Fall of a Hero: Hearts Without Foundation (a Fantasy Adventure)

Soups and Scrolls

What I really wanted to say was, "Is this going to become a regular thing with you sneaking up on me like this?" but of course, when you are afraid for your life, I suppose you don't feel so humorous anymore.

"What's this all about?" boomed the short man. Amazingly, the lord somehow overlooked the "pixie" by my side as if it were a normal thing. I guess it wasn't as rare as I had thought.

Maccus yipped and bent his head down, "It was just-upp a rumor, Dad. I jus' hear about-upp-it. Please don't be upset."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Hold on--He's your father?"

Who does that? Who makes their own son a court jester?

Mundus ignored us. He was furious. He summoned for Mum, who came in a snap, and he told her to escort me to my room. While she was uncannily silent upon exit, I looked back, seeing Mundus stomp up to Maccus and yell at him for not telling him in the first place about the stolen Etchings.

"How could you," he scolded, "To your own father? I cannot understand. For a month now we have searched for it. How could you not tell?"

Now that I see them together, Maccus really did look like a miniature Mundus. Only thing was Mundus had a confidence that Maccus couldn't seem to muster up.

"Dad, I--"

"Mundus!" the lord commands, "I am Mundus."

The boy trembled. "Oh, I'm-so-sorry! Upp! I didn't..."

Then we turned a corner, and I couldn't get anymore. Mum was still awkwardly quiet next to me. Sensing that we were both rather uncomfortable, I decided to strike up conversation.

"That was a nice place to work. I'm really excited," I said, forcing myself into a cheerful countenance. She didn't say a thing until we got into my room with a closed door.

Mum began pacing. She itched her head and swung her hands about. "Oh, you dear thing...to sees such a mess in a first day!"

I felt so weird calling her "mum" but I didn't know what else to call her.

"Mum," I began, sort of testing the water, "why did Mundus make his son a jester?"

"Aye," Mum sighed, "Mundus sees for this place to becomin' a kingdom. He dreams it a mighty lot.". Then she crept closer and added in a whisper, "So much, so I fears that he'd be hardly sound."

Well, if he was crazy, that did help his cause of killing me...but wait...what if he didn't know yet? Suddenly, it hit me. Mundus had been searching for the Etchings for a month. The newest inscription had just freshly appeared at least a day or two ago. I might actually be safe; however then, why did he even bring me here in the first place. Was it really because of Uban?

"Fet'ven, you be feelin' alright?"

I nodded to Mum and merely said that I was hungry, which really wasn't exactly a lie. She smiled and said that lunch would be served in an hour in the main dining hall. In the meantime, however, I was to begin studying for my work.

"And here'd be the last of 'um," she beamed proudly, setting the top-off of a massive mountain of scrolls on my lap. I glanced away momentarily when I confessed I couldn't read.

"But you has such beau-tiful speeches," she frowned sitting next to me on the bed, "How you not able to reads?"

I shrugged and explained to her that all serfs had a speech class once a week so Mundus could show us off to his noble friends. At that moment, I remembered something. I wondered if the nobles I had seen yesterday were still at the manor. In the back of my mind I was daydreaming about that girl that had smiled at me.