King's Game (Draft/practice Version)

Chapter 7

The evening sun made the sky turn a dark orange. The stores were closing up and the streets were basically empty now that the day was over.

After saying goodbye to his friends, Derek started to head home. He started jogging. His mum was most likely going to flip when he arrived late. So he was hurrying to make sure he didn't get too harsh of a scolding.

He ran past the fences and arrived home. After getting a quick scolding from his mother he quickly went to his room and laid the sword down under his bed. His parents were telling him that he was getting too old for games. He was nearly fifteen years of age and soon an adult. For women it was a different matter. As soon as they showed signs of puberty, they were able to be married off. Usually by the fathers permission if they accept the man proposing. To the current laws of the 21st century, this would be seen to break the rights of womens and child protection. But in an age where diseases, war, and monsters are the main reasons for deaths, this was considered normal as the average age for death was around twenty five. It was even possible for a girl to be married off at the age of nine, one of the earliest ages for women to hit puberty. Although there were many risks for giving birth at ages of development that laws were established to restrict the use of adult to child sexual acts in Daimens world, were nonexistent here, as they were unaware of the potential risk.

After Derek put away his sword and started making sure his clothes were not to dirty. His mother called out for dinner.

Derek exited his room into the next, which was the living room. There he arrived just as his mother has finished setting down the plates. His sisters had already sat down at the table.

Derek took the seat opposite from Sharron.

"So whats going on these days? Enjoying the boy band?"

"It's not a boy band."

"Sure it isn't."

Shannon grinned from the other side of the table. Derek rolled his eyes and waited for dinner to finish being served. Something nudged Dereks hand so he moved to pat sams head.

His dad walked out of the bedroom. He looked more relaxed then when Derek last visited him. He quickly kissed his wife on the cheek and sat down.

"Looks good!"

In front of them was a bowl of oatmeal. It was nothing really special as it contained carrots and other vegetables. This was the average meal for a normal household. Sometimes they would add slices of meat to add taste to the meal. Nobles were able to afford and eat much higher quality food. Food that simple farmers like themselves cannot imagine.

After everyone else sat down they began to eat. Their father told them of the day he had. Exagerating about how big a certain cabbage was. Apparently Sharron was also out for the day to meet up with a few friends.

Soon enough, it was Derek's turn to share his day. Reluctant, he then told what he did with his friends.

He expected them to go on about how he was getting too old to be playing around. But the response he got was different. His mother looked down, while his fathers eyes turned sad. As if remembering a dark past. He remembered hearing stories of his father leaving to become a soldier when he was young, before he became a husband and father.

The stories were that he was a feral child. Always getting into trouble and causing mischief. Often playing war games with his friends and flirted with the young girls. Then when the great war began between the west and eastern kingdoms. He left and signed up at sixteen.

After being gone for over 4 years. He then came back changed. The once mischief boy was replaced by a new man. He lost all interest in pulling pranks on others. He became more responsible and stopped sword playing. In fact he almost despised it. Then met his mother and proposed.