Dain Remembered
Dain of Melor, once the would-be-champion of Tusaine, was a proud man. Too proud to admit after all these years that a small girl squire had bested him.
Too proud. Was that why his wife had died? Because he was too proud to call for a healer after she had miscarried, afraid it would smear his manhood? His children were long gone now, out to become lords and ladies in Tusaine. The Tusaine that still existed, that is, the Tusaine that was frittering her livelihood away, completely oblivious to the threats that surrounded her.
Tusaine. The war with Tortall had really crippled her. There she lay, sandwiched in between Maren, Galla, and Tortall, ripe for the plucking. Duke Hilam and Count Jemis, the brilliant men behind the throne were long gone, leaving King Ain- old, weak, infirm, and only caring about his many wives.
Melor itself had sunk into relative obscurity. Dain was only remembered as "the brute who the lioness beat when she was the prince's squire". They didn't remember. But Dain of Melor remembered. He could not forget.
He remembered a day where he had been a young and cocky knight, sure of his success. An extremely short squire? No problem. Dain of Melor could take him on.
He remembered a time when Tusaine was a force to be reckoned with in the world- with the mighty Tortall herself paying homage.
He remembered the glorious days of old, with King Ain advised by his brothers, Duke Hilam and Count Jemis. There were none of King Ain's pesky wives training for knighthood. A knight knew his place, and a lady knew her place as well. Everything was ordered according to the unwavering will of the king.
But what use was the unwavering will of the king when it involved having over 300 wives and letting the nation deteriorate?
And now. Maren was invading in the next month, and Galla, Tusaine's longtime ally, had just killed King Ain's favorite wife and lady knight. That was the problem with having wives who were also members of the fighting forces! Any attack on them was an attack on the entire country.
This is why he should have killed that pesky Alan- no, Alanna- that demon-spawn of Trebond. He should have gotten her while he had the chance! Now, she had spread her poison all over the world.
The world had forgotten him, but he had not forgotten it. No, Dain remembered. He could not forget.