Young Writers Society

Jaren entered the bar warily. He was dressed like a peasant to avoid being noticed but he lacked the grubbiness of most peasants. He had been sent here by the king to track down a bounty hunter that had broken into the king's chambers and threatened Colonel Strum.

Seeing the barman, he made his way over to him. He knew that in these turbulent times, the barman's loyalty would likely belong to several factions, but he was a good man anyway, recently a widower.

"Hello, Sir Jaren. How's the performance going?" Sam always referred to his farce of a fool 'the performance'.

"Fine. A bounty hunter thought I he would try and manipulate me through agic a week ago. I believe I saw him in the dungeons recently," Jaren replied.

"So what is your business?"

"Need information. A bounty hunter sliopped into the kings personel chambers a while back and escaped. Apparently she had a job for the king. I think she was sent by the Duke of Northumbia."

"And what would you like done?"

"I know these bounty hunter types, and I know that you know who I'm talking about. Tell her that if I can hand the informer over to her, would she consider taking on jobs for the king." Jaren slipped a few silvers over the counter.

"I'll rephrase it to your codename, Sir. This one has had it with the king."

"Ok, then do that. Say its a proposel from Maverick."

Jaren heard something that sounded awfully like a scream. It was distorted by the general hubbub of the inn. Keeping his hand to the hilt of the long knife concealed under his worn cloak, he decided to investigate.

Slade heard a scream in the bar, and followed a man going in the same direction. They reached the spot the sound was coming from and found a corpse covered in blood. As he gathered all of this information in, he noticed a man with a bloodied knife sitting next to the dead man.

"What have you done?"groweld(?) Slade. This man looked as though he was the bounty hunter type.

"My job is complete, so i am now free to go." said the man with the knife.

Althea pressed her back further into the wall, for fear of being seen. Who are these people? And why did that man--no, monster-- kill that other man? What business did he have with him? Could this have something to do with the King?

Her breathing was still hard and came in gasps. She couldn't be found. If she was, they might implicate her in the mess. But what if that dead man was Jack? Even worse, what if that killer was Jack? She wasn't sure what she was going to do about the mess at the bottom of the stairs, but she had to find a way to get down to Sam and see if he had a horse. There would be some people at the castle who would want to hear about this. But how was she to get down the stairs?

"If only those men would leave," she mumbled under her breath. She didn't have time to waste. She had to leave now.

"You can go? Who hired you to kill this man?" Slade growled. He didn't like the looks of this bounty hunter. He wasn't on the edge. In fact he was very calm. Not a good thing. Slade had to be careful what he said, or he could end up being on the floor as well.
"Ah...always curious. You shouldn't worry about who told me to kill him, but whether or not I'll kill you too." Jack stood up and put his hat on." Excuse me." He stood up and headed for the door.
"Why I ought'a!" Slade lept up and pounced on Jack, knocking him to the floor. The two men struggled for minute after agonizing minute until Jack pinned Slade to the floor.
"Never ever ever touch me again. Ever." He stood up and kicked Slade in the side. Jack stumbled for the stairs, blood trickling out of the severe wound on his arm. Slade had taken his blade and stabbed him. The weapon still protruded out of his arm. His gaze met a the gaze of a young women standing just a few feet away from him, a look of complete horror on her face.
"G'day m'lady. Sorry about the rucus I caused down there. Be a dear and pull this dagger out. She reached forward and tugged. The blade went deep, but came out easy enough.
"Are...are you Jack?"
"SHH! Do not utter my real name here. Names have power, and in my trade, it's best not to know names. And what is your name?"
"Althea."
"Well Althea, do you care if I buy you a drink?"

(Oh just thought I'd say this. Our characters don't have to meet. If it's to hard to place your character in, just have them do something else and meet some others later. And another thing, romance is accepted but no sex please.)

-A word from MadHatter

Tiny's head flew up when she heard a scream. She jumped up and walked briskly towards the sound. When she turned the corner she saw two men fighting, then one took a young lady to get a drink. She shook her head, men never really made sense to her when they did something like that.

"You ok?" She asked Slade, he nodded and walked off. She saw another man, one that had been talking to Sam. She looked him over, she hadn't ever seen him before. She slowly walked back to her table keeping her eye on the man. She looked over at Sam, she would need to talk to him about who that man was.

Coal

I left soon after the body was discovered and as I disapeared into the night, a young man by the name of Sir William headed for the castle. This persona was tall with curly, blond hair, watery blue eyes and a crooked nose.

"Halt. Who goes there?" The knights on the gate called.

"Sir William," I answered in his clear, smooth voice.

"Will? Good to see you. Where have you been?"

"A mission for the king," I replied. "But I'll be sleeping in my room tonight. Do you know when I'm on gate duty?"

"Not for another week," Came the reply.

Jaren walked away from teh dead body, disgusted by what he had seen. It had been a fight over a woman gone bad. That 'Slade' man was lucky, all he'd taken was a beating. There were some traits among the commoners that were too hard to eradicate. As long as it didn't cause havoc with the system; the higher ups tended to turn a blind eye. Of course that didn't mean Jaren shared their views; he found it disgusting behavior. Muttering a prayer for the soul of the dead man, he nodded to Sam and departed for the palace.

Althea laid the knife down slowly on the step closest to her and stood up straight, the man still bent over the stairs below her. She looked the man over for a moment. She knew he was Jack, he'd made that very clear. But what was his trade? And why must she not use his name? To top it off, she wasn't even sure if he was the one who had the information. But she had no other choice; there was no one else. She would have to play the innocent card. That would be her safest bet.

"Well good sir, I'm not a lady of alcohol, but I wouldn't mind helping you get that arm fixed up. Can you stand?"

He nodded, affirming that he could stand. He attempted to lift himself up with both arms, but his unwounded arm gave out and he fell on his side, his ribs hitting the edge of the stairs. I low moan escaped from his lips.

"Oh, are you alright?" Her voiced cracked, the sound of concern quite evident. She would bend down to help me, but her dress was wound so tight at the top, breathing was hard enough.

"If you couldn't stand, you should have just said no. No- don't try to get up. I'm going to call for Sam. He will help me get you upstairs. You wait right here. Don't try moving again or we'll have a few words."

A wickedly charming smile spread across his face. "Anything you say m'lady."

Althea nodded and began to move around him. As she did so, her foot caught on the bottom hem of her dress, making her fall backwards and landing on her bottom. The blood that was on the stairs had now found it's way onto her dress.

"Oh my. This is not going so well. Just give me a moment-"

Althea turned her body facing Jack, and pushed herself up and wacking Jack with part of her dress.

"I'm sorry, the stairs are a bit cramped." She took a deep breathe and placed her hands on her hips. "I'll have Sam and a nurse in just a moment. Don't move."

Althea walked around the corner and saw Sam talking to a stable hand from the castle. She waved and called out to him.

"Sam, I need some help! There is an injured man on the stairs. Could you please help me get to a room in the loft?"

Sam nodded and grabbed two men who proceeded to walk over towards her. On his way over, Sam whispered something into another man's ear. He stood up quickly and walked out of the bar's front doors.

Althea turned back to face Jack who was still lying weakly on the stairs.

She gave him her warmest smile. "There are some men coming. I'll have you fixed up soon."

He turned his head to look at her. "I'll still be wanting that drink m'lady."

As Jaren passed the Guard's station on his way to the palace he stopped. Maybe he should report it. When he thought about it there had been things wrong about the incident. The woman had screamed. She had been dressed well. That didn't fit.

"What do you want?" said the clerk insolently when he saw Jaren. Jaren showed him the ring of the king's guard and watched the smug smile vanish.

"There's been an incident at the Blue moon inn. Murder. Either a noblewoman or a whore witha nice dress is involved. The perpetrator was a name named Jack. Send guards to find him."

Jaren watched as the clerk hurriedly hurried to the main barracks and hurriedly got together a squad of guards.

"Tell the barman Captain Keel sent you," Jaren instructed the squad leader. The man saluted and the squad marched away. He was about to continue to the palace when he stopped once more. If that woman had been upper-class, he could hardly expect town guards to handle it well. With a sigh he spun hsi horse around and moved to return to the tavern.

Jaren could imagine what the others would make of this. Jaren the 'goody', Jaren the fool. Why was the world so corrupt?

Tiny watched as Sam lead some men over to help and injured man. He walked over to her when he was done and sat down.

"Taking a break?" SHe asked smiling. He nodded,

"I know someone who says he knows the infomant and will turn him over to you." He said keeping his voice down.

"As do I, Coal told me what he looked like. If I see him I'll deal with him." She replied, Sam nodded,

"He also has a job or two for you." He replied,

"Name?" She asked,

"Maverick," He replied,

"Never heard of him." She poundered this, "What type of people?"

"Didn't say,"

"When do you think you will talk to him next?"

"Don't know,"

"As long as it isn't a mission from the king, I guess. I want to talk to him." She said, "Mind if I still the attack tonight?"

"Nope, if I see him I'll tell him to find you." He replied, he stood up and went back to the bar when several gaurds stormed into the bar. Her hand went to a knife at her waist and she sinked back into the darkness a little more watching the gaurds every move.

Althea heard the bar doors fly open and heavy footsteps. Loud voices soon followed. They might be looking for Jack. I would give him up, but I still need him. I'll have to distract them.

Althea turned to the two men helping Jack up the stairs.

"You two take him to a room and get him some water. I'll be up after I take care of this."

The two men nodded and began to carry Jack, slowly, up the stairs.

Althea walked out into the bar, where she found several large men asking people questions. Sam was one of them.

Something glinted out of the corner of Althea's eye as she walked towards the bar. She turned her head in the direction of the light. For the first time, she saw that someone was sitting over at the table. It was a woman, looked like a bounty hunter, and she was holding a knife. That can't be good.

Althea continued walking over to the bar and stepped towards the guard talking to Sam.

"Hello good sir. How are you on this fine evening?"

The guard nodded and said "Very well." He was about to carry on with the conversation he was having with Sam when the guard turned and looked at Althea again.

"Hey, are you a whore?"

Althea gasped. How dare he call her that! She was the farthest thing from it. She wanted to slap him, but thought better of it. It might draw more attention to her and she didn't need that right now. She had more important things to take care of.

"I'm no such thing good sir. I'm a noblewoman. I come from the castle. I work for the King."

The guard looked her up and down. "What is a lady of your importance doing in a place like this?"

Sam seemed to take offense, but Althea laughed it off. "Oh, I had a few things to pick up from family in the country. They couldn't make it to the castle so I told them I would meet them here. What brings you here, may I ask?"

The guard grunted. "Someone said that there was some fighting and someone got hurt. As a matter of fact, I know from a certain source that a woman fitting your description was involved. Is that so?"

Althea gulped. This was going bad. She needed to get upstairs and get that information, but it seemed like the guards were her new obstacle.

"Well, I know of no one getting hurt and I don't believe that there was a fight here tonight."

The guard's face turned a little sour. "We already know from a couple of these peasants that there was fight here. I think I'm going to have to take you back to the castle. You shouldn't be here."

The guard grabbed her arm. Althea tried to pull away.

"No, no I can't go yet. My family-- I have to stay--"

"We'll find another way to get whatever it is you need to you m'lady. For now, you need to come back with us to the castle."

"No! I can't!"

Just at that moment, the woman sitting in the corner stood up and kicked her chair over, walking towards Althea, and another man walked in through the bar doors.

Tiny walked slowly over to the gaurd and looked at him cooly.

"I suggest you let her go." She said looking at the man that had walked in.

"Why would I listen to you?" He demanded, "You probably are a whore." Tiny laughed slightly. Sam burst out laughing,

"Tiny a whore, man you must really be stupid if you think that. This here girl will kill you." He replied smiling at Tiny.

"Let the lady go, I don't know how you treat women in the castle but out here you don't harm em. I don't care how uncivalized you may think we are." She hissed, the gaurd slowly let the woman go.

Coal

I strode through the castle confidently and the squires and servants bowed before hurrying out of the way. 'My' fellow knights greeted me with salutes and waves of the hand as well as the odd handshake.

It wasn't long before I reached the old, oak door of my room and I rested a hand upon the brass knocker, swinging it open.

"Will! Sir William!" An excited voice called out. I entered the room and a small boy followed me in before closing the door behind him. 'My' squire was a short, scrawny boy of about fourteen years with messy, brown hair and soft, brown eyes.

"Chris. It's good to see you again. Have you been studying hard?"

"Very my lord but can you take me with you next time? I would so love to see the town and I'm ready. I really am. I might even earn my sword soon."

*Don't let this die y'all*