As Thiadon sat in the small, elongated interior of his room with a hand over the hilt of his blade sitting precariously next to his waist, his mind sluggishly wasted away at the lack of excitement and increasingly dull attitudes the surrounding place exhibited. As he sighed and wished for more excitement, a sudden yell emanated from down the walkways, a guard rushing down to him with an urgent demeanor.
"Come quick, there's an injured man here who needs someone to tend to his wounds!" the guard yelled as he ran, Thiadon following as best he could along the worn cobblestone path towards a looming, intimidating structure of a dark hickory outline and masonry infrastructure. It seemed to have stood there for many years, the stone exterior partially covered in lichens from the resulting rain and the iron bars across the windows pressed in by a long gone struggle. The young man strode towards the entrance, crossing the threshold in a single sweep with the door being pushed open carefully. His calloused hands flexed when letting the door shut by itself, walking past several rooms branching off from the main hall until reaching the apothecary's room at the end of it. The sight of the injured soldier lying on his side would give anyone sympathy: a gash rested deeply into the man's left side, and bruises riddled the flushed skin around it, adding to the intensity of the blood still seeping from the seemingly fresh wound. Thiadon took note of this, listening to the guard named Sir Giles sitting at the end of the bed. The guard's face was somber, especially tense, but he relaxed with defeat after examining the wounds.
"I have neither a cure for this, nor do I the knowledge to....huh?" Thiadon started to say then his back straightened at the entrance of a young woman.
"Who goes there?" Sir Giles asked. He stood up with his hand on his sword hilt.
"Fayette Harrison, the king's daughter." Fayette said. Thiadon laughed as he looked from Fayette to Giles.
"Sounds to me like you should sheathe your sword Sir Giles." Thiadon said, still chuckling. Sir Giles took his hand off the pommel of his sword and looked at Fayette, "Princess Fayette, what are you here for?"
"The king has summoned Thiadon to his court for a matter of utmost importance. And the king has requested that I bring Thiadon to him immediately." Thiadon stood up and followed the princess outside. They walked through the bustling streets, market vendors on each side selling various fruits and vegetables, others yelling out to catch the attention of the pedestrians on the way to the castle to buy their wares. After passing thru the main street, Thiadon, and Fayette walked past the blacksmith, whom hammered furiously on the hot metal meant for the local guard and soldiers in the kingdom. After awhile, they arrived at the castle. A group of guards stood at the entrance, as solid as stone and just as silent and rigid.
Fayette walked Thiadon past the guards and throughout the castle for what seemed like eternity. The doors running down each side were held to the doorframe by finely iron casted hinges and servants were walking about silently. They finally arrived at the king's chamber, where upon arrival, the guards immediately welcomed the two in. Inside the chamber, the king sat at his brownish-red hickory desk, an imposing figure even when sitting down. As he stood, the king gestured to Thiadon with a ring on his index finger with the royal crest on it: an oak tree. His eyes were a deep sea green, looking at the man in front of him carefully, as if searching for a weakness in him.
"Hello father, I have brought Thiadon as you have requested" The king suddenly looked towards his daughter with a faint smile, hugging her shortly then waving his arm towards the exit when backing away. "We must discuss business, Fayette." He nodded at the princess, watching as she turned to leave the room. He turned to face Thiadon after seeing her exit from the vicinity promptly.
"I have a mission for you," Thiadon felt the same careful eyes watch him as the king spoke, "You will be going on a journey for me along with my daughter, Faye, and two others. This mission involves engaging in combat with the kind of monsters that men tell tales of in the days of yore and exploring areas that even brave men dare not travel to." King Aylwin walked over towards his desk and pulled one of the drawers back to reveal a scroll. The imposing man gave the scroll to Thiadon with a nod of approval. "Your first mission is to ask your species, the elves, to accept our offer to have an alliance with us, the Kingdom of Steden, and to help us fight off the vampires who have been plaguing and feasting on our villagers in our outer territories," the king said to the young knight after having handed him the scroll.
"This is the alliance treaty. Guard this with your life, and my daughter as well." The king said. Faye entered the chamber, respective of his presence with an acknowledging nod. "someone in the main hall is requesting an audience with you, father." The king at first waved to the two with a dismissive nod before leaving now without another word, having said enough to the hardy knight.
There was a pause before Thiadon finally spoke up after hearing the footsteps of the king recede, "So, I hear you are coming with me on this 'great adventure' to the Elves' home city, Iraya. Apparently it's supposed to be exciting and dangerous, eh?" Thiadon said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Do not think that you have to protect me on this mission. I have been training for this since I was three. I am more than capable of handling this myself." Thiadon laughs at her statement, relief exhibited in his demeanor when giving a shrug. It was then that he suddenly looked around for only a second.
"Where are the other two accompanying us? I would very much like to meet them before we leave." Thiadon gave his inquiry to the young princess.
The princess lifted up her eyes to meet his, hair shining like a fire in the sun seeping in. "The other two come from a different kingdom and will arrive in the morning. We leave on the morrow, you can stay in the castle overnight if you please. You can meet them after the council, when we officially start our journey." Faye managed to dismiss his question with that simple statement, only offering to bring him to his room. Thiadon inwardly sighed then nodded, wishing there wasn't such a drab rejection to the question, but nevertheless he needed to get to his room to be prepared for the next day. He walked out of the king's chambers quickly with Faye following suit, only to be stopped as she directed him into an adjacent room more than twenty feet down the hall. "Good night, knight Thiadon. Be prepared by morning." She closed the door behind him without another word, leaving Thiadon to his quarters.
Thiadon, of course, decided to take a look at the furniture of the room, seeing the well polished wooden frame of the bed and the perfectly white sheets and covers laid neatly upon the bed. This seemed to be a consequence of having told the king in advance he would arrive that day. Although, he would have preferred to examine the room more, the bed looked very comforting, and so Thiadon took off his gear and set it down into a nearby empty large wooden chest, laying onto the bed to let the fatigue overcome him.
Faye, just as soon as she had left him, went into her room quickly, a servant waiting there to attend to her needs. "You may go, Janet." She told the servant calmly as the young girl left thankfully. She needed rest, and without disturbance, she went to sleep after adorning her proper attire for it.
