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The nurse had given Saeran a real crutch with a handle and padding at the top. Plus it was adjusted to his height so he didn’t have to slouch over.
“You know,” Saeran said still sitting up in the hospital bed. He had just noticed his broken rapier still in its sheath leaning against the nightstand, “I still need to get my sword fixed, why don’t you come with me. You could get your dagger sharpened.”
“Well it’s not like its ever been sharpened while I’ve had it,” Kiera said, examining her dagger, chipped and scratched from so many years of use. She helped Saeran off the bed and they stepped out the double doors into the corridor. It was getting late as Kiera and Saeran stepped outside and headed to the royal blacksmith’s home. The sun was just giving out its last bit of light for the day.
The blacksmith’s house lied in the palace lawn. It looked a little old and not taken care of but it was bigger than most houses in the city. When they got there Saeran, with one hand, held the door open for Kiera.
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.” The inside of the house wasn’t very well lit and had a few dirt floors. The furnace was to the left, a table sat in the middle and a spiral staircase was in the back, right-hand corner of the room that probably led to the blacksmith’s living quarters. “Hey, Ragir? You in here?” Saeran shouted up the stairs.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m comin!” came a gruff voice from above. Soon after a muscular old man in a tattered sleeveless shirt and black pants came down the stairs with a pipe up to his face. As soon as Ragir had seen who had called him his eyes grew wide and he almost dropped his pipe. “Prince Saeran! You weren’t supposed to be back for at least a year!”
“Well the enemy is gone so there is no need to go any more. Actually that is why I’m here, during that battle my sword was snapped in half.” Saeran pulled the handle half of his rapier out of the sheath and slid the other half out.
“Wow, that’s a nice clean cut, broadsword?”
“Nope, spear,” Saeran corrected. Ragir seemed to be the only person Saeran talked to as a normal person as far as Kiera had seen.
“Ahh, yeah spears will do that. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of rapiers, too flimsy.” Kiera couldn’t help a chuckle, Ragir continued, “So how have you been defending yourself? Especially with a broken leg?”
“Actually Kiera here has been protecting me.” Saeran gestured towards Kiera.
Kiera held out her dagger, “I would have been dead if it weren’t for my dagger. Would it be too much trouble to sharpen it?” she asked.
Ragir’s eyes widen, “That…that’s my dagger.”
“No it’s not!” Kiera pulled the dagger away. “This has been mine for as long as I can remember! Johan said it was probably my father’s.”
“Do you know who your father was?”
“Well, no but…”
“Sit down, sounds like we have a lot to talk about.”
Ragir, Kiera and Saeran sat down at the table. “How so?” Kiera asked.
“I made that dagger just after I finished my apprenticeship back in the city. It was my pride and joy, I had made a beautiful weapon for myself. Not long after I fell in love and had a son named Nathaniel.”
“Not to interrupt your life story or anything but what does this have to do with me?”
“I was getting to that, be patient. Nathaniel and I didn’t get along very well so as soon as he was a legal adult he was out of there. Being the protective father that I was, I couldn’t help but worry for him so I gave him that dagger. My guess is that after he left he couldn’t find a very good job and didn’t get paid that much. We lost contact so I'm not entirely sure. He must have found a pretty wife because I can tell you didn’t get your looks from him,” he chuckled.
"You're Kiera's Grandfather?" Saeran asked.
"What a liar, no one with the same blood as me would go to work for nobles!" Kiera grunted.
"You did," he responded calmly.
"Johan and I were desperate. We didn't have much money left and neither did the rest of the city."
"Who's to say that I wasn't as desperate? A lot of people need money and will put aside their hate to get it. Johan did."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Now your saying that you knew Johan?!"
"Yup, he and I grew up together. We would get into so much trouble together. Believe it or not, when we were still children he hated violence, he told me he would rid the world of it when he was older."
"That doesn't sound like the Johan I know."
"Around twenty years old he realized that he couldn't support himself with a job as a basket weaver. He told me that he would take advantage of the hatred in this land and become an assassin."
"Then this emblem..." she said in disbelief, holding out her dagger.
Ragir held out one of his weapons and showed the same marking. "Yup, that's mine.
Ragir also stood up, “Give me our dagger, I’d like to sharpen it for you.” He stepped towards Kiera but instead of taking the dagger he grabbed her and held her close.
"I thought I had lost all my family," Kiera whispered.
“I thought I’d lost all my family, too,” he murmured into her ear.
Kiera and Ragir stood there hugging each other for a long time. A small tear ran down her cheek. Saeran felt a little awkward sitting there looking around the room. Kiera pulled away and asked, "Why did you go to work in the royal palace anyways?"
"I ran out of money and was offered the job, what more is there to say?"
"I still can't believe I have a grandpa!"
"I can't believe I have a granddaughter!"
Ragir finally started a fire in the furnace. “So how do you know Johan?” He got the dagger hot and started sharpening it on the small spinning whetstone.
“Yeah, that’s who I have been living with. He is the one who taught me everything I know,” said Kiera. “Why? Do you know him?”
“Actually if you’ve been living with him, then I’m surprised we haven’t met before. He was my best friend growing up.”
“Let me guess, you lost contact?”
“Apparently longer than I thought. Well that’s what happens when you moved to royal palace,” Ragir chuckled.
"So wait," Saeran was a little confused, “You never knew your father and have been living with Johan for as long as you can remember. Johan is, or was, best friends with Ragir who is also your grandfather and the royal blacksmith?”
“Yeah I think that pretty much sums it up,” Kiera nodded.
“You certainly have a lot of connections.”
“That’s probably a good thing,” said Kiera.
Ragir finished sharpening the dagger, “There you go, good as new. If you ever need anything, anything at all, come see me."
"Okay," she whispered.
"Now if you’ll let me see your rapier.” Saeran handed over his broken sword. “This will take a little longer, Why don’t you come by later to pick it up.” Ragir turned and started working on it as Kiera and Saeran left.
The sun had finally set but the stars were yet to shine their light upon Lombarton. Kiera was still staring at her newly sharpened dagger, she noticed a tree nearby and threw her dagger at it. It spun three times before implanting itself in the trunk. “Whoa! That is sharp!” She jogged over to the tree and pulled her dagger out.
“Well Ragir is the best blacksmith in town.”
“I can see that…I guess I should start heading home.” No sooner than she said that her stomach growled. Although in the quiet of dusk it sounded more like a roar.
Saeran just stared at her, “Not before you eat something decent you aren’t. Come with me I want to show you the great hall.
To Kiera it seemed to be a mile away with the huge palace and winding corridors. When they got there Kiera was amazed, not at the size (yes it was huge) but at the amount food! “How much food does the royal family need?!?” Kiera gawked. Mountains of food blanketed the three wall-length tables. “This could feed the entire city three times over!” There were about ten huge turkeys and three roast pigs, all surrounded by fruits and vegetables Kiera couldn’t even name. Golden plates with golden goblets filled with wine lined the sides of the tables.
“I know, sad part is we never even get close to eating it all. Even the dogs get full from table scraps, the rest goes to the guards then to the trash heap just outside town.” He looked away out of embarrassment since this food could have gone to Kiera and her friends. “But please, sit down and eat,” Saeran gestured towards the bench.
Kiera was a little frustrated that none of this food went to the city, but hunger got the better of her and she sat down. All of the sudden she couldn’t decide what she wanted first. Finally she reached for what was closest: A great big turkey leg and some gravy. She looked like a barbarian, taking huge bites and having bits of meat hanging out of her mouth. Still chewing the turkey she asked, “Is there any juice? I’m not really one for wine.”
“Sure,” he motioned for a guard that was standing nearby. “Could we get some juice, please?”
“Of course, sir,” he bowed slightly and left.
“What’s this? Is it fruit? Kiera pointed to a dark reddish-purple…thing.
“Yeah, that’s pomegranate. Try it, it’s good,” Saeran recommended. Kiera started to bite into it. “No wait!” he stopped her. “You don’t eat the whole thing, just the seeds inside of it.”
Kiera made a confused face, “That makes no sense, but if you say so.” With a little bit of effort she tore open the pomegranate and tried a few of the seeds… “Whoa! This is amazing!” She devoured the rest of the fruit, staining her fingers purple.
The guard came back with two goblets of juice and set them in front of Kiera and Saeran. Both had intricate and extravagant markings. Kiera brought the juice to her lips and her eyes grew wide. “Mmmm, It’s no wonder you don’t like peasant food if you grew up with food like this. Everything is delicious!”
“Yeah well…” Saeran was starting to lose his appetite watching Kiera eat, it looked as if she hadn’t eaten in days. Saeran was okay with it though, he thought it was cute.
After about half an hour of stuffing her face with whatever she could get her hands on, Kiera finally started to slow down. Saeran saw this and told the guard to get Kiera’s payment who quickly came back with 15,000 gold coins.
With the gold fastened to her sash, Kiera and Saeran walked outside. Thousands of tiny stars littered the sky above. “It’s already dark out,” said Kiera. “I should get back home to Johan.”
“Yeah,” Saeran agreed uncomfortably.
“After two months I’m finally going home. I won’t have to worry about you twenty-four/seven,” she joked which fell about a thousand miles short of funny. She stood next to Saeran on the stairs overlooking the city.
“Well the threat’s gone, there isn’t much to worry about now.” It was silent for a long time as Kiera and Saeran stared at each other trying to decide on how to say goodbye.
Kiera decided to just start walking forward slowly. “Well I guess I’ll see you when you make your first big announcement as king,” she said with obviously masked enthusiasm.
“I’ll try to find you in the crowd,” Saeran returned the same fake enthusiasm.
Saeran and Kiera turned, Saeran hobbling inside on his crutch and Kiera descending the flight of stairs. As she turned a small tear ran down her cheek, she quickly wiped it away. “Why am I crying? It’s not like I’ll never see him again... I’m not in love with Saeran…am I?” Another tear ran down her cheek as she continued home.
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seriously, if you are still reading please leave a comment (even a simple one that says "ya im still reading" or something like that), im not sure who to send the update messages to...
 Ember1257 · Tue May 26, 2009 @ 04:46am · 7 Comments |
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