Post by Imorta Thaw on Nov 9, 2008 9:59:50 GMT -8
The whole version.
1. Scout. Hunter. Hates people. Feels that they are inherently evil.
2. Prince. Has been sent on impossible mission by evil meaning uncle. Louis??
3. Crazy relative of Prince. Supposed to protect him. Human screams put him at rest.
4. Minor noble. Wants the union of the two countries. Becomes the vague leader.
5. Priest. Has been told by the Gods that all others are evil. ‘Convert or die’.
6. Prince’s squire. Poor thing, forced to go on this suicidal journey. Magical?
Chapter 1: Sunday, November 9, 2008
Louis sat in the third largest throne. He was, however on the right side of his father, as his mother was on the left. At about ten thirty in the morning, he was wondering which of the two thrones held more authority, the larger one, or the one on the right side of the king of Eddiz. If it was his mother's darker oak throne, then why did she have the right to ceaselessly pester him about everything and anything? It all seemed rather strange and contradictory.
The prince fingered the thick velvet of his royal garb. It was blue laced with silver, awfully uncomfortable, stuffy, and overall rather binding in its design. The only thing that really comforted him was that his mother's costume was deffinately more of a pain. The corset had to be pulled shut by four serving maids each morning, and the queen herself couldn't eat until it was off. Often, she couldn't breathe either, but when Louis had asked her why in all heaven's name she wore something so absurditly uncomfortable on a daily basis, she said some nonsense about being totally at ease. Then she had sent him off to his etiquette teacher who had then assigned him about two hours worth of bows and dance steps. It was safe to assume that Louis didn't do anything as stupid as asking his mother questions after that incident. The prince shook his head irritably.
Why was it that his father always forced Louis to sit through these awfully boring meetings on those days of the week when the weather was nicest. When the town had a circus or something fascinating was happening at one of the larger estates by the shore. It was always on these days that the prince's presence was required. Never on the rainy, dreary days when he had tons of lessons to go to and chores to. Louis sighed. It seemed that his father timed these meeting especially for him, to ruin his day of horseback riding, hunting, or, if all else failed, hounding his servants. Again, Louis sighed. He rolled his eyes when his father cleared his throat, almost silently, in the most royal manner, showing his disapprovement of the constant air letting to his right. He bit his tongue, and plastered one of his princely looks onto his face, glazed his eyes, and staring into nothing in particular, began daydreaming.
Being a prince had its benefits, the servants, the horses, and the huge private forest. But, the etiquettes he had to follow day and night were almost enough to drive him insane. But than again, better than his sister's fate.
She got the pleasure of floating around the castle in a dress she couldn't sit in; know everyone's and their cousins on their great aunt's side's names, and smiling and inquiring politely as to their health and the weather on their property. Just thinking about it made Louis shiver. But it also shook him out of his dream like state and into one in which he would actually pay attention to the court. Generally, he totally zoned out during the meetings. He didn't see a reason for which he should have to listen to the commoner’s problems. No reason at all. Especially completely idiotic ones like 'he stole an egg from my chicken. I saw so in my dream!' He sblack personed a little. The man had been hung, not the one that had been said to have stolen the egg, the one to have claimed to have seen him do so in a dream. Dream seeing was to close to magic for the king's taste, and he had ordered the sorcerer hung. At least dreams hadn't been used since then as incriminating evidence.
Louis looked at the man currently presenting his case. He was talking some nonsense about a border scrimmage in which his fields had been ravaged by magicians.
Louis shook his head. Everyone knew that the magicians didn't leave their own country. They didn't have the power, and besides, something like this could trigger an all out invasion on the part of Eddiz. After all, Louis's country hated all kinds of magic and sorcery. Louis chuckled to himself, and wiped his palms on the intricately embroidered tunic. He rose, rudely interrupting the noble presenting his grievance, and nodding to his father, left the court room. It was his way of saying 'I refuse to listen to this any longer.' But now that he was officially free of the awful chore of listening to other people's problems, he could go hunting, maybe give Stardust some exercise, and pick on the weaker farm boys. It didn't matter, just as long as it didn't involve sitting on a throne and pretending to care. With that mindset, Louis set of in the direction of his chambers to change from the stuffy formal dress of the heir to the throne of Eddiz into something more appropriate for a hunt. Definitely the high boots, with spurs, Stardust always behaved better when Louis's boots had spurs on them. Louis smiled to himself, and flagged down a servant boy.
“Have the stable staff prepare Stardust for me.” Was all he said to the small, bewildered boy, and then set off at a brisk walk to his own chambers; his heals clicked rhythmically on the cobblestone surface.
Changed, ready to go, perfectly flawless in his beige tights, and dark, forest green hunting jacket, Louis strolled into the stables. His golden buttons reflected the good lighting in the stables, and the prince looked extremely festive. His dark hair was brushed back, and well tanned skin shone with a sort of mischievous healthiness. The grooms stopped their work and all bowed to him, it was a deep bow too; etiquette demanded that they fold over at the waist. Of course, they had to fall to their knees whenever the king passed by, but that day would come soon enough for Louis.
Satisfied that proper respect had been paid, Louis walked to the back of the stables, grooms straightening up as he passed them by. The air was filled with just the hint of horse smell, but mostly, the servants kept it smelling more like herbs and straw. The air fizzed with animosity on the part of the grooms, but Louis pretended not to notice, a jaunty smile on his lips.
Louis looked into Stardust's stable, the huge palomino stallion was saddled and ready to go. He seemed exited, his nostrils flaring, his weight shifting from one foot to the other. Louis gestured to the closest groom to get the horse out of its stall, and once the noble beast was ready, mounted. Stardust skittered a little to the side, but besides a lot of snorting didn't really attempt anything tricky. Louis laughed, "So you want some exercise too, old boy?!" He shifted in his seat, and spurred him to a canter right there in the stable, "Come on then!" Holding on didn't seem ass much of an effort as it had when Louis had first gotten the spirited animal, but a good deal of balance and control was still very needed, otherwise the prince might find his rear end rather muddy and un princely.
The grooms jumped out of the pair's way, and Louis whooped in delight. His face positively glowed. This was the life of a prince, not sitting ion a stupid chamber, listening to old nobles talk nonsense. He laughed again, and urged Stardust even faster. His yells of glee alerted all servants in his way before he managed to run them over.
Racing headlong towards the royal forest, the young prince obviously didn’t notice his uncle, smirk in place, staring out into the courtyard from his high window, chuckling with thoughts and plans for his young nephew.
Louis shuffled around nervously under the king's gaze. His father had the unnerving ability to stare at you as if you had just sent the kingdom to hell and practiced the worst of necromancy. The teenager shuddered. The fact that his mother looked sad, which for her really translated as furious, didn't help. And the pitying look of his younger sister made his stomach queasy. And there was also the quite comforting face of his uncle. But then again, his uncle always looked calm and comforting, so there really was no difference.
So, while he endured the stern looks of his relatives, Louis studied the tiles on the floor, and tried to picture his mother's gown in his mind. It was defiantly that deep dark red that suited her dark curls so well, probably with gold trim, and a small, elegant gold crown on her head. Unlike his father, who did everything in excess, she was always calm and constrained, more like her brother in law than her husband, who at the moment was wearing a dark blue dress suit. He had sliver trim, and imported lace around his neck and cuffs. The silent king, however, was dressed in the royal purple with lavish amounts of gems and precious metals, and a huge crown on his head.
His sister, by far the most modestly dressed in the room, looked perfect. Her light blonde hair pulled up and curled, and her childlike features just a little made up, made her look doll like. Almost as if she wasn't present in the room. Her eyes, already big in proportion to her face, were at this point slightly teared up.
"Well?" The king, Louis’s father boomed. "Explain." It was an order, almost like one he would give someone condemned of witchcraft to repent before sending them to be hung or burned. Louis smiled grimly. The day was not going well.
"What possessed you Louis?" Said the prince’s mother in a quieter voice, with a quaver in it: elegant, yet expressing her disappointment.
"Ah, don't be harsh; he is, after all, only 17." Louis's uncle ventured. His uncle responded with an exasperated roll of his eyes and a head shake.
“Oh for spells of Kariou, he’s he is the future King of Eddiz! He can’t just walk out on a royal council!” With this, the king plopped onto his throne, totally at a loss as to what to about his unruly son. His brother nodded in acceptance, and moved to pat the king on the shoulder in a reassuring way.
He looked appraisingly at Louis, and the prince had to duck his head quickly so that no one would notice that he had dared to raise it. While being rebuked by the king, he had about as much status as the servants hiding behind the huge velvet curtains, awaiting summons.
“I think I know what the problem is.” Louis’s uncle said, rubbing his stubbed chin. Uncle had an odd habit of keeping his chin just slightly stubbly.
“A good spanking?” The king said through his hanging bangs, his head on his hand, and elbow on his chair arm.
Louis’s Uncle chucked softly, his sister looked horrified, and his mother got her exasperated look on.
"No, I think our prince just doesn't see the point. Yet." Louis's uncle nodded determinedly to himself and approached his prince.
Louis's father looked up from behind his waterfall of chestnut hair and considered his son and brother. "Yet?" he inquired his tone still hopeless and eyes rather dull. When his brother just kept looking thoughtfully at Louis, the king seemed to get irritated, and repeated his question, this time, leaning back on his throne. "Do you have a specific idea?"
As if startled out of a day dream, Louis's Uncle looked vaguely at the king for a moment, and then nodded. "Perhaps, he should get a chance to do some hands on work on the border." The man said his face totally innocent. "It was, after all, a border dispute that he had walked out on." The king looked first at his brother, and then to his only heir. His eyes wavered for a moment, trying to decide whether or not his only son should even step a foot out of the castle before a successor was found to replace him.
"Yes, yes it was." The king nodded thoughtfully. He rose, rocking a little, and approached his brother. Louis was still studying the cracks in the tile, It was old, and had never been replaced, so he was literally standing on antique white marble. His black shoes with silver buckles contrasted nicely with the soft pinkish quality of the stone he was standing on.
"So, perhaps you could send him out to do some simple surveillance." Ventured Louis's uncle. He was perfectly aware that his brother was worried about the line of succession, but that was precisely the point for him as well. But it would be unwise for him to let the king figure it out. So, putting a positive spin on the idea, he continued. "A small, reliable group would have to hand selected for his entourage." He was talking quietly, slowly, in a way that could almost remind a person of a snake hypnotizing his prey.
"I think that would be a wonderful idea." Pitched in the Queen. Her voice, schooled to sound remarkably melodious, almost as if the woman was continuously singing, rose elegantly in consensus to her brother in law's plan.
Louis continued his examination of the tiles. He hadn't considered how he felt about an actual hand on assignment. It didn't matter what he decided. And besides, taking into account the day up to this point it was very likely that he would just end up doing the opposite of what he decided he wanted. If he thought he wanted to go, his father would forbid him. If he decided on staying at the castle, his father would send him out by force. So really, it wasn't worth wasting the effort. He had no choice.
A better way to spend the time the grown ups used to decide his future would be to think of ways to annoy the village boys, and maybe improve his sparring tourniquets. He definitely needed more practice on the half moon rising, his follow through never quiet felt right. Something about the placement of his left foot was just off enough to make it feel awkward.
On usual days when his father saw it fit to punish Louis, the prince could freely contemplate his daily schedule, or new hunting methods, anything really. It didn't mater. The king never actually required and answer form his son. It seemed that they both found a question answer session too tiring. It was different with the king's brother however. He had the nerve to totally disrupt the normality for the situation, and actually ask the prince, "Do you feel up to a small command of your own?" His voice was absurditly encouraging.
For a moment, Louis didn't even understand exactly what it was that was being asked of him.
"A command?" he repeated stupidly. "Umm..." he looked up at his uncle, then at his sister, he didn't dare look at the stoic face of his mother, or the disappointed one of his father, "I, uh.." then suddenly finding his voice, "Yes." he put all his firmness into that phrase. Something had been triggered in his small mind, a door knocked down. Confidence spread over him, engulfing his head and spilling out into the small conference chamber.
The king was surprised to find his son's defiant gaze on him. At first, he was enraged, but then, something about the power behind that gaze made him proud. Finally, his little boy, embracing his destiny of becoming the next king of Eddiz.
"So it shall burn." The king said in the formal closing phrase of the antimagical kingdom. "You will arrange it all, Neal." He said to his brother on his way to the door. "I trust you."
With a bow, Neal followed his brother's exit with his eyes. Once the Queen and princes were gone too, he turned with a small, ironic smile on his lips to his nephew. "Let the shows begin." He said quietly under his breath. To the prince's questioning look he said, "Let's get packing then." He plastered a large smile on his lips and led the way out of the chamber, boots clicking and coat tails flying. Louis followed at a brisk walk.
Chapter 2: Monday, November 10, 2008
The two where in a large courtyard, not the main one, because this early in the morning it was being used to warm up the palace guards. And also because right about now the sun shone right into everyone's eyes. Louis was standing just behind his uncle, examining the odd crew assembled before him. Somehow, he didn't think that this was what his father had meant when he said for his brother to arrange stuff. The four ragamuffins standing in the courtyard definitely did not look reliable. Except maybe the one on the left, but he also looked like he was perfectly capable of snapping the prince's neck and then skin and eat him.
Louis's uncle cleared his throat. "My boy, meet your traveling companions." He said this in such an innocently cheerful manner that for a moment Louis actually believed that this was the best group anybody could come up with, and in fact, they were the best of the best. That moment passed as quickly as his uncle walked to the small group, and pointing first to the man on the right began the introductions.
"This is Artemis; he has a border holding and is familiar with the lay of the land in the area you will be exploring."
Louis looked at the minor noble. He seemed to be rather familiar. The prince couldn't quiet put his finger on it, but he did notice something rather frightening about the man's eyes. They had such a determined look in them that they almost seemed to stare right through you. It was as if the man was continuously yelling, 'out of my way, or die!'. Rather extreme.
Louis nodded in acknowledgement of the man's name and title, while Artemis himself bowed; not as deeply as a servant, but not less by much.
Meanwhile, Louis's uncle continued. The next man in line was dressed in the brown robes of a traveling monk. "Urban is a dedicated monk. He has been working with the Kariouese on the border for years." This man didn't look much saner to Louis than the first one, except he looked at you as if he was trying to find something that would condemn you as a magician. Louis nodded to him, and as a priest, Urban returned the gesture. Priests in Eddiz had many things that they didn't have to do. One of them was acknowledge the fact that Louis was in anyway about them in status.
"This man," continued Louis's uncle, "you will probably recognize." He nodded to himself, "Your father insisted that someone of your own blood and flesh should go with you, so I arranged for your uncle Charles." Louis smiled vaguely at his crazy relative, and as was expected moved to kiss him on the cheeks. Four times. Left, right, left, and right. When they disengaged, Louis nodded to his mother's brother, and eagerly turned to look at the last man. The problem was that his other uncle was sort of insane. He had been forced into his dungeons one time after his servants rebelled, and was never quiet the same afterwards. People said that the only thing he enjoyed were human screams.
"And Aurn here is a seasoned scout." Said Louis's uncle gesturing to the last companion. Louis nodded to him, grateful to have something take his mind of off his crazy uncle.
"You five will be leaving immediately." Louis's uncle said addressing everyone in the group. "Everything is packed and ready." Ignoring the prince's stunned look, he continued, "your horses are waiting by the west gate." then, engulfing everyone with an award wining smile finished, "good luck, and try and stay out of the spotlight."
He bowed to the group, and turned and left. Louis was left staring, gaping at him openmouthed. He searched for some way to express his startlement, but instead his mouth just hung open, mimicking that of a fish.
Aurn, the scout, picked up the bag that he had put down by his feat, hoisted it on, and turned and began to walk in the direction of the gate. The monk, unburdened, followed, and the minor noble. Only then did Louis's startled limbs begin to perform the actions of helping his crazy uncle and following his new companions.
One though passed through his mind 'I don't think this was what the king meant'. Then, he felt himself getting unnaturally preoccupied with the sandstone floor he was walking on, and placing one foot in front of the other.
Once they got to the west gate, the smallest, but also the most intricate of the gates into the palace courtyard, they saw their horses. There were seven of them. One for each of the companions, one for the small squire standing by the horse's heads, and one laden with packs. Louis looked over the bunch and noticed ruefully that Stardust was indeed among them. Not the best horse for a long trip in which you would need a reliable mount. The others didn't seam like too much of a calm beasts. Louis shook his head, and walked over to Star dust. He patted the colorful fur, and ignoring the snoring, walked over to mount.
"So, does anyone know were we are actually going?" The prince asked sarcastically. This whole business was becoming more and more odd and dangerous. Had his father really agreed to something like this? Four totally crazy companions, seven crazy horses, no plan what so ever?
"Yes. First we get to the border, and from there, report to the nearest border patrol." The response was near immediate and came from the noble, Artemis, his name was?
Louis rolled his eyes and mumbled "great. Just perfect." under his breath. He mounted, and looked around the group. "I guess we'd better get going then." He wondered what he was going to do. His uncle was barely able to scramble onto his horse even with the squire's help, the noble got on fine, but had to grab onto the saddle when his horse skidded sideways, and the monk seemed rather uneasy in his seat. Only the scout, Aurn, seemed comfortable.
"Let’s go." Decided Louis, and turned Stardust to the city. Without waiting for his companions, he started his mount on a walk, and was able to study the beautiful architecture at the slow pace he set. The stone was intricately cut, stone vines, leaves, odd little fairies poking their heads out. It was a rumor that this gate, so different from the rest of the castle had been built centuries ago, when magic was not forbidden and punishable by death. It was a rumor that his father was dead set on ignoring, his response made Louis think that there was some truth to the claim. If there wasn't, his father would have quickly disproved it. As he didn't, it seemed possible that some magician really had carved out part of the defense for the castle of Eddiz. A dangerous fact, if it was a fact.
As the four made their way through the city, no one recognized then. This surprised Louis, until he realized that his uncle had dressed at least him, in a way to disguise their identity. He still looked noble, thus, not a single one of the villagers dared get close, but he no longer looked royal. The crowded streets did not give way to him and his companions out of respect. They did so because they didn't want to be trampled by the horses. Therefore, the going was rather slower than Louis would have liked. But it did give him an opportunity to study the town and the people.
By the castle, things were clean, the people healthy, well dressed, but as the party moved, and the sun got lower and lower in the sky, things got rather more iffy. Once, two men flew out of a bar, swords unshaved, teeth bared, staring at each other with bloodlust. Louis was ready to dismount and try and enforce the rule that there were to be no fights on the streets, but the scout, insolent man that he is, rode up to Louis's mount and, taking Stardust's reins, kicked the prince's horse into a trot. Once they were a good ways away, he slowed enough for Louis to deem it appropriate to begin yelling. "What in Pentagon's name were you thinking?" His voice only rose as the scout ignored him. "Those men were breaking the law!"
The scout shook his head in exasperation, his reply was quiet, "That is not your concern."
Louis was enraged, "Not my concern, not my concern?!" He was fuming, and Stardust was picking up his furry. "How is the rule of this city 'not my concern'?"
Aurn took a deep breath and tried reason once more. "Your Uncle said to not stand out." When the prince kept foaming at the mouth he asked, "What would you have done anyway?"
Sputtering, Louis, at a loss for words replied, "Cut off their heads if I had to." He wasn't sure if he was serious or not. "Something. Anything."
By this time, their companions had caught up. Louis, still furious, but not enough to make a scene before everyone, took a deep breath and took hold of Stardust's reins. "We should stop for the night." Something needed to be said, this was Louis's way of putting an end to the argument. Aurn was happy to oblige.
"I know of a good one," the scout said, "It's called 'Broken Arms'." He set of in the direction of the famous inn.
Louis followed, as did the monk, the crazy uncle, the determined noble, and the pretty much ignored squire.
The inn had a sign hanging above it, an arm enclosing the words 'Brocken Arms'. This particular arm was bent at four rather awkward angles and looked very broken. Though not much cleaner than the other inns around it, the broken arms didn't have piles of drunks around the doors, and not a single suspicious looking male. The inn was made out of wood, and had an oil lamp hanging outside the door. From the windows, though fogged with grime, you could see merry light, and the sound coming from the inn was not of angry drunks, but a flute and a female’s singing voice.
Before the group had a chance to enter the inn, the door opened, and a man was thrown out. A much larger man, square shouldered and too big to get through the door followed. When the first man, obviously drunk, didn't scramble away, but instead turned to the second man and got in a fighting stance, the bigger man did not respond. He simply stood, blocking the door. The smaller man charged, and Aurn winced. There was a crack, and a scream. At first, Louis didn't understand what had happened, but when the skinny man moved back, he was cradling his hand. The prince blinked a few times, trying to figure out what had happened. The man with the broken arm, silently muttering to himself, scrambled away, his torn pants and tunic looking shabbier by the moment.
The huge man, the one who had broken the other's arm, looked at the travelers.
Aurn dismounted. In fact, everyone except Louis left their horses. "Louis." said Aurn, ignoring his title. Louis stared at him, mouth open. It didn't occur to him that perhaps that the scout wasn't disrespecting him, but protecting his identity. There were many people, who, knowing who the boy really was, would be happy to put an arrow through him. But Louis did not realize this. He stared at the Scout, dismounted, and shoving him out of the way with his shoulder, stormed off into the in, leaving his horse behind. The other three stared at the prince's behind. The squire, first to comeback to his senses, grabbed hold of the prince's spirited mount, and leading all seven horses, praying to the gods that they didn't spook, walked them over to the stable.
Shaking his head at the spirited prince, Aurn went with the squire to help out with the bags, leaving the rooms’ acquirement to Artemis and the two royals.
The stable door screeched impossibly loud when opened, and the stench was horrific. "I hope that we won't be staying long." The squire said hesitantly.
"No. We leave as sunrise." Replied the scout, determined in his schedule. To this the squire snickered a little.
"I’m afraid you’ll have a hard time convincing the prince that such measures are necessary." He mumbled, and got the horses into their stalls. He began unpacking them, starting with Stardust, as he was the most spirited one of the lot.
"He can sleep on his horse." Replied the scout dryly. He moved to help, but found the light, or rather the absence of it, rather handicapping. He fetched a lantern out of his bag, and lit it skillfully.
Only after hanging it, and making a face at the state of the stables, did he turn to his horse so that he could detangle it from it's burdens. By this time, the boy had already gotten the prince's horse unpacked, and had moved on to the one horse specifically taken to carry all the stuff that had not fit on the others.
"Why did we bring so much useless stuff?" Inquired the scout pleasantly, almost as if asking for the weather.
In answer, the squire, not pausing his work, shrugged. He turned to answer, but his feet got caught in the hay, and he went flying. The horse spooked, Stardust sending himself into the wall, the others, reared and put up a general hallow, and the horse that hadn't been completely unpacked, reared, loosing the bags to the floor.
The boy scrambled out of the way, missing a hoof by millimeters. At this point, the scout jumped out of the stall, his mount going a little crazy as well.
It was a full two minutes of standing and gasping before either the scout of the squire had enough strength to try and calm the mounts.
"Right," mumbled the squire, falsely cheerful, "That was elegant." He said, then the two proceeded to calm the beasts.
That morning, Louis found himself awake way before he should have been. Not because he had actually woken up, oh no. In fact, had a certain someone not picked the sleeping prince up and then dropped him back on his not so soft mattress, the boy would have been happy to go on sleeping. The sun hadn't even risen when said imbecile decided to perform his little stunt. Louis was no amused.
Having been awaked in such a fashion by a man that didn't even apologies, the prince stared daggers at the offending back.
Ideas of murder flickered in his brain, and his fingers almost itched. But his mind stood stead fast. He was no match for the scout and he knew it. Better get someone else to do his dirty work for him.
With that decided, the prince got out of bed, and thorowlly disgruntled, got ready to leave.
By the time he was out of the door, Louis had managed to yell at the poor squire at least nine times, and the boy was beginning to wish for the complete ignoring treatment he had gotten the day before. Anything would be better than this.
After getting the packs without too much incident and only one spooking horse, the six riders left the Broken Arms. There hadn’t been any more incidents of rule breaking during their stay, and the huge arm breaking man didn’t move away from the door. Louis wondered vaguely if such consequences were legal, but didn’t ask. He certainly didn’t want to get on that man’s bad side; he liked his arms the way the bent naturally, thank you very much.
By noon that day they were nearly out of the city outer wall. The whole city was built around the castle with roundish walls surrounding the castle grounds. There were five enclosures in all, not counting the castle, and already the city was spilling out onto the country sides. Soon, perhaps in the next few decades, the next wall would be begun. Or, the next ruler would deem the whole idea totally useless and put the crown’s money into something more practical than a defense that would never be tested. There hadn’t been an attack on the city in five whole centuries.
Chapter 3: Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The first ring, the one surrounding the castle, was the oldest. At one point, the whole city had fit inside its borders. Then, the next ring encloses the oldest and most prestigious noble families. It is the smallest of the rings and the mansions there have huge gardens. There are also many prestigious schools in that ring. Only the richest of the rich are allowed in many of them. The next ring, the third, is for the newer families, rich, filthy rich, but not blue blooded. Their houses are much more modern, their positions much more functional as compared to that of the Blue blooded second ringers. The fourth ring was for the lower merchants, the middle class. It was, in fact, the largest of the rings. It was filled with crafts people and merchants, but it was also suspiciously close to the last of the cities’ rings. The fifth one was for the poor: all those people that had to steal and beg just to get by.
The travelers had rested in the beginning of the fourth ring. By midday, they were almost out of the fifth ring. Then, Louis felt a strange tug at his belt, and turned to find a rather grubby hand trying to take a coin out of his purse. He grabbed the hand, and holding on rather tightly, began pulling its owner after himself. He ignored the kid's whimpering, the odd looks his companions were giving him, and the scared looks of the passerbys. Louis knew that he could not let the boy go unpunished. He had tried to steal, and from the prince to boot. Of course, he didn't know who he was stealing from. But that was completely beyond the point.
Aurn, always quick to catch on when someone he knew was experiencing serious blood lust, spurred his horse a little faster, hoping to get the crazed prince out of the city before he completely exploded. He didn't care for the boy's life, oh nothing as heart touching as that. He simply did not want a scene, because if that happened, he would probably be in a position to kill anybody that got into his way. Not that that would be a problem for Aurn himself. Actually, he would be perfectly happy with that. The less people on this Gods forsaken planet the better, lying, thieving creatures that they are. In fact, if Aurn had his way, the whole race would die out: every one of them. Whether painfully or not it really didn't matter to Aurn, but dead, stone cold dead. Creatures such as them should not have been allowed to populate such a planet in the first place.
Aurn tugged his cloak closer around himself, his face stormy and set, his mind ignoring the fact that he himself was technically 'one of them'.
The monk, Urban, didn't notice the boy. He simply quickened his horse's pace in order to try and catch up to the scout who had began to move faster through the crowd. The crazed uncle, Charles, was snickering on his stead. I didn't matter to him who his prince was holding.
Chapter 4: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Once out of the city, Louis, still holding on to the insolent youth, dismounted. His face was twisted far out of proportion with hatred, and all the people around him hurried on their errands, hoping to avoid all and any involvement. Louis threw the whimpering boy to the ground. When he attempted to rise, trying to explain himself, "Please suh..." Louis kicked him back down. His boot connected firmly with the kid’s chest, and the thief lay gasping on the ground before him.
Louis, blind with furry, trying to expel his frustration with the whole world only got three good kicks in before he felt a calming hand on his shoulder. "The lad has sinned." It was the monk. Louis narrowed his eyes, taking his attention away from the boy. He stared at the monk for a few moments before he heard a squeal of pain from were the boy had been.
"He wasn't done with you, scum." It was definitely the voice of the scout, and as Louis turned to look, he saw that Aurn had dismounted, and stopped the thief escaping by grabbing on to the boy's hair and picking him clear up into the air. The boy squirmed, trying to break the stronger man's hold, flailing in mid air. Then, another noise distracted Louis from that scene: the sound of glee.
He turned to see his uncle, the crazy one, clapping his hands in happiness with the dumbest look on his face. He looked like an infant that had been given a pile of suckers. Louis's face contorted with disgust. This man really did enjoy human screams. The prince turned back to the scout. His face too was contorted in an odd sort of happiness. Only the minor noble looked upon the scene with mild concern. His brow futhered, and shoulders hunched.
"Let him go." said Louis, addressing the scout. "He's learned his lesson." He was about to shrug off the arm of the monk and return to his horse, without even searching the still squirming boy for his money when the scout didn't obey.
"Are you sure?" He asked. Aurn's voice sent shivers down Louis's spine. It was low, and so damned blood thirsty. It reminded the prince of his own actions only moments before. He could not muster the strength for anything more than a whispered, "Yes." He didn't even look at Aurn before mounting his horse, and not waiting for anyone else, kicked Stardust into a fast walk.
Five minutes later, Aurn and the monk caught up to him and the rest of the group. Aurn seemed too satisfied for someone who had just been ordered to stop his fun, and even the monk looked too happy. Knowing that there was nothing left to do, and not willing to risk his authority over some street rat, Louis pointedly ignored the obvious. Aurn, not being the most talkative of people did not gloat. And even though the monk looked like he was bursting to tell everyone what had happened, wisely held his tongue.
The rest of the day the six rode in silence. The squire looked rather green for the next couple of hours, and the prince was fuming. No one dared approach him as if even close proximity could make them burn to ashes from the powerful aura he was excreting. The prince's crazed uncle looked like a two year old deprived of a new toy, and Aurn seemed absurditly pleased with himself. His self satisfied smile was comparable to that of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland.
Once the sun got an imaginary foot from the horizon, Louis decided that a break was called for. Without saying anything, he simply led Stardust away from the road, expecting everyone else to follow. However, not hearing hove beets behind him, the prince turned to see his companions still on the road. All of them had stopped, staring at him with perplexed expressions on their faces.
Quietly, as if he didn't mean for Louis to hear, Aurn sblack personed, "The prince suffers from hallucinations. He sees a road where there is none."
At this, already enraged with the scout, the prince spurred Stardust around and at a full charge at the scout. His lungs filled with air, and exploded with sound. He rushed by the scout who had simply moved his horse out of the way. Louis stopped his horse, pulling heartlessly at the reins, and turned, fuming at his adversary. His face was red, and looked like that of a bull in an arena, about to charge out of control.
Aurn threw back his head and laughed. It was unearthly, he barked his mirth with had no happiness in it.
"How dare you!" screamed the enraged prince, once again spurring his stead forward. Once again he missed when the scout simply had his own horse sidestep the attack. When Louis stopped this time, his vision was red, and he was panting. He was focused only on the scout: the killer, the murderer. "Bastard!" he screeched, "Traitor!" At these accusations Aurn only raised an eyebrow.
"Am I?" he asked mockingly, "I didn't really notice..." He mused.
Fuming, Louis tried to spur on Stardust again, but the horse moved only to stop short. While engrossed with the scout, Louis didn't notice how the noble, Artemis, had grabbed hold of Stardust's reins.
Louis snarled at him, more animal than human, but when the man ignored him, and said pointedly, "We need to make camp." he grabbed his reins out of his hands and turned stardust in a circle.
"Fine."
That night was rather uncomfortable for everyone. The squire did his best to stay out of sight and yet to attend to everyone without angering anyone else. Nerves were on end, and the crazy uncle drove everyone over the edge with his nonstop mumbling to himself in his sleep. Even the minor noble, Artemis, could not stand it anymore and sent the royal off to sleep far away from the rest of the travelers. All six woke late the morning, and were rather grouchy.
Only the scout, awake as always before sunrise, seemed cheery. He made breakfast, and packed his things before even the squire woke up.
Finding himself alone in the early morning, Aurn decided to take advantage of the time. The day before had been satisfying only in one sense, and the rest really had been pretty pathetic. The scout frowned; he was in a good mood. It was not the time to start reminiscing about the bad occurrences of the day before.
The man put a smile on his wind carved face, took his sword, and walked of a ways to practice. He didn’t feel up to waking the others, and anyway, there was no hurry. His instructions had simply been to get the prince to the border permanently.
After about a twenty minute warm up, Aurn found his muscles nice and relaxed. He cleared his mind, and began drilling random sword combinations all the wile thinking that his author is clueless about any type of sword work and really should just skip describing things she knows nothing about and to scenes where she knows some vague pieces of fact that she can mumble on about in sentences that never end.
The Squire, having woken up only minutes before, found that all his traveling companions, or rather masters were asleep except for the scout. He smiled to himself, a little perplexed that breakfast was ready, but not about to complain. He packed up his stuff and decided to go find the odd early bird.
The boy did not hear the scout practicing. The scout heard the boy approach.
He considered for a moment practicing on a live dummy, but decided that if he got rid of this particular human, the prince would be totally uncontrollable. And he couldn't kill the prince yet. In fact, he could kill none of his companions because of that damned man. Brother to the king or not, he certainly had a way of getting just under your skin. Being around him gave Aurn goose bumps.
When the squire came close enough, but was still clueless about the fact that he was about to walk in on a sword practice, Aurn turned towards him, and eyes still closed, pretended to come at him, waving his sword skillfully.
The boy, terrified that the scout actually meant to harm him, for he had no doubt that that was very possible, fell back on his rear. He frantically scrambled back, trying to avoid being impaled.
Aurn opened his eyes and laughed at the terrified youth before him. He was surprised to see and uncertain smile flicker over the boy's face. The scout, somehow intrigued with this reaction, so similar to that of an innocent dog, all forgiving, reached out to help the boy rise.
The squire took the hand gratefully and dusted himself off.
Aurn looked over the youth who stood uncomfortably under his gaze. "What's your name?" He asked, only then realizing that he didn't know. He wondered vaguely if the prince knew, the prince's second, clinically insane uncle certainly did not. Neither did the monk he guessed. Did the author?
"Gen." Said the boy, really, what odd name to stick into this book of all places. Very original. Very.
Aurn nodded. "Have you been trained to fight with a sword?" Practicing random moves by yourself is good and all, but what's much more fun is getting unsuspecting innocent boys involved.
"A little, sir." said Gen, hoping that the scout didn't change his mind and actually decide to use him as a human target.
"I see." Aurn stepped back a little, considering the boy. He moved, the scout reflected, far too loudly for someone his size. "Do you know the meaning of stealth, Gen?" The man asked pointedly, a trace of sarcasm clearly present in his voice.
Gen, taken aback by this unexpected question had no clue as to how he should react. "Oh, no... I mean, yes... uh, sir." He mumbled, turning pink.
Aurn laughed. His laughter, when it came, was always full. He threw his head back, and almost barked out his amusement as a challenge to the world. "I see. So which is is?"
"I'm not sure." mumbled Gen, ducking his head. He had never been good at sneaking around, especially not early in the morning.
The conversation would have continued, and Gen would have gotten red more than once more, except that a loud voice interrupted them. It was Artemis, "Are you ready to leave?" He had woken up and gotten the rest of the company up, things put away, and horses tacked.
Aurn shook his head in slight exasperation, but called out clearly, "Yes." He smiled one last time at the boy, Gen, and then left to get his own things ready.
Gen stayed undecided for a moment longer before going back to camp after the scout. There were things to do before the group left.
The day turned out to be rather hot, the travelers rather minimal. It seemed calm, the sky was clear, but something seemed to press on the travelers. The mood wasn't as strained as the day before, but the six still rode in awkward silence. Aurn, perfectly happy in the peace, and Louis not noticing it, still fuming. Everyone else except of the crazy old man felt tense, as if the sky was trying it's best to fall on their heads. The crazy uncle, though royal by blood, ceaselessly talked about the upcoming storm, getting on even Aurn's nerves.
The horse's hove beet in steady rhythm on the dry, cracking earth, and the dust settled almost immediately. There was no wind. Not a breeze. The sun shone down on the lonely travelers, trying it's best to make them squirm in their saddles.
One time, Gen, exhausted, almost fell of his stead completely, failing to notice that he was almost asleep before a bump in the road.
Chapter 5: Wednesday, November 13, 2008
The group led their horses on for about three hours at a steady walk, not talking, not even humming, even though Louis' crazy uncle was obviously itching to make conversation. during these three hourse, the senery didn't change much. They saw no people, not too strange as most people in Eddiz did not move around. They stayed in their respective city, or farm, and only mooved or traveled for marckets. Besides, the road that the group of travelers was taking was a rather obscure one, not well traveled, and rather abandoned. So, it was really a surprise when they heard crying on the side of the road.
The wails sounded like that from a baby, and when the scout, ordered by his prince to investigate, got off his horse and looked for the sourse of the sound, he in deed brought back a screeming babe.
Frowning, disgust clearly visible on his face, his voice revolted, Aurn said, "Get rid of it." his nose curled in digust as if he was smelling onion that had been stored in a moiste store room for the winter.
"You can't do that!" Exclaimed the noble, Artemis. "It's a child!" he was clearly surprised that his companion could even sujest such babrbarism.
"Exactly." curtly replyed Aurn. "A child." when he said the word, it took on a disgusted feel, as if it was a contaminated thing.
Seeing that the child was in danger, Luois took over, asserting his princely authority. "It comes with us to the nearest town." His voice left no room for aurgueing, and even Aurn, though he looked exasperated didn't dissagree.
He did however, have to put in his own point, "Why did you call the babe an it then?" Smirking, he didn't expect an answer. Therefore, he mounted his horse and began the journy again.
The squier, confused and already regretting finding the baby, returned to his horse and tried to mount fith the child in his arm. He did not succed. Fortunantely, the monk rode up to him to offer assistence. "Here." he said, reaching for the complaining baby. "Give it to me."
Uncertain, Gen handed over his burden, and mounted. However when he reached to take the child back, the monk shook his head and rode on.
The trees were planted right along side the road. Two perfect lines led them in the direction of the now visxible town. It had no castle, at least not one worth mentioning, for it was a farming town. The people here were well known for their grean supplys, or those that needed to be grown. They had the best herbs, and the most beautiful flowers. If a man wanted to impress a girl, this was defifnately the place for him to go. However, the fact that there wwree trees didn't help against the midday heat. The sun shone straight down, and the wind had taken a vacation. All the travelers were extrememly weary and on edge, the fact that the child periodically burst into tears did not help the atmospheare much. Even the fact that the monk managed to calm him down rather quickly didn't help. About the tenth time that the child threw a t antrum, Louis lost it. "Shut that damned thing up, will you?" He yelled, totally exasperated. Then, when the child only yelled lowder from fear, the prince threw back his head and howled. "I will go insane!" Aurn sblack personed, "Well, it is in your blood." He said this so quietly, that on a normal day, Louis would not have heard, but the stillness amplifyed noise trifold, and the prince heard well enough. He stared daggers at the scout, growling, "That's treasonos." Aurn turned to him, and bowed mockingly in his seat, "I beg your pardon, your magesty." Any one could see that the scout was just mocking the young, inexperience child prince. Louis stared for a moment longer, and then turned to the monk who had been frantically trying to soothe the crying babe, "Shut that thing up, Will uyou!" He then turned back in his saddle, and growling incomprehesibally, spurred his mount Stardust into a trot. Aurn followed, as did Artemis, and Gen, making sure that the prince's uncle did not get left behind followed as well. The last horse, the only well trained animal of the bunch, obidiantly followed it's companions. The monk did not spead up. It would be safer, he decided, for all incvolved if he stayed a little behind the group wioth the child untill they reached the city and got rid of him.
The citie's gates were small, nothing like the huge barricaded monsers of Eddiz's capital city. Infact, they were low enough for a man to scale easily, theif or not. Strangely though, the city wasn't known for a bad population, on the contrary, It had a reputation for being a black whole to rugamoufins. Bad folks came in, no one came out.
When the group, sans monk, entered the city, they found the streets full with busseling people hurrying to and from, trying to get to wereever it was they wanted to go.
Louis, looking around, got intrigued by a particular scene. A couple were kissing under an overhang. they seemed/ gave an aura of lovers parting to the last time, never to see each other again.
Aurn followed Louis's gaze and chuckled. The fact that the boy didn't understand or notice that the scout was laughing at him only made Aurn more merry.
Byt the time Aurn quieted down, and Louis stopped looking at the scout as if the later had lost his sanity, The monk caught up to them, sleaping baby and all. Appearantly, the child really liked the movement when the horse trotted, and fell asleap almost imediately when the monk started to trot his horse.
Gen, the squire, looked rather intriegued by the babe, but did not dare to aprach the monk.
When they left the city, two days had passed. They had left the child in the closest child house that they could find that would take him, and then whent on to do some sight seeing and provision stocking. When they did leave, it seemed as if they had traveled to the other side of the globe. The land on this side of the farming city was fresh and green in every way. Just as the first side had been quiet and dry, breazeless and people devoided of, this side was busteling with activity.
Louis oogled at all the people. He was used to crowds but only in cities, outside, it was unseeming, and here there were hundreds of people out side the city. Crazy people. They laughed, joked, ran after each other, all the wile covered in dirt and greenish leaves.
Gen, th young squire stared openmouthed as well. A few times, his jaw had snapped shut when he had let it hang open too long.
Urban, noticing this, and always ready to correct misbehavore, was quick to chime in, "Close your mouth, or a fly will fly in!" He laughed at this, though there is really nothing at all hilarious about a fly in your mouth.
The creatures are fillthy, carry all sorts of deseases, and could even decide to lay eggs in your mouth. Not something to laugh about at all. And there were pleanty of flys around too. They seemed to like the moist atmosphere. There for, terrifeyed on getting a fly in his mouth, Gen kept his mouth firmly shut, to the point of having his jaw ache after a few min utes.
As they traveled away from the city, the farmlands became more desolate, the trees wilder, and the terain more rocky. They were aproaching the mountain range that seperated the Eddizzians from the other, magic using country. It was not a good time to cross them. The winters in the mountains were unforgiving, and the storms could send even the most seasoned traveler to his death.
Therefor, in his unceasing wizdom, Louis' uncle, the one that was a little less obviously crazy, got the ill matched group of travelors a nice tiny cabin by the foot of the impasible mountains. For the perfect period of about three months. It is truely debateable whether or not he wanted to drive them so insane that they would be forced by their own nerves to attempt to cross the mountain during the fatal winter weather. Perhaps he was hoping for something like that.
When Louis realized that he would have to spend three months in the same cabin at Aurn he nearly tore his head out.
"I WHAT?!" he screamed, his voice getting hiegher with every sylabl;e. "No." he said forcefully, "Oh no." "No way in hell or heaven." He said, staring daggers at the scout. "I'd rather skin him alive." his voice had a quality about it that sugested that he really might actually do something of the sort. And be perfectly happy doing soo.
Aurn laughed quietly in return. "I wouldn't be suo sure it will be you doing the skinning." He said, a wry smile on his face. This enraged Louis, he snarled, and very literally pounced onto the scout. His war cry starteling the horses. The mionor noble, Artemis, jumped into the fray to try and seperate the two men. Or rather, the man from the boy, for Louis was getting rather slaughtered.
While Gen whent to try and calm the mounts. The monk, rather pointlessly started yellin saying a a quiet, small voice something along the lines of violence is not the anwer, even though his eyes shone with glee.
When Louis screched, his uncle mimicked the sound, except in glee. Gen, having calme moved the horses away from the fighting returned with a sick look on his face.
A grown man was fighting the future king of his country, the prince was growling like some sort of wild buist, the noble was ineffectively trying to use forse to seperate them, and the monk had stoped even trying to sound conserned. He looked on the fight with a spark in his eye, his teeeth chewing his lower lip in anticipation.
Louis's uncle, brother to the queen sat on the cold ground covered in pine needled, clappiung his hands from glee.
Gen turned green, "Oh gods, help me." He whispered, and closed his eyes tightly.
Rain fell. The travelers looked perplexedly at the sky, for no rain had been falling a moment before. Gen sat heavilyy on the grownd, wavering. "Sorry," he said to the confused looks, "The weather changes make me dissy." Having explained away his dissy feint, the boy got up slowly. The fight had stopped, and the prince's uncle looked decidedly cheeted. His eyes had lost their gleem, and narrowed.
The monk, at least, had the decency to pretend nothing had happened. He nodded to no one in particular, and walked towards the horses. Gen followed, knowing that they needed to be taken in from the rain, and that the two rivals would not fisically fight for that time period.
HE breathed heavily by the time the horses were stabled. The boy was also soaked through. The rain had not stopped or abated, and the monk had gone in long ago, not wanting to get wet.
The inside of the cabin seemed relatively coasy. The strain between Louis and Aurn wasn't too bad, not as noticeble as when the group had been traveling, but plean still there. Still hanging around their heads.
Chapter 6: Friday, November 14, 2008
Chapter 7: Saturday, November 15, 2008
By the time that Gen got in from the rain, the rest of the group had already gotten cozy by the newly made fire. Louis, as the prince, seemed to have gotten first pick of the huge leather chairs. One could tell the there had been a small arguement and that the young boy had won it by the satisfyed look on his face. His chair was right next to the fire, and had a fur blancket on it's back. His uncle and the monk were sharing the huge couch perpendicular to the fireplace, with the monk on the farther side, his robes already dry none the less.
Aur, the scout, seemed content to sit in a slightly out of the way chair, in the corner wich seemed to get the leaset heat and warmth from the fire. His face, already frightening enough, was surounded by shodows and looked all together far too menecing. To the right of the main door, there seemed to be a kitchen.
Gen could see the counters through the open door. To the left, there was a door and a stair case above it. It seemed vrey likely to lead to the rooms. He wondered if those had already been claimed as the chairs had been. He took of his cloack, and not as he was not needed by the others, made his way upstairs.
Louis's uncle had really not been miselry about the cabin. The rooms were large, but it seemed that they would all have to share. There were only three rooms, with two beds in each. Gen smiled to himself vauguely imagening what would the race for rooms look like.. Probably bloody.
There was also one room with odd games and a bookshelf. The only thing it lacked was a couch, and Gen was rather amused by the lengths someone would go to simply to make someone's journy miserbale. In this recreational room there was also a balcony. The thing looked suprisingly stable, but knowing who had aranged for the living acomidations, Gen avoided steping on it. He had no desire to test if he would survive a fall from the second story of a house.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
A raid. Horses, screams, dust in the air, and smoke. Houses already burning. People, gathered in tight circles, surrounded by whistling horsemen. A young boy, searching for his sister. Chaos.
The boy heard a sob. Somewhere, not in the tight circles of horsemen, there was a girl. His sister perhaps. He needed to find her. He slipped away from the horsemen. Ignored the chains that they were getting ready. He stood, looking around. His hand hung numbly at his side.
There. His sister, under Mr. Henson’s porch. Hiding, sobbing. Her teddy all wet and muddy.
He stumbled towards her, his tiny feet steadily moving him closer to her. Her eyes widened, “Ircai!” her lips made the soundless movement.
Pain, searing pain shot through his hand to his little brain. His knees collapsed and the raider that had grabbed him was forced to support his weight. Darkness, screams, and the rough ground moving under him. Then nothing.
The first thing Ircai noticed when he came to was the bumping. He was riding; a horse perhaps. His vision was blurry, and his toes numb. It was cold, but there was no rain. A blessing. “Thank the gods” he mumbled incoherently. And immediately regretted it.
“Looks li’ this un’s ‘wake.” Came a gruff voice behind him. “Talkative fellow too!” This comment was followed by laughter.
“Let ‘im down ‘en!” Came a voice through Ircai’s daze. He felt strong hands surround him and lift him. He hung limply, his eyes closed, terrified at what he would see if he opened them.
“Aw look, the little Tike’s scared o’ you.” A different voice this time, lower but with less malice commented. A rough shaking followed; the man holding the boy up wasn’t amused.
“I’ll give ‘im somethin’ t’ be scared ‘bout!” The rider’s voice gained more of an accent as his slipped into anger. There was no reply, but Ircai crunched up into a ball in his hands. The man holding him was strong, but Ircai was also absurdidly small for his age.
He felt rough hands turning him around, but stayed in his tight little ball.
Since I am going to the monastary right now, and not getting back till late tommorow...