Savage (5 page)

BADLANDS

THE fire crackled and spit sparks into the cool evening air as Bazur waited for the fire to burn down to cooking coals. The trip to defend Angora’s shipment of diamonds had been a success, and he was glad to be home. The royal guards were pleasant enough while he accompanied them, but them seemed equally happy to see him leave.

Nestled into a small canyon, Bazur’s home was a simple yet comfortable dwelling. A limestone cave that nature had cut into the canyon wall. Bazur had since carved further into the rocks, linking his cave with another that was further into the rocks. Between the two connected caves, Bazur had a large roomy dwelling, cool during the hot desert days and easily heated during the nights. Strategically placed holes in the ceiling, carved at an angle to maximize efficiency, allowed in plenty of afternoon sunlight and provided ventilation for his fires. The small canyon also had a natural spring that provided a small amount of water year round. By carving a small well into his cave, Bazur had an ample supply of water at all times, a critical necessity for living in the badlands.

As he cleaned and prepared his dinner, a couple jackrabbits he’d caught earlier in the day, Bazur waited for his guest. While checking his traps, Bazur had noticed a single traveler at a distance coming towards his canyon. The canyon, part of a larger collection of desert canyons that filled the northern part of the badlands, was not on any trading routes. Nor was it near any watering holes aside from his own. The traveler could only be coming to see him. Why was the question. Did they wish a good beating? His heart grinned at the thought.

When a shadow crossed the entrance to the cave, Bazur called out, “Come in. Supper is not quite ready.”

“Supper? I was hoping you’d offer me a drink. Walking across the badlands is thirsty work.”

Bazur turned from his work. Kyra. It was a mild surprise to have the beautiful blonde thief showing up at his home. She’d never ventured into the badlands to meet him before. On the occasions where they had business, she normally left word in Pera. Not that Bazur minded. Kyra was not only beautiful, she was smart and full of fire. He would enjoy her company; she was a strong female with a tongue as sharp as any sword. She would have made a fine orc. “What brings you to the badlands? I presume you didn’t walk all this way to try my roast rabbit.” Bazur pointed to the baked clay cups sitting on one of his shelves.

Kyra grabbed a cup and sauntered over to the well. She slowly leaned over and scooped up a cup of water. Her taut and athletic body easily stretched out, showing off her well-formed ass and shapely legs.

Bazur watched Kyra’s performance with a mixture of arousal and amusement. He’d seen her use her sexuality to get things from other men, but she’d never turned her charms on him before.
She must really need something
, thought Bazur as he took the pieces of rabbit from the marinade bowl and skewered them. Satisfied that the coals were now perfect, he placed the rabbit skewers across a cooking stand he’d built from old sword blades. Bazur glanced at Kyra. She was leaning back against the cave wall watching him. “You know you don’t have to do that.”

“Do what?” asked Kyra.

“Seduce me to get what you want.”

Kyra grinned. “That obvious, am I? What if I was seducing you for my own pleasure?”

“You didn’t walk from Pera to get a little physical attention. What is it that you need?” Whatever it was, it was important enough that she felt the need to seduce him into doing it. Their previous work together had been simple, he’d provided security while she did whatever it was she was doing, which usually meant stealing something or reading something so she could create a forgery later. This had to be something big, something he wouldn’t want to do.

She put down the water cup and sat down across the fire from Bazur. “When is the last time you’ve been to Draisha?”

Draisha. Bazur, in the four years he’d lived in the badlands, had only been to the kingdom twice. The first time he’d been working for an Azmarinian trader as a bodyguard until a pair of Draishan City guards picked a fight with him in a bar. After Bazur was done with the two city guards, his employer decided he couldn’t afford to have the city guards on his bad side. The city guards controlled the trade market and required bribes for foreign traders to enter the kingdom. With Bazur as his guard, the bribes would’ve been abhorrent. The second trip to Draisha had been to deliver a document to a forgery expert. That was the first time Bazur and Kyra crossed paths. “You were there the last time I was in Draisha. They don’t like my kind there.”

“Your kind? You mean big aggressive fighters with a chip on their shoulder?”

Bazur laughed. She didn't have the right of it, but he wouldn't refuse the compliment. Though he didn't go looking for a trouble, he would never refuse to satisfy it should it find him. He was half orc after all. “Perhaps you are right. Now tell me what you are stealing.”

“Actually, this is far worse than stealing. This is a legit job.”

Bazur eyed Kyra. Now he was curious. To his knowledge, she’d never had a legit job. “Why on earth would you take a legitimate job, and what does that have to do with me?”

Kyra tossed Bazur a brooch.

Bazur’s eyebrows raised as he studied the brooch. It was an emblem of the Astar family, used by their representatives. The royal brooches were not randomly handed out. “Where did you steal this?”

“I didn’t steal it,” said Kyra with a slight tone of indignation in her voice. “You know, I am not only a thief. As it happens, Prince Valentine handed me that brooch himself, along with this one.” Kyra opened the flap on her tunic, revealing her own brooch. “You and I are now official representatives of the royal family. We have nearly unlimited authority in Draisha.”

Kyra and himself official representatives of the royal family? Had the royal family lost its collective minds?

“I can see what you are thinking. I am not that kind of thief. I am not going to take advantage of this to steal from the royal family. I am going to attempt to do this job straight. However, I need a partner I can trust. I need you Bazur.”

Bazur shook his head. “What would you need me for? I am no official.”

Kyra smiled. “Nor am I. You and I are going to be investigators. Someone is messing with Prince Valentine’s business associates, trying to erode support for the prince. Prince Valentine wants us to stop the attacks and figure out who is behind them.”

“Sounds like a job for the city constables.” Going to Draisha meant being surrounded by people. Exactly the type of job he didn’t want. Even worse, an investigator would have to converse and be friendly with people. Why did she think he would be a good fit for this job? It seemed an unlikely match.

Kyra scoffed. “You know as well as I do that the Draishan city constables are available to the highest bidder. If our mystery suspect has any influence with them, they will never find an answer.”

Bazur rubbed his chin as he pondered the crazy idea of being a royal investigator. “I suppose you are right about the city constables. But why would you want me as a partner? There are plenty of sellswords in Draisha that have contacts in the underworld of Draisha. I’m an outsider. Hell, one look at me and they know I’m an outsider.” Being half-orc, Bazur had a particular look, not quite human not quite orc. His skin tone and facial features were mostly human with the exception of his overgrown incisors, which were small by orc standards, but marked him as half-blood more than any other feature. His dark hair and bright blue eyes were traits he inherited from his father. His powerful frame and height came from his orc blood.

“I’m not the first person that Prince Valentine has contracted for this job. He has hired three separate investigators, all men with skills and knowledge of the city. The type of men you would automatically think of for investigating such crimes… All three are dead or missing. That is why the prince wants us. He wants a different approach. And I want you because you are an outsider. I am going to need protection. I have no intentions of being the fourth dead royal investigator. If I can’t pry information out of suspects with flashes of tit or batting my eyes, you can scare the information out of them.”

“So I am the muscle.” Bazur nodded to himself as he said it. He was always up to play that part if it paid well enough. That he got do so with Kyra was a double bonus. Kyra was smart as a whip and as likely to figure out any clues as any real investigator, and she certainly had the ability to use her attractiveness to make men tell her what she wanted. It never ceased to amaze Bazur to watch Kyra lay on the charm. He’d only seen it a few times including now, but each time had been an eye opening learning experience in the powers of female persuasion. He’d known enough women over the years to not be a babe in the woods, but Kyra was on a whole new level, no woman he’d ever known was as attractive or as seductive. As for his own suggested role, Bazur knew few, if any, sellswords in Draisha would be able to intimidate suspects as well as he could. Humans feared orcs, even half-orcs like Bazur. That and Bazur’s reputation in the badlands as a dangerous warrior would give Kyra an advantage when dealing with suspects who didn’t fall for her charms. “I would hate to see you become the fourth dead investigator, Kyra. I will think about it and tell you in the morning.” In truth, he was ready to say yes, but with a woman like Kyra, it was best to make her wait. He had to prove he wasn't so easily susceptible to her charms.

“That is fair. But I was wanting to go over the prince’s notes on the attacks tonight. No prying eyes looking over our shoulders here.”

“After dinner. First we eat. In the basket by the wall are two bapa fruit. Grab them.”

While Kyra grabbed the two large desert fruits, Bazur removed the rabbit skewers from the fire. He grabbed his only two clay eating bowls and filled them with the pieces of rabbit. When Kyra handed him the bapas, Bazur pried the fruit open and squeezed the juice onto the rabbit pieces. With a practiced hand, he peeled the prickly fruit and added the chunks of fruit flesh to the bowls. Done with the preparation, he handed Kyra her bowl.

Kyra eyed the offering with a questioning look. “I’ve never seen rabbit prepared that way before.”

Bazur shrugged. “The badlands provide ample food for one who knows what to look for. However, it is often a strange assortment. I’ve been trying different combinations of dishes since I entered the badlands. Some regrettable, others quite edible.”

Kyra put a chunk of the rabbit in her mouth. At first, her lips puckered at the sour bapa juices, but the sweet and spicy seasoned rabbit quickly overwhelmed her taste buds. She looked at Bazur in surprise. “That is probably the best tasting rabbit I’ve ever had. I’m sorry for doubting your culinary skills, Bazur.”

Bazur grinned. It had taken many disastrous attempts to perfect that recipe. He’d had many of nights where he couldn’t stand his own cooking. However, moments like this, where he could share his passion for creating unique and flavorful dishes, was worth all the effort.

When they finished the meal, Bazur took Kyra’s bowl and gave them both a good cleaning.

While Bazur cleaned, Kyra took out Prince Valentine’s notes and started to study them.

Bazur watched Kyra reading the journals. He could almost see her brain working. Each nod of her head, or quizzical tilt, was like a map of her understanding of the problem. From the number of times her head tilted, it was obvious that she was finding more questions than answers. When she was really focused on an idea, Kyra would bite her bottom lip. Bazur thought back to the first time he’d met her. He’d been delivering documents when they were attacked by a band of bandits attempting to steal the documents for themselves. The bandits had not been prepared to face a warrior like Bazur, and the fight didn’t go well for them. During the entire fight, the young woman he’d been sent to deliver the documents to just stood there watching. She didn’t try to run away or fight. When a bandit got too close, she deftly sidestepped so Bazur was between her and the bandits. When the battle was over, Bazur asked the young woman why she didn’t run away. Her answer was that she’d watched the first attack of the bandits and decided that the bandits were not a match for him. She also had gambling debts and needed the income she would get from the documents Bazur was carrying. Bazur had been impressed by the young woman barely out of her teens. She had a calculating mind and showed no fear. That she was very attractive had not gone unnoticed either. For a human woman, she was average height, perhaps a bit smaller, but she had that wiry athletic look of someone who was deceptively strong. She certainly hadn’t been what Bazur had expected from a document forger. The years since then had been kind to Kyra. She still had that athletic body but her womanly curves had developed. She still had the bright eyes that sparkled in the right light, but now there was more wisdom behind them, making her even more intriguing.

“Are you going to stare at me all night, or are you going to help me figure this out?” asked Kyra.

Bazur had been so caught up in his reminiscing about the beautiful thief that he hadn’t noticed she’d stopped reading and was watching him as he watched her. “How can I help? You are much smarter than I.” Bazur decided it was safest to just pretend he hadn’t been caught staring at her and keep the conversation focused on the work.

“Don’t give me that false modesty ‘I’m a big dumb orc’ crap. I know you can read, and I know you know the badlands better than I. Many of the attacks have happened in the badlands or nearby. Maybe you can see the pattern.”