Fifteen #3
"She was so out of his class, but when you left, everyone was afraid to step in and make a play for her, so he did.
I sometimes wonder if I inspired him," he said and turned to give Jocelyn a kiss.
"Anyway, he won her heart handily and worked hard to get the king's approval.
Still works hard. He's one of our better commanders, now, and has done quite well when he's had to go out into the field. "
"Good to know."
"I'm surprised you're not asking questions about your third child, the one who isn't here."
"Let's just say, I've been clued in, and I suspect I'll be tracking somebody down and having words with him in the near future. I also suspect that I'm going to be getting an earful soon enough."
"Perceptive."
"Fixing problems is half of what I do," I said with a shrug.
"What's the other half?"
"Don't ask," I said with a snort.
Theo drifted by at one point, said hello to his half-sister, and even called me 'Father', which surprised me.
Not long after that, we were shown to our seats in the dining room.
I was surprised to find myself sitting across from the king and next to the queen.
Suzona was sitting across from the queen and next to the king.
We all rose when they came in after we were seated. The king definitely looked older than when I'd been here last, nineteen years ago, as did the queen. They had to be in their late 60s by now, I figured.
I seated the queen, as it seemed only polite.
"So, Will, how do you like our fair city?" the queen asked as I sat down.
"It's still a very lovely place."
"I must say that several of us were surprised when you showed up; none of us thought that one such as yourself would have any interest in your offspring."
I smiled back at her. "Yes, a fair number of people have made that mistake over the years since I was here last."
"Oh? You have more children, then?"
I nodded. "A fair number. It would seem there are more than a few women who appreciate a man who will do whatever he must to protect his women and children, and yes, correct them when necessary."
"Ah, so you believe in discipline."
"I've had to kill too many people who were never taught that there are things one can not do if you want to live in a civilized society. That there are consequences for breaking the rules, breaking the law."
"Oh?"
"Well, I am a god's champion, after all, and one of my wives is the queen of a rather large country that I've helped her with many times, and gone to war to protect.
" I shrugged. "I deal with a lot of unpleasant situations because someone has to, otherwise what would happen to our people? Their lives?"
The queen smiled at me. "That almost sounds rehearsed."
"I'm not slow, Your Majesty. I understand that there are certain customs and forms that must be observed. I try to be well-mannered and well-behaved. If I suspect someone is dealing with a difficult situation or problem, rushing in isn't going to improve matters."
"As my husband would say, 'observant'."
"I'm also not big on assigning blame after the fact. I'm more the 'solve it and move on' type."
"Pragmatic, too."
"Maybe, I don't know. So tell me, is the entirety of your kingdom this single island? Or are there more? I never got the chance to find out the last time I was here."
"Oh, there are over a dozen islands in our kingdom, though this is one of the larger ones."
I'd delivered my message. I didn't know whether the king had heard it or not, but for now, I'd much rather hear about the history of the place and whatever else the queen wanted to discuss.
As dinner continued, we talked less, but there were a couple of conversations across the table with the king. When we got to dessert, however, the conversation changed a little.
"So, were you a champion when you fought my man here last time?"
"Yes and no, Your Majesty."
"Oh? How's that?"
"I'm not human in my champion form, and Stephanie didn't want it known that we were champions. So I fought him as a human, not as a champion."
"My man was an experienced fighter, as I recall."
"With all due respect for the dead, I'd fought tougher."
"Oh? When?"
"When leading my wife's heavy foot into battle. When taking the cities of our enemies." I shrugged.
"Still, I have to wonder how much of your last performance was because you're a champion, and not because you're any better than my man was."
I sighed and pushed back my chair. I stood up, took off my suit jacket, and draped it over the back of the chair, then my tie as I kicked off my shoes.
"Okay, where is he, and when do we fight?"
"Why are you disrobing?"
"Because I don't want to ruin my clothes," I said. Undoing my belt, I dropped my pants, then took them off and draped them over the chair. I was standing in only my boxers now, and I noticed I was getting a lot of appreciative looks.
"Well, now that you mention it, Korbano, our goddess' champion, is here to test your mettle."
I looked up as a man in medium armor with a sword and a small shield stepped into the room, in the larger open area where I'd fought the last time. I just walked towards him, grabbing the first sword off the rack as I passed it. It was a short sword, but that was fine with me.
"Apologies, Goddess, I'll try not to hurt him too badly."
"Oh, I don't think you'll win so easily this time, Will!
" Korbano said with a laugh just as I shifted into my champion form.
I'll admit, the gasp behind me was rather gratifying, and Korbano charged as my speed kicked in.
I blocked his attack, hip-checked his shield, and then punched him in the face so hard I dented his helmet.
"Just surrender already," I said, circling to the right.
He attacked again, and we crossed swords a few times.
He didn't fall for the hip-check this time, so I swapped sword hands and punched him in the shoulder after every parry or block.
When I stopped suddenly, and he didn't stop as quickly, I grabbed his shield with both hands, after dropping my sword, and ripped it off his arm.
I then proceeded to beat him atop the head with it a couple of times, then performed a spinning windup and struck his sword arm hard enough that I think I broke bones, and he lost his grip as the sword went flying.
Dropping the shield, I punched him a couple of times, then got behind him, grabbed his sword belt and the collar of his armor, bent my knees and using a strength cantrip, just in case, hauled him bodily off the floor, and held him over my head as he thrashed.
"Surrender already!" I growled as I marched over towards the king and his dinner guests.
"He cannot surrender!" the king called out.
"He doesn't answer to you!" I growled at the King. "He answers to his goddess! Now, please, surrender, or I'll drive your head into the floor! The only reason I haven't is that I don't want to have to wait three whole days for you to come back!"
I felt him twitch.
"I surrender!" he said.
"Thanks!" I said and carefully set him on his feet. "Sorry about that," I said. "Let me help you get that helmet off, and apologies to your goddess. I'm not mad or anything."
"Why are you apologizing?" the king asked.
"Because I'll probably need her help, and I don't want her mad at me. Or worse yet—" I sighed and shook my head; it was time to play the hole card "—afraid of me?"
"Why would a goddess be afraid of a mere man?"
"Your Majesty," Suzona said in an earnest voice, "William is not just a king-killer and conqueror of countries, he's also a godslayer, and the gods know that."
"Ah, shit," I heard Korbano mumble as I got the helmet off.
"I have no quarrel with your goddess, nor do I want one," I whispered to him. "Trust me on that. Sireen would probably be all sorts of pissed, and Circe, as well."
"Thank my goddess for that," he whispered back.
"Wait, you've killed gods?" the king said, looking both shocked and impressed.