Rescuing the Captive: The Ingenairii Series by Jeffrey Quyle Page A

want,” the wall-leaner said as the two men on the matt finished their round and walked to the locker room.
    “ Here’s my first month’s payment,” Alec said, giving the man a fistful of coins from his pocket, feeling a heart full of sympathy for the man whose plight seemed so pitiful. “I’ll be back this afternoon, and I’ll bring another boy I want to teach too. Do you have all the padding and wood we need?” He felt moved in some fashion by the honest, humble manner of the armory manager.
    The man looked at the heavy collection that weighed his hands down, then looked up at Alec. “What do you think you’re doing?”
    “ You do whatever you want with that. I’ll be back this afternoon with my kids. I’m going to go look at your locker room,” Alec said as he crossed the threadbare mats on the stone floor. The locker room was even darker than the cavernous practice space, causing him to stand in the doorway while his eyes adjusted to the deeper shadows of the room. On the far wall he saw a series of windows, whose closed shutters were the cause of the darkness.
    Stumbling over the rough floor, Alec opened one set of shutters, feeling rain come misting in through the empty panes of the window, spraying upon the tile floor. The room had been lovely once, Alec realized, as he looked around. The walls had murals painted on them, covered now by practice pads hanging from wooden pegs. There were numerous practice blades heaped in a corner, and Alec closed the shutters on the rain and the light. He walked back to the now empty main room, and slipped back outside into the rain.
    “ What did you think?” a low voice asked. Four surly looking boys were now sheltered from the rain in the armory doorway. “Did you get lost?” there was menace in their voice.
    “ I want to start practicing here,” Alec began walking away.
    “ This place is closing down next month,” the loudest man shouted. “And it’s haunted besides everything else. Don’t come back.”
    Alec ignored him as he walked at a steady pace, but he kept his ears strained, listening closely to catch the sound of any followers that might trail him. There were none, and so he walked through the rain back to the main square, where he visited one of the banks and withdrew more money. With that he found an upper class pawn shop, where he bought himself a blade that had the right length and weight to satisfy him, then finally returned to the street where his new home was. Inside Bethany and Rahm were sitting at a table beside a window, watching the rain, playing a card game, and chatting amiably.
    “ Where have you been all day? Look at you; you’re soaked through to the skin. You’ll catch a cold,” Bethany hustled about him with genuine concern, touching his heart as she took his wet jacket and shirt, then made him sit beside the fireplace while Rahm added fuel to the fire to build it up.
    “ That’s enough, thank you,” Alec told Rahm as Bethany continued to bustle about. “We don’t need to build up the fire too high, we’re going to leave in a little while to start your practicing,” he explained. He wolfed down the food Bethany had prepared for lunch, then the three of them pulled oilskin cloaks over their heads and began the damp walk back to the practice facility.
    The rainfall lightened to a sufficient degree that Alec removed his cloak and walked in the street without the protection from the light mist that hung in the air. As they reached the last corner they needed to turn to return to the gym, a loud voice shouted “Stop right there,” and Alec knew that he was in trouble.
    Robards, the local constable who he had humiliated earlier that day, was walking towards him with two other officers. “Let’s see how you do now out here in the real world,” Robards said as he walked up to Alec, and slapped him across the cheek.
    Alec’s head rocked backwards, and he considered how to protect his two young charges as well as himself.