01 - The Price of Talent (17 page)

              Breakfast continued with a jovial air. Devlin, Ross and Moira spent the time bickering and poking fun at each other. I, on the other hand, sat there and quietly picked at my food. I was still dreading my first robbery.

“Oh, cheer up Tyr,” said Devlin. “Nothing to worry about. I will be the one manning the barricade, your job will be much easier. Look out for merchants and tax men and then shoot arrows from cover. You don’t even need to be a good shot. Just scare them a little.”

“What if something goes wrong?” I asked.

“In the very unlikely event that something does go wrong, you shoot the guards full of arrows,” said Devlin. “You won’t be in any real danger.”

“Your scars tell a different story,” said Ross.

“Yeah, well, that’s because I man the barricade,” said Devlin. “If anything happens, I’m the one they shoot at or draw steel on. The people in the woods have nothing to worry about. Stop trying to scare the kid.”

“Besides, Tyr, you’ve become a decent shot over the past few months,” said Moira. “If the worst happens, you just relax, pick your targets, and fire from a safe distance. People are much bigger targets than what you hit on the practice field.”

              Somehow, none of this helped. As I packed up a couple changes of regular clothes and some warmer clothes, in case of inclement weather, I was in a minor state of panic. Packing didn’t take nearly enough time to calm my nerves, after all I didn’t have very much. Fortunately, this meant that I didn’t have that heavy a pack to take with me. There was one thing, however, that was very excited indeed.

Come on, come on, you lazy ass. Get the lead out of your limbs and hurry up. You are delaying my glorious debut.

Calm down. It’s not like we’re expecting trouble on the cart ride out to the road. You are just going to be sitting there in the cart with the rest of the baggage.

I have spent the last few months just sitting in a corner. Only occasionally coming out to see you practice in the field. Do you have any idea how boring that is? Just the chance to see some different scenery is enough to get me excited.

I’m sorry you haven’t spent much time outside. But there isn’t much call for a sword while farming. Practices are a lot safer when you don’t use real blades.

Excuses, excuses. The reality is that I have spent an entire winter sitting around the house. I need some fresh air! Sunshine! I want to see new sights!

That doesn’t make any sense. Why would a sword need fresh air and sunshine?

Do you know any other sentient swords?

No.

Then what do you know about what we need?

You’re a sword. Aside from some basic maintenance to avoid rust and chips, what do you need?

Not being bored would be a good start.

              He did have a point. Routine has a way of sinking in and becoming boring. A change of scenery would be nice. Still, I was worried about actually robbing people. It sounded dangerous, and Devlin getting injured in my rescue didn’t fill me with confidence. Still, since I didn’t really have a say in all this, I went along. What else was I to do?

              Once I had my things pulled together, and it was a depressingly small pile, I ventured outside to where Devlin and Bevan packing the cart. The first thing I noticed was that Devlin was no longer wearing his usual winter wear, instead he was wearing a stiff leather cuirass over a light chain shirt. Bevan was wearing brigandine that looked oddly familiar.

“You know, seeing you two in armor does nothing to allay my fears,” I said as I approached.

“When you stand the barricade, armor can save your life,” said Devlin.

“So why is Bevan in armor?” I asked.

“Because, as the only person here who can work metal, I’m free to make for myself whatever I want,” said Bevan.

“Make what you want for yourself?” Asked Devlin. “Isn’t that some of the armor we pilfered from those Inquisitors?”

“Well, yeah, it is,” said Bevan. “But you all shot it full of holes! I spent weeks repairing this and getting the fit right. Besides, it takes less time to repair old armor than make new armor from scratch.”

“Which reminds me. Tyr, we have another present for you,” said Devlin with a smile.

“Hear you go kid. See if it fits,” said Bevan, handing me a thick leather vest.

              As I took hold of it, it unfolded in my hands. It looked a lot like Bevan’s brigandine, but cut down to my size, and instead of the interior plates being iron or steel, it was plated with leather plates, which were studded to the leather jerkin between the leather and the padded under layer.

“Is this… Armor? Is it for me?” I asked astonished.

“Yup, it is indeed, Tyr,” said Devlin with a smile. “You don’t think we would send you out unprepared would you?”

“I made that from what was left of the Inquisitors’ brigandine after I was done repairing the one I’m wearing,” said Bevan. “I had to use hardened leather plates instead of metal because there weren’t enough left undamaged for two coats. But the benefit here is that it will be lighter for you, and easier for you to use while shooting your bow.”

“Since you aren’t used to the added weight of armor either, it’s probably all for the best,” said Devlin.

“Now, a word of caution,” said Bevan, suddenly serious. “This armor is a last resort. It does not make you immune to sword thrusts, arrows or crossbow bolts. It will make it harder for an enemy to get at your vitals, but not impossible. A solid shot from a crossbow or a direct hit with an arrow and you’re still dead. So while shooting, keep a tree between you and their archers. And if you are unlucky enough to get into a sword fight, don’t risk an undefended thrust.”

“Stop scaring the boy,” said Devlin, still smiling. “He’s going to be in the woods with the archers in no danger. This is just a precaution.”

“Oh, and you likely won’t need your coat while wearing it,” said Bevan. “You will be surprised how warm that vest will be over your shirt.”

              So with those warnings, I took off my spring jacket and put on the studded leather vest. The first thing that struck me was the weight. It felt like it weighed as much as my pack. But the other thing that struck me was that it didn’t impede movement nearly as much as I thought it would.

“Looking good, Tyr!” Said Devlin.

“Looks like I got the fit right,” said Bevan.

“Wow, thanks guys!” I said.

              And with that I stowed my spring jacket in with my pack. Put my sword, bow and quiver in with Bevan and Devlin’s weaponry, and found a seat on the wagons bench. After Bevan and Devlin finished checking the gear and the supplies, they joined me as well. I ended up riding on the right side of the bench, Bevan was steering from the middle and Devlin was on the left. With little other fanfare, we hit the road.

“I think you will enjoy the journey to the road a lot more than the journey you took from it,” said Devlin. “In fact, since I’m not bleeding or wounded, so will I.”

              He was right too, I did enjoy it. The sun was up, the leaves were coming out and showing some green, shedding the buds of early spring. It was the first time I had been out of the longhouse and its cultivated grounds since coming here. It was a nice change of pace. It did give me time to reflect, something I had been steadfastly avoiding. If you had told me a year ago I would be traveling with bandits out for some highway robbery, I would have laughed at you. But here I was. It did bring into focus all I had lost too, which made me a little sad. It was a bitter sweet moment, but oddly, not a bad one.

              It took most of the morning and part of the afternoon to get to the camp where Jarvis Tiernan and Sapphire had stowed their stuff. In a glade, about a mile from the road, there was a lean-to near a stream of water and a small fire pit built of stone with a cooking grill over the top.

“And here we are, home sweet temporary home,” said Devlin.

“Well, here’s a moldering old lean-to anyway,” said Bevan.

              And with that we got on with unpacking the cart, stowing our gear and generally moving in. As we were finishing up, Jarvis, Tiernan and Sapphire joined us.

“How’s the road been treating you?” Said Devlin as they stowed their weapons and sat down.

“Not well. There’s been nobody but poor farmers and tinkers for weeks,” said Sapphire. “I won’t mind heading back to the longhouse tomorrow. At least there I will have things to do to pass the time.”

“Yeah, things have been fairly boring out here,” said Tiernan. “The only thing I’ve accomplished is fixing that fire pit.”

“And I managed to fix the roof on the lean-to,” said Jarvis. “Not that it needed more than a few new shingles.”

“It was nice to no longer worry about the rain dripping on our heads,” said Sapphire. “Not that I will be worrying about that once I get back. You all though… Good luck.”

              If you have ever been camping, you know approximately how the rest of that evening went. We argued over where we would each stow our stuff, we inexpertly cooked some preserved and non-perishable food and then spent the meal complaining about it. Generally, a surprisingly good time despite the bad food. Later we relaxed by the fire before heading in to sleep.

“You nervous Tyr?” Asked Devlin. “You’ve seemed a little pre-occupied.”

“Honestly, uh, yes,” I said. “I’m not going to lie, I’m a little worried about actually robbing someone.”

“Worried about what?” Asked Bevan.

“About it all going horribly wrong.” I replied.

“No need to worry kid,” said Sapphire. “We haven’t seen anyone worth robbing for weeks. Chances are you are just going to sit there and watch the road for days. The biggest danger is being bored to death.”

“I guess, my biggest concern is, uh, what I’m supposed to do,” I said.

“Oh, your end is not so hard,” said Devlin. “I want you to watch the road with your young eyes and tell us when you see someone coming. Then we can decide if it’s worth setting up a blockade and robbery.”

“Yeah… uh, it’s not the lookout duties I’m worried about,” I said.

“Well, during the robbery, you are just acting as backup,” said Devlin. “Once you have spotted someone and we determine to stop them, then you head back into the trees by the road and get your bow ready.”

“Do I need to do anything once in the woods?” I asked.

“You will be there with Jarvis, Tiernan and Bevan,” said Devlin. “They know the signal to take a few warning shots, and they also know when to start shooting for real. They will let you know.”

“What if something goes wrong?” I asked.

“Kid, we will be right there with you. There’s nothing to worry about,” said Bevan.

“Your job is to shoot from cover, Tyr,” said Devlin. “If things go bad, I want you to stay hidden, keep an arrow knocked, and only take shots that you know you can make.”

“Don’t worry so much, Tyr,” said Sapphire. “It’s incredibly rare that anyone tries anything. Rarer still that it actually comes to any fighting.”

“And if it does,” said Jarvis. “You just leave the melee to us. Just stay in cover and shoot anyone who separates from the fighting with a bow or crossbow.”

“Exactly,” said Devlin. “You’re getting better with the sword, but you are an even better shot with that bow. And staying in cover will keep you out of the melee and out of harm’s way.”

“Don’t let yourself get worked up over this,” said Sapphire. “Chances are you won’t see anyone for days.”

              Somehow these words didn’t exactly cheer me up. Given my recent past, I was convinced it would all go badly. Still, at that point it was getting late, so we all settled in for the night. It was a little crowded in the lean-to, but that didn’t matter as I my fears kept me from getting a good night’s sleep anyway.