Hi everyone! Apologies for not having updated anything in so long and then coming along and posting new pics...
More updates are on the way but it might a wait as work is getting going to be getting ahead of me for awhile. Anyway hope you are all well and I'll just leave this here.
On a cold summer evening, Tyki Mikk watched the rain fall in torrents over the drowsy town of Lyttleton, churning the road to sludge and mud. There was no wind to be felt, only the freezing cold dragged downwards from the heavens as sheet after sheet of water drowned the town. With more than an hour to go until true sunset, the skies were already an ebony so dark it was as if night had fallen.
"Step away from the window. You'll only depress yourself further," Wisely advised from his chair, absently throwing his watch into the air and catching it again.
Tyki grunted in response, but remained at the window, his eyes fixed on the street below. Even through the unseasonal deluge, townsfolk made their way to the inn eager for some gossip on the newcomers.
First impressions hadn't been much when they rolled into Lyttleton an hour earlier. A single sleeping watchman met his entourage at a gate that was little more than driftwood and wire. At least they had access to such a precious metal, Wisely had remarked facetiously. Of course the streets were empty, not a person braved the rain but many a curtain twitched to spy upon the newcomers. Tom, the innkeeper, met them at the door. Welcome to the Three Roses, he announced proudly and led them up to their suite of rooms.
For what it was worth, Tyki admitted that while he was accustomed to better, this wasn't the worst he had ever had to deal with. The suite of rooms that had been given over to him and his nephew were functional enough. Dolph, his manservant, would find some way to brighten the room and make it more inhabitable.
Bored, Tyki rapped once upon the window frame with a gloved knuckle and deciding that it would do he opened it fully despite the rain.
"I suppose this will be home for the next two months," Tyki sneered down at what passed for a town centre. Behind him, the door creaked noisily. "What did we do to deserve? I thought this was supposed to be your father's next venture as Judge."
"It was, dear Uncle, then again he also thought Lady Yvette was going to be his venture." The mocking tone of his oldest nephew, Wisely, was not what Tyki wanted to hear right now.
Lady Yvette, a beauty. Dark hair and red lips with a devils touch that drove many a man crazy. Tyki reflected on his night with her and scoffed, "Sheril should be thanking me. With that one mistake, I've condemned us and saved him. Yvette, I'll reserve the title of Lady, was hardly worth this."
"I hadn't put you down to be so bitter, Uncle," chuckled Wisely. Presently he tucked his watch into his pocket and joined his uncle at the window. Though they were separated by branches of the family tree only a handful of years stood between them. Tyki sighed heavily, there were less interesting members of the family to be stuck with.
"I see why I'm here but what did you do?"
"Citizens they may be, but would any of these country dwellers know the Earl if he were to stroll right up that street? So untouched by the border skirmishes. It might even be a pleasant stay, should the weather pick up." The deflection was not lost on Tyki. "Join me for a drink?"
"You go, and do try not to make a fool of yourself on the eve of the first Judgement." Tyki poured water from the ewer into the bowl. Removing his gloves he dipped his fingers, he found the water to be surprisingly refreshing. Two weeks of travel had not been easy. It started well enough, interchanging between carriage and horseback when he wanted to feel the wind in his hair and freedom at his fingertips, however the turn in weather had confined him to the carriage with only the bleak roadhouse inns for reprieve. He longed to be astride Lightfoot; a turn about the town would be enough to make Lyttleton that much more palatable. "I'm going to the stables."
"Spare an apple for my Redwyne, would you?" Wisely called after him.
To get to the stables, Tyki was faced with two options; He could cut through the now crowed common room and use the connecting corridor to arrive their warm and dry, or he could use the side exit and dash through the rain. Logically he chose to go the route that guaranteed the least human contact and casting aside his yeoman dignity, Tyki ran through the downpour with his jacket over his head. Even Lightfoot cast a disdainful eye over the soaked material when Tyki flung the now useless article over the planks of the stall.
"Don't look at me like that," he said testily, "not after I've come through all that to make sure you're being looked after." The chestnut gelding snorted indignantly, earning an indulging laugh from Tyki, who caught his head and rubbed his forehead soothingly.
Tyki refilled the trough for both Lightfoot and Redwyne and while both horses fed Tyki looked for a brush. There were five stalls and only three of them were in use including the ones taken by the two Noah's horses. The third occupant was a dapple-grey mare, the innkeeper's own most likely, Tyki could not imagine many the townsfolk owning their own mounts. The carriage was not here; Wisely had sent him back to the last town to pick up the extra shopping he had acquired there. Despite the weather, it was warm enough and Tyki approved the quality of meal and the fresh hay in each stall. He found the brush hanging from a nail on the wall next to an assortment of other tools.
A mighty crash rang out and a blast of chill wind whipped through the stable. Tyki spun on the spot and ran to Lightfoot, who had startled. "Easy boy, easy," he repeated in a mantra for the poor fellow. "I got you Lightfoot. Easy now."
A misshapen sodden figure advanced through the stable doors, behind him trotted an equally sodden beast in a riot of braying, clopping hoof steps and the grating clatter of wood against stone. One of the wheel's of the cart had broken off entirely, the bare spoke had been the cause of the grating noise. The figure moved quickly to unhitch the distressed donkey but the poor animal reared away upwards, puling the reins from his hands. Tyki rush forward to grab a hold of the reins and bring the animal to ease. He handed the reins back to the newcomer. Then edging around the newcomer, Tyki shut the doors that remained wide open. Thick drops spattered the stones with wetness making it a fairly treacherous task.
"Apologies, thank you," the figure said in a nasally voice. He, for it was a man, sounded to be quite young.
"You should take more care, my horse nearly took a fright from all your noise." The man lost further reputability when Tyki saw he had taken up the brush that he had wanted. Tyki grabbed a towel from the wall of tools and joined the hooded buffoon. "You should dry him off first, like this." He pressed the towel methodically over the donkey.
The newcomer stepped back and whipped off his wet cloak revealing a mat of dark brown hair framing an angular face. The boy looked to be of an age with Wisely, though his tanned face and broad shoulders spoke of labour that Wisely could never be accused of. His most striking feature was a black leather patch where his right eye should have been.
"Thank you," the youth bowed his head, beads of water dripped from the ends of his hair. "Yu always dealt with that part. If it weren't for the weather I would have dragged the cart myself. The broken wheel is so much more my level of expertise."
"A man should know how to care for his beasts," Tyki said gruffly, now picking up a handful of straw and rubbed the donkey down. The boy left him to it and turned his attentions to the cart, a wallet of tools materialised out of a pocket. Since when did he become a glorified stable boy? Tyki berated himself.
"Now you sound like my father. A man should know this, a man should know that… and so on and so forth. I daresay I wasn't very good at living up to his expectations," the youth chatted away happily. "But I do well enough with my business. There's always someone in need of something being fixed."
In no time at all cart was up and rolling smoothly across the stable floor. He smiled brightly at Tyki, "Good as new!"
The boy's amiable demeanour fast began to wear on Tyki, with a light tap on the donkey's rump he retreated to Lightfoot's stall. The tall horse snickered impatiently at him, offended by his tending to another animal first. As he brushed Lightfoot, Tyki became aware that the boy was watching him; though he decided not to ignore him.
"Are you here for the Judgement too?" the boy asked at length.
Tyki peered over his shoulder. "Something like that."
"A lot of people have been arriving for the past week. It's been a really long time since the Earl came to us as Judge. I was barely six at the time, but he had such an immense presence. Of course he wasn't the Earl then, but I can't help but feel disappointed it won't be him this time." The boy prattled on for a while completely oblivious of who he was talking to. "We're so far out on the edge that I guess we've been forgotten. The wrong border, that's what Yu calls it, but I can't help but feel that here in Lyttleton we are lucky not be embroiled in the border wars." The boy sighed deeply and Tyki noticed that his hands were clenched into tight fists.
Interest piqued, Tyki asked, "What Judgment will you be seeking?"
"Not a Judgement." There was palpable aura about the youth. "Just what we deserve."
"And what is that?"
"Truthful tidings of the war."
It was Tyki's turn to sigh; he recognised that look in the youth's eyes. In the capital, this boy would have fallen in the radical sort. It would not have ended well for him.
The youth came forward with his hand outstretched, "Thank you again for helping me with Flax. I'll be happy to repay the favour, if you have anything that needs fixing you I'll be your man."
"No need, I doubt I'll be staying here long," Tyki gripped the youth's forearm briefly. "But a favour owed is never to be frowned up on."
The youth smiled warmly up at Tyki then sprang away excitedly. A huge grin covered his face as he pulled a corner of the heavy tarpaulin sheet covering his cart. He pulled out a small drawstring pouch and brought it to Tyki. "You can hold on to that favour, but I'd like to give you this too. I like to work metal when Yu is away. This piece, it resembles you."
From the little pouch he shook out a silver pin. It was very finely made. The head of the pin was shaped into a wolf, the features delicate and precise. Two small topaz stones were inset as eyes glittered in the firelight. Awestruck Tyki took the pin from the boy's hand. The sharp point of the needle caught his thumb and drew a ruby drop of blood.
"It is very lovely," Tyki agreed, though he was puzzled why anyone would give something like it away so easily. "But you would give it away to a stranger?"
"For gratitude, yes I would." The youth had already begun to withdraw. "Now that it has bound you by blood, you have to accept it."
Tyki examined the pin once more. He had far more exquisitely made and refined jewellery, articles that were made of more precious materials than this, however there was something endearing about the little pin. "How does this little pin resemble me, may I ask?"
The youth stopped with one hand on the door and considered the question. "Your eyes. I've only seen a pair like that once before, when the Earl came through to pass Judgement. You have the eyes of a wolf."
Slightly taken aback, Tyki had no response, surprisingly he found he quite liked the likening. Unsure what to make of the youth, Tyki put it out of his mind and speared the pin through his lapel.