The Blood Pact Chapter 4

Suddenly the entire area descended back into the barely controlled chaos it had been moments before; the entire incident with the nearly broken nose seemingly forgotten. Men and women alike rushed forward to pit their luck against the spymaster. His reputation might have been fierce, but his gold was more impressive still. As it was decided who would participate first in the games, I caught sight of Sir Ruvano scanning the crowds more than once. Each time his eyes fell on me, he smiled. I did my best to ignore him and continued on to reach Master Oringel. The wizard was surrounded by a sizable crowd and seemed to rolling in the attention. If he'd yet noticed me, I couldn't tell.

I hadn't gotten too far when I felt a soft hand on my shoulder and tensed for yet another fight.

"He was such a dirty old man," a woman whispered in my ear. "Someone should have done that to him a long time ago. Good job I say." I turned to find a short, plump woman with hair of light yellow that was just starting to turn white. I'd never met her before that I could recall, but I found myself smiling all the same. She pressed a glass of rum into my hands, bowed her appreciation for what I'd done, and then vanished back into the crowds. Maybe all the women weren't bitches after all.

Turning back toward my quarry, I found that he had instead found me. Staring up at wizard, I could remember all the things I'd planned to say to him when I finally got the chance -- all the things I wanted to do to him. However, I instead found myself saying, "Oh, Master Oringel, please, you've got to turn me back."

"Back?" he said as he took a bite from a pretzel someone had given him. "What do you mean 'back'?"

"Back!" I said in a harsh whisper, casting a wary gaze at the people pressing in from all sides. "You know, use your wand, like you did this morning in the storeroom."

"Ah! You want me to use my magic wand on you?" he said, his voice suddenly low and conspiratorial.