Laura, a young lady living off by her mother's words and a little bit of mischief. Her life turns around by meeting Alistair, a squire of Ser Eamon in the castle of Orience. Will their story turn out to be another fairy tale? Or will it be something...
Logwood's barking woke me up. The bright sun rays hit my face and I had to cover with a blanket. I never liked getting up in the morning but I smelled that familiar scent of breakfast - of home. I stood out of the bed and tied my hair into a braid. Mother always did it for me when I was younger, she said that it makes me look more like a lady and it stops my hair from making me look like a lunatic.
I headed to our "kitchen" to find my mom in the middle of tasting the food she is cooking.
"Good morning mother" I said with a yawn, the aroma of the food flushing away my sleepiness.
"Good morning dear, breakfast is almost ready" she said with a tone of glee.
I helped her set the table and sat myself in one of the two chairs we have.
"I'm always thankful that you're here to cook for me mother, thank you" I said as she sets down the pot of what seems to be, a fish and mushroom soup.
"You know I'll always do this for you my dear, but you know, someday you really need to pick up on the cooking lessons I give you" she said with a smile, we both giggled.
"Also my dear, I''ve come to know that the fish that I asked of you last night was... stolen?" she said and my spoon stopped mid-air as I was about to take a spoonful of soup and mushroom.
I looked at her to see her expression and that wrinkle on her eyebrows says that she is fuming mad. Although my mother is not a violent person, she hates it when I disobey her teachings, that even if life makes us desperate, we should never do things that can harm other people.
I looked down on my spoon and nodded slowly. That frown is ever present whenever I get myself hurt or I did something bad, like that time when I chased a boar in the forest and almost fell off a ravine.
"My dear... please promise me you'll never do that again" she said half pleading and half reprimanding.
"But you did ask for them!" I said trying to defend myself
"Only because you said Garrett will give you some" she said in a terrifyingly calm tone.
I know better than to test my mother's patience, so I just admitted.
"I ditched Garrett at the plaza because he did not want to go with me" I sighed
"I see..." she said contemplating "you should return home before midnight Laura, or earlier if your friend has refused to see you"
A wave of relief washed over me as mother got up and cleaned the plates. I'm just glad that she's still letting me go.
" But before you leave.... you should give Logwood a bath by the river" she said in a teasing tone.
I look at Logwood licking his own weiner and saw flies swirling on top of his head.
---------------
By the time I finished wrestling Logwood into bathing, it is already afternoon. Cuthbert and Garrett must be waiting for me at the plaza.
Mother has gone and went to her usual tinkerings and all that's left is to put on the shoe mother sewed me.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The city was a lot livelier than usual, lots of merchants and performers, and the streets are full of lamp-like magical lights that has different colors. The dimming skies made it feel like the stars in the night descended down to us to celebrate too. There's a lot of music and magical shows going on and about, one fire mage even made a fire spell to shape like a dragon! I've continued to walk past some great performances of mages, bards and jesters alike.
I've spotted Garrett, a rugged silver-haired boy that looks more tidy than usual, he always dreamt of being a knight one day but he also loves brawling and eating. We've always been friends since my childhood, he was the one who watched over me ever since my father's death and protected me from a lot of bullies.
Next to him is Cuthbert, a dark-haired boy with blue eyes, a highbrow man, unlike Garrett and I, he is born in a middle class family, his father runs an inn in the city and that's where we mostly stay. I've known him because I saved him from a dog that keeps chasing him to gnaw at his shirt when we were kids.
I spotted them bickering about who's gonna be the best player at the Centurion Mech battle tonight.
"I'm telling you , the Dwarven Glorideus will snatch the cup tonight. They are the best in all of Thaig!" Garrett said proudly while punching the air "you should feel honored that they are here to remind how great their centurions are"
"They were lucky last year, but this time I'm sure the Thaig Automatons will end their reign. Those dwarves will absolutely annihilate your rusty centurions."
Garrett is fuming with competitiveness and passion for his favorite centurion competitors. The same can be said to Cuthbert as they are both into it so much. Their squabble kept on going back and forth,
"It wouldn't matter who wins or not if we miss the games if you lads keep on doing that." I said to get their attention.
"Laura!" they both exclaimed
"How long have you been there?" Cuthbert asked
"Just now honestly, it took too long to scrub off Logwoods' filth" I said as I brush off a strand of Logwood's fur on my shoulder. "Anyway, the parade is about to start. We should probably head to Cuthbert's family inn."
"Ah yes, about that I have an idea..." Garrett trailed off " wouldn't you like to perch on a higher place...?"
Cuthbert and I looked in askance, having no idea what he is talking about.
"What I'm saying is, we should watch the whole festival from the castle roof."
