The Sword Of Bedwyr

A cyclopian soldier, shield emblazoned with the bent arm and pick design of Montfort, entered the audience hall of Gahris Bedwyr's home a short while later. It was a large rectangular room, set with several comfortable chairs and graced by a tremendous hearth.

"Viscount Aubrey," the one-eyed herald began, "cousin of Duke Morkney of Montfort, sixth of eight, fourth in line to ..." And so it went on for several minutes, the cyclopian rambling through unimportant, even minuscule details of this viscount's heritage and lineage, feats of valor (always exag-gerated, and still seeming not so tremendous to Gahris, who had lived in the tough land of Bedwydrin for more than sixty years) and deeds of generosity and heroism.

A viscount, the island eorl mused, thinking that practically every fourth man in Eriador seemed to hold claim to that title, or to one of baron.

"And his fellow, Baron Wilmon," the cyclopian went on, and Gahris sighed deeply at the not-unexpected proclama-tion, his thoughts proven all too true. Mercifully, Wilmon's introductory was not nearly as long as Aubrey's, and as for their female escorts, the cyclopian merely referred to them as "the ladies, Elenia and Avonese."

"Ellen and Avon," Gahris muttered under his breath, for he understood the level of pretension that had come to the normally level-headed people of the lands.

In strode the viscount and his entourage. Aubrey was a meticulously groomed, salty-haired man in his mid-forties, Wilmon a foppish and swaggering twenty-five. Both wore the weapons of warriors, sword and dirk, but when they shook Gahris's hands, he felt no callouses, and neither had a grip indicating that he could even swing a heavy sword. The ladies were worse yet, over-painted, over-perfumed creatures of dangerous curves, clinging silk garments, and abundant jewelry that tinkled and rattled with every alluring shift. Avonese had seen fifty years if she had seen a day, Gahris knew, and all the putty and paint in the world couldn't hide the inevitable effects of nature.

She tried, though--oh, how this one tried!--and Gahris thought it a pitiful sight.

"Viscount Aubrey," he said politely, his smile wide. "It is indeed an honor to meet one who has so gained the confi-dence of our esteemed duke."

"Indeed," Aubrey replied, seeming rather bored.

"May I inquire what has brought such an unexpected group so far to the north?"

"No," Aubrey started to answer, but Avonese, slipping out of Aubrey's arm to take hold of the eorl's, interrupted.

"We are on holiday, of course!" she slurred, her breath scented by wine.

"We are come now from the Isle of Marvis," added Elenia. "We were informed that none in all the northland could set a banquet like the eorl of Marvis, and we were not disappointed."

"They do have such fine wines!" added Avonese.

Aubrey seemed to be growing as tired of the banter as Gahris, though Wilmon was too engaged with a stubborn hangnail to notice any of it.

"The eorl of Marvis has indeed earned his reputation as a fine host," Gahris remarked sincerely, for Bruce Durgess was a dear friend of his, a common sufferer in the dark times of the wizard-king's rule.

"Fair," Aubrey corrected. "And I suppose that you, too, will treat us with renowned leek soup, and perhaps a leg of lamb as well."

Gahris started to reply, but wasn't sure what to say. The two dishes, along with a multitude of fish, were indeed the island's staple.

"I do so hate leek soup," Aubrey went on, "but we have enough provisions on board our vessel and we shan't be staying for long."

Gahris seemed confused--and that sincere expression hid well his sudden sense of relief.

"But I thought..." the eorl began, trying to sound truly saddened.

"I am late for an audience with Morkney," Aubrey said haughtily. "I would have bypassed this dreary little island al-together, except that I found the eorl of Marvis's arena lack-ing. I had heard that the islands were well-stocked with some of the finest warriors in all of Eriador, but I daresay that a half-crippled dwarf from the deepest mines of Montfort could have easily defeated any of the fighters we witnessed on the Isle of Marvis."

Gahris said nothing, but was thinking that Aubrey's de-scription of Bedwydrin as a "dreary little island" would have cost the man his tongue in times past.

"I do so hope that your warriors might perform better," Aubrey finished.

Avonese squeezed Gahris's arm tightly, apparently liking the hardened muscles she felt there. "Warriors do so inspire me," she whispered in the eorl's ear.

Gahris hadn't expected a morning arena fight, but was glad to oblige.

Hopefully, the viscount would be satisfied with the show and would be gone before lunch, saving Gahris the trouble of setting a meal--be it lamb or leek soup!

"I will see to the arrangements personally," Gahris said to Aubrey, smoothly pulling free of Avonese's nailed clutches as he spoke. "My attendants will show you to where you might refresh yourselves after the long journey. I will return in a few moments."

And with that he was gone, hustling down the stone corri-dors of his large house. He found Luthien just a short dis-tance away, dressed in fine clothes and freshly scrubbed after his morning workout.

"Back to the yard with you," Gahris said to his son's con-fused expression. "They have come to see a fight and noth-ing more."

"And I am to fight?"

"Who better?" Gahris asked, patting Luthien roughly on the shoulder and quickly leading him back the way he had come. "Arrange for two combats before you take your turn--at least one cyclopian in each." Gahris paused and furrowed his brow. "Who would give you the best fight?" he asked.

"Ethan, probably," Luthien replied without hesitation, but Gahris was already shaking his head. Ethan wouldn't fight in the arena, not anymore, and certainly not for the entertain-ment of visiting nobles.

"Garth Rogar, then," Luthien said, referring to a barbarian warrior, a giant of a man. "He has been in fine form of late."

"But you will defeat him?"

The question seemed to sting the proud young warrior.

"Of course you will." Gahris answered his own question, making it seem an absurd thing to ask. "Make it a worthy fight, I beg. It is important that Bedwydrin, and you, my son, be given high praise to the duke of Montfort."

Gahris stopped then, and Luthien bounded away, brim-ming with confidence and with the sincerest desire to please both his father and the visiting nobles.

"How embarrassed will Luthien be to fall before his father and his father's honored guests?" the huge man bellowed to the approving laughter of many other fighters. They sat in the low and sweaty chambers off the tunnels that led to the arena, testing the feel of their weapons while awaiting their call.

"Embarrassed?" the young Bedwyr replied, as though he was truly stunned.

"There is no embarrassment in victory, Garth Rogar."

A general, mocking groan rolled about the chamber as the other warriors joined in the mood.

The huge Rogar, fully a foot taller than Luthien's six feet two inches, with arms as thick as Luthien's legs, dropped his whetstone to the floor and deliberately rose. Two strides took him right up to the still-seated young Bedwyr, who had to turn his head perpendicular to his body to see tall Garth Rogar's scowl.

"You fall this day," the barbarian promised. He began a slow turn, shoulders leading so that his grim expression lingered on Luthien for a long moment. All the room was hushed.

Luthien reached up and slapped Garth Rogar across the rump with the flat of his sword, and howls of laughter erupted from the warriors, Garth Rogar included. The huge northman spun about and made a mock charge at Luthien, but Luthien's sword snapped out quicker than the eye could follow, its waving tip defeating the charge.

They were all friends, these young warriors, except for the few cyclopians who sat in a distant corner, eyeing the play dis-dainfully.

Only Garth Rogar had not been raised on Bedwydrin. He had floated into Dun Varna's harbor on the flotsam of a shipwreck just four years previously. Barely into his teens, the noble young barbarian had been taken in by the islanders and treated well. Now, like the other young men of Bedwydrin, he was learning to fight. It was all a game to the young rascals, but a deadly serious game. Even in times of peace, such as they had known all their lives, bandits were not uncommon and monsters occasionally crawled out of the Dorsal.

"I will cut your lip this day," Garth said to Luthien, "and never again will you kiss Katerin O'Hale."

The laughter became a hush; Katerin was not one to be in-sulted. She was from the opposite side of Bedwydrin, raised among the fisherfolk who braved the more dangerous waters of the open Avon Sea. Tough indeed were the stock of Hale, and Katerin was counted among their finest. A leather packet soared across the room to bounce off the huge barbarian's back.

Garth Rogar spun about to see a scowling Katerin standing with her muscled arms crossed atop her sword, its tip resting against the stone floor.

"If you say so again, I will cut something of yours," the fiery red- haired young woman promised grimly, her green eyes flashing dangerously.

"And kissing will then be the last thing on your small mind."

The laughter erupted once more, and Garth Rogar, red with embarrassment, knew that he could not win this war of insults. He threw up his hands in defeat and stalked back to his seat to prepare his weapons.

The weapons they used were real, but blunted, and with shortened tips that might pierce and sting, but would not kill. At least, not usually.

Several warriors had died in the arena, though none in more than a decade. The fighting was an an-cient and necessary tradition on Bedwydrin and in all of Eri-ador, and deemed worth the potential cost by even the most civilized of men. The scars that young men and women car-ried with them from their years training in the arena taught them well the respect of weapons and enemies, and gave them a deep understanding of those they would fight beside if trouble ever came. Only three years of training were required, but many stayed on for four, and some, like Luthien, had made the training their life's endeavor.

He had been in the arena perhaps a hundred times, defeat-ing every opponent except for his first, his brother Ethan. The two had never rematched, for Ethan had soon left the arena, and while Luthien would have liked to try again his skills against his undeniably talented brother, he did not allow his pride to blemish his sincere respect and love for Ethan. Now Luthien was the finest of the group. Katerin O'Hale was swift and agile as any cat, Bukwo of the cyclopians could take a tremendous amount of punishment, and Garth Rogar was powerful beyond the normal limitations of any human. But Luthien was a true warrior: fast and strong, agile and able to bring his weapon to bear or to parry at any angle in the blink of a cinnamon-colored eye. He could take a hit and growl away any pain, and yet he carried fewer scars than any except the very newest of the warriors.

He was the complete fighter, the shining light in his father's aging eyes, and determined now to honor his father this day, to bring a smile to the face of a man who smiled far too little.

He brought a whetstone singing along the side of his fine sword, removing a burr, then held the weapon out in front of him, testing its balance.

The first fight, two cyclopians beating each other about the head and shoulders with light clubs, had already commenced when Gahris led his four visitors into the seats of honor at the front of the balcony directly opposite the tunnels that opened onto the circular fighting grounds of the arena. Gahris took his seat in the middle and was promptly sandwiched between Ele-nia and Avonese, squeezing in tight beside him, with their re-spective consorts flanking them on the outside. To increase the eorl's discomfort, three of Aubrey's personal cyclopian guards were close behind the seated nobles. One carried a crossbow, Gahris noted, an unusual sight among cyclopians. With only one eye, the brutes lacked depth perception and were normally not adept with distance weapons. This one seemed comfort-able holding the crossbow, though, and Gahris noted that it had been fitted with a curious device, opposing and angled mirrors, atop its central shaft.

Gahris sighed when he noticed that only a handful of is-landers were in attendance this day. He had hoped for a cheering crowd and wished that he had been given the time to assemble one.

But Aubrey was obviously impatient. The viscount was here only so that his pestering consort, Avonese, would stop her incessant nagging.

"Cyclopians?" Avonese whined. "If I wanted to watch cy-clopians brawl, I would simply throw a piece of uncooked meat into their midst at Castle Montfort!"

Gahris winced--this wasn't going well.

"Surely you have better to offer than two cyclopians bat-tering each other, Eorl Bedwyr," Aubrey put in, and his look to Gahris was both pleading and threatening. "My cousin Morkney, the duke of Montfort, would

be so disappointed to learn that my journey to your island was not a pleasurable one."

"This is not the primary show," Gahris tried to explain against a rising chorus of groans. Finally, the eorl gave up. He signalled to the marshal of the arena, and the man rode out from a side stable and broke up the fight, ordering the two brutes back to the tunnel. The cyclopians gave their cus-tomary bow to the eorl's box, then walked away, and were promptly fighting again before they even got out of sight.

The next two combatants, red-haired Katerin and a young lass from across the island, a newcomer to the arena but with promising speed, had barely walked out of the tunnel when both Avonese and Elenia took up cries of protest.

Gahris silently berated himself for not anticipating this. Both women warriors were undeniably beautiful, full of life and full of health.

Also, their warrior garb, cut so that they might have full freedom of movement, was something less than modest, and the looks upon the faces of Aubrey and Wilmon showed that they had been cooped up in the com-pany of the two painted "ladies" far too long.

"This will not do!" Avonese cried.

"I do so want to see some sweating man-flesh," Elenia purred, and her ample fingernails drew little lines of blood on Wilmon's arm.

Gahris couldn't tell if it was Wilmon's anticipation of what the sight of sweating man-flesh would do to his eager escort, or if it was simply fear of Elenia that led him to de-mand that they move on to the next fight.

"We are pressed for time," Aubrey added sharply. "I wish to see a fight, a single fight, among the best warriors Bed-wydrin can muster. Surely that task is not beyond the understanding of the eorl of Bedwydrin."

Gahris verily trembled, and it took every ounce of control he could muster to hold him back from throttling the skinny Aubrey. But he nodded his head and signaled to the marshal once more, calling out that it was time for Luthien and Garth Rogar.

On the tiered steps behind the eorl's viewing box, Ethan looked upon his cowed father and the pompous guests, his expression sour.

Both women simultaneously cooed when Luthien and Garth Rogar walked out of the tunnel, side by side, wearing little more than sandals, mailed gauntlets, loincloths, and a collar and bandolier device designed to protect their vital areas.

"Is there a bigger man alive?" Elenia gasped, obviously taken with the flaxen-haired barbarian.

"Is there a handsomer man alive?" Avonese retorted, turning her glower on her companion. She noticed Gahris then, took a deep look at him, then turned back to Luthien, intrigued.

"My son," the eorl proudly explained. "Luthien Bedwyr. And the giant is a Huegoth who floated to our shores as just a boy, as honorable a fighter as any. You will not be disap-pointed, Viscount."

It was obvious that Avonese and Elenia were in full agree-ment with the last statement. They continued to gawk and to toss snide comments back and forth, quickly drawing lines.

"The barbarian will crush him down," Elenia remarked.

"Those eyes are too wise to be caught in the primitive webs of a savage," Avonese countered. She jumped up from her seat suddenly and moved to the rail, throwing out her fine cambric handkerchief.

"Luthien Bedwyr!" she cried. "You fight as my champion. Fight well and you will savor the rewards!"

Gahris looked over to Aubrey, stunned by the woman's blunt forwardness and fearing that the viscount would be boiling with rage. It seemed to the eorl that Aubrey was more relieved than angry.

Elenia, not to be outdone, quickly rushed to the balcony and threw out her own kerchief, calling for the Huegoth to come and champion her cause.

Luthien and Garth Rogar walked over and took up the of-fered trophies, each tucking a kerchief into his belt.

"It shall not be so much as soiled," cocky Luthien said to Avonese.

"Bloodied, yes, soiled, no," Garth Rogar agreed, turning away from giggling Elenia.

Luthien quickly caught up to his opponent as Garth Rogar moved back toward the center of the arena, both of them putting on their helmets.

"So the stakes are raised," the young Bedwyr remarked.

Garth Rogar scoffed at him. "You should not be thinking of pleasures with a fight before you," the barbarian said, and as soon as the marshal clapped his hands for the fight to begin, the barbarian charged forward, his long spear thrust-ing for Luthien's belly and a quick victory.

Luthien was taken off guard by the bold attack. He fell to the side and rolled away, but still took a stinging nick on the hip.

Garth Rogar stepped back and threw up his hands, as if in victory. "And so it is soiled!" he cried, pointing at Avonese's kerchief.

Elenia squealed with joy, oblivious to the dart-throwing gaze Avonese had turned on her.

Now Luthien went on the attack, scrambling forward in a crouch so low that he had to use his shield arm as a third support. His sword whipped across at Garth's legs, but the barbarian hopped back quickly enough. On came Luthien, knowing that if he let up the attack, his opponent, standing high above him, would surely pound him into the dirt.

But Luthien was quick, snapping his sword back and forth repeatedly, keeping Garth Rogar hopping. Finally, the barbar-ian was forced to stab his spear straight down to intercept a cut that would have cracked his knee. Up came Luthien fiercely, and though he could not realign his sword, he swung hard with his shield, slamming the barbarian in the chest and face.

Garth Rogar staggered backward; lines of blood ran from his nose and one side of his mouth. But he was smiling. "Well done!" he congratulated. As Luthien took an appropri-ate bow, the barbarian howled and charged back in.

Luthien was ready for the obvious move, though, and his sword flashed across, turning the spear out wide. The cun-ning Bedwyr rolled in behind the wide-flying weapon, again scoring a hit with his shield--just a glancing blow against Garth Rogar's powerful chest.

The barbarian countered quickly, though, hooking his free arm around the young fighter and driving his knee hard into Luthien's thigh. Luthien stumbled past, and Rogar would have had him, except that the young man was quick enough and wise enough to slice across with his sword, nicking his opponent's knee and stopping the charging giant short.

They squared up again and rushed right back in, fighting for pride and for the love of competition. Sword and spear crossed and parried; Luthien's shield rushes were countered by Rogar's punching fist.

Gahris had never seen his son, and especially Garth Rogar, fight better, and he was positively beaming with pride, for both Wilmon and Aubrey were fully entranced by the action, shouting out cheers for every cunning counter or last-second parry. The men could not match the squeals of

Avonese and Elenia, though, as each cheered her champion on. These two were not as familiar with fighting styles as the others and many times thought the fight to be at its end, thinking that one or the other had gained an insurmountable advantage.

But these two fighters were well matched and well trained. Always the appropriate defenses were in place, always the men were balanced.

Garth Rogar started with a spear thrust, but as Luthien's sword parried, the barbarian unexpectedly heaved his weapon up high, taking Luthien's sword with it. Following his own building momentum, Garth lifted a foot for a well-aimed kick, slamming Luthien in the midsection and dou-bling him over, gasping for breath.

Luthien's shield came up at the last moment to stop the spear's butt end, aimed for his head, but he took another kick, this one on the hip, and went scrambling away.

"Oh, good!" cried Elenia, and only then did Gahris notice the scowl Avonese threw the younger woman's way, and he began to understand that there might be serious trouble brewing.

Sensing the advantage, Garth Rogar roared in, hurling himself at his winded opponent.

Luthien's shield took the spear up high, Luthien ducking underneath and snapping a quick sword cut into the barbar-ian's lead hand. The mailed gauntlet allowed Garth Rogar to keep his fingers, but he howled anyway for the pain and let go with that hand.

Now Luthien pressed forward, keeping his shield in line as he charged so that Garth could not retract his spear for any parries. His sword cut in from the side, pounding hard against the barbarian's leather bandolier.

Garth Rogar winced, but kept his focus, and as Luthien brought the sword back out, then reversed it for a second cut, Garth caught the blade in his mailed fist.

Luthien pressed forward, and Garth got his feet under him enough to press back--just as Luthien had anticipated. Sud-denly, the young Bedwyr stopped and backpedaled, and Garth found himself overbalanced. Luthien fell into a back-ward roll and planted his feet in the barbarian's belly as Garth tumbled over him.

"Oh, send him flying away!" screamed Avonese, and Luthien did just that, pushing out with both feet so that Garth Rogar did a half somersault, landing heavily on his back.

Both men were up in an instant, weapons in hand, eyeing each other with sincere respect. They were weary and bruised, and both knew that they would be wickedly sore the next day, but this was competition at its finest and neither cared.

Across from Gahris, it was Elenia's eyes that were now throwing darts.

"Crush him!" she cried out to Garth Rogar, so loudly that her call temporarily halted all the other cheer-ing in the arena, and all eyes, Luthien's and Garth Rogar's included, turned to her.

"It would seem that you have made a friend," Luthien said to the barbarian.

Garth Rogar nearly burst out laughing. "And I would not want to disappoint her!" he said suddenly, and on he came, thrusting his spear.

He pulled it up short and whipped it about instead, its butt end ringing loudly off of Luthien's shield. Luthien countered with a straight cut, but the barbar-ian was out of range. A second spear thrust slipped over Luthien's shield and nearly took his eye out, nicking his helm as he

ducked, and the butt end whipped about again, banging both shield and Luthien's back.

That hit stung, but Luthien ignored it, understanding that he had to go to the offensive or be buried under the powerful man's attacks. He started to run with the momentum of the spear, then ducked under it and pivoted about, coming up under Garth's swinging arm. The edge of Luthien's shield hooked under the taller man's armpit, lifting him off balance. Again, Garth Rogar caught Luthien's swinging sword in his hand, but this time, his feet were tangled. When Luthien heaved suddenly, arms and legs wide, the barbarian's spear went flying and Rogar himself fell heavily to the ground.

"Get him! Get him!" Avonese cried.

"Fight back, you oaf!" screamed Elenia.

Luthien was just settling into his stance when Garth Rogar jumped up.

Luthien thought Rogar would go for the fallen spear--and he would have let the worthy opponent retrieve it--but Garth, savagery coursing wildly within his barbarian blood, charged instead. Surprised, Luthien got his shield up, and then his whole arm fell numb under the sheer weight of the Huegoth's tremendous punch.

Luthien bounced back a full step, looked in amazement as his shield, one of its straps snapped by the blow, fell from his arm. He just managed to duck a second punch, one that he figured would have hurt him more than any spear could, and leaped back from a third, swinging his broken shield at his opponent as he went to keep the man back.

Garth Rogar smacked the metal shield away and came in, slowing only to dodge a short thrust from Luthien's sword. A second thrust turned him to the side, to Luthien's left, and Luthien's free hand was waiting, snapping a punch into the barbarian's already broken nose.

Garth Rogar tried to fake a smile, but he had to shake his head to clear away the dizziness.

"Do you yield?" Luthien politely asked, and they both heard Elenia's protesting scream from the stands, and Avonese's howls of victory.

Predictably, Garth Rogar charged. At the last instant, Luthien tossed his sword up into the air, right in the barbar-ian's face. Garth flinched, then jolted to a stop, his own mo-mentum used against him, by a left- right punch combination that would have felled a small bull.

Luthien caught the sword in his left hand, moved it to Garth's neck to force a yield. Ferocious Garth caught its tip, tossed it out wide and clamped his hand on Luthien's forearm.

"Rip his arm off!" Elenia cried. Avonese leaned right across Gahris's lap to hiss at her.

Luthien's muscles flexed as he fell into a clinch with the larger and stronger man. Wilmon, and even Aubrey, scowled a bit at the ensuing sighs of their obviously enchanted consorts.

Luthien held well against Rogar, but knew that the man's sheer weight would soon overwhelm him. He pushed for-ward with all his might, then took a quick step backward, breaking one hand free, though Garth stubbornly held his sword arm. The combatants exchanged punches; Garth Rogar took a second, and a third, willingly, as he bent to clamp a hand under Luthien's crotch. A moment later, the young Bedwyr was rising helplessly into the air, the angle all wrong for him to get any weight behind a punch--and Garth Rogar's grip on his sword arm remained unrelenting.

Luthien head-butted the barbarian instead, forehead to face. The stunned Garth Rogar heaved him ten feet away, then focused on just keeping his balance. For the barbarian, the world would not stop spinning.

Luthien pulled himself up from the ground and cautiously stalked back in, looking for a clean opening between Garth's wild swings. Luthien was on the verge of exhaustion and feared that a single hit from his powerful enemy would send him spinning to the ground.

He waved his sword all about as he came in slowly, forc-ing the dizzy barbarian to keep up with its tantalizing move-ments. The thrust was a feint--Garth Rogar knew that--but so was the following right cross. Luthien pulled up short and fell to the ground, his legs sweeping across, kicking out both of Garth Rogar's knees. Down went the barbarian hard on his back, his breath coming out in one profound blast.

Luthien was up, quick as a cat, but Garth had not the strength to follow.

Luthien planted a foot on the fallen man's chest, and his sword tip came to rest on the bridge of Garth Rogar's nose, right between his unfocused eyes.

The screams of Elenia and Avonese were surprisingly similar, but the expressions that each wore after the initial outburst certainly were not.

Gahris was truly pleased by the appreciation, even admira-tion, stamped upon Aubrey's face, but the eorl's smile disap-peared as Avonese again leaned heavily across his lap, looking at the pouting Elenia with sparkling, wicked eyes.

"Pray offer the down-pointing thumb, Eorl Bedwyr," Avonese purred.

Gahris nearly choked. A down-pointing thumb meant that the loser should be killed. That was not the way on the is-lands: the fights were for sport and training alone!

Elenia cried out in outrage, which only spurred on the evil Avonese.

"Thumb down," she said again, evenly, looking to protest-ing Elenia all the while. It wasn't hard for Avonese to figure out what Elenia had in mind for the barbarian, and stealing her younger rival's pleasure felt wonderful indeed. "Your son was my champion, he wears my offered pennant, and thus, I am granted the decision of victory."

"But..." was all that stammering Gahris managed to get out before Aubrey reached across and put a hand on the eorl's shoulder.

"It is her right, by ancient tradition," the viscount insisted, not daring to displease his vicious companion.

"Garth Rogar fought valiantly," Gahris protested.

"Thumb down," Avonese said slowly, emphasizing each word as she shifted her gaze to look right into Gahris's cinnamon-colored eyes.

Gahris looked past her to see the viscount nodding. He tried to weigh the consequences of his actions at that mo-ment. Avonese's claim was true enough--by the ancient rules, since Luthien had unwittingly agreed to be her cham-pion, she had the right to decide the fate of the defeated man.

If he refused now, Gahris could expect serious trouble from Montfort, perhaps even an invading fleet that would take his eorldom from him. Ever was Morkney looking for reasons to replace the often troublesome island eorls.

Gahris gently pushed Avonese aside and looked out to the arena, where Luthien was still poised above the fallen Garth Rogar, waiting for the signal to break and the applause both he and the barbarian so richly deserved. Great was Luthien's astonishment when he saw his father extend his hand, thumb pointing down.

Luthien stood confused for a long while, hardly hearing Avonese's calls for him to finish the task. He looked down at his friend; he could not comprehend the notion of killing the man.

"Eorl Gahris," prompted an increasingly impatient Aubrey.

Gahris called to the arena marshal, but the man seemed as transfixed as Luthien.

"Do it!" vicious Avonese snapped. "Aubrey?"

The viscount snapped his fingers at one of his cyclopian guardsman behind him, the one with the curious crossbow.

Luthien had stepped back by this point and extended his hand to his friend. Garth Rogar had reached up and taken that grasp, starting to rise, when there came the click of a fir-ing crossbow. The barbarian jerked suddenly, clamping tightly on Luthien's hand.

Luthien did not at first understand what had just tran-spired. Then Garth Rogar's grip loosened, and time seemed to move in slow motion as the proud barbarian slowly slipped back to the dirt.