Death Comes To All (Book 1) (20 page)

"I'll
have the chicken too, though no potatoes for me thanks" Tara
answered. Her order took Roland by surprise. He had expected her to
order fish, but of course she had already eaten enough fish on the
road for five women her size. Chicken, on the other had, wasn't
something they were likely to find in the wild very often. "And
another pint of ale," she added, sliding her empty mug to the
end of the table.

"Sure
thing. Your meals should be ready soon, and I'll be right back with
your drinks." As Tammie turned to walk away she softy ran a
finger across the back of Roland's neck. This time he watched her as
she bounced away, her long hair swinging back and forth playfully.

"OK,
so what was that all about?" Malik asked once she was out of
hearing. He had said little during the exchange. Now he wanted
answers.

"Just
helping our boy here grow up," Tara answered, then broke down
into peals of laughter.

She
must have been holding that in for some time,
Roland thought,
wishing he could crawl away without being noticed.

Malik
looked from her to the kitchen door where the waitress had
disappeared. For only a second he appeared perplexed, then chuckled
softly with sudden realization. It only served to make Roland feel
all the more embarrassed.

I
wonder if anyone would notice if I just curled up into a little ball
in the corner and died?

"Well,
she's cute," Malik said once he stopped laughing. "Certainly
worth getting to know a little better if that's what you want. Just
try not to be too loud. We are sleeping in the same room after all."
His joke made Tara, who had just managed to stop laughing, start up
all over again. Roland buried his head in his thick arms awkwardly,
wishing all the more that he could just disappear.

Poof,
abracadabra!

As
the girl returned with drinks, Malik slid across to the other side of
the table to sit next to Tara, leaving the seat next to Roland
unoccupied. With a small gesture Malik indicated that she should take
the empty seat.

"I
have a bit of work left to do in the kitchen, and I have to take care
of the other two customers first, but I can sit for a minute once I'm
done," the girl said. "We'll have plenty of time to get to
know each other later. We might have a few people wander in before
the bar closes, but we won't be that busy today. Our rush hour is a
couple of hours before sundown. Only a few locals come here this
late, and as I mentioned, most of them are out for the next couple of
days. Most of the travelers go to one of the more popular bars to
drink." She looked at Roland and flashed him a bright smile.
"I'll see you again soon," she said suggestively. Leaning
over she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, then went back to her
work.

"What
am I supposed to do now?" Roland moaned after she had left.

"Well
if you don't know I could give you a few suggestions, though I'm sure
you could figure it out on your own," Malik joked. "Just do
what come naturally. If you're not doing it right, I'm sure she won’t
wait long before letting you know."

"That's
not what I mean. Tara made me out to look like some great warrior,
but I'm just, well....
me
. How long do you think I could keep
up with the story she told? This girl's going to figure it all out
and I'll end up looking worse than I already do."

"Is
that all you're worried about? Tara didn't say anything about you
that isn't at least partially true. You really can lift more than
most other men could hope to. You know your way around a sword well
enough, and it's not like she's going to ask you to show her your
blade. Well, not the steel one anyway. Even if she does suspect that
you're not everything that Tara claimed you are, it wouldn't be
anything the girl doesn't expect. You wouldn't be the first man to
exaggerate a little to get a woman into his bed, and most of what she
said you can do wasn't a lie. She just gave you a different story
about how you learned it is all."

Roland
glanced behind him, hoping Tammie didn't overhear their conversation.
Thankfully she was busy with the other two customers in the room, a
tall human man with dark hair and a thin, wisp-like woman. Roland
couldn't tell for certain what race the woman might have belonged to.
She had features that somewhat resembled human, though there were
others that were decidedly not.

It
was likely that she was a cross-breed between humans and one or more
other races. He wasn't certain which ones. While all the races could
interbreed they rarely did, but it was still possible. It could have
been a combination of nearly anything. Thin, light grey hair covered
her face, and her jaw extend longer than would have been normal for a
human.

Even
with her unusual features she’s still rather attractive,
Roland decided.
She’s lucky. She could have turned out like
me, the worst of both my races.

After
only a moment Tammie bounced away to the kitchen again, presumably to
fill the couples order. Thankfully his companions decided not to
tease him further about her, at least for a few moments. Roland
watched as his Malik's face grew serious. Apparently there were more
pressing issues that needed to be discussed before the girl returned
to their table.

"Tomorrow
we'll head into the market and purchase you some new clothing and a
sword like we planned," Malik said, sliding a small bag across
the table. It stopped right in front of Roland. When he picked it up
the bag jingled softly through the cloth.

"What's
this?"

"That's
the fifty gold coins I promised you when you joined us. You can buy
the things you need with that. I'll take you to the blacksmith first.
I know a man who will give you a great blade for a fair price. I've
bought blades from him before, and I've always been happy with the
work he's done. In fact he made the blade that Tara's wearing now. We
can purchase clothing afterward. What you want to buy will depend on
what you wanted to do from here. If you stay with us the clothing you
buy will not be the same as what you would want if you stayed here.
The blade might be different too. You should make your decision
before we leave in the morning. Don't let the girl distract you so
much that you don't make up your mind."

"I've
already made my decision," Roland replied. "You were right.
Meeting with your client, seeing part of why you do the things you
do, really did make a difference. When I first met you I thought you
were nothing more than a cold-blooded killer. I don't think that's
true anymore. I won't pretend to know what motivates you, but I think
that at least a part of why you do this is to help people. You
brought that family hope when they had none, and when you couldn't
save that woman's brother you at least avenged him, which is more
most people would have done. You don't just do it for the money
either. If you did you would have taken the entire two thousand, but
instead you only kept half of that. I never thought an assassin could
have a heart, but you seem to."

"Not
all of the jobs I take have such benevolent reasons behind them,"
Malik admitted. "I just try to do good where I can. There are
plenty of jobs I take that are nothing more than what they appear to
be."

"Even
still, I'm convinced it's at least worth sticking around a little
longer. I can always change my mind and go off on my own later. I
think you know me well enough by now to know that even if I decide to
leave at some point you won't have to worry about me turning you in
or anything. Any secrets you tell me are safe with me."

"Alright
then, as long as Tara doesn't have any objections, you can stay with
us for now. You'll be training as one of us, and once you've trained
enough I'll give you a job that I think you can handle. I'll also
help you pick out a blade tomorrow that will fit in with your
personal abilities. You have a few unique traits that I think we can
do some interesting things with."

"What
did you have in mind?" Roland asked. He never had the
opportunity to receive an answer. Malik gestured behind Roland, and
at that moment Tammie returned with their meals. She set down the
plates in front of each of them. Roland couldn't help but notice that
the plate of potatoes in front of him nearly spilled over with the
amount of food the cook had piled on it, possibly at her request,
Roland suspected. Malik gestured to the empty seat.

"I
can only stay for a little bit," she informed them. "The
other customers will want their meal soon, so I'll have to go once
they’re ready. I should have at least a few minutes. So Roland,
your friend was telling me that your father was a blacksmith? What
was that like growing up?"

Roland
paused for a moment before answering. "No, my father was a
farmer," he admitted, wanting to make the story somewhat more
believable at least. "My strength came from working on the farm.
The blacksmith I worked with was in the town nearby. I always had
more of an interest in blades than plows, so it made sense for me to
spend time there when I could. I would have taken an apprenticeship
with him but my father wouldn't allow it. He wanted me to stay on the
farm. I learned how to use a blade well enough, though I never really
did get the hang of making them. Once I was old enough I left my
father's farm and headed out on my own. That's pretty much my entire
story.”

Or
close enough that I won’t screw things up anyway.

“
What
about you?” He asked her. “You haven't told me anything
about yourself."

Tammie
briefly told them of her past. Her father had been the captain of a
fishing vessel, she explained. When she was ten years old her
father's ship had disappeared without a trace. A few storms had gone
through the area so it was believed that his ship had gone down in
one of them. Her mother had spent all of the coin her father had
saved in only a year, and so she was forced to remarry or fall into
poverty.

The
man her mother married worked for Bloodheart, the mage that ran the
city. She didn't know what he did for the mage. Probably something
unsavory, she suspected. It paid enough that her mother was well
provided for at least.

Tammie
would have been provided for as well, however it quickly had become
obvious to the girl that the weasel of a man was more interested in
her than he was in her mother. She didn't go into details, but Roland
could easily guess what an evil man might do with such an attractive
girl, even though she would have been nothing more than a child at
the time. Anger welled up inside him. It took everything in his power
not to show it.

"So
when I was thirteen I tried to turn him in to the guard for what he
had done to me, but no one would believe me. Even my mother thought I
was lying. Even if they had believed me, I don't know if they would
have done anything to him. He was too powerful a man. So I left home
and found myself here. Though I was only thirteen at the time, John
took me in. He's the owner here. He gave me a job waiting tables for
him. Now he watches over me and makes sure I don't get into any
trouble. Our bartender, Silus, watches over me too, and makes sure
that no one gives me any unwanted attention. I have my own room here,
a decent wage, and I can come and go as I please, so long as I do my
job."

"I
don't want any trouble with your guardians," Roland said
quickly. "They won't be upset about you spending so much time
over here with us, will they?"

"Don't
worry," she said, putting a hand softly on his leg. "Silus
has a bit of a crush on me, but he knows that I don't see him that
way. He's like a big brother. John isn't concerned about who I spend
time with. They keep me away from unwanted attention, but sometimes I
like having a little attention. Not too often really, but every once
in a while it's nice to have someone else around. It's never good to
be lonely all the time. Regardless, they won't bother you unless I
tell them to, and I don't have any reason to do that." She ran a
finger softly up his thigh, and he nearly jumped from the electric
contact. "I have to go check on my other customers, but I'll be
back in a moment. Don't go anywhere." She gave him a bright
smile and a wink before leaving for the other table.

"She
really seems to have taken a shine to you," Malik commented.
"And she did mention that she has her own room here. I guess
you'll be meeting us in the morning then?"

"Maybe,"
Roland answered. "I feel like I'm taking advantage of her
though, with everything that's happened to her. How could she really
want me with everything she been through? Still, I might take her up
on her offer. It would give you two a night alone at least. I'm sure
you could use one. You haven't had any time alone since I joined
you."

"You
have the wrong idea about the two of us." Tara stated flatly.
"We're friends and partners, nothing more. You don't have to
worry about getting in the way of anything. As for the girl, she has
been through some bad things, but what she does is her choice. You
haven't been trying to push her into anything. If anything it's more
the other way around. She will do what she wants, as long as you're
willing. Obviously you're attracted to her, so I don't see any reason
for you to turn her away."