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Old 09-10-2003, 05:05 PM   #30
Ealasaide
Shadow of Tyrn Gorthad
 
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: The Fencing Lyst
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Sting

Kaldir

Inside Cobhan Tupper's grimy little kitchen, Kaldir and Tupper faced each other across a rickety expanse of plank tabletop. Kaldir had leaned back slightly in his chair and watched Tupper with what could easily be described as a total lack of interest. Tupper, on the other hand, was still a little too full of the inn's good ale, and, consequently, a little too full of his own self worth. He wagged a thick finger in Kaldir's direction.

"You have to pay a man what's right," he lectured the bounty hunter sternly. "That's a good little mare...cost me a good little fortune. I expect a good price for her."

Kaldir's eyebrow on the unscarred side of his face raised slightly as the shadow of a smile curled on the corner of his lips, but he said nothing.

"And you want a saddle, too? And bridle?" Tupper shook his head. "That will cost you, my friend. A well-made saddle is hard to come by in these parts." He dropped Kaldir a sly wink. "Of course, I don't need to tell you that." Finally, he leaned back in his chair, a broad smile creasing his flushed features. "But I'll make you a deal. Because you're my friend... two hundred gold pieces for the whole package!" He opened his hands in front of him and grinned as though he had just offered Kaldir the greatest deal in all Middle Earth.

Kaldir's smile broadened, but his pale eyes glittered in the lamplight. "Ah, Tupper," he said quietly, drawing the words out as he pushed his chair back from the table. "You strike a hard bargain." He rose to his feet. "But since you're my friend --"

There was a deafening crash as Kaldir flung the table out of the way. He moved forward with the speed of a striking rattlesnake and, before Tupper knew what was happening, he was pinned against the wall with the iron grip of the bounty hunter tight around his throat. The point of a dagger pricked his chin. "Since you're my good friend, Mr. Tupper, you might give my terms a listen as well."

Tupper clawed at Kaldir's wrist, but nodded.

"In exchange for the bay mare and whatever tack I need, how about I forget the rumor I heard of a traveling merchant being slain on the east road? I believe he was riding a bay mare."

Tupper shook his head frantically in denial.

"No?" A pinprick of blood appeared at the point of Kaldir's dagger. "Suppose I look at the underside of the saddle I saw out there in the stable. What name would be scratched into the leather? It wouldn't be Tupper, now, would it?"

Again, Tupper shook his head, but a look of defeat had come into his dark eyes.

"Would it be Avondale?"

Tupper looked as though he was going to cry, but he gave Kaldir's wrist a light tap. Kaldir loosened his grip.

"Anything you want," gasped Tupper, smiling weakly. "What's a little gift between friends? You scratch my back, I scratch yours. Right, Kaldir?"

Kaldir smiled and lowered the dagger. His right hand released its grip on the horse thief's throat. "What's a little gift between friends. That's right." He stepped back and began to sheathe his dagger. "There's also a pack pony that caught my eye. A little dun-colored creature in the far back stall."

Tupper began to object, but when Kaldir rounded on him again with an icy fire in his pale eyes, Tupper took a step back, raising his hands defensively. "He's yours! All he does is eat and crap in his stall, anyway." He touched the spot of blood on his chin with his index finger. "You're welcome to him."

They made their way back out to the stable to conclude their business, with Tupper grumbling angrily all the while. Kaldir kept a casual eye on him, but could tell by the defeated stoop to the other man's shoulders that there would be no more trouble from him. Kaldir regretted having to use the methods he had used in order to get what he needed, but he hated even more the idea of paying a king's ransom for a stolen horse. Eventually, he would do what he could to see that the dead merchant's belongings were returned to his family, but, in the meantime, they would do nicely to fulfill his requirements of the moment.

Leading the two animals by the reins, Kaldir returned to the inn to collect his own gray stallion, Nico, as well as the remainder of the supplies he had left in storage at the inn. Soon it would be light and the new day's work would begin in earnest. Kaldir squinted into the east and saw a faint light just beginning to touch the horizon.

Last edited by piosenniel; 05-11-2006 at 10:39 AM.
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