Confronting the Warlord

"I have come to retrieve my daughter," Velimir says without further preamble. "You will turn her over to me at once."

"I believe I made it clear upon your last visit, Lord Velimir," you say to him, straining mightily to keep your voice level, "I rule in Elyssia, not you. You will take your men and leave at once, never to return."

Velimir takes a few steps forward, and you match him step for step until only two yards separate you. Katyana stays at your side, while the rest of your people stay back; they know that you must show that you are unafraid of the Warlord.

"Do not consider this an order, or an instruction," Velimir says. "It is a promise and, if necessary, a threat. Turn over my daughter to me immediately, or the consequences will be swift and severe."

"If you refer to Katyana, she is your daughter no longer," you say. "Yesterday, in front of thousands of witnesses, she renounced her name and you as her father - swearing it upon her own blood."

"Her blood is mine!" Velimir hisses, allowing the first sign of anger into his voice.

"Furthermore," you go on, raising your voice over his, "as of but a few minutes ago, Katyana became my wife, and therefore now rules as Queen in Elyssia. In short, Velimir, she is not going anywhere."

The Warlord closes his eyes briefly, seemingly to collect himself - and you take the opportunity to glance quickly over to where Duncan's body lies crumpled on the ground. To your vast relief, you see his chest rise and fall with breath - though there is no way to know how badly he has been hurt.

"What do you mean to gain by this farce, Blacksmith King?" Velimir asks, his voice quiet once again. "Do you think that this will somehow spare your kingdom, that I will dare not attack while you hold Katyana here? The truth is very much otherwise, I assure you. You have sealed your fate, and that of this toy kingdom; I will answer this insult with fire and steel."

"I count forty men with you," you point out. "The people who stand behind me number in the thousands. Granted, many of them are farmers and shopkeepers, but I doubt I will need to call upon them in any event."

"Do not think for a moment that the forty with me now are all the men I have," Velimir sneers.

"But they are all you have here and now. To be sure, if you were to attack now, I would likely not survive; but you would not either, and you know it. Not all of my people are eighty-year-old men who may be slapped aside so easily. So, save your threats for when they are worth something!"

"If you think my threats to be empty, then you are a greater fool for it," Velimir says. "Do not underestimate what I will do to reclaim my own, Blacksmith. I could kill you now and be away before that great Scottish boar behind you could close half the distance between us. You live not because I fear reprisal, but because such an act would compel me to leave without my daughter. And I will not do that... no, I will not!"

"I have no doubt you could kill me now," you tell him. "A dagger pulled from your wrist, perhaps, or one of your archers behind you if you cared not to do the deed yourself. But if you think you could then leave this place, think again, Velimir. Not all my people are behind me, after all. Some are behind you, at this very moment. You may leave, if you will; but you do so without drawing further blood, and without my Queen!"

You wish you could glance over to Katyana; whatever her plan is, it seems to involve a great deal of her standing there silently, and a single meaningful look from her could at least tell you whether you are playing your part correctly! Of course, any such look would be seen by Velimir as well, and would convey far more to him than it would to you. So far, you have said exactly what you would say to Velimir if there had been no plan; the one thing that Katyana told you that you must to was to goad him into a duel with you, and then demand that a champion stand in your place. A personal challenge seems to be something Velimir is trying to avoid, however. He has sufficient cause, certainly; for you to marry his daughter without so much as sending him word is insult enough! And, surely he is confident that he could defeat you, so he must suspect that this is what you want. The only thing you can do is to try to make him think that you would rather he simply left, unless he gives you an opening...

"I do not recognize this farce of a marriage," Velimir says. "I gave no consent for my daughter to be wed, nor would I consider any ceremony performed by your town harlot to be a valid one. Furthermore, there has been no consummation."

"Actually, Katyana and I took care of that part in advance," you tell him. Inwardly, you cannot help but wince slightly at your own words; you do not care to offer insult to Katyana, after all! But if you wish to arouse the Warlord's anger, then needs must... and outwardly, you are able to show a slight smirk as you add the word, “Twice.”

"No man speaks to me in this way and lives!" Velimir hisses in a deadly whisper, and he grasps the hilt of his sword.

In a flash, Captain Navarre and Lady Trina are at your sides, their swords held at the ready; despite Velimir's boast, it seems he was not quite ready to kill you at an instant's notice, or perhaps your unexpected comment distracted him such that he lost his head. In any event, he stops his advance, and a moment later Subhi El-Zamini and Bwana M'Kubwa stand by you as well.

"Advance one step further, and you and yours shall face the wrath of my entire Kingdom!" the Sultan bellows.

"You face my vengeance regardless, coward and killer," M'Kubwa adds, much more softly but no less earnest.

"Coward?" Velimir snorts. "I am not the one who hides behind the swords of others! I stand ready to fight my own battles! This spineless weakling who calls himself King in Elyssia, he dares not even draw his own weapon before me!" Velimir spits on the ground in front of you.

"Is that a challenge, Velimir of Reznik?" you ask him quietly.

"Yes! You dare to face me as a man, then so be it! Withdraw your guardsmen, order these barbarians to stand down, and show me your own steel if you have the stomach for it!"

"When and where, Warlord?"

"The only place and time is here, and now!"

"I bear a wound in my back taken when I saved Katyana's life two days past," you tell him. "Doubtless you knew of this... and considered it the perfect opportunity to fight me while I am at less than my full strength."

"I care not for your pitiful scratch!"

"Then I was right to disown you!" Katyana shouts back, and even Velimir seems startled at her unexpected outburst. "This man took an arrow in the back to save my life, and you care not? You disgust me, one who was my father!"

Velimir's eyes widen... and suddenly, you see that his eyes are also Katyana's, the same icy-blue diamonds. It is a disconcerting moment, and not just because you have seen those same eyes burn with such passion. For the first time, if only for a fleeting instant, you see not the cold anger of the Warlord, but the hurt and betrayal of a man who has lost his child. Even if Duncan were not still lying all-but lifeless on the ground, though, it would take far more than that to inspire any sort of pity for Velimir of Reznik.

"You will keep silent!" Velimir says to her.

"And you will not speak to my wife again, in that manner or any other," you counter. "Lord Velimir of Reznik, I answer your challenge thus: I will face you in two weeks' time, in the City Square of Elyssia. Neither my guardsmen nor my allies will intervene. For now, you leave here - without Katyana."

"You will face me now, Coward-King!"

"Or," you continue, as if he had not interrupted, "I shall name a champion to fight in my place."

Katyana turns to look at you. "You will what?" she asks, seemingly stunned.

You look back at her, and see the disgust she had directed at her father now turned upon you. It takes you aback you at first - after all, this was her idea! But of course, she must make it seem as though she is revolted by it, as if it is a chance for her father to regain favor in her eyes.

"Behold the sniveling weasel you married, Katyana," Velimir sneers. "A man who cringes and shivers, who names others to fight in his place! But it is no matter, I am equal to any who you might bring forth from this crowd." Velimir looks meaningfully at Captain Navarre, Lady Trina, and then at Sir Magnus, who still sits mounted upon his horse; and he makes a small, almost imperceptible nod. "Yes, I am equal to any man here in single combat. I will duel your champion, Coward-King, but the end result will be the same. When I stand victorious, your life shall be forfeit - and I will take it in the manner of my own choosing! Deny me this, and I will depart as you beg me to do... but your kingdom shall pay the ultimate price, for I will descend upon this place with a fury that Hell could not match; I will take back what is mine, and every other living soul shall be put to the sword and the torch! Do you agree to my terms?"