The Duel

"Gentlemen, I have found myself the reluctant owner of a slight ship, good to no one of decent purpose, and I will make it available to any who can match the sum I was owed for it when the previous buyer was found in the harbor this morning-light, very much beyond the need for his own ship or anything else.  Who will offer?"

Mina watched the man.  He was dressed well, but he wore a sword only because the fashion demanded it.  He kept minding it, and forgeting where it was when he turned here and there to grin at the crowd.  He was also very drunk.  Devryn smiled, pleased with the success of his last run and amused at the show.

The man had another with him, taller, more comfortably armed.  He looked over the room, into the dark corners, and Mina shook off a chill when he found her and paid closer attention.  He was familiar.  She frowned and sat back into the shadow to think.  The wall on the far side of the room was actually the outer wall of this level of Lantry.  It was as close as Mina could get to being within Lantry again.  The man was leaned against that wall, scanning the crowd.  For him, that wall was a defense.  And he obviously beleonged within its gates.  

Someone made an offer for the boat, and the room laughed before the seller could answer.  "Come now.  Is there no one interested?  My price will hardly cover my losses in building her."

This man belonged at the bottom of a sealed barrel.  Mina could not resist.  "Your price is high, for a desperate man.  I'll wager you lost the profits at the gaming table before you discovered he was dead, and would not pay you."  Mina grinned as the man's red face answered her, and the room enjoyed itself at his expense.

He picked her out of the crowd.  He was used to seeing women here, but not dressed in a shirt and trousers with tall boots to tuck them in like a sailhand herself.  "Lady, this is hardly a pleasure craft for splashing in the harbor."  He named off the facts about his boat as if he was describing an old lover to a friend.  "You could hardly sail her."

Mina bristled.  It was not as much his words as his manner, but the quicker of the observers could feel the duel in the air.  "I could do so if I chose.  I'll give you half what you ask, since you believe I am only half a sailhand."

"You insult me, if you believe I would sell to you."

The crowd was interested, now.  Mina played the man for laughs.  "And now he says my gold is worthless."

A smattering of shouts.  The man strutted around his table.  "Why should I think otherwise?"  He had to take his eyes off her face long enough to untangle his sword.

"Because you need the money, and I need the ship."

The man laughed at her.  He was in a good mood, for a man digging his own grave.  "You have not been long in Lantry, if you believe you will escape here without a challenge."

Mina smiled.  "The challenge to sail the ship, or the challenge to see you on the dueling court?  Either suits me well enough."
He gaped at her.  He knew she was right; the duel could stand.  He also knew she would win.  He looked for advantage.  "You're not worth killing, but you might be worth marking, to teach you a lesson.  Very well.  We duel.  Your weapon and mine, without coats to hide your pretty tears in."

Mina stood up and shed her coat.  Devryn was amused.  He knew better than to doubt her actions.  She answered him in the form of the duel.  "Three marks, then."

Terms were settled, one at a time.  The center of the room cleared.  Her opponent was either gentleman enough that he would not allow her to embarrass herself in the public street, or coward enough that the dueling court was too good for him.  Mina suspected which, but smiled in the face of his terms.  They agreed, or he demanded and she nodded, attentive student accepting a dressing down from one of her betters.  Behind her she could hear one of their shipmates pounding Devryn on the back.  She did not dare turn around, for fear she would laugh.

The tall man sat behind his employer for as long as he could.  When he stood up, he seized the older man by the shoulder.  "Enough.  You have named your terms and she has accepted them.  Therefore she can name the prize, and you are obliged to accept."
Mina could barely hear the words, but the timbre was familiar.  Devryn was still coughing.

The man came forward in his shirt sleeves, which were very white.  His sword fit his hand in the way his fencing master had told him it should.  "What prize then, if you prevail?"    

Mina drew her own weapon, weighing it easily in her hand.  "Halve the price for the ship.  Half of that on discovery that it exists, and half to be paid when she and I return from our first voyage.  Three marks, three terms."

He nodded numbly.  She had gotten the better of him already, and they had not crossed swords.  Where had she learned the terms and speech of the duel?  She did not look like a member of any class Lantry allowed to duel, with or without the Governor's Sanction.  It worried him that his second, standing behind him, was quiet.  "I am told that I must accept your words, but I may find another buyer for the ship in your absence."

Mina shrugged.  "Be my guest.  He will be disappointed."
They circled.  Mina watched, measuring his stride and counting the steps his fencing master had advised.  Their blades met.  Hers slid in while he was counting out his retreat and marked him on the chest.
Mina ticked off his failings with her parries.  He left a mark on her arm that did not break the skin.  Bored, Mina stepped in, marked him once on each cheek, and neatly disarmed him before he could hit himself in the face with his own sword.

Devryn and the tall man faced each other, and declared the duel at an end.  The shipbuilder gingerly counted the marks and nodded once.  "Take her to the ship.  Bring me her gold in the morning."

The tall man's name was on the tip of her tongue.  He let her stand for a few moments in the admiration of the crowd.  Mina sheathed her sword and gave them a flourishing bow before she led the man out of the drinking room and downhill toward the water.