GameInformer

Sorry I didn't post last week. (Did anyone even notice?) Anyway, here's the next chapter.

     Xaldin surveyed the crowd, muttering to himself. He seemed to be counting the number of people that had stood up. The number of people who would be the start of his army.
     But suddenly, he stopped.
     “Oh, and what do we have here.” He said, “You, in the middle row, with the black hair. Get down here.”
     Draco looked around him, wondering if Xaldin could be referring to him.
     “Yes, you. The one who’s looking around now. Come on.”
     Draco got up and slowly walked down to Xaldin.
     “A few of you may recognize this one.” Xaldin said as Draco stepped up next to him, “But there’s a good chance you’ve heard of him in the past few days. This is the guy who defeated Drago in a one on one battle at the carnival recently.”
     Some in the crowd wore confused looks. But the vast majority seemed to recognize the accomplishment.
     Draco was somewhat dazed, and, for the moment, was unable to say anything.
     “Come on.” Xaldin said, “Tell the crowd your name.”
     “Uhh… Draco.”
     “If anyone was there I’m sure they can attest to what an epic battle that was. But in the end, Draco proved himself to be the strongest man in Torbec. And now I have the support of that same man. With him on our side, what could go wrong? Now come on down and meet our man. And if you‘ve decided to join me, be in the back room in ten minutes.” Xaldin pointed towards a door in the wall.
     “One more thing,” He whispered to Draco, “Stick around after the meeting. I want to talk to you.”
     “Um, sure. But what is this--”
     Xaldin had already left. Leaving Draco to deal with the dozens of people now streaming towards him.
     Most simply wanted to know whether it was actually him who had defeated Drago. The answer to the question was yes.
     After that they wanted to know how it had happened. This question, Draco wasn’t sure how to answer. He had fought, he had won. He couldn’t go into any greater detail than that.
     After fending them off for several minutes, Draco and the rest who had sided with Xaldin went past the door to join him in the back room.
     Xaldin was standing at the head of a large table, the rest off the group, about fifty, all men, stood around the table with him.
     “Well.” Xaldin said, “You people are the first in my army. And I assure you that, should I succeed, you will all be rewarded. If I fail I can‘t really give you anything. So let‘s try and make sure that doesn‘t happen, shall we?”
     “And how do we do that?” One man asked.
     “Yeah, do you have a plan?”
     “As a matter of fact, I do.” Said Xaldin.
     “Could you enlighten us?”
     “I plan on it.”
     They all stared at Xaldin.
     “Alright.” Xaldin rolled out a large map on the table. “You see here.” He pointed to a very large building in the center of the city. “Rumor has it this was the palace back when we had a king.”
     “So?” A man said.
     “So, if I set myself up there, get a large enough army, and act the part in general. I’ll be king.”
     There was a slight pause, until another one said, “That’s your whole plan?”
     “In a nutshell, yes.”
     “How the heck is that supposed to work?”
     “How is it not supposed to work?” Xaldin replied, “There’s no government, right? So, all I have to do is start one. If I keep it up long enough, people will just accept it.”
    “So your plan is to say you’re king until people believe it?”
    “Yes. Brilliant, isn’t it? But before you say anything.” He quickly added, “I know it sounds kind of stupid, but what else can I do? There’s no one to overthrow, so all I can do is make myself ruler.”
    The men all thought over the idea for a minute. In the end, they seemed to decide that it was as reasonable as any other plan they could have come up with.
     Xaldin then said, “If anyone thinks I’m an idiot, you can feel free to leave.”
     A total of three people left the room.
     “That’s not bad.” Xaldin said as he watched the people leave, “Not bad at all.”
     He turned back to the group at the table.
     “Now, generals and whatnot can wait until later. But something I need right now are recruiters. All of you are more than welcome to invite people to join me, of course, but I need a few who will actively be trying to grow my army as much as possible. If you join me full time, you will need to quit whatever job you have, but I assure you I am well funded and you will be paid.”
     No one said anything.
     “Okay, I understand this is a big decision. What do you say you mull it over, and we meet back here in another week? Just think over everything that’s been said today.”
     The was a general murmur of agreement.
     “Okay. Good. Fine. You all are free to go now.”
     They all got up and left quickly, except Draco, who hung around at the back until the room was empty save for himself and Xaldin.
     He then approached Xaldin, “So, you said you wanted to talk to me about something?”
     “Ah yes, you. You may be aware that you are something of a celebrity.”
     “I am not aware.”
     “That’s probably because everyone knows what you did, but not who you are. It’s generally known that someone defeated the great Drago at the carnival, but most people didn’t see you. I’d like to make sure that more people know that it was you who won that fight.”
     “And why would you like people to know that?”
     “Excellent question. The reason I want people to know is so that they also know that the same man is on my side. Sure, one man won’t matter terribly much in a large scale battle, but a little notoriety could be just what I need to boost my numbers.”
     “So then, you want to use me as some sort of poster boy?”
     “I wasn’t planning on actual poster but yeah, pretty much.”
     Draco thought for a second, “Well, sure. I guess there’s no harm in it.”
     Xaldin slapped him on the back, “There’s a good sport. I assure you that you won’t regret this, most likely.”
     “Great. Was that all?”
     “Yes, that was all. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have scheming to do.”
     “Scheming?”
     “But of course. You didn’t think these things were all I did, did you? No, I’m quite serious about this task, and I intend to finish it by any means necessary.”
     Draco turned for the door, “Well, I wish you luck.”
     “If I have my way.” Xaldin said, now alone in the room., “There will be no luck necessary.”
     Draco exited the building most of the crowd had dispersed by now, and he was left wondering what to do next.
     Not much to do other than head back to The Pepper Pony, I guess.
     He was just about to start walking when a young woman approached him.
     “So, she said. You’re the one who took down Drago, are you? I must say, you’re a tough man to track down.”
     “Entirely unintentional,  I’m at the Pepper Pony every day, for future reference.”
     “Good to know.” She simply stared at him for a minute after that.
     Draco, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, tried to move the conversation along, “So, you were looking for me?”
     She seemed to snap out of her trance, “Ah, yes. I’m Rozonne. I’m Lord Landra’s daughter.”
     “Lord Landra.” Draco said thoughtfully, “I know I’ve heard that. Oh! He’s the one who did that carnival thing.”
     “Yes. My little brothers ‘birthday party.’ You caused quite a stir, you know. No one’s beaten Drago in years.”
     “So I hear. And the reason you wanted to find me was?”
     “My father wants to offer you the same position Drago had.”
     “Position?”
     “Yes. All you have to do is fight for my father during that carnival every year, and any other time he sees fit to enter you in some sort of tournament.”
     “Why would I agree to that?”
     “Because as pay, you get to live in our mansion.”
     “So, the deal is, I beat up others, as well as get beat up myself, so I can live in a mansion?”
     “It’s a pretty easy life. Plenty of servants to wait on you, all you have to do is stay in good shape.”
     “Yeah, I think I’ll pass.”
     “Are you sure?”
     “I’m pretty sure.”
     “Do you want to think about it?”
     “No, now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get going.”
     Draco walked past the woman and began heading home. She followed.
     Draco turned to her as he was walking, “Don’t you have some  rich person thing to be doing?”
     “Maybe following other people around is what I do.”
     “If that really is the case, you need a new hobby.” 
     “Couldn’t you just show a girl around a bit?”
     “Not really, no. Though if  you’re looking for someone to have a good time with I could introduce you to a friend of mine.”
     “Not much fun outside of a ring, are you?”
     “I’m afraid not. Now seriously, I want to go home.”
     He once again began walking, this time, he made it back to the Pepper Pony with no interruptions.
     The room was filled with people eating dinner.
     Funny. Draco thought, Just by living here everyone ends up on the same eating schedule.
     He found Dalinus and sat down with him.
     “Hey Dalin. What’s up?”
     Dalinus looked up from his food, “Oh, hey Drac. I shot my first bulls eye today.”
     “Bulls eye?”
     “You know, in archery.”
     “Ah. I joined an army.”
     Dalinus nearly spit out his food. “You did what?!”
     “Xaldin was saying he’d need an army to take control of the city. So I joined.”
     “Are you crazy?”
     “Why do you say that?”
     “Because you joined an army for some random guy who wants to be king!”
     “He’s not some random guy. He’s been planning this. He seems to know what he’s doing.”
     “He can’t know what he’s doing, Drac. He plans to take over this giant city how, exactly?”
     “Well, you know that big building right in the middle of town?”
     Dalinus nodded.
     “He said that used to be where the king lived a hundred years ago.”
     “And?”
     “And he’s going to commandeer that building. He’ll get his army, say he’s king. And then it will only be a matter of time before everybody accepts it.”
     “Wait, his ‘plan’ is to say he’s king until every body believes it?”
     “Pretty much.”
     “You know what, this guy isn’t only crazy, he’s also stupid.”
     “Why do you say that?”
     “Are you serious? You just told me his plan. It’s ridiculous!”
     “But it could still work. Think about it, if a good chunk of the people support him, and then he get’s an army to enforce himself to the rest of the people, why couldn’t it work?”
     “Because it’s just crazy.”
     “You just don’t want to admit it could actually work.”
     Dalinus opened his mouth, but before he could get anything out a voice said “Draco!”
     Draco looked beside him to the person who had just sat next to him.
     “Rozonne? What are you doing here?” He said as one word lashed through his mind. Stalker
     “Rozonne?” Dalinus said, looking shocked.
     Rozonne replied with a, “Dalinus? Why are you here?”
     “Wait.” Draco said, “You two know each other?”
     They both said, “Long story.”
     After everything had calmed down, and everyone was thinking rationally again, Draco tried to get some answers.
     “Alright, first. Rozonne, what the heck are you doing here?”
     “Well.” She said, “You said you were always at the Pepper Pony, so I came here to see you.”
     “I’ll question more about that later.” He turned to Dalinus, “Now, how do you know each other?”
     Dalinus looked uncomfortable, “Funny story that. But, well, you know I’ve mentioned I’m actually the son of a Lord.”
     “Yes.”
     “And did Rozonne mention she was Lord Landra’s daughter?”
     “Yes.”
     “Well, with the high social status and all, Lords don’t generally interact much with anyone other than other Lords and their families.”
     “And?”
     “Put bluntly, Rozonne and I dated for a little while a long time ago.”
     “It wasn’t that long.” Rozonne said.
     “It was years ago.”
     “Technically that’s true.”
     “I’m not really interested in this.” Draco said, “But one last question. Rozonne, why did you follow me here?”
     “To talk to you some more.”
     “Well, go ahead. Talk all you like.”
     “You don’t seem that interested in talking.”
     “Honestly, I’m not. But if you insist on following me. Then sure, we can talk all night.”
    

     Draco looked at Angelina, “You know the guy who’s down there?”
     She nodded, “He’s my brother. I hope he would never come here.” She looked on the verge of tears.
     Draco looked her in they eye, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” He turned to Dalinus, “You stay with Angel. I’m going to see if I can do anything about the situation.”
     He left the room and walked down the stairs. There were already several people crowded around the bottom of the staircase, trying to calm down Kaden. He was having none of it, all of tables were knocked over. He was now throwing chairs around the room, still ranting about his sister.
     Draco shrugged off the soreness he felt from his fight yesterday, and pushed through the crowd.
     “Kaden, was it?” He was tall and skinny, but apparently stronger than he looked, judging from what he’d done to the room.”
     He dropped the chair he was holding and eyed Draco suspiciously, “Yeah. What do you care?” He looked at Draco with bloodshot eyes.
     “I’ve been taking care of Angelina for a while. She’s rather distressed by your actions.”
     “So you’re the punk who took my sister away. Hand her over, I want her back!”
     “Hand her over? She’s a human, not some tool.”
     “I don’t care what you call her. She‘s my sister and I want her back.”
     “She doesn’t want to go back.”
     “I don’t care!” He shouted, “I’m the only family she has left, she belongs with me!”
     “Listen, I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but she wants to stay here. And if you care about her you’ll let her make that decision.”
     “How many times do I have to tell you? I. Don’t. Care. Now I want to see you walking up those stairs in the next five seconds or things are going to get ugly.”
     Draco stood, resolutely.
     Kaden held up a hand, all fingers extended, “Five.” He folded one down, “Four… Three… Two… One…” Draco still didn’t move, “That does it!”
     He picked up a chair and threw it at Draco. Draco dove to the side, he rolled and landed on his knee.
     “Is this really how it has to be?” He asked.
     “It was your decision, not mine!” Kaden said, throwing another chair.
     Draco jumped  out of the way again. He looked at the crowd. They all stood stationary, watching.
     Guess I’m on my own then. Where is Sovelt?
     He ran towards Kaden, dodging another chair. He punched Kaden in the jaw. He punched two more times then grabbed Kaden’s head, he dragged it down as he jumped and hit Kaden’s forehead with his knee.
     Kaden staggered backwards. He looked more surprised than anything else. Drac rushed forwards and delivered another combo, ending with a hard kick to Kaden’s gut.
     Again, Kaden took a few steps backwards. There was blood trickling down his face. But other than that he showed no sign of damage. He had only a somewhat dazed look in his eyes.
     Draco wasn’t sure what to do. I hit him hard. He thought, What’s with this guy?
     Kaden’s eyes snapped back into focus. He ran towards Draco and punched, Draco dodged easily. Kaden punched several more times, Draco dodged all of them. He then attacked again.
     It had the same result as before, Kaden fell back, but didn’t seem very affected by the blows.
     I don’t get it. He’s not even a good fighter. How can he take all that?
     “You can’t beat me.” Draco said, “Look at all the damage you have.” He was hoping Kaden was feeling more than he showed, “And you haven’t even scratched me.”
     “Be quiet!”
     He attacked Draco again. Draco dodged.
     “Just calm down and maybe we can come to an agreement.”
     “I said be quiet!” Once again he tried and failed to hit Draco.
     He’s getting desperate. If I just keep this up a little longer maybe he’ll give up.
     “Would you stop attacking me already? This is getting boring.”
     “Shut up shut up SHUT UP!”
     He grabbed another chair to throw at Draco. But right before it left his hands.
     “Kaden!”
     Kaden froze, he looked towards the voice, “Angelina.” He dropped the chair and his face softened, “Angelina, come with me, it’s time to go.”
     “No, Kaden. I don’t want to live with you anymore. I want to stay here, with Draco, and Dalinus, and Leria.”
     “These people? They’re not your blood. You belong with me!”
     “I belong wherever I choose!”
     He was growing angry again, “Where you choose? You don’t get to choose. You’re just a child.”
     “I can make my own decisions. And I’m staying here.”
     “Why you--” He stepped towards her.
     “Don’t come any closer.” She pressed herself against the crowd.
     “You don’t get to order me.” He continued walking towards her.
     Draco stepped in between Kaden and Angelina.
     “She said not to come any closer.”
     Kaden stepped up to Draco, Draco’s head only came up to his chest, “Get out of my way.”
     “I’m not moving.”
     Kaden raised a fist, “This is your last warning.”
     There was a crash, and Kaden fell into Draco. Dalinus stood behind Kaden, holding the legs of what used to be a chair.
     “Sorry, Draco. I know I was supposed to be keeping Angelina in the room.”
     Draco laid Kaden on the ground. “Well, I guess it worked out.” He turned to Angelina, “What about you, Angel. You okay?”
     She nodded slowly.
     “Why don’t you go back to bed.”
     She went back up the stairs.
     “So.” Draco turned to Dalinus, “What do we do with this guy now? We can’t just leave him lying on the floor, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep him here.”
     Dalinus shrugged, “I don’t know. Well, now that I think about it, he attacked you right? Maybe we can put him in jail for the night.”
     “Can you put an unconscious guy in jail?”
     “Maybe.”
     “How far is the jail?”
     Dalinus thought for a second, “A half hour, maybe.”
     “It’s better than nothing. You tie him up, in case he wakes up. I’ll go get Rozy.”
     “Who?”
     “My horse.”
     Draco exited the building. Once he’d gotten Rozinante out Dalinus had bound Kaden’s hands and feet. They then lugged him outside and tossed him on Rozinante.
     “Why isn’t anyone else doing anything?” Draco asked.
     “Well, this is kind of your deal. What do you want them to do?”
     “I was being attacked! And it’s normal for a group of people to watch me without helping?”
     “I helped you.”
     “You know me.”
     “Well, in their defense, it was, it still is, pretty early.”
     “Fine. Would you mind taking care of this guy for me? I’m beat.”
     “Are you saying you want me to haul him to jail while you sleep?”
     “Pretty much, yeah. But you know the way, it’s better this way.”
     He handed Dalinus the reins.
     “Fine.” Dalinus said, “But the next time you nee someone to take a guy jail in the middle of the night, count me out.”
     “Thanks, Dalin.” Draco went inside.
     The crowd seemed to have dispersed, and the room was quiet. Though it still looked as though it had been hit by a tornado. He went up to his room, he fell onto the floor and went to sleep.
     He was up later than usual the next morning, not strange, all things considered. He trudged downstairs to see whether breakfast or lunch was being served. The room was mostly empty, so he judged that it was actually in between meals. Though Dalinus was sitting at one of the tables, and Sovelt remained behind the counter.
     “Hey Dalin.” Draco said as he sat down, “So, how was your trip earlier?”
     “Trip? Oh, you mean to the jail. It wasn’t much trouble, the guy, what was his name, Kaden?”
     Draco nodded.
     “Anyway, he didn’t wake up and the jailer agreed to take him for the night. No big deal.”
     “I just hope he leaves us alone now.”
     “I wouldn’t count on it.”
     “What? Why do you say that?”
     “You saw how determined he was. You think one beating is going to be enough to get rid of him?”
     “I guess you’re right. But I hate to think of Angel having to go through that again.”
     “Yeah, she didn’t seem to take this very well.”
     “Speaking of which, where is Angel?”
     “I don’t know. Come to think of it, her bed might’ve been empty when I woke up. I’m sure you can understand I wasn’t--.”
     Draco stood up, “She‘s not here?”
     “I’m not sure, like--”
     Draco dashed up the stairs. He looked in their room, Dalinus had been right, she wasn’t here. But there was a note on her bed.
     I’m sorry I’ve caused you so much trouble. It read, You’ve been paying for me to stay here but I haven’t done a thing. And this morning you were attacked because of me. I hope you can forgive me.
     Draco immediately walked downstairs.
     “Dalin, do you know where Kaden lives?”
     Dalinus looked slightly confused, “No, I just met him- if you can call that meeting- this morning. Why do you want to know?”
     Draco walked to Sovelt, Dalinus trailed behind him, “Do you know where Kaden lives?”
     “I do.” Sovelt said, “It’s not far from here, in fact. Why do you want to know?”
     “Angel’s run away.”
     “And you want to go after her.”
     “Of course.”
     “Alright then.” Sovelt took a minute to write down some directions then handed it to Draco, “There you go.”
     “Thank you.”
     Draco turned to leave but Dalinus stepped in front if him, “Now, come on Drac.” He said, “Do you really think it’s smart to go to his house?”
     “I have to find her.”
     “Think about this. If she left, why would she go to his house? And why do you need to follow her?”
     “His house is the only place I can think of to start. And why wouldn’t I go after her?”
     “What if she doesn’t want you to find her? Didn’t you tell Kaden she could make her own decisions?”
     “And I meant that. But I want this decision to be made to my face.”
     “But do you have to go to the house of the guy who was probably willing to kill you last night?”
     “Where else am I supposed to go? Besides, will he even be back by now?”
     “Yeah, they probably only kept him until he woke up. Anyway, if you insist on going, you should probably take those spiky gloves of yours with you.”
     “I guess that’s good advice. But you know, a second guy would make it even safer.”
     “Funny. But I think I’ve helped you out enough for a while.”
     “Thanks for the concern.”
     Draco went upstairs to grab his cloak, gloves hid safely inside. He was then back downstairs, heading out the door, Dalinus was outside as well.
     “What?” Draco said, “You change your mind?”
     “Of course not. But you don’t think I spend all day in that place do you?”
     “A little.”
     “Well, most days I go places.” He turned to walk down the street, “Have fun meeting with your friend.”
     Draco turned to the directions Sovelt had given him. He was suddenly glad for the simplistic layout of the city. Everything was set up like a grid, so it was easy to get where you wanted to go.
     It wasn’t long before he found himself in front of a small, run down building. He went up an knocked on the door.
     “What do you want?” Kaden’s voice replied.
     “I’m looking for your sister.”
     “Heh, good luck. Some idiots got her locked up tight in an inn. He beats up anyone who tries to get near her.”
     That was easier than I thought. “Where might she be if she weren’t at that inn?”
     Draco heard what sounded like footsteps, the door opened.
     “You know something I-- It’s you, you’re the guy keeping her locked up in their.
     “She’s not locked up. Which is why I’m looking for her right now.”
     “So she left you too. Can’t say I’m surprised. You can look all you want, it took me a month to find her. But you already know that.”
     Draco turned away, “I guess I’m not getting any help here.”
     As he walked away he heard Kaden shout, “If you find her, let me know! I could use some help cleaning around here!”
     Man, Draco thought, I’ve been living with her for a month and I never bothered to learn much about her. Not that she offered much, but still. Where would she go? He stopped to think for a minute, That’s it. She mentioned that she was learning how to sew. It’s not much but hopefully I’ll be able to find something.
     Draco headed towards a busier part of town to see if he could find out where she might have been learning how to sew.

     Draco was eating breakfast with Angelina the next morning when Dalinus stumbled over to their table. He rested his head on the table when he sat down.
     “Hey guys.” Dalinus said, rubbing his head, “What’s up.”
     “Not you, apparently.” Draco said, “What’s wrong with you?”
     “Hangover.”
     “Sounds unpleasant.”
     “You say that as if you’ve never had one.”
     “Nope, not one.”
     “You’re eighteen aren’t you? Surely you’ve gotten drunk at least once?”
     “Not me, never really saw the appeal of turning myself into an idiot. Maybe you should talk to Sovelt.”
     “I wish. You might not have noticed but he drinks constantly. And he’s never the worse for it.”
     “Then I guess you’ll just have to live with yourself. What are your views on drinking, Angel?”
     “I hate beer.” She said, with an unusual animosity, “It turns even good men into animals.”
     “I think that’s a mite unfair.” Dalinus said, “I’ve been told I’m quite friendly after I’ve had a drink or two.”
     “Well maybe you’re en exception.”
     “Let’s drop it.” Draco said, “So, I was thinking. We’re all roommates, but we’ve really only spent any time together at meals. Maybe we could all go out together.”
     “Horse racing?” Dalinus suggested.
     “There are other things to do than race horses, Dalin.”
     “I’m sorry, my head hurts to much to think of something witty.”
     “Anyway, I heard there’s some sort of carnival set up outside the city. It’ll only be there a few days, what do you think?”
     “I’d like to go.” Angelina said.
     “Great, it should already be open so we should be able to leave whenever.”
     “Does my input matter?” Dalinus asked.
     “Oh.” Draco said, “you normally just go along with whatever anyone else has so I just figured you would be coming.”
     “Under normal circumstances you would be right, but I think I’ll be hanging out here for today.”
     “You sure? It’ll be fun.”
     “I’m sure. You two can go alone. Call it a date.”
     Angelina blushed, “Oh, well, I don’t know--”
     “If you’d rather not, Angel. I don’t mind.”
     “No! I mean, I still want to go. It’ll be fun, right?”
     “Of course. And since Dalin plans on hanging over all day. We can leave whenever you’re ready.”
     Angelina excused herself from the table.
     “So.” Dalinus said once she’d left, “Do you have any idea why her hair is white? It’s not even like, old person grey. It’s like snow.”
     “I don’t know. I guess I never really thought about it.”
     “Oh.” After that they sat in silence.
     Angelina came back down shortly. Thought Draco couldn’t tell why she needed to leave, she looked the same as before. They walked outside the building.
     “Just a second.” Draco said, and began walking to the back.
     “Where are you going?” Angelina asked.
     “We’re going outside the city, so I figured it would be good to take Rozy.”
     “Rozy?”
     “My horse.”
     “Oh.”
     Draco was only a minute getting Rozinante. And soon they were on their way. They hadn’t said a word by the time they were out of the city so Draco tried to start a conversation.
     “So, why is your hair so white?”
     “What?” She said, blushing even harder than before, “Umm I don’t know. It’s just always been like that.”
     “Is it like, genetic? Did either of your parents have white hair?”
     “No. It’s just like that.”
     “Interesting.”
     “You don’t think it’s weird, do you?”
     “No, it looks good on you.”
     “Oh, thanks.”
     By now they were at the entrance to the carnival. There was a stable near it at which Draco deposited Rozinante.
     “So.” Draco said as they entered, “What do you want to do first?”
     “I don’t know. What do you usually do at a carnival?”
     “I don’t know. This is my first one. Guess we’ll just have to wing, which, considering the environment, seems like an excellent choice.”
     The grounds were made up of an assortment of tents, games and an explosion of colors. And there were crowds of people any direction you could look.
     “Then let’s go,” Draco pointed in a random direction, “there.”
     They walked into a tent and saw clowns doing clown things.
     “Do you find those things at all creepy?” Draco asked.
     “Yes.”
     “Let’s leave.”
     “Okay.”
     They left the tent.
     “Well that was un unsuccessful first carnival experience. Maybe--” He was cut off by an excited greeting.
     “Angelina, Draco! I didn’t know you two were coming.”
     “Leria?” Draco said as she approached them, “You’re here too?”
     “Yeah. Isn’t it great?”
     “Hasn’t been too great so far.”
     “We just got here.” Angelina said.
     “And saw the clowns.” Draco added.
     “Oh those guys. Aren’t they hilarious?”
     “Not really.”
     “Well, a lot of people think they’re creepy.”
     “Which they are.”
     “That’s a matter of opinion. So, what are your guy’s favorite things?”
     “Like Angel said, we just got here.”
     “Then come one, I can show you the best stuff.”
     Leria grabbed them both and began pulling them. Presumably to some sort of attraction that they would presumably enjoy.
     “You cam at a great time.” Leria said as she pulled them, “One of my favorite acts is about to start.”
     She dragged them inside a tent, Draco missed the sing indicating what was going on inside. Inside it was dark, the trio sat down and waited for the show to start.
     A flap fell down from the roof, the light shone in on a man, bound and gagged, suspended over a large, metal tube of water, which rested in a pool, by a rope tied to an arch.
     As some drumming in the background added to the tense atmosphere, the man struggled against his binds, he his hands and then his mouth. He then went to work at the rope at his feet.
     “I knew I should have taken that knife.” He said as he worked. “But no, I have to make things hard on myself.”
     After several more seconds he said.
     “Ah, there it is.” With one more movement he freed himself and fell into the tube.
      The next part would have been simple, the tube was open so he could have swum to the top, unfortunately it was very narrow and he couldn’t right himself. The crowd could see the performer through a window, he’d picked up a thin piece of metal at the bottom and seemed to be working on something inside.
     Then, after a full minute, the window burst open, the man and the water poured out into the pool.
     He jumped up and took a bow. The crowd burst into applause.
     “Yes, yes.” He said as he climbed out of the pool, “I’m glad you all find almost killing myself so amusing.” He shook his head in an attempt to dry his hair,  “Now,” He said, as the crowd quieted and the pool was moved away, “Lucky for you all that was only the beginning. If you want to see another death defying stunt you’ll have to come to the next show. Some nice self advertisement there. But I do know some magic I’m going to show you all.”
     So he did a few basic tricks. But he wanted to end on something a bit more impressive.
     An assistant tossed him a deck of cards, which he began shuffling, “For this trick I’ll need a volunteer.”
     Some of the audience raised their hands. He looked the mover before pointing at one, “You there, come up here.”
     A young woman approached him.
     “You seem like a smart young girl,” He said, “Too bad you don’t need to be smart for this. Just pick a card.”
     She did so.
     “You see that card, you know the card. Do you know the card?”
     She shook her head yes.
     “Show the audience the card. I don’t want them to think I’m cheating.”
     She, again, did as he said. It was the 8 of clubs.
     “Put you card back in this deck.” He held out the deck and the girl inserted her card.
     “Excellent. Now what should I do to this deck? There are so many possibilities.” He played with the deack as he talked, “Toss it in the air? Burn it? Or there’s always just letting another audience member pick something. Or, how about this? Aaand you.”
     He pointed his finger at a man in the audience.
     “You come down here.”
     The man came down.
     “Can I shake your hand? My hands dry by now.” He shook the mans hand. “I have some instructions for you. You see this deck of cards in my hand? I’m going to toss this deck in the air. All you have to do is try to catch one.” Before waiting for the mans consent, he tossed the whole deck into the air. The man then frantically tried to grab a card out of the air.
     Once all the cards had fallen to the ground the man held up one.
     “Could you give that to the young lady?” He said.
     The man handed it over. The girl gasped.
     “Now show the audience.”
     She turned the card to the audience, it was indeed the 8 of clubs.
     The crowd clapped, and the performer gave a bow.
     “Wasn’t he awesome?” Leria asked, as they we leaving.
     “That stunt at the beginning was cool.” Draco said, “But all those magic tricks were kind of boring.”
     “Boring? What about that last trick? I doubt you could do that.”
     “That wasn’t so impressive. It was just a little misdirection.”
     “Are you saying you know how he did it?”
     “Pretty much, yeah.”
     “Then how?”
     “All right, so he called he girl down, she picked a card and put it back in. But did you notice how he was playing with the deck? I’d bet he knew where in the deck she put the card and was working it to the top.”
     “And why would he do that?”
     “The second guy he called down was in on it. He handed the guy the card when he shook his hand. Then all it took was throwing some cards in the air having the ‘volunteer’ flail around a bit.”
     Leria looked stunned, “When you put it that way, I guess it does sound less impressive. How did you figure that out?”
     “It seemed obvious to me.”
     “Now I’m a lot more impressed with you than that guy.”
     “Did you enjoy the show, Angel?”
     “I thought it was really cool.” Angelina said.
     “That’s good. So, what now? Any suggestions, Leria?”
     “How about some games?”
     “What kind of games are there?”
     “Umm, let me think. I haven’t looked much at the games.”
     “Let’s just walk around, see if anything interests us.”
     “Sure, that sounds good.”
     They walked through the carnival a minute, then Draco saw something interesting.
     “Hey, look at that tent.” He said, pointing.
     “What?” Leria said, “The fight tent?” It was the largest tent they had seen.
     “Yeah.” They stopped in front if the tent. “That sign says I could win a lot of money.”
     According to the sign, it started with a jackpot of 10 sins. You pay a sen for a chance and if you win, you get the money, if you lose your sen gets added to the jackpot.
     “Won’t it be dangerous?” Angelina asked.
     “I’m a pretty good fighter. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?”
     “You could get seriously injured.”
     “Oh come on, how hard could it be?”
     “You should probably skip it, Draco.” Leria said, “They do this every year and the guy inside is really good. I don’t even think anyone won last year.”
     “Well I’ve never lost a fight either. And I could use an amount of money like that.”
     “I’m not sure.”
     “Let’s go inside.”
     There was a ring inside the tent, where two men were currently fighting. Besides that the entire floor space was occupied by spectators. Draco stopped to watch the fight, which ended quickly. Draco guessed the winner was the one Leria had spoken of. He was well muscled, tall, and had short black hair.
     “That the guy you were talking about?” Draco asked.
     “Yeah.” Leria said.
     “I’m going to try.”
     “What? Didn’t you see how quickly he won that fight?”
     “Yeah, it was nice. But I think I’m at least as good as that guy.”
     “You’re crazy.”
     The man in the ring shouted, “Come on, I’m warmed up! Who’s next?”
     Draco started walking towards the ring. Leria grabbed his sleeve.
     “What?” He said, turning to look at her.
     “Don’t get hurt.” He could see the worry in her eyes.
     “I’ll be fine. Mostly.” He pushed through the crowd and stepped into the ring.

     Draco and Angelina continued their walk, following the instructions that had been given to Draco. They arrived at a large, stadium-like building. There was no one at the entrance so they had no problem getting in. Then is was just a walk through a short hallway until they were into the main part of the building. The room was shaped like half a bowl, with a stage at the end, it would be large enough to hold thousands of people. Draco figured it was probably for plays and the like.
     He looked around, they were early so there weren’t many people yet. He sat down next to a long haired young man sitting in one of the rows.
     “Hey.” He said, “I’m Draco.” He extended a hand.
     The man took it, “Lario.” He said.
     “Nice to meet you. Oh, and this is Angel.” He said. Motioning to the seat next to him.
     “Angelina.” She said.
     “Hello, Angel. So, Draco”  Lario started, “You know anything about this guy that‘s supposed to be talking?”
     “I was about to ask you. But I’m pretty much in the dark. All I know is we’re supposed to be here in what, a half hour?”
     “Yeah, give or take. Honestly, I don’t go much for the idea or revolution. I’m just here to see if he poses any threat to the Lords.”
      “Threat?”
     “Yeah, if this guy gets a large enough following he could cause some serious trouble. Anyway, why are you here?”
     “I was interested. I didn’t know about the whole situation until after I’d heard about this and I figured why not check it out?”
     “Really? You seem a bit young to care about this kind of stuff.”
     “Maybe I am. But there’s nothing wrong with looking for a good cause, right?”
     “Well, I hope for your sake this isn’t your cause. It could be war if he’s serious.”
     By now others had started filing in, and the room was quickly filling with their excited chatter.
     “But there’s no government now, what would oppose a new leader?
     “The Lords, of course. There may be no official government but they still have their own pseudo government. And they all have several hundred men that could fight for them, if the need arose.”
     “Well the, I guess it’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.”
     “Yes, I suppose it will.”
     After that they sat in silence until the it started. The stage lit up, and before he said anything. The man played some saxophone.
     After that he put down his instrument.
     “Hello everyone. I’m Xaldin, I hope you enjoyed the show. But now to what this is really about. As many of you know this land has been without a ruler for a hundred years. Some people say this is okay, that it’s actually better than before. Those people are mainly Lords who have seized all the power for themselves.
     “And I mean, sure, maybe this life isn’t terrible. But how long will it last? How long until some Lord decides he wants more power? Seems to me that when that happens it won’t take long for him to turn into an overlord. But I’m not here for myself. Let me ask you a question, how many of you could actually say, with confidence, that you know where any of the other cities are?”
     There was a murmur through the crowd, most seeming to realize that they didn’t know where any of the other cities were.
     Xaldin continued, “That’s because the lack of a uniting force has isolated everyone. If someone is this city were to gain enough support, then he could move to the other cities to gain their support. And it won’t be long before we become a mighty nation once again.”
     Again, the general consensus seemed to be agreement.
     “And I am that man, I’ve traveled to the other cities. This can happen. What I want to know is, who’s with me?”
     This time the crowd seemed surprised.
     “It’s okay, if any of you don’t agree with me you can leave right now. But if there’s anyone here who would support me, I’d like you to stay. And if anyone has any objections, I will hear them.”
     At this many, most in fact, stood up and left, Lario remained seated. Angelina looked at Draco, and stayed still after seeing he was doing the same.
     “I have an objection.”
     The flow going outside stopped, they all looked to where the voice had come from. It was Lario.
     “Why are you doing this?” He asked, “What gives you the right to set yourself up as king?”
     “What gives me the right?” Xaldin replied, “What gives anyone the right? Blood? That’s far from a guarantee he’ll be a good ruler. Then an army? Any Lord could hire some thugs to do his dirty work for him. I think all that really matters is the people. If you are accepted, you are king. And honestly I’m just here to get this started, if someone else could do better I’d be glad to step down.”
     Lario didn’t say anything more and sat down. By the time the people had finished leaving there were only a couple hundred left.
     “Ah, excellent.” Xaldin said, “That’s actually more than I was expecting. Well, if you’re here, then you agree with me on at least some of what I‘ve said. So spread the word around, try to gather some support. And meet back here next week so I can go further into my plan.”
     There was a silence.
     “Uhh, would you like me to play saxophone as you leave?”
     They now seemed to get the message. Everyone got up and left.
     “So.” Draco said, as he and Angelina were walking back, “What did you think of him?”
     “I don’t know. He seemed okay, I guess.”
     “I liked him. I have no idea how everything is going to play out, but I’m going to stick around to see what happens.”
     They spent most of the walk home in silence. Once they got back to the Pepper Pony, Draco found Dalinus with several cards laid out on a table.
     “Hey Dalin, what’s up.”
     “Solitaire. Do you think it’s possible to win this game?”
     “Not sure, never played.”
     “I’ve won at it.” Angelina said.
     “Well of course you have.” Dalin said, “You’re the card game wizard.” He looked over from his game, “So how was that thing?”
     “Well, basically all he did was say he has a plan and all he needs is some support. I’m not sure how much he’s actually planned out this thing, but he has some charisma. We’re supposed to go back there next week.”
     “Do you plan on going?”
     “Yeah, I think I probably will.”
     “What about you, Angelina?”
     “If Draco’s going I guess I’ll go to.”
     “Oh sure, just follow whatever he does. I’ll be stuck here playing card games again.”
     “You could come with us.” Draco suggested, “Xaldin needs all the support he can get.”
     “Yeah, maybe I will. If I have nothing better to do.”
     “I thought you never had anything to do.”
     “That’s only mostly true. I was thinking of joining a club.”
     “What club?”
     “I don’t know, some club. But you’ve got this thing now, maybe I need a hobby as well. I mean, more of a hobby than playing card games all day.”
     “I’m not sure I would call it a club. But yea, you could probably use something to occupy more of your time.”
     “I was thinking of learning how to sow.” Angelina said.
     “Well that’s wonderful, Angelina. But I don’t think it will work for me. I need something a little more, you know, manly.”
     “I hope you find something. But until then, I think I’m going to get some sleep.”
     Draco laid down on the floor, Angelina still hadn’t gotten her own room. But Draco had acquired a sleeping bag.
     When he woke up the next morning both Dalinus and Angelina had both gone. He figured they were probably out doing what they had mentioned last night. He trekked downstairs and waited for Sovelt to bring him his meal.
     It was only a minute before Sovelt came out, carrying the mornings food.
     “Hey Draco.” Sovelt said.
     “hm, what?” It was unusual for Sovelt to speak to him.
     “You got anything planned today?”
     “No, not really.”
     “Well, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a bit of an errand for you to run.”
     “Sure, what do you want?”
     “One of the Lords asked me to get ‘em something. Could you bring to over to him?”
     “Okay, what is it.”
     “Just a package. Tell me when you’re ready and I’ll give you the package and a map.”
     “I’ll need a map?”
     “Of course. Most of the Lords live on the other side of the city, it’ll take a couple hours to get there, even on horseback.”
     “Oh, so this is gonna be a most of the day thing.”
     “Yeah, but there’ll be a bit of a bonus it for you.”
     “A bonus?” Draco said, perking up,  “How much?”
     “A sin. And you’ll have a hard time trying to find a way to get more than that from one day of work.”
     “Okay then. I’ll be ready after breakfast.”
     Draco finished breakfast quickly, grabbed his cloak, and received the map and package. He then went out back to get Rozinante.
     “Hey girl, it’s been  a while.”
     The horse seemed unhappy.
     “Oh come on. It’s not like there’s much to do with you around here. Just be glad that you’re being given this opportunity to stretch your legs.” He mounted her, and set off.
     The map was easy enough to follow, though the ride was probably going to take a while. So, with nothing better to do, Draco examined the package Sovelt had sent.
     It was small, and rattled when shook. But Draco couldn’t fathom what was actually inside, he simply hoped whoever it was being delivered to would open it before he left.
     The streets were narrow, so it was slow going. And it was three hours before Draco saw any significant change in his surroundings. But it was clear where the commoners stopped and Lords started.
     The change was almost instant. The houses went from old looking wood to clean, well kept bricks, the streets widened, there was noticeably fewer people wandering about. Even so, it was still another half hour before Draco finally reached his destination.
     The house was very large, it might have conceivably been called a mansion. Even in this better looking part of town he hadn’t seen anything quite like this.
     There was a wall around it, and a gate suitably sized to the building. He was greeted as soon as he approached it.
     “Who are you?” A voice asked, “And why are you here?”
     “I’m Draco, I was sent here by Sovelt.”
     “All right, come on in.”
     The gate opened and Draco rode in. He got off Rozinante and approached the door. He knocked, and it was opened almost instantly by a servant.
     “And what business do you have here?”
     “I’m bringing something for the Lord here.” He held up the package.
     “Very well, follow me. I shall take you to Lord Tedro.”
     Draco followed the servant, and after what Draco thought an unreasonably long walk to have taken place in one building, the servant gestured to a door.
     “You shall find him in here.” And he walked away.
     Draco was unsure of what to do, but as the servant was apparently comfortable leaving him alone, he judged it was probably okay to just walk inside.
     He did. And saw a man sitting at a desk, looking at a book. He was almost as large as Sovelt, though instead of Sovelt’s red hair his was graying.
     “Hm?” The man said, turning around, “Who are you?”
     “Draco, and you’re Lord…” He tried to remember what the servant had said.
     “Lord Tedro, at your service. What brings you here?”
     “Sovelt sent me, he said I should be delivering this.” He held up the package.
     “Ah yes, that. You can just put it here.” He motioned to his desk.
     Draco put it down but, still curious as to what Sovelt would give a Lord, tried to extend his time there.
     “So, you know Sovelt?”
     “Yes, I’ve known him for quite a while, in fact. Though I haven’t seen him in some time.”
     “Well, it was quite a trek to get here.”
     “Oh, and where is he nowadays?”
     “On the other side of Torbec. He runs an in there, the Pepper Pony.”
     “Ah.” He went back to his book without saying any more.
     Seeing as Tedro wasn’t going to divulge the information himself, Draco took matters into his own hands.
     “So what does a guy like Sovelt give to a Lord anyway?”
     “Well aren’t you forward.” He said, turning around now. “But if you must know, this is a gift for my son.”
     He took off the wrapping and opened the box. He pulled out a necklace.
     “A necklace of bear claws.” Tedro said, holding it up, “Seems like gift befitting the son of a Lord. I’d bet there isn’t another in Torbec.”
     Draco stared at the necklace, “But, where would he get bear claws?”
     “From bears of course.” He placed the necklace back on his desk, “Not a particularly clever errand boy are you?”
     “But, no one hunts bears. Are there even any bears around here?”
     “Yes, there’s a forest not far outside the city. Plenty of bears there. And Sovelt hunts bears.”
     “Sovelt hunts… So that’s that meat he puts in everything.”
     “Oh does he? I’m glad to see he’s putting it to good use.”
     “Wait a second. How is someone supposed to kill a bear?”
     “I expect he punches it.”
     “But… you can’t…”
     “I assure you Sovelt can. In fact, so could I when I was younger. I taught Sovelt everything he knows.”
     “Umm, okay Enjoy your necklace, I guess.”
     “Thank you for delivering it.” Tedro said as Draco left.
    

     “So what do you want to do first?” Leria asked as the exited the inn.
     “I don’t know.” Draco said, casually examining the street, “What is there?”
     “There’s always the horse racing.” Dalinus said.
     “Haven’t I told you no gambling?” Leria said reproachfully, “Besides, you never even win anything there.”
     “Oh, so if I won gambling would be okay?”
     “A little bit. But anyway, how about music? There’s a place that sells instruments not far from here.”
     “Sure.” Draco said, “that sounds good.”
     “Let’s go.”
     They started down the street, and soon they were admiring the instruments at the store.
     “So do any of you play anything?” Draco asked
     “I play drums some.” Leria said.
     “Me, I’m not much good with instruments.” Dalinus said, “Hm, come to think of it. What am I good at?”
     “You mean in general?”
     “Yeah.”
     “Being a useless lump and spending your parents money?”
     “You’re too kind Leria.” He said sarcastically.
     Draco turned to Angelina, “What about you Angel?”
     “I play the piano, a little bit.”
     “Cool. Hey.” He said, turning to the person at the counter, “Are we allowed to play any of these instruments?”
     “Yeah.” He responded, “anything not hanging on a wall can be played.”
     “Thank you.” He picked up a violin and began playing.
      He played a song and Dalinus looked astonished, “You can play the violin? Why didn’t you ever tell me that?”
     Draco put it back in it’s stand, “For one thing you never asked me. Also, I only met you like, an hour ago.”
     “Well now I’d like to see our other friends play something. Leria, Angelina, do something.”
     “Do something?” Leria said.
     “Yeah, play something together.”
     “Play what?”
     “I don’t know, something.”
     “So you expect us to just magically play the same thing together.”
     “Well--” He was cut off by a sound. It sounded strangely like piano music. They all looked towards the noise and saw Angelina playing the piano. They stood there and listened for a good five minutes before she stopped.
     Angelina saw them all gaping at her and looked embarrassed. “Oh.” She said,  “I’m sorry I was playing so long.”
     “Sorry?” Dalinus said, “That was bloody brilliant.”
     “You, really liked it?”
     “I think we all liked it.”
     “Yeah.” Leria said, “You were really good.”
     And for the first time, Angelina smiled.
      She turned to Draco, “What did you think?”
     “I’m in full agreement with these two. You’re really talented.”
     Her smile widened slightly. “Thank you.”
     They continued looking for a while, Leria played the drums a little. Eventually Dalinus said  “Well, I guess we can leave now.”
     The rest agreed and they left.
     “So where to now?” Dalinus asked as the exited the store.
     “How about those horses?” Draco suggested.
     “I thought I said no gambling.” Leria said.
     “You said that for Dalinus. I’m pretty good with horses and honestly, I could use some money.
     “That’s my man Drac. You and me together will mop up the competition.”
     “Together? What do you think we’ll be sharing our winnings? Not a chance.”
     “And here I thought… well I guess I thought I could win some money off you.”
     Dalinus led the way to the races, they all followed, but Leria only grudgingly. After several minutes of walking they arrived at a large building.
     “Here we are.” Dalinus said, “This is the place dreams are realized, and occasionally crushed into pieces.”
     They entered to frenzied chatter and various cheers and moans as the betters either won or lost.
     “Where do I go to look at the horses?” Draco asked.
     “You don‘t look at the horses before the race.”
     “How am I supposed to make a bet without seeing the horses?”
     “Well most people around here know them by name.”
     “They have to be around here somewhere don’t they? It won‘t be a problem if I take a look right?”
     “I don’t know, but out that door” Dalinus pointed “Is the track. The race isn’t long from now so they’re probably getting ready.”
     “Okay, be back in a minute.”
     He exited out the door Dalinus had indicated. In a few minutes he was back.
     “Alright, I’m thinking whichever horse is number 4 is going to win. Hey, where are the girls?”
     “They have no interest in this art.” Dalinus said, “they’re off doing some sort of girl thing. But anyway, why that horse?”
     “He just seems the best. Where do I place my bet?”
     “Over there, at the table.”
     Draco went to the man taking bets and handed over a bronze ban, five times thicker than a ben, and set it for horse 4.
     “That much on your first race?” Dalinus asked when Draco returned.
     “Like I said, I need money.”
     The crowd started moving out the door now.
     “Looks like the race is about to start Drac, let’s see if you picked yourself a winner.”
     The stood with the crowd as they watched the race. After a few minutes of racing Draco’s horse passed the finish line and Dalinus broke into cheers.
     “That was brilliant man! Who would’ve guessed you had such an eye for horses. Well, let’s collect your winnings.”
     Draco’s bin was multiplied four times into two sens. He pocketed them and turned to Dalinus. “So where do you think we should be looking for--”
     “Hey guys!” Leria appeared with Angelina trailing behind her.
     “And where have you been?” Dalinus asked.
     “We were watching the horse race, of course.”
     “I thought you didn’t approve of gambling.”
     “I don’t. But I never said I had something against horse races. It’s fine to just watch without betting.”
     “Sure sure, but look here. Draco just made 3 bins.”
     “Hm, not bad. But you better not waste it on something stupid.”
     “Trust me.” Draco said, “I’m not wasting anything for the moment. What time is it?”
     “7:13.” Leria.
     “She’s got an impeccable sense of time that one.” Dalinus told Draco. He turned to the rest of the group, “But what now? We’ve still got time but I can’t think of anything else.”
     “*sigh* Is money all you think about? We’ve gone to the horse races and now there’s nothing worth doing?”
     “Maybe a little, yeah.”
     “How about we go see Gans at his work?”
     “Gans, a bit of a stick in the mud isn’t he? I think we can go without him.”
     “Yeah but his work is pretty interesting isn’t it?”
     “What does he do again?”
     “He makes weapons.”
     “Oh that’s right. Eh, if we’ve got nothing better to do. What do you think Draco?”
     “Sounds good to me. Angelina?”
     “I‘m fine with anything.”
     “Okay then, let’s go. Lead the way Leria.”
     It took about a half hour of walking to reach Gans’s shop. Upon arrival they were greeted by heat leaking over from the forge, which Gans was working at at the moment.
     “Hey Gans.” Leria said.
     “What are you doing here?” Gans asked without turning around.
     “We were showing Draco around town and I though I’d show him where you work.”
     “As long as you don’t bother me.”
     They began looking through the room. It was littered with all manner of weapons and armor.
     Then they simply watched Gans work for a few minutes. Until Draco asked, “What are you working on?”
     “A special order from one of the lords.”
     “Lords?”
     “The rich folk.” Dalinus said, “They live in big expensive houses and like to spend their time spending money.”
     “Yes.” Gans said, “I’d bet only one in ten of them even knows how to handle a weapon. But they all like having something impressive to hang over their fireplace.”
     “What’s impressive about the sword you’re making now?” Draco asked.
     “Gold blade, diamonds in the hilt. Not terribly functional but like I said, they’ll never be using it anyway.”
     “So you just have gold and diamonds lying around?”
     “Of course not. When a lord asks me for something ridiculous like this they have to send me the supplies.”
     “It sounds like you’ve done this before.”
     “Yeah.” Leria said, pride in her voice, “Gans is the best smith Torbec.”
     “Torbec?”
     “This city, you’ve been in it all day.”
     “Oh, I guess I never bothered inquiring as to where I was.” He turned back to Gans, “So when is this sword you’re making going to be done?”
     “By tomorrow.”
     “If I come here will I be able to see it before you send it off?”
     “Probably, the lords servant isn’t supposed to be coming until late.”
     “Okay.” Draco turned back to the other weapons scattered about the room. He picked up a sword and gave it a few test swings and the put it back down. ‘Excellent work, swords aren’t my preferred weapon but maybe I’ll pick up one of these if I ever have the money.”
     This caused Gans to look up, “You’re familiar with these weapons?”
     “Well like I said, swords aren’t my preferred weapon. But do know a good one when I see one.”
     “And what is your preferred weapon?”
     Draco reached into his cloak, “These.” He put on what appeared to be a pair of gloves.
     He showed his fist to the other and they saw that there was a metal plating on the top, and spikes coming out of the knuckles.
     “It’s an idea I came up with a few years ago, this plate on the top could stop a sword.”
     “Can I see that?” Gans asked.
     “Sure.” Draco took one off and gave it to him. Gans examined the glove for a minute.
     “Interesting idea, but I doubt it would hold up well against a skilled swordsman.” He tossed it back to Draco.
     “Man Drac,” Dalinus said, “Music, horses, weapons. What don’t you do?”
     “It’s not like I’m a prodigy or something. Honestly, I didn’t have many friends growing up. Learning all this stuff was how I passed the time.”
     “Poor kid Drac.” Dalinus hugged him, “Well you’ve got a friend now.”
     “Is he serious?” Draco asked as he push Dalinus off him.
     “There’s really no way of telling.” Leria said.
     “Well, I don’t know about you, but this heat is kind of getting to me. What do you say we head back?”
     “Yeah, now that you mention it. I haven’t eaten since we left. I’m starving.”
     “I could go for a little food as well.” Dalinus said, “Or maybe a lot of food.”
     After another half hour of walking they were all comfortably back at the Pepper Pony, they were a little late for dinner but Sovelt heated them up some meat.
     “Meat?” Draco asked when Sovelt told them, “What kind of meat?”
     “Oh, meats meat.” The large man replied, “What does it matter what kind of meat.”
     “I think I’d like to know what I’m eating.”
     “Listen here son, nobody around here knows what go’s into my cooking. And     I’m not changing that policy for nobody.” After that Sovelt went through the door into the kitchen.
     “Yeah, Sovelts very particular when it comes to his food.” Dalinus said, “And it’s probably best you don’t press him too hard. He caught me sneaking into the kitchen about a week after I started staying here--”
     “Why were you sneaking into the kitchen?” Draco asked.
     “Why, too see what he was putting into that food of course. I mean, his bacon is plain tasty, but have you ever tasted anything like it?”
     “Come to think of it, the bacon this morning did have a weirdly good taste to it.”
     Sovelt brought them all plates out of the kitchen.
     They all started eating, “And so what happened was” Dalinus said in between bites, “I was served sub par meals for a week.”
     “And” Leria added, “He stole food off my plate for the entire time.”
     “And we’ve been friends ever since.” Dalinus said nostalgically.
     “You’re story is truly touching.” Draco said.
     After a minute, Dalinus, who finished his plate faster than all the others, said, “Well it’s been quite a day, but I think I’m going to turn in for the night. I’ll see you all, tomorrow.” He got up and moved to his room.
     Draco turned to Angelina, “And how was your day Angel? You’ve barely said anything all day.”
     “It was fun.”
     “Really?”
     “Yeah, I liked just going around with you and listening to all of you talk.”
     “Oh, okay then.”
     Leria yawned and said she was going to turn in. Leaving Draco and Angelina alone. There was a rather awkward silence until Sovelt came to them.
     “Hey Draco.” He said, “If you’re planning on spending the night here again that’ll be another sen.”
     “Oh, right.” He pulled on of the coins he had won earlier and gave it to Sovelt.
     “You know, if you plan on staying for long. You can buy a month for 5 sins.”
     “As much as I’d like to save a sin. I don’t have that much right now.”
     “I understand.”
     “Oh, hey. I guess I’ll be needing another room tonight for Angel.”
     “No.” She said quickly. Draco looked at her, surprised, “I don’t want my own room.”
     “Oh, okay then. Sovelt, do you have a blanket or something I can put on the floor?”
     “Sure. Just a sec.” He left, in a minute he returned holding a blanket. “There you go. Now why don’t you be getting to bed.”
     “Yeah, I’m pretty tired.” He and Angelina went up to their room. Dalinus was once again snoring loudly, Draco did his best to ignore it and went to sleep.