The Contract

Chapter 1

The Contract

Captain Tane unrolled the parchment that had been handed to him by the messenger who had both arrived and departed that morning. He was a tall man, taller than most of the men in his company, but not by much. His sandy blonde hair was common for the people of this region, but his green eyes stood out a little. His father’s had been hazel, like most of the Tane family who trained the horses at Chadwick manor. He had his mother’s green eyes. He thought about his parents for a few moments, strengthening his resolve, before forcing himself to return to the matter at hand.

He was determined to find useful information in the general’s vague note. He had much more to think about now than the war and the identity of the Counsel of Five...

This just didn’t fit with the reports he had received from his men or what he had seen himself. She had been docile - almost subdued – when he sent her away. She seemed ... he wasn’t sure. Is this part of some plan of hers? His experience was with his men, not women. He could read the emotions in the camp easily, but she remained a mystery. Ian was still in the village delivering the letters Captain Tane had managed to finish to the families of his fallen soldiers, so he could not be consulted with for a few hours.

Everything he had heard of the assassin known as Retribution said she would have killed him if she had gotten anywhere near him. It was common knowledge that she had accepted a contract on him, but no one really knew from whom or why. The spy he imprisoned was alone with him for hours – sobbing on his shoulder. Wouldn’t the assassin have fought to stay out of prison? My reports said that Sylvia had been ‘more like a polite, gracious guest’ than a prisoner until she started her menstrual cycle, then she had been in so much pain that she had to be carried the rest of the way.

He re-read the scroll again.

The spy you imprisoned by the name of Sylvia has been revealed to be the notorious assassin Retribution.

She has escaped.

This just wasn’t adding up. It had been nine weeks since she had left his camp as a prisoner with a guard consisting of four soldiers. He needed more details and would have to write to the general asking for them.

Captain Tane threw down his quill. There was so much noise coming from the dining room that he could not concentrate on the letter he was supposed to be writing. Why were his men not doing as they had been told and set up to spar and continue training outside? It sounded as though half of the camp had come back in and started to throw a party. He rose from the chair at the table he was using as a desk and walked out of the room.

Nothing could have prepared him for the scene before his eyes as he walked into the hall. There were around fifteen of his finest officers grouped around a table shouting and hooting at whatever was on the table in the center. When they parted slightly, he was able to see that the table was occupied by the same spy he had sent to prison two months prior and had just received news that morning was the assassin Retribution herself! There she sat laughing and giggling like the innocent she had portrayed herself as at her first appearance.

"What are you doing here?" he roared when he saw her. His men parted so that he might talk to her, but they had also loosened their weapons.

"Why Captain, how nice to see you again," she said in her silkiest tone.

"What are your intentions here!?"

"I assure you that my intentions are honorable, Captain." He caught the glint of silver that meant she was using the silver tongue that he had identified she possessed at their last meeting. When it came to the use or ability to resist the use of a silver tongue, knowledge that it was being used was everything. Without knowledge, there was no way to escape from the power it could exert over the mind. This time it would not work on him. He was aware of it.

"My definition of honor and yours are far from the same," he said through gritted teeth as he drew his blade – his men followed suit. He turned to them and asked, "What is the meaning of this?"

"We cannot allow you to harm the innocent this war is being fought to protect, Sir," was the reply from one of the nearest soldiers to him.

He looked closely at their faces and back at hers. There was something wrong. She had bewitched them! There is no way I am giving her the satisfaction of watching my own men kill me or me turn on them! If she intends me to be dead today, she will have to do it herself!

"You, in my office, NOW!" He pointed at her with the sword that was still in his hand.

His men closed in around her and she spoke to them as she swung her bare feet off of the table. "It’s okay, boys. I want to talk to the captain." They sheathed their weapons and sat back down.

He grabbed her by the arm and almost dragged her into the room he was using for an office. "Explain yourself!" he shouted at her when he had closed the door.

"What part would you have me explain?" She was looking up at him through long lashes, her head tilted ever so slightly down. The long locks of her golden hair were falling around her shoulders. He refused to allow himself to dwell on her appearance.

"How, exactly, did you escape prison and why have you returned?" he asked angrily. He leaned on the table as she began to speak.

"My guard brought the general to me telling him that I did not belong in a prison. The general visited me several times and decided that the guard had been correct: I did not belong as a prisoner of war and that even you could make a mistake. He told me not to return to you and ordered me escorted from the prison on nothing but his own judgment that I was only guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"You can charm the deaf now?!"

"No. The first guard was deaf, but not blind and not mute. I was kind to him. He talked to the general about me and the general came to calm his concerns. I could charm the first to a point, but the general was even easier and convinced quickly. I was on my way in a week’s time." She held her patient tones so well that Captain Tane had no idea she was irritated with him.

"Again I must ask you why you are here if the general told you to stay away from me. You would be dead already if you had not charmed my men into thinking this war was being fought just to protect you!" The evidence of his patience growing thin was all over his face and in his voice. The only thing keeping her alive was the fact that his men were still under her spell. He did not want any of them dead – and he didn’t think he could break this. She would have to relinquish them.