Chapter 3

  Leo

  Leo’s heart quickened. Bianca winked at Leo and instilled him with courage.

  Nicco knelt, his forehead resting on the hilt of his sword. He whispered a prayer and pulled a gold chain necklace from beneath his tunic. He kissed the diamond-shaped idol of the prophet Tellius and shoved it back beneath his shirt. Nicco stood and warmed up. He brandished his weapon and swiped the air before twirling his wrist.

  Leo also swiped the air a few times. The move did little to bolster his confidence, but he had to have faith in his past training. Nicco was a knight and superb swordsman; an aficionado of swords, like his famed father before him. Whereas Leo’s strengths revolved around numbers. Specifically, how to use and manipulate them. Skilled in geometry, engineering, and architecture for more practical applications. Otto had ensured his education focused on matters of trade and banking. So he studied accounting and arbitrage, money exchange, and finance, and trade and economics. What use were such skills in a duel?

  “Leo, Nicco,” Reinhard urged, “stop this nonsense at once.”

  “I’m sorry,” Nicco said, “I cannot.” Nicco raised his sword to guard. “Begin.”

  This has gone to far. Confusion seized him. Leo had intended to play a joke on his guests to give them something to gossip about until morning. After the party ended, Nicco and Leo arranged to make amends and the duel would be canceled--neither having lost any honor. But Nicco had changed that. His offense appeared to be genuine. The plan had changed and now he had to fight.

  They touched swords, once, then another quick two parries. Nicco opened with the Tarona Gambit attacking high. Leo felt a sting slap his neck. The duel ended in an instant. The crowd gasped. Nicco stepped away.

  Leo wiped his neck and looked at his hand. “No blood.” He hit me with the flat of the blade.

  “As intended. Again,” Nicco said.

  Shit, that was fast. Leo smirked and raised his sword to a high guard. Nicco attacked again with the Tarona Gambit. This time, Leo parried and stepped away. Nicco was playing with him like a cat might a wounded mouse. Leo attacked now with a series of jabs a Kaljer pirate had taught him, followed by a lunge which Nicco met with a riposte. Nicco counter-attacked with ease, his sword surrounded him like a cage, impenetrable. Leo flustered and delivered a feint that nearly caught Nicco, but he blocked it. Nicco spun and slashed. Leo jerked his offhand wrist away. The crowd gasped. The painful sting swelled. Leo looked down at his wrist. No blood, but a long welt in the shape of a blade tip swelled. Nicco had struck him with the flat of his blade.

  He intends to embarrass me, well that will be his mistake. Leo forced a smile. Took a deep breath and swung the sword in his hand again. Nicco had beaten him again. The two men resumed the duel. The singing of steel against steel rang out. Nicco pressed with voracious aggression. Leo retreated from the onslaught, no longer trying to parry every blow, but flee. He ran and jumped atop a gaming table, knocking chips and cards to the floor. People screamed and scurried aside.

  “It is clear you are no match for me,” Nicco said. “Do the honorable thing, uphold Lady Bianca’s honor, and apologize.”

  Silence fell over the gathered crowd as Leo considered the offer. Hundreds of guests awaited his response. Leo answer and raised his sword. He held the high ground, and with it, the advantage. Leo had studied Nicco’s moves and his patterns, and he had seen an opening. He would repeat the same attack and draw Nicco into his trap and win.

  Bianca stepped forward. “Boys, if you both insist on spilling blood over my affections, please make it quick. The rest of us have a party to enjoy.”

  Suddenly, Nicco burst out in laughter. Reinhard keeled over, holding his belly. They pointed at each other. Karl and Bianca laughed as well. Bianca held her hands out. “Medistein entertainment at its best,” she proclaimed. The gathered guest applauded and laughed, realizing--alongside Leo--the entire thing had been a charade for their entertainment.

  Leo’s family planned a ruse against his guests, but it ended up being a ruse against himself. He smiled and nodded, accepting his embarrassment with all the grace he could muster. Bianca came to him and kissed him on the cheek. “That wasn’t what we had planned.” He whispered through gritted teeth and a forced smile.

  “I know,” Bianca whispered back, “but the boys had the idea. Besides, who am I to stop them?”

  “You could have warned me.”

  The crowd’s exuberant applause still filled the hall.

  Bianca chuckled in his ear. “I had to top the spectacle of the Centennial Celebration.”

  The bard plucked away at a new song of quick tempo.

  Behind her, Nicco sheathed his sword while coming over and hugged Leo. “I trust I didn’t hurt you too badly?” Nicco asked with a smile.

  Just my pride. Leo considered his hand, then shook his head. “Not at all,” Leo lied. Karl and Reinhard now approached as well, still laughing.

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  “Unbelievable,” Leo said. “My entire family plotted against me.”

  “Oh come now, nephew,” Reinhard said. “A little humility will do you some good.”

  Leo rolled his eyes and turned to Karl to return his sword. “I believe this belongs to you.” Karl took the sword from him and sheathed it.

  “Did he hit you?” Bianca asked with concern.

  “It’s nothing,” boasted Leo. “But dying in a duel at one’s own party would certainly be remembered in history.”

  Reinhard came over carrying a tray of mugs. Leo took one and drank from it deeply. Nicco and Karl did likewise. “I prefer wine,” Bianca said. Reinhard shrugged, set the tray on the table, and took the final two mugs for himself. Nicco’s late father, Lorenzo, appointed Uncle Reinhard as the godfather of the Bizzi siblings. Leo had known Nicco since the age of six. Leo considered Nicco and his sister Alessandra family in all but name, even though they were not related by blood. The four had grown up together. “Did Alessandra make the journey from Avictfell?” Bianca asked Nicco.

  Nicco swallowed a mouthful of beer. “No, she mentioned something about her studies and that this party would be like the recent Centennial celebration.” closing out the fifteenth century.

  Bianca sipped her wine. “Pity, I hope she supports my application with Arch Magus Sabine to train as an Essemancer.” She shot Leo an implying glance.

  That decision is beyond my control. Leo deflected. “What was wrong with the Centennial?”

  Nicco shrugged. “Her loss.”

  Karl had summoned another servant who brought over another round of beer. Leo grabbed another mug. “Before you get too drunk, perhaps you should thank your guests,” Bianca said.

  Leo took a fresh mug and walked up the grand staircase. He paused where the staircase split in each direction and turned. He held up his mug. “My lords and ladies,” he yelled over the clamor. The gathered crowd grew silent, all turned and regarded him. “No ruses this time, I assure you.” The chamber filled with laughter. “Medistein Tower is not only for my family but a symbol for all Tarona. The pinnacle of our greatness guides people to our city. A bastion to oversee is people and instilling a sense of security. Golden Gryphon gargoyles point in each cardinal direction of our great empire. Two more sit atop the observation deck overlooking each of Tarona’s magnificent harbors. And of course, a seventh sits atop the golden pyramid roof, its gaze upward to the heavens and void above, to the Primordials. I want to ensure the citizens of this great city know they are protected. This tower is the greatest architectural achievement since the monoliths of the fallen Traessyean Empire. We will not be outdone by relics of the past as long as a Medistein resides in Tarona. And I assure you we have no intention of ever leaving. To Tarona!” Leo toasted and held up his mug. “To Tarona!” The crowd echoed and drank.

  Leo descended the stairs back to the party. Karl and Bianca greeted him at the bottom. She gave him the look as she took his arm. “You forgot to thank everyone,” she said with stressed emphasis.

  “Did I?” He smirked.

  “You did.” Bianca’s brow arched.

  “Well, thank you.”

  An adopted servant Tomas appeared emerging from the crowd like a specter. Tomas claimed to be twelve, but Leo would bet a platinum tarin Tomas was no more than ten. Short, skinny, and small, with a head to big for his body. “Master Leo,” Tomas said, holding out a letter. “A messenger just delivered this from your Father.” Leo gave him a copper tarin commonly known as ‘crowns.’ The crown depicted the Primordial deity Pylorys on one side and a crown on the other. The nobles claimed it reminded the commonfolk who they served every time they spent it.

  “Put it on my desk.”

  “The messenger insisted it was to be opened immediately.”

  Bianca unhooked her arm from his. “I will leave you to your business,” she said. “Lord Nicco, would you care to escort me?” Nicco smiled, bowed, and extended his arm. Bianca hooked her right arm through his and the couple walked into the crowd. Leo squinted as he watched them drift away like a ship at sea.

  Leo took the letter from Tomas. He had an overly large head with brown hair and a crooked nose. “Thanks coffee bean.” Leo turned toward his brother. “Karl, I don’t want business matters to spoil the celebration.”

  “Must you always be so--”

  “Fun?”

  “Defiant,” Karl corrected. “Well, if you don’t open it, I will,”

  “Open it,” Leo said waving one hand and pressing the letter against Karl’s chest with the other. “Father is probably just sending his congratulations.” Would it kill him to set aside business for one night and acknowledge any of my accomplishments.

  Karl sighed and ripped the letter open, reading over it. Leo stepped away, intending to socialize with other guests. A hand grabbed his arm, spinning Leo, and Karl shoved the letter back against his chest with a grimace. “Lector Ricci has died. The Emperor is demanding full payment of his estate.”

  “Specters steal me.” Luck didn’t favor him this day. Why couldn’t the old bastard have lived a little longer? Leo considered the letter’s ramifications. Lector Ricci held the third largest account with the Medistein Bank. With the recent expenses for his tower, Leo knew they didn’t hold enough gold in reserve to pay in full. Any other claimant besides the Karvyean’s--the imperial family--could be easily dealt with.

  The Karvyeans had backed Lector Ricci two decades ago during the last election of the Grand Vicar by the Tellisium Church’s College of Lectors. Lector Ricci had lost because the Medistein backed the current Grand Vicar Rodrigo Malgais.

  “This is a problem,” Karl said.

  Only for Father--only for a Telliusian. Otto Medistein converted to Tellisium as a caveat for Rodrigo to accept the bank’s financing. This was in the famed year of Dual Elections after both the prior emperor and Grand Vicar had died on the Third Expedition. In order to balance the power of the church and crown, the Medistein Bank split it’s support. “I don’t think Lector Ricci’s corpse will mind.”

  “Father minds, as do the Karvyeans.”

  The Karvyeans were furious once they discovered House Medistein’s opposition. To lessen the sting, Otto financed the Karvyean dynasty’s imperial bid for the Golden Throne. Afterward, Otto mended both relationships, financing Lector Ricci’s lifestyle as well the Karvyeans by pointing out the mutual benefit their houses had to gain.

  “Business can wait until morning. For now, let’s enjoy ourselves.” Leo stepped away intending to bask in the recognizing of the gather nobility and burghers. Karl grabbed his arm pulling him back.

  “Where are you going?” Karl scowled.

  “There.” Leo pointed toward Contessa. “If Father wants me to attend to matters of business, I shall.”

  “I don’t think that is what he intended.”

  Leo smirked. “One of us has to solicit new business.” Emperor Viktor Karvyean agreed to make the Medistein Bank the crown’s primary lender. A decade later, House Medistein financed a Fourth Expedition to discover more Essemancy secrets. Being the primary lender to both the crown and Tellisium church had made House Medistein quite rich. Even still, House Karyvean and Medistein had ambiguous relations at best.

  “Your responsibilities come first.”

  “What’s more responsible than a banker and money?” Leo slapped him on the shoulders. “Enjoy yourself, brother. I can’t always do it for us both.”

  Karl frowned.

  Leo strode straight to Contessa. Joy and business were two sides of the same coin.