Chapter I
Are You My New Daddy?
Are You My New Daddy?
Ghost traveled silently behind his brother and best friend, Sinbad and Shadow. Both his brother and his friend were, how shall we say, insane? They both had warped ideas of what was safe and what was dangerous. Ghost couldn’t believe he had let them talk him into coming with them out of the safety of his bed back home in the Black Mountains among the rebels, but he had. He thought of complaining but then he thought better of it. He sighed heavily as he listened to the two of them debate whether or not to go bother someone they called ‘’Fire Fox.’
He thought to snap at them for why they didn’t just stop in a damn Inn, seeing as the streets were lined thickly with Royal Patrol from Capital City. Again, he decided not to. Sinbad and Shadow knew this town far better than he did. He didn’t want to complain anyway. He was tired and seriously needed some whisky. He sighed softly and just kept following them both. After a time, they turned into an alley and urged Ghost to follow. He did, of course, not having any other choice. He rolled his eyes, hidden by his hood. His hair was blacker than any coal or night sky. His eyes were a deep laser-blue. Most people expected his eyes to be red, seeing as he seemed to have a heart made of ice. His skin was lightly tanned, not like most elves. He wasn’t a full blooded elf, though, which explained this difference. Ghost’s face was hidden with his long black cloak. He wore all black; the fingers on his gloves were cut off. His masculine torso was hidden under a thin black shirt with long sleeves. Ghost let out a soft yawn and momentarily worried for his horse. Donas, his black stallion, was hidden in the woods.
As they entered the alley, all clad in long black cloaks, Sinbad whispered softly, “Fox should be here soon.” Ghost made no response to this and nor did Shadow. Ghost simply stood to the right of his little brother and yawned softly, not bothering to hide his boredom. Sinbad turned his head slowly to his brother with a small glare saying, “Do you have to be such a downer? Would it kill you to live a little?”
Ghost pretended to be excited for a split second before gripping his throat in a bit of theatrics, playing as if he were choking to death as he gripped his brother’s sleeve and wheezed, “Oh, no! I’m-” He faked coughing and hacking, as if he were desperately trying to breathe, “-dying! Save me, brother!”
Sinbad gruffly shoved him off, making his older brother laugh, quietly but quite a lot. “Come off it, you p***k.” Ghost chuckled as he rubbed the arm that Sinbad had just punched. Sinbad sighed heavily and muttered, “You just can’t have a little fun can you?”
Ghost scoffed. “I was having fun sleeping but no! That’s not good enough! We have to go out in the middle of the night and risk our damn necks!”
Shadow punched Sinbad in the arm, “Shut up! We have company.” He was right. A hooded figure, tall and slim, had just walked out of the shadows of the other end of the alleyway. Shadow was the bold one as he said, “Are you Fire Fox?”
The figure only nodded his head. Sinbad glanced at Shadow and Ghost before saying, “Do you have anywhere we can hide out for the night? We could really use it.”
The figure turned on his heel and started walking in the direction whence he came. Shadow followed first, followed by Sinbad, and then Ghost. Ghost whispered to Sinbad, “Are you sure we can trust this man?”
Sinbad and Shadow both started laughing a bit. Shadow saying with a chuckle in his voice, “You’re going to freak out when the hood is lowered, I promise you will.” Ghost shrugged and fell silent.
They came to what seemed to be an abandoned house, old and broken down. The figure stepped inside, not bothering to wait on the three men following. Sinbad went in first, Ghost and Shadow in tow. The inside looked slightly better for the wear. There was a young boy asleep on the couch. Was this man housing a family here? The young boy had shaggy dark brown hair, light green eyes and pale skin. His ears were slightly pointed, but only slightly. Could he have elf blood in him? He woke at the sound of their entrance and sat up, the blanket that had been draped over him slid down revealing his white night shirt. He rubbed a fist in his eye and muttered drowsily, “Mother?”
The figure started to go to the boy but Sinbad stopped him and went to the boy, saying softly, “Go back to sleep, little man.”
“Sinbad…what are you doing here?” the boy asked with a tiny yawn. Sinbad only grinned and ruffled the boy’s hair. He then went back to the others, jerking his head in direction of the stairs. The figure seemed to glance back at the boy before taking the stairs two at a time. Ghost noticed that the cloak billowed around the figure’s legs, legs that were too thin, hair-lacking, and sleek to be male. Of course, for all he knew, this man could be from Ashos. Many men from there often shaved their legs and pits. He kept this in mind as he followed the others upstairs. He glanced back at the boy who had gone back to sleep. As they went up, ladies dressed in dresses with corsets pushing their large bosoms up and showing off their round hips passed going down, giggling as they did. Ghost would slaughter Sinbad if he had gotten him out of bed just to go to a whore house.
The figure opened a door and let Sinbad, Shadow and Ghost go in first. Ghost glanced at the figure trying to see his face, but it was covered in blackness by the cloak, despite the good lighting. He went into the room and found that it was rather shabby. Most rooms in which whores used for business were decked out with fancy upholstery and furniture. The bed had a tattered quilt, though Ghost imagined it did its job of keeping the user warm. The room had a dresser which was sloppily kept with a drawer half open and clothes hanging out. There were a couple toys in the corner and sleeping bags laid out on the floor. No, this was not a room used for a common whore’s job. Besides, most whores had actual curtains in front of the windows whereas the window in this room had only a rough blanket over it to hide the inside from viewing.
Sinbad sighed as he peeked out the window while the figure lit some candles. Sinbad turned to the figure and said kindly, “Thank you, Angie. I owe you for this, I really do.” The figure lowered the hood to reveal the cause of Ghost’s quick intake of breath. He stood there stunned, thankful that his face was hidden by his cloak hood because he couldn’t stop gaping at the woman before him. Her hair was a dark and shadowy red with violet eyes the likes of which he’d never seen. They were so dark and yet still so radiant. Her skin was slightly pale but it had more color than most women, a light tan color. Most women often kept indoors not merely because their fathers or husbands wanted them at home with the children, but because it kept their skin pale. This woman seemed much different in that aspect.
She had a firm look on her face as she said crossly, “You’ve been saying that for years, Sinbad. That hasn’t stopped you from ditching in the morning while my son and I flee from the hangman’s noose.”
Shadow then said, “Why would you have to dodge the noose, milady?” He lowered his own hood, revealing sandy blonde hair and dark blue eyes. He had light skin, unlike most men. He was thin and wore rectangular glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t a typical stud but Shadow had no problem picking up a girl or two.
The woman called Angie sighed softly, “It’s against the law to house felons.” She turned a fiery gaze on Sinbad, hell and brimstone in her eyes, “They almost killed my son last time, you dunce.”
Sinbad glared back, “I’m not a dunce, Angela. Don’t be mad at me because the boy is too damn slow to keep out of trouble.” Ghost and Shadow both, with good reason, took a good five steps away from the two.
She was glaring fiercely as she shot back, “He wouldn’t have to be fast enough to run away if it weren’t for you coming every three damned months!”
Sinbad took a step toward her, still glaring down hell. “Maybe the boy needs to toughen up a bit instead of depending on mommy to protect him all the damn time!”
She growled back, “This is coming from the stupid ******** pirate that needs a woman to save his damn a** every few ******** months!”
While they were yelling, Ghost whispered to Shadow, “I’ve never heard a woman use such language so much at one point in time before.” Shadow merely chuckled at this, saying nothing in response. They would have ignored the rest of the argument if it hadn’t been for the loud crack that they heard next. They both turned to see that Sinbad’s head was turned the side, and his right cheek was very red, beginning to bruise.
She glared at Sinbad darkly before opening her mouth to speak and then closing it. She gave a quick bow to Ghost and Shadow, “Goodnight, gentlemen.” She then turned on her heel and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind her.
No one said a word as they climbed into bed. Ghost asked eventually, “Why did she slap you like that, Sinbad? What did you do?”
Sinbad sighed. “I said something I shouldn’t have.” Shadow and Ghost both then inquired as to what that was. He rolled over in his bed and said, “Well…she used to be married, the boy downstairs was hers. She divorced her husband because he was sleeping around. I told her that if she was smarter about who she got into bed with, she wouldn’t have the problem of a son to care for.”
Both Shadow and Ghost shot up in bed demanding, “How could you say that to her?” Shadow was glaring at Sinbad but Ghost was simply shaking his head in disgust.
Sinbad sighed, “I got angry and I said something I shouldn’t have said. I know that. I’m not going to apologize. We all know I’m right. OW!”
Ghost and Shadow punched him in either arm. Ghost got up and said, in only his trousers as he opened the door, “I need a drink.” He shut the door behind him and went downstairs, giving a kind hearted smile to the ladies from before, and who giggled and batted their eyelashes. He inclined his head with a cocky grin on his face and they blushed, giggling more as they put hands to their reddening cheeks. He chuckled as he went down the stairs.
Ghost may be a gentleman but even he flirted sometimes.
Ghost stopped smiling as he heard a woman crying down below. He went downstairs, the fact that he was bare-chested illuminated by the candles lit all over. He saw the woman appeared to be asleep on the couch, the little boy sleeping in the window seat. He went over to the couch and tapped her shoulder gently, only to have a dagger aimed at his neck by the woman. He let his shoulders slump and an annoyed look cross his face as he said, “I was going to check to see if you were alright, apparently, you are.”
She lowered the knife with a soft sigh. “I’m sorry, but this is a broken down whore house. I’m used to being disturbed in the middle of the night by…visitors.”
She moved her feet and he sat down. Ghost paused a moment before saying softly, “I apologize for what my little brother said to you. It was wrong. I’m not sure what you said to invoke it, but he had no right to say it in the first place.”
She sat up and said softly but in a sympathetic way, “Sinbad is your brother? Gods, I feel sorry for you. He’s a real…” She took a deep breath. “I can’t think of a nice word for him right now.”
This made him chuckle a bit and she grinned at having succeeded in making him smile. He patted her ankle gently and said, “He’s not always all that bad. He can be rather kind and thoughtful. I think we’re all just a little tired right now.”
She scoffed. “He’s hardly a gentleman. You are, though. At least, you seem to be one.”
He laughed a little at this himself and she giggled with him. “Milady, I cannot promise you that I’ll always be the gentleman I’m being right now. I have a dark side.” He said with a mock-evil glare.
This only made her continue to giggle a little more, putting a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. This made him smile at her with his brilliant white smile. She then said, giggling still, “My, you are funny.” She calmed down and held her hand out to shake saying kindly, “My name is Angela Lee Fraser. It’s nice to meet you…” She trailed off as to inquire to his name.
He smiled and shook her hand, noting that she had a firm and yet gentle grip as he replied, “They call me Ghost.” She shook his hand gently before releasing him as he released her.
She looked over at her son and said softly, “His name is Blaine; he’s turning ten in two weeks.”
Ghost smiled at the boy and stood up saying, “Aye, he’s going to do you proud I’m sure. I must be getting back to bed, milady. I hope you feel better by morning. If it’s not too much trouble, could we possibly stay another night if need be?”
She seemed to mull this over before saying, “Aye, you may.” He gave her a gracious bow before heading back to the steps. “Can I ask you one more thing?” Ghost turned back to her and nodded. She paused for a long moment before saying gently, “Why do you and Sinbad hide your names?”
Ghost gave her a smile, going to her and taking her hand gently. “Maybe someday, milady, I shall give you the answer to said question.” He bent over and kissed her hand gently, just above the knuckle, saying kindly, “Good night, mo daine.” He rose and released her hand, taking the stairs two at a time as he went back to bed.
~
The next morning, Ghost woke up to the sound of a ball bouncing off the wall maybe five feet from his head. He groaned. He was too tired for this. He propped himself up on one elbow and cracked open a lazy eye. He saw the boy, Blaine. He sighed heavily and said softly with an annoyed edge, “What in bloody hell are you doing in here, boy?”
He smiled a bright white, if slightly crooked, smile. He wiped his nose on his sleeve and sniffed, saying, “Sinbad is paying me five gold pieces an hour to watch you and then I get five silver pieces if I bring you down to the Twilight Tavern when you get up.”
Ghost chuckled and asked; now grinning with one eye still cracked open, “Is he now? How much have you made so far, little man?”
Blaine stuck out his tongue a bit and seemed to concentrate on the ground in front of him before the smile returned and he said, “Twenty gold pieces, sir. When the clock rings in fifteen minutes, it’ll be twenty-five gold pieces.”
Ghost did a little math in his head. “Five divided by twenty-five… They’ve been out five hours without me? Are you quite serious? What bloody time is it?”
Blaine pointed to the clock with a thumb, his fingers balled in a fist. He looked like someone hitch-hiking. “Clock says it’s roughly noon, sir.”
Ghost did some more calculations in his head. “They went out that early? Damn, Sinbad must have been awful bored or he needed beer. My money is on that beer.”
Blaine tossed his little ball at the wall, watching it bounce off the wall and on the floor before bouncing back into his hand. “I can’t say I’m concerned with where your money is, sir. My money is going to be growing as long as you stay in bed.”
This made Ghost laugh. “You know what? I say you and I hit the market before we go down to the tavern. Want to come along? I’ll buy you a new toy. Besides,” Ghost winked, “You’re getting paid by the hour to watch me, aren’t you?”
Blaine grinned and tapped the side of his nose. “Aye, sir that sounds like a fine idea it does.” Blaine pulled on brown leather boots and his brown cotton coat, followed by a small brown beret. He smiled up at Ghost as he pulled on his long sleeved shirt, his boots, and his cloak. Ghost pulled his sword onto his back and they headed out.
Blaine walked to Ghost’s right, puffing out his chest and sticking out his chin proudly, seeing as girls were swooning for him left and right. Blaine had convinced him to lower the hood and the ladies were not shy with sexual teases. Ghost sighed heavily and said to Blaine, “Remind me why I’m wearing the hood down?”
Blaine grinned, “Because, Ghost, first of all, it’s fun for me to watch girls act stupid over you. Secondly…it’s just fun, okay?” Ghost lifted Blaine up onto his shoulders, making him laugh. “Now this is how to travel!”
Ghost laughed as they entered a shop, Blaine being set back down. He tossed the boy a silver piece and said, “Wait outside.” Blaine nodded and leaned on the wall by the door, one foot up against the wall, the other propping him up. His arms were folded across his chest and his head was down with his beret shielding his eyes. Ghost chuckled at his attempts to look suave. Ghost walked through the Black-smithy and looked around at the merchandise. He saw what he was looking for, a bejeweled dagger. It was a cheap imitation of a dagger with supposedly enchanted jewels, made by humans wishing to duplicate the elf-made original’s beauty.
Ghost rang the bell at the counter and waited to be serviced. A young woman came out and said, “Can I help you?” He nodded and pointed to the dagger. She nodded and got it, saying as she put it in a sheath. “That will be two hundred gold pieces, sir.” Ghost haggled with her, flirting a bit to get her down to seventy-five gold pieces. He took the dagger and was out the door before she realized she’d been fleeced.
Ghost raised an eyebrow as he saw several young girls, all around Blaine’s age, giggling and batting their eyelashes at him. Ghost nudged him as he stepped outside. “Smile back at them.” Blaine rolled his eyes and did as told with obvious dislike of the idea. Ghost grinned, “That was a little rude.”
Blaine shrugged. “Girls are gross and icky anyway. Why should I care what they think of me?”
Ghost laughed as he let Blaine carry the dagger for a bit, admiring it. “One day, Blaine, you’ll realize that you like women. They’re not so bad if you find one with half a brain. You’re mother is a good woman, for instance. She’d make any man happy.”
Blaine lit up, “Does that include making you happy, Ghost?” Ghost looked down at the boy and knew the look in his eyes instantly. ‘Oh dear…what have I made this boy believe? He doesn’t think I’m going to be his next father, does he? Gods please don’t let him think that… Especially not when I have to explain the truth to him…’
Ghost carefully replied, “I’m sure she could, Blaine.” He started regretting saying that the second he said it.
Blaine beamed at him, “Do you really think so? Do you think maybe you and my mom would be happy together?”
Ghost forced himself to look at Blaine but he couldn’t after more than a minute. The sheer hope in his eyes… ‘Damn every son of a b***h who abandons their son and leaves another man to pick up the job…Damn them all to Hell.’ He then said, awkwardly, “I suppose it could happen. I get along with her decently but I don’t know her very well.”
Blaine stared at his feet for a few minutes in thought before smiling brightly back up at Ghost saying, “Do you mean that if you got to know her, you might like her?”
Ghost could have sworn out loud if it weren’t for the kid being right there. He wanted so badly to let out a string of long violent cursing. He had just wormed his way into a tight spot and had no way out of it without breaking the kid’s heart. He sighed and said with a forced smile, “It might happen. I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you though, Blaine. I’m hard to please.”
Blaine wasn’t discouraged. “Mom is really smart and funny! She’s pretty too! She’s an experienced healer and a fighter! She’s got elf blood in her but she’s a half breed. That’s not so bad though.” Ghost had to grin as Blaine went on with a list of his mother’s positive and negative points. Obviously, the long list of positives was to hide the few negatives he did name.
Ghost was laughing a bit by the time they entered the tavern. It had been about an hour since they left the house. Blaine should have about thirty gold pieces by now. The second he walked into the tavern, Sinbad and Shadow came over to him asking, “Where have you been?”
Blaine nudged Sinbad and held out his hand, snapping his fingers twice, “Pay up!” The look on his face made Shadow and Ghost burst into hysterics. Blaine wore a cocky grin that could only be learned from Sinbad. Sinbad sighed heavily and parted with thirty gold pieces. Blaine looked down at the gold pieces and back at Sinbad, “Delivery Fee, pay it.”
Sinbad glared and parted with five silver pieces as well. “Now get lost, would ya?” Blaine pocketed the money and started to go.
Ghost grabbed the boy by the shoulder and pulled him to his right side, holding him in front of his right leg. “The boy can stay. Besides, would you really condemn him to that house of broken-down prostitutes? I wouldn’t. C’mon, Blaine, you can hang with us for the day. Just don’t tell your mother, alright? She’ll have my hide.” As they walked over to the table, he bent low and whispered, “If she does ask who let you stay though…”
Blaine giggled a bit as he answered in a whisper, “I’ll blame Sinbad and you don’t have to worry.”
Ghost patted him gently on the back as he straightened up saying, “That’s a good lad.” As they sat down at the table, Ghost lifted Blaine into his lap, letting him sit on one knee. Ghost didn’t care from this point if the boy thought he’d be his next father. Let Angela sort that one out.
Shadow noted the bright happy smile on Blaine’s face and asked him, “Boy, do you speak any elf?” Blaine shook his head, saying that he only knew how to say hello, goodbye, how are you, thank you, and your welcome in elf. Shadow then said in elf to Ghost, “Are you sure you want to let the boy think you might be his next Da?”
Ghost sighed and replied in elf, “I’ll admit I’ve had better ideas but do you want to be the one to break the boy’s heart? I canna do it, alright?” His accent didn’t usually show, but he couldn’t help it now.
“Why can’t you?” Shadow said leaning over on the table, lowering his voice so as to not be overheard.
Ghost shrugged and glanced down at Blaine. “My parents used to let me down all the time and Blaine’s father has messed up big time by leaving his mother without any financial help. Would it hurt for him to have some decent male influence?”
Shadow sighed heavily, “It might if he gets the idea in his head that you’re going to be his new father. Ghost, all I’m saying is to be careful about how you act around him. If you have to, shun the boy!”
Ghost glared. “Look, I’m not going to ignore him. He needs someone to look up to and honestly, I don’t really care if it is me. He’s nine years old. He has to have some male in his life to show him how to be a male, for Gods sakes!”
Blaine was glancing back and forth between the two as the talked. He seemed interested in a confused sort of way. The look in his eyes told Ghost that he hadn’t lied about not knowing much elf. Shadow then shot back, “Yes, he is nine. That’s plenty of time for Angela to remarried to someone who actually wants to be the boy’s father! Just because you were deprived of a good father, that doesn’t mean you have to go saving every fatherless boy you see from the same life!”
Ghost set Blaine down on the chair beside him before saying darkly, in English to Shadow, “Never speak of that b*****d who calls himself my father to me again.” He stood and left the tavern, not giving Shadow another glance as he ignored Shadow’s attempts to get him to return to the table.
~
Ghost returned to the place he was temporarily calling home and grabbed his other weapons. He was heading downstairs when he saw Angela on the couch with a sketch pad in her lap and a bit of lead in her hand. He watched her for a time, watching her sketch one of the women who apparently either lived here or used this place to whore themselves off. The woman had a smoke in her mouth with stringy blonde hair. In the right light, she wasn’t very pretty at all. Ghost found himself watching Angela. Her hair slowly and gently slid off her shoulder as she worked, she tucked it behind her ear. He smiled a bit as he watched her gorgeous eyes, focused on her work, dart from the object of the portrait to the actual sketch. He folded his arms across his chest and his head tilted to the right as it always did when he was in thought. He leaned back on the wall and watched her calmly, a gentle smile on his face.
Angela didn’t seem to notice him. She just kept drawing. The woman she was sketching, however, noticed him. She turned a deep red and started giggling. Angela noted this and turned around to see him. She smiled at him and said kindly, “Oh, hello there, Ghost. What brings you here? I thought you were out and about with Sinbad.”
Ghost nodded. “I was. Blaine is down at the bar with him.” If he was going to tell her where her son was, he might as well get his brother in trouble while he was at it.
He saw the pure unadulterated fury that passed behind her eyes as she quickly masked it. She turned back to her work saying to him, “Remind me later to skin your brother alive.”
Ghost smiled. “I will.” She gave him a warm smile before going back to her work once more. He started to go as he said, “By the way…I…” He started to tell her about Blaine’s new ‘daddy’ but decided against it, for whatever reason. “I…uhh…I’ll be back late. Tell the others for me.”
“I’ll do that.” He headed out the door and after he was in the woods, he started swearing a long line of curses under his breath.I
Are you my new Daddy?
