Richard and Konnor had done half of the way to the castle when Konnor decided to break the silence.

  " So why are we going there exactly? "

  " I have to collect my reward for the job I just came back from but I plan to ask her to pay me double because as you can see I got hurt and the threat was higher than what it was supposed to be. "

  " What was it? Yesterday you said 'a big bug' to lady Jessamine but that couldn't be just it right? I saw what you can do and a simple bug could not have hurt you this badly. "

  " Indeed young man, I believe you don't know what a zenkab is? "

  The boy frowned his eyebrows.

  " What's that ? "

  " It's a race of giant insects, and their queen almost killed me during my last job, obviously I killed her." Richard paused. " Also something else I need to ask of you, don't mention to anyone ever that I can do magic. Otherwise I would have to kill them and then kill you. "

  " You don't have to tell me twice! "

  The rest of the road went by quickly as Richard explained the details of his last job to his friend.

  They reached the castle a little before noon, they were spotted by the guards and stopped at the gate.

  " State your business! "

  " I came to see the duchess, she gave me a task and I just completed it. Tell her Richard is here. "

  The guard that asked the question started whispering at the other one next to him but they got interrupted by a powerful voice coming from the other side of the gate.

  " Open the gate you idiots! I know who this is. "

  Right after this, the gate was opened and Markok was on the other side already smiling at Richard. Richard got down from the horse and proceeded to salute the guard. Markok looked at him from head to toe.

  " Well there friend, seems that witch gave you a run for your money eh? "

  " I wish it was the witch that did this to me. Can you take me to your lady? "

  " For sure! But she is receiving a few important guests so you might have to wait a little bit. Follow me. "

  Richard gave a sign at Konnor to follow. Before they entered the castle, Markok whistled and Eixien came out running from inside.

  " Yes mister? "

  " Take their horse and lead it to the stables, after that, join us in front of the meeting room of the lady. "

  Eixien bowed his head and took the reins off the hand of Konnor to lead the horse away. The little group started walking along the many corridors of the building. Along the way, Konnor was in awe of how rich this place was, the colored window, the purple curtains with golden strings. Even the ground looked rich, made out of azure and white tiles. They arrived in front of two doors that were made out of darkwood, on the right door was the profile of the duchess and on the left was the duc.

  " You guys stay here, I'm going inside to make the lady aware of your arrival and when she is ready I will come get you, you can sit there. "

  He pointed at a luxurious couch, Richard simply nodded and went to sit on it, Konnor followed him like his shadow. The boy was so impressed he had to whistle his astonishment.

  " Damn this place is not cheap! "

  " It sure isn't. Listen to me, when we are in there, you don't speak and you don't move a muscle unless I say so. "

  " Why? "

  Richard simply slapped the back of his head as an answer.

  " Ouc ! What was that f- ... " He then realised his error and sank deeper in the couch while looking at the ceiling. " Rule number one and number two are a pain in the ass .."

  Richard had a little chuckle as he made himself more comfortable too.

  " You catch on quick kid. "

  " I'm not a kid! I can take care of myself ok?! "

  Richard stared into his eyes, the boy sure seemed to have matured since the first time he met him.

  " It's also because I don't want you to get hurt, you are under my responsibility Kon'. "

  " I know how to defend myself, I learned by myself, I had no choice after all .. "

  " I'm sorry again about your brother... I wish things could have been different. "

  " You did what you had to do Richard, I can't blame you for the shitty path me and my brother took in life. "

  This time Richard simply put his hand on the boy shoulder and shook him gently.

  " I'm here to make sure you don't get in shitty situations anymore, or at least you won't be alone in it. "

  Finally the door opened and Markok peeked from the inside.

  " The lady is done, you can enter. "

  They both stood up and entered the room. It was a long room as rich as the rest of the castle and at the end of it was a throne in which the duchess was seated, next to her stood Felix glaring at Richard already. Inside the room were at least thirty guests and a few guards. The room had a few tables for the guests. Markok put his huge hand on Richard's left shoulder.

  " I hope you will understand that you have to respect the general rule of no weapon like all the guests here. "

  " Of course. "

  Richard took out his curved dagger and handed it over to Markok, the man nodded in respect and backed off. Richard turned toward Konnor.

  " Follow my lead alright? "

  " Right behind you. "

  They both walked towards the duchess. She had her long brown hair arranged in a high ponytail. She was wearing a tight brown dress that was flattering her curves. She could finally lay her eyes on him again but she had a look of worry when she saw the state he was in. Richard bowed down slightly and so did Konnor.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  " Good day my lady, seeing how hurt I am you will understand that I can not bow down as much as I would like to."

  " I can see that but by the creator did the underworld unleash it's forces against you? "

  " No but the witch was not the problem, actually she was trying to fix the problem. The problem was these. "

  Richard took a small vial from his pouch and showed it to the duchess. Inside of it was a dead zenkab larvae that Selena conserved.

  " These creatures are called zenkabs, a foreign merchant probably came back with it and got the whole village of Ryzeon infected with those. They use humans as hosts and food to feed their queen. Said queen did this to me but I am the one still alive and she isn't. And have no fear, we made sure to exterminate every last one of them. If you have any doubt about me saying the truth, you can send your informants to Ryzeon and ask the villagers. "

  " I trust you my good Richard, thank you for your efforts. "

  " It was my pleasure, my lady but I think that I must ask for more than what we agreed to, to replace the set of armor I lost. "

  Every eyes in the room were on the duchess, waiting for her to give her approval. She looked at Felix and her decision was made.

  " Felix, give him your pouch, he deserves it. "

  Felix stayed still, glaring at Richard. " He doesn't deserve shit " he thought to himself. Getting impatient Richard started tapping his boot on the ground.

  " Is he deaf now? Did the hit I gave you the last time impair your hearing boy? "

  Chuckles were heard from within the crowd.

  " Felix! "

  The duchess was getting impatient too. Felix didn't appreciate being made fun of.

  " Are you gonna force me to give it to you then? "

  " Ohh you don't want me to, I told you the last time. If I send you on the ground, you won't be alive. "

  Felix walked towards Richard and took his sword out. The people in the room were getting agitated. Konnor was still by Richard's side.

  " And with what weapon do you plan to kill me with hmm? "

  Richard looked at Markok and the man tried to evade his eyes. " What a setup ... " he thought to himself. Felix was still walking towards him.

  " So? Are you gonna come and get it? It's right there, come get those coins that you DARED to ask to the duchess! Who do you think you are hmmm? You are but a common mercenary, you should be glad she even lay her eyes on you and that she even requested you. " Felix slowly turned on himself, his cape floating in a majestic way. " Do you people think this man deserves to walk away unharmed after speaking to the lady in such a way?! "

  " NO! Punish him! That's right he deserve a correction! "

  The people obviously wanted to see a show. Richard forgot this small detail : this man hated him. He decided to refer to the lady herself.

  " Olivia, it wasn't my intention to insul- "

  He instantly got cut by Felix shouting over him.

  " How dare you act so familiar with her?! "

  His little stunt was working, the duchess could not go against the will of her guests or she would lose their respect, the fight had to happen. The fact that she was still silent was a clear sign that his thought process was correct. He pointed his sword at Richard.

  " I'm not gonna kill you peasant, but it will hurt. "

  Konnor came closer and whispered to Richard.

  " We can take him, two on one. "

  " Clearly if you jumped in it would become 10 against two and that's not counting all the guards outside of this room. "

  " So what do we do? "

  " There is no WE! YOU go over there and stay put while I find a solution. "

  " But Rich- "

  " Konnor! Rule number two."

  Konnor simply nodded and backed away. Richard took a deep breath and was prepared to face Felix, with no weapon and only one arm available.

  As soon as Konnor was far away Felix took a big step and rushed towards Richard, he tried to launch an horizontal slash that ended up missing. Richard was dodging the blows the best he could but he needed a weapon. They were running around the big room and finally Richard had an idea. He jumped onto one of the tables and waited for Felix to catch up. The guard tried cutting Richard's legs but kept on missing him, he was getting more and more desperate to hurt him. Felix whistled and the next second a guard grabbed Richard by the leg, he barely had any time to kick off the man that Felix threw a blow that grazed his thigh. He was now bleeding a little bit from this hit. " Playing dirty huh? Ok my turn now! ". Richard kept running along the table and dodged Felix's blade once again but this time he stepped on it to stop the guard from moving the sword again, he then kicked a glass of wine at his face. Felix deflected the glass with his left hand. At the same time, Richard used this distraction and put his hand on Felix's shoulder to jump over him. Once he was behind him he grabbed his cape and used it to blind him by wrapping it around his head. Completely blind to his surroundings, the guard was now waving his sword in every direction trying to hit Richard that was maintaining the cape. Richard let go of the cape and ducked under the sword to grab Felix by the collar, he then pulled him in to headbutt him, the golden cape was now stained with blood and it wasn't Richard's. Trying desperately to hit Richard, Felix swung the sword in the direction the hit came from but in close quarter Richard had the upper hand. He simply stopped the hit before it could reach its full momentum by hitting him in the elbow, making him drop his sword as a result. Felix finally managed to regain his sight by moving his cape away, he threw a right hook at Richard that missed. Richard threw a fake hook that made Felix slightly back up. And as he tried counter attacking, Richard used his momentum to spin on himself and deliver a powerful kick to his opponent's temple. The shock threw him on the ground, Felix got back up quickly, still ready to fight but as he stepped in to throw an attack he fell again to his knees. The hit to the temple had completely messed his sense of equilibrium. Taking advantage of this, Richard ran to him and threw a right kick to his jaw this time. As a final move, Richard tapped his right boot on the ground, making his boot blade pop out. He then kicked the guard on his back with his left foot and placed the boot blade on his throat. Richard looked at the duchess and smiled, she smiled back at him and was frankly relieved he was not injured further. The audience was stunned by the performance, not one sound was being made as Richard leaned over Felix and ripped his gold pouch from his waist.

  " Next time, just give it to me instead of making such a fuss. "

  He then took the blade off his throat and tapped his foot again to retract it. From the audience was heard a "Woohoo!" followed by an applause. The whole room then clapped as Richard was making his way towards the exit. He looked at Markok and the guard brought him his dagger which he put back where it belonged. Konnor emerged from the crowd and followed Richard. Before exiting the room he waved at the duchess and she waved back while blushing. This man had a talent to make her heart race.

  The two men were now making their way towards the stables. Konnor could not believe what he just saw.

  " That was incredible! You defeated him with no sword and with only one arm $! "

  " Yes I did. "

  " You have to teach me those moves! "

  " I can do that yeah, but once i'm healed alright? "

  " Yeah! "

  They found Eixien half asleep on a stool, when he saw them approaching he went into the stables to get their horse.

  " There you go, I hope you got what you wanted mister Richard. "

  Konnor took the reins and could not hide his enthusiasm.

  " He sure did! He beat this guy Felo Felis I don't know what with no weapon and his arm in a sling! "

  Eixien could not believe what he just heard.

  " You did what?! "

  " He wanted to fight me but he wanted to play dirty and waited for me to not have a weapon. So I fought and won fair and square. "

  " Serves him right. "

  " Sure did, I'll see you around Ex'"

  " Bye Richard."

  They walked in the courtyard and mounted on the horse, as they were getting away from the castle Richard turned to speak.

  " By the way, you didn't need to shout 'woohoo' at the end.

  Konnor had a small chuckle.

  " I was the only one rooting for you, the others just needed some motivation to celebrate your victory"

  The laugh of the two men echoed through the mountain as they were celebrating this victory.

  Back at the castle, Felix was getting treated by a maid in the queen's bedroom. She asked him to meet him there after she had given her farewell to her guests. She entered the room just as the maid was done giving him the care he needed. She looked at the maid coldly.

  " Get out. "

  " Yes madam! "

  Now that they were alone, Olivia sat on the bed and gave him a sign to come next to her. He stood there silently. She then grabbed the back of his head and made him rest his head on her thighs.

  " You did exceptionally well today my dear Felix. "

  " Was my acting as good as you hoped madam? "

  " Better than anything I ever witnessed. "

  " So ... did we succeed? "

  She then plunged a hand in between her breast and pulled out a small tissue with blood on it.

  " Yes, yes we did. " She then looked at him, her gaze filled with lust. " I know it's bad of me of asking this right now after you got hurt but my body can barely wait "

  Understanding what she wanted, he sat next to her and kissed her neck, his hand slowly coming up her thigh toward her private parts. She closed her eyes and let her sensations take over her body. As he let his fingers work their magic, he could not stop looking at her. Her legs trying to close on his hand, her chest punctuated by the beating of her heart. Her lips that she was biting as she was trying to hold back her moans. Those lips, he wanted them, leaning in, he kissed her, she opened her eyes and was surprised by this sudden audacity from her subordinate. She then grabbed the back of his head and pulled him in for another kiss, they stayed like this for a while until she finally led his head down. As he was pleasing her the way he always did, she took the tissue with Richard's blood on it, imaginating his body on hers, she climaxed as she took a deep breath into the tissue.