The tale of Roberet's exit

[RoberetGoldsmith]

[A year ago or so I did have an attempt of writing this story, but it was shockingly bad,so changed quite a bit of it.]

 
Roberet walks into Imperial Head-Quarters, he slowly locks the door and turns around to see a rather quiet Head-Quarters, with one Imperial occupied by organising items In the Dawn Force area and an Imperial Scholar walking up to the Library.  Roberet smiles to himself briefly, as he put his key back into his trouser pocket, he then proceeds to walk over to his desk. The  desk for the most part is tidy, with a pile of papers, threating to spill out, on the top right corner of the desk. Roberet reaches under his desk to get a new piece of paper, he puts on the desk and begins to write.

Dear Reader

My name is Roberet Goldsmith, Overlord of the Dusk force. As you may be aware I am not a Hydlaa native and when I was younger I had no desire to come to such a place. I write this to, at the very least, try to give a clear account and explain fully why I came to be here In Hydlaa and thusly taken in by the Dark Empire. In order to help you understand fully I believe it would be best if I gave a description of where I was previously.

The Village of Rehykana was the village I was born and raised in, the only place apart from Hydlaa that I have ever called home. It was a quiet idyllic farming village; it was home to seven farming families, all with their own large amount of rich fertile land.   With demand from the major towns always more than enough, the families sold their produce at a generous price, the families were wealthy. As a result of this wealth, each family built a huge farming house, with extravagance clear to see within these houses. They provided the families an opportunity to, effectively outdo each other, the bigger and the more extravagant the better! This desire for each family to outdo the other not just kept to housing. The amount of workers each family employed, the clothes that they wore, the rare items they could get, the list goes on. Even simple public meetings were an opportunity for the families to gain the upper-hand on another.

With this rivalry the relationship between the seven families was at the very best always edgy, although outbursts of any real action were rare, the village of Rehykana, often had a tense atmosphere. 

Apart from the families,  Rehykana was also home to a large tavern, the social focal point of Rehykana society. On the outside it seemed a large structure made of stone and a thatched roof. The inside was far more welcoming, with a warm fire which had comfortable chairs around it, in the left hand side of the room. The tavern had a wooden bar, much like those in Hydlaa, which had a door which lead to the Kitchen.

 A number of wooden tables and chairs sprawled around the first floor, these were often filled with a variety of people. Workers from the farms, travellers, the small group of soldiers who protect the village from variety of creatures, travelling merchants, others who live and work in the village and of course those who belonged to the seven families.  With this the tavern was often the centre of interest, excitement and commotion.

Aside from the tavern, the village was also home to a humble blacksmith workshop which was placed right next to the tavern at the centre of the village, nothing of note to this dear reader. The families preferred not to use the blacksmith, opting to import from cities with blacksmiths with a better reputation, however small practical things were still needed, thus the blacksmith stayed afloat.
The last setting of note was the lake that was a few yards behind the tavern, it was a  large lake surrounded by bushes and trees, despite its size the island which was located in the middle of the lake could be clearly been seen in clear weather.

 I hope this gives you a better idea of what Rehykana was like and how its society functioned. Or rather how the families, busied themselves with petty feuds....although at the time these seemed like the most important things in life. 

I'll start the story on the day when it all began, well rather when it all began to end.
 



An Imperial walks up to Roberet's desk  and bows "Overlord".
Roberet stops writing and looks up to the Imperial "Hail. What is it?"
The Imperial replies "You're needed urgently at the Plaza sir"
Roberet sighs, he puts the piece  of paper away  and walks out of the Head-Quarters.

 
[ Tell me what you think, hopefully grammar is not too shocking.]

[Karlyle]

Good start ..... but what about .....HER 

[Mrokii]

The introduction is nice and I would read more if there is more to come

I have some small remarks (hope you don't mind too much). The grammar looks good to me, but I think there are some words used too often, too close to each other. Maybe it's just me and I am a perfectionist, but I'll give some examples:

Roberet walks into Imperial Head-Quarters, he slowly locks the door and turns around to see a rather quiet Head-Quarters, ...
...
The Village of Rehykana was the village I ...
...
The last setting of note was the lake that was a few yards behind the tavern, it was a  large lake surrounded by bushes and trees, despite its size the island which was located in the middle of the lake could be clearly been seen in clear weather.

I think, in these cases other words could have been used or mentioning them could have been avoided. Again, this is just my personal opinion, no offence meant. I'd like to read more

[RoberetGoldsmith]

Thanks Mrokki, I'll try and edit it. Certainly make a good point at how many times the word lake is used! thanks .

[RoberetGoldsmith]

woops

[Dannae]

Nice job with the settings Roberet! It really gives me a good feel of the place and anxiousness toward the impending disruption.
Looking forward to what comes next.

[RoberetGoldsmith]

[Finally got around to doing the second bit for this, now comes with dialogue! Once again Feedback is encouraged.]


"Karlyle I'd like that map in soon as possible. Thats all" Roberet said before saluting and walking to his desk. He takes out the piece of paper he was writing on previously and begins to write again.



It was a seemingly perfect day, the crystal was shining onto the village and with a cooling breeze going by through the crops in the fields even the toiling workers had a pleasant day. This at the time was not appreciated by my younger brother ( A year younger)Arco or I. We were stuck inside.
 Arco was much like myself, there were however notable differences in appearance, slightly shorter in height and with his hair much scruffier than mine,  and in manner. He was much more eager, always the first to do say something and do something.
 We were inside in, what seemed like at the time the stuffiest room in the farmhouse. A small study room littered with books and had only the one window that showed just enough of the day to mock us with. The two of us at the time were listening to our mentor, a Ywnm by the name Mordicus Bakker, going through the finer points of the Fifth Epoch. As sons of one of the families we were treated with the finest education money could buy, or rather that money could bring to the village. Although partly out of love for us, it was also quite obvious that it was just part of the families’ attempts to outdo each other.

"After years of meditation, Talad created a tremendous wave of heat that melted" Mordicus said with some enthusiasm before looking at us "Boys, for such subjects full attention is required"
"It just seems like Talad is creating that wave of heat now. My mind is pounding with all of this information and my body is melting away!" Arco moaned in response, he was sweating quite a bit, damp patches could be seen around his armpits, an unfortunate day to wear a grey cloth shirt.
"Whine all you like Arco, you still have another fifteen minutes of this and I expect you to give your full attention for those fifteen minutes." Mordicus snaps back.
"And Roberet if you stare out of that window for another second you'll be reciting everything I've said this session" Mordicus continued. I snapped out of my stare at the window, I was in the pleasant state of daydreaming until that point, using my hand shaped like a fist to rest my right cheek on.
"Oh sorry Mr Bakker, you know...this heat" I said with long pauses between words, as I tried to come up with a response.
"Don't be harsh on him Mord, his mind is preoccupied with the thoughts for another" Arco says grinning at me before laughing. I respond immediately by punching him on the arm.
"Shut up Arco." I said immediately after I punched Arco,  Brust appeared at the door of the room.
Now Brust was my older brother, about a year older, he walked in taking off his dirty leather gloves, his hair unlike his younger siblings was blonde, but much like mine well kept. He was roughly the same size as I, yet much more different in his attitude at the time. Being the oldest he was always the leader of us three, with this came a large confidence of himself. With him being the oldest and thus the heir to the farm, he was taken out of mentoring and began to learn the workings of the farm, Arco and I was always jealous of this. We viewed it as him having some freedom, In reflection I do now recognise the burden he was carrying, the amount of pressure he must have received from our father must have been hard to have on his shoulders.
"Familiar sounds of bickering…….how I miss your mentoring Mr bakker" Brust said as he stuffed his gloves in his pocket
"Ahhh shut up Brust, you caught a disease from one of those workers yet?" Arco quips snickering. At this point Mr Bakker had closed the book he was working from and put it back on his wooden desk.
"To what do we owe the pleasure Brust?" Bakker says with some sarcasm
"As much as I hate to cut your session short, we need some extra hands at this time being. I hope you understand.”  Bakker sighs and the nods, gesturing for Arco and I to leave.


As we walked outside of the farmhouse we felt the cool breeze hit our faces.
Arco takes a deep breath of relief “Oh that is what I needed, I cherish these moments” he then proceeded to stretch his arms up as high as he could.
I rolled my eyes at Arco before saying to Brust “So what is It you need us to do Brust?”
"O nothing at all dear brother, consider it a favour. Besides we all have tonight to prepare for" Brust said with a smile slowly emerging.
I gave him a blank look for a few seconds whilst my mind, obviously still recovering from Bakker’s lecturing, took its time to remember what my brother was referring to.

“Oh….of course, tonight’s celebrations! The one thing I’ve been looking forward to all month and I forgot about it! This is so typical, I got to get ready!” I said in a panic as
“You still have enough time Rob, we all have some preparing to do, and you don’t think I’ll be wearing these old working rags tonight?” Brust said in an attempt to reassure me
“Brust he is just worrying about how tonight will go with that girl” Arco says then proceeds to snicker
“Ooooh yeah, I forgot about her.” Brust says grinning “Say isn’t Motha trying to attain her affections too?”
“Oh please, have you seen Motha? The man couldn’t get a lady even If he had a bag of circles tied to his trousers.” I snapped at Brust. “He makes blind gobbles cry” I continued. I concluded cockily “Remember my dear brothers I don’t see you two having the burden of such things? Another thing I better you two at. Now if you’ll excuse me I’ve got to make myself look and smell like something you could fall in love with” I walk away from the two with my head up high.

It is at this point dear reader I best explain something, when I say another thing I was better them two at. You see ever since we were young we’d always want to prove we were better than each other. Anything and nearly everything was a competition for us three. From climbing trees, which Brust was supremely quicker at, he could get up higher and quicker. Trying to wind up Bakker  the most which Arco obviously was best at, getting him to storm out and threaten to resign was never  quite topped by Brust or I. To who could ride fastest on a rivnak which I was best at, sometimes involved all those of the village that were around our age, thus my victories at this were far more satisfying.
At this time the latest of this was girls.

We were just coming of that age when we became to appreciate the female form and all three of us being athletic, we fancied ourselves quite a bit, to put it mildly. Thus naturally girls became our latest focus, at the time I was involved with this girl. Seeing her as often as I could and although I still pretended to the brothers  that she was just there to prove that I was the best, she felt so much more than that to me.

“Overlord, we have a new aspirant waiting at the door” An Imperial says to Roberet.
“Let them In, I shall talk to this latest one” Roberet says as he puts his piece of paper away and walks away from his desk.”

[Ebonwumon]

I didn't like it. It needs more whips and handcuffs.

I think I require you to write me a story, sir.

[Mrokii]

The story is nice, and I'd like to hear more. That being said, there are some small mistakes in the text here and there.

Also, there is at least one sentence (shown below; the first one ending with "as" that seems to be cut off. Or I just don't understand it properly

“Oh….of course, tonight’s celebrations! The one thing I’ve been looking forward to all month and I forgot about it! This is so typical, I got to get ready!” I said in a panic as
“You still have enough time Rob, we all have some preparing to do, and you don’t think I’ll be wearing these old working rags tonight?” Brust said in an attempt to reassure me

The other thing that looks a bit strange to me that there are short passages of present tense when everything else around it is in the past. I see the logic behind it, but it still sounds strange to me.

[RoberetGoldsmith]

[ O neglected story don’t cry, I’ve written another cringey worthy pile of ill thought out puke for you. Note the restricted dialogue with Roberet and Ariuy, I figured any attempt at long conversation would be cringe worthy to read at best. ]

Roberet sits reading a report, "These can get tiresome can't they?" he says reading it, he looks up and around to find himself talking to nobody. He cracks a small smile to himself, putting away the report and bringing out the pieces of paper he saved for his story. He begins to write again.


After many hours, I was, after some serious consideration, ready for the celebrations. It must be noted by you dear reader, that being brought up by one of the families did have its benefits, one of these benefits was a fine fashion sense and of course the capital to fund it. I distinctly remember wearing a white shirt made out of the finest materials, white with pretty patterns on the breast of the shirt, it was a tight shirt, a vain attempt to show off my athletic figure. Complemented by clean black trousers with a belt which had a golden buckle(A family trademark...somewhat) and clean black boots. This by the villages standard was rather minimal, however the days heat had not let up yet and although cooler than day, the eve still had a warm feel to it. I was in no mood to sweat the night out.   

"C'mon Rob, even mother is ready!” Brust shouted. I was still standing staring at the mirror at the time, I hurriedly applied a pleasantly smelling fragrance and raced out of my room to the downstairs where the rest of the family were waiting. Arco and Brust were wearing similar formal clothes to me.  Mother and Father were in far more extravagant clothes, with mother in an elegant blue dress with copious amounts of jewellery on her.

My dear reader to this point I have neglected to write about my parents, they were good to me, they had their faults as we all do, but were very good to me.
 My father kept himself busy with the farm, he was a very blunt man, perhaps too blunt for the sensitive village politics, which is why he involved himself as little as possible with most quarrels between the families. He spent most time with Brust, being the heir to his farm it was only natural for him to do so. He wanted  Brust to be the perfect son, the prize of the family and thus spent a lot of time trying to mould him. Arco and I always felt a little neglected as a result of…. none the less father still wanted the best and little expense was spared on us. 

My Mother was rather different; I feel I inherited a lot more of her personality than my fathers. Unlike father she was constantly involved in the politics of the Village, encouraging the farms extravagance to show off. She went along way in keeping the family name being one that was highly respected. A feat more impressive when it is put into consideration that we, her sons, did occasionally give what I can only put as grief to other sensitive families. Her elegance and grace was combined with a sharp mind and tongue, always able to understand fully any situation. She was very caring to all three of us.

"There he is!" My father said, holding my mothers hand "I think we can go now....unless we have forgotten something?" he looks to my mother
She shakes her head slightly "No, we can go." She responds with a disarming smile, this facial expression changes to a sterner look as she looks at Arco, Brust and I "Now my sons, do enjoy yourselves but do not upset anyone, there are other peoples sensitivities to consider and more importantly this families good name to consider. Is that understood?" We all nodded, not that this was the first time such a reminded was given and forgotten. 

Making our way to the tavern the night was warm and beautifully still, we could see the village centre lights becoming bigger and bigger as we walked, a beautiful sight. I felt at ease, all was calm, my nerves of seeing this girl once again had not hit. A good sign I thought at the time. As we walked into the village centre, it was alive and buzzing, a number of stalls offering a variety of goods and jovial music could already be heard coming from inside the tavern.
Mother and Father, hand in hand began walking to each stall, briefly inspecting them before moving on to the next one. For my brothers and I, there was only one option, the tavern. We calmly walked in; Brust walked over some of the families children that were around our age.Being brought up together and all having the pressures of being sons of the families, we were friends with then naturally, however that same pressure also meant that a bravado had to be kept, even in childhood friendship….the rivalry was there.  Arco walked straight to the bar, a surprising move I thought at the time, banter was his speciality, especially with contending with children of the other families. However I saw a large group of dwarves by the bar, equipped with the finest armour, though it looked used. They were outsiders, hunters, often employed by folk of the village to keep violent beasts from coming near the farms. More to the point they were one of the few groups of people that Arco treated with serious respect, he worshipped them. I figured the contrast between his clean and dull life to theirs was the attraction.

As for me, I stood at the entrance looking around the room for her. I looked around the room over and over, at first I could not see her amongst the large crowd at the tavern, my heart sunk, she was not here I thought at the time. Then I saw her, not talking to anyone, quietly sitting on a chair, nursing a glass of wine. It was then the nerves, as always just right before conversation with her, started to hit. Before I could move, she caught me looking at her, she stood up a gave a small smile to me. I fear dear reader my description of her could not do her any justice; alas I shall give it a try. She had smooth long brown her going just past her shoulders, big teal blue eyes with thin rich red lips and the softest skin. Her name was Ariuy, and no other lady In my many years, has made go through the turmoil of emotions that she has.
As I walked up to her, I remember my stomach being in a knot, nothing out of the usual for encounters with her. With a thousand thoughts engulfing my mind and my stomach crippled it was minor miracle that I managed to get myself over to where she was sitting. It was also a minor miracle that I had managed to sat down next to her and strike conversation.  However once we began talking it seemed the easiest thing to keep up.  As clichĂ© as it may be, I’ve never felt so comfortable talking to anyone else, it  just seemed as if all was right in the Realm when I was with her. We conversed through the night with little distraction, only other thing I remember was Arco stumbling out of the Tavern, it turned out he couldn’t keep up with his dwarves company. 

The night went on and the Tavern was now at the point of being unpleasant, it was packed out and there was barely space to breathe.

“I’m starting to not like it in here…..want to accompany me outside?” Ariuy said looking around at all the people.
“Sure, it’s getting a bit unbearable in here..isn’t it?”  I replied then had a look around myself
Ariuy finished her last bit of wine and we headed out of the tavern
“Think we need to walk off that wine, c’mon lets go for a stroll” she said smiling. As we began to walk she grab hold of and held my hand, that moment we stared into each other’s eyes, said nothing and carried on walking hand in hand. We made our way to the other side of the lake, the night was still warm.

“Say Robbie” she said letting go of my hand, and pausing our walk to look over to the island on the lake, “Fancy a swim?” she continued revealing a mischievous smile to me
“What? In these nice clothes” I said with some amusement on my face
She simply shrugged and smiled at me
“Last one on that island over there is a gobble” she said laughing, just before she made her into the lake and started swimming towards the island. I immediately followed and started swimming myself.
We made our way onto the island and sat down together to catch our breath after frantic swimming.
“Think I won that one!” Ariuy said laughing
“No fair! You had a head start” I responded laughing as well. After a few seconds we stopped laughing and gazed into each other’s eyes and then slowly we kissed. What followed after that was a night of sheer passion which before or after I have never had.
Little did I know at that time that this would be my biggest mistake and one that would change everything for me.

Roberet stops for a moment, he begins to read it over what he has read with a slow smile appearing on his face.

[Mariana Xiechai]

  I understand the neglect of a slow moving story.
Very good writing, I enjoyed it. 

[RoberetGoldsmith]

I understand the neglect of a slow moving story.
Very good writing, I enjoyed it. 

Thanks and yeah I've been busy recently.... moving to a new country and all that kinda halted all PS related fun. I'll get to writing another bit for this eventually...

[RoberetGoldsmith]

[Boom. A small pile of sick this time, keeps you on the edge of your seat....or office chair..or bed ...naturally]

Roberet chuckles to himself slightly, remembering that night, he then proceeds to write again


 The following day everything seemed blissful, the crystals heat seemed less of a strain, everything was peaceful. I walked back into our home to the sight of a very pale Arco poking around a large breakfast with a fork in the dining room, a variety of piping hot foods on a silver plate.

"Hail Arco! How was your night, I didn't see you for most of it?" I said beaming as I walked in.
"Eurrgh....why are you so loud?" Arco groaned poking some of his breakfast, moving it around the plate
"OH why?  I had a jolly ole night that’s why!" I responded at the same volume
"You ever fel-.....you ever felt like there’s an ulber constantly stomping on your head every five seconds?" Arco replied
I patted him on the back   "I see both of us had fun last night....c'mon I'll take you somewhere to make you feel better"
We walked outside and I lead on, taking him to the village centre, we stood outside the tavern.

Arco looked at me with squinting eyes "You're kidding right? I mean really.."
"I'm telling you Arco, you just drink a couple just enough and you'll be fine. C'mon" I said dragging him by the arm into the tavern. It was very quiet apart from a few workers enjoying their day off, we took a seat at the bar and ordered to mugs of ale

"So why are you so happy again?" Arco said  sipping his ale "This is hard to get down" he continued after sipping the ale
"Get it down you Arco, just two of those mugs and you'll be fine." I replied, I drank some of my ale and continued "The lady Arco...."
"Last night?" Arco said surprised
"The lake island..." I replied nodding. Arco laughed and gave me a pat on the bat
"Well well well Rob, no one can accuse you of lacking class sir! None the less, well done....I suppose" Arco said, proceeding to drink some of his ale, "Filthy" he says afterwards.
"The ale or I" I said with a grin
"Both!" he immediately replied laughing.
The afternoon went on, we stayed in the tavern, which had a slow flow of people going in and out, mostly for meals. This gave a pleasant smell to the place, the tavern chef wasn't the most flashy chef, he did however know how to cook and  to spice food properly.

Our calm lazy afternoon was disrupted suddenly by Brust storming into the tavern "There you are!" he said glaring at me. He walked up to the bar, each step heavier than the last. Arco and I gave a confused look to each other before Brust continued.
"We've...I mean you... have really put us in the gobbles dung this time Rob, I mean so far that our house is in trouble" Brust ranted at me
"What are you on about Brust" I replied
"Oh did you forget? I'm sure you haven't Rob, I'm sure it will be tattooed in your mind forever." Brust shouted, I blankly stared at him
"Cinereo Olcay's daughter! The man is at the farm right now with five footmen demanded to see you Roberet!"

It is at this point dear reader, it occurs to me I have not informed you of Cinero Olcay or rather his importance in the Village. The Olcay family were undoubtedly the most impressive and most influential family in the village, they had the largest amount of land thus the largest amount of money, they have the most connections to Hydlaa thus have the latest fashions and knowledge. Cinereo was a sharp minded Ylian and asserted his dominance in the village society with supreme ease. To put it simply, you cross the line with Cinereo, you won't last too long in the village. With Ariuy I crossed that very line.

Roberet drops his quill and let’s out a big sigh, puts the paper away and walks off.

[RoberetGoldsmith]

[Time for a little more. Not visited this for a while, was actually fun and not too cringe worthy reading all of this back. Gave me the enthusiasm to do a little more, for now ]

Roberet walks into the Head-Quarters slowly, the only sound is his footsteps slowly going down the stone stairs as he observes the place, and he dips his right hand into the pool of water in the basin, making swirls in the water. The place is bare he thought to himself, he looks over to his desk and wonders if. He rushes over, papers are still there in the same mess he left them, after a few moments moving numerous papers he stops and grabs one out. He looks at it briefly and smiles, he sits down on the chair, and begins to write again.

Brust forced marched me back to home, you could hear the heated words being exchanged as we approached.
"If hes hiding up there like a coward I swear we will wait him out. I can do this all day and all night Goldsmith. Get your troublesome son here" The distinctive tones of one very furious Cinereo
"We could burn this place to the ground, that would get him out" Whoni, son of Cinereo, slightly older than Brust he had a short fuse and made sure everyone knew about it.
"Don't be throwing threats around that you can’t possibly do young one" My father shouted angrily back, before my mother calmly interjected "Let us be rational about this"
We walked into the courtyard where this was taking place, true to Brust's words Cinereo brought his 5 footmen, equipped with fine plate armour and fearsome weapons, and his son. Who was marching around the courtyard furiously as we arrived. My father and mother stood in front of the house, with Mordicus watching from inside the house from one of the windows on the third floor. The farm labourers had stopped their work in the fields and were around watching with sharp farming tools in hand. The atmosphere was tense, despite the already heated debate there was a sense it could escalate even further. Those farm labourers were not simply their just to watch the drama unfold.

"Think you should calm down a little sir, I found him, and he is here now, okay" Brust said in a calm assertive tone, his innate talent of leadership showing through, seemingly calming the atmosphere.

"There, I told you he was not hiding Cinereo, now is it truly necessary to have all these men. We are civilised folk, if we discuss this like the men we are……there should not be a problem." My father said, quite out of character to be leading the discussion. When he saw me the look on his face was one I will not forget, I expected one of anger but instead I saw one of genuine concern.

"Right you are Goldsmith" Cinereo as he turned his attention to me, he seemed a lot more calm now as he addressed me "You boy, quite the curiosity." he said coldly "I made a lot of efforts through the years to ensure my daughter would not....associate with beings such as you. To aim higher, a lot, a noble from Hydlaa with ambition and a future bigger than yours….. boy." he walks right up to me, his eyes right in front of mine, "Yet you somehow manage to worm your way into her life" he continued with venom in his voice. "I hope it was worth it boy, because now you are at my pleasure and your life will be a shadow of what it could have been, I guarantee it to you now boy"

"I.." I was at a lost of words, my face was white in terror. The most powerful man in what in my  world at the time, my fate, I thought was simply to up what pleases him and that thought of my way of being so fragile terrified me,

"You're lucky you are of the birth of one of the families, if you were anything less I would have had you dragged out of your bed in the middle of the night" last sentence directed at me before Cinereo return his attention back to my father and mother.

"You are right Goldsmith” He says in a more diplomatic tone “We shall discuss this, I presume you have a half decent bottle of wine in that cellar of yours?" Cenereo said to my father, he simply nodded in reply
"Excellent. Son go back home with the men" Cenereo looked back at me "Gods help us, we must be vary of intruders now" after that he walked into the house with father and mother.

Whoni nodded and as he and his men walked past us he said to me with a fiery look in his eyes "If it was up to me, you would have been dragged from your bed."


I took a deep breath and looked down and closed my eyes

Arco patted me on the back "Don't worry brother, Brust and I have your back......" he pauses for a moment "You sure know how to go screw up big huh?" I just simply looked at him blankly, with the blood now returning to my face

[RoberetGoldsmith]

 I was put into the workshed we had, part of the working area of our estate it was a dark grotty place with tools scattered around. It was used for our more skilled workers to repair equipment, it was more cost effective to have proper maintance at the cost of higher pay for few, rather than constantly buying in new equipment. However on this day,  Mordicus, being the senior figure now our parents were now occupied with Cinereo, deemed it the safest place for me, no windows and one entrance and exit, guarded by two of the workers.They were no soldiers but as is their duty to the Octarch they had weapons and the ability to swing them, albeit with little skill.The labour they endure had kept them fit and the novelty of being guards instead of farm hands gave gave them the motivation to stand there until further notice. They were adequate protection.

Such protection might prompt your curiosity dear reader, all a bit heavy handed for rural disputes surely? In truth Mordicus feared the wrath of Cinereo's son,Whoni,and not having him right in front of us. Along with his own family swords, there were always blades for hire in the tavern, the village being a perfect mid-point for travelling mercenaries. Whoni was an angry young Ylian, a skilled fighter and a respectable leader of men for such an age, but unlike his father he lacked the intelligence of when to give and take. You do not get the wealth and standing of Cinereo and his family through pure brute strength and rage. Indeed dear reader, take it from I, it plays but a small part. This none the less made him a danger to mean, however it is my thinking that Mordicus also wanted to keep me there. A young man free to do as he wishes with the emotional ride he is been through, could do something that would danger himself and the family, Mordicus was no fool.


"You been in here for a while older brother....I thought you could use some company" Arco said as he walked in, I was stood resting on the back wall from the door, I was silent, my mind elsewhere.

"You're already the talk of the village....Whondi made sure of that" He continued

Again  I was silent, looking away from him.

"You could have cost the family a lot here Rob" He said further with some agitation in his voice, this time I responded.

I turned my head to look at him "And yet I feel no guilt to the family and yet care little for the village."
"Come now you don't mean the first bit of that, you're being a fool" Arco said. I shook my head
"No, no, I feel numb toward all of it.... but her....Ariuy, I feel guilt towards her, she could be in all sorts of trouble"
At this point Brust walked in, in full armour it must be noted.

"I...want, no....need to see her, she is the only person... only thing I feel for now" I continued
"Oh shut up, your own flesh and blood, to which you have given a right royal thorn in the side with your stunt, has been busy repairing the bridges you have burnt!" Brunt shouted at a quick pace
"And you are busy concerning yourself over some harlet, get a grip Roberet!" He continued in the same manner, this evoke some anger on my part
"Some harlet....Some harlet" I walked up to him "You watch your tongue brother, she is more than that to I" I ranted, I looked away and calmed down, looking at the light coming in from the door "Once this is over, we will wed....I'm sure of it" I concluded

"This work shed is destroying your mind, you are living in the realm of fantasy brother" Brust retorted seemingly unmoved by my heated response "I best go see what progress is being made, if any, with Cinereo. Come Arco, leave our mad brother to his delusion" With that Brust and Arco left.

I was sitting down on the dirty floor, hours went by with no one coming, it was getting dark as the summers eve took hold. A worker walked in, a fellow Ylian but much older than I was, with a receding hairline, grey and black hairs cover his face which, itself was worn and leathery. He gave me a respectful nod and proceed to work on hammering our dents in a tool.

This continued for roughly five minutes, with my mind racing I found the hammering intolerable after a while.

"Must you do that?" I yelled in frustration. The worker calmly stopped, put down the hammer and looked at me
"How would you suggest I proceed with my work sir?" The worked asked
"How is that my concern?" I responded in kind
He let out a quiet grizzly laugh "Indeed  it is not sir...especially when you have far more....threatening concerns at this time."
"Quite" I put my hands together "Yet being stuck here solves nothing, it frustrates me"
The worker begins tweaking with other tools on the table "Ah, you have a plan if you weren't?" He asked curiously
"Of course, I'd go to her" I responded immediately
"And then?" He replied in similar fashion 
I looked down "... I don't know.."
He laughed again and looked back to me "Ah young Roberet Goldsmith, you have a long way to go." I said nothing and put my head down. "The three Goldsmith brothers always stirring up trouble and mischief, yet this time one brother commits such an offensive act that the village is alive with the sound of your name." he picks up his hammer "But for what I hear....that one brother is alone in being unapologetic, for he does it for one of a pure hearted reason"
I looked up to him and gave him a confused look.
He smiled "Surely by now you appreciate how word spreads? The guards overheard your argument with your brothers, the guards told one of the farm hands, which thus spread through the fields of workers like the wind itself, before the farmhand who gave me this broken piece of metal informed me of the latest going ons from my place of work." He hit the metal with a hammer a few times  then drops it "It is like that wherever you go, from us work hands, to you pampered princes....  So you truly love this girl?"

"With all that I'm worth sir.....surely a man of your age must understand....had you not have one like mine?" I asked
"Indeed once....before coming here I was at the Bronze doors, repairing armour for the men and women stationed, one of the women stationed there was a beauty, a solider whose looks were only matched by her company. We got on well, it was like a dream, she got some abuse from her fellow soldiers about being with a blacksmith but she was far too much of a strong women to be effected like that"

"Well the soldiers would be nothing without the blacksmith, nothing but the beasts we hunt out in the wilds..."I said

"Aye, you do well to remember that sir"  The blacksmith responded

"So... what happened? I take it you are still with her?" I asked, perhaps rudely but such a story dragged my mind away from what was happening.

"A merchant with more coin than mind wanted to see what was on the other side of the Doors. That is what happened. He needed soldiers, she was attracted by the coin and the rut being stationed in one place gives you. They left....... into the fog..... and like many others did not return. I left for here soon after, a ylian does well by moving...helps to keep on living." The blacksmith said letting out a big sigh

"So you are alone now?" I continue to prod

"No, no, I found a pleasant rural girl from this village, she is nice enough, gave me two sons and two daughters. She is a fine lady, any worthy man is deserving of her love....It breaks me that I lack the passion for her as I did the soldier

I stood up and looked at the blacksmith "With all due respect....I don't want to end up like you old man"
He put his tools down and looks down at them "If....if ....you do truly see ....or rather felt how I did." He then raise his head to look at me, I nodded. "I'll give you a chance, something I did not have...... " he walked over to me and whispered "You leave this shed in five minutes....just walk out....I'll make sure you can. The rest is up to you."


I nodded again and with that he walked out. Those next fives minutes were frustratingly slow,  but I made sure I was not off beat. Sure enough I walked out, the guards were not there, I escaped the grounds under the cover of darkness, with only one destination in mind.




[All errors to be corrected at a later date ]