vengeance

chapter 3 part 1

Chapter 3 

  The smells of roast meat and alcohol filled the great hall. It was the largest feast held there in nearly a centaury . Casks of whiskey were brought from the cellars and Kyra’s father brought casks of ale and stout , it was a cheap brew but the assembled throng drank it without complaint . Nearly every farmer that fled before the orc host was still there and most had given up something for the feast as thanks for the protection they received . One of the more wealthy men donated a whole cow to be roasted , others gave gifts of flour and wheat for bread , berries and fruit or eggs and chickens.

  The cow now turned on a spit above the central fire , more bones then meat after the whole hall had taken their fill . Lunn sat at his grand father’s right side across from him sat his grandmother to his right was Ul-ion and across from him was Utha, his wife. His grandfather sat at the head of the table , in the high seat. The back of the seat was huge , carved from a single of oak. It was carved in the likeness of a man armed with a sword mounted on a rearing horse , its raised hooves touched the claws of a rearing dragon with outstretched wings that faced it. 

  Lunn used to look at it and dream of going off to battle but now those dreams were horrible nightmares. The songs harpers sung and the poems poets read about fighting were all about glory , honour and bravery. They leave out the sense of death looming or the sight of people you know dying in your arms. The sweet voices of bards do little to convey the screams of the dying or a roar of triumph from an enemy.  Every night Lunn still saw the ogre , some nights it would kill him , others it would kill Ul-ion and some nights it would kill his parents all over again .

   A week had passed since the battle and nothing had changed this feast meant nothing to Lunn and all the food left a bad taste in his mouth. 

   All around people moved , talked and laughed but Lunn sat quiet.

   All around men and woman danced , kissed and left together , and despite the attentions of nearly every farmer’s daughter of an age with him , Lunn remained seated. 

  Everyone drank and everyone sang , but Lunn was mute and sober , he only drank at the start when those who fell were being and the silent tears that ran had turned his tankard of stout salty.

   Lunn didn’t even lift his head when the doors swung open and his grandfather stood , only when the hall fell silent and all that could be heard was the sound of hooves did Lunn look up. What he saw was three figures armoured in bronze scale and mounted on huge grey warhorses. The one on the left was a tall man with his face covered in a war helm , he carried a spear with a cloth crest of a white horse on a yellow background  . The one in the centre was a short man with black stubble for hair. A huge yellow cloak spread from his shoulders to the hind quarters of his mount. His face was harsh as he surveyed the room with pale blue eyes. The third was a young girl , small framed , with black hair and pale blue eyes of the second man . She was clearly his daughter . She dismounted first and Lunn noticed a long-shafted axe hanging from her right hip, its head was made from the same metal as his sword …… a god forged axe.

“welcome Ri of the Horse Province , with his beautiful daughter no less , what did we do to deserve such an honour?” said Lunn’s grandfather in a welcome tone , but there was a suspicious meaning in his words , after all it wasn’t unknown for a Ri to seize lands of a lord.

  “ News travels fast my good lord, we heard of a new champion has been chosen , and he has already bloodied that magnificent sword.” the mans words were said clearly and without malice but Lunn was still nervous as he stood to greet this Ri.. “ ah this much be him , younger than I expected , come forward boy my eyes aren’t so good anymore.”

  Lunn did as he was asked. Walking towards the door as the crowds parted for him. His hand fell to the hilt of his sword , his fingers tingled as he touched it , feeling the power that radiated from it . At a closer look the Ri looked about forty and although being slightly shorter than Lunn, his daughter looked about sixteen. Lunn knelt before the  Ri’s horse. The big man only laughed , and Lunn raised his head to look at him.

  “ its not your fealty I want , its to see your sword.” the Ri said.

Lunn rose and with his right hand drew the sword , it glowed with blinding gold light that spooked the horses , except the girl’s horse. As the glow faded Lunn noticed her axe was glowing brown , it was as if the two ancient weapons were communicating.

  “ Very good ,” said the Ri , “ I’m guessing your educated and know which champion  my daughter is.” 

 Lunn nodded as he sheathed his sword, “The rider Celt and she is carrying the Cavalry Axe. Its also why her horse didn’t get spooked when I drew An Claideamh Solais.”

  “ smart lad , are you going to ask me and mine to this feast?”

  “ as long as you don’t cause trouble.”

Lunn heard to whole hall take in a shocked breath but he only laughed and so did the Ri. Lunn grabbed an empty tankard and filled it with stout and handed it to the Ri .

  “enjoy the feast.” Lunn said as he handed it to him. The Ri smiled and turned to his daughter . 

 “ Give the young man a dance Siobhan , you might enjoy each others company .”

The girl took Lunn’s hand begrudgingly and led him to the empty space in the hall as the harpists and poets once again , to Lunn’s annoyance,  began another rendition of  ‘ The Boy and the Ogre’. Siobhan put her right hand on Lunn’s shoulder and his left hand moved to the small of her back and they stepped to the beat. It took Lunn a while to learn to dance without stepping on Siobhan’s feet. He was nearly as nervous as he was in a fight and the silence between them was making it worse he had to speak.

 “What age are you Siobhan.?”  he asked nervously , as she stared at him with her pale blue eyes the colour of ice.

 “ I will be seventeen in a month or two. What about you , your younger than I expected.”

 “ I am about to turn fourteen , I’m leaving tomorrow for Lontha in the Elf Lands to complete my training. I’m old enough to fight.”

 “ Well good luck with that , and I know you can fight , I wouldn’t be here if you couldn’t .”

 Lunn smiled a bit “ of course.”

“just remember something dragon Celt ,” she leaned in close and whispered into his ear . “ You may be able to fight , you may even be better then most but you will only be lord of a small town , and me , well I will be Ri with a whole army. Put a foot out of line and I will crush you. Being blessed by Bel won’t save you when a thousand horsemen charge at you .” 

With that she was gone and Lunn returned to sitting in silence , only now he drank . He drank a lot.