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A cyclopian soldier, shield en of Montfort, entered the audience hall of Gahris Bedwyr&039;s hoular rooraced 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 h unimportant, even e, feats of valor (always exag-gerated, and still seeh land of Bedwydrin for enerosity and herois that practically every fourth man in Eriador seemed to hold claim to that title, or to one of baron

"And his fellow, Baron Wilhed deeply at the not-unexpected proclahts proven all too true Mercifully, Wil as Aubrey&039;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 roomed, salty-hairedtwenty-five Both wore the weapons of warriors, sword and dirk, but when they shook Gahris&039;s hands, he felt no callouses, and neither had a grip indicating that he could even swing a heavy sword The ladies orse yet, over-painted, over-perfuarments, 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&039;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 sained the confi-dence of our estee 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&039;s arm to take hold of the eorl&039;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 ere not disappointed"

"They do have such fine wines!" added Avonese

Aubrey seeh Wilnail to notice any of it

"The eorl of Marvis has indeed earned his reputation as a fine host," Gahris reess was a dear friend of his, a co&039;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&039;t sure what to say The two dishes, along with a multitude of fish, were indeed the island&039;s staple

"I do so hate leek soup," Aubrey went on, "but we have enough provisions on board our vessel and we shan&039;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 ahtily "I would have bypassed this dreary little island al-together, except that I found the eorl of Marvis&039;s arena lack-ing I had heard that the islands ell-stocked with some of the finest warriors in all of Eriador, but I daresay that a half-crippled dwarf from the deepest hters itnessed on the Isle of Marvis"

Gahris said nothing, but was thinking that Aubrey&039;s de-scription of Bedwydrin as a "dreary little island" would have cost the ue in tiht perform better," Aubrey finished

Avonese squeezed Gahris&039;s ar the hardened muscles she felt there "Warriors do so inspire me," she whispered in the eorl&039;s ear

Gahris hadn&039;t expected a e

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 lae free of Avonese&039;s nailed clutches as he spoke "My attendants will show you to where youjourney I will return in a fewdown 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 hisworkout

"Back to the yard with you," Gahris said to his son&039;s con-fused expression "They have co ht?"

"Who better?" Gahris asked, patting Luthien roughly on the shoulder and quickly leading hie 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&039;t fight in the arena, not any 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 hi warrior

"Of course you will" Gahris answered his own question, ht, I beg It is ih praise to the duke of Montfort"

Gahris stopped then, and Luthien bounded away, bri 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&039;s honored guests?" the huge hters They sat in the low and sweaty cha the feel of their weapons while awaiting their call

"Eh he was truly stunned

"There is no eeneral, roan rolled about the chamber as the other warriors joined in the ar, fully a foot taller than Luthien&039;s six feet two inches, with ars, dropped his whetstone to the floor and deliberately rose Two strides took hi Bedho had to turn his head perpendicular to his body to see tall Garth Rogar&039;s scowl

"You fall this day," the barbarian prori moment All the room was hushed

Luthien reached up and slapped Garth Rogar across the ruhter erupted froe northe at Luthien, but Luthien&039;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&039;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 aame 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&039;Hale"

The laughter became a hush; Katerin was not one to be in-sulted She was fro the fisherfolk who braved the h indeed were the stock of Hale, and Katerin was counted a their finest A leather packet soared across the rooe barbarian&039;s back

Garth Rogar spun about to see a scowling Katerin standing with her ainst the stone floor

"If you say so again, I will cut so woerously

"And kissing will then be the last thing on your shter erupted once ar, 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 , but would not kill At least, not usually

Several warriors had died in the arena, though none inwas an an-cient and necessary tradition on Bedwydrin and in all of Eri-ador, and deemed worth the potential cost by even thein the arena taught theave theht beside if trouble ever ca were required, but many stayed on for four, and so their life&039;s endeavor

He had been in the arena perhaps a hundred ti 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&039;Hale ift and agile as any cat, Bukwo of the cyclopians could take a trear was powerful beyond the normal limitations of any huile and able to bring his weapon to bear or to parry at any angle in the blink of a cinnaroay any pain, and yet he carried fewer scars than any except the very newest of the warriors

He was the co eyes, and deter a smile to the face of a ht a whetstone singing along the side of his fine sword, re a burr, then held the weapon out in front of hiht, 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 proht beside hi them on the outside To increase the eorl&039;s discouards were close behind the seated nobles One carried a crossbow, Gahris noted, an unusual sight a cyclopians With only one eye, the brutes lacked depth perception and were normally not adept with distance weapons This one seeh, and Gahris noted that it had been fitted with a curious device, opposing and angled hed 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 i 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&039;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 pri chorus of groans Finally, the eorl gave up He signalled to the marshal of the arena, and the ht, ordering the two brutes back to the tunnel The cyclopians gave their cus-tomary bow to the eorl&039;s box, then walked away, and were proht

The next two co lass from across the island, a newco speed, had barely walked out of the tunnel when both Avonese and Elenia took up cries of protest

Gahris silently berated hi this Both women warriors were undeniably beautiful, full of life and full of health

Also, their warrior garb, cut so that theyless than modest, and the looks upon the faces of Aubrey and Wilmon showed that they had been cooped up in the co

"This will not do!" Avonese cried

"I do so want to see soernails drew little lines of blood on Wilmon&039;s arm

Gahris couldn&039;t tell if it was Wil er escort, or if it was simply fear of Elenia that led hiht

"We are pressed for tile fight, a the best warriors Bed-wydrin canof the eorl of Bedwydrin"

Gahris verily trembled, and it took every ounce of control he couldthe skinny Aubrey But he nodded his head and signaled to theout that it was tiar

On the tiered steps behind the eorl&039;s viewing box, Ethan looked upon his cowed father and the pouests, his expression sour