Chapter 1: Footsteps of Fate

After a couple of days journey Lyn and I had finally reached our first destination, what looked like a large marketplace and town that went with it. It was not really big by the standards I was used to but Lyn had explained to me that most who9 lived on the plains were nomads, so I hadn't expected much in the way of size of cities.

"Anson! Over here! This is Bulgar, the biggest city in all of Sacae. We should purchase supplies for our journey."

"I will get the meat; you can purchase a weapon for yourself." She handed me a small pouch of gold. I knew that I would need to find a weapon that suited me. I had trained with swords in my world, but that was competitive, not killing style. Finally I settled on getting an iron sword, about 2.5 feet long blade with a scabbard and a couple of knives for throwing that I could hide about my person. When I returned to the meat market to find Lyn I found her getting frustrated by a man on horseback in green armor as I approached I heard, "Wait, O beauteous one! Would you not favor me with your name? Or better yet, your company?"

To which Lyn responded, "Where are you from, sir knight, that you speak so freely to a stranger?"

"Ha! I thought you'd never ask. I am from Lycia. I hail from the Caelin canton, home to men of passion and fire!"

"Shouldn't that be "home to callow oafs with loose tongues?"

"Ooooh... You're even lovely when you're cruel."

"Let's go, Anson. I've nothing more to say." And with that she began to drag me off and out of the city that is until she found not just the green knight but a knight in red on horseback also in the way. As the two men spoke Lyn walked up to them and said quite pointedly, "Excuse me! You're blocking the road. If you would be so kind as to move your horses..."

The red knight quickly responded, "Of course. My apologies..."

"Thank you. You, at least, seem honorable enough."

"Hm? Pardon me, but... I feel we've met before."

"I beg your pardon?" That was when the green knight interjected,

"Hey! No fair, Kent! I saw her first!"

At that Lyn was very perturbed and I knew better than to disagree with her for some time after this misadventure. "Tsk! It seems there are no decent men among Lycia's knights! Let's go, Anson! I've run out of patience!"

And with that we left rather quickly. Not just the square of where we were at, but left the entire city of Bulgar so that we could continue our journey. Unfortunately we soon had the feeling that we were being followed by someone,

"Run! We're being pursued! Could it be those knights from town? No... It's not them. These men are out for blood!" With that we found ourselves surrounded by bandits but these ones were much more organized that Lyn had dispatched earlier. And like most bandits in this era it seemed, they were ugly as could be. Suddenly the man who appeared to be the leader stepped forward, "Heh heh heh... Aren't you the pretty one! Your name is Lyndis, is it not?"

"What did you call me? ...Who are you?"

"Such a waste. An absolute waste. The things I'd do for gold... Ah, well. Time to die, darling! C'mon out, boys!" At that the rest of the group appeared before us. I subtly prepared the sword at my back and checked the throwing knives in my sleeves. I wasn't much good with the knives yet, but they might buy us some time at least. I knew if I drew my sword, I would be separated and in all likelihood. That was when Lyn turned to me,"Oh no! There are more than I can handle... But I'll not give up!" Then as is from the air we heard, "Hey! There she is!"

The bandits seemed surprised when suddenly the two knights that had annoyed Lyn earlier that day suddenly rode up on their mounts. With that the green one, Sain, spoke up, "Whew... Finally caught up... Hold! You there! What is your business? Such numbers against a girl? Cowards, every one of you!"

"You! You're from?" Lyn asked surprised, as was I. The other one then spoke, "We can discuss that later. It appears these ruffians mean to do you harm. If it's a fight they want, let them look to me!"

"Stand back! I'll take care of this!"

"No! This is my fight! Stay out of my way!" Lyn was adamant on fighting and not getting help from these two, it was clear to me that we were going to need help to defeat the bandits, so I stepped forward. As I did so I heard,

"I have a solution. You there, command us. I am Kent, a knight of Lycia. My companion is Sain. We will follow your orders in this battle. Is that acceptable, milady?"

"Yes, it is. Anson and I will lead! Let's go!" With that Lyn and I moved forward together, her doing most of the fighting while I did a fair bit of distraction, not a bunch but just enough for the bandits to quickly be struck down by Lyn.

After all of the bandits were finally taken care of there was only the leader left. Lyn ran straight up to the man in a charge. With a quick motion she disarmed the man and dealt a fatal blow. Before the man died I heard his final words, "Blast...There was only...supposed to be a lone...girl..."

With that Lyn and I turned our attention to Kent and Sain in the background.

"And now for these knights of Lycia. You were going to share your story with me?"\

It was Kent who began to answer Lyn's questions, "Yes. We have ventured from Caelin, in Lycia, in search of someone."

"Lycia... That's the country beyond the mountains in the south-west, isn't it?"

"Correct. We've come as messengers to the lady Madelyn, who eloped with a nomad some 19 years ago."

"Madelyn?"

"Our lord the Marquess of Caelin's only daughter. He was heartbroken his own daughter would abandon him so. Eventually, the Marquess simply declared that he had no daughter."

"And then, this year, we received a letter from Lady Madelyn. It said she, her husband, and their daughter were living happily on the Sacae plains. The Marquess was ecstatic to learn he had a granddaughter of 18 years. I remember the smile on his face when he announced that he'd suddenly become a grandfather. The granddaughter's name is Lyndis. This was also the name of the Marquess's wife, who passed away at an early age." Sain interjected

"Lyndis?"

"That she should bear this name thawed the Marquess's heart. Now, his only wish is to meet his daughter's family at least once. This is why we're here. We didn't know that Lady Madelyn died a few days after sending her letter... We only learnt this shortly after arriving here in Bulgar."

"But we also learned all was not lost. Her daughter yet lives. We heard that she was living alone on the plains... I... I knew it immediately. You are the lady Lyndis." Kent answered.

"Why would you think that..."

"Your resemblance to your departed mother is remarkable."

"What? Did you know my mother?"

"I'm sorry to say that I never met her directly, but I saw her portraits in Castle Caelin."

"To the rest of my tribe, I was always Lyn. But when I was with my parents... When it was just the three of us, I was Lyndis. It's all so strange. I was all alone in the world, and now I have a grandfather. Lyndis... I never thought I would hear that name again."

As the silence continued on for a moment I spoke up, "Hold on, that man that attacked us called you Lyndis didn't he?"
As the words left my mouth realization seemed to hit both knights at the same time. It was Sain who had the most coherent response of the three, "He was a henchman of Lord Lundgren, wasn't he?"

"Lundgren? Who's that?" Lyn asked quickly.

"He's the Marquess's younger brother. Everyone assumed the lady Madelyn was gone forever. This made Lord Lundgren heir to the Marquess's title." Was Kent's response

"To be blunt, milady, your existence is an obstacle to your granduncle's ambitions." Sain added.

"That's- But I have no interest in inheriting any title!"

"Unfortunately, your granduncle is not the sort of man to believe that. I believe the attempts on your life will persist."

"What should I do?"

"Accompany us to Caelin. Continuing on this way is dangerous."

At this I didn't think was completely true, they would be getting closer to Caelin and thus closer to the belly of the beast. Had I not already decided to travel with Lyn wherever she went along the road she took for the time being I would have heartily suggested not doing what they say and instead going further west and joining up with a tribe or going to another nation for protection. But it was her choice. I could also tell her mind was already made up to go to Caelin.

"I feel I have little choice. I will go with you." She then finally turned to me for my input.

"Anson... I'm sorry. This changes everything. What do you want me to do, Joshua? You... want me to decide? Of course, your companionship would do much to ease my journey, but... It's going to be so dangerous."

I shrugged, "It's not as if I have anywhere I must be right now. I would be happy to go with you, besides, I need to explore the world more. I want to see it."

Lyn seemed absolutely delighted by this, "You'll come? Are you sure? Thank you! Let me ask once again for your friendship and your aid." As she said this she was hugging me tightly. I am used to getting hugs on occasion but this intimate hug made me begin to blush. I noticed that Kenta and Sain were watching with some slight amount of amusement on their faces. This was particularly evident on Sain's face, probably being the romantic acting knight that he is. And so the two had become four.