Glade 3, 4508¤
The road to Esquire Mirth’s home was a winding way through hills and trees. Their escorts, who met them at the foothills where the fields met the wood, seemed to have taken them around-about-way as ultimately they weren’t far from the castle, it was clearly seen through the tops of the budding trees. The Men of Majesty came from the left on the path leading up to the gate which swung open upon their arrival and they came in, their first sight was of the imposing black stone chapel which sat right outside of the gates along the path leading up to the similarly built castle behind it. Ushered past the chapel, finally they made their way to the front door of the castle itself. A single raven raised its head and let out a cry before flying away, leaving its perch of a goat’s head made of marble which marked the start of the hand rail leaning up the black marble stairs to the cherry-wood doors.
Upon entering the building the interior was all black and brown velvet with hints of green and yellow flowers in vases, native flowers to the region. Art upon the walls pictured a family of Rathor and busts depicted the same, Podvrak couldn’t help but feel a sense of ease at the sight of them. Instructed to wait in the foyer their host didn’t make them wait long. In long silk robes and iron chainmail underneath, clearly seen were horns and the lower half of a goat. Big, bulbous, bright, blue eyes peered out at them with cold, calculated interest. His hands wrung in front of him together waiting for someone to speak, so Mugrock said first.
“Greetings Esquire Mirth! My name is Mugrock, leader of the Men of Majesty. It’s an honor to stand before you, sire, may I ask so humbly why you would bring us to your door? Are you in need of our service?”
“Hmmm…”
Was all Mirth replied at first, before he stopped wringing his hands and outstretched them, ruffling his long, open sleeves. Before Mugrock could reply again Mirth broke the silence,
“Well, I heard you are a group of Men of a certain quality. Did you actually slay the Krish in the ruins?”
“Indeed,”
Said Mugrock again,
“We can root out some more if need be.”
“Yes, that’s exactly why I brought you here, again, straight to the point. I like that in a man. You Men of Majesty all look capable and worthy. I have a proposal for you if you can return here with the heads of three Krish who haunt us in the North. Of course I’d like you to kill them all, take no prisoners, but I only need three of their heads. I’d like their skulls for a certain project. They’ve also been giving us trouble here in Adela, they are stronger than most of my men and the guards weakly have fended them off each time. I fear soon they will be our end. Now, despite that, I will give you a squadron of Adela’s guards to help fight in this battle. I will choose my most worthy men. This is to help you but also ensure that my men see that you didn’t just go out and kill three single Krish and run back here for this nice reward I am ready to give you.”
Mugrock said nothing, his face and others were hardset listening to Esquire Mirth talk. When no one responded, Mirth started again.
“You’re probably wondering how much, at least, or what kind of proposal I have. I’ve heard of your name before, not many, but enough that when I heard you secured the trade route for the merchants here in my town I thought I should at least inspect you before deciding. I would like you to be my personal guard, here at the castle not among the others but dedicated to me alone.”
Mugrock finally spoke, Podvrak felt like it was for them all,
“The Men of Majesty pledge their allegiance to each other, we bow to none and make our home together, under our own name.”
Esquire Mirth clicked his tongue and replied,
“I see, you mercenaries are always after something, and I know what that is. How about this? Five thousand farthings. No? Ten thousand, to be distributed among your men… That is if you join me here in Adela.”
“No deal.”
Mugrock finality and then continued on,
“But we will take the contract for fewer farthings if need be, and the help of Adela’s guards if you think they are up for it. May need the navigation too.”
Mirth didn’t look surprised at all and the conversation delved into details about maps, rations, days of travel and things like that. With the contract settled, they decided to spend the night to see the merchants off and rest well before traveling in the morning.
~~~~
Glade 4, 4508
The next day held a certain weight on Podvrak’s shoulders. As he took a bath in the locasauna he tried to wash away his sorrows, thinking about the past had kept him up last night and he felt a sense of foreboding at what lay ahead. He thought he would have the sauna all to himself early in the morning if he woke up early enough and got there right before the sun rose. The minotaur was dusty and tired from so much walking and carrying goods, his armor made him sore and he longed to polish it as well. As all of this came off in the sauna locker he tucked his things away as best he could, until he stood fully naked with only a towel around his midsection, tail tucked and swept low to the ground. Being the first of the day he had the glory of being the only one in the sauna, he got to experience bliss as he got first pick of soaps and the steam was perfectly hot enough to make him chuckle, enjoying his solitude.
Stretching back in his towel he felt his joints pop where they needed to and finally got up from the sauna, headed out as the sun peeked over the horizon to the meeting point before rendezvou to polish his gear. Finally dressed he was on his way out the door and trying to duck under the frame but felt himself bump into someone. He tried stepping around and made his way out of the doorframe, seeing Miss Enigma sitting on the ground with her long skirts pooled all around her, she was looking at him with laughter.
“I see you got first dibs on the sauna? Feel better?”
He paled before he went a shade of pink and let out a laugh himself,
“I’m sorry, I got stuck in the frame. I didn’t mean to bump you. The sauna felt great.”
She giggled one last time and covered it up with a dappled hand, then said,
“I gather those flowers myself and sell them to the owner, who makes them into soaps and potpourri like you saw here.”
Podvrak blushed more and smiled,
“How nice. We’ve met before, I’m sorry I was so drunk.”
She waved it off and smiled herself,
“I heard later it was your birthday, my apologies as well! My name is Grulna. I don’t take too well to outsiders but rumor also has it you guys are going to kill the Krish in the North, if you help us I can’t tell you what that could do for business and trade, we could finally get more medical supplies we desperately need if the North was open to us. You see, three days' walk up north is a town called Aud but between us there is a Krish lair and they attack us both. We have beef they need and they have herbs and other things like wheat and flax, anyway– this benefits me in such a serious way. I need you to know right now if you slay them for good I will never talk to you that way again. That’s a promise. Come see me if you ever need it.”
Podvrak was shocked at her proclamation and then saw beneath her skirt were the legs of a cow as she shly covered them back up again. She looked up at him from the ground with huge brown eyes and asked,
“How do you walk as Rathor so proud?”
Young Podvrak, lacking worldly experience and not wise like his future self, said with a grin,
“You see, Grulna, I find life is like a journey, a long road waiting to be explored and passages to somewhere, nowhere, and sometimes, finally, roots. As a Rathor roots are hard. I’d love to meet you somewhere private after I return and talk more about this, but I must go.”
His heart raced and his armor again felt heavy on his shoulders, he finally helped her up and she dusted herself off before she said,
“Absolutely.”
And grinned her large happy smile. The sunrise behind her framed her eyes and seemed to only make the brown so much more intricate and deep. Her teeth were large and shapely, with beautiful large lips framing them. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard as he finally said,
“Goodbye, Grulna.”
And walked away with a huge, dopey grin on his face. He spent the next several hours until noon polishing his armor and hammer as well as various other tedium, thinking about Miss Enigma-- Grulna, and trying not to get too distracted while taking care of preparations.
TBC
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