He'd almost squeezed off the round! He jerked the piece upwards to point at the ceiling, and from pure rage and frustration he fired. The shot sounded very loud in the enclosed room.
"Larry!" Gwen screamed again. Then she saw where the pistol was pointed.
"Move!" Warner commanded. "No son of a bitch comes bustin' in on me! I'll blow the bastard away-" He stopped shouting as he realized who the intruder was. "Caradoc?"
The archer captain had been in command of the search party that found Warner. He'd stayed behind to see that the balloon was safely loaded on the pack animals. And, Warner realized, he'd not only finished that task in record time, he must have ridden like hell to get here. Why? To see Gwen. And maybe jealous of Warner, too.
Now he stood there defiantly. "If you have honor, you will allow me a weapon," Caradoc said. "You may have your star weapons, and I my bow…"
Warner laughed. "You talk about honor, Boy Scout. Not me. I fight for pay. And you're dead."
"Larry, you can't." Gwen wasn't shouting any longer.
"Why not?"
"Captain Galloway will have you shot, that's why."
"I need no woman to argue for my life!" Caradoc shouted.
"You need something you haven't got," Warner said. "You also need to explain how you got in here."
"Miss Tremaine!" The shout came from the hall.
"Jesus, that's Elliot," Warner said. He raised his voice. "In here, Sergeant Major."
Elliot came in. His.45 was cocked and ready. He looked at Warner, then at Caradoc. "Okay, Professor, what's happening?"
"Nothing," Gwen said. "It's nothing at all. Please leave."
"Not friggin' likely."
"It's okay, Sarge," Warner said. "We were showin' Captain Caradoc a couple of moves, and maybe it got out of hand. I let a round go into the ceiling."
Elliot looked suspiciously at them. "Sure that's all?"
"Yeah."
"It's all right," Gwen said.
"Okay, if you say so." He snapped on the safety and holstered his pistol. "If you say so."
Warner waited until Elliot was gone before he spoke again. "I'm still waiting to know how you got in here, Captain," he said finally. "Past the guards. My guards. They weren't supposed to let anyone in here, not anyone at all. But I guess I know, don't I? You had them betray their trust. You being their commander and all, you could do that. So now you just tell me why I shouldn't have them and you both up on charges?"
For the first time Caradoc looked worried. "There is no reason," he said finally. "You are correct. But the men are not at fault."
"Larry-"
"Yes, my lady?"
"Larry, don't do that. He-had a right to think he could come here."
"I see."
"I have said it already," Caradoc said. "I will not listen more to-"
He's going to try it, Warner thought. He'll come for me. He's one of those, one of the berserker types and he'll dive for the gun. When he does, it'll be chancy. A.380 just isn't that much slug. No fancy shooting, just empty the damn piece into him and take my chances after that. Should work.
But damn all, I don't really want to kill him- Abruptly Warner put the pistol in his pocket.
"What are you doing?" Caradoc demanded. "Have you discovered honor, or-"
"Main thing is, I'm unarmed," Warner said. "And you, my friend, aren't going to try unarmed combat with me. You've seen me practicing."
Caradoc fingered his sword. "Get a weapon. Any weapon," he said. "It may be that Caradoc, son of Cadaric, is a fool.. It will never be said that he slew an unarmed man."
"Nobody's going to be slain," Warner said. "Gwen, would you please leave us?" He changed to English. "I got some talking to do with Muscles here."
"You're sure it's all right?"
"Yeah, no problems now."
"I want promises from both of you. That you won't fight," she said. She looked thoroughly miserable.
"Sure," Warner said.
"I swear I will not draw weapons against this man except on a field of honor with all due ceremony," Caradoc said.
"Good enough for me," Warner said. He eyed Caradoc thoughtfully. I didn't promise I wouldn't draw weapons if he gets physical. "Gwen?"
"Oh, all right." She paused in the door. "I-I'm really sorry."
"Have a seat," Warner said. He indicated the table. "There's wine and glasses. Have some."
"You make free with the lady's table. As if-as if it is your table."
"No," Warner said. "That is not the way of it. But understand that the Lady Gwen and I are from the same lands. I have known her for many years. I know she would wish us to make ourselves comfortable."
Caradoc went to the table and sat. He waited until Warner had poured for both of them, then drained his glass in one gulp. "It is not finished," he said finally.
"Maybe it is," Warner said.
"You have sometimes acted as a friend," Caradoc said. He stared moodily into his empty wine glass. "And I think I have been a fool."
"We all are, sometimes," Warner said.
Caradoc took in a deep breath. "Lord Warner," he said formally. "What is the Lady Gwen to you?"
"Why is that your business?"
"Perhaps it is not. And yet-If she has been more than a friend, without you promising a lawful marriage, I will have your blood. No, hear me out," he said, raising a hand as Warner opened his mouth to reply.
"I know that if I kill you, the Lord Eqeta Rick will have my head. You are worth ten of me, in his plans for facing the Time. Perhaps he is even right to value you so highly.
"I do know this, however. No lord can ask me to stand by like a capon, while you play the cock with Gwen. I love her. If she does not love me, then let her say so and she can be free to bed any man she wishes. Until she speaks her mind, beware of my sword."
Warner nodded. Nobly said, he thought. Corny, but noble. Larry me lad, you didn't think it through. Old Musclebound here isn't just a rival for a quick roll in the hay. He wants to marry the girl. Come to that, you were thinking about it too- That was when she was right here, and we were about to go in there.
He means it all. He'll challenge me if he thinks I've wronged her. And what the hell, I might not win. He's good with a sword, and better with that bow. Warner shuddered at the thought of a belly wound. And suppose I win? Captain Galloway would have my hide. And Caradoc's got relatives and they'll all want my blood. He's sure as hell got more relatives than I have rounds. Sooner or later one of them will get me. Unless Captain Rick buys off Caradoc's family. He might do that, and then lock me in some castle tower and let me have a girl once in a while if I'm a good little wizard…
What was it Samuel Johnson said about sex? "The expense is damnable, the position is ridiculous, and the pleasure is fleeting." Yep. Just now I can sympathize.
"You've no horns from me," Warner said. "My word on it."
The look of relief on Caradoc's face made Warner glad he'd said it. Hell, Gwen was all right, but there were other girls, and Jesus, the archer seems like he's really in love with her.
Warner poured more wine for both of them. "Caradoc, I like Gwen. I like her a lot. She's smart and pretty and I can talk about a lot of things with her I can't talk about with anyone else. I don't love her. She doesn't love me. If there is anyone she loves besides her dead husband, it's you." He hoped that wasn't laying it on too thick.