Book I of III: The Swords of the Sultan (52 page)

“I’m good,” Humonus answered with a smile.
“From the way it sounds, things are going well for you, as
well!”

“Yes, they are,” Baltor said. Gesturing
toward Brishava, he introduced, “Have you met my wife?”

Humonus looked down toward Brishava, and
replied, “No, I haven’t.”

Brishava extended out her hand, to which
Humonus took.

He brought that hand to his lips and gently
kissed it. With another bow, he added, “My…you are as beautiful and
as lovely as a princess.”

Baltor looked a bit surprised that he knew
her identity, and asked, “How did you know?”

Humonus’s face turned very serious as he
answered, “Everyone in the Guild knows. That’s why I came here to
this town—I arrived three weeks ago. I was desperately hoping I’d
run into you here, sooner or later.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” Baltor replied
with a smile.

“Listen, I need to talk to you two in
private, though this conversation can wait.”

“You got it!”

About two in the morning, the new group of
friends exchanged their warm goodnights with everyone else.
Humonus, Brishava, and Baltor were the first to leave the bar area,
heading to room number nine, which was Baltor and his wife’s room
for the night.

Once the three were all comfortably seated
inside with the door closed, Humonus began, “There are a few
reasons why I’ve come looking for you, Baltor.”

“I have my suspicions why.”

Humonus first nodded his head twice, and then
said, “Your suspicions are probably right… One, the Guild has a
fifty thousand bounty on your head, Baltor, dead or alive. Why, you
may ask?

“Because—shortly after you had made your
escape with the princess, those two thieves you didn’t kill, Stele
and Romach, went straight to the High Council! The one named Romach
clearly heard your confession to Lydia regarding the rod, and not
only did he say that you admitted to finding this very powerful
weapon, yet you lied about your discovery to the High Council. Not
only to them did you lie if this is true, yet to me!”

“I had no choice,” Baltor evenly replied.

Brishava said nothing, only listened.

After five-or-so seconds had passed, Humonus
continued, “Romach also said that you killed just about everyone in
a fit of murderous rage, including Lydia.”

Baltor replied, “It was not because of
murderous rage that I killed them but self-defense—really, you must
believe me, I had no choice!”

Humonus added, “Last but not least, Romach
even said,” and he dropped his voice, whispering, “something else
that can only be told in private.”

Neither Baltor nor Brishava said a word.

Humonus said in a very hushed tone of voice,
“And it is only now that I begin with reason number two. There is a
seven hundred thousand reward, offered by the Sultan himself, for
the one who brings his only daughter back to Pavelus, alive and
well. No longer is it just the Sultan’s troops scouring through the
lands, but due to this extremely handsome reward, thousands of
bounty hunters and adventurers have joined them in their search for
the beloved princess! Now you may ask—how can reason number two
possibly get any worse?”

When neither answered, nearly five seconds
later, Humonus answered, “Easy—they all know exactly what Brishava
looks like based off the sketches of her that were drawn up and
posted just about everywhere across the lands—so that she could be
easily identified, and brought back home to Daddy even sooner!

“Soon enough, someone will come looking for
you both here and neither of you is safe.”

Baltor asked right away, “Is that all?”

Humonus answered, “There is one more reason
why I’m here, but I must relay this information to you in the
privacy of my room, which is just down the hall in room four, just
you and me.”

Baltor suddenly began to look at Humonus
suspiciously.

Humonus caught the “look,” and said, “Listen,
my ole friend, if I had come for the bounty, I would have taken
her, not you—she’s worth a hell of a lot more money.” He then began
to laugh solidly, while lightly hitting Baltor in the arm with his
fist.

As soon as Humonus observed that Baltor was
neither amused nor convinced, yet still suspicious, he stopped
laughing. With a very serious look etched upon his face and eyes,
he asked, “Why would I have said everything I did if I was going to
take either of you in?”

Without waiting for an answer, he asked
another question, “Baltor, is it logical for a thief to give up his
greatest asset—the element of surprise?”

Just after Baltor thought about Humonus’s
logic, he shook his head negatively, and said, “As you have well
taught me, there is no logic to a thief giving up his greatest
asset—lead the way.”

Immediately Baltor turned back toward
Brishava, gave her a quick peck on the cheek, and then said,
“Honey, I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be waiting for you right here, my
husband,” Brishava sighed with a very loving smile.

Humonus led Baltor back to his room, opened
the door, politely gestured for Baltor to enter first; after both
men had entered the room, Humonus shut the door behind them.

Even though he continued to face the door, he
began, “There are strange rumors spreading throughout the Guild,
and just about everywhere else, about a large black monster that
drinks human blood.”

Still facing the door, Humonus added with
astonished tones, “Why—some of the zanier reports claim that this
monster can even fly in the sky at incredible speeds, and can even
turn invisible—wow! As for me, I’ve always been a skeptic of things
like monsters or vampires. Both Romach and Stele, however, swore up
and down that there was a beastly monster down there that night,
slinking in the shadows, feasting on Lydia’s blood, and roaring
angrily. Did you happen to hear or see anything strange that
night?”

“No,” Baltor replied. He then asked, “Is that
your number three reason for coming all the way out here to
Valakan, to ask me about a monster?”

Baltor was certainly curious as to the reason
why Humonus continued to face the door, though he did not voice his
curiosity aloud.

“It leads up to reason number three, yes,”
Humonus replied as he turned around.

“Huh?”

“Please, sit down on the chair and get
yourself comfortable.”

Baltor did.

“I will tell you this reason in a moment, but
let me first congratulate you for passing yet another test—which
confirmed to me that my reason for coming out to see you is still
doable, if you should grant it!”

“Okay, Humonus, I’m really confused now,”
Baltor replied honestly.

“I know that it seems like I’m being elusive,
but I swear that it’ll all make sense in a minute,” Humonus
answered. After a thoughtful look crossed his face, he then asked,
“Remember when you came back from the jungles and told me of your
mysterious illness which prevents you from withstanding the
sunlight, and of course, your encounter with the cannibal
tribe?”

Baltor nodded his head.

“Well,” Humonus said, “just because I am a
skeptic of mysticism and superstitious folklore does not mean that
I don’t recognize and consider more mundane possibilities,
especially ones that seem to strangely add up.

“One possibility that I carefully considered,
during the time it took me to get here, is that this might all be
the clever contraption of a thief trying to gain some berth from
his Guild.”

After taking in a deep breath through just
his nose, Humonus continued, “This particular thief that I
personally know runs so fast that he does look likes he’s literally
flying, and fights so well that he is virtually unbeatable. Most
especially, this master thief is so clever that it would be easily
possible for him to make it look like the work of a ‘sloppy
vampiric monster trying to conceal its tracks.’”

He extended his index finger up into the air,
cleared his throat several times, and then walked to the far end of
the room, where rested a small table, and resting upon it, a
metallic tray, pitcher, and mug. After picking up the pitcher, he
poured some water into the mug, set the pitcher back down, picked
up the mug, took a long draught, set the mug back down, and then
turned around to face Baltor yet again.

Only then did Humonus continue, “Still
another possibility that I considered, heavily, is the proven fact
that some people do go crazy, especially after having spent long
periods of time completely isolated from any other human contact.
Imagine how much harder it must be for those lonely souls to retain
their sanity, especially after being a prisoner for even a second.
Especially upon the shocking discovery that their captors are
cannibals!”

While nodding, Baltor said, “Okay, I think I
see where you’re going with this.”

“No matter which of these possibilities
exist, Baltor, they all lead to one conclusion. If you were
the
monster
, yet you didn’t want anyone else to find out,
especially your beloved wife, wouldn’t you have tried to kill me
the very second my back was to you, as I started talking about the
subject?”

When Humonus had said the words “the
monster,” he had whispered them. Still he did not pause, as he
continued, “Or how about the second time my back was to you, just
after I had finished talking about a particular master thief I
personally know, and then I walked over to the other end of the
room and then nonchalantly drank some water right after that? You
had so many opportunities to make your strike on me, yet you never
did…

“Therefore, my conclusion is this: You are
no monster
at all, though you made it look that way, so as
to buy you and Brishava as much time as possible to safely get
away! Am I right?”

Baltor nodded his head, while also bearing a
very surprised look on his face.

He didn’t want Humonus to know that he
actually was
the monster!
A moment later, he asked, “So,
what is reason number three?”

“You, your wife, and even this town are not
safe, by the two of you being here,” Humonus answered bluntly. “As
soon as possible, you must both disappear for a very long time but
before this happens, I’d like to come along with you, if you’ll
allow me, which is reason number three!”

Right away Baltor replied with excitement,
“Of course you can come along, my friend!”

“Do you have a place already in mind where we
should go?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

“Do you have a time set as to when we’ll
leave, and what times do you think would be best for us to travel,
during the day or night? Finally, do we have a map to get there, if
we should travel during the day with you sleeping?”

“I’ll have everything all planned out by
tomorrow morning, which is when we’ll depart!”

“Excellent,” Humonus replied with a smile.
“Thanks for letting me come along!”

Baltor was about to open the door that he had
just walked to, but instead, he turned around, and said, “By the
way, before I head back to make sure Brishava’s okay, I have one
more question.”

“Yes?”

“Why do you want to come along?”

“Because…out of all the pupils I’ve had over
the years, you’re the only one who ever became my friend
afterward!”

“Thanks, brother—for everything,” Baltor
replied, walking back over and giving Humonus another hug.

Humonus’s gruff reply was, “No problem.”

A moment or two later, Baltor left the room,
and headed back to his own.

After he had entered, he observed that
Brishava appeared to be already asleep on the bed. He quietly set
his sword onto the cushioned sofa, watched her in slumber, and
relished over her delicious beauties.

Despite the fact that this room had no
windows, soon after, Baltor could still sense that the sun was
about to rise, and so he covered himself completely with another
blanket before snuggling next to his wife and falling asleep.

The following night when he awoke, he saw
that his wife was not with him though he was strangely not
worried.

Nearly ten minutes later, Brishava entered
through the room door, while carrying quite a few large bags, and
chiming in Valakanese, “Good day!” In Pavelian, without pause, she
finished, “Sweetheart.”

Meanwhile, he smelled a spicy yet feminine
scent protruding from her being, as he happily greeted in
Valakanese, “Good day!”

A moment later, Jimnee entered the room,
while also carrying a bunch of large bags in her hand. The two
women began to set down the bags on the floor next to the
table.

As Baltor sat up in bed against the wall, he
replied, “Good evening to you, Jimnee!”

“And a good evening to you, Baltor,” Jimnee
said with a chipper tone. Without a pause, she excitedly added,
“Tell your wife that she is so wonderful! Even though we couldn’t
understand each other’s language, we had an absolutely wonderful
day together, shopping and having fun!”

By this time, Brishava had not only carefully
finished setting the last bag onto the ground, yet she had begun to
take items out of the bag and set them onto the table. Meanwhile,
Baltor translated the words for Brishava.

She stopped in mid-task to turn around and
give Jimnee a hug. While looking into her eyes, Brishava said,
“Gemne mao, Jimnee.”

With a rough accent yet a gentle smile,
Jimnee replied in Pavelian, “Thank you, Brishava.”

“You’re so welcome,” Brishava said, returning
that smile.

A few seconds later, Baltor revealed to
Brishava, “You know that we must be leaving tonight, right?”

Brishava sighed, “I know. Humonus told me
earlier today, as we ran into each other at the shops.”

“Oh.” he said. He then looked at Jimnee, and
said in Valakanese, “It is quite unfortunate that we must be
leaving tonight, but it is for all of our safeties that we do
so.”