(Continued from Ch 52, A Night As Dark As Sable) The Chronicles of Rapina Chapter 53, Summertime Her father's knocking roused her from a dream wherein she rode a floating log down an endless river. "Is that you daddy?" She said wanly. Darl Norwit opened the door and softly closed it behind him. "How's my girl this morning?" "I feel like something inside me broke loose last night, daddy. I am hoping it's a good break, but I am afraid." Darl stroked the palm of his hand across his forehead and closed his eyes. He was loosing her all over again. He came to the bed and sat in the chair next to it. He reached out and stroked his daughter's hair. Bellany spoke from a trance of weakness, "I did not want to depress you and mother, but Grace probably told you anyway. I have been passing a lot of blood. I think what broke loose was in my kidney. I know it might not be a good thing if... it is breaking." "I am sorry dear. Leech Fraksen said your condition could be more serious than it might seem. The damage that made your bruises may have gone clean through your body including your internal organs. He said there seemed to be patches where the damage had been healed to one extent or another. Your heart and lungs were one of those areas; your eyes and brain were the other. We were very worried about your other organs," Norwit said. "Why didn't he tell me, daddy?" Bellany asked. "He could tell you were going to fight for life. He did not want to demoralize you. He gave your mother and I a more detailed prognosis. Your kidneys have been our biggest worry. We know the blood in your urine has been getting worse. I promised your mother you would stay in bed today, so I am going to steal your crutches," Darl Norwit said. Bellany nodded weakly, her voice dreamy," Okay daddy... Daddy? "Yes Bellany?" Baronet Norwit asked. "When I get better, may I ride your fine, black stallion all around the estate and ride with you and Darren when you inspect the estate farms? I want to ride fast daddy, no sidesaddle. I want to feel the wind in my hair and know that no orc has the slightest chance of catching me," Bellany said. Darl wiped a tear from his eye, "When you are better honey, we will make you a long flowing dress that covers Starstruck's back and you can ride astride in the tradition of latin women." "Do you promise, daddy?" Bellany asked. "I promise, baby. You get better and I will have Lieutenant Florin and sergeant Barnes teach you to ride like the wind on the back of my fine black stallion. No orc will ever catch my daughter again," Norwit said. "Thank you daddy. I will mount up on Starstruck's back in my dreams. He can outrun death's pale horse, I know he can, daddy, he is so fine." Bellany's voice was hardly more than a whisper. Darl Norwit struggled to control his emotions. A tear rolled down his rugged cheek. "You rest now Bellany. Grace will bring your breakfast in a little while." "Yes daddy. Thank you. I will dream now, death is coming and I have some riding to do," Bellany said. Lord Norwit nodded and kissed his daughter's cheek, "Rest well daughter. I will see you this evening." "Bye daddy." Bellany watched Lord Norwit leave the room without sitting up. He closed the door softly behind him and left down the hall, his footsteps heavy with grief. Bellany should have felt exactly the way she was acting, or worse with what she had done last night. She had expected she would come away more wounded than when she had arrived, but she had been expecting to die of kidney failure anyway so it really had not mattered to her if she had sustained more hurts. The hunger had been too deep to deny. She plunged a finger into her wanton cleft to feel for damage but she felt perfectly fine within, better even than she had before her adventure the night before. Something else was strange but it took her a while to put her finger on it. She felt a familiar throbbing numbness from her left palm, but that was all. "Where did all my internal hurts go?" a perplexed Bellany thought to herself. She tried not to think of the feel of the power that had rocked her frame the night before. She tried not to admit to herself that it had done far more to heal her than all of the Leach's medicines combined. To do so would have been to admit she was not a normal woman. Yet, in trying to avoid that realization, she only succeeded in underscoring it. --------- Baron Norwit mounted the stairs to his daughter's camp, formerly known as the library of Norwit Manor. After a brief period where he was sure he was going to loose her all over again, she had started to pull through. What a fighter she had become. He had been able to return her crutches to her about a week after he had taken them. Now less than a week after he had returned them, she used them easily whereas previously she had been able only to drag along at a snail's pace. Once she had regained her mobility her mother had insisted that she should not wander too much at first, thus Bellany had been spending her days in the library of late. "Hello daddy, I'm surprised to see you home in the middle of the day." Bellany slowly stood and hugged her father. "Bellany you stood!" Norwit exclaimed. "Mother won't allow me to wander the keep a lot because she is afraid it will unhinge my internal organs, but that does not prevent me from doing leg exercises in bed and while I sit here reading. Time is wasting and spring is going to be half over before long. You promised me Lieutenant Florin and Sergeant Barnes would train me to ride Starstruck in more than my dreams. I am going to get well fast or die trying," Bellany said. "Ho now! Don't die trying," Norwit said. Bellany giggled, "I have no intention of dying, daddy, at least not as long as I have so much to look forward to. Dreams are nice, but no one really rides like the wind with bad legs." Darl nodded, "Just hold off standing like that in front of your mother for a few days. She's going to think it's a miracle." "If you discount the hours of work I put in on my muscles everyday, it is a miracle," Bellany winked. Baron Norwit chuckled, "You and I know that, but for her it will be the Vindicator this and the Vindicator that. Your out-riding death in your dreams seemed nothing more than the eerie delusion of a feverish mind, but it seems to have worked for you and it just keeps on working. I had no idea my Andalusian would prove such a powerful force in your recovery." "Perhaps it was the eerie delusion of a feverish mind, daddy but I was half dead and slipping. Death was riding me down on his pale horse. Dream or not, I am positive that were it not for your fine, black stallion I would be slumbering in my grave," Bellany said. Lord Norwit grimaced, "I have no doubt that after the dream ride you seemed to begin progressing rather than slipping towards the abyss. I am so glad you made it, Bellany, I am much more hopeful that you will mend now. "When mommy lets me move around more again, may I get Dortey to teach me how to groom Startstruck?" Bellany asked. "I suppose that would be all right. Stallions can be a little tricky, but Startstruck has a very good temperament for a young stallion. Other than being difficult to bring in from the paddock except at mealtime, he has no appreciable vices. You know one's servants normally take care of the grooming chores," Baronet Norwit said. "Yes, I know, but if I am going to learn to ride, I might as well know horses, and if I did not at least know horse care, what kind of a horsewoman would I be? Besides, he has such pretty mane, I'd like to try some fancy braids," Bellany said. "It sounds as if you're about to turn my stallion into an oversized doll," Norwit said. Bellany grinned, "Maybe so, but it won't hurt him and it will get him used to me so maybe learning to ride will be a little easier. Besides, he'll look gorgeous in braids." Darl chuckled, "I guess I can put up with braids, beads and ribbons if it makes you happy, dear. What have you been reading?" "Yesterday was catapult day. Today is mathematics day in the wake of catapult day," Bellany said. "Hah! The math in those catapult manuals is positively Greek. I could never make heads nor tails of it. Yet, it is necessary to be able to do those formulas in order to tailor the size of the torsion bundles to the weight of the projectile in order to maximize range and efficiency. Lord Avengene has perhaps one or two engineers who fully understand that math, but he has not been able to send one to help me create artillery for the keep. Instead of attempting one of those intricate torsion-spring ballistae, your brother Charles and I created the overgrown heavy crossbow we have on the south tower. Charles is quite knowledgeable about crossbows, so we were able to build the engine without help." Bellany nodded, "Have you any idea how far a giant can hurl a boulder?" "It depends on the size of the boulder. If it is a big one, a giant can hurl it no more than a hundred yards unless he has something high to stand on. The smaller rocks can come from two or three hundred yards. If normal arrows would penetrate giant armor we could probably down them, but you need something with more penetrating power. Lord Avengene has a few heavy ballistae for his larger forts. Those are quite effective at bringing down the giants, although if the giant moves around a lot or uses cover it is difficult to maneuver the large engines to get a shot. That and giant shields can be a real problem," Norwit said. "I have read about the large ballistae. The huge bolts they fire have great penetrating power. If a girl were standing behind four ranks of soldiers the bolt would go through them all and enter her. Even if she only took the first few inches she would be sent straight to heaven along with her would-be saviors," Bellany smiled to herself thinking of an entirely different sort of penetration by artillery. "With the ranges giants throw at, I take it a ballista should be built not so much to maximize range but for penetrating power and ease of aiming?" Bellany asked. "Speed and accuracy is the key," Lord Norwit nodded. "Giants may be unwieldy creatures, but compared to siege engines they move like ballerinas." ----- A pale light streamed in through the tall, narrow window next to Bellany's bed. It was just dawning outside and one of spring's last mornings found Bellany on a rug stretching forward and back, one leg flat on the floor in front of her while the other was flat on the floor behind. Her mind was sharp and her body beneath the last fading color of dermal bruises was vibrant with energy. She was glad that most of her wardrobe had been altered to fit her after her midnight adventure a few weeks earlier. She had promised herself she would not repeat her adventure, but she had not entirely succeeded. She was so curious she had tried it again to see if the healing had really come as a result. She had proven that it had -twice. She was now a little worried since she was pretty sure she could not resist the hunger forever. At very least she would have to find ways to make it nearly impossible for her parents to discover her scandalous episodes. She had already ruled out midnight excursions. With the sentries around the keep, that was much too dangerous. It was better to confine her liaisons to locations so far from the keep that she was as tiny as an ant to the eyes of the sentries, and then to duck into a hollow or behind a hedge. She also had to consider physical evidence and the possibility of commoners straying onto the estate. It was a dangerous pursuit and one she would surely be punished for to no end if she were caught. She decided she had better not be caught. She could not quite believe how naughty she had been, but what was even more astounding was how good she always felt afterwards. Immediately after her very first time she had fallen to the ground and twitched around like a marionette on tangled strings and that had been quite worrisome. For a moment she had been sure she was about to die, but she had felt too good to care. In retrospect, her damaged nerves and organs knitting must have caused the twitching. She tried not to think about why nearly splitting herself on the last several inches of such a heroic spar had healed her rather than wounded her. Actually it had hurt her, but the hurts had been washed away by the culmination of the act. It could not be normal. There were things about herself that she could not remember. They were dangerous things that would no doubt get her in trouble with her parents. Her memory was still sketchy, and the few things she did remember came primarily from her childhood. These made her worry that she was not who people said she was, but rather was a girl with much more humble beginnings. If her dreams were to be believed, there had been an evil reverend in her past, and then a period of time when she had joined Red Jack's crew after she had escaped the preacher. Presently she dismissed these dreams as fantasies that she had formerly used to bring her lusts to fruition, but the detail that had gone into them was astonishing. She had used techniques from her pirate fantasy to direct her energies to heal her entire body except her discolored skin so that her magic would not be discovered. She tried not to think about how a supposed fantasy could provide practical information about strange powers that she should not have had in the first place. She clung to the belief that, before she was abducted, she had taken the faces from the wanted posters at church and wove them into an incredibly elaborate erotic fantasy. Bellany pushed up to a handstand repeatedly as sweat glistened from her naked body. When she was alone for her workout she did not have to worry about feigning a bit of weakness to reassure her parents that she was just a normal girl slowly recovering from hostile magic. It was the only time of day when she did not feel like a performer on stage. There was a soft knock at the door. Four successive back-flips starting from her handstand took her there. She grabbed the old robe she had hung on the doorknob and slipped it on. "Good morning daddy," Bellany smiled as she opened the door and her day's performance began. "Good morning, Belle, you've been exercising again?" Norwit asked. "Mom would faint dead away if she knew how many exercises I did in a day," Bellany grinned. "I am sure I'll be stronger than her within a month's time. Not that she would care, but I need the strength in my legs lest I be unhorsed," Bellany said. Darl, chuckled, I saw Starstruck's mane yesterday. Your hunter braids are beginning to look quite professional. Where did you learn to do that?" Norwit asked. "Well mom said I had to take up a craft as part of the year of school I'm making up with the tutor," Bellany shrugged. "I decided on macramé since I could apply some of the techniques to braiding Starstruck's mane and tail. Plus Dorety clipped tails the other day and I stole the horsehair. I had enough horsehair to weave into twine for a sling. I know mother won't let me have a rapier, so a girl's got to make do. I can weave slings from horsehair, wool, plant fiber, anything. I need never be unarmed. I am saving Starstruck's hair until I am more skilled. When I have enough Starstruck hair I'm going to make a fine, black sling." "You are a naughty girl getting around your mothers wishes like this," Norwit said. "Mother doesn't know it but she advocates helplessness for noblewomen. I just can't get into that anymore. I enjoy music, especially secular music, but all these charity things at church. I don't know how I stood them. I know I am breaking mother's heart, but I can only humor her so much before it begins to drive me nutty. I know she does not think I am a lady anymore and I know it hurts you to hear it daddy, but I am not. Amongst the orcs, ladies were beaten tender and served up in the stew pot. I had the choice to be a lady or to live. I chose to live. I guess that makes me a coward, but I really don't care anymore," Bellany said. "No, you are not a coward, Belle. You are a survivor, and as strong a woman as I've seen. It bothers me sometimes that there is a cold, rational hardness in you that was never there before, but you are still a sweet girl at the same time. You have changed so much. It is very hard on your mother and I. I am going to look the other way on the sling issue since I realize you are probably telling the truth about being able to weave one out of just about anything. A sling of horsehair will be much safer than one woven of grass. Take care not to hit my stallion if you are slinging from horseback." "You spoil me so bad, daddy" Bellany teased. "Don't worry about Starstruck. You know I will be very careful with him daddy. He saved my life." Norwit nodded. "Oh I know I spoil you, and I pay dearly for it at the tip of you mother's tongue. She's already protested about you riding my stallion. She does not want you to see his maleness." Bellany rolled her eyes, "Mother's amnesia seems to be worse than mine. In her mind I think she has replaced what I actually did in the past year with attending a very long church retreat where the priests were all as good at keeping their hands off the girls as reverend Wright." "And how would you know the Reverend is good at keeping his hands off young women?" Norwit asked. "Er, just a wild guess?" Bellany said. "Norwit cleared his throat, "You know I have heard you have been after some of my men," Norwit said. Bellany blushed, "I suppose, but I'm trying not to bother them too much anymore. It's not fair for them to risk so much just to satisfy the girlish desires I'm not supposed to have in the first place. Actually, I am surprised I have any desires left after the orcs. I would have thought the interest would have been abused right out of me and that you'd be packing me off to a nunnery since there would be no way I could stomach having a husband. Have you any ideas about prospective husbands? With the nobility's preoccupation with heirs, purity and pedigree, I doubt any barons or baronets would touch me with a ten foot pole," Bellany smiled as she thought of a particular pole. "It's amazing how cheerfully you can say no nobleman would want you, but I don't necessarily agree. It's hard to say Bellany; you have turned out to be a very beautiful woman. There are men who would be so swayed as to forget the orcs, propriety and just about anything else," Norwit said. "And scores more who would want to court me more as a prospective mistress than as a wife," Bellany said. Darl grimaced, "Yes I am sure that is the case. The simple solution is for you to choose the man you fancy, from those I find acceptable. Do not under any circumstances bed him before the wedding night." Bellany nodded, knowing all the while that asking her to wait until the wedding night was like asking the water rushing over a falls to stop a minute and take a rest. "I am not happy about the men," Darl said pointedly "I am sorry daddy, but it is not like I tore my clothes off and threw myself at them. I was just fishing and flirting in spite of my better judgment for their safety. You can beat me if you want." Bellany lifted her robe, turned and bent over. She pulled on Baron Norwit's lust just subtly." Norwit inhaled, "No I don't think that would be proper now that you're practically a grown woman. Besides I think you've probably had more than enough beating for one year at the hands of the orcs," Norwit said. Bellany nodded, "True." She smiled inwardly. She had judged him rightly. She felt that he was an honorable man, and that he would not beat her if he thought he would enjoy it in an improper way. "But if I do hear you've been misbehaving towards any of my men, your penance will be staying off Starstruck's back," Darl said. "Well I shan't be bothering your men then. Lieutenant Florin says I will make a fine horsewoman," Bellany said. "Yes, I've seen you ride. You're picking it up rapidly. I have no complaints from your academic tutor either. She says you have been able to keep up the pace she has set for you in spite of the fact that you seem to live on Starstruck's back during the afternoons," Norwit said. "Riding is a bit of a priority right now, but I can usually get all my homework done in the evenings; if not I can finish up in the morning. My memory seems to work quite well for current events anyway. It is a shame Miss Atkis hasn't a clue about mathematics. She's absolutely no help with geometry, and she's lost about equations," Bellany said. "Are you still trying to learn enough math to design me a real catapult? You needn't bother you know. I have some pre-designed plans that Lord Avengene sent me, and the girls curriculum at the school you missed last year does not include higher mathematics," Norwit said. Bellany nodded, "I know, but it's a nice challenge. That conventional wisdom about girls having minds too weak to grasp mathematics is nonsense. I suspect you or one of the boys was going to learn the catapult math because you seem to have all the requisite math books. I am just having fun proving all that weak-minded stuff is a sham. Are you going to build a catapult this summer?" "Yes, an onagar," Norwit said. "But daddy, those are the simplest of the torsion catapults," Bellany said. "Exactly, and the easiest to maintain. Do you think my men and I should start with the most complex?" Norwit asked. "I see your point. May I help, or at least watch?" Bellany asked. "You may do some of each," Norwit said. "The processing of the sinews and the wrapping of the torsion bundle may be something you can help with if you like. I am going to have the boys help too. It will be a good addition to their education." Bellany smiled, "Mother will be thrilled that catapult- making has become a family project. It is almost as though you were a frontier warlord whose family occupation was holding the border," Bellany smirked because she knew that was the unvarnished truth. "Bellany!" Norwit exclaimed. Bellany giggled. "I can't help it daddy. Some of these notions Mother's got in her head make me feel like I am living in a different reality than the one she's in and to make matters worse, I am sure I used to live in her reality. The orcs must have thrown me through a looking glass during one of their beatings. Anyhow, it will be nice to see a siege engine outside of a book, especially if I get to help build it. I am also looking forward to seeing Charles. I am afraid my memory has not been forthcoming about him. I am still confined to bits and pieces of orc where memory is concerned," Bellany's mouth popped open as particular orc bits came to mind. Somehow, she had remembered them although the recollection had come from a more recent time during which her memory had proven especially impossible to unlock. --- It was a few days later at three o'clock in the afternoon. That was a rare time for Lord Norwit to be home, but he had business on both sides of the estate this day and that allowed him to take a break at home between appointments. It also allowed him to examine Bellany's desk drawers under the guise of bringing her the additional scrap parchment she had requested. He knew she was a considerable distance away from the keep because she was always to stay within sight of the watchtower. Although Starstruck sometimes diminished to the size of an ant due to distance, she never strayed so far that the sentries could not tell where she was. Norwit carefully went through the drawers. They were meticulously organized. She had laid out the compass, ruler and protractor she had borrowed from him in the top drawer with her quills and penknife. In other drawers he found, bread recipes, Mathematical notes, drawings of siege engines, notes on macramé, Latin (ancient common) grammar and music and various practice items including an unfinished sling. It appeared to be an improvement over the one his daughter was currently using. No doubt, she would soon be using it to fling creek stones at tree limbs, from horseback of course. She seldom left Starstruck's back during her free time. In her scrap paper drawer he found some old poems and compared them to Bellany's current writing. The script was definitely in the same hand but it had changed subtly. It had grown more compact and precise, more sophisticated. He examined the remaining scrap paper in her drawer. Much of it was blanketed in equations. He had expected elementary mathematical scribbling but instead was met with math of surprising intricacy, as if elementary equations and geometric expressions had been too trivial to require paper. He knew her tutor was quite satisfied with her progress on other school subjects. Yet, what the tutor could not have known was that it was in those things that she did by choice that her true excellence shown most brightly. Lieutenant Florin's report about Bellany's accelerated pace in learning to ride well only confirmed what her equations expressed. ---- Summer had begun and the afternoon that Lord Norwit's eldest son, Charles, was to return home had arrived. As was his custom, Lord Norwit had decided to ride out to meet his boy and the five cavalrymen sent earlier in the week to escort him home. Darl usually took the road an hour or so South of the keep. Darren was coming with him as usual, and given Bellany's new craze for riding, she had said she did not want to miss Charles' homecoming either. Surprisingly Eleanor had decided to attend, thus making it a family affair. Dorety was just now tightening the girth of Eleanor's sidesaddle on a roan gelding. Lord Norwit's bay charger had already been saddled and Darren was already mounted on a sorrel mare. Bellany's cavalry saddle was all polished and had been placed on a rail. "Bellany will be coming too, Dorety. Where is Starstruck?" "He'd be out in the paddock yonder milord. Miss Bellany has 'im all polished, ribboned and braided ta the nines. She just went in ta change. I suppose I could lure him hither with some grain, but mostly I leave 'im be. It don't make sense for me to spend time tryin' ta lure 'im or snag 'im anymore milord. "It doesn't?" Lord Norwit asked. "Nay, takes me too long to catch that wily beast. He's too smart an' fast fer 'is own good, methinks," Dorety said. "Yes, I am well aware of his one vice, but how do you expect we are going get underway without Startstruck?" Norwit asked. "Don't worry milord, here comes missy now," Dorety said. "Hi daddy," Bellany hugged her father. "It looks like we're just about ready to go." Bellany let loose a squealing whistle. Lord Norwit heard a thundering of hooves and Starstruck suddenly pranced up to Bellany nuzzling his daughter's face while nickering to her as though scolding her for having been away far too long. His jet-black mane was diamond pleated with tiny white flowers tied into the junctions between each diamond-shaped space. His tail was braided as well and sported a white rose near the dock. The balance of his inky coat had been polished to an impressive sheen. "There ya go milord," Dorety observed. "Starstruck knows who 'is mistress is. When Lady Bellany calls 'e raises thunder gettin' to 'er. Anyone else calls and ye'd swear th' horse were deaf." Norwit smiled wryly, "My you certainly have him dolled up for the occasion, Bellany. I hope Charles is on time or I fear Starstruck may begin to wilt." Bellany Grinned as she saddled the black stallion, "If worse comes to worse I'll pluck his flowers, but I do hope Charles is on time in spite of the length of the trip. How long does it take?" "He's coming up from Southern Bristol and that takes three days for the sane or two if Charles Norwit is leading the party," Norwit said. Eleanor Norwit, clad in an elaborate green dress arrived from the manor. "It will be so good to see our whole family together again and with Bellany stronger than ever. She hugged Bellany briefly before Dorety helped her onto mount. Bellany finished saddling Starstruck and mounted easily without help. There was no trace of the former weakness she had suffered in her legs. Now that it was early summer, she felt quite fit except for a persistent numbness in the palm of her left hand. "Is Charles insane?" Bellany asked as she arranged her black dress over Starstruck's back. "He is sane, and capable of hard work, but I fear more prone to play hard and to put off work indefinitely. Shall we get underway?" Darl heard assent from his family and nodded to the group of cavalrymen who would serve as their escort. "Let us go then." The group left Keep Norwit at a leisurely pace. They enjoyed the early summer greenery and bits of spontaneous conversation. Bellany observed not only the terrain but also the common people. Their faces usually reflected an attitude of worship, or at least deference. Often she saw a bit of fear and occasionally even veiled hatred. It seemed so odd as if she had not always been a noblewoman and was not used to being looked on in such a way by the commoners. Yet here she was a nominal member of the nobility, and quite important within the Baronety of Norwit. She saw recognition in the faces of many of the people and had the realization that every one of them knew she had been a slave of the orcs. After traveling on the road for just about an hour, Baronet Norwit stopped his family near a creak to rest and water the horses. "It will take us an hour to return home from here. If Charles is running late, and that is not totally out of character, then we had better not let him keep us out past sunset. I have no reports of orc activity this far south, but I had none on the day Bellany was abducted either," Lord Norwit said. Lieutenant Florin nodded, and spoke to the cavalrymen "Fan out and secure the area." Bellany let Starstruck drink his fill but did not dismount like the other members of her family. She felt more relaxed on her stallion's back than on the ground. It was not long before Eleanor began looking at the sun. "Darl, it's getting late, mightn't we better return home?" Eleanor asked. "Lets give him another five minutes, dear, and then I'll have Lieutenant Florin blow the horn. If we don't hear a reply, then I suppose we will have to return," Norwit said. After five minutes Lord Norwit nodded to the lieutenant. He took up his brazen horn and blasted a long note. Lord Norwit listened a while then shook his head. "I guess we shall return then. I do hope Charles had sense enough to stop at an Inn if he is running badly behind shedule," Lord Norwit said. "Wait daddy," Bellany said. "Did you hear something Bellany?" Norwit asked. "No Daddy, but Starstruck did." "How is it you know what he hears?" Norwit asked. "I spend a lot of time with Starstruck, daddy. I can tell by the way his head and ears move. Does the road meander off in that direction after a while?" Bellany asked. "Yes." Norwit said. "Then Charles' trumpeter blew a reply, but perhaps his note was not so loud because they are being jostled around while riding hard," Bellany said. Lord Norwit raised his eyebrows dubiously, "Wind the horn again, Lieutenant." Lieutenant Florin winded the horn, managing slightly more volume than he had on the previous sounding. Bellany listened and smiled as she heard the faint "eewaaa," of a reply. "Bellany, you are already becoming a stellar horsewoman! Let us ride!" Norwit turned his horse around and galloped down the road, grinning proudly as his daughter pulled ahead of him on her magnificent stallion. Charles was a length ahead of his escort and riding hard as he rounded a bend. In the distance, he saw a woman mounted on a black stallion practically flying down the road toward him. As she drew nearer he saw several other riders begin to round the bend, but they were minutes behind her. "Ho, slow down men, I think that's my sister." Charles and his men slowed to a trot and his suspicions were confirmed as Bellany slowed, turned and fell in next to him. Bellany gazed at the young man leading the group of riders. He was a bit taller and leaner than her father was and his hair was nearly as red as hers was. He was easily more handsome than father or Darren. He was wearing a breastplate and Avengene chainmail and there was a peculiar looking crossbow slung over his right shoulder. Since the men with him were dressed in the livery of cavalrymen of Avengene, she knew it had to be her brother. "Charles?" Bellany asked. "Bellany, I thought you were half dead, sister!" Charles exclaimed. "Oh it's been over a month since then," Bellany said. "The last letter I received did say you were making fine progress, but it said nothing about your riding astride on dad's finest stallion. Vindicator's ass sister, what did those orcs feed you? Last time I saw you, you were only a little girl. Bellany grinned, "If anything I think I filled out in spite of the food." "You've finished out nice. Your hair looks redder too. You must have been spending a lot of time outdoors in the sun. I am going to have the devil's own time beating off your suitors in the coming school year." Charles grinned. Bellany started laughing uncontrollably. "Damn it! Bellany, those orcs have ruined you. I used to be able to sail one after another of those right over your innocent head and you never got a one of them. It was a scream!" "The orcs speared my innocence through the heart and sent it back from whence it came." Bellany pointed down towards hell rather than in the opposite direction. "Hah! Welcome to the real world sister and my condolences on your getting speared. How have people been treating you since you returned?" Charles asked. "They treat me well enough, but I am usually with Daddy or mother, so they can only whisper behind my back. I have not been allowed to get out to hear abuse or to take advantage of my new un-chaste-ized reputation." "Haha! Bellany, It's a miracle you've developed wit! Are you sure you're my sister?" Charles asked. Bellany looked a bit uncomfortable. "Uh well to tell you the truth I have no idea. I lost my memory and nearly my life to the trauma of a spell from an orc shaman, and I am having trouble sorting out any fragments that surface. Some are no doubt from former fantasies others from former reality. If I am not me I can't figure out who I am yet, so it's all a bust." "Yes, that part's obvious even to me," Charles said. Bellany grinned and blushed. "What!? Aren't you going to spend the next quarter hour lecturing me about the repugnance of the sins of the flesh to the Vindicator?" "The orcs washed those lectures clean out of my mouth," Bellany said. Charles grimaced, "And I'll bet they didn't use soap and water either." Bellany nearly fell out of her saddle laughing. "Charles you are sooo bad. My memory for the past is shot. I assumed you would be as witheringly proper as Darren and Daddy." "Someone in this family has to handle the chores of irreverence, and being the noble soul that I am, I have shouldered that mighty burden," Charles smiled beatifically. "I share your burden, brother." Bellany aped Charles' beatific smile. Uhoh, here comes mother. I have to start acting halfway proper or get Startstruck yanked straight out from between my legs and any other vindictive things she or daddy can think up to punish me with. Mum's the word," Bellany said. "My lips are sealed." Charles grinned, and then turned back to his men, "Remember men, hold your tongues on these small matters for me and my sister Belle, and we in turn will graciously hold our tongues on other small matters for you." Charles' men nodded briskly. Bellany glanced back and realized by the men's ascent that Charles must have a few choice indiscretions he could reveal about each of the men riding with him. He was indeed an astute politician yet the men seemed to like him. Perhaps he indulged them in some indiscretions himself. A round of drinks here, a harlot there. She could see how he might operate. It certainly didn't hurt that he would be Lord of the manor when his father died, and since his father was a warrior, that could come quite abruptly. Once their parents arrived, Charles behaved slightly better, although he still got away with much more than Bellany ever could have. Part of it was his verbal agility and charm, but it was also obvious her mother measured sons using a different yardstick than daughters. The ride home and supper afterward were filled with talk of The Bristol Academy where Charles Norwit went to school. Bellany noticed Charles steered the conversation away from grades, especially in geometry and astronomy. Instead, he talked about the many tournaments at arms, which seemed to be all the rage at the school since so many sons of knights and noblemen attended. Charles was passable at jousting and two- handed sword and good with the saber and rapier, but he was the school's undisputed king of the crossbow, and their secret weapon against the archers of competing institutions. --- A few afternoons after Charles returned home, Bellany saw him adjusting targets on his own archery range in the field behind the keep. Bellany turned Starstruck and trotted up to see what her brother was doing. Bellany's sling whistled and a stone clattered off one of Charles' targets. "Hey there, Belle, not bad. It wasn't nearly in the center ring, but that's one helluva lot better than I could do with a sling from a moving horse. I have never had a lot of luck with slings." Charles motioned her to follow him back to the open-faced hut that he shot from. It looked as though it might have once been a chicken house. "Hey that's the first time I think I've ever seen you wield any kind of weapon. Did something the orcs do inspire you to start blazing new territory?" Charles asked. "Yes they left me feeling quite in-skewer-ed," Bellany said. Charles groaned as he entered the hut, "Insecured? Gaw, Bellany you're completely the opposite of what you used to be. You get every bawdy remark I try to fling over your head." Bellany smiled "I've had to stretch my neck and swallow a lot since last summer. Possibly my head has gained some altitude." Bellany jumped down from her perch on Starstruck's back so she could see the array of crossbows better. They sat on a rough-hewn table just within the old chicken house. The chicken house had been modified with two new posts and a lintel so that the front side of the house could then be removed. The wood of the remaining walls was old and rotted in some places, and it had largely been replaced down low near the ground. To be able to shoot from shelter in the rain was a luxury Bellany would not have even considered. "Uuugh! Bellany, you're ruined! I will have to get Sergeant Lime to teach me some orcish so I can cuss those porkies out for popping my little sister's vindicator bubble," Charles said. "Bubble? I'd say it must have been a cork judging by the tool they used for the job," Bellany smirked. "Bad girl! Charles slapped Bellany's rump playfully and then cocked his head. "Vindicator's ass, Bellany, you sure did pick all the right spots to fill out in. Orcs or not, you put that bod in the right dress and you'll have to rent your own stadium to hold the spectators. You could be the belle of the after tourney balls at school this fall." "Not hardly with the dresses mother's likely to send me to school with," Bellany snorted." "Ha! You're right. Mother will send you with dresses that have necklines to your ears and extra hardware to make your skirts look like a huge balloon," Charles said. Are you going to do some shooting?" Bellany asked. "Yes, I shoot a lot during the summers. I never get enough time to practice during the school year even though everyone counts on me to win at the tourneys. The professors will tell you that academics are the most important pursuit at school, but they're lying. The tournaments are the lifeblood of the academy, and your popularity and social standing have a lot to do with whether you're a winner. For the ladies, the tourneys and the balls afterwards are big dress-up days." "Ummph, I wish I could compete instead of strolling around trying not to look like I'm trying to be noticed. I suppose girls aren't allowed to do anything," Bellany said. "Unless you count poetry readings, and the crafts fairs," Charles said. "Most of it is frivolous, no doubt. What do the boys do?" Bellany asked. "Hah! The former you would have lived for those poetry readings. As for the boys, jousting is the main event so there's a whole lot of competition for that, but I am too lanky to be a grand jouster, besides jousting is a dangerous sport. Every year a guy looses an eye or some other part of his anatomy in a joust. If I'm going to loose things, I'll be doing it on the battlefield, not in grammar school. I do a little jousting with my friends just to keep the skill up, but you can't be as careful at a tourney. You always have to have an eye out for winning." "I am good with the lighter blades because I'm pretty fast, but archery is my favorite. I think it's the power. No matter how skilled a swordsman is he is helpless to stop a bolt. He might possibly realize one's coming straight at him, but if it was fired from a decent bow, he won't have enough time to move his sword an inch before he is transfixed. If you are a great shot, no one can stand against you. As long as you have a loaded crossbow you own." Charles smiled as he continued cocking various crossbows on the rough- hewn table in front of him with a goat's-foot lever. "Bellany got a far away look for an instant as a fragment of memory or fantasy came up from her pirate setting. This scene involved the half elf Arzeal. She had seen his wanted poster at church... "I understand why you favor archery, but why the crossbow not the longbow?" Bellany said after a momentary lapse. "I have longbows, but I don't shoot them much. The longbow's a fine weapon, and it has a better fire rate than a crossbow, but with a longbow you are not always ready to shoot. Sure, a good longbowman can put at least six arrows in the air for every one of my bolts. Yet, when the prisoner starts to escape around a corner, or the rogue races between shadows, the longbowman is not ready to fire. You can hold a crossbow on a man for hours. You can hold a longbow on him for seconds, or minutes at best. Take a look at this. I had it made at a bowyer's in Bristol." Bellany looked at the bow her brother was cocking. Perhaps she should have said the bows because the bow her brother was cocking was a sandwich of three crossbows. The goat's foot lever he was using to cock the strange weapon was wide enough and tall enough that it could be brought to bear on the string of any of the three bows in the sandwich. All Charles needed to do was put the foot's rear ends over the pegs of the appropriate bow and its hooks on the string of that same bow and he could straddle any upper bows to cock it. When he was done he had three bolts and three triggers in one bow. The weapon was heavy, but not as heavy as three separate crossbows. The bows were stuck together above the limbs and at the rear. Thus the bowyer who had made the weapon was able to use relatively thin pieces of wood to form the groove for each bolt to cut down on the weight of the composite weapon. "With this I have three shots. The three finest swordsmen in the land could not stand against me as long as I did not miss. With enough practice, you never miss at close range, so as long as I was too far away to attack with a sword, I would own. Do you see how it works? With a crossbow, you're ready to shoot instantly. Bellany nodded, "I wish I could learn skills at arms, but mother won't hear of it, and daddy only lets me keep a sling because he knows I could weave one out of grass if I needed to. He thinks my horsehair slings are safer than slings I might make with other materials I could come up with. Mother thinks it is appalling that I took up macramé and now use it for the perverted purposes of making weapons and braiding Starstruck's mane." "Vindicator's nut, Bellany. You sure have changed. You want to learn skills at arms? That's a big taboo for girls. Mom would have a heart attack, and dad would loose it, but if you don't mind owing me a few favors I will see what I can do. What are you interested in learning?" "I just want to learn to handle a sword and bow so I am not totally helpless," Bellany said. "That seems reasonable enough," Charles said. "The bow won't be a problem. This afternoon you can help me load my crossbows and I'll teach you to shoot a bit in exchange for your labor. If you want to learn longbow, I have several of them that I got at various ages. I'm sure we can find one you can bend. I favor lighter, faster blades and that's probably just the thing for a girl. We can move the table out and spar in here to start. For swordsmanship there's a book you should read first..." "Randal's art of the sword?" Bellany asked. "That's the one," Charles said. "I read it, and I have been doing the strengthening and stretching exercises in it and some others I made up for over a month now," Bellany said. "Wow, you're really serious about this Belle," Charles said. Bellany nodded, "I was very weak after almost dying. The leg exercises helped me get the strength to walk, and then later to stay on Starstruck's back," Bellany said. "Good, you're going to need some strength to cock crossbows. Let me introduce you to a few..." ---- The next morning after her father's visit, Bellany went to see her brother Charles. Next to the master suite, his was the largest suite in the manor. He had his own sitting room in addition to a bedroom and closets. He ushered her into one of those closets soon after she arrived. "I went through and dug out my old longbows," Charles said. "I even found my old leather fingers and guard. They ought to be about the right size for you. They fit me pretty well when I was fourteen. He handed them to Bellany. Bellany put them on and nodded, "Thanks." Charles smiled and strung each of the bows. "No problem. It's old trash to me. Try this one, like so," Charles demonstrated by drawing the bow. "We need to find one you can bend, but not too easily." Bellany bent the first bow, "That one was easy." "I guess you are stronger than I was when I was ten then. Try this one," Charles said. Bellany bent the second bow, "Easy." "Easy? Hmm, I got this next one a couple years ago when I was fifteen. It has a draw weight of about fifty pounds, which was pretty stiff for me at the time. It's fairly comfortable now. Bellany grunted as she bent the bow, "Well this one's not easy, but I can do it." "Vindicator's tit, Bellany, I didn't know girls were that strong. I have a seventy-five pounder that I can barely bend. I still like to use the fifty, but if you can bend it, I had better buck up. It looks like I've been shooting a girl's bow," Charles shook his head. "Dad draws a standard one hundred pound longbow, but he's been training for years. Dad will want me to work on that seventy-five pounder this summer and now that you've flattened my manly pride, I will surely do it," Charles assured her. Bellany smirked, "Good, I think I can grow into your old fifty pounder, and if no one thinks I can bend it, well I could not possibly be practicing with it, now could I?" Charles chuckled, "You have a point there. That'll keep mom guessing for at least a month or two. It's really perfect you can bend the fifty because it would not be surprising for me to have both of them down at the range since I'm transitioning." Bellany nodded. "Now as for swords, I have several of them hanging over here. Draw a few and see what you think." Bellany drew the two-handed sword and groaned as she lifted it, "I don't think so." She put it back and tried the broadsword. "This one would work fine as a two-handed sword." She put the broadsword back and took out a sabre. "The weight isn't bad but the balance feels all funky." She put the sabre back and drew the rapier. She moved it through the air as a big grin began to form her lips. She raised her eyebrows and nodded to her brother. "Good choice. The rapier is my best hand weapon. It's great for wearing out on the town when you aren't wearing any armor, and it's actually not a bad sword against heavy plate. You've got speed on your side and a great point that you can work through the joints in the heavy armor. I have practice swords and a few friends I spar with," Charles said. "Aren't you afraid Daddy's going to beat you to a pulp if he ever finds out?" Bellany asked. Charles smiled, If mom or dad finds out, we'll just make like it was just a lark and you just wanted to try the weapons out to see what men did. I'll get a slap on the wrist, you'll get grounded off Startstruck for a couple weeks and that will be that. With luck, we can keep them guessing all summer, and then you'll be sent off to the dungeon opposite the Bristol Academy." The dungeon? Bellany asked in confusion. "Vargrend Academy for girls. They call it the dungeon because it's a hard place to get into. Many boys try every year, but few succeed, and those who do usually get caught and wish they hadn't. They let the girls out for dances and tourneys but only with an army of chaperones." "Eew, it sounds like a prison. I had hoped to have a little fun at school, but I should have realized a school for noblewomen would be run like a penitentiary so as to utterly prevent illegitimate children." Bellany grimaced. "Of course propriety is a girls best friend," Charles said. Bellany flashed a sour expression at her brother. "Vindicator's nut Bellany, you used to be so into purity, chastity, and courtly love that I had to make bawdy cracks to even stand to be around you. You spewed quotes from The Tome of the Vindicator like sailors spew profanity. A year later I don't even know you." Bellany looked disturbed, "What if I'm not even me? Half of the time I think the bats have come to roost in my belfry." "Don't sweat it Belle. The worst case is if you're not you then you're Bellany's double trouble double. You can just hang around, soak in three square meals a day, and then marry off to some filthy rich nobleman from far away in a couple years. Mom and dad will never know the difference, and they'll be so happy they got their daughter back even if they really didn't." Bellany giggled, "You make it sound so absurd that I might be someone else." "Face it Belle, it's not bloody likely. You've been back for three or four months. I don't know squat about magic, but I think you'd have to be one helluva sorceress to keep a glamour going that long, especially when you really were half dead. At least the leach said so and Grace kept seeing blood in your urine." Bellany nodded, "Well I know for sure I was nearly dead. That doesn't mean I'm me. It just means I was wounded to within an inch of my life. I wish I knew how I was wounded. I mean it was magic, obviously, but I wish I could remember how it happened. Then maybe I could figure out if I really am me or if I am someone else entirely. Gods, sorry, you're here teaching me skills at arms while I'm busily trying to convince you that I am too batty to be trusted." "At least you're half bright," Charles laughed. "Listen Belle, don't tell mother and dad until you're absolutely sure what's up. They'll turn crazier than you with the worry of it. On the other hand, if you really are someone else, then you're going to owe me big-time for keeping it under my hat. You're getting free medical care, food, lodging, schooling in academic subjects and horsemanship and weapons training from a master," Charles pointed at himself with mock hauteur. "You'd really have to sweat to work that off," Charles grinned like a pirate. "Charles!" Bellany exclaimed. Charles laughed, "You're an educated woman or the tutor would be complaining instead of approving, Bellany. If you're not my sister, then you must be some sort of gentlewoman, in which case I can help you find a good husband far away and that'll be the end of it." "After I work off my debt, no doubt," Bellany retorted dubiously. "A business man's got to get his piece of the action," Charles said. Bellany rolled her eyes, "Gods Charles, I'm talking crazy. I can't figure out which memories are real and which ones were just fantasies inspired by pent up lust." "You with pent up lust? That's impossible. You could not possibly have had pent up lust. You were always the paragon of The Vindicator's purity." "I was what mother wanted me to be," Bellany said. "Yes, you were, and you believed in it," Charles said. "I can't be her pious little girl anymore, Charles. I know I'm killing her but I just can't do it anymore," Bellany sniffed. Charles embraced his sister. "It's okay Belle. She'll get over it in time. You had to grow up in an instant. She's just going to have to wake up and realize that you're still special, just not in the same ways you used to be." Bellany nodded, "Thank you Charles, you're really a sweet man in your own odd way. A woman could do a lot worse. Have you got a girlfriend in school?" "Nothing long term, Belle, I'm still trying to find a girl who's bad enough." Charles grinned. Bellany giggled, "I'll keep my ears open once we're in school. Mayhap I can find someone who's a little naughty for you." "I'm beginning to see real potential in this brother- sister back scratching already," Charles grinned. "I'll see you at the range this afternoon." Yes, and thank you Charles," Bellany waved as she left. ----- Later that day Bellany tethered Starstuck at the edge of the shooter's hut and greeted her brother. "Good day Charles," Bellany said. "Bellany, glad you could make it. I need you for some cocking," Charles said. Bellany smiled, rolled her eyes and started cocking crossbows. Charles had four tournament bows plus his special three-in-one bow. While they were loading he talked about the parts that made up the crossbow, and then he went on to talk about longbows in the same way. While he was shooting he quizzed Bellany on the parts, but they were not difficult for her to remember. When she had passed his quizzing, he shot a few more times and let her shoot one of his crossbows. After that, they switched to longbow and he taught her how to string her bow, and how to shoot. She caught on very quickly. "I never knew you were this smart Bellany. I guess you spent all of your brainpower memorizing quotes from The Tome of The Vindicator. You remembered my crossbow pointers from yesterday, you've memorized the parts of the crossbow flawlessly, and for a beginner you've got a real knack for the longbow. Frankly, my ego is flat as a sheet of mica. I guess it did not help that I was just a little kid when I learned this stuff, but it took me a helluva lot longer to catch on. Want to try the practice swords?" "Sure." Bellany smiled. Charles showed her a number of positions and swings that she was already familiar with from Randal's Art of the Sword. "Okay, now let's just see how good you are unschooled. Don't hit hard with the practice sword. I don't want to have to explain to mother why we're all bruised up." "Okay," Bellany said. As they began to spar, Bellany heard a little music in her mind and stopped in mid step to let her jaw drop. A rap on her rear reawakened her. "Oh, sorry, I keep hearing music." "Music?" Charles asked. "Yes, you know, sort of like dance music," Bellany said. "If it works for you, use it. I hear elves are into musical swordsmanship. Their system is so complex as to be worthless as far as I'm concerned, but it obviously works for them. If I were trying to compose tunes while fighting, I think I'd be about as fast as you are now." Charles laughed. Bellany giggled, "I've been relearning music and I was just noticing how the placement of the notes in the octave for my tune relates to the positioning of my rapier, but you're right. There is too much to think about and still fight, unless... "Unless what?" Charles asked. "Well if you knew your tunes for every sequence of moves you would not have to think about it really. You could just dance," Bellany said. "Oh, I see, like most of your moves went with pre- written music you already knew, so you weren't composing on the fly," Charles said. Bellany nodded, "I guess it's not so different from just practicing sequences in dance or swordplay, but you have the music to remind and guide you." "You go ahead with your music, Bellany. I'm going to stick with the manly drill and sweat approach." Bellany giggled, "Okay Charles. I need to make music for all the moves though, otherwise I'm going to stand here stupidly trying to drum up tunes." "Feel free Belle, you've already shown up my humble beginnings as an archer, this way at least you'll be a lousy swordswoman." Charles chuckled. "Charles!" Bellany exclaimed. Charles laughed and the two sparred for quite a while with Bellany taking quite a few raps to the rump and elsewhere as tunes and memories or fantasies of Arzeal from the wanted poster in church kept invading her consciousness. When they were done, Charles was grinning. "That was truly gratifying, Bellany. I can confidently say I did far better on my first day of swordsmanship. At least I didn't keep fading out to listen to the chirping of the birds while my master slapped my butt." Charles grinned. Bellany blushed, "Well fragments of various tunes kept appearing in my head and I had to try to fill in the blanks. It was as fascinating as it was distracting. "Maybe you should take up dance," Charles said. "No, no, these were sword tunes from my pirate fantasy. I'll have to cut a switch from a sapling and use it as a sword for solo practice. Maybe if I make up tunes for all the standard moves I won't be so distracted." "Your pirate fantasy? Bellany, what were you doing with a bunch of pirates in your imagination?" Charles asked. Bellany blushed crimson. "Ha! Getting your brains boffed to the moon I'll bet." Charles laughed. "Shshsh, my fantasies are my business," Bellany grinned sheepishly. ---- The summer with all its secrets passed so rapidly Bellany could hardly believe it when her tutor informed her that she was finished with her studies until three weeks later when she would be attending The Vargrend Academy for Girls. Her tutor had originally thought to finish a week or two before school, but Bellany had proved so apt as to earn herself a third week of vacation. During the fleeting season of summer, Bellany had worked along with her father and brothers and a few of the men of the garrison to make an onager catapult. Bellany had supervised the weaving and winding of the torsion bundle. She had done much of the work herself because she had found that the men tended to wander from the specifications in the manual in an attempt to finish the work more rapidly. When it was done, she and her brother Charles had been allowed to practice firing it. She had worked along with her brother to create adjustable sights and a table of distance that told how far a rock of a standard weight would go if fired with the sight set at a given height. She had even derived a formula that would predict the distance their new catapult would throw a rock based on the weight of the projectile for any given set of the sights. This last feat was not lost on Lord Norwit. There were only three weeks left until school and Bellany was happy Charles and she had been able to keep their little secret from their parents. Starstruck had bailed them out a couple of times by giving a warning nicker when someone was approaching the archery hut. It was okay for Bellany to cock crossbows, but had her parents known she was firing them, and a longbow, they might have been upset, but probably not nearly as upset as they would have been if they knew she was practicing swordsmanship with her brother as well. She had come to realize that, fantasy or not, her pirate memories contained valuable information on combat, and over the course of the summer with practice in archery and swordsmanship, she had come to remember nearly her full pirate career up until the time they entered Grand Lake, and then things got foggy. She also remembered quite a few fragments concerning training with a warrior whose name escaped her. She did not think him a pirate, and he had taught her unarmed combat and had continued to drill her in rapier and longbow. The odd thing about those memories was how they seemed to end so abruptly as if a given reminder could only illuminate the point at hand rather than spread to other events, as was the case with her pirate memories. It seemed almost as if a damper had been clamped over her more recent past. She did not like it, but there was not a thing she could do about it. Bellany took up the on-guard position. Her sword twinkled in the light of the waning sun. Charles' practice rapiers were steel, but the edges had never been ground or honed and the points were rounded instead of sharpened. Nevertheless both she and Charles were careful not to hit each other too hard when they scored because the practice swords could inflict nasty bruises. Charles was a good trainer and a perfect gentleman as far as reducing the force of hits so as not to bruise her, and she in turn reflected the same consideration back on him. She remembered a number of dirty tricks from her pirate fantasy, but she practiced them only on her shadow when she was exercising in the morning in her room with a sapling switch for her sword. She did the same with her unarmed moves. Bellany smiled at Charles and lowered the visor on her practice helmet. Then they began. Charles had wanted to return her smile with a grimace, but he had become rather good at keeping that expression off his face in the last few weeks. He suspected that Bellany had been deliberately missing a few strikes during each practice bout for several weeks now just to keep from beating him and damaging his male pride. It was ironic. When she had started, tunes had been more important to her than sword fighting. Charles had thought it funny. Only a girl would think swordsmanship was some kind of dance contest. She still danced and sometimes hummed tunes while she fought, but she no longer had to think about them. She no longer stood there like an idiot trying to compose music while he scored. "Ah, those were the days," Charles reminisced to himself. Now her dance was so beautiful, yet so deadly. Charles wished he could just watch instead of being the fool who had to spar with her. She was more supple and flexible than he would ever be, yet surprisingly strong. What was worse was that even though she was as fluid as water, she thought and acted with the speed of lightning. When he feinted, she knew it was a feint. When he lunged she would parry, jump and stab him in the back if he had ruined his balance by lunging with too much power. She was sweet as sugar but as deceptive as a rogue with her feints and traps. Charles decided he had better concentrate on his sparring. He could already feel the sweat starting to pour off him, yet he could see Belle was not even breathing hard yet. For the third time that summer, Baron Norwit was on a mission to assuage the doubts of his wife Eleanor. It bothered her to no end that Bellany might be doing more than cocking her brother's crossbows. Darl could really care less if Bellany put a few shots into her brother's targets. She could already fire the catapult as well as any of his men, and she had a much better idea of where the stone would land because she was the only one in the keep smart enough to do the math in her head. Knowing some archery might make her a little useful during a siege. To break a charge it was important to get every available archer firing from the wall facing the charge, and if enough women could shoot, then maybe the keep would hold just a little longer and the women would avoid the rapine that followed a successful enemy charge. If a woman could even load for a crossbowman or distribute arrows she could make a difference. Darl realized his wife did not think about those practical considerations. She thought only of propriety, even when propriety was synonymous with foolhardiness. He and Eleanor, no doubt, had tried to sneak up on the kids before, but they had only seen Bellany cocking and loading Charles' bows. Charles had made good progress with his shooting this summer and had even started using his new longbow more of the time than his old one. Darl was about to head straight for the shooting shed but then he realized that Starstruck was tethered to the ground on the near side and just forward of the hut. Darl remembered that Bellany could practically read the stallion's mind. If he snuck up from that side, mayhap the stallion would give her warning. Instead he gave the shed a wide berth until he was on the side opposite from the stallion. Then he dismounted and began to slowly sneak towards his target. Some of the wood high along the walls of the shooting hut had originated with the original chicken house and was rotted. With luck he could find a hole and peer through. That did not mean he had to tell Eleanor, but it did mean he would know exactly what the children were doing. As he approached he began to hear the ring of metal on metal. His temper began to smolder. Archery was one thing, but if Charles were teaching Bellany, a girl, swordsmanship, why they would both be in big trouble. When at last he made it to the wall he was seething mad because his ears told the tale even before he brought his eye up over the new boards, stood on his tiptoes and peered in through a hole in the rotted upper boards. There they were hard at it. Bellany had a pair of Charles' old breeches on and her skirt was draped over the table. Baronet Norwit did not watch long, only long enough to see that Bellany was actually engaging in serious swordplay. His anger caused him to fail to look deeper. As soon as Charles was near the edge of the open front of the hut that faced the range Darl came around behind him. "Charles!" Darl growled. Charles froze and before he could snap out of it, his father had taken his practice sword and was brandishing it at Bellany who stood on guard. Charles squinted in shock. He was shaking and Bellany looked... cool. "You think you can take on a man's role then take it on now!" Darl charged at Bellany. Bellany knew that an angry man had greater strength and speed, but compromised balance and planning. She suspected her father was a fine swordsman, but she seriously doubted he specialize in a blade as light as the rapier. She wanted to cower in the corner, but that would only get her soundly beaten. Suddenly she started flashing back. She was in a mead hall surrounded by drinking knights and men at arms. She was sparring with someone. It was Daelrath! This was a glimpse into a time she had never remembered before. She brought her mind back to the present and just let the memory play itself out without paying much attention. She needed a plan. She needed to handle things rationally like... like a chess master. Even now her father was going to attempt to beat her with his practice sword, just as soon as he disarmed her. Maybe if she scored a practice-sword hit to an absolutely lethal area he would stop the sword bout out of habit. She hoped so. She had reserves, and although she did not like to admit that she had them and knew how to use them, the pirate fantasies or memories had seen to that. She released some energy to banish fatigue and enhance her alertness. The most efficient way to heal wounds was not to get them in the first place. She would have to make this look good or her father would attribute it to luck. Somewhere deep in a far off desert, Guardian Thane stared into his pool. He stood abruptly, "Rames?! How unfortunate, he must have left the lounge and is out of earshot." Thane jotted down a very quick note: "Come to my skrying chamber immediately, Run!" and handed it to a reaving skeleton that served as one of his guards as he spoke, "Find Karmoz and give him this note. Check the scarab pit lab first. Run!" Thane sat back down, this time before his mirror. He did the extra dependent illusion spells that would allow a non-mage to watch and listen to the scene with him. Bellany knew her father expected her to give ground; instead she parried and lunged, bruising her father's chest for a hit to the heart and causing him to stop abruptly and rethink what he was doing. Before he could strike at her outstretched arm she was back in the on guard position. Unfortunately, he did not stop. If anything he just got angrier. They traded thrust and parry for several minutes before Bellany scored a cunning parry that brought the blunted point of her father's weapon into the side of the old table fowling it for just long enough. She flipped forward and rotated in mid air to land behind and facing him. Her sword bruised him on the back directly behind his heart. That was twice he was hit in the most lethal of spots but he didn't stop. She needed a better plan. He turned, his face even redder than before. The anger- fueled power of his blows was stupendous, but Bellany kept cool and parried every bone-jarring swing with as casual a look as she could muster. Twice he tried to disarm her but she was on guard. The fury of his blows was tiring her rapidly. Even angry he was a fine swordsman. She had to be finer. She fainted a dodge left then sprang right. He lifted a foot to turn and before he could get his foot down, Bellany had jumped right and was tugging his left shoulder with her left arm adding further momentum to his errant turn and pulling herself around to his side. He raised his forearm to knock her hand away and she was ready. His left arm lifted, she struck a third bruise under his arm at the level of his heart and spun away. Rames rushed into Thane's skrying room. "I am not a good judge of Rapina's style of swordplay. Watch the girl, Bellany," Thane said in a somehow distracted monotone as he maintained the illusion in the mirror. Bellany grimaced; she really needed a better plan. Her father had not stopped after she scored a third kill. He was so mad he was raining blows against her guard with hardly a thought for his own safety. He had already scored a graze but it was obvious he was out to bruise her to within an inch of her life. She parried blow after blow. He would soon overwhelm her guard with shear strength and endurance. She tangled his blade and flipped up onto the table and over the other side. Her father ran around the table and bore down on her like a rampaging bull. She caught his sword in a circular parry, snatched her discarded skirt off the table and threw it over his head as she fell down on her back before his charge. The lights abruptly went out as Bellany tossed her skirt over his face. Darl's shins hit his daughter's rump. Somehow she'd fallen backwards and was in the process of rolling out of it. It was too late to jump; he was falling forward when he felt two sandaled feet simultaneously slam into his hips. Charles stared with an open mouth as he saw Bellany turn her father's tripping charge over her into a headlong airborne flight right into the... Crash! Charles grimaced as his father's head broke through the rotted wall of the hut near the ceiling. His shoulders followed and part of his upper torso, but then he ran out of momentum and hung there embedded in the wall. Bellany rolled back to her feet spun and knocked the sword from her father's stunned grasp. She snatched it off the floor and ran around to the other side of the wall to find her father's head. She sighed with relief under her breath. She had sent him at one of the most rotten spots on the wall and he appeared to be still in one piece. Bellany prodded her father's neck through the dress with one of the practice swords. "Are you all right daddy? Daddy, don't you think it's time we negotiated a truce? Someone could get hurt." Before he could answer, Eleanor Norwit ran up, stumbling somewhat due to the impracticality of her ladies shoes. "Bellany, shame on you! What do you think you are doing with those practice swords? Swordplay is a man's occupation. If you try to take it up you can't possibly do anything but get yourself hurt or worse." "Worse," Bellany stated matter of factly. Darl was blind beneath the black skirt and imprisoned in the upper wall of the hut with his arms pinned at his sides by the size of the aperture he had broken. He had lost his temper, and his daughter had used his anger against him like a weapon. He should have known better. When he heard Bellany's reply to Eleanor he utterly lost it as anger turned to humor at the shear impossibility of his predicament. Eleanor heard her husband laughing. He was laughing so hard he did not sound entirely sane. Darl? Darl is that you? Eleanor pushed the skirt around on his head until she was able to find an opening and push the skirt over his head to bunch around his neck. "Dear what happened?" "heh, heheh, I got in a sword fight with Bellany. She killed me three times and then sent me to heaven. HehahahaHAHAAAH!" Darl exclaimed. "Bellany, whatever is wrong with your father?" Eleanor asked. "I have been practicing with the rapier all summer, mother. Daddy just found out and tried to put a stop to it, but the rapier is not his best weapon," Bellany said. Eleanor looked utterly confused. "Charles, what happened here?" "Dad snuck up on us and saw we were sparring with the practice swords. He popped out behind me and yelled my name. I froze and he took my practice sword. He and Bellany got in a bad swordfight. I thought she was doomed for sure," Charles said. "You thought?" Eleanor asked. "Do you remember that dinner with the knights when dad said no child of his would be a knight until the day the child bested him at the sword?" Eleanor nodded. "Well it ought to be Sir Bellany now," Charles grinned and lifted his sister's arm skyward. Eleanor stared at Bellany in disbelief. Charles spoke to his father, "Dad, do you think you're good enough to stay up there in heaven?" Darl laughed for another minute and then replied, "I think not. My sins are weighty." "Mmm, I'll get the table under your feet on the other side. "While I have you there though, dad, did anyone ever tell you, you looked great in a dress?" Charles asked. "Charles!" --- Rames pinched his chin between his thumb and forefinger and then shook his head, "Well the problem is you can never be sure, especially from so brief a sample, but there is certainly a decent chance that Bellany is Rapina. Just the fact that she was able to get that much skill in a single summer says something." Thane nodded, "Indeed, the girl is still a mystery. The other day I noticed her collecting the very same herbs Rapina used to control her fertility. She was out in the fields and she tied them to tree limbs for drying. It could be a coincidence, but I doubt a young woman of Avengene would be familiar with those particular plants, yet there is always the possibility that she learned of them in some utterly mundane manner." ---- Bellany had paid for her perfidy learning the art of the sword by being grounded and doing two weeks of hard labor, cooking and cleaning. She really missed Starstruck. Actually she had managed to work her sentence around to doing a lot of cooking and almost no cleaning by the end of the first week. Chef Dower was by this time a good friend of hers as she had been making various breads with him since spring. Charles had been punished similarly. He had probably cleaned and sharpened every weapon in the keep. She would have to make it up to him somehow. Her plan was to find him a girlfriend in school as she had promised. She had recalled the herbs for controlling a woman's fertility from her pirate days. She was not sure she really needed them, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She had already secured a supply in case she was able to outwit the chaperones at school, but she decided she had better expand on it so that she could supply a naughty girlfriend for Charles if she were able to find one. Ironically, even though she was being punished for learning swordplay, her father had decided that since the cat was out of the bag and she was a fine swordswoman she should build on the skill since her temperament seemed far more suited to being the wife of a warlord rather than that of a more genteel nobleman. Darl, lieutenant Florin, and Sergeant Lime picked up where Charles had left off to make sure she did not know just enough swordplay to get herself into trouble, but not enough to get herself back out of it. At first she had an hour's lesson each day, but by impressing her tutors plus a little flattery and a little subtle pulling of the lusts of Lime and Florin her time had been expanded to up to two hours, and then to as long as any of the three tutors had time to spar with her that day. Some days she practiced for over three hours. They were all very impressed with her endurance. She knew her reserves of power would be utterly exhausted by the time she finished her two weeks of labor. She tried not to tap them unless absolutely necessary. Thanks to her training she was in very good shape, and she felt sure she could make it through. She dared not re-supply herself with power if there were any chance of discovery. She was already in enough trouble for learning swordplay and she wanted to get away to school cleanly. The Vargrend Academy for Girls was in Bristol right next to Charles's school. If her fears that she was someone other than Bellany Norwit were to come true, she felt running away in a barony where no one knew her would be vastly easier than trying to run away while in Norwit. ------- This ends, Summertime, chapter 53 of The Chronicles of Rapina. The story continues in chapter 54, Misbehavior. Copyright 2001 by Rapina