The Green-Eyed Man

Chapter 2

2

Stefan arrived two days later.

He walked up to the front gate late in the morning and peered left and right along the low, white-painted picket fence that fronted Batian House. It looked innocuous, but he was not fool enough to enter a mage’s house unannounced. He rang the big brass bell that hung on the right-hand side of the gate and waited.

A well-muscled man of above medium height arrived a couple of minutes later and stood looking down at him, studying him and the backpack slung over his shoulders. After a moment, the man said, “Good morning. May I help you?”

Stefan grinned. “I believe you are expecting me. My name’s Stefan.”

Leon’s eyes widened in surprise although he quickly quelled his reaction. Stefan knew he would be wondering at his short, slight stature and gave a mental shrug. “We are indeed. Just a minute.” Leon touched a series of points on the gate then lifted the latch and swung the small gate open.

As he stepped through, Stefan nodded his approval. “Magical ward, I’m assuming?”

“It is. I’m Leon, coachman, henchman, general factotum and recently, babysitter.”

When Stefan raised his eyebrows in query, Leon gave a short laugh. “Sasha and Jayhan get up to all sorts of tricks and I try to keep an eye on them amongst my other duties.”

Stefan nodded. “Pleased to meet you. Sounds like I’ll be sharing some of your duties. Well, the babysitting at least.”

“It’s not onerous. They are friendly and polite, just a bit too adventurous.”

Just as they reached the front door, it swung open and a tall, solid butler looked down his nose at him before glancing a query at Leon, who responded by saying,“Stefan, our new master at arms; Clive, our butler.”

Clive returned his gaze to Stefan, staring at him poker-faced for a moment, clearly taking his measure. Suddenly he smiled. “I believe the King thinks very highly of you. Welcome to Batian House. Let me take your backpack and I will show you to the salon and inform Maud and Sheldrake of your arrival.”

“Thank you. The rest of my equipment should be here later this afternoon.”

Left alone in the salon, Stefan studied the portraits on the wall, the dark wood wainscot and the small antique chandelier that hung from the ceiling before walking lightly to the window to gaze out into their lovely cottage garden. A ginger cat was crouched under a grevillea, swivelling its hips as it readied itself to pounce on a lovely little grass parrot. Stefan tapped the window, distracting the cat and startling the parrot into flight. Giving himself a little satisfied grin, he turned back into the room to find himself being surveyed by the lady of the house.

Maud, a vision in her billowing deep green, swept across the room, beaming and holding her hands out to take his. “How do you do? I see you just saved one of our little parrots. What a good beginning. I am Maud.”

“How do you do, Ma’am?”

“No, please call me Maud.” The door opened further and Sheldrake, dressed in his customary black coat and breeches over a white shirt, stepped neatly into the room. “And this is Sheldrake.”

Stefan disengaged his hands from Maud’s and gave a small bow. “How do you do? I have heard a great deal about you both. It is an honour to meet you.”

“Your reputation also precedes you,” said Sheldrake, smiling. “I believe the King put a lot of thought into your appointment. You are far and away their best marksman, I believe. So, welcome.”

Stefan grinned. “You did some research, did you? I thought you might. That’s why you two don’t look shocked, as Clive and Leon did. You could have warned them.” His green eyes twinkled up at them, the top of his light brown hair at the height of Sheldrake’s shoulder.

Sheldrake gave a little chuckle. “I want you to spar with Leon before he has had time to take your measure. He is big and strong but lacks a certain subtlety in his approach. I am hoping you may have enough time to train with him too.”

“Unarmed combat is my least favourite form of attack, but I will do my best.”

His eyes strayed to the door as Clive entered, carrying the best silver teapot on a tray with cups, sugar and milk. As he set it down on a low polished table in the centre of the room, Sheldrake’s eyes met his butler’s and they shared a private smile. Stefan’s brows twitched together, hoping he was not a source of amusement to them.

Maud noticed his disquiet and said, as she moved to pour the tea, “Our best teapot. I see you have already earned Clive’s approval.”

“Have I? I don’t know why. I’ve only just arrived.” Stefan accepted a cup of tea and blew on it to cool it. “Thank you. This will be most welcome. It was a bit further than I expected from the King’s palace.”

“Good heavens! You didn’t walk, did you? It’s over twelve miles. Didn’t they provide you with a carriage?” asked Sheldrake, shocked.

Stefan waved his hand at the view of the garden through the window. “It’s a lovely day for a walk and I saw some beautiful gardens on the way here.” He smiled. “I must say yours is one of the best. It will be a pleasure to stay here for a while.”

While Sheldrake and Maud were digesting this unexpected side of their new arms master, the sounds of chatter and laughter preceded the precipitous entry of two children, who drew up short at the sight of an unknown visitor. One was clearly the son of the house, dressed in expensive but practical shirt, breeches and jerkin, while the other appeared to be a stable boy, dressed similarly but in rougher plainer clothes. Two pairs of eyes, one piercingly pale and the other meltingly dark brown, stared at him.

Then the children performed neat bows and straightened, smiling.

“How do you do,” said Jayhan, on his best behaviour.

“I am well, thank you, young man,” responded Stefan. “My name is Stefan.”

A slight interrogatory lift on the end of Stefan’s words prompted Jayhan to add, “Oops. Sorry. I am Jayhan and this is Sasha.”

“Hello. Are you our new master at arms?” asked Sasha. When he nodded, she smiled, “Your eyes are a beautiful colour. I’ve never seen green eyes before.”

Stefan blinked. His face scrunched in thought. “You know, now that you mention it, neither have I. I never thought about it before.”

“Then you and Jayhan are both special,” pronounced Sasha cheerfully. “His eye colour is unique too.”

“When will we have our first training session?” asked Jayhan eagerly.

“Oh yes, we are dying to learn how to fight,” added Sasha.

“I am not sure,” interrupted Maud, “that badgering someone is the best way to begin an acquaintanceship.”

Sasha coloured. “I beg your pardon, Madam. Um, perhaps I had better go. I need to check the poultice on Chester’s hock anyway.”

“No, Sasha, don’t go.” Maud’s voice had softened as she held an arm out. “Come here.” She wrapped her arm across Sasha’s shoulders. “I am not cross. I just think Stefan might like a little time to get settled and find his bearings first.” She smiled down at Sasha. “After lunch, perhaps you two would like to show Stefan around the farm and the stable and some of your favourite places in the bush?”

Sasha and Jayhan’s faces lit up. Maud hoped that Stefan had not been planning on having a formal relationship with the children because she doubted he would be able to maintain it by the end of the afternoon. But from what she had seen of him, he did not seem very formal or stringent.

“Sasha, have your ponies saddled up and ready after lunch. Who do you think for Stefan?”

Stefan cut apologetically into her thoughts as Sasha was running her mind along the row of horses in the stable. “If you don’t mind, something not too big and not too mettlesome. I like quiet, gentle horses.”

Everyone looked at him in surprise, their view of an arms master undergoing yet another revision. He just shrugged and gave an embarrassed smile.

Maud glanced at Sasha. “I think we’ll give him Maisy.”

Sasha’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Maud sighed in exasperation at Sasha’s lack of duplicity. “Yes. Really. She needs the exercise.” Narrowing her eyes, she added dryly, “Apparently she is getting a little tubby.”

“Oh, not tubby, madam. Just a little… hm… solid?” Sasha winced and looked beseechingly at Jayhan, who just chuckled and didn’t help at all.

Stefan watched this interchange, feeling once more that he was missing something. He frowned. “Well, I hope this horse is not so broad that I won’t be able to straddle her. I don’t have very long legs, you know.”

This sent Jayhan and Sasha off into gales of laughter. Maud frowned repressively at them before saying, “Don’t worry. They’re not laughing at you. They’re laughing at the thought of Maisy being that fat. She’s not at all, as you will see,” she folded her arms and added firmly, “and she has a wonderful temperament.”

Stefan was at a loss to see why this sent the two little miscreants off into renewed laughter. Sheldrake was unimpressed with their lack of manners and shooed them out with a flea in their ear, before apologizing on their behalf.

On the surface, Stefan accepted the apology but underneath, he was wondering whether he was about to endure yet another repetition of the teasing and bullying he had faced over the years because of his size. It was not a promising beginning.