Champion

Chapter 28

"I was just so afraid Timothy would become taken with another woman once he realized that I could not bear his children. I convinced him the farm could not afford for us to stay in town long enough for us to participate in services when we traveled to town for supplies these last few seasons. If it had not been for how loving he was with me the night that David and Laurena visited us, we probably would not have come at all. I was so afraid her beauty would steal him away from me, but he was the same gentle lover that night that he has always been. His love gave me the courage to come back for worship."

"You are here now Dawn," Astinus told her with a smile. "And you will always be welcome in this temple. In fact, now that we have sorted this out, I look forward to teaching your sons and daughters about the glory of Eros and his love for us all."

She smiled in return, imagining herself and her husband surrounded by many sons and daughters.

bang, bang.

The soft and very curious sound of distant thunder reached their ears.

"That's odd," the young woman said. "It did not look like rain this evening, when we came to the temple..."

***

Laurena was sore. But it was the delicious type of sore that let her know she had granted many excellent Blessings to the men who had joined her. She would soon focus her magic to heal her gently abused body, but she always liked to spend an hour or two after a service enjoying the fruits of a job well done.

Timothy had been quite helpful as he waited for his wife. Laurena thanked him more than once, grateful for his aid. She was still a bit annoyed that David had not joined her to receive Eros' Blessing, but she would just insist that they stay an extra day. She would tease him mercilessly tomorrow until he could not help but pounce on her during the service tomorrow evening. She could not imagine why he had not joined her tonight, but perhaps she had done too good a job tempting him these past few days. He may have joined with another woman rather than wait for all the men around her to finish.

As she pondered these thoughts, she heard two rapid but muted peals of thunder. She froze. That sounded almost like David's weapon. Worried, she walked quickly to the door which led to their quarters. Opening it, she heard a third muffled bang.

That must be David's weapon, she thought as she began running down the hall.

Poking his head from his office, Astinus turned to see her pass by. "What is the matter Laurena?" he asked.

"I think it is David," she gasped. "That is the sound his weapon makes."

His face suddenly grim, the old priest turned back to his office. "Dawn, go into the worship room and get your husband. Bring him back to my office and neither of you leave until I return. It might not be safe."

The young wife nodded her head, suddenly frightened for her husband.

"Go now my dear. Hurry to him, and hurry back," Astinus told her. "I will explain what I can when I return."

He then turned to the young acolyte standing worriedly before him. "We will check his room first. If he is not there we will find out where he has gone, and who is using his weapon."

***

David was stunned. He had seen some truly gruesome things during his time in Mukavia, but what the woman next to him had just done was beyond nearly all of it. He had heard of Donkavian more merciful.

He had also just realized the language of magic was English. Seriously? Why did Laurena tell him that their magic spoke a different language when it was the same English that everyone else here spoke? Admittedly, the accent was slightly different, but that was probably just because this chick was from somewhere else than the people he had met so far. She definitely didn't seem to follow the whole free love / tree hugger dogma. She seemed more interested in an Old Testament 'eye for an eye' type thing...with interest.

Walking to stand over the man she had just slaughtered, she spit on what was left of his body. "That's for my father you sick f**k," she said with righteous fury.

"That was...a bit harsh," he said cautiously.

"These men earned that and more for what they have done," she replied with a growl. She turned on him and attempted to stare him down. It might have been intimidating if the top of her head had reached higher than his collar. As it was, he found it difficult to keep his eyes on her face, and off the valley of her cleavage.

"Do you intend to protect the rest of these men from my justice?" she asked him.

He snorted at her question. "Lady, in case you hadn't noticed I already killed one, possibly two, and decommissioned a third by the time you showed up. I don't give a f**k about these assholes. I'm just wondering if you needed to be so messy. Somebody has to eventually clean all this up after all."

I see," she said. "You are not like the rest. Everyone I know has told me to leave these men to the clergy. That the inquisitors will see justice done, and punish them for their crimes. But what justice is a life of servitude for men who kill for profit? Men who would beat a kind, gentle man to death for the contents of his coin purse?"

Nodding his head, David was forced to agree with her.

"I have to say I'm right there with you. I have no tolerance for people who prey on the weak, and hurt the innocent," he told her. "But I've also done my fair share of killing, and you'll learn that the faces of the evil ones visit you as readily as the faces of the innocent. Keep that in mind before you decide to make another big mess."

Pondering his words, she turned from him only to pause, and turn back.

"The other five, the ones you slew, did they die in screaming agony?"

"No," he said, saddened by her words. "But that doesn't make them any less dead. They are gone from this world, and no longer able to hurt anyone else. That should be enough."

Her scowl returned.

"What if it isn't?" she asked angrily. "What if there is no punishment great enough for what they took?"

Sighing he closed his eyes and thought of his father and mother. What if their deaths had not been from poor health and bad luck? What if someone had been responsible for taking them from him? What would they think of him if he had become like this woman?

"What if your father saw what you were doing in his name?" David asked her calmly, after opening his eyes to look at her.