his Air energy, then stepped up to the officer, sword held low at his side. The sobs of the captive girl had stopped , he realized, as she twisted around to see the drama that was occurring because of her.
“Who is your second in command?” Alec asked the officer.
“What?” the officer asked in a tone that was full of doubt.
In response, Alec swung his confiscated sword at the officer’s neck, intending to decapitate the man, increasingly angered by the thought of men randomly taking women as captives, ruining innocent lives. But to his astonishment the officer jerked his own sword from its scabbard, swung it at Alec’s midriff, and somersaulted backwards to avoid Alec’s attack, all at the same time, displaying a split second’s reaction that was superhuman.
Alec’s own sword swung unencumbered through the airspace the officer had emptied, free from any contact with the man who had evaded him, while he felt a fiery pain in his stomach and looked down momentarily to see a shallow bloody gash that nearly ran from hip to hip.
“Are you an Ajax?” Alec asked in astonishment, engaging his Warrior powers once again, and carefully maneuvering around to the officer’s left side, as the two guards who held the captive backpedaled away from the match.
“I am, and I should know every other Ajax in Valeriane, but I don’t know you, and I don’t know how you pulled that little magic trick a second ago to knock the guards over,” the officer said urbanely.
“I told you who I am. I am the Duke Alec, the rightful ruler of Valeriane, and I had a peaceful relationship with the Ajacii when I was the consort to the Empress,” he replied, thinking of the decades he had spent in Vincennes with Caitlen, after he had first battled against Ajacii who were ruthlessly trying to prepare to battle against the restoration of Hellmann’s malign power. During the long years of Caitlen’s reign he had met with Ajacii leaders on many occasions, and maintained a satisfactory relationship with their race. But he had done nothing like that for thirty years, he realized, and apparently a new reality had replaced the one he knew.
“Why have you come from Valer to participate in this mistreatment of my people?” he asked.
“Some Ajacii remember that there was a time when our people always had a presence in the court at Valeriane. Duke Alec did disrupt that tradition, but the new Duke has offered to restore the policy, and so a few of us have come to the palace to serve the new duke, to fight in his battles, and to enjoy his city’s,” there was a pause that only lasted a fraction of a second, “hospitality.”
“The girl is not his to give away,” Alec replied, “nor is she yours to take.
“When I was sitting as Duke of Valeriane, I respected the Ajacii, but I did not need to employ them. The city was at peace, and the empire was at peace, and the Ajacii were free to live their own lives in Valer. Availlen and the elders of the village had no problem accepting the relationship we held,” Alec explained.
“And if I had ever needed your assistance, I still would never have given you license to abuse the people of the city. This is wrong and it needs to stop!” he barked, and with that he raised his sword. “Either surrender your captive to me, or fight for the right to keep her,” Alec challenged, knowing that his explanation would make no difference to this Ajax he faced, a man who seemed determined to defend his privilege to plunder the city’s occupants of their liberty.
The Ajax approached, and swung his sword at Alec, a tactic that Alec riposted easily. The two men disengaged and circled warily in the open space at the center of the square. The Ajax pulled a knife from his belt and held it in his left hand, while the sword remained in his right hand, and he attacked again, swinging the sword high while he flung the knife low, trying to plant it in Alec’s thigh.
Alec dodged the low
“Who is your second in command?” Alec asked the officer.
“What?” the officer asked in a tone that was full of doubt.
In response, Alec swung his confiscated sword at the officer’s neck, intending to decapitate the man, increasingly angered by the thought of men randomly taking women as captives, ruining innocent lives. But to his astonishment the officer jerked his own sword from its scabbard, swung it at Alec’s midriff, and somersaulted backwards to avoid Alec’s attack, all at the same time, displaying a split second’s reaction that was superhuman.
Alec’s own sword swung unencumbered through the airspace the officer had emptied, free from any contact with the man who had evaded him, while he felt a fiery pain in his stomach and looked down momentarily to see a shallow bloody gash that nearly ran from hip to hip.
“Are you an Ajax?” Alec asked in astonishment, engaging his Warrior powers once again, and carefully maneuvering around to the officer’s left side, as the two guards who held the captive backpedaled away from the match.
“I am, and I should know every other Ajax in Valeriane, but I don’t know you, and I don’t know how you pulled that little magic trick a second ago to knock the guards over,” the officer said urbanely.
“I told you who I am. I am the Duke Alec, the rightful ruler of Valeriane, and I had a peaceful relationship with the Ajacii when I was the consort to the Empress,” he replied, thinking of the decades he had spent in Vincennes with Caitlen, after he had first battled against Ajacii who were ruthlessly trying to prepare to battle against the restoration of Hellmann’s malign power. During the long years of Caitlen’s reign he had met with Ajacii leaders on many occasions, and maintained a satisfactory relationship with their race. But he had done nothing like that for thirty years, he realized, and apparently a new reality had replaced the one he knew.
“Why have you come from Valer to participate in this mistreatment of my people?” he asked.
“Some Ajacii remember that there was a time when our people always had a presence in the court at Valeriane. Duke Alec did disrupt that tradition, but the new Duke has offered to restore the policy, and so a few of us have come to the palace to serve the new duke, to fight in his battles, and to enjoy his city’s,” there was a pause that only lasted a fraction of a second, “hospitality.”
“The girl is not his to give away,” Alec replied, “nor is she yours to take.
“When I was sitting as Duke of Valeriane, I respected the Ajacii, but I did not need to employ them. The city was at peace, and the empire was at peace, and the Ajacii were free to live their own lives in Valer. Availlen and the elders of the village had no problem accepting the relationship we held,” Alec explained.
“And if I had ever needed your assistance, I still would never have given you license to abuse the people of the city. This is wrong and it needs to stop!” he barked, and with that he raised his sword. “Either surrender your captive to me, or fight for the right to keep her,” Alec challenged, knowing that his explanation would make no difference to this Ajax he faced, a man who seemed determined to defend his privilege to plunder the city’s occupants of their liberty.
The Ajax approached, and swung his sword at Alec, a tactic that Alec riposted easily. The two men disengaged and circled warily in the open space at the center of the square. The Ajax pulled a knife from his belt and held it in his left hand, while the sword remained in his right hand, and he attacked again, swinging the sword high while he flung the knife low, trying to plant it in Alec’s thigh.
Alec dodged the low
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