Dark Crown {Crowned Trilogy, Book 1} | ↺

[III] Talon - Family Business ✔ [revised 7/9]

Thanks so much for the feedback and support, guys - especially to one Wattpad reader, @Smilies, who has been awesome about this story so far! So, that's why this chapter is going to be dedicated to her!

Last week, Dark Crown was #718 on Historical Fiction - you guys, all my readers, were the reason that that even happened. So, again, thank. you. so. much. It meant alot to me that that even happened.

And obviously, if you go check now, it kind of fell off the rankings..but I do hope the get back up. Maybe not now, and maybe not a few days later, but I do want to remedy that sometime soon. But until then, if you like this story, vote and comment! And if you really, really like this story, I hope you'll share. ^-^

And without further ado or sentimalities, I present.....Chapter Three.

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When I was only five years old but twelve years scarred

And I'd hear the same

Echo in my mind

Said, "Son you got an angel,

To chase the devil at night."

Yeah

When I was a kid

My grandfather was a preacher

He'd talk about God

Yeah he was something like a teacher

He said, "God only helps those

Who learn to help themselves."

He was a million miles from a million dollars

But you never spend his wealth

                                         -  Preacher, by OneRepublic 

"Boy, git up!" a harsh, raspy yell came from the door.

Talon jerked awake, his eyes fluttering open at the sound, darting back and forth to find the direction the sound was coming from, only to realize as the fog cleared from his brain, that no, the door wasn't speaking. It was his grandfather calling through the door to get him up.

He grunted as he swung his legs over the side of the pallet and padded toward the rickety chair where his trousers and tunic sat. It seemed that they had been freshly washed – probably Ma again. She often got up early to get a few vital tasks, like washing, done, especially since their family only had two or three different pairs of clothes to change into, and in a place where clothes quickly got dirty and smelled worse than they looked, three simply wasn't enough.

It wasn't that they were poor, exactly. Talon liked to think that they were better off than the street rats, and those who didn't have a steady job. The inn did well, getting its business from all the regulars and travelers who frequently came to the capitol of Astra and couldn't afford to stay at the inns closer to the castle keep.

"Coming, gramps! Take this to Pa," he said as he picked up the papers he'd worked on the night before. He opened the door, and gently laid them into his grandpa's hands. The elderly man grasped his long, wizened fingers around the brittle sheets and nodded. Talon smiled as he shuffled away, slowly making his way down the spiraling, somewhat crooked steps to the pub, where his Ma and Pa were getting the place ready for early customers. His grandpa was getting on in his years, and was pretty close to blind, yet he still insisted on helping out the most he could, saying that he refused to sit around while everyone else broke their backs.