is the best in all the land. They’ll teach ye tae fight like a true warrior.”
“What place is this?”
Standing behind the lass, one of the older children spoke up. “A mystical place,” he said. “Only the bravest men go there. I may go there some day.”
“I’ve not heard of such a place.”
There was some hissing going on as some of the children opened their mouths to tell him what they knew, but the older boy shushed them. This was his conversation, after all.
“’Tis called the Ludus Caledonia,” he said. “Have ye not heard that name?”
Lor shook his head. “Nay,” he replied. “A fight guild, ye say?”
The older youth was confident as he spoke. “They teach ye tae fight against monsters,” he said. “My da says men go in, but few come out.”
Lor thought it all sounded rather strange. Strange and frightening. A place to learn to fight where they pitted men against monsters? He couldn’t tell if the children were jesting or not, playing on the gullibility of a village lad who had lived a rather peaceful life. He thought it might be a trick of some kind. But considering he wanted to leave in the worst way, he simply went along with it.
“If I ever want tae learn tae fight, I’ll go there,” he said.
“Ye canna find it,” the older boy said. “Mayhap in Edinburgh, they say, but no one knows for certain. Even tae speak of it in Edinburgh can bring ye death. They’ll send the monsters for ye.”
It was all quite odd. Lor wasn’t sure how they had veered onto this subject of a fight guild filled with monsters, but he wanted out. He looked at the red-haired lass, who was still looking at him intently.
“Can I leave now?” he asked. “I promise I’ll bring ye bird eggs the next time.”
The red-haired lass didn’t respond for a moment. It seemed that she might have been pondering the possibility of preventing him from leaving. Reaching out, she yanked him to his feet and pulled him away from the others, out of earshot.
“When will ye come back?” she asked quietly.
He eyed her with uncertainty, even looking to the gang of children around them before returning his focus to her.
“Soon,” he said. “When my grandfather allows me tae hunt for eggs again, I suppose.”
“And ye swear that ye’ll bring me some?”
“I do.”
She turned her head slightly, pointing to her cheek. “A bargain is a bargain. Show me ye mean it.”
From his expression, he wasn’t sure what she meant. Was he supposed to do something to her face? He was fairly certain she didn’t mean slap her. When it occurred to him what, exactly, she meant, his pale cheeks flushed, but he dutifully kissed her, a swift peck on her tender skin and nothing more. He was embarrassed, but if it was a kiss of freedom, he was willing to suffer the indignities.
The kiss seemed to please her immensely.
“I accept yer vow,” she said, her eyes glimmering at him with warmth he hadn’t seen before. “I’ll wait for yer bird eggs, Lor Careston. Ye may go now.”
There was something in her voice that made him take a second look. She was young, that was true, on the cusp of womanhood, but there was something about her that had his attention. Perhaps it was the pull of her eyes, the way she was looking at him. He’d never had a lass look at him that way before.
Had the circumstances been any different, he might have let himself be flattered by it.
But now wasn’t the time. He had to leave. Lor quickly bolted off, sprinting away as fast as his long legs would take him. As he headed east and the majority of the demons headed west, back to the vale to await their next victim, he could hear them singing their terrible song.
Fat, fat, the water rat,
Thirty daggers in his back!
That only made him run faster.
As Lor dashed down the vale toward the village in the distance, the red-haired lass wasn’t singing the song of the water rat. She was watching her former captive’s distant figure. The older boy came up beside her.
“What’s wanting, Issie?” he asked.
Her gaze was still riveted to the blond lad as he faded down the hill. “Do ye suppose he’ll really come back?”
The older boy could see where her attention was, and he snorted. “Nay,” he said flatly. “He’ll stay as far away as he can. We scared him with talk of monsters and the Cal.”