Guilt

I felt guilty for asking him about his pain once he had turned his back on me. It wasn't a feeling I was used to. I left the room quietly since he seemed to be jumping at loud sounds today, and made my way back down to the tavern. The tavern owner must have seen the look on my face because by the time I looked up toward the door he had made his way halfway across the room.

"He didn't rough you up did he?" he asked.

"Why are you so convinced that he did anything to me?" I felt the guilt slide from my face as anger replaced it, "He can barely stand. He couldn't possibly harm me right now in the condition he's in."

"He's the broken sword," the tavern owner held up his hands backing off a little, "He never has any coin on em, but he's one of the most lethal swordsman you can buy. He's got a reputation for being loyal to whoever feeds him."

"Right now," I smiled tensely, "I'm the one feeding him." I paused for a moment, "So that reputation doesn't bother me one bit. Besides, he owes me."

"You won't be saying that when someone offers him a better deal," the tavern owner backed away, and went back to what he was doing before.

I didn't really didn't care what he was doing before so I didn't pay much attention. I walked outside, and looked down the street briefly. What to do now? I had wanted to talk longer. The fact that I hadn't slept last night was finally starting to weigh on me now that I didn't have a goal in mind.

My mind felt almost numb, but I decided to focus on what we would need going forward. I had to cross through an entire kingdom before I could even get to my homeland, and it was a long journey. The fact that I had some skill as a mage had kept me out of trouble for the most part, but my escort had been killed just over a week ago. Bandits were commonplace in these small poor towns. That had been why I had come looking in the small poor towns for the worthless swordsman.

His skill was beyond question, and he knew how to fight. All the rumors had been the same on that part. The fact that he didn't take coin as payment had been something that I didn't believe until my payment had been turned down as well. Now I knew why he didn't take coin, but that wouldn't help me figure out a way to keep him around long enough to train the king's men.

War was coming to my homeland, and if he could teach our soldiers how to fight half as good as the rumors said he was then we would stand a chance. As a smaller peaceful kingdom we didn't have many skilled enough to teach. I would just have to do my best to entice him into staying with me for now. Hopefully I wouldn't have to use the more feminine way of persuasion.