Warrior

Chapter Two: Storyteller

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Two--------------------------------------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>> Storyteller

“I don’t really care what you think,” I grumbled as my fingers deftly laced up my boots, “We are visiting Mae at her inn, if only to get a bath and sleep in a bed.”

Flynn rolled his eyes at me, but stayed uncharacteristically silent. Sef, on the other hand, was the one to raise his voice in protest, “All I’m saying is that I don’t think it would be that beneficial for us to stop at Mae’s inn,” He rumbled with his deep voice, “We aren’t in need of supplies, nor is either one of us injured...The only reason we have to go there is to bathe, which you can do in a stream.” Folding his dark arms across his broad chest, Sef dared me to challenge him.

I mimicked his position stubbornly, “It is absolutely not the same! Men,” I swore under my breath, “besides, we should check in to see if there is news of any importance and to eat some bread or something besides meat.” Sef and I locked eyes, each staring obdurately at the other. Somewhere off to the side I heard Flynn sigh and mutter something he wouldn’t say in front of his mother under his breath.

“If I may be excused, who leads your band?” Sef and I didn’t budge an inch upon hearing the formal manner of speaking and the strange accent of one of the Empire’s travellers. A muffled groan escaped Flynn as he heaved himself up.

“Aye, don’t bother with those two, I believe we are about to find out the answer to your question as we speak.” He warbled in his thick brogue, thicker with his morning fatigue. My ears pricked at the sound of him patting the man on the back in a loud, manly fashion. But my eyes didn’t flicker from Sef’s.

Gravel crunched underfoot and Flynn appeared in my peripherary, “It isn’t worth it, Sef, she won’t give in,” a chuckle, “it’s how she was raised.” It wasn’t a moment later when Sef blinked, frowning.

“Cheat.” He grouched, “He was on your side.” 

Laughing, Flynn pitched in eagerly, “Not true, I’m more afraid of our fair Aza than you my surly friend. ‘Sides,” he whispered conspiratorily, “she smells a bit, could use a good warshin’ up.” I narrowed my eyes at my friend.

“Always the comedian, huh?” My higher pitched voice sounded almost laughable next to the deeper tones of the two men. I ignored whatever Flynn might have had to say in response and spun around to face our visiter, a beefy, round-faced man with dark eyes. Upon meeting my glare, he hastily bowed, if somewhat reluctantly.

“I am General Chin,” he rolled over the word general oddly, the g making a zsha sound and stressing the n, “We would like to...thank you for helping the past night. We are grateful to you and would...invite you and your men join us on road. We go to...inn before nighfall.” The man’s grammar was wrong, his accent thick, but I saw a mutual benefit in his proposition. He wanted to get him and his men to a safe place before nightfall, and I wanted to go to Mae’s inn.

“In what direction do you travel, General?” I asked authoriatively. We were currently in the far eastern region of my parent’s kingdom, in one of the few forests for the East was mostly dry grassland that grew increasingly more arid the farther south one went. Our position was about three hours ride from the nearest town and one day of hard riding from Mae’s inn. We were also about week on horse from the royal city of Oceania, named for it’s plentiful salt water ports. The palace itself sat on a cliff, overlooking a long beach past it’s drop off on the western face, the sprawling city to it’s south, surrounded and protected by the Summer peaks on it’s north and eastern ends. In some places the palace was built into the mountains. There were rumors or secret passageways, rooms, and escape routes in the moutains from the palace. They weren’t wrong, but nearly impossible to prove fact. The castle was also nearly impenetrable, with it’s narrow roads and spot high in the air. My family came from warrior’s stock. Obviously.