“I can whip both of my brothers.” He swung his arm to indicate the other two who were only marginally friendlier. Tension filled the air. The youngest boy wanted to fight, to prove himself. He took a small step in Will’s direction. I expected Will to dart ahead a step and slice the boy with his sword. It was clear the young man had never faced a sword and didn’t understand how far a lunge, an extended arm, and the length of a sword could reach. From where Will stood, he could run the boy through before he could move another step.
Instead, Will held up his other hand, palm facing the young man as a silent order to stop advancing. “Are you looking for a fight? Can we do it without weapons?”
The young man was taller than Will and far heavier. He nodded quickly, a grin spreading as he insolently let the point of the knife fall into the dirt again.
Will tossed his sword to Elizabeth, who caught it by the hilt. He placed his hands on his hips and said, “You’re going to lose and it’s going to hurt.”
“I can beat you,” the young man replied, dropping into a wrestler’s pose. “You’re half my size.”
Will snorted a genuine laugh. He said, “It isn’t often an untrained buffoon like yourself can win against an opponent who has trained daily. But, I’m not in a mood to fight today. Kendra, would you mind stepping up here and embarrassing this boy?”
She was moving as he spoke. I suspected she had anticipated what Will was going to do. She walked directly up to the young man and pulled up to a stop toe-to-toe, to his total surprise. His size and reach were reduced because she stood so close, but he didn’t realize he’d already allowed her to strip him of his advantages.
She said sweetly, “Are you ready to fight me?”
I’d fallen for that trick too many times. He began to nod when he should have attacked instead. Before his chin reached his chest to agree he was ready, she struck. Her left knee shot up. Not to his groin because most men reflexively protect that area, but to just above the kneecap of his right leg. She did it fast. Hard. As her body delivered that knee, the natural motion of the strike turned her from her waist, and as she turned, her left fist, not the one he was watching, struck him squarely on his breastbone.
The fight was over. He simply didn’t know it yet. Her right fist struck the same place again as he gasped for breath from the first blow. The second punch drove all the air out. Her left knee drove into his right thigh again. The leg collapsed, and he fell and rolled, gasping for breath and holding his right leg with both arms. Kendra gently placed the heel of her boot on his nose.
“Give up?” When he didn’t answer fast enough, she applied a little of her weight.
“Okay! You win. But you cheated.”
She stepped back, reached her hand down and helped him to his feet. He stood on his left leg and balanced awkwardly because the feeling wouldn’t return to the other leg for a while. I know because she’d put me down that way a few times and I still resented the instructors the King’s Weapon-Master had been assigned to teach her that. Not many could stand against Kendra and none who were untrained.
Will said, “Now then. We’ve all enjoyed the entertainment, but we have a spot of business to discuss.”
The father perked up at the mention of business.
Will said, “That flat-bottomed boat, over there. Is it for transporting things? I don’t see any sails or oars.”
The father said, “It’s a barge. We use a rowboat to pull it.”
“Will it carry a horse and rider?” Will asked.
“I suppose.” He looked at the horses and us. “Never done it. Maybe one at a time.”
Will said, “That’s good enough. Now I know we didn’t get off to the best start, but I have another question if you don’t mind answering. Why do you live way out here?”
The old man jutted his chin in the direction of Dagger. “They accused us of stealing and killing a man down river. We’re hiding. Shit like this wouldn’t happen when King Fry was still alive. A man could get a fair hearing back then.”
“So, you don’t like the Council of Nine?” Will continued.
The old man spat.
Will said, “This is your lucky day.”
“How so?”
“You have a chance to slap the face of each one of the Council of Nine by helping us—and we’ll pay you generously to do it.”
He glared at Will as if not believing him.
Will said, “Friends of our have started a revolt and taken control of Vin. The rightful heir is Prince Angle, and he is fighting to retake the throne. Now they march on Trager to raise an army while we are going to see what we can do about restoring Dagger’s royalty to the throne. We need a barge-ride across the river.”
The old man stuck his hand out to shake with Will. “I’m called Coffin. We can get you across if’n you aren’t in a hurry. One at a time. But no pay. We don’t need to take money for doin’ what’s right. Or to give a little back to those that took from us.”
The son who had been the victim of Kendra said, “Hey, I want to be paid.”
“Shut up, or I’ll have them sic that little girl standing all by herself on you next time. We’ll see if you can fight a child and win.”
All eyes turned to Anna.
“Pa, you got to be kidding. Look at her!”
“Look at the one half your size that put you down. We can talk about money or that little girl kicking your butt. Besides, I got a feeling the little one is twice the fighter of the one that took you down without breathing hard.”
Everyone laughed—everyone, but Kendra’s opponent. The boy spoiled to prove himself and had only made himself the butt of jokes. However, Kendra moved to his side, a look of sympathy on her face. She turned and scowled at the older man for berating him, then turned back to his younger son and said, “Listen, you didn’t stand a chance. Professional soldiers trained me to fight, but I’ve never had to knee anyone in the leg twice. The rest all went to the ground with my first bout of blows. You had me worried for a moment because you stayed upright.”
“Hear that?” he snarled at his smiling brothers. “Any of you want to try taking her on?”
She turned to them and said, “He’s right. Either of the two of you wants to stand up to me as your brother did?”
Their eyes shifted away.
Kendra has always had the knack of empathy and drawing people to her side, especially victims. With a few words, she had smoothed over the incident and made the loser feel like he’d accomplished something unique. It reminded me of one of my instructors telling me words can take a man down almost as fast as they can build him up—and far faster than any blow.
Will attempted to take charge of the conversation again, “We’re fighting the same enemies. Can we cross the river with your barge, or should we look elsewhere?”
The old man snapped, “Jess, you and Tang, will row. Wiley, you help them get a horse and rider on the barge. Keep them horses calm on the passage, or it won’t work.” He turned and pointed to me. “You there, walk your horse on to the barge and keep it settled down, understand?”
I considered hobbling the horse, but it couldn’t swim if I did. If the horse bucked or panicked and went into the water, it could swim for a short distance, so no hobbles or it would drown. I looked at the animal with some affection. It was shorter than horses in Dire, with a longer, molted coat. The overall color was tan, but black and darker shades of brown were there, too.
The horse was drinking from the edge of the river with the others. As I approached, its ears twitched, and it turned to look at me with brown, soft eyes. I talked gently and gathered the reins but allowed it to continue drinking. I knelt beside it and scooped water into my mouth, then filled my jugs.