BRETVER 22ND YEAR 548 ASMERIAN CALENDAR
Miller awoke to Ruby snuggling up to him on his bed fast asleep. He didn't quite know how to react to her presence in his bed. So, he did what any decent man would just shrug it off and get up without waking her. He made his way to the kitchen and poured a cup of Bransi. Bransi was a Gregorian coffee that was known the world over for its ability to give energy to anyone. It tasted bitter but all he had to do was add sugar.
He sat down on his couch where Ruby was supposed to sleep the night prior. He put his hand down and felt that the cushion was moist. "Aw shite." He muttered as he got up. He smelled his hand just to make sure that it wasn't urine, he reeled back from the strength of the odor. He fetched a towel and soaked up whatever may be in the cushion.
Ruby woke up and looked for Mister Miller but he was nowhere to be seen. "Hello?" She asked as she was starting to panic. "Mister Miller!" She cried. She was afraid to be left alone and it was worse this time since she was in an unfamiliar room.
Miller heard Ruby's cries and rushed back to his room with the towel in hand. "I'm here lass," Miller said as he turned the corner. He entered his room and Ruby jumped to him. He caught her as she tightly clung to him. "What, did something happen here?" He was confused as to why the shy girl of yesterday was acting like a completely different girl.
"Please don't leave me, Mister Miller. I'll do whatever you want me to just don't leave me." She cried with tears running down her cheeks. Her tail was beating down against her calves and her ears lay back on her hair like a beaten puppy.
"You're fine lass, I'm not going to abandon ya, just calm down." He pleaded, he was more confused than anything. He couldn't care less about the piss, Ruby was troubled and needed help, not a lecture.
Her grip weakened and her tears slowed but she was still distraught over something. Miller pulled her off of him and set the towel down onto the floor. He crouched down and looked her in the eyes. "Look lass; I'm not going to be by your side at all times. Ya need to be able to be by yourself once in a while." Miller said as he wiped her tears off of her cheek.
"I'm sorry Mister Miller. You're the first person other than my mother who's ever been kind to me in any way, but she was killed by my last master for being kind." Ruby cried, sobbing from grief. This was most likely the first time she had to grieve and mourn.
"Lass, I won't go down without a fight, that I promise you. How about I make something for you to eat?"
"I'd like that Mister, Miller." She said wiping away her tears, she was still distraught and crying.
He made breakfast for Ruby and himself. As he was eating, he became concerned about how he would explain his new slave girl to the Scottkey family. It was also the day of the swordsmanship competition and he wasn't sure whether to take Ruby or leave her at his house. He sat there and puzzled over the predicament as he watched Ruby finish her breakfast.
"All done Mister Miller!" Ruby exclaimed with glee. "Thank you for the meal."
"You're welcome, I'm glad ya cleaned the plate," Miller said as he took the plate and put it with the rest of the dirty dishes.
"I'd like to say I'm sorry for yesterday Mister Miller." She said as she looked down at the table. "I hope I wasn't rude."
"Don't worry lass, you're fine." He said as he put the plate up. "Now, I've got a bit of a problem now though."
"Is it because of me?"
"Yes and no."
"W-What does that m-mean?" She asked, her voice starting to stutter from fear. Her tail stopped wagging and her ears flattened again.
"Nothing much, however, I've made myself out to be against slavery and the like. So, now that I actually have a slave being you. I need to think of a way to explain what happened and how I came across you."
"You said I wasn't your slave though."
"And you aren't, but nobody else knows that yet. As far as they're concerned, I could've just bought you." Miller said as he sat on the counter.
"Would you like me to leave?" She muttered looking down at her feet.
"No, not at all lass. Besides, where would you go anyways. You've got no friends out here or even family, at least that I know of. It would also be a waste if ya went back into being a slave." Miller said as he walked over to a closet.
He opened the door and a suit of armor and a sword hung on the door came into view. Ruby looked at the armor and sword. "You see lass, I'm a Gregorian Knight. Which means that I'm not one to worry about minor things, nor am I likely to get angered easily. I'm not one of those Asmerian or Luccian dogs who can't control their Temper. So ya got no good reason to be afraid of me lass. Now, I've got business in town that I need to take care of and I can't bring ya with me."
"I understand Mister Miller. I'm sorry about getting scared."
"You're fine lass, but I know you're gonna get bored from being here by yourself. So, I'd like ya to clean my gear and my sword with a cloth and make sure there's no dust or dirt on it seeing as I've not cleaned it in some time."
Ruby got up from the table and walked over to the armor. It was a standard set of arms from Gregoria but Ruby had never seen anything like it. "It's pretty." She said as she touched the breastplate of the armor.
"There's a well out back, go and fetch me a pale of water," Miller said as he reached into the closet and grabbed some towels.
Ruby rushed outside to grab a pale of water. She reached the well and threw down a bucket into the well. She hoisted the bucket back up with the rope attached to it. She quickly untied the rope and carefully made her way back inside without spilling a drop of water. "Here you go, Mister Miller." She said with a smile from ear to ear.
"Thank ya, lass." He said as he took the pale of water. Miller put a bar of soap into the water and made the water soapy and sudsy. "Alright, now watch me, you take the corner of the washrag and dip it into the water and leave the rest of the rag dry. Don't get it wet, then you wash whatever you're working on then when you're done you can take the dry side and dry off whatever you're washing." Miller said as he demonstrated by washing the front of his breastplate.
"Can I try now?"
"Sure, while you're cleaning my armor I need to head into town."
"Do I have to stay here?" Ruby asked as she grabbed hold of the end of Miller's shirt.
"Yeah, I'll take ya with me when I go to fight in the competition, I'm taking part in later on," Miller said as he pulled Ruby's hands off of his shirt.
"Okay, I'll have your stuff all cleaned up by the time you get back Mister Miller," Ruby said as she finally let go.
"Alrighty, I'll be back in about an hour or two."
Miller put on his boots and made his way to the door. Ruby started washing his armor and watched him as he made his way out of the door. "I'll be back lass; you better be here when I return," Miller said as he walked out the door.
"I will be sir!" Ruby exclaimed with glee.
"And I'll hold ya to that lass!" He said as he shut the door.
Miller walked out to the gate and closed it behind him as he left his property. He needed a good way to explain Ruby's sudden change in ownership and there weren't any good ways to put it. At least in his eyes. He told Jackson all about how he'd never owned a slave and yet here he was, with a young girl no less.
He knew Jackson was very mature for his age but even then, he was a fourteen-year-old nonetheless. He continued to ponder how he would handle explaining what happened as he approached the gate into Greendale.
The gatekeepers gave Miller a nod of the head as he passed through the gate. There were still merchants lining the road into town and there were still some who had hot tempers. And so, he went to the fountain to ponder. There were still a few hours until the competition and Miller also wanted to see how good Jackson truly was.
Jackson was nowhere to be seen, so he went ahead and took a seat on the edge of the fountain. He watched as the merchants gathered and dispersed as new merchants with new products entered the square. He thought it was rather amusing as the merchants bickered over the smallest of details to increase their prices.
Just then he saw Yumi and his master who was an older man by the name of Keller. "Hello there, lad!" Miller exclaimed as Yumi passed him. "Mister Miller! How are you doing today?" Yumi asked.
"I'm doing just fine lad. How about yourself?"
"I'm doing great Mister Miller," Yumi said as he left his master's side.
"Yumi, you can talk to the man later but now I need you to do your job!" Keller barked. Keller was an older man and was known to have a short temper but all in all he was a nice man. So long as you didn't step on his toes. "I'll talk to you later Mister Miller," Yumi said as he rushed back to Mister Keller.
"No worries here lad, take care."
"You too sir."
Yumi and Keller disappeared into the crowd and Miller went back to taking in the fresh air and all of the sights. The sun was covered by the clouds and the shade gave Miller a sense of ease as the temperature dropped.
Ruby was still at Miller's house and was cleaning his armor. She was careful as to not scratch it. She dipped the corner of the washrag into the water. She then carefully rubbed the armor with the wet and soapy rag in small circular motions. She started with the helmet, then worked on the breastplate. It took her an hour but she had finally finished cleaning Miller's armor. She looked back into the closet and saw a long sword in its scabbard. Ruby grabbed the weapon from off the wall and gazed at it. She pulled the weapon out of the scabbard and saw the pure black blade. Her reflection was like that of a mirror even against the black blade.
She lifted it up and waved it around the closet carefully not to hit anything and not cut herself. The sword was rather heavy and her arms grew tired after a while. She laid it down on the floor and grabbed the washrag. She gently cleaned the side of the blade that was facing up. She took a look at the washrag and there was a small amount of blood on it. She washed off the blood and cleaned the other side of the blade. Again, there was a small amount of blood on the rag. Just then she heard the front door swing open. "I'm back!" Miller shouted for her to hear as he entered his home. Miller walked around the corner to the closet.
"Welcome back Mister Miller," Ruby welcomed as she dropped the washrag and set the sword down. Miller took a look at his armor and sword. "You know what Ruby?" Miller said as he patted her on the head. "I don't think that my armor has even been as clean as it is now"
"Did I do a good job?" Ruby asked as her tail started to wag side to side.
"Yes, ya did a fantastic job lass," Miller said with a grin the thought of her as a puppy crossed his mind and he let out a little giggle. "Now, would ya like to watch me use it?" He said composing himself.
"Oh, can I?" She exclaimed with glee.
"Sure ya can lass, ya earned it."
Miller started putting on his plate armor and readied himself for the competition. Ruby aided him with his equipment and was rather eager to go back into town. As they left the house Ruby was hit by the brightness of the sun. She let out a cute sneeze as she was not used to the sun just yet. They walked back into town. Ruby was excited because it would be her first time walking into any town as a free girl. They pass through the gate and Ruby gazed at all of the games and food all around her. Miller noticed her tail wagging with excitement and joy and he grabbed her shoulder. "We'll check everything out after my event." He said as he pulled her alongside him.
He put on his helmet and shut his visor. Gregorian helmets were of the sugar loaf design and were easily recognizable for their unique visor. His helmet was old and dented but he considered the dents as trophies from the war itself. His breastplate was also dented from a mounted pikeman from the northern tribes.
The northern tribes were a huge issue for Gregoria and Asmeria alike. They'd often send raiding parties to coastal cities and northern villages. The Prime Minister of Gregoria had sworn to conquer the northern tribes and King Verdi Asmeria had also sent a fleet up to combat the northern tribes a few years prior.
Miller noticed a northern tribal banner over the entrance of the arena. It was one of the more peaceful tribes known as the Caston tribe, the same tribe that made the Caston gold coin. Normally they wouldn't go on raiding parties or attack Gregoria. There were, of course, exceptions to the rule. Miller entered the arena with Ruby fast in tow.
Ruby was amazed by all of the people gathered to take part. Miller walked through the crowd and spotted Jackson rushing to the front. Miller stopped and stayed inside of the crowd and didn't do anything to make him get noticed. Miller kept hold of Ruby so she wouldn't get separated from him in the massive crowd of knights and swordsmen.
Miller listened to the rules, which were very typical of most dueling rules in Gregoria. He then grabbed his silver coin for his partaking in the event. He was on the other side of the arena from Jackson and was in the furthest fighting station. Miller picked a seat for both himself and Ruby. The referees came out and went over the rules again and also introduced the contestants for the first matches. Ruby was in awe at all of the knights in their shining armor, she'd never seen such a sight. There was one that caught her eye in particular. He wore polished silver armor with a black cloak covering his back, he was the only one to wear a black cloak in the tournament.