Rise of the Blade - Charles Moffat [69]
Burning away the cobwebs, the lady continued on with her riding whip held out to the side at ready. There was light up ahead coming from around a corner and as she crept closer she could hear the solid thuds and the spliting of wood under a heavy axe. Stabbing the torch against the wall, she ended its flickering life and tossed it aside.
As she looked around the corner she saw the half naked form of the man she adored. He stood alone with his back to a blazing fire as he chopped away viciously at the wood before him. The wood, she saw, was what remained of the old catapults and after years of drying out they split easily under the axeblade.
The warrior kicked the wood aside into a ready wheelbarrow and set up another piece of wood to be split. He paused then and straightened, the sweat running down his bare chest and making streaks in his hair. Doctor Pierce turned towards her then and for a moment she thought he had heard her and so she ducked back into the darkness.
The man smiled and chopped downwards once more and kicked the split halves into the wheelbarrow.
Summoning up her courage, Nicole took a moment to breathe consciously before stepping into the open and knocked on the wall with her fist.
Pierce seemed only mildly surprised and he smiled at her. "I thought I heard someone coming down the hall. What are you doing here?"
"I was returning your horse and I decided to see you to make sure you knew."
The man only shrugged his broad shoulders and chopped another piece in half and kicked the results aside with his boot. "Thanks. I had forgotten about the old brute. How much trouble has he been?"
"My stablemaster threatened castration at one point," she smiled, hoping to get a smile in return.
Pierce only shrugged. "I hope he was talking about Bartholomew and not me for forgetting the damn horse was even there."
Nicole's thoughts turned naughty, and she blushed and put her hands behind her back. Banishing such thoughts, she looked about the room for something to talk about.
"You've heard about Chev I'm sure?"
"Yes," she replied slowly, unsure about how Pierce felt about the now famous man and Waterdeep's new greatest warrior. "Have you given up hope of catching him?"
"Not hope. I'm questioning the reason behind it all."
"I know about all the Harpers being killed. Is murder not a good reason?"
"I meant what is Chev's reason for killing the Harper's in the first place. It can't be a personal vendetta against me or else he could have killed me in my sleep a hundred times by now."
"Someone hired him?"
"Thought about that, doesn't make sense. He simply wants all Harpers dead and buried."
"Then why not you?"
"Because I'm not really a Harper, not in the truest sense."
Nicole crossed her arms. "And who is?"
"Danilo Thann is, if you can believe that. You wouldn't know it if you saw it in public. He has the heart of a Harper. He's perfect for espionage and loves every second of it."
"And you?"
"I'm supposed to be retired. I was never a Harper. I was always a survivor and a leader, and I like the Harper concepts but I don't belong with them. My soul isn't there."
Nicole saw through him then. She saw the frustration, the years wearing down on his shoulders, and the tears left unshed for friends long dead. He had adventured for so long he didn't know how to stop and was afraid to stop for fear of growing old and dying. So here he was, getting older and greyer and all the while biting back the tears belonging to dead friends.
Her heart ached to reach out and hold him. She could not help but respect and pity him at the same time. Then there was Witter, Pierce's mentor who had died not so long ago. He wasn't done grieving the death of his friend and she could see it on his face.
It wasn't sweat that stained his face and chest. It was tears.
He looked at her then, his face full of fear and his eyes welling