The Book of Sofia - Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Henrietta pulled her cloak up to her chin, trying futilely to protect herself from the cold wind. She held a dirk in her hand, wiping the goat’s blood off the blade. Poisoned wine, she thought. A great general captured by poisoned wine. Almost foolish. She brushed a strand of stray hair from her eyes. The wind was strong tonight. Maybe there would be fog tomorrow night, she hoped. That would make our tasks much easier, she thought.  

“Piper, get in here. The master wants a word,” bellowed Jack the Hammer.

She replaced her dirk in its sheath and stood up. She pulled the cloak around her slender body. The wind was blowing her red hair loose from its braid. Her green eyes stared at the moonless sky. Tomorrow would be another moonless night, she thought. She had seen sixteen winters and hoped that she would be around for the next winter. Poisoned wine, she thought, a stupid woman and poisoned wine.

She walked into the warm tent and sat next to Jack the Hammer and his beloved hammer. He named it Hammer, the greatest hammer to ever exist. Henrietta did not doubt Hammer’s strength, nor its owner’s strength. She had seen with her own eyes how Hammer crushed its enemies beneath the powerful anvil.

An old man cleared his throat loudly and a sudden silence blanketed the tent.

“Our beloved Prince Claus was captured by the Hidzap lord Visius seven days ago. The Great King Clintus has sent me to negotiate terms with Visius but all efforts were futile. His Magnificence commanded that Prince Claus must be returned to this kingdom alive. I have gathered you here, ten trusted men, to arrange a rescue mission,” the old man said.

The tent was silent, saved for the sound of Baker Two-Finger sharpening his long swords. Some of the men nodded, some were just silent and some looked at Talon, the leader of the company. Some of the men here served with Lord Claus before; many other younger ones, such as herself, had admired Lord Claus. No doubt, many would risk their lives to bring home their hero and their rightful ruler.

“What is the price?” bellowed Baker Two-Finger. “Is it land? A lordship? May I have me a little lord’s daughter to give me children?”

Baker Two-Finger was a baker before the War of Damp Motte. The men said that Baker’s family was butchered by the enemies while he was serving bread to the Lord of Damp Motte. When Baker learned of what happened, he was blinded by grief and rage that he killed the enemies by jabbing his two fingers into their eyes and dug out their brains, earning his name. He had since left Damp Motte and its ruins to join the company.

Victor of Evenstar stole a glance at Talon and kept his head low, concentrating his long willowy fingers on peeling his fruit. Victor was a common thief, caught stealing from Jack the Hammer. He was dragged to the centre of their camps, threaten to be smashed under the Hammer when Talon stopped them. Since then, Victor had put his little tricks to good use. But Victor still stayed away from Jack as far as he could.

Talon stared at Baker Two-Finger and said, “There will be no lands, no lordship, no wives. I chose the nine of you myself. There would only be honor. If you should fall, you leave behind a legacy that you saved Prince Claus.”

“What good can honor do me? Why don’t the Storm King send his own secret soldiers to steal the prince? Why send his little brother to hire sellswords?”Baker Two-Finger asked.

“For obvious reasons, we cannot send our own army into the lands of the Hidzaps. That would start a war,” the old master said.

“Then let war come to us. Claus will slay so many Hidzaps that the gods can bath with Hidzaps’ blood and turn the Green River red!” shouted Big Rudof.

Some of the men cheered and stamped their feet onto the ground. Henrietta thought these men were foolish. Listen to the old man, she thought, he is the brother of the king, uncle to the prince.

Talon stood up. The men instantly quiet down.

“The old master is right. We cannot afford a war. Ten years ago, the Hidzaps were no more than nomads and savages. Now, they hold the Mountains of the Yuran, the great land of Bacharik, and the Thrive. They surrounded us like rabid dogs, waiting to attack us and claim our lands. We cannot provoke the Hidzaps.”

 “Aye,” said Mizu the Shy. He drew his sword and stared at the glimmer of light reflected from the fire.

“I will bring home Prince Claus. And the head of Visius the dog.” Mizu spoke so softly that it might have been just a whisper, carried away by the wind. But all the men in the tent heard him.

“We start at first light,” Talon said.

Henrietta left the tent. She counted nine red arrows in her quivers. Eight for the men, should they fall into the hands of Visius, and one for Lord Claus, should they fail to bring him home. She put the quiver of red arrows next to her quiver of white goose arrows. May the white arrows strike as many Hidzaps as they can find, she thought. She fingered her dirk again. She hoped she need not use the dirk but she had no intention of being captured alive.

She packed her quivers and saddled her horse.

Henrietta wasn’t always with the company. She was not born a sellsword. She was the daughter of Lord Yoseph Vivlio and his mistress. Being a bastard born, she was hated by the Lady Vivlio. But her mother was Lord Vivlio’s favourite mistress. Even his father’s other wives were afraid of her mother. But everything changed from the day her mother died. Lady Vivlio had cast her out on the street, cursing her dead mother, praying that the gods be good and let her die a crueler death than her mother. Weak and afraid, Henrietta who had only seen five winters wondered unknowingly into the woods. After three days, Jack the Hammer found her. Doppler, the medicine man, said that she was burning as hot as the smith’s fire when she was brought to him. He wasn’t even sure if she could survive the night.

But she did.

And the men took her in like she was one of them. Jack the Hammer taught her how to fight and Victor taught her his little tricks.

Amongst the sellswords, there was a man she loved like a father. The original Piper. He taught her how to shoot an arrow and gave her the long bow that she had came to love so much. He taught her how to play a pipe and how to stab a man in the heart. But on the eve of Henrietta’s twelfth birthday, Piper had vanished. No one spoke of Piper in front of her for a long time, until one of the men started calling her Piper.

She was the Piper now.

And the Piper was going to kill Visius come dusk.