The Legend of Wilt Bronson

Chapter One: The Legend Begins

         He still looked young for his age. He greeted me warmly as we both sat, his dark eyes still shining bright with adventure. Youth will never leave this man, there was too much life within his body. The very first thing I noticed, not including the very definitive favoring of his left side, was that he was literally the biggest man I had ever met—confirmation to his legendary ancestors. He was still extraordinarily muscular and his skin leathery from long days in the sun. He was bald, but I am sure it was more by choice than it was because of hair-loss. His garments were unlike any I had ever bore witness to, made by the Calder's themselves; I am certain. Their legends always told of such brilliant fabrics that seemed to be made from star-light.
         I scolded myself for being jittery as I fiddled with my pen, after all, this wasn't my first interview like this, and I am sure it won't be my last. But, this man was larger than life. I knew he had a story unlike all others, and I prayed that I could do it justice.
         He cleared his throat and looked at me expectantly. Raising a white furry brow at me he asked, "Shall we get started?" His voice reverberated my core. I couldn't believe that even the mans voice had strength to it. In all honesty—I couldn't believe that this was truly a man.
         I took a deep breath and stammered, "Y-yes sire."
         He chuckled, and I could feel my body begin to relax at the gentle gesture. He sighed and looked off to some distant place behind me. Speaking in such a softness that I didn't know could exist in such a imposing man, he began:
         "Our love story shouldn't have happened. Too many circumstances were against us. Too many people were fighting to tear us apart. But, regardless, it did, and we thrived…"

         Avi glanced up at the full moon, it hadn't budged. It felt like hours since she last looked at it. She sighed and went back to her book. The words began to jumble together and she huffed out of frustration. Slamming the book down she stood up off of the tree trunk she was sitting on. Where was he? She wondered as she began to pace. Running her fingers through her long, Auburn hair, she looked up at the moon again and then scolded herself for being so impatient.
         The leaves rustled behind her and Avi jumped. Her heart beat wildly as she studied the bushes where she heard the noise, expecting something to rush at her, but when nothing happened she blamed it on the wind. She took a deep breath and turned back around.
         "Hi there," said a deep voice in the dark, and Avi screamed. The voice chuckled as the man stepped out of the shadows.
         "Wilt!" Avi rushed at him. "Oh, Wilt, where have you been?" She asked as she began to place kisses all over him.
         He laughed as he wrapped his large arms around her ample waist. "Do you know how hard it is to sneak out, night after night? My advisor is beginning to wonder, and the number of the guards at my room keeps increasing."
         Avi looked up at him demurely with her green eyes and smiled, "Well then, I guess it's a good thing you know how to climb out a window."
         "And the fact that there's large, thorny rose bushes out my window doesn't make you feel the least bit sorry for me?" He asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
         "Not a bit, concidering what I have to do.... I am beginning to believe that my maid-servant thinks I have a sickness. I have to sneak out of the Palace pot chambers in order to escape."
         "Is that why you have a book out here?" He inquired and then dodged her hand when she tried to slap him.
         She crossed her arms and glared at him in false offense, "That was indecent of you to assume, Wilt Bronson."
         Wilt went to her and wrapped his arms around her once more and in an instant she melted against him. "I know, darling, and I am sorry. But, don't worry, I won't judge, I read in the pot chambers all the time." She scoffed and tried to squirm out of his grip, but her fight against him didn't last long. She knew that she couldn't escape from his embrace...and she never wanted to.
         Avi loved the fact that they could laugh together, and that they were willing, against all odds, to be together. It was hard because after two years of training in the High City of Lorrec Wilt will have to go on a pilgrimage of some sort in order to fulfill his apprenticeship. His two years were almost up here, and then he would be gone. He was almost to his goal of becoming a Master Swordsman, but, regardless, that is still not enough for him to marry her; the youngest princess of King Merik.

:::

         A loud cry rang throughout the Arena as Wilt stepped onto the platform. Two battles down, and one more to go until he passed the test to move on to the next stage of his apprenticeship. He had been here two years and this is what he was to come against to finish, the Darkeni, the Master. The Darkeni was a small, thin man. He almost looked frail, but Wilt knew better. Wilt was a swordsman unlike the others, he was intimidating, yes… unless you knew what a good swordsmen was supposed to look like. The shorter and thinner, the better. Wilt was neither short nor thin being the tallest and largest apprentice in the city, and possibly the whole countryside. He towered above the others and this proved to be more of a challenge to himself than to his opponents. But the fact that he had been working with this challenge for close to 15 years made his a stronger fighter. Just because he didn’t appear to have the agility to fight against a more nimble man, didn’t mean that he didn’t boast a few other qualities.
         A loud gong rang, signaling the start of the first round. They bowed to one another and positioned themselves accordingly, awaiting the second gong to ring start of the battle. Wilt saw that the Darkeni was already breathing heavily. He was sure that the Master was not nervous, but maybe age was catching up to him. He would be easy on the old man, not because he felt bad, for he knew that the man before him would be his greatest test yet, but because Wilt had already decided he was going to lose.

:::

         Avi shielded her eyes when Wilt fell for the second time, and it was only the first round. She couldn’t understand what was wrong with him. He was confident, she could see it in his eyes, so why was he doing so poorly? His other two opponents were easy to him, as he defeated them in record time, so why was this man any different? She knew Wilt’s opponent was the Darkeni of the city, but that man was still not as skillful as Wilt’s Advisor, Quill. He was the one that had trained Wilt and she knew that he would be ashamed of his apprentice. She glanced through the crowd trying to find the teacher but her gaze was averted back to the battle when she heard a loud cry and once again saw her beloved brought to his knees. She stood to her feet in an instant and covered her mouth to keep herself from crying out. When he stood again she slowly brought herself back to her seat and began to play with the folds of her dress nervously. Her maid-servant put a hand on her arm, serving as a reminder that she was not watching this battle alone and she must act disinterested to the battle before her.
         Avi cleared the lump out of her throat and shot a glance to her father. She sighed with relief as he was too busy drinking to pay attention to her actions. She swept her eyes back to the battle, but stopped short when she caught a disapproving glance from her eldest sister, Amina. Avi slumped, she didn’t want to have to answer to her sister later. The last thing she needed was for Amina to assume the truth about she and Wilt. She had already played the role of “Queen” to Avi when she reprimanded her soundly the last time she had an inkling of the feelings that passed between the two lovers.
         Avi excused herself from the King’s tent without a second glance to her sister. She grabbed her maid-servants hand as they made their way through the throng of people to the seating below. She caught a glimpse of two guards following behind her and wished that she was allowed some privacy. She stopped at the edge of some benches where some women were sitting away from their husbands to watch the fight. “Nira,” she whispered to her maid, “I need to speak to Wilt, please go talk to Brennon and convince him to back off.” Avi glanced as the younger guard and her maid-servant balked and began to argue but Avi cut her off. “I know what goes on between you two, just as you know about Wilt and I. Don’t act bashful when I know how brazen you can be and please beg him to give me at least a little bit of privacy.” Nira looked at her wide-eyed but with one last prayerful “please” from her Mistress she complied and approached the boy-guard like she was asked.
         Avi quickly approached Wilt’s tent and waited in the darkness for the gong to sound to end the first round. He stormed through the opening with a large smile on his face, his advisor following quickly behind him. Wilt turned to Quill, “Are you watching that fight? That man is amazing! I have never fought such a worthy opponent!” He exclaimed, but his amusement quickly came to an end when he saw the anger in his teachers face.
         Quill grabbed a hold of Wilt’s shoulders and shook him like he was reprimanding a child. Through clenched teeth he spoke: “I did not go through 15 years of bringing you through training and battles and sweat and blood to have you ruin your life in one round at the arena. I know what you are doing and unless you want to fight me after this battle is over, you best shape up. Trust me, I will not be following any rules of the arena if I need to teach you how not to screw up your life. I have a feeling I know why you are doing this, and if that is the case I will be chaining you to your bed every night if we have to stay in this city for another year.” Quill’s robes swirled as he turned and stormed out of the tent. Wilt stood and watched after him for a minute longer before he finally sat down with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Those who were tending him swarmed around him and began to wipe off sweat and give him water. After a moment he shoved them away and ordered them out of his sight.
         Avi shook nervously as she approached her lover and placed a soft hand on his shoulder. He jumped and grabbed her arm roughly, “I thought I ordered you to leave--” He saw the pain in her eyes and stopped. “Avi! Oh, Avi, I…” He trailed off as he wrapped her in his arms. “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean…” again he lost his words and Avi bit her lip to keep the tears from trailing down her face.
         She pulled herself away from him, “Is it true?”
         “Is what true, my love?” He asked, his breath stirring her hair.
         “Is that why you are losing? Because of me?” Her voice began to raise, “Wilt, I can’t have you doing that! Don’t put yourself in danger because of me!”
         Wilt covered her smooth lips with a finger, “Calm down, Avi. Yes, I am letting this man win, but I am not putting myself into any danger over you. But, if I needed to, you know that I would regardless of what you would ask of me.” She tried to argue but Wilt covered her lips again, but this time with his own. “I don’t want to leave you, Avi,” he continued. “So if losing this fight means one more year with you, then I will lose. If I win then in two weeks time I will be gone, never to see you again.”
         “No, remember what we talked about? It’ll just be for two more years and then you’ll be back. You’ll approach my father as a Master Swordsman and ask to become a part of his Knights.”
         “We kid ourselves with that dream, Avi, and you know it. Your father knows me, and has disdain for me. I am not, and never will be, good enough to even be in your presence in his eyes. Not to mention Amina’s, who will be Queen once your Father is gone and will have an even tighter reign on you.” He sighed. “No, my love, this is the only way I can even be with you a bit longer. I would rather have one more year of sneaking out at night with you than to be left with nothing.”
         “But, that won’t happen. You heard Quill, he will chain you to your bed every night if you lose this.” She buried her face in his chest, “Please, don’t do this Wilt. I would rather know that you have had a successful life than to think that your failure was the result of your love for me.”
         Wilt was quiet for a while before he pushed her away from him and gazed into her watering green eyes. “Are you sure?”
         “I wouldn’t want anything else from you.”
         He gave her one last look before headed toward the arena once again, “These next two weeks better be the best damn weeks of my life, you hear me woman?” He ordered sternly, but shot her a wink and left the tent before she could even say a word.