Hakan thought for a minute. "And a bowl of the Escobar Blue, please."
The slightly bewildered serving girl nodded before sliding away back into the semi-darkness. Hakan and Alexis had just finished ordering at the Blue Parrot, one of the most highly-respected teahouses and smoking establishments in the city. Alexis, of course, had ordered a dizzying array of tobaccos and teas in a quantity far beyond her ability to consume, a pattern that had become familiar to Hakan over the past week. He sympathized with the skinny brown-skinned girl who had taken their order . . . luckily for her Alexis would have a hard time noticing any slip ups, as Hakan had picked most of their selections.
"So how did you know what to order? There was no menu."
"Did you see the two rods outside?"
The stoic exterior of the Blue Parrot had only two decorations -- a small mosaic of a blue bird and pair of long rods that ran the length of the building. Hanging from these rods were several hundred small metal figures; people, animals, plants, stars, ships, geometric shapes, and a few letters from different languages. Each represented a type of tea or tobacco that the house had in stock that day, and the elites of Asfar were expected to know them by heart. Most servants, however, had not had the luxury of such an education, and so a circle of young women could be seen around each tea house early in the morning as the shapes went up, armed with small notebooks furiously deciphering and recording the day's offerings should their masters decide to dine out unexpectedly.
". . . My tutor used to teach me a couple figures each day. He would tell the stories that went with a particular shape . . . most of the shapes have some sort of story behind them, especially the older ones. Haskel says that if you combined them all, it would form a nearly complete history of Asfar and the five houses. I don't know if that's true, but the stories make them a lot easier to --"
But Alexis had stopped paying attention. "Who's that?" she said, breaking in on Hakan's explanation and pointing at a few large men grouped in a corner.
"Hmm?" Hakan squinted in the semi-darkness. He was glad that it was difficult to see in the tea house, as it covered up Alexis' frequent and often jarring directness. "Them? I'm not sure. They're probably smugglers."
Alexis looked up quickly. "Smugglers? How can you tell?"
Hakan laughed. "Supposedly, smugglers use tea-houses for their meetings, because they're so dark. When the guards come in, it's too dark for them to see until their eyes adjust, and that gives them a chance to get away. I don't know if that's actually true, though."
"Oh." Alexis looked disappointed. Her disappointment lasted only for a moment, though, because soon a stream of serving girls arrived carrying several ornate pipes and clay teapots.
Hakan watched, amused, as a circle of small pots and smoke materialized around Alexis. He accepted his own tea with the appropriate nod and sipped it gently. It was relaxing to sit for a moment after spending the morning trying to keep up with Alexis.
They'd met shortly after breakfast that morning, a few streets from the Tarif estate at a fountain that had served as a rendezvous all week. Alexis had promptly informed him that they were going to spend the day visiting the high market, although after a few questions Hakan quickly realized that she had no idea where it was. The high market was sandwiched between a pair of elevated thoroughfares that ran from the outer wall to the temple of Rahm. Expensive shops lined the avenues on either side, second story storefronts open to the elevated street and decorated with opulent mosaics.
Their lower levels, however, opened into the market itself, which catered to a much broader range of tastes. There was no road access, patrons either had to pick their way carefully down a narrow staircase cut into the avenue's embankment or negotiate one of many winding tunnels that emerged into the open air from other, quieter parts of the city. The open space between the roadways was filled with tents, vendors, flags in a dizzying array of colors, incense burners, small brick ovens, and even temporary pens filled with animals. From mid-morning until after nightfall the market swarmed with people of all ages, colors, and backgrounds, all milling about among the smells of sweat, roasted meat, straw, perfume, fried dough, animal dung, and a thousand other things.
It was through this labyrinth that Hakan had been following Alexis. The young woman had plunged into sampling as many things as she could get her hands on, picking, partially consuming and discarding food nearly as fast as Hakan could pay for it. He didn't mind indulging Alexis' whims, as every night for the past week a strangely taciturn and unapologetic old servant had stopped by the Tarif estate with a purse of gold, making up for Alexis' numerous purchases. Finally, though, she had declared herself tired, and declared that they would stop at the Blue Parrot.
"Why did you pick the Blue Parrot?"
"Hmm?" Alexis' eyes shown out from the haze of blue smoke encircling her head.
"The Blue Parrot? How do you know of it?"
"My father mentioned it, he said I should be sure to visit."
"Do you like it?"
"Yes, but I didn't know it would be so . . . dark!"
Hakan laughed. It was quite dark inside the tea house. Other than a few bright shafts of light stabbing down from the skylights that also served as chimneys, the room was totally unlit. Every once in a while one of the serving girls, dressed in slinky, semi-transparent fabrics that had copper and silver pieces woven into them, would pass under a skylight and shine like a mirror. Even then the thick haze of tobacco smoke meant that the far corners of the room remained totally unlit.
"That's how you know it's a good tea house, if you can't see when you first come in . . ." but Hakan trailed off. Someone had just blundered in from the vestibule carrying a long object wrapped in cloth in one hand and feeling his way along the wall with the other. He saw one of the serving girls head the person off, and they had a short, frenzied conversation before she began leading him through the room. As they approached Alexis and his cushions, Hakan recognized the young man as his servant, Simge.
"Simge, what are you doing here?"
"Master, thank goodness you're alright!" Hakan's clumsy servant had clearly rushed in without giving his eyes time to adjust, and was staring into space. "I had to come right away, but I can't see. Where are you?"
Hakan got to his feet. "Over here, Simge. What's going on?"
Simge groped in the dark before finally finding Hakan's hand with obvious relief. "Someone left a message at the estate just a half hour ago, saying that you were at the Blue Parrot and were in extreme danger!"
"Danger? What kind of danger?" Alexis was on her feet now as well.
"It's because of Mistress Temrin, Master Tarif. There are men outside waiting to kidnap her. Many men, with weapons!"
"Kidnappers? Excellent!" The young woman sounded excited. "Oooh, Hakan, what will we do?"
Hakan frowned at her, about to reply, but was cut off by Simge.
"I grabbed these, Master, and came as quick as I could." He unrolled the cloth to show a sabre and a pistol. The serving girl gave an alarmed cry, and started to say something, but Hakan ignored her.
"Simge! Excellent work. Does my father know about this?"
Simge shrugged. "I sent a message to your father and his bodyguards, but they're away at a meeting and I don't know when they will get it."
"Alright." Hakan thought for a moment, shedding his outer coat and buckling the swordbelt around his waist. After making sure it was snug, he thrust the pistol into the back of the belt. The serving girl was still saying something about how weapons were prohibited indoors, but Hakan grabbed her hand. "Do you have a back door?"
She nodded.
"Take us to it."
Wordlessly she turned, leading the three of them through the maze of cushions and patrons. No one was looking at them, but Hakan smiled at the assortment of weapons that had unobtrusively appeared among the men seated around him. The girl pulled him through a cunningly hidden doorway into a brightly lit room and let go of his hand.
Squinting at the sudden change, Hakan stopped. "Simge, where are we? I can't see."
"We're in the kitchen. She's pointing down a stairwell."
"Can you lead me?"
"Yes, take my hand . . . you too, Mistress Temrin."
Simge led them carefully down the stairs. As his vision began to adjust, Hakan could see that they were in a cellar, about halfway full of wooden crates and hanging bundles of tobacco. A large freight door took up most of the opposite wall, held shut with a large iron latch.
"Alright, Simge, here's the plan. I'm going to take the minister's daughter out that door, and we'll run for it. If we make it, I'll see you at the estate. If not, wait here for an hour and then go find dad. Got it?"
Simge gulped, pale-faced, before nodding.
Hakan turned to Alexis, who was beaming with excitement. "When I count to -- what are you so happy about?"
"Kidnappers! Isn't this fun?"
He stared at her. "No, not . . . really. Do you actually understand what's going on?"
"Oh, of course! My father has lots of enemies, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often."
"Alexis . . . they're not going to be very nice to you if they catch you. I don't know what things are like in Khardror, but here in Asfar . . . well, we invented torture."
"Oh, you're right! I should be scared, shouldn't I?" Alexis quickly adopted a scared face. "Is this better?"
Hakan shook his head. "Ok, sure. Whatever. Listen, just grab my hand. When I count to three, I'm going to open this door. Then we run. Follow me and don't let go, okay?"
Alexis giggled for a moment before readopting her scared face. "Okay."
"Alright." Hakan unlatched the door and braced his shoulder against it. "One . . . Two . . . Three!"
The door swung open easily. Hakan and Alexis ran out into the alley . . .
. . . and found themselves surrounded by a semi-circle of armed men in masks.
"Dammit! They were waiting for us!" Hakan pulled Alexis behind him and faced the men.
They were relaxed, but had their weapons drawn. One of the kidnappers chuckled as Hakan looked desperately for a way to escape. There was no way out of the alley . . . except for the way they had come . . .
"You can try running back in, but if you think that we're not watching the front door, you're a fool."
An old, scarred man with an eyepatch had stepped out from the shadows at the end of the alley. His voiced grated like a rusty shovel. "Only one bodyguard? And he's just a boy. I thought this would be harder."
"You can't take her!"
At this several of the kidnappers started laughing, including the old ringleader. "Come on now, kid. Just give us the girl. We might even let you live! How does that sound?"
Hakan pulled the pistol from his belt, and the kidnappers immediately stopped laughing. A few of their weapons came up. "Stay back! Stay back or I'll shoot!"
The old man laughed alone this time. "Not going to take me up on my offer? I guess you're right, I wasn't going to let you live. So you're going to shoot one of us. Then what? You only have one shot."
"I guess I'll shoot you then." Hakan pointed the pistol at the old man, and before anyone could react, pulled the trigger.
*Click*
The sound of the empty firing mechanism rang out in the crowded alley.
"A word of advice, kid -- it helps if you load it first. Take them, kill the boy." the ringleader added, gesturing to his men. They surged forward as one. Hakan threw down the pistol and drew his sabre with a wordless yell.
The first kidnapper came at him with a makeshift cudgel, raised high above his head in a sloppy attack. Hakan slid inside his attack easily, ramming his shoulder into the man's chest as he came forward. He rammed upwards under the chin with the hilt of his sword, snapping the man's head back with a sharp click as his teeth came together.
The man with the cudgel fell backwards, knocking two of the other kidnappers off balance. This gave Hakan time to slide to his left, catching the sword of another attacker on his own blade before it could split his ribs. He ducked a machete that came towards his head from the other direction, and as the kidnapper's uncontrolled attack took him off balance Hakan slashed at his exposed bicep with his own sword. The man yelled and dropped his weapon, holding one bleeding arm with the other.
Another attacker came at him, also with a sword, and Hakan parried this with his blade as well. Pushing forward, Hakan stepped past the man's leg and simultaneously smashed his elbow into the man's face. Overbalancing, the man tumbled to the ground, dropping his sword and clutching his nose.
A thick club crashed into Hakan's back, nearly knocking him breathless. Falling to his knees, he managed to twist and catch the next attack on his pommel. The sword bit into the wooden club, and with a wrench he disarmed the man, flinging the club into another kidnapper's shins. Seeing a sword glint from above as it swung towards him, Hakan rolled to his left and slashed blindly upwards. He caught on something, and as his assailant toppled on to him Hakan struggled to free himself. He removed himself from the man's grip just in time to parry a knife thrust from the man who had used the cudgel earlier, and another blow from the flat of his sword left the man crumpled on the ground.
The two remaining assailants paused for a second before attacking him simultaneously. He drifted to his left, ducking under one kidnapper's wild swing and letting the man's sword catch the other attacker in the throat. The unintended victim dropped his weapon, grasping at his neck wide-eyed and falling to the ground gurgling. Surprised, the first kidnapper paused for a second until Hakan kicked him in the knee, breaking the man's leg and dropping him to the ground as well. He turned back down the alley to find the old man --
-- and found himself staring into the barrel of the ringleader's pistol. "Nicely done, kid. Too bad mine's loaded."
There was no way to reach him in time. Hakan winced, expecting the blast of gunpowder . . . but instead, he heard a soft "phssssssss-THWACK" followed shortly by the sound of a body falling to the ground.
After a moment he tenatively opened one eye. The old man had dropped the pistol and fallen backwards, a black arrow sticking straight up into the air from his left eye socket like a flagpole. At the same time, another newcomer had appeared at the end of the alley. He gave a short whistle and made a circular gesture above his head, but before Hakan could say anything Alexis rushed past him.
"What? Who's -- Alexis, what's going on here?" But Alexis had been swept up in the arms of the man at the end of the alley, who was smiling and swinging her through the air like a little girl. At the same time, two more men, this time dressed in black from head to toe, appeared on the roof overlooking the alley. They swung a rope over the side and climbed down to the street with impressive speed and agility. Hakan noticed that one of them was carrying a bow slung over his shoulder.
"Hakan, come here! I want to introduce you!"
Hakan sheathed his sword and turned back to Alexis. She was holding the stranger's hand, who on closer inspection turned out to be a massive dark-skinned man. He stood more than a head taller than Hakan, and layers of muscle rippled across his bare chest. Hakan stared up at the black giant. "Wow."
"Hakan, meet Mastiff. He's been my bodyguard since I was born."
"I see." Mastiff gazed back at Hakan with an impenetrable expression. "Talkative guy, huh?"
Alexis laughed. "Of course not, silly! He's a mute, Daddy had his tongue cut out when he bought him!"
"Oh. I . . . see." Horrified, Hakan paused. "Not to be rude, but you could've shown up a minute or two earlier."
"Oh, don't worry, they were watching the whole time. And what a lovely present!"
Hakan turned sharply to Alexis. "Present?!? What do you mean, present?"
"Every year, my father gets me something for my birthday. My birthday was last week, but this year was different. I didn't get anything except a letter, and in it he said that I should be sure to visit the Blue Parrot. I didn't know what he meant, until now!"
Hakan felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "And what did he mean, exactly?"
"He set up everything, Hakan! Daddy hired the kidnappers while in disguise to steal me away, and then sent Mastiff to rescue me! It was a brilliant present; what fun it is to be kidnapped!" And she hugged Mastiff again.
"Well, I hope I didn't get in the way of your present, Alexis." Bitterness tinged Hakan's voice, but Alexis didn't notice.
"Oh!" she cried, seemingly realizing something for the first time. "Oh, no, of course not! You were brilliant, Hakan! So brave of you to fight those nasty kidnappers for me!" Stepping away from Mastiff, she suddenly kissed him on the cheek. "You aren't hurt, are you?"
"No, I'm fine, but some of them might not be. I think I --" Hakan turned back to the bruised at battered thugs lying on the ground, but stopped in mid sentence. The two men in black had just finished quietly slicing the last kidnapper's throat, and pools of red blood were starting to soak into the street.
"Ha- Hakan?" A shaky voice came from inside the tea shop. "Are you okay? What happened out there?" Simge's head peeked around the door, wide-eyed and scared.
Hakan looked back at Alexis. She hadn't waited to hear his answer, and was being swung through the air by Mastiff again. "It's okay, Simge, you can come out."
Hakan's timid servant emerged from the basement, stepping carefully around the dead bodies. "Master Tarif, what happened here?"
"A birthday present, apparently."
"A birthday present? I don't understand."
"For Miss Temrin. From her father."
"Ooh. I still don't . . ." He trailed off. The two other bodyguards were now quickly loading the bodies into a low cart that was hidden off to one side of the alley.
"Come on, Simge, let's head home. I think she'll be safe enough with Mastiff for now."
"Yes, Master Tarif."
As the two young men left, Alexis was still in the arms of her massive bodyguard, laughing and humming snatches of a song. Ten minutes later, there was no sign of a disturbance at all.
Hakan watched, amused, as a circle of small pots and smoke materialized around Alexis. He accepted his own tea with the appropriate nod and sipped it gently. It was relaxing to sit for a moment after spending the morning trying to keep up with Alexis.
They'd met shortly after breakfast that morning, a few streets from the Tarif estate at a fountain that had served as a rendezvous all week. Alexis had promptly informed him that they were going to spend the day visiting the high market, although after a few questions Hakan quickly realized that she had no idea where it was. The high market was sandwiched between a pair of elevated thoroughfares that ran from the outer wall to the temple of Rahm. Expensive shops lined the avenues on either side, second story storefronts open to the elevated street and decorated with opulent mosaics.
Their lower levels, however, opened into the market itself, which catered to a much broader range of tastes. There was no road access, patrons either had to pick their way carefully down a narrow staircase cut into the avenue's embankment or negotiate one of many winding tunnels that emerged into the open air from other, quieter parts of the city. The open space between the roadways was filled with tents, vendors, flags in a dizzying array of colors, incense burners, small brick ovens, and even temporary pens filled with animals. From mid-morning until after nightfall the market swarmed with people of all ages, colors, and backgrounds, all milling about among the smells of sweat, roasted meat, straw, perfume, fried dough, animal dung, and a thousand other things.
It was through this labyrinth that Hakan had been following Alexis. The young woman had plunged into sampling as many things as she could get her hands on, picking, partially consuming and discarding food nearly as fast as Hakan could pay for it. He didn't mind indulging Alexis' whims, as every night for the past week a strangely taciturn and unapologetic old servant had stopped by the Tarif estate with a purse of gold, making up for Alexis' numerous purchases. Finally, though, she had declared herself tired, and declared that they would stop at the Blue Parrot.
"Why did you pick the Blue Parrot?"
"Hmm?" Alexis' eyes shown out from the haze of blue smoke encircling her head.
"The Blue Parrot? How do you know of it?"
"My father mentioned it, he said I should be sure to visit."
"Do you like it?"
"Yes, but I didn't know it would be so . . . dark!"
Hakan laughed. It was quite dark inside the tea house. Other than a few bright shafts of light stabbing down from the skylights that also served as chimneys, the room was totally unlit. Every once in a while one of the serving girls, dressed in slinky, semi-transparent fabrics that had copper and silver pieces woven into them, would pass under a skylight and shine like a mirror. Even then the thick haze of tobacco smoke meant that the far corners of the room remained totally unlit.
"That's how you know it's a good tea house, if you can't see when you first come in . . ." but Hakan trailed off. Someone had just blundered in from the vestibule carrying a long object wrapped in cloth in one hand and feeling his way along the wall with the other. He saw one of the serving girls head the person off, and they had a short, frenzied conversation before she began leading him through the room. As they approached Alexis and his cushions, Hakan recognized the young man as his servant, Simge.
"Simge, what are you doing here?"
"Master, thank goodness you're alright!" Hakan's clumsy servant had clearly rushed in without giving his eyes time to adjust, and was staring into space. "I had to come right away, but I can't see. Where are you?"
Hakan got to his feet. "Over here, Simge. What's going on?"
Simge groped in the dark before finally finding Hakan's hand with obvious relief. "Someone left a message at the estate just a half hour ago, saying that you were at the Blue Parrot and were in extreme danger!"
"Danger? What kind of danger?" Alexis was on her feet now as well.
"It's because of Mistress Temrin, Master Tarif. There are men outside waiting to kidnap her. Many men, with weapons!"
"Kidnappers? Excellent!" The young woman sounded excited. "Oooh, Hakan, what will we do?"
Hakan frowned at her, about to reply, but was cut off by Simge.
"I grabbed these, Master, and came as quick as I could." He unrolled the cloth to show a sabre and a pistol. The serving girl gave an alarmed cry, and started to say something, but Hakan ignored her.
"Simge! Excellent work. Does my father know about this?"
Simge shrugged. "I sent a message to your father and his bodyguards, but they're away at a meeting and I don't know when they will get it."
"Alright." Hakan thought for a moment, shedding his outer coat and buckling the swordbelt around his waist. After making sure it was snug, he thrust the pistol into the back of the belt. The serving girl was still saying something about how weapons were prohibited indoors, but Hakan grabbed her hand. "Do you have a back door?"
She nodded.
"Take us to it."
Wordlessly she turned, leading the three of them through the maze of cushions and patrons. No one was looking at them, but Hakan smiled at the assortment of weapons that had unobtrusively appeared among the men seated around him. The girl pulled him through a cunningly hidden doorway into a brightly lit room and let go of his hand.
Squinting at the sudden change, Hakan stopped. "Simge, where are we? I can't see."
"We're in the kitchen. She's pointing down a stairwell."
"Can you lead me?"
"Yes, take my hand . . . you too, Mistress Temrin."
Simge led them carefully down the stairs. As his vision began to adjust, Hakan could see that they were in a cellar, about halfway full of wooden crates and hanging bundles of tobacco. A large freight door took up most of the opposite wall, held shut with a large iron latch.
"Alright, Simge, here's the plan. I'm going to take the minister's daughter out that door, and we'll run for it. If we make it, I'll see you at the estate. If not, wait here for an hour and then go find dad. Got it?"
Simge gulped, pale-faced, before nodding.
Hakan turned to Alexis, who was beaming with excitement. "When I count to -- what are you so happy about?"
"Kidnappers! Isn't this fun?"
He stared at her. "No, not . . . really. Do you actually understand what's going on?"
"Oh, of course! My father has lots of enemies, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often."
"Alexis . . . they're not going to be very nice to you if they catch you. I don't know what things are like in Khardror, but here in Asfar . . . well, we invented torture."
"Oh, you're right! I should be scared, shouldn't I?" Alexis quickly adopted a scared face. "Is this better?"
Hakan shook his head. "Ok, sure. Whatever. Listen, just grab my hand. When I count to three, I'm going to open this door. Then we run. Follow me and don't let go, okay?"
Alexis giggled for a moment before readopting her scared face. "Okay."
"Alright." Hakan unlatched the door and braced his shoulder against it. "One . . . Two . . . Three!"
The door swung open easily. Hakan and Alexis ran out into the alley . . .
. . . and found themselves surrounded by a semi-circle of armed men in masks.
"Dammit! They were waiting for us!" Hakan pulled Alexis behind him and faced the men.
They were relaxed, but had their weapons drawn. One of the kidnappers chuckled as Hakan looked desperately for a way to escape. There was no way out of the alley . . . except for the way they had come . . .
"You can try running back in, but if you think that we're not watching the front door, you're a fool."
An old, scarred man with an eyepatch had stepped out from the shadows at the end of the alley. His voiced grated like a rusty shovel. "Only one bodyguard? And he's just a boy. I thought this would be harder."
"You can't take her!"
At this several of the kidnappers started laughing, including the old ringleader. "Come on now, kid. Just give us the girl. We might even let you live! How does that sound?"
Hakan pulled the pistol from his belt, and the kidnappers immediately stopped laughing. A few of their weapons came up. "Stay back! Stay back or I'll shoot!"
The old man laughed alone this time. "Not going to take me up on my offer? I guess you're right, I wasn't going to let you live. So you're going to shoot one of us. Then what? You only have one shot."
"I guess I'll shoot you then." Hakan pointed the pistol at the old man, and before anyone could react, pulled the trigger.
*Click*
The sound of the empty firing mechanism rang out in the crowded alley.
"A word of advice, kid -- it helps if you load it first. Take them, kill the boy." the ringleader added, gesturing to his men. They surged forward as one. Hakan threw down the pistol and drew his sabre with a wordless yell.
The first kidnapper came at him with a makeshift cudgel, raised high above his head in a sloppy attack. Hakan slid inside his attack easily, ramming his shoulder into the man's chest as he came forward. He rammed upwards under the chin with the hilt of his sword, snapping the man's head back with a sharp click as his teeth came together.
The man with the cudgel fell backwards, knocking two of the other kidnappers off balance. This gave Hakan time to slide to his left, catching the sword of another attacker on his own blade before it could split his ribs. He ducked a machete that came towards his head from the other direction, and as the kidnapper's uncontrolled attack took him off balance Hakan slashed at his exposed bicep with his own sword. The man yelled and dropped his weapon, holding one bleeding arm with the other.
Another attacker came at him, also with a sword, and Hakan parried this with his blade as well. Pushing forward, Hakan stepped past the man's leg and simultaneously smashed his elbow into the man's face. Overbalancing, the man tumbled to the ground, dropping his sword and clutching his nose.
A thick club crashed into Hakan's back, nearly knocking him breathless. Falling to his knees, he managed to twist and catch the next attack on his pommel. The sword bit into the wooden club, and with a wrench he disarmed the man, flinging the club into another kidnapper's shins. Seeing a sword glint from above as it swung towards him, Hakan rolled to his left and slashed blindly upwards. He caught on something, and as his assailant toppled on to him Hakan struggled to free himself. He removed himself from the man's grip just in time to parry a knife thrust from the man who had used the cudgel earlier, and another blow from the flat of his sword left the man crumpled on the ground.
The two remaining assailants paused for a second before attacking him simultaneously. He drifted to his left, ducking under one kidnapper's wild swing and letting the man's sword catch the other attacker in the throat. The unintended victim dropped his weapon, grasping at his neck wide-eyed and falling to the ground gurgling. Surprised, the first kidnapper paused for a second until Hakan kicked him in the knee, breaking the man's leg and dropping him to the ground as well. He turned back down the alley to find the old man --
-- and found himself staring into the barrel of the ringleader's pistol. "Nicely done, kid. Too bad mine's loaded."
There was no way to reach him in time. Hakan winced, expecting the blast of gunpowder . . . but instead, he heard a soft "phssssssss-THWACK" followed shortly by the sound of a body falling to the ground.
After a moment he tenatively opened one eye. The old man had dropped the pistol and fallen backwards, a black arrow sticking straight up into the air from his left eye socket like a flagpole. At the same time, another newcomer had appeared at the end of the alley. He gave a short whistle and made a circular gesture above his head, but before Hakan could say anything Alexis rushed past him.
"What? Who's -- Alexis, what's going on here?" But Alexis had been swept up in the arms of the man at the end of the alley, who was smiling and swinging her through the air like a little girl. At the same time, two more men, this time dressed in black from head to toe, appeared on the roof overlooking the alley. They swung a rope over the side and climbed down to the street with impressive speed and agility. Hakan noticed that one of them was carrying a bow slung over his shoulder.
"Hakan, come here! I want to introduce you!"
Hakan sheathed his sword and turned back to Alexis. She was holding the stranger's hand, who on closer inspection turned out to be a massive dark-skinned man. He stood more than a head taller than Hakan, and layers of muscle rippled across his bare chest. Hakan stared up at the black giant. "Wow."
"Hakan, meet Mastiff. He's been my bodyguard since I was born."
"I see." Mastiff gazed back at Hakan with an impenetrable expression. "Talkative guy, huh?"
Alexis laughed. "Of course not, silly! He's a mute, Daddy had his tongue cut out when he bought him!"
"Oh. I . . . see." Horrified, Hakan paused. "Not to be rude, but you could've shown up a minute or two earlier."
"Oh, don't worry, they were watching the whole time. And what a lovely present!"
Hakan turned sharply to Alexis. "Present?!? What do you mean, present?"
"Every year, my father gets me something for my birthday. My birthday was last week, but this year was different. I didn't get anything except a letter, and in it he said that I should be sure to visit the Blue Parrot. I didn't know what he meant, until now!"
Hakan felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "And what did he mean, exactly?"
"He set up everything, Hakan! Daddy hired the kidnappers while in disguise to steal me away, and then sent Mastiff to rescue me! It was a brilliant present; what fun it is to be kidnapped!" And she hugged Mastiff again.
"Well, I hope I didn't get in the way of your present, Alexis." Bitterness tinged Hakan's voice, but Alexis didn't notice.
"Oh!" she cried, seemingly realizing something for the first time. "Oh, no, of course not! You were brilliant, Hakan! So brave of you to fight those nasty kidnappers for me!" Stepping away from Mastiff, she suddenly kissed him on the cheek. "You aren't hurt, are you?"
"No, I'm fine, but some of them might not be. I think I --" Hakan turned back to the bruised at battered thugs lying on the ground, but stopped in mid sentence. The two men in black had just finished quietly slicing the last kidnapper's throat, and pools of red blood were starting to soak into the street.
"Ha- Hakan?" A shaky voice came from inside the tea shop. "Are you okay? What happened out there?" Simge's head peeked around the door, wide-eyed and scared.
Hakan looked back at Alexis. She hadn't waited to hear his answer, and was being swung through the air by Mastiff again. "It's okay, Simge, you can come out."
Hakan's timid servant emerged from the basement, stepping carefully around the dead bodies. "Master Tarif, what happened here?"
"A birthday present, apparently."
"A birthday present? I don't understand."
"For Miss Temrin. From her father."
"Ooh. I still don't . . ." He trailed off. The two other bodyguards were now quickly loading the bodies into a low cart that was hidden off to one side of the alley.
"Come on, Simge, let's head home. I think she'll be safe enough with Mastiff for now."
"Yes, Master Tarif."
As the two young men left, Alexis was still in the arms of her massive bodyguard, laughing and humming snatches of a song. Ten minutes later, there was no sign of a disturbance at all.
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