Free Sentinels: Forsaken Knight by B.H. Savage

fiery nightmare had ceased, but new stresses kept her occupied at night.
    Byron Stonemaker was the owner of the Bridge Port Inn, the oldest inn in the entire town with the lowest prices. He was a skinny old man dressed in civilian clothing and a robe. A long white beard hugged his face, and he had been a resident of the town longer than anyone else. He walked with a cane now, but in his younger days he was known to be a skilled swordsman and hunter who made his living adventuring to dangerous locales for a nominal fee.
    “Still having a hard time finding decent paying jobs, I take it?” he asked. “You know I could always use a pretty face like yours in the tavern.”
    “I appreciate the offer, Byron,” she told him, but ignored the comment. “Here’s the money for last night.”
    Anye reluctantly handed him the money for her stay the previous night. Now she didn’t even have enough for the next day unless she found something, and her hopes for that were dwindling. “Has anyone come to you posting any work I could take?”
    “Nothing you’d like, I’m sure,” he told her. “Andrew Burns is looking for someone to help tend to the animals on his farm…the McAlister’s want to hire a nanny-”
    The thought of caring for infant children made Anye shiver.
    “That’s what I thought…” Byron said with an old laugh. “And…oh yes. I just remembered there is something you might like.”
    Anye raised an eyebrow at the old man. “Well, what is it?”
    “Lord Taggart’s annual tournament is coming up in a few days,” he told her. “He calls for all the strongest warriors in the land to battle it out for gold, glory, and in most cases women.”
    “A tournament? Why didn’t you tell me about this before?” Anye asked him as she tried to hold back her annoyance. “I’ve been looking for work as a mercenary and nobody will hire me for a job. If I won a tournament I’d have enough reputation to overshadow my being a woman, Byron!”
    “True, but there’s a one hundred gold piece entry fee, and you said you’re tight on money,” he explained.
    Anye’s irritation turned immediately to disappointment and understanding. “A hundred gold coins?” she repeated. She didn’t have enough left for another night at the inn, let alone enough for a spot in the tournament brackets with a cost that high, and if he had told her about it sooner she wouldn’t have been able to stay at the inn as long as she had.
    “That’s also what I thought,” the old man told her.
    Anye slumped into one of the chairs of the inn’s lobby where the old man worked and sighed. She felt hopeless again, but not as much as she had when she was stuck in the castle dungeon, but being homeless and poor was almost as bad. At least in the dungeon she would have been fed and sheltered until she was executed.
    “I’ll make you a deal, Amy,” Byron said to her as he opened a drawer behind his desk. Before he continued to speak he pulled out a sack that jingled with the sound of coins and placed it on the counter where Anye could see it. “I’ll sponsor you in the tournament.”
    Anye felt beyond confused. The old man had been kind to her, but never like that. “For what, exactly?” she asked. “And why? You never actually believed me when I said I could handle a blade.”
    “A cut of the prize money and a promise that you’ll return to stay with me exclusively in Bridge Port until you purchase your own property,” he explained to her. “I’m too old to fight in these things now but you can, and word of the victor of the tournament staying at my inn would boost business.”
    Anye got back to her feet and walked over towards the innkeeper carefully. “That’s all you want?” she asked with suspicion.
    “Amy, I won’t deny that a night with you would be worth more than the share of the reward,” he joked. “But you could use the help.”
    Anye stared at the old man before cracking a smile. Her eyes seemed to sparkle in the