The Feast of the Masked Dancers

"No. This thong was originally a chastity belt, commissioned for the wayward daughter of a Lord from another court. It had a powerful enchantment cast into it. The daughter ran away before it could be delivered, and so it never left the shop until I arrived. But the enchantment was too powerful to be removed."

"What kind of enchantment is placed over a chastity belt?" enquired Jack, suddenly curious.

"It cannot be removed by anyone but the wearer. But more importantly, it cannot be penetrated," said Adela. "By anything."

"Anything? Including swords?"

"Try it," said Adele. She lay it down on the bed. "Draw your sword and try to stab through into the mattress."

Jack frowned, got up and took his sword from the wardrobe. He thrust it into the bed. The thong didn't tear. It was completely undamaged, as was the mattress beneath it.

He tried again. Still nothing.

"Are you saying," said Jack, "that your thong is a refurbished magical chastity belt?"

"It could save your life."

"How? It might stop Rolphus from damaging my cock, but it won't protect other organs."

"Not like that you idiot," said Adela. "Here. Like this."

She put her head through one of the leg holes, and her arm through the other, so the front part went over her heart. It was surprisingly elasticated. She took it back off.

"That," said Jack, "is not a terrible idea. You're onto something."

A plan was forming.

"I'm not a great swordsman. And this could play to my advantage. If wear this, and pretend to be worse than I am, he could get cocky and overconfident. If he goes for my chest, over-extending himself, I could take advantage of that opening and deliver a killing blow. This might work."

"Good idea," said Adela. "But there is one thing. Now that you have touched it, I cannot use this thong again. It's powers of fascination go if someone else touches it. But that's okay. I only wanted it for tonight."

"Thank you Adela," said Jack.

He took the thong and wore it under his shirt. He picked up his sword, headed to the door and turned to Adela.

"I have to admit, I'm not entirely confident about this."

"You have to be," replied Adela. "You haven't given yourself many other options. Just don't bleed into that thong, I want it back afterwards."

Jack nodded and walked downstairs, striding through the bar with his sword already drawn, attracting stares from everyone. If he was going down, he wasn't going down like a coward.

He drew even more stares when he left the tavern, into the morning sunlight of the plaza. The crowd was strangely quiet as Rolphus stopped to face him. The guards stood in a semi-circle nudged, nodded and whispered to one another.

"So you had the balls to come out and face me. It would be the first honest thing you ever did in your life, traitor!"

"Traitor?" responded Jack. "I only met you last night!"

"Enough! Let's get this done," said Rolphus, charging straight towards him.

Jack, startled, managed to sidestep and back away from an overhead blow before readying his sword.

The anocot was swinging wildly, chasing him around the plaza. This was good, Jack thought. He's angry, and he's not that skilled. Just keep defending the head, the neck and the knees he reminded himself. Leave the chest open.

Jack successfully parried and dodged a few of his blows. The mercenaries laughed at the pair of them -- Rolphus swinging his orcish rapier furiously at Jack. Jack running around like a headless chicken.

The crowd shouted idiotic instructions at them, but Jack knew better than to listen, and Rolphus was in no mental state to listen to anyone.

Finally, Rolphus thrust his sword into Jack's chest, knocking him backwards but not piercing him. This startled the anocot into looking at his sword.

"What?"

Rolphus looked up to see Jack turn around and deliver an arcing blow to his sword hand, cutting his hand off at the wrist.

Before the sword and his hand even hit the floor, the anocot ran screeching into the crowd, clutching his wrist and leaving a trail of blood. The crowd laughed and jeered as he pushed through them.

Jack sheaved his sword and dusted himself down, steadying his breathing. He walked over to the sword on the ground. Rolphus' hand still clutched the hilt.

One of the mercenaries, a heavily built man with short blonde hair approached him from across the plaza.

"That was a fine trick you played there," he said.

"Thank you," said Jack. "Although I prefer to think of it as a tactic."

The man shrugged.

"I'm Leitus, captain of the Red Company."

"Well met. I'm Jack of Breagor."

They shook hands.

"What shall become of Rolphus now?" Jack asked.

"Haven't figured that out yet," Leitus picked up the sword. "He was't a fully fledged member of the company. He just followed us around. We dressed him up in armour and made him our mascot."

"So he wasn't even a full member?"

"Not really. It doesn't matter now. What I want to know is, what armour are you wearing under there?"

Jack avoided eye contact.

"Just some...elven chain mail."

Leitus' eyes raised.

"Elven chain mail? Let me see."

"No."

"Come on, what have you got under there?"

"I told you. It's...chainmail."

"lt's see this elven chainmail then. Show me -- shall I take a swing at it myself?"

Leitus's hand was on the hilt of his sword. Jack decided he'd better go along with this.

"Fine."

Jack opened his shirt to reveal Adela's thong, strapped across his chest. Jack watched Leitus, as Leitus stared blankly at the magical chastity belt. Leitus looked at him with a frown, backing away.

"That looks elven, alright."

Leitus walked off quickly with a confused look on his face, back into the dispersing crowd. Jack quickly buttoned his shirt back up and retreated into the tavern.

He quickly forgot about his embarassment when he walked into the bar, to a silent crowd of merchants and lace whores.

"Barkeep!" he shouted. "Do you have a rag to clean my sword with?"

The barman stared blankly at him and threw him a towel.

"Thank you."

He walked past the bar, past the admiring crowd and up the stairs to his room.

Adela was still wearing the tavern bathrobe.

"Did you kill him?"

"Don't know. Took his sword hand off though."

Jack took his shirt off and removed the thong from his torso.

"This is yours."

"Thank the Gods," said Adela. "I wondered how the hell I was going to leave this place without the other half of my outfit."

She whipped her bathrobe off and Jack pretended not to stare at her ass as she put the thong back on.

The pair of them walked down the stairs to the bar, and for the first time in Jack's life, he felt like a man.

###

A week had passed. Jack stood outside Tanner's farmhouse. The windows had been repaired. The walls were clean of blood. And now, there were cattle grazing in the field.

Jack was stood in a outfit that was less flashy, but more appropriate to his surroundings. A pair of sturdy leather boots, olive trousers and an olive green jacket over his shirt.

He stood next to a white horse, carrying his old backpack.

"How can I repay you?" said Tanner. "These cows, these sheep, must have cost a fortune."

"Don't worry about it," smiled Jack. "The wedding will be soon. If you'll come, you can think of something then. Adela is a Breagor girl, she'd appreciate some fine local produce."

"When will you return?" asked Tanner.

"Not sure. I'm looking at a few properties in Bremasdon. I'll pay a visit afterwards. Oh, by the way," said Jack, reaching into the backpack. "This is yours."

Jack handed Tanner back his leather jacket. Tanner laughed as he took it.

"Had it cleaned for you," said Jack, as he mounted his horse. "Send Jayne my regards!"

Tanner waved, as Jack rode off towards Bremasdon.