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Thank you all so much for 20k views to celebrate. I'm going to be adding a handful of short stories and world-building alongside the chapters I need to post. Hope you enjoy the new chapters and extras.
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Kain, sodden and shivering, awoke to find himself curled in a pile of hay and wrapped in his own cloak. A blood-red horse stood over him with a curious stare as the boy struggled to his feet. The roof above had fallen quite some time ago, leaving rain to pour down throughout half the stable.
Davin's horse watched as he fumbled at the gate's latch and stepped out of the pen and carried on into the inn. Most of the red bear's men were still asleep, leaving only Robert and a handful of soldiers sat at a table in an almost vacant inn.
"Where did you wake up?" Robert smiled with glee at the sight of Kain, all drenched and dishevelled.
"The stables", he wiped away a wet strand of hair that clung to his face.
"Not too bad then" Robert handed Kain his own plate and a cup filled with watered-down ale.
Kain smiled and drank down the ale, half in one go. His throat felt as if it would begin to crack and split from dehydration, and his stomach rumbled like some starved animal. The pork was overcooked, and vegetables so overcooked they fell apart and parted when the fork's prongs pushed through the mush of sickly green.
"We won't be stopping near Braemoor, so you'll have to make a hard decision." Robert's eyes had never looked so serious.
"What do you mean?" A twinge of fear shot through the boy.
"We can leave you here, and you can find your own way, but it will cost more than we can spare since the closest port is Ashgrave" Robert placed a hand on Kain's shoulder.
"Or you could come with us, but no one can promise your safety. More than like you will die in battle, but it is your decision." Robert hadn't been serious for the several weeks Kain had known the man, but the look in his eyes felt like it would burn Kain.
Thoughts of his father and Siena swirled through his mind. The white flower island and Thalen's white hair, yet still the glimmering sword and shining armour were in front of him, within reach and ready for the taking.
'My choice is to take months and more money than I have to get home to live life as a peasant or die ...Or?' the boy thought with a grimace.
"Or a knight, handsome and wealthy enough to feed my family, living in a lord's castle or even a landed knight.' A smile came to him.
Kain stood, puffing out his chest and raising his head to meet Robert's. His heart jumped a little as Robert smiled up at him; the worry from the knight's eyes had faded, leaving him as Kain had known him.
"You and Lyra are sharing the third room on the left. Go take a bath….. You smell like horse shit" Robert went back to his food and ale.
The soldiers whispered some joke to each other and laughed. Kain turned red as they chuckled into their cups. He rushed up the stairs and to the third door on the left. Lyra was nowhere to be seen, but the empty bath and bucket were left in the middle of the room, still wet.
It had taken several trips from the well by the stables and back up, and finally into the fire to warm the water. Kain eventually plunged into the water, sending a tide over the edges of the small wooden tub. Within a matter of seconds, his skin grew several shades lighter, and the water turned a filthy brown colour. Creatures leapt out of Kain's hair as he submerged himself deeper and drowned. He emerged naked and clean, with water running from him.
Lyra appeared in the doorway as the boy stood bare, reaching for a towel. She laughed and closed the door, chuckling from the other side of it. Kain had turned bright red, ears and all.
"I'm sorry, Kain" Her words were muffled by the door, but he could hear the laughter in them.
"Knock next time!" he screamed, covering his face with the towel and quickly putting on clothes.
The remaining water soaked into his dry clothes, clinging slightly to his legs and arms. Both his ears and cheeks had turned the same colour as Lyra's hair. She was still giggling to herself when Kain sat on the bed furthest away from the door.
"You can come in now" Wet hair dripped onto his back.
"Don't worry, I didn't see anything" She raised both hands.
"Why am I even sharing a room with a woman?" he scoffed.
"Because you're a child, and Julien would rather not waste the money when my room already had two beds." In her arms was a long roll of leather.
Kain only grumbled at her words, watching on in silence as she unfurled the roll out on the bed. A longsword, shining and sharp as a razor, alongside a dagger. They were twins to each other, handles wrapped in red leather and a spiral pommel in the shape of a pear.
"These are yours" She gave a warm smile.
"Mine?" He stood looking down at the weapons.
His slender fingers wrapped around the sword; it fit far better than Othrick's had. That old leather was in tatters, showing bare steel beneath it in certain parts; sometimes when Kain had swung it, he could feel its cold touch.
"Thank you so much, Lyra" The boy dropped his sword onto the bed and hugged her.
"Not an issue now. Get some sleep; I heard we leave tomorrow " Her red hair smothered him in its tangled mass.
The boy practically jumped into his bed, hair still sopping wet, leaving his pillow soaked with water. He closed his ice-blue eyes and fell asleep in an instant.
Sea water forced itself through his lips; salty and cold, it pushed past his teeth, along his tongue and down his throat. Breathing and coughing. Water only continued down his oesophagus, now a rushing river. Kain violently thrashed, bursting through the water and pulling himself onto its surface.
He stood atop the water and breathed only for an instant before the water inside him came rushing from his mouth, nose and tear ducts. The salt burnt every hole it was spewed from. The sky was black with no moon or stars, and the water a dark blue with shadows swirling about beneath Kain's feet.