A Duel from the Past
931 Words
Chapter 9
Stories of Kontessa’s
Mother
Part 1
“Tender mercies of fairy love
Dirty and sweet, wet and wild, the doves
Say come say come, cu cu cu say the doves
Book1, set1
The Duke Sean of Altairs had found the one he had searched for the all the long nights and days that encompassed the last twenty years. Summer days are filled with heat, humidity, and sweat. Long winter nights filled with boredom, ice, and snow. Spring traveling in the cold mud, and fall days filled with the sweet melancholy of trees growing silently into a slumber. Now he had found the one he was looking for, the one that killed his father twenty years before.
He wandered the streets all day, savoring the coming night with all his being. Tonight he would challenge the demon that was Kontessa the Black Skin. He had spent his life in training. Spent a good deal of the family fortunes on the cold iron short sword he kept in his room, saving its virginity for the kill that would bring back the honor of an undefeated house.
Tonight, he wore his fine brown leather doublet with his blue silk shirt. Fine doeskin breeches filled out the ensemble. He wore this because tonight’s challenge was his life’s ambition. He would fight this duel before the daybreak of tomorrow morning. Tonight, he wore his best because tonight would be the crowning achievement of his household, of his existence, of his life.
See, this one had a weakness that would make her break the laws of this city-kingdom. Dueling was illegal in this city as it had become in his country, the country of his birth. However, that country house was nothing but the empty shell of his once great home and estate. The estate he had abandoned but the house he never left. This weakness he spoke of seemed to be a redhead.
· * *
Kontessa sat with Alexander, drinking and celebrating what would be a very profitable business venture. With the papers signed, they both stood to make a very substantial profit. Kontessa called for Marjory to bring more ale and some barley bread.
“Hey, Marge,” Alexander said when the barmaid brought the food over that would be their dinner. “Your girl and I just made a very lucrative deal. Perhaps with this deal, she can get you out of this place and into a larger home. Ay Kontessa?”
“Perhaps,” the demon stated, feeling the effects of the ale after not sleeping for several days. She and the merchant, Alexander, had been working on this deal for three days, getting the correct ship with the right captain. They found him last night and signed with him for the silk from the west. It would bring in enough gold for her to sit back for a long time. “but let’s not count our chickens before they hatch.”
“Kontessa! Kontessa Eldeman!”
The attention of the entire pub was called to the center of the floor, where a man in acceptable leather attire stood smiling. The smells of ale and beer filled the air. The cod cooking in the kitchen could be detected as well.
“Who are you?” asked the demon. “Do I know you?”
“My name is Duke Sean Altairs, of the House Altairs. And I have come to kill you for killing my father.”
His smile seemed sickly sweet, and his clothes needed repairs, now that the demon got a closer look.
“Well,” she answered, smiling broadly. Her eyes were seeing things a bit blurry. “If I killed your father, he probably deserved it.”
“Ahh, he was a drunk and a womanizer. But he took good care of his family. And his only son." The duke walked back and forth across the floor. “You see, I am the last of my house. After me, there will be no more, for I have taken a vow to go to any length to find you. My family fortune is gone. Now, at last, I have found you, and tonight we duel, to the death.”
“I’m not dueling you,” Kontessa stated. “dueling is illegal in this town.”
“Ah,” he answered. “It is that way in my country as well, but we get around it.”
“I’m not dueling with you.”
“Then your redhead’s life is forfeit. If I cannot take your life, then I take someone you care for.”
Now the crowd quieted again.
Marjory quickly got out of the way as Kontessa drew her longsword and stepped over to the man to swing.
“Ah,” he fell to one knee in reply. “I am not armed. If you kill me now, it will be murder."
“Damn it.”
Kontessa looked at Marge.
The redhead shook her head.
“No,” she said.
Kontessa lowered her weapon and gazed hatefully into the duke's face. Her skin turned blacker as if that were possible.
“Good, you will see it my way.” He walked toward the door. “Now you have a reason to hate me as well. Tonight. My second will come. I know where you live. If you do not show up, your redhead’s life is forfeit. I will change my life’s ambition into costing her every ounce of pleasure. Her life will become pain.”
With that, he walked out the door.
And in walked Toyama.
- Writer
