Chapter 3
The ladies and I hurried through the rest of our breakfasts and then rushed up to our suites to change into more appropriate clothing for some weapons training.
I dressed in thick, sturdy linen pants and a simple cotton shirt with short sleeves that reminded me a little of a pirate shirt. It wasn’t quite as puffy or ruffly as something Captain Hook might have worn.
As I got ready, I thought back on the man who’d designed my new crossbow.
Eliath had been burned by King Oberis in the past. He’d been commissioned by the previous king to design weapons for the crown, and then Oberis had taken all the designs and refused to pay Eliath for his invaluable work.
We’d stumbled upon him on our journey to a larger town in one of my earliest attempts to win over the people of my new nation. Eliath had been the only person to remain in his village after it had been raided by bandits and mostly destroyed.
He’d been a bit standoffish in the beginning, but ever since I’d convinced him I was nothing like my predecessor, and I’d actually paid him for his work, he’d really come around.
Ever since he’d moved into the castle and begun working directly with my Master of Arms, the life had returned to his eyes, and he seemed to actually be enjoying his work again.
I’d been itching to learn how to use a crossbow pretty much since day one in Nalatria, but Palchur had heavily suggested I get a weapon custom-made to make it easier. It had been hard to wait for it, but the time had finally come, and I felt like a kid on Christmas morning.
“Are you ready?” Tanell asked as she gazed at our reflections in the mirror.
She was wearing a white cotton blouse with a little tie at the neck and a pair of brown leather pants that hugged her ass perfectly, and I had to resist putting my hands all over her. Her golden-blonde hair had been braided and twisted up into a bun at the crown of her head.
“You look beautiful,” I said. “As always.”
“Why, thank you,” she giggled. “But that doesn’t answer my question.”
“Yes,” I laughed. “I’m ready. Shall we?”
“Mmm.” Tanell nodded.
“About time.” Yori grinned. “I’ve been ready for ten minutes!”
“You were ready before we even came up here,” I pointed out.
The clothes Yori had dressed in that morning had already been plenty appropriate for our training session. She wore straight-leg linen pants that were pretty similar to mine, and a close-fitting tunic made of soft olive-green cotton.
“What about Serra?” Tanell asked, and her blue eyes darted around the room. “Is she ready?”
“Yes!” Serra called from the sitting room.
My ladies had all had their own bedchambers in our private apartments before I’d become king. As our relationship had grown and become more intimate, they’d begun sleeping in my room with me, but they each kept their rooms, both for a place to have some alone time and to keep their many belongings.
Serra’s bedchamber had pretty much become a massive walk-in closet, and most of her gowns and clothes were on full display now. They were hung on hangers from the curtain rods, bedposts, and other furniture, but it was all very tidy and organized.
Yori’s room was a little more of a disaster, and it often looked like a tornado had ripped through.
Her clothes were usually tossed haphazardly on the bed and floor alike, and the few gowns she owned hung lonely in the closet.
The maids could hardly keep up with her habit of tossing things wherever she felt like in the moment.
“Come on!” Yori interrupted my thoughts. “I want to see Ken with his new weapon.”
“Alright,” I chuckled. “Let’s go.”
Yori practically raced out of our apartments, and we met up with Carissa in the corridor. She looked incredible, and it was an effort to keep my mouth closed when I saw her.
Her wavy black hair was pulled back from her face in a half-updo.
She was wearing tight black leather pants and a black shirt that fit snugly to her frame.
I was certain there was a tactical advantage to not having a bunch of loose fabric around her body, but the way her outfit fit her was kind of distracting.
“Are you excited for your new weapon?” Carissa asked as we continued walking.
“I am,” I said. “I’ve been wanting a crossbow for a while, and Eliath’s designs are next-level.”
“I have to agree,” Carissa said. “The throwing daggers he designed for me are exceptional. I’ll be glad to have an opportunity to thank him for his work.”
Yori and Carissa fell into a conversation about the pros and cons of throwing daggers versus throwing axes, and I chuckled at their animated chatter.
We headed out of the castle and around to where the smiths’ forges were.
I’d provided Eliath with a suite in the wing where all my Masters worked and lived, but he spent a lot of his time out with the smiths when he wasn’t locked away in his office and working on his designs.
It made perfect sense, after all, Eliath was a very hands-on man, much like myself. He liked to see the whole process through from his first sketches to the finished product. I suspected he was also able to learn about what could and couldn’t work for weapons from the smiths.
Eliath and Dalgus were in the building where the primary forge was located. The steady bang of a smith’s hammer greeted us right before the intense heat, and I spotted Eliath through the open door.
He had an elegant crossbow in his hands and was admiring Master Dalgus’ fine craftsmanship.
“Eliath!” I shouted over the noise of the forge.
His head lifted as he looked up at me, and his white beard spread with a friendly grin. He brought the crossbow with him out of the smith shop and joined the women and me outside in the pleasant summer sunshine.
“Your Majesty,” he said.
“Please, Eliath,” I said with a light roll of my eyes. “Call me Ken.”
“Ah, yes,” Eliath chuckled. “Ken. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get used to that, but I’ll keep trying.”
I chuckled and eyed the beautiful weapon in his hands.
“Is that mine?” I asked without any attempt to hide my eagerness.
“It certainly is, Y–” Eliath stopped himself. “Ken. Would you like to try it out?”
“I would.” I grinned.
“I had one of the apprentices set up some targets for us,” he said, and he gestured around to the open area beside the line of forges. “Shall we?”
I nodded and motioned for him to lead the way. Eliath walked about twenty yards over to a simple cloth target strung over a hay bale. A series of concentric rings had been painted on the cloth in blue, and the bullseye was a bright red.
“The crossbow has been specifically designed for maximum efficiency for a person of your height, weight, and strength,” Eliath said.
He took about five minutes to explain in greater detail all the parts of the weapon.
He showed me how to lock the nut, pull the string back, and load a bolt into the flight groove.
Then we went over some tips and tricks about how to hold the crossbow, aim, and properly squeeze the trigger for the cleanest, most accurate shots.
“Would you like to try firing now?” Eliath asked with an excited spark in his brown eyes.
“I think I’m ready.” I nodded.
“Woo!” Yori cheered. “Go, Ken! You’ve got this!”
Serra smiled sweetly at me, and I was glad to see her color was back to normal after feeling so anxious at breakfast. Tanell clapped along with her, and Carissa had her hands folded politely behind her back while she watched me with attentive eyes.
What an audience. My heart suddenly kicked into a faster pace as I stepped up to face the target at a range of about twenty yards.
“Now the crossbow has a longer range than this,” Eliath explained. “But this is a good place to begin. Then, as you become more comfortable with it, you can move back to increase the difficulty of your training.”
“What’s the maximum range on this thing?” I asked.
“I’d say no more than two hundred yards,” Eliath said with a little grimace.
“Anything more than that, and you’re just not going to get the impact you’re looking for.
It will take training and practice before you have true accuracy at such ranges, however.
For now, I recommend getting comfortable with the weapon. ”
I nodded my understanding, took a deep breath, and studied the cloth target.
Eliath took several steps back to stand near the ladies, and I tried not to let myself get worked up about being watched.
I planted my feet like Eliath had shown me, squared my shoulders to the target, and raised the weapon. Eliath had designed the weapon with tiny iron sights like a modern pistol, and I steadied my breathing as I stared down at my target and squeezed the trigger.
There was zero recoil. It surprised me for about a tenth of a second, but then I realized that made perfect sense because there wasn’t any combustion like a firearm.
The bolt sailed through the air, pierced the target on the largest ring, and sank almost all the way up to the fletching.
“Woo! Yeah!” Yori shouted and clapped her hands thunderously.
“Amazing, Ken!” Tanell added.
“Most people completely miss the target on their first try,” Carissa said with laughter in her tone.
“Really?” Serra asked in surprise.
“Oh, yes,” Carissa said. “Aiming can be very difficult for some people.”
I turned over my shoulder to look at the women, and they were all wearing proud smiles. Eliath also looked rather pleased at my first shot as he came over to assist me in reloading the crossbow.
“I can do better,” I said to him.
“I agree.” He nodded. “Ready to go again?”
“Yeah,” I said.
Eliath showed me again how to use the cocking rope to pull the string back, and then he locked the nut in place and handed it back to me.
“Go ahead and load the bolt as I showed you,” he said.
I laid the bolt in place and looked to him for his approval. Eliath nodded and smiled before he stepped away again. My next shot hit the third ring in, and the reaction and praise from my small audience were even louder this time.