Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2013 21:42:57 +1300
From: Arthur <artcart65@vodafone.co.nz>
Subject: PAULEK CHAPTER 9

				  PAULEK


				 CHAPTER 9


				 BY ARTHUR

AUTHORS NOTE:

PLEASE SUPPORT THE NIFTY ARCHIVES WITH YOUR DONATIONS TO KEEP THIS FREE FOR
ALL.



Paulek looked around the deck, against the rails were all that remained of
the crew, they were well guarded by Pavlik and the other boys, with little
thought, Paulek wrapped his little brother in his arms and both shed red
tears of relief at once again being together. Both boys cried for minutes
as the stunned crew looked on, after a while the two boys stepped back and
released each other, some of Milac's boyish charm began to return as he
stayed close to Paulek's side, with a look at Pavlik, Paulek asked.

"Well, what do we do now?"

"I guess we get back to the farm, I think we need to send a message to
Sergei, he can tell us what to do next after all, we have your brother and
no other plans after that."

"Good, then let's do that."

"Excuse me Milord, what about us, we have no captain now, I know you said
we could have the ship but without a Captain we don't know where to go or
what to do, I know how to keep these dregs in line but as far as actually
sailing this ship, it is beyond my knowledge?"

Paulek listened to the worries of Margate, he had no answers either, he
turned to Pavlik but a shrug of the shoulders told Paulek he didn't know as
well, Paulek thought for a minute and then said.

"The ship will stay here until we have heard from the Kings Marshal, the
crew may stay on board or go and find other work, when we have heard from
the Kings Marshal we will tell those who are staying what will happen."

"Thank you Milord, I myself will stay, I know nothing else, if you would
return tomorrow eve I will let you know who else will stay."

"Done, then the ship is yours to watch over Margate, until we hear from the
Kings Marshal."

"Very good Milord."

Paulek almost laughed at the seriousness of Margate's words and the fact
that he was all of a sudden a Lord, well that would soon be put right, he
had no idea of sailing a ship or controlling a crew, it would all be sorted
when they had sent the message to Sergei, he would find some Captain to run
the ship.

All the boys left the silent ship, Milac refused to be further than a few
steps from Paulek as they all made their way swiftly through the dark
streets and back to the farm, the wagon was driven slowly behind them with
the two small black boys up on the seat, they arrived back an hour after
the others had got there.

Much to Paulek's surprise, the two small drivers immediately left the seat
and boldly walked up to Milac and, with one on each side of him, took his
hand and stepped in close to his young brother, it appeared as though they
had made up their own mind as to whom they liked, Paulek almost smiled as
he saw Milac look at the two small boys and then back at Paulek, all Milac
could do was shrug his shoulders and give his older brother a half hearted
smile.

There remained about two hours to sun up, much to Paulek's joy, Bevic was
waiting at the door of the farm house for him, without any further thought
or trepidation, Bevic threw himself into Paulek's arms, the warmth of his
living body soon had Paulek very hard and he pushed lightly into the boy he
was now holding, the answering push set the rules for the next two hours as
they both walked back into the house with the others watching them with
wide smiles on their faces, they all knew what was going to happen for the
next few hours.

As the first of many moans and groans issued from behind the closed door of
the farm house, Pavlik reached for the hand of Hawk and disappeared into
the darkness, at a loss as what to do next, Milac just let himself be
pulled by his two small chaperones towards the small barn where the now
slept through the daylight hours, the other boys joined up and also
disappeared although all of them could still hear the first sounds of
pleasure coming from the house.

By the time the sun rose, the wagon was full except for Milac and the two
small boys, they had found a dark place in the small barn and buried
themselves into the small pile of straw and hay each entwined with the
other as they slept their death sleep, in the house Tito, who had also
disappeared until the sun rose, along with Bevic, sat and talked over what
had happened, too Tito's knowing eyes, Bevic had no secrets to withhold,
and, as they talked the morning through, Tito saw where the conversation
was heading.

Finally, in a round about way, Bevic got to the question he had been
wanting to ask.

"Do you think he would change me to be like him, and then we could be
together for ever?"

"You would have to ask my Master Bevic, but he is too new to this way of
living, he would need an older drinker to change you or you might die, it
would be best to talk with my Master first."

"Do you think he would do it though, even if he had to get an older drinker
here for the change?"

"Well he has shown you how much he loves you so, I would think he would but
he would want you to make the decision, he would not make it for you as
much as he would like too."

Bevic wriggled a little, his butt was still a little sore after what he and
Paulek had done earlier, even though it had felt so good it was still a
little painful, Bevic listened to Tito attentively, he had already made up
his mind, he could not imagine living without Paulek now that they had
consummated their feelings for each other.

The last rays of the sun sank below the western horizon, all the boys
stirred and stretched as they came awake from their day sleep, Tito and
Bevic were waiting for them as they all emerged from their places of rest,
Paulek ran straight to Bevic and drew him into a long hug, both their faces
glowing with lust and love, it was Pavlik that finally broke them up.

"We have to get word to Sergei, I think I should go, I'm the oldest and
fastest, I can be at the castle in two nights and back here by the fifth
night."

Paulek looked at Pavlik, he had to agree, Pavlik was the most experienced
of them all, as he thought about it Bevic whispered in his ear, although he
should not have bothered as his quietest whisper was still loud enough for
the others superior hearing to take notice of what he said, Paulek leaned
back and looked into his lovers eyes.

"Are you sure that's what you want, you know you will never see the full
sun again as long as we live."

"Yes, it's what I want, I have given it a lot of thought all day, if I have
to lose the sun to gain your love for the rest of my life then I will give
it up gladly."

"Do you know that I can't change you, I'm not old enough yet, I would have
to ask and older drinker to do it so that you are safe."

"Yes, Tito told me but I still want to do it, I want to be by your side
forever."

Paulek turned to Pavlik, with a nod of agreement from all the other boys,
he too agreed.

"Ok, Pavlik, now what do we tell him?"

"Everything, tell him what we have done and what we have found here in the
port, also what should we do with the ship, none of us know anything about
ships or the sea."

"Right then, I will get going now, the sooner the better."

Pavlik turned and gave a hawk a very tight and loving hug before sprinting
off into the night as only a drinker can do, for the rest of the boys they
could now only wait for a reply, Paulek also noticed that the two small
boys never left his brothers side and always seemed to be holding tightly
to his hands, Paulek could only smile, it looked like he had two more
little brothers.

For the next three nights they could do little but talk and play, they kept
their distance from the port and the town around it, Paulek had visited the
ship each night, they had now missed the highest of the neap tides but, as
they now had no where to go and the crew had decided they could not handle
the ship on their own, they sat at the pier and waited, most of them spent
all their time in the taverns and grog shops to while away the days.

It was in the early hours of the third night that the boys first heard, and
then saw, two dark shapes high in the night sky, they appeared to be very
large birds, as they got closer they looked more like a cross between a
bird and a huge bat, under the larger of the two they could make out a pale
figure being held in its talons.

As they drew closer, it became very obvious that they were going to set
down in the farm yard, not knowing who or what they were, all the boys took
up their arms and readied themselves for battle; these huge beasts of the
sky were not going to be an easy fight.

Paulek watched with some little fear, he had never seen anything like these
night beasts, finally, with their huge wings stirring up the dust and dirt
of the yard, the black flying beasts settled on the ground in front of the
boys, Paulek and the others now saw that the pale figure under the beast
was in fact Pavlik, as they stood stunned and watched, the beasts shimmered
and changed into the figures of Sergei and another teen boy whom they had
never seen before, one look at the teen and Paulek knew he was older than
he looked.

Sergei stepped forward and smiled at the boys still in the ready stance.

"Well young Paulek you have got yourself quite the army here, they even
look ready to fight, now this is Stanislaw, he has been a seaman all his
life and knows everything about ships and the sea, he will be your new
Captain on the ship, also I have here a scroll right from the hand of the
King, he has listened to Pavlik's tale and has recommended the following."

Sergei stopped and unrolled the large scroll he had carried.

"From His Majesty King Ivor the 5th to his brave subjects of the night,
henceforth the following persons will be known by the titles written below,
Pavlik Savinski is hereby named commander of the Kings Marshals for the
Port Town of Staveki, Hawk Wolenski is hereby named Lieutenant of the Kings
marshals of the Port Town of Staveki, Paulek Valsec is hereby named
Lieutenant of the Kings Ship as yet to be named and will be under the
command of Captain Stanislaw until such time as the new Kings Ship
`Vengeance' is constructed, herein this scroll will be the pass for
Commander Savinski to take control of all the Kings Marshals now residing
in Staveki, Lieutenant Wolenski will hold and judge all courts in said
town, signed and sealed by his royal hand on this 9th day March 1465."

Sergei rolled the scroll up then passed it to Pavlik.

"This is your authority to clean up this port for the King, the ship will
now be used along the coast of his lands in the search for pirates or any
other undesirables until his new ship is constructed, until then this Port
is under your rule, each year you will be responsible for sending the Kings
tithe in the form of taxes to the Capitol, now Pavlik, time for me to get
back to my own castle, you are now in charge, good luck."

Immediately Sergei changed back into the huge flying beast and took to the
air, within minutes he was only a small black dot in the night sky, from
behind the boys came Milac's voice.

"I would love to be able to do that."

Stanislaw smiled as he turned and looked at Milac.

"You will be able to in about twenty years boy, it takes that long to fully
grow into your new self, now Commander Pavlik, where is this ship you
talked of, perhaps my new lieutenant can take me too it?"

"Paulek will take you too the ship, Captain, I'm going to start thinking
about what needs to be done here in town."

"Come Lieutenant Paulek, let's see our new ship."

Paulek briefly turned and looked into the house, he could easily make out
the sleeping figure of Bevic, he knew he wanted to go and give him one last
hug before going to the port but thought better of it, there would be time
before the sun rose, turning from the open door he led the new Captain
towards the port at a fast pace.

It took no time at all for them to reach the tied ship, as they appeared
out of the dark, they saw four crew patrolling the deck, it appeared that
the Bosun still took his duty seriously, Paulek led the new Captain towards
the lowered gangway, as he stepped on it a deep gruff voice broke the
silence of the night.

"Who goes there, this ship is protected."

"It's me Margate, Paulek; I have the new Captain with me."

"Come aboard Milord, we've been waiting for you."

Once on the deck, Margate took one look at Stanislaw and touched his hand
to his forelock, Margate knew instantly by the Captains youth that he was
another of the drinkers, he had no problems with this as he had been a crew
member on this ship since being taken as a slave many years ago by the
original owner, the Trader, all of the crew had been held by the same
knowledge, the Trader had only one way for the crew members to leave his
service, they had all known that this ship was the last one they would ever
sail but, over the years it had also become a matter of pride to serve on
it for such people.

"Captain, this is Bosun Margate, he has held the crew together while
waiting for you too arrive." Paulek said.

"Thank you Lieutenant, Bosun you are promoted to 1st Mate and will be
responsible for the day watch, this ship is now the property of the King,
the crew are now all members of the Kings Navy and will come under all the
same rules and regulations, now 1st Mate Margate, bring your rowers up on
deck, I assume they are all chained slaves?"

"Yes Captain, all are men and boys condemned to slavery for crimes in the
old Captains country."

"Bring them all up here Mr. Mate."

Margate turned to the deck crew and told them to get the slaves up, it took
nearly half an hour before the bedraggled and dirty slaves were all on
deck, their chains rattling on the steps as they climbed out of the dark
hold, among them were five young boys, they stood dejectedly at the front
of the long row of one hundred rowers.

"Who are the boys, Mr. Mate?"

"As they are too young and small to row Captain, they are worked as water
boys for the rowers when they are at oars."

"I see, and when was the last time the slaves were washed Mr. Mate?"

"The previous Captain had no interest in the lives of his slaves, Captain,
as far as I know they never have been."

"Right, Mr. Mate, Call all hands on deck immediately."

Margate touched his forelock again and answered.

"Yes Sir, Drummer, beat to quarters."

The deck drummer started to beat a fast paced note on his side drum, within
seconds the rest of the crew were running up the gangways and onto the deck
as though there was a fire on board, the men were taken aback when they saw
the two newcomers and all the slaves up on deck in the dark of the early
morning light.

Once they had all been lined up, the Captain stepped forward and looked
them over before setting out his rules, after telling the crew that they
were now in the Kings Navy, he went on to tell them what was going to be
done in the future.

"First are the slaves, in three years time, a new ship will be ready, I
will need a crew of one hundred a eighty men to run her so, from today the
slaves will be freed, you will remain for the next three years as rowers
but will be free to walk the ship, any slave who does not wish to remain
and earn his freedom will be killed immediately, if you put your best into
the next three years, you will receive at the end of your service, the sum
of one copper for every day you are at the oars, at the end of your three
years you will have enough coin to make your own business or resign as free
men for the King. Mr. Mate, you will select a new Bosun from your crew, he
will be responsible for the ship during the night shift, now, which of you
slaves will sign his mark for the three years?"

There was a soft murmuring among the slaves, now they at least had a chance
to survive which they did not have before, every one of them stepped
forward, the rattle of their chains sounding hollow in the still air of the
early morning.

"Mr. Mate, strike the chains and have every slave make his mark in the crew
book, they will then be allowed to wash and use the lye to clean
themselves, the slave hold is to be cleaned thoroughly and set up as extra
crew quarters, I will select two of the boys for duty in the Captains
cabin, have them cleaned properly."

After Margate had touched his forelock once again and began to give the
orders, the Captain turned to Paulek.

"Come Lieutenant, lets have a look at our quarters, knowing the type of man
the Trader was, it is probably more like a brothel than a mans cabin, do
you have a lover or partner yet Mr. Paulek?"

At first Paulek felt his cheeks warm up as he thought about his nights with
Bevic, he also had his brother to think of.

"Ah, yes Captain, we have just begun to know each other, there is also my
little brother, if we could find a place for him I would be very grateful,
I lost him to the Trader and have only just got him back."

"So is your lover one of us, Mr. Paulek?"

"No Captain, he is the owner of the farm back there."

"What will he think of you being away for months at a time?"

"I don't know Captain, I will have to discuss it with him but it is the
Kings wish so I can do little about it."

"That's right Mr. Paulek, it is the Kings wish, well talk it over with him,
I'm sure you will find a suitable way to settle it all, as far as your
brother goes, he can join the crew as a midshipman and lean the trade if he
wishes to do so."

"Thank you Captain, I'm sure he will want that."

They arrived at the door to the main cabin, it was in fact two doors, when
they opened them the sight that met their eyes almost made them laugh, the
cabin, while totally light proof did indeed look like a brothel room, it
was the full width of the ship and could easily have held twenty men, there
was a large table at one end and at the centre a bed large enough to lay
ten men, the floor was strewn with countless cushions and rugs with a lot
of soft wispy curtains falling to the floor all around the walls.

"Indeed Mr. Paulek, a brothel if ever I saw one, that Trader did well for
himself, but then again, those southern men did like girly things, we will
have the crew fix this room for us during the next night, we will divide
this cabin into three smaller rooms, one each for you and your brother, the
other for myself."

Paulek looked around the huge cabin, it could easily be made into three
smaller cabins and still have room to spare, all he needed now was to ask
his little brother about joining the ship and too see what his new love
Bevic wanted to do.

"Well Mr. Paulek, I'm going to stay here and get things in order, you
return to your boy friend and come back tonight, we will start your
instruction in the ways of a ship, let's go and see how our new 1st mate is
doing."

They both returned to the deck, Margate was in the middle of watching the
one time slaves being well washed and scrubbed of their months and for some
of them, years of grime and dirt, the chains were piled in the centre of
the deck, Paulek could easily see where the rough metal of the chains had
caused sores on the ankles and wrists of the rowers, much to his surprise,
the Captain went to each injured man and let a few drops of his blood fall
on the wounds, his blood was so strong that Paulek could see them heal
before his eyes.

"Mr. Mate, did all sign the crew book?"

"Most Captain; we had to toss seven over the side as they refused to stay."

"That was a waste Mr. Mate, in future any and all captives will be held for
our use, we could be at sea for a number of months at a time and will need
their blood, set aside a part of the bilges for cells to hold any we
capture in future."

"Yes Captain, what else would you like us to do?"

"On the next night you will have the carpenters start to alter the main
cabin to my specifications, you will also start to train all the crew in
arms, they will be both sailors and soldiers, detail two of the boys for my
cabin staff, make sure all the new crewmen are well fed and are allowed to
rest for this day, tonight we start to train as crew of the Kings Navy."

Even to Paulek's untrained mind, the ship seemed to have a new feel about
it, the crew were happier and the ex-slaves could now smile at their new
turn of luck, they were given their freedom for only three years as crew,
it was a better chance than the one they had before under the Trader, with
him they only had a slow death too look forward to.

There was only an hour until the sun rose so Paulek left the ship at speed
to return to the farm, he had a lot to discuss with Bevic and his brother
before they went to their day sleep.

When he got back to the farm, Paulek found Bevic newly awoken, he was
sitting at the table with Pavlik and Hawk, they were talking about how
Bevic had lost his lands, as Bevic told them about the council and what
they had been doing, Pavlik's calm face slowly changed to one of anger,
apart from Bevic now being Paulek's lover, the injustice of his situation
only rankled in Pavlik's mind, he had seen it so often that now he just got
mad and started to plan revenge on any who thought they were above the
Kings justice.

The approaching dawn had the boys head towards their sleeping places,
Paulek did not have a chance to talk things over with either of the others,
he would have to do it first thing when he awoke that night, their was a
lot to go over, Tito appeared and started to get breakfast for both he and
Bevic, the Roma boy seemed just as happy as he always was.

At dusk, just before he left for his first full night on the ship, Paulek
called for a meeting of all the boys, Tito and Bevic had occupied
themselves during the day with cleaning and looking for a more permanent
place for the others too sleep during the day, once all the boys were
together, sitting on some hastily dragged logs around a small central fire
in the front of the house, Paulek began the meeting.

"Well my friends, it looks as though we have a new life to start, Milac and
I are going to work on the ship along with Tito who will look after both of
us during the daytime, the only one I am really worried about is you,
Bevic, you know how I feel about you and the thought of being away from you
for months at a time scares me, I want to know what all of you think we
should do from now on?"

Bevic replied first as the others thought about what they wanted for their
future.

"I really would like to go with you Paulek, but you know I have to think
about my land, or what's left of it, it's all I have left of my family, I
too will be lost while you are away but we both need to follow the foot
steps we have selected, I'll always be here waiting for you too return from
each trip and, as much as I love you with all my heart, this is my one and
only home."

They all heard the sob in Bevic's voice as he turned his head away so they
could not see the tears falling, he well knew that he may have just cut
down the one bridge he had for a lifetime of love, try as he might, Bevic
could not stop the tears from falling as he thought about losing his first
love, a gentle pair of arms surrounded his shaking shoulders and his loves
soft whisper entered his ear.

"No matter where I am, I will always have you in my heart, I will always
return to your side regardless of what I have to do too get there."

Bevic leaned into Paulek as Pavlik began to talk.

"Well I have the duty to clean up this port, too me that means we have to
get back what was stolen from you Bevic, the town needs the farms and their
produce as much as they need housing, we both know that there was some
skull duggery done to take your land away from you and your family, that's
the first thing we will attend to, next we have to get our little friends
from the Trader settled, personally I think with a little training some of
you could become part of the night Marshals, you others we will find
something for you in time but for now I want you to start enjoying your
freedom. Hawk is going to be the Judge for those brought to trial, we now
need to find out as much about the council and the wealthiest of the ports
people as we can, perhaps you younger ones can help with this, try to mix
with the street children and find out any gossip they know, it will be a
good start."

All the boys saw the sense in this approach and agreed to follow it all up.

"Now" said Paulek, "What do we do with all that coin we have, there's more
there than we could ever spend, I've thought about this and have decided we
only have two ways to go, one, we just divide it up evenly between all of
us and use it anyway we want or, two we put it into some form of businesses
and let it work for us, we can then all benefit from what the businesses
make, most of us are going to live a long, long time, in the years too come
we could all be wealthy and go our own way if that's what we want, I feel
we should all decide on what we do, it's too big for one person to make the
decision for the rest of us."

"Well." Said Hawk, "I don't see where we have to make a final decision
right now, let's all think on it for a while and then come together and see
what we all think."

All of them agreed and Paulek called the meeting at an end, he gave Bevic a
bone crushing hug and, along with Milac, took off for his new job on the
ship, the others all began to talk about what should be done.

"Hawk and I have to go and visit the council members, Bevic, can you watch
over the other boys for now, I know you're tired so you go to bed when you
think it's time, you other boys listen to Bevic, I want you to protect him
at all costs, he is now your responsibility while we are away, we should
return well before sunrise so look after him until then."

The younger ex slave boys nodded and smiled, they, for the first time in
their short lives, had been given responsibility, no more just taking
orders or being a subject for an abusive Trader to get his own thrills
with, it was as though the younger boys finally had a purpose in life and,
along with the training they were being given, began to feel as though they
had a new purpose, for now it was to protect the human boy Bevic.

Pavlik and Hawk left the small fire and walked into the dark as Bevic
stretched, the young drinkers all looked to him for something to do, he
could only smile at them all and, as though struck by some bright light, he
decided to tell them a fictional story that his mother used to tell him.

It was a story of magical beings along with demons and devils, large
dragons and elves, Bevic almost laughed as he watched the expressions of
the boys as the story unfolded, the two youngest even kept looking over the
shoulder too watch the blackness behind them, finally Bevic felt the long
day sneak up on him, as he came to the end of the story, much to the
disappointment of the boys, he yawned widely and told them he had to sleep,
the boys all clapped at his marvellous story and then checked their
weapons, they were now on duty to protect this human boy while he slept, it
was the first time they had such a heavy responsibility and they were
determined not to fail Pavlik or Paulek.

At the rear of the new council building, the original conspirators sat and
looked at the tall man in the long brown cloak, the hood was pulled over
his head, hiding his face from those in the chairs before him.

"Do you fully understand what you are asking of me, it's not my normal
trade to kill young boys, this job could be done by any street thug, why
call on me and my men?"

The Mayor answered in his usual gruff voice.

"We don't want to use anyone from around here, the less the locals know
about this the better, besides, it's only one young farm boy or, perhaps
two but, they are only boys, we will pay your price in full if the land is
in our hands by tomorrow midday, you can burn the buildings as well if
needed, they are of no use to us."

"The price for my men and I is fifty gold, this is not open for
negotiation, you will pay ten now and the other forty when we have
completed the job, failure to pay will not be an option so don't get any
ideas of trying to weasel out of payment, do you understand Mr. Mayor?"

"We don't go back on any agreement, you will be paid in full on completion
and once the land is in our hands."

The tall man turned and left the small room, he had things to do before
this night was done, unknown to the council members, he had already watched
the farm during the day, he well knew there were only the two boys there,
it would be the easiest fifty gold they would ever earn.

Once the man was well away from the building, the Mayor turned to his
friends.

"Well, once we have that land all we have to do is call the Marshals and
have that man and his friends arrested, there's no way I'm going to pay off
an assassin like him, what do you say?"

The others in the room agreed, after all, what could a criminal like the
assassin do about it, they were the law in the town and nothing he said
would do him any good in the eyes of the law, he would die on the gallows
for killing two innocent farm boys, they felt very pleased with themselves,
it was a good nights work.

The others in the room left and, just as the Mayor and the Secretary were
about to close and lock the door of the council building, two young looking
boys arrived, the eldest looked to be about seventeen, her held himself
with something akin to authority as he stopped the two men from leaving.

"Mr. Mayor, I believe?" The older boy asked.

"Yes, what do you want boy?"

Pavlik unrolled the long scroll much to the disbelief of the two men,
Pavlik proceeded to read it out aloud, the contents soon had both men
beginning to worry, this was a new twist they had not expected, that and
not knowing who these two boys were, made both the Mayor and the Secretary
start to rethink their plans, it was the worst possible time for new
Marshals to appear.

Pavlik finished reading his authority and looked up at the two men.

"From tonight I will take charge of all Marshals, you will open the council
doors and I will select an office, it is to be made ready by tomorrow
afternoon, for now I will send word for all Marshals to gather here to be
told their new duties, Mr. Mayor, if you would be so kind as to lead the
way inside so I can find an office, my friend will go and spread the word
for all the towns Marshals to come here now."

There was little the Mayor could do, his friend the Secretary walked away
towards his home as the Mayor reopened the door and let Pavlik step inside,
the Mayor hoped his wife would hold his dinner for him, his belly was
beginning to feel the pain of emptiness, he hoped this would be over
quickly, he had been lucky to get the assassin away before these new men
turned up, the Mayor sighed and watched as Pavlik began to look through the
offices.

The tall man in the dark cloak looked at the small farmlet below where he
stood hidden by the surrounding trees and bushes, his five men, all as well
trained as himself, lay on their bellies as they too looked at the scene
below them, this looked too easy, two older teens were working around the
house, another handful of very young boys were playing some sort of war
game in front of a small fire, not quite a typical farm scene but there was
nothing to alert the six men that there was any danger in these young boys.

The tall man fingered a black bone medallion that hung around his neck, his
five men also wore the same item, it was the symbol of Temple Trained
Assassins, these men were not to be trifled with, they were the best at
what they did, there services were highly sought after and very expensive
to obtain, 25% of everything they earned was returned to the Temple in
payment for their training.

The tall man led the others back deeper into the bushes, there they set out
their plan of action, it did not have to be too fancy, they were after all
only young boys and, while it went a little against the grain to kill off
young ones, this was their task at hand and the payment was in gold. The
tall man gave his instructions and the others began to fade into the
darkness as silently as they could, within seconds they could no longer be
seen, they had their orders and could now work independently of each other.

The stealthy approach went on, hardly a blade of grass moved or a sound
could be heard, these men had done this so often they were like shadows in
the night, down below the slow moving assassins, the boys were playing a
game of pick stones, there was a lot of half hearted arguing and a lot of
laughing, Tito and Bevic continued to get the house ready for the next
morning, they should soon retire to sleep as the young boys played on.

Without notice, one of the very young black skinned boys whispered into his
brothers ear then giggled loudly, he got up and left the others still
playing by the fire, as he came close to where Bevic and Tito were
finishing off their work, he whispered so softly that the boys were not
sure they heard him.

"Slowly go inside and close the door, don't open it until you hear one of
us call for you."

The young boy looked at them with a frown on his young face, slowly the
boys finished what they were doing and turned and entered the house without
looking back, the young boy giggled loudly again and returned to his
friends, as he sat by his brother, he said.

"Are you sure there are only six of them?"

"Yes, they spread out in a half circle; they are about fifty metres out,
just at the edge of the bush line."

"What do we do now?"

The younger boy looked at the oldest among them and lifted an eyebrow in
askance.

The semi leader of the boys looked at each one; they had little time left
so he had to work quickly.

"You two brothers go into the shadows of the house then use your speed to
get behind those at the far left," turning to one of the others, he said,
"You go out a little then do the same but go to the right end, the rest of
us will continue to play here and distract them, when they attack we all go
for the centre, don't let any of them escape, if you can keep some alive
for Pavlik to question then do so but don't take any chances, we have to
protect those boys, ok, go now."

>From behind the last of the bushes, the tall man watched as two small
black boys held hands and walked towards the side of the house, `it looks
like they are going to bed, that's two less" he thought too himself, as he
watched, another boy rose and went in the other direction and disappeared
into the dark shadow of the house, there were now only three older boys
around the fire, he could see that the boys were armed but only with small
daggers, their blades reflecting the fire light as they sat and talked,
with a hand signal he set his men to work their way further forward, there
was not as much cover but, for well trained assassins, it would be enough,
they would be on top of the boys before they knew it.

When the tall man thought they were no less than ten metres from where the
boys sat, he eased his head up slowly, much to his surprise, the boys were
gone, the fire was flickering its soft light onto an empty space, had he
missed the departure of the three boys, they must have decided to go to bed
as well, it was after all, very late, with a soft whistle, almost as though
he was just breathing out, he rose to his feet, they were well close enough
to make a dash for the house and finish off the boys inside.

Suddenly something caught his ear, both too his left and right came a soft
grunt and then nothing, he turned to his men and was suddenly shocked to
see only two of them stand up, drawing their thin swords, they took the
first step towards the dark house only to be stopped by a young voice
behind them.

"Looking for something, stranger?"

The tall man spun around to see who belonged to the young voice, as he
recognised one of the three from the fire he was just in time to see his
last two companions take a crossbow bolt through the throat, he now stood
alone and could only watch in stunned silence as the six young boys
appeared out of the surrounding darkness, each had a lop sided smile on his
young face but the bright flaming eyes told him he was now in real danger.

The tall mans mind was now in chaos, how could such small boys have
defeated his five well trained assassins so easily, he had heard nothing
and seen even less, it was impossible for such young boys to do what they
had done, his mind now in turmoil he could no longer think straight,
nothing like this had ever happened to him, he had no idea of what to do,
the boys slowly closed in on him until they stood no more than a few metres
away, two of the boys were reloading their crossbows, the three smallest
held only small thin blood soaked daggers, the eldest stood in front with a
long curved sword.

The lack of fear showing in the young boys faces gave him no security at
all, he held his own sword in a defensive pose as he set his feet for
battle, the boys watched him with amusement, they looked almost bored, this
brought a new round of fear into the once top assassin in the Kingdom, his
head still spun with questions, for the first time in his life he felt the
beginnings of fear work inside him.

"Who...who are you, how did you kill my men?"

"Who are we?" the eldest boy asked before smiling at the now scared man,
"We are the protectors of this farm and its people, now lay down your sword
or die, there is no way out unless you tell us who sent you here, if you
tell us we may let you go."

"But; my men?"

One of the small boys smiled at him then tossed his small bloody dagger in
the air and caught it by the very sharp point, "Your men, oh they were
easy." The small boy said as he flipped the dagger back again.

"Enough of this." The older boy said, "Who sent you?"

"It's against our code to tell such things."

The tall man then let out a scream as he felt the cut of four daggers on
his arms and legs, his sword fell to the ground as his hand could not hold
it any longer, someone had severed his right hand at the wrist, he then
looked down and saw that he was kneeling on the grass, a long gash in his
left forearm was bleeding profusely, his left leg had a very deep gash in
the thigh and his right foot was hanging uselessly from a cut tendon, he
was now totally defenceless and bleeding badly.

"Next time you will have no manhood left." The older boy said in a grim
voice.

The man now knew he was totally defeated, the promise of gold would mean
nothing now but it was hard to go back on his long years of training, while
he wanted to save his own life he could not break the ingrained code of the
Temple Assassin, he just shook his head, it was the last thing he knew as
he felt a boy on each side of his neck bite deeply and begin to drink from
him, he felt no more pain but could only see a slow darkness approaching as
they drained him.

The two black boys looked up from their victim, a smile on their faces, "He
tasted good." Said one of them and then giggled, for the next hour the boys
worked to clear away the dead would be assassins, carrying them deep into
the nearby forest, they left the remains for the wild animals, they then
returned to the fire and continued their game, the two boys in the house by
now were well and truly asleep, the fight outside had been in almost total
silence apart from the tall mans dying scream.

On board the ship, Paulek and Milac were surprised to see it a have of
activity, there were rows of ex rowing slaves hauling buckets of fresh sea
water over the side and carrying them down into the hold, from below came
loud voices and the sound of scrubbing as well as more men standing at a
large wooden pump, as they worked the long handles, a flow of smelly dirty
water was sent over the side, it was easily apparent that the ship was
being cleaned from top to bottom, from the aft deck came the sound of saws
and hammers, the 1st mate was everywhere pushing and cajoling the crew to
work harder, captain Stanislaw stood on the aft deck looking at rough hand
drawn charts, beside him were some strange instruments that he occasionally
took up and looked up into the dark night sky, he would then put them down
and make marks on the chart.

Paulek and Milac went up to the Captain, after a smile and greeting, the
Captain began to show them what he was doing and began to teach them what
to look for and how to do the figuring so they would now where the ship was
once they were out on the open sea, it was Milac that seemed to understand
the quickest, for Paulek it was more to do with the way the ship was built
and how things worked to make it go.

Captain Stanislaw, being well versed in detecting the likes and dislikes of
all manner of men, then began to teach the boys in the things they were
most interested in, he had long held the belief that not all young men
liked navigation and not all like to see the workings of a ship, for the
next four hours he had them try, repeat and then be tested on what he had
told and shown them, both boys proved fast learners and the Captain was
glad he had them on board.

In the early hours of the morning, the rest of the crew was well asleep
apart from a skeleton crew to guard the deck, the Captain had taken the two
boys below and shown them their new cabins, Milac could not believe he
would have his own cabin, granted it was smaller than his brothers but well
big enough for a young boy and the little he owned, Paulek's cabin had an
extra alcove with a small bunk set in the side, this was for Tito, all the
cabins were well insulated against any light getting through during the
day.

The Captains cabin was of course bigger than both the boys put together but
he also had two small alcoves for his two boys to sleep in, on one side was
a huge bed, a left over from the Traders cabin, in the middle of the cabin
sat a large heavy desk with many drawers and the walls were lined with
other cabinets holding all manner of things including weapons, the long row
of small windows that ran the width of the cabin were somehow blacked out
with a type of paint or tar, there was now way light could penetrate during
the day.

The Captain sat the two boys down at the desk, he then pulled out a large
sheet of paper with drawings on it, from behind them came the soft snore of
the two cabin boys, Captain Stanislaw showed Paulek and Milac the new
uniforms they would wear as junior officers of the Kings Navy, the crew
would also now be dressed in the same colours so that everyone knew who
they sailed for.

Paulek and Milac were very impressed with the designs, the men would be
dressed in a type of short sleeved smock with blue stripes across it, their
pants would be of white canvas with a wide black belt, their hair, the
Captain said, could be shaved completely or if they wanted to grow it long
it had to be tied back in a cue, the 1st officer and the Bosun would also
wear a black leather hat so everyone knew who they were, for the two boys
there were the same white canvas pants and striped smock but they also had
a blue short jacket along with the black hat, for battle times, the men
would have thick leather shoes with small spikes in the soles to help them
keep their feet when the decks were slippery with blood.

The Captain then took out another fine drawing and smiled as he watched the
reactions of the two boys, it was the plan of the new ship "Vengeance" it
was like nothing the boys had ever seen, the first thing they noticed was
that it had so many sails instead of only the three lanteen ones that the
usual ships had, all three masts were covered with smaller square sails,
the ship was narrower and longer than the normal bireme or trireme that
were so common, there were also no place for rowers, instead there were
small square doors along the sides, it looked to be a very fast ship
perhaps it would even be as fast as a man running.

"What are these windows for?" Paulek asked the Captain.

"Ah yes, those are for something new that has just been invented in the far
east, they are called `Carronades', they use a form of Greek fire called
`Gunpowder', it throws a big lead ball called `Shot' they are very
dangerous I hear, there are also some other arms that the eastern people
have invented called `Rockets', they fly through the air and set fire to
another ship, I have not seen them yet but am told they are very effective
in a fight, this ship will be the most modern and fastest one ever made."

The boys could only look at the drawing and wonder what new marvels they
would see in their new profession, until then they had a lot too learn and
only one month to do so before the next neap tides would allow them to sail
out of the harbour, an hour before dawn they set their feet towards the
farm, it was time to get ready for the daylight and their sleep cycle, they
both hoped all was well at the farm, they could not wait to hear from
Pavlik and Hawk.

When Paulek and Milac arrived at the farm, they were surprised to see all
the boys in a circle around the front door, beside them stood Bevic and
Tito, there appeared to be a deep discussion going on among them all, from
behind Paulek he heard a pair of fast approaching footsteps, it was easy to
define them as Pavlik and Hawk, Paulek gave a sigh of relief, all his
friends were back together, as he and his brother had to go back to the
ship to stay on the next night, he thought it may be the last time for some
while before they were all together again.

As the four older boys arrived, a silence came over the others around the
front door; Paulek watched as Pavlik looked around then lifted his nose to
take a deep sniff, Pavlik then turned to the younger boys that had stayed
at the farm.

"I smell fresh blood, what happened?"

The oldest of the boys spoke up.

"We were attacked by six assassins last night, we got them all and nothing
happened to Bevic or Tito, we put them out in the forest for the wild
animals, I tried to question the leader but he told us nothing."

"You all did very well, I'm glad I left you here to guard those two, from
now on that will be your main duty, you two older ones will start to come
with Hawk and I to train as Night Marshals, the Marshals they have in town
are pitiful to say the least, most are in the pay of the Mayor and his
cronies, I don't trust any of them."

When Pavlik had stopped talking, the younger boys lifted their heads with
pride, for the first time in their short lives they had been told they had
done well, it lifted their spirits and, even though there were now some
yawns appearing, they felt truly free from the influence of the Trader for
the first time.

For the next thirty or so minutes, everyone told about their day and, it
was only the lightening of the sky that made them head for their respective
beds, Tito and Bevic took over the watching duties for the day, it was
going to be another long night ahead of the boys when they awoke.



TBC.


Artcart65@vodafone.co.nz