 

He was finally able to catch a glimpse of the person in the center of the formation. When he saw her, he was frozen to the spot, overcome by her beauty.

 

“Be still my beating heart!”, he thought to himself. “Who is that lovely lady?”

 

Balthazar thought hard. Had he seen her before? No. He would have remembered her. She was easily the most beautiful woman he had ever seen! She was fluid and graceful, but yet she seemed very strong for her size. He could see that she carried her own rapier with her, hanging from her waist. She had it arranged in such a way as to keep it from tangling in her legs if she should find it necessary to run for any reason. It was also positioned to be drawn at a moment’s notice should the need arise. Her eyes scanned the way ahead of her left and right. Yes, she looked to be as prepared as one of his trained warriors would be.

 

She was aware of her surroundings and everyone around her. Just then she spotted him looking at her. She locked eyes with him and smiled. He was mesmerized!

 

“By my ancestors! I can’t take my eyes off of her! Her eyes are radiantly beautiful. Amber in color, like sweet honey. Her hair, brown with lighter brown highlights. The highlights make her eyes stand out even more. I almost feel trapped in those amber eyes, like an insect, yet I do not yearn to be free. Instead, I wish to be held so forever!”, Balthazar thought to himself.

 

Balthazar stood rooted to the spot, his mind a muddle of confused thoughts and mindless yearning. He didn’t understand what was happening. He knew it wasn’t magic. He would have felt the familiar tingling sensation in his mind that told him magic was being used. No, this feeling he was experiencing was love at first sight. He had heard of it, and thought he knew how it would feel from the descriptions he had heard growing up, in the romantic tales told by the female servants to each other when they thought he wasn’t listening. But knowing about something intellectually and actually living it were two different things.

 

Lady Galina dos Santos, niece to the Duke of Salas, whose father was the former Duke who died under mysterious circumstances, had decided to attend this year’s Harvest Festival in Aleman. She hadn’t attended any of the previous festivals since her father passed away ten years before. She had reached the age of sixteen summers when he died, causing her to grow up fast, and ending her childhood years on a tragic note. Since then she had suffered from bouts of melancholy. Sadness was the rule more than the exception.

 

However, recently, she had begun to feel restless. The Ducal palace in which she resided with her aunt and uncle, while very large and spacious, felt confining to her. She felt the need to leave the relative safety of the palace grounds to walk freely through the streets of the city of Salas.

 

Walking through the streets, albeit with an armed guard everywhere she went, she was able to mingle with the people and their children. The children especially were drawn to her, and she to them. Their bright smiles and general overall happiness brought her out of her doldrums. She began to see that life did not have to be the bleak existence she had made it out to be.

 

It was with this mindset that she set out from Salas to attend the annual Harvest Festival. Her uncle and aunt, the Duke and Duchess of Salas, were happy to see her out and about. She was sent off with their blessings and a bodyguard of fifteen soldiers, along with three servants to attend to her personal needs. The road to Aleman was well-guarded by the Queen’s armed patrols and so was safe most times from outlaws and brigands.

 

She arrived safely and without incident in Aleman on time for the first day of the festivities. She began the day by missing the opening ceremonies presided over by Prince Balthazar de Calabria, the heir apparent to the Dragon Throne of Calabria. It was said that he was a handsome man, though not very tall. She had wanted to catch a glimpse of him to see what all the fuss was about.

 

Many of the ladies in attendance had been gossiping about the Prince everywhere she went. She supposed that it was because he was not yet married, and an unmarried Prince was a fine catch indeed. Well, she’d have to see for herself. Though, if she was lucky enough to land a Crown Prince for a husband, she knew that her father would be proud of her if he was still alive to see it.

 

“That was a depressing thought.”, she mused. “Thinking about father still hurts. I am not here for sad thoughts, I am here to enjoy myself!”

 

With that in mind, Galina dos Santos approached every stall and table she came to. She had a taste of every type of food she came across. The choices were many and varied. While she sampled many different types of foods, there was a spicy beef served with onions and peppers on a type of bread that had a pocket in it where one could stuff the fillings. This was topped off with a creamy sauce that offset the hot peppers mingled with the sweet peppers crammed into the pocket with the beef and onions. She bought one for herself, her three servants, and each of her bodyguards. Tasting it, she decided it was her new favorite food.

 

Further on down the street she found a booth that served the wine for which Calabria was famous. The locals called it Sangria, though officially it had not been named yet. This was a recent invention of the vintners of the region that had a delightfully fruitful taste that cooled the tongue as it passed through the mouth on the way to the stomach. Once inside, it also served to engender a feeling of coolness which ameliorated the heat of the day. Galina found the combination of food and drink to be wonderful! Again, she bought one each for herself and her three servants. For her guards she purchased ale.

 

 

She and her retinue of soldiers and servants found some empty benches to sit on in a side street just off the main street they were walking on. They all sat and ate their food and drank their beverages. The guards stood while eating so that they might act quickly should there be a need for action. Galina and the servants drank wine. The guards drank ale, as it was less likely to make them as tipsy as the wine would. The guards had a strong tolerance for ale, as they drank it with every meal, thereby building up a resistance to its intoxicating effects.

 

As she ate, Galina watched the people passing by, and the people present in the streets around them. Most were revelers or merchants who had traveled to Aleman to either revel in the festivities, or to sell their wares. Here and there were soldiers posted to ensure the security of the people attending the festival. They were posted conspicuously at the corners of each street. There were four soldiers posted at each intersection. There would be no trouble at this festival. All of a sudden, another soldier ran up to the four at her intersection; spoke to them rapidly and quietly. After hearing the newcomer’s words, the newcomer took off east and the others followed, swords in hand and urgency on their faces.

 

“I wonder what that was all about?” she thought to herself.

No one else in her retinue had noticed the interaction between the soldiers. She saw that she had better be the one who was watchful, as the rest of her group was busy eating and drinking. They wouldn’t notice that trouble was coming until it was right on top of them.

 

Galina scanned the area and spied someone who looked vaguely familiar. She thought that she had seen him before, but was not certain where. The man in question, whose face she was only able to get a glimpse of due to the fact that he wore a cape with a hood that he had drawn over his head, saw her looking at him, then turned and walked away. But his striking blue eyes and silver goatee made him stand out.

 

“That’s strange! Why did that man look at me then turn and walk away? He seemed familiar. Have I seen him before? Hmm, how curious.”, she thought to herself as the man walked away and disappeared into the crowd. “Oh well. I haven’t time to worry about someone I don’t know. There is much to see and partake of here. We’d better get moving.”

 

Seeing that everyone in her retinue had finished their food and drink, she gathered everyone together and proceeded in the direction of the plaza nearest the Royal Palace. All members of the nobility and their servants were being housed on the palace grounds. The palace was huge and had hundreds of guest quarters available for any noblemen and women visiting Aleman for the festival. The soldiers would billet in the soldier’s barracks set aside for the reserve troops in a time of war. With this in mind, Galina had decided early on that she would end her day in the plaza closest to the palace. That way, if she was tired, they wouldn’t have far to go in order to retire to their temporary palace quarters quickly.

 

Lady Galina and her retinue approached the plaza from the east and entered into the plaza together. She saw that the plaza, like many of the streets on her way here, was filled with booths and tables set up to sell all manner of wares, from food and drink to jewelry and fabrics. In the center of the plaza she spied a group of acrobats performing many gymnastic feats, to the delight of the crowd. She watched for a while, then started scanning the plaza to look at the people there. As her eyes scanned the west side of the plaza, she saw a group of soldiers congregated around a nobleman. They seemed to have just arrived and appeared to be a little winded, as if they had run through the crowds to this plaza. He was staring at her and she saw that he was mesmerized. She looked him straight in the eyes and smiled.

 

He stood transfixed, as if struck dumb and paralyzed. She smiled to herself. She had that effect on many of the men she had met over the years. Many men found her to be beautiful and wished to win her favor. Thus far, none had impressed her. This man, however, had something about him that made him stand out from every other man she had ever met.

 

 

 

He wasn’t very tall; in fact he only stood five feet, seven inches. He was lean and muscular though. He probably weighed close to two hundred pounds. There wasn’t a bit of fat on him that she could tell. He was a fine physical specimen. His eyes were either the darkest brown she had ever seen, or they were black. His hair was black, hung to shoulder length and was tied in the back in a tail. He skin was a caramel brown with no scars. His lips were full, very kissable indeed! She giggled to herself at her boldness of thought. He carried himself with a confidence that said that he feared no man or beast. He looked like a soldier, but the presence of his bodyguard spoke of nobility. In fact, his face seemed very familiar but she didn’t remember ever meeting him. Very curious.

 

There was a female standing close to him that was dressed and acting the part of a warrior. Perhaps she was his bodyguard. She was scanning the plaza as if looking for a danger she expected to see nearby. Her eyes finally fell on Galina and froze. She stared directly at Galina, or so it seemed. Then her eyes opened wide as if in recognition of something, and she raised her sword and yelled.

 

At that moment, Galina sensed a commotion to the rear of her contingent. She turned to look and saw her guards engaging in battle with a group of what looked to be desert nomads, but were surely mercenaries. They all wore differing types of mismatched armor peeking out from under their robes. Their armor, what she could see of it, had no coats of arms to signify who they were in service to. In fact, the armor they wore, and the weapons they carried looked as if each piece had been liberated from a different victim. As if stolen from the dead off of a battlefield after the battle was over. Spoils of war, so to speak. Having assessed the situation, she turned to face the rear, drew her rapier, and prepared for battle.

 

Prince Balthazar, meanwhile, still stood transfixed. When the lady spied him looking at her, she immediately stared into his eyes. He froze, not able to look away. She was so beautiful! She was the perfect height for him, five feet, two inches. She would fit perfectly within his embrace.

 

“Whoa! I am thinking way too far in advance!”, he thought to himself.

 

When he first spied her, before she noticed him looking at her, he had noticed how beautiful her eyes and hair were. Now that he studied her further, he saw how fit she was. Her clothes were closely fitted enough that he could see the lines of her body.

 

 

 

 

She was wearing a close fitting blouse whose sleeves came down only to her forearms, allowing her arms freedom of movement. The skirt she wore had slits on either side and flared out at the waist, not showing much leg, but allowing her to move her feet and legs quickly without encumbrance. A very functional outfit when you added her short-boots, which went up to her ankles and looked very sturdy.

 

There seemed to be not a drop of fat on her small, muscular frame. Her shoulders looked to be very well developed. Her legs were cut and toned, the lines showing in her calves as she walked. She filled her dress top very nicely, not too much, not too little. She had perfect posture and walked with dignity. He was so attracted to her, that he knew his eyes would follow her wherever she went.

 

She must have sensed some danger, for she suddenly drew her sword. It was a rapier, and she drew it so quickly that he knew that she had to have had training in the sword. He could see the cords of muscle in her forearms standing out. From his vantage point, directly across the plaza from her and her retinue, he could see a group of what appeared to be mercenaries staging an attack on her group from behind.

 

The Lady’s guards formed a phalanx around her and her three servants in a box formation. The men attacking were at a strategic disadvantage due to the fact that they had decided to attack from a side street that led to the main avenue leading into the plaza. The side street they were attacking from was smaller than the avenue they sought to enter. This meant that they could only present a formation that was four men abreast as they sought to push through into the main avenue in order to gain some space for themselves to present a wider front to attack the phalanx with. The guards protecting the Lady saw this and pushed forward with a box formation that stood eight men across. While the group of mercenaries outnumbered the Lady’s guards, they were not able to use their numbers to their advantage.

 

So far, the Lady’s guards were winning and were holding their position. Each time a mercenary tried to break through; he was beaten back or killed outright by two guards engaging him at the same time. The phalanx was arranged in a “box” formation, open in the back with one guard protecting the rear and effectively closing off access to the people inside the formation that they were fighting to protect.

 

 

 

 

 

Balthazar saw that one of the mercenaries was able to break through to the center. Balthazar saw him go into the center of the formation, lost sight of him for an instant, then saw him stagger out through the back of the formation with a mortal wound to his chest. From the size of the hole in his chest, he had been skewered by a rapier, the entry hole being smaller than one made by any other type of sword.

 

Balthazar could see the Lady using her rapier to thrust her sword between her men to kill those mercenaries who were otherwise engaged. The battle was going well for her side. Little by little she and her men were whittling down the size of the force against her. So far she had only lost two of her original fifteen men and she was helping to whittle down the odds further. She and her men were still outnumbered, but the way the battle was going, she and her men would soon have the numbers cut down to the point where the mercenaries would realize that their situation was growing dire.

 

At that point, Balthazar calculated, the mercenaries would disengage and try to flee, hoping to blend into the crowd and escape that way. Of course they did not reckon that some of the Queen’s city guard, as previously instructed, would soon arrive to cut off their escape route. Then the survivors would be put to the question, and the motives and people behind this cowardly attack would be discovered.

 

Just then, as he was watching, one of the men in the front of the phalanx turned white. As if he was frosting over! The man was frozen in place! The soldiers around him fought frantically to protect him, as they realized that frozen as he was, he would not be able to defend himself! Then, in slow motion, he saw a broadsword swing in an over-handed motion to strike the frozen guard atop his head. He shattered into a thousand pieces as the broadsword crashed through him.

 

“No!”, the Lady screamed as she watched one of her men die a grisly death. Galina fought to hold back the tears that were threatening to overwhelm her. She couldn’t afford to let her emotions take over now. If she did, she would be as good as dead. She set a determined look across her face and launched an attack into the line of mercenaries trying to break through the phalanx.

 

Her fierce attack took the mercenaries by surprise. They fell back and lost the ground they had gained and her phalanx moved forward again, pushing back the mercenaries into the tight quarters of the side street they had attacked from. Behind them, the Queen’s City Guards were closing down the back alleyways the mercenaries used to arrive at this side street they were attacking from. The Queen’s guards consolidated their position at the end of the alley and waited for the mercenaries to try to flee in their direction. Galina was cheered by this, as the mercenaries were unaware of the situation behind them.

 

Galina returned to spearing the mercenaries through the phalanx’s front between her men. She was starting to take a toll on the mercenaries. In the back of her mind, she knew that whoever had caused her guard to freeze-over, was still out there waiting to strike again. She couldn’t worry about it though, as she and her men were still engaged with the enemy. She hoped that someone else would kill him for her; she was just too busy trying to stay alive to do anything about it. She turned her attention to the task at hand once again.

 

Balthazar, meanwhile, was still stunned by the suddenness of what had happened to the guard who had frosted over. His mind was still working furiously to reason out the situation, and his legs were rooted to the spot by the shock of it all. He knew, that somewhere in the plaza, was a Mage with the powers of an ice elemental. He had to find him before he tipped the tide of this battle towards the side of the mercenaries. Already he was taking a toll, as one by one the soldiers guarding the Lady were freezing over and being smashed to bits. Sooner or later, one of the mercenaries would be able to deliver a killing blow to the Lady.

 

 

 

 

Sindara, meanwhile, was standing next to her Prince wondering what he was waiting for! She had seen the attack force moving up on the lady and her retinue as soon as they emerged from the alleyways they had sprung from, and was ready to move at the Prince’s order. Then Sindara got her first good look at the lady and she could see why the Prince had not given the order to attack. The lady was easily one of the most beautiful women in the Kingdom. The Prince was stunned by her beauty and was firmly rooted to the spot he was standing in. Meanwhile, the lady’s guard was being cut down! Soon there would be no one left to guard her! Sindara tensed herself to move to defend her. Everything was happening so fast! The moonstruck Prince, her best friend, could join her as he wished. She was not waiting to find out either way. Hesitation would be the death of the lady, she was sure.

 

Balthazar, meanwhile, could see one of the mercenaries break past the phalanx as the guards were occupied by the battle in the front of the formation. The mercenary circled around the phalanx and the Lady as they were engaged and oblivious to his presence. In what seemed to him to be slow-motion, the mercenary, who was now behind the Lady, raised his sword for the killing blow.

 

“No!”, he screamed. At the same time that he screamed, he heard a curse and felt the wind of Sindara’s passing as she made towards the lady in order to defend her. She didn’t wait for Balthazar. No doubt she was aware that he was not reacting quickly enough to help.

 

He started running towards the fray, his men coming behind him. Before Sindara could reach her, the mercenary did something curious. Instead of delivering the death blow, he instead struck the Lady on the back of her head with the hilt of his sword, knocking her unconscious. Balthazar and Sindara both paused, confused by what had just happened. The men following him, rushed past him to engage the mercenaries in relief of the Lady’s guards. The man who had knocked the Lady unconscious was trying to lift her over his shoulder to carry her away. He realized then that this was a kidnapping, not an assassination attempt!

 

Author's Note

Please let me know what you think. Is it publishable? Does it compliment the earlier chapter 1 I submitted? As for magic being use in the story, magic will become prevalent throughout the story. This is going to be a long story told in multiple books. This first book is setting the stage for what will come later.