Kings Game

Chapter 17 - Blood debt (2)

Roran's legs started to tremble as he descended the stairs back into the dungeons. The physical and emotional exhaustion were starting to affect him. At least he had a day to rest before the final event. They probably scheduled it that way so all the fighters would be in peak condition to put on a good show. Roran didn't care, he was just grateful for the reprieve. A whole day to rest and recover.

As soon as the warden let Roran into the dungeon Murrin rushed him, already yelling.

"What in the abyss do you think you were doing out there boy?"

Roran blinked at him, unsure of what he was talking about. "Winning?" he said.

"More like childish foolery!"

Tired and frustrated, Roran was already on the verge of snapping. "I passed the round and moved on to the finals. I even won a bag of favors for you."

He tossed the bag of coins at Murrin. Murrin caught the bag and shook it.

"And you could have had three times this amount if you took this seriously instead of playing games."

"What are you talking about? I would have had to go back into the maze and risk my life, again."

"No, you could have done it all in one trip, but your sentimentality got the better of you. You gave two medallions away instead of claiming them for our village. One to some backstabbing wench and one to a simpering child."

"I had to bargain that medallion away to avoid fighting three people, and I didn't give anything to Perth, I just helped him navigate the maze."

"If you're half the swordsman you claim to be, you could have killed that girl easily. And that boy carried the third medallion to our basin. Taking it from him would have been trivially easy. It would have been a mercy really."

Roran stared at Murrin, horrified as his meaning became clear. "You wanted me to murder a defensless child?"

Murrin shrugged. "He entered the tourney, he knew what he was getting himself into."

"I would never do that. You're insane for even thinking it!"

Murrin slapped Roran, stunning him. "Don't talk back to me. I'm your father dammit, you will treat me with respect."

"You are not his father!" Kamil stomped over and shoved Murrin, her face flushed with anger. "He's Urick's bastard and I for one am grateful he wouldn't kill a child. Toth doesn't need that kind of influence."

Roran wasn't sure which was more shocking, Murrin's slap or Kamil's declaration of relation to him.

"He ain't Urick's bastard, you git, he's mine." Dorval hobbled over, his knuckles white as he gripped his crutch. "No son of mine will be murdering children. I do think he should have fought the girl for the medallion," he said, casting a disapproving glance in Roran's direction, "but I appreciate why he did what he did."

"He doesn't belong to either of you." Murrin drew himself up to his full height, his lips pulled back in a sneer. "He belongs to me and he will do what needs to be done to support this village. He has obligations."

"Yes, obligations to his half-brother!"

"He's a soldier, he needs to live by a code."

"You two are completely full of it."

"You're the one that's full of it. You're so full of it that it's leaking out of your mouth."

"Roran is my child and will do as I say. I have to put him on the right path to make up for his lack of parenting."