CHAPTER 5

"I am so tired of having my life run for me. This latest outrage is too much for me to bear! Just because I am the fifth son of the House of dé Vangelles does not mean that I wish to be married off to another House, especially to the fourth daughter (a troll-looking girl) of the House of Sundren!" Enrico de Vangelles cursed his fate and thought back on his life.

So far it has been good, no responsibilities, those going to the first three sons of House de Vangelles. Enrico had to admit that he and the fourth son of the House, Javarro benefitted in that their three oldest brothers had received formal training--the oldest, Carlos being a member of the Reiksguard. The second oldest, Diego, a member of the Order, Knights of the White Wolf, and the third oldest, Tao, was away at the School of Engineers in Altdorf.

To keep themselves in perfect fighting condition, Carlos and Diego had trained with Javarro and I and taught us to fight-- then, when Carlos and Diego went back to their schools, we kept on fighting, and became very good.

Being very selfish and lazy, I would usually spend my time in less strenuous activities, and liked to go to grand balls and parties. When those were not happening, I will usually go to the alehouse, and every once in a while buy a few rounds for the local peasants, usually, after they have grovelled at my feet or performed some service.

There was one unusually grand time at a ball in the first noble house, the greatest Bard in the Realms, Binabon Greatharp, was there and graciously took me under his wing for the month he was in Altdorf and taught me to dance like there was wind underneath my feet. So when I would go to balls, the young maidens would all throw themselves at me and beg for me to dance with them.

Alas, the winds of change have blown through the House de Vangelles. My father, who is not long for this world and thinks me a worthless fop, informed me of my impending marriage to the troll. My brother, Javarro, had already been sentenced to life imprisonment--he was forced to marry the third daughter of the House of Genderfeld, but I seriously doubt the lad will stop any of his wicked ways. I do not see how my marriage (to a lesser House at that) can possibly benefit this family. "Well, I am not going to fall into the same trap that my poor brother was forced into. I will not be treated like a piece of meat at auction."

Fortunately, I had planned for this eventuality this will be the night of my great escape. Some weeks earlier at the alehouse, a swordfight broke out and as I was at the middle of it as usual, even though it was not my fault, a stranger jumped into the fight and came to my aid. It turned out that he was the Mercenary Jered, "I like the way you fight, Enrico de Vangelles," he had said "if you ever decide to leave the life of a pansy, come and join up with me."

So, little more than three weeks after Jered's offer was extended, I found myself leaving home and joining his band of Mercenaries. I was with him for a couple of jobs when the call came to Jered from Duke Stormfeld that he was to be paid handsomely if he would come and help with the Goblin siege. So off we went. By that time, there was a group of 30 Mercenaries and we felt we were more than a match for a group of poor Goblins. When we arrived we saw thousands of Goblins, I had some misgivings that we might have made a mistake, but Duke Stormfeld and his eldest son Calamar were great fighters and with the Mercenaries to help him, the Goblins soon lay dead and those who weren't did not stop running until they reached the World's Edge Mountains. Even though he had achieved this great victory, the Duke seemed very sad.

There were celebrations going on all around, but I was drawn to one dancer in particular. His feet moved in a pattern that was familiar, they darted in and out, up and down as if creating an intricate pattern in the blood-soaked ground. "Binabon! This man has been trained by Binabon Greatharp. I would know his handiwork anywhere." Just as I was on my way to talk to the Bard, Jered stopped me and informed me the Duke had another mission for us. I was about to ask what it was when I noticed Jered staring intently at the young Bard, and asked him, "Don't you think he's a great dancer," but he did not answer. Instead, he motioned me to follow him and said, "The Duke wants us to kidnap his second son, Garrick, and make a fighter out of him."

Jered and I hid in the bedchambers of Garrick and when he entered, Jered hit him over the head. It was then that I realized why the Duke had gone to such great lengths. The second son was none other than the Bard. Just think if anything happened to Calamar, this would be the heir to the throne! No wonder the Duke looked sad. "At least I know how to fight."

After three weeks, Garrick seemed to be adjusting to his new life rather well, and old Fenwick kept him entertained with his past adventures, but as yet, I had spoken little to him, our lives seemed so similar, yet so different that I did not wish to talk to him yet. "Just think, both of us Nobles, but he was the second son, and should have been a Knight by now, and I am the mere fifth son and not entitled to anything. Life is so unfair, he doesn't appreciate how lucky he is."

Just then, I heard the word "Ambush!," and fighting broke out. We were set upon by a huge band of Orcs. The sounds of battle were all around. We formed a sort of circle with our horses and were trying to beat back the Orcs. I saw many fellow Mercenaries lying dead, and next to me, Jered was shouting orders to regroup. We were trying to reach Garrick and Fenwick who were forced off their mounts. Jered was trying to cut a path through the filthy greenskins and yelled at us to follow. Just then, Garrick and Fenwick reached their mounts and rode toward us. We forced our way through the tide of Orcs and galloped down the road to safety. Six other Mercenaries and I survived, as well as Garrick. He looked as though he had finally been forced to fight and was in some sort of daze. We rode all night and finally stopped to rest our horses. Garrick sort of fell out of his saddle unconscious. When he finally came to himself, he appeared to be changed somehow.....

But at least Garrick was still alive and, if he finally was learning how to fight, all the better, we would get the gold, and have that many less people to split it with. Ah, just think of all the alehouses there are to visit, and Luigi and Salvatore's has not seen me in a while.