Quests of the Kings by Robert Evert

Author:Robert Evert [Evert, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781682306987
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2017-01-20T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

The morning air was filled with the scent of cooking fires and the ringing of bells as Artis and Reg followed Natalie, weaving through Winros Minor’s crowded streets.

“So she just kicked you?” Artis asked.

“Right in the groin,” Reg affirmed. “Never saw it coming.”

Natalie chortled. “So much for your training as a knight.”

“I’ve trained with blade and bow,” Reg replied, his long strides easily keeping up with Natalie’s trotting, “against singular and multiple opponents. I merely haven’t been trained for hysterical women.”

Natalie spun round.

“Wrong thing to say,” Artis whispered.

“Quite right.” He bowed to Natalie. “My apologies. Please, lead on.”

“Think you could teach me a few things?” Artis asked Reg after Natalie had resumed shoving her way through the growing mass of merchants, pilgrims, and passersby. “Fighting with a sword, I mean.”

“Do you have a sword?”

“Well, no, not exactly. But perhaps I’ll buy one.”

“Why would you get a sword?” Natalie asked bitterly.

“Well”—Artis shrugged—“I am looking for a profession. If being a brewer doesn’t work out, maybe I’ll become an adventurer!”

Natalie grunted a laugh.

“Believe me,” said Reg, “I’d love to be a brewer. Or a tavern owner. In fact, that’s what I plan on doing after I serve my time with the king.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. Adventuring’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” Reg followed Natalie up another street. “Sleeping on hard ground, rocks jabbing you in back. Rain. Cold. People trying to kill you.”

“People try to kill you?” Artis asked eagerly. “Who?”

“Other adventurers, usually. If you eliminate the competition, the quests become that much easier.”

“I didn’t realize you all tried to kill each other!” Artis considered this. “Well, that’d certainly change things.”

“Oh, not all of us go in for those kinds of things. Certainly, Sir Edris would never harm another adventurer, not unless pressed to do so. He killed Sir Bactavious in a duel, and a few others. All from other kingdoms, you understand. Killing King Michael’s adventurers would be improper.”

“But Brago’s an adventurer for King Michael,” Artis pointed out.

Natalie bristled at the name.

“Brago goes to whomever offers him the most money.”

“Really? I didn’t think that was allowed.”

Reg gave a noncommittal shrug. “What’s allowed is a tad tricky.”

“He means you can get away with anything you want,” Natalie said, disgusted, “as long as you win. I hate men.” She resumed stomping up the street.

“Anyway,” Reg said after an uncomfortable pause, “killing somebody merely begets more killing. Families get involved, and minor wars flare up. Honestly, if I were you, I’d be a brewer. Nobody ever tries to kill the brewer. In fact, in most towns, they’re heroes.”

“I don’t understand,” said Artis. A horse-drawn cart rattled by. “If you don’t want to be a knight, why are you Sir Edris’s squire?”

“I’m the fourth son in a noble family. The eldest gets the land and the title. The second is a successful merchant. The third, a cleric.”

“So being a knight is the only thing left?”

“Something like that. Don’t get me wrong,” said Reg, “I’m blessed to have the life I have. Still, it would be nice to have something less transitory.

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