Chapter 1: Birthday Mourning
"So… You're my little brother?" He asked with a forced smile. How perfect was this? He hadn't noticed anything.
"I guess so." I let another arrow loose into the target. THUD Between the eyes of the dummy. Xeades raised a thin eyebrow.
"You are very proficient with a bow. I prefer the sword myself." He sounded rather full of himself. I lowered my bow and stared at him.
"Father never had a chance to teach how to use a sword." I continued my glare. "He told me a story of his favorite bladed weapons and how he had given them to a friend for safe keeping. Apparently, Father wanted to get the swords back from the friend before he taught me." There was more venom in my voice than I had intended, but I got my point across. He knew I was a bit angry.
Marious came around the corner with a sad look on his face and I nearly broke right there. Xeades lowered his head in a silent contemplation. I gripped my bow and looked at my feet. I couldn't be around anyone, I had to get away.
"I need to make arrangements." I remember saying very shakily, then stomping off. The two men watched me walk away. Xeades tried to follow me, but Marious did the smart thing and held him back. As soon as I was out of sight I started to run. I ran to the great oak tree in the pasture near the lake. I don't think I had cried so much in my entire life. I remember sobbing for what seemed like hours. I wanted to cry until my eyes melted out of my sockets. Damn nearly did.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned, wide eyed thinking I was going to be discovered, and breathed a sigh of relief. Granny knew my secret already, and hugged me. I continued to sob on her shoulder.
"I knew you would be here child." Her voice comforted me.
"You know me well enough to know where I would go. It was either here, or the training field. I didn't think crying on the training field was the right thing to do." I managed a small smile. "You spill blood on a field of battle, not tears." It was something that I remember my father telling me over and over again. I got up and wiped my tear stained face. Granny looked at me with a worried face. "Marious intends to ask you to go with them."
"And you think I should stay here?" I was in no mood for one of her arguments.
"You will do as you as you please as you always do." Was all she had to say. I didn't know if I wanted to go on this journey. I contemplated the alternatives as I walked back to the house. If I stayed, Granny would bully me into some marriage with the Mayor's son. If I went with Marious and my brother, it would be the experience of a life time. If I stayed, I would be safe, happy and fat with children in a matter of years. If I went, I would be returning in a few years fat with riches from the spoils of my adventures.
I got to the house and Ralph was waiting by the back door. "The undertaker wants to know what you want to do."
"Tell him I want a plain coffin and he will be buried by the oak tree out by the lake." I put a hand on Ralph's shoulder. "Are our guests comfortable?"
"I have made room for them in the guest quarters. Lord Marious is in the Library and the half breed is in the stables with his horse." I squeezed the young boy's shoulder pretty hard. I don't know if it was reflexive or protective. "That is MY brother you're talking about." The boy ran from me and I headed into the Library first. I didn't want to face Xeades just yet.
I found Marious looking through the meager collection of books. Most of the books were adventure stories, there were a few cook books, and a monster manual or 2, but nothing important. I think Marious was looking for my Father's journals, I didn't ask and neither did he. I had hid that book in my room under the floor. I hadn't finished reading all of it.
I walked into the Library and Marious turned to address me. "You have my deepest sympathies, George. I am sorry that we came too late." He looked honestly disappointed.
"I am glad that my Father was able to meet Xeades. I know it was something he had been planning for a long time. But things around the village always took precedence. With the town guard finally to a point of defending the village to his satisfaction, Father had been making plans to take me on a trip." I looked at the floor, mostly to hide the fact I was starting to cry again.
"I know this isn't the greatest time for this, but there is a matter of great importance that I want to speak to you about." Marious kept his tone serious.
"If you are talking about a journey of untold riches and danger, I'll go. There isn't any reason for me to stay here. Give me a few days to get everything settled here, and I will go." Marious nodded. I left him in the Library searching for what ever it was he was searching for. I stopped in the kitchen and grabbed an apple or two for the horse then grabbed an extra one for myself.
I found Xeades setting up a place for him to sleep next to his horse. "What are you doing?" I asked him.
"I'm camping out for the night. Why do you ask?" He looked confused by my question.
"You have a room in the house that you can sleep in, or do I need to kick Ralph for not telling you?" I took a bite of my apple.
"I thought that it would be best if I stayed out of the house."
"Why?" There was a moment of silence. I figured he didn't have an answer. I tossed him an apple. He caught it. I walked over and fed the last apple to his horse.
"You don't have to stay in the stables." I wasn't going to force him in to doing something he didn't want to do. If he wanted to be out in the cold… Who was I to tell him any different.
"I am sorry about your loss. I wish I could have gotten to know him better. How are you getting along?" He said rather flatly.
"Well, let's see… I turned 15. Yeah for me… My father died on my birthday, which happens to be the same day I lost my mother. Must suck to be me on my birthday. I did gain a brother and I agreed to go on an adventure with him and a man I've never met. I think all in all I'm doing pretty good under the circumstances." I took another bite of my apple. He smirked.
"So I'm accepted as your brother?" He sounded like it was the most important thing he was going to hear in his life.
"Xeades, you are the only blood I have left in this world. Plus, I would be dishonoring him if I turned you away."
"So is that a yes?" He looked like I would crush him had I said no.
"Yes dear Brother. Now come in the house before you die or something tries to eat you."
The next few days were uneventful. There was the funeral by the oak tree. Xeades shed a tear; I think he has a softer side than he's showing. Marious said some nice things about Father. Mostly how he was a hero and he would be greatly missed by all that knew him. I said my silent goodbyes over the grave stone and walked away from life at the manor house.
I didn't look back. I couldn't look back as we rode out of the village. I know I will back some day, maybe. I understand something that Father wrote in his journal. This adventure would change everything for me. I would come to know that dragons truly existed, not just read about them in a book. I would see the mountains, not just see them on a map. I was going on an adventure and there wasn't anything that was going to stop me from enjoying every minute of it. I was sure to pack my Father's journal. I had a hunch I was going to need it.
