Chapter 42 : The Price of Holding Back
Henry looked at him sideways. "Are you going to fight him?"
"Didn't I already say I won't?" Fenlor's tone was flat. "Not now."
Henry let out a slow breath. "I thought for a second there you were about to go for it."
"I'm there to collect information. Nothing else." Fenlor kept his eyes on the road ahead. "Now that we know where the guard spends his time, the only thing left is finding a way inside Eldoria and getting what we need."
Henry nodded, falling quiet beside him as they walked.
They pushed through the door of the inn, shaking the cold from their coats. The innkeeper looked up from behind the counter the moment they entered, his good eye tracking them across the room.
"Did you get anything useful?"
"Yeah," Fenlor said, stopping at the counter. "Do you know a place called Eldoria?"
The innkeeper's brow shifted. "I know it. Why?"
Henry stepped forward. "They told us the noble's personal guard is there often. That's where he trains."
The innkeeper was quiet for a moment, something distant crossing his expression. "That old place," he murmured, more to himself than them. "To think that's where he keeps himself."
"We need to get there," Fenlor said. "Tell us the way."
The innkeeper waved a hand. "Don't worry about directions. I'll arrange a carriage. Just wait here."
He came around the counter and disappeared out the door before either of them could respond.
They waited in the quiet of the common room — Henry picking at the remains of something left on a nearby table, Fenlor standing with his arms crossed, eyes on the door.
After a while, the sound of wheels on stone came from outside.
The innkeeper appeared in the doorway and waved them over. A carriage stood waiting in the street, the driver already seated and ready. The innkeeper stepped down and turned to them.
"I've given the driver the details. He knows where to take you."
Henry glanced at Fenlor. Fenlor gave a small nod.
They climbed in.
The carriage rolled steadily through the streets, the city gradually thinning around them as they moved further from the inn district.
Henry broke the silence after a while. "So what's the plan when we get there? How do you intend to get the information?"
Fenlor leaned back against the seat. "We'll see when we arrive."
Henry turned to look at him. "You didn't think it through at all, did you."
Fenlor smiled and said nothing.
Henry pressed his palm flat against his face and exhaled slowly through his nose.
The carriage rolled on.
It came to a stop some time later at the edge of a wide stone path. They climbed out and the driver pulled away without a word, leaving them standing before a heavy iron gate set into a long wall. The stonework was old but well maintained
Two guards flanked the gate, armed and still, their eyes moving to Fenlor and Henry the moment they approached.
One stepped forward and raised a hand. "This place is under noble authority. Entry is not permitted."
Henry didn't hesitate. He reached into his coat, drew out the chain, and held the coin forward without a word.
The guard took it. He turned it over once, examined the edge, then glanced at his partner. "Watch them. I'll verify it and be back."
He turned and disappeared through a narrow side door beside the gate, leaving them standing in the quiet with the second guard watching them without expression.
Henry looked straight ahead. Fenlor stood beside him, hands loose at his sides, unhurried as always.
They waited.
The guard returned and spoke briefly to his partner. "Boss says they're clear. Let them through."
The gate opened.
Eldoria was wider than it appeared from outside. Guards trained across the open yard in pairs — movements sharp, focused, the crack of steel carrying through the air. These were not ordinary soldiers running drills.
Henry grabbed Fenlor's arm and pointed.
At the far end of the yard, a man stood apart from the rest — watching the guards with quiet authority, saying little, needing to say less. The noble guard.
Fenlor looked at him and smiled. "So he really is here."
He started walking toward him. Henry followed close, leaning in. "Hey — what are you doing?"
Fenlor didn't answer.
He stopped a few feet from the noble guard. "Sir. I want to train under you."
Henry's expression froze.
The noble guard looked them over. "You're the ones the innkeeper recently recruited. What are you doing here?"
"Yes, I'm one of his," Fenlor said. "I want to train under you. To become a great swordsman."
Beside him, Henry had begun to sweat.
"How did you know I was here?"
"We asked around."
The noble guard studied him — slow, measured. "You looked into me." He was quiet for a moment, then turned and gestured to a nearby guard for a sword. "Interesting." He took the blade and turned it once in his grip. "I can train you. But only if you can block my attack."
The guard handed Fenlor a sword.
Henry stepped close before Fenlor could move and dropped his voice low. "Hold back. Don't go all out — they'll suspect something."
Fenlor gave a small nod, then turned and took his stance.
The noble guard looked him over. "That's a good stance."
"Thank you, sir."
The noble guard drew his weapon. "You better block this."
He launched forward. Steel met steel — a sharp, clean collision that rang across the yard. Fenlor ground his teeth and held his ground, absorbing the impact through his arms and shoulders without giving an inch.
Around them, the training guards had stopped. They watched in silence.
"He actually took that."
Fenlor lowered his blade slightly and looked at the noble guard. "Next."
The noble guard smiled and came again. The second strike landed harder — Fenlor felt it travel up through both arms, his hands trembling from the force. He kept his feet.
"NEXT!"
The training guards exchanged glances. The noble guard paused, looking at the young man still standing in front of him.
"Kid, I've been training men for years." His voice carried something close to genuine surprise. "The fact that you're still upright is something."
"I said next," Fenlor repeated.
The noble guard held his gaze for a moment. Then something shifted in his expression — the last restraint dropping away.
"You asked for it. Don't blame me."
He settled into his stance. Around the yard, the training guards went completely still.
"Boss is going all out."
"Block it properly, kid," the noble guard said — and moved.
The strike came differently this time. Heavier. Final.
Fenlor caught it.
The noble guard stepped back, genuinely taken aback. "To think you could block even—"
Fenlor's sword arm dropped. Blood spilled from his mouth, sudden and dark, and he went down.
The yard went silent.
"Get him to the medical room," the noble guard said sharply. "Now."