8th May 1642,
My mother gave me the name Rin. It was not the cleverest of names. I found it really boring, but I managed to live with it, because when I was five, she told me the other options of names she would have given me. Such as; Maria, Gracia, Sophia and a whole bunch of others. I was glad she did not choose any of those names because they all sounded too girly.
Mother loves to dress fancy obviously because of our status, but that does not mean we should dress like circus performers. She wears this thing called a corset that could squeeze the life out of you and I worry so much whenever she wears it because I noticed how it wears her out. Truth be told, she doesn't need that thing because her figure is as perfect as perfect can be.
Let's talk about Father! Ugh! Actually, there isn't a lot to be said about him apart from the fact that he's ignorant and cold towards me and every other person around him, including mother. My father remains a mystery to me, but one day I plan on unraveling that mystery. Above all, I hate my father, but I think he hated me right from the moment my mother told him she was pregnant. I seriously have no idea why he hates me though. He never lets me visit the Mainland! Not even once! It's all so frustrating because I've only ever known things in the castle and that's all I know of. It's not fair...
I don't think of myself as a bad person, although I share some similarities personality wise with my father. I've always wondered why I looked nothing like my parents, physically. Maybe I look like a distant relative, who knows? I have jet black curly hair (with a hint of brown) and tiny catlike eyes. I had a cousin with dark skin, he died six months ago, his name was Augustus, we didn't know each other very well.
Enough about my family, let's talk about me! I'm ten years old now, somewhat of a tomboy who dreams of stepping outside the castle gates and exploring lands that I only read about in books, tasting food that the castle maids didn't cook and all sorts of things that I haven't been able to do because of my "imprisonment" here. I still remember when I found you at the back of the stove in the castle kitchen, you looked old, soiled and tattered. I would have left you alone to soil and tatter away, but because of the urge of having someone to share my thoughts with and the pain of not having anyone to share my thoughts with, I took you in, cleaned you up and straightened up your crumpled pages not minding if the ink of my feather pen would write on you smoothly, I was just six years old then! Does time fly? Oh! and ... there goes the bell for supper. I guess I'll be off. There will be loads to talk about tomorrow. Goodnight Gin.
...
9th May 1642,
Today was a... a... I don't know what to call it Gin, but not only do I have you to share my thoughts with, if he has some free time, and unfortunately get permission from father, I can share my thoughts with him too. I'll give you all the details of what happened today.
It all began with my father scolding me for reminding him of my former tutor who passed away a month ago, Mistress Avanti. My father decided that I should learn how to wield a sword, but then my mother heard and told him that I should be taking dance lessons instead. I can't believe she suggested that! I hate dancing, even though I've never done it before.
Anyway, my father sent his first region captain of the Edalian army, Edord, to go in search of any swordsman that was known for their skills as a swordsman to the entire kingdom. He actually sent Edord about a couple of days ago before he informed me about sword lessons today. Hopefully we were expecting Edord today, so I stood by my father's gold encrusted throne, eagerly waiting for Edord's return with the swordsman.
Later on, I heard the trumpets blowing which indicated that Edord had arrived with the swordsman. I was so excited that I finally got to learn how to use one of those dangerous, exhilarating, blood curdling blades.
Something about Edord I forgot to mention, he's just so full of himself, he thinks of himself as 'a clever and brilliant being', well me thinks he's 'a clever and brilliant idiot'. He always thought my father honored and favored him, and my father could see no wrong in whatever he does. I don't think Edord understands my father one bit!
Edord came walking towards us as if he was on top of the world, but all that was about to change. He knelt before my father and mother and it all started this way;
"Good day your majesties," Edord began, "as you well know, you sent me two days ago to go in search of an eligible swordsman, and if I dear say--" Edord paused to bring out a very thick scroll which contained records of what he had done in the numerous villages he had visited, what he achieved, and a whole lot of unnecessary stuff he was about to read on the scroll, as he usually does. Like we have all day! Anyhow, thanks to my father's lack of patience, he cut him short;
"I didn't sit here all day to hear about your daily proceedings, just show me the swordsman." My father declared.
Edord looked up from his scroll at the king, he put his head down and smirked, putting his thick scroll back, somewhere in his armor.
"Right away your majesty." He bowed.
At that moment, I couldn't believe I didn't notice that there were another pair of boots behind Edord's and a touch of brown hair behind his back. I stretched my head a little bit to get a glimpse of the little person behind him, then that's when Edord pulled a peculiar looking boy from behind his back. The boy didn't look like he liked being pulled so violently in front of everyone though. It showed in the scowl he gave Edord, but the soldier paid no mind.
The face of my father went pale as he saw the little person before him. He put his right hand to his face,
"Edord, what is the meaning of this?" The king asked rubbing his eyebrows.
"Well, your majesty-- " Edord started.
"Can you just imagine? My first region captain making a mockery of me by presenting a little boy in my presence. What have you to say for yourself Edord?"
Edord had quite the confused look on his face. "A mockery your highness? Why, I'd never!" Edord insisted.
"I told you to bring a skilled swordsman, how hard could that be?!" My father roared.
"B-But your . . . "
"No buts!!!"
I started to giggle because of his "NO BUTTS" statement. Get it Gin, no "BUTTS." Anyway, my father got steamed and turned to face me and I kept my pipe hole shut.
It didn't look like what my father said was final to Edord. He tried to explain the situation again but my father, as stubborn as he is, refused to listen to a single word from him. My guess as to why he was acting this way? How was I supposed to know? He probably had a bad day but he could've at least tried to listen to what Edord had to say.
"Your majesty-- "
"I said be quiet!"
Silence.
After that, everyone just let my father sit there, rub his eyebrows and think for a moment.
Moments later, he stopped rubbing his eyebrows and made his final decision.
"Edord . . . you are relieved of your duties as the first region captain and are no longer a part of this castle. You may pack your things and go."
With that said, the color drained from Edord's face. The poor thing looked so lost and confused.
"Your-your majesty . . . I don't understand---"
"Guards!" My father called out. Two hefty guards came in no time to carry Edord out of the castle, but it seemed Edord wouldn't go out without a fight. He drew his sword in defense and the two guards backed away because they knew Edord was the highest ranked soldier in the castle, the guards knew their place and knew they didn't stand a chance.
Edord's face was now as serious as ever. To be honest, I'd never seen him like that before.
Edord took a few steps closer to the throne-- for Pete's sake he looked like he was about to murder someone.
"I can take myself out. I'm a high ranked soldier, you put me in that position." He pointed out.
Actually Gin dear, I wasn't really paying attention to Edord and my father, my eyes were fixed on the peasant boy-- he looked peasanty to me-- he was just standing there, hands behind his back and he was looking round the castle as if he was just some normal visitor. . . and he was SMIRKING!?
Before I knew what was going on, Edord was already on his way out of the castle-- he more like kicked himself out.
"You'll pay for this Dormunt, very dearly for this." He threatened as he halted at the entrance to await my father's reply.
My father said what seemed to be a farewell to Edord.
"Don't get ahead of yourself Edord. You will be placed as a wanted man, my men will be on watch the whole time, it would be in your best interest to find an in coincidental hiding place." My father said.
Without another glance at my father, Edord finally left the castle. For some strange reason, I felt like that wouldn't be the last time I saw or hear from him again. You know, me not being able to go outside and all means I'll never see him but I just had a feeling. . .He might come back to the castle though and I know for a fact that it wouldn't be pleasant.
"I hope you all understood my command well?" My father asked the palace guards. "If he is found lurking around the streets, do not hesitate to eliminate him at once. He just threatened me, so do not allow him to go off easy. Tell the rest of your comrades in arms!" All the men standing guard hit the back of their spears to the ground twice, in understanding.
"Yes Sire!!!" They roared.
"After all, he is just one man." The king stated.
After everyone got over Edord, we fixed our eyes back on the peasant boy who-- so it seemed-- had been staring at us for quite a while.
"I should have told Edord to take him along. . ." My father said, just noticing his blunder right before his eyes.
What were we going to do with him!?
. . .
"Hey, you over there, who are you? What is your name?" I asked him. Everyone just looked at me, especially my father. You see, just because I'm the princess, does not mean I have the right to say anything in any and every particular situation or issue that goes on in the castle. It's always best for me to keep my mouth shut. But on the bright side, he actually answered me.
"My name, your majesty," he bowed "is Arrion Ivon, son of Gundure Ivon--"
"Wait." My father stopped him and with one of the most amusing expressions I've ever witnessed him have. It was a mixture of uncertainty, curiosity and excitement. He stood from his throne and completed the boy's sentence." And you are the nephew of Gunda Ivon, that infamous blacksmith, right?"
"You are correct, your majesty!" Arrion beamed.
My father got down from his throne and walked towards the boy. He was now looking down at him. I expected the boy to flinch, but he looked up at the king with confidence.
"How old are you lad?" Father asked him.
"I am eleven your majesty." He bowed.
Obviously I didn't believe him, he looked nothing like eleven, he looked more like fourteen. Goodness knows how he would look like when he turned sixteen. But it was good to know that he was the same age as me . . . sort of.
"I have heard a lot of outrageous things about your father." Father said "You are living with your uncle, which means, you must be training to be a blacksmith like him?"
The boy looked up in alarm and corrected my father. "That's not quite right your majesty. The truth is, I am following in my father's footsteps. I hope to be much stronger than he was when he was still alive." He smirked, still looking up at the king.
"Now boy," father motioned closer to Arrion. "I'm not sure you have what it takes to teach my daughter. Your age is a bit of a concern to me, I'll be honest with you. Also, what makes you think you'll surpass your father? Or even be on the same wavelength as he was for that matter? Can you prove yourself, lad?"
Arrion turned his smirk into a huge smile and answered. "No need to worry your majesty. Actually, before my father passed, he taught me most of what he knew, if not all. He even left me in the care of his former apprentice, who is on equal footing with him. He teaches me and me alone. He just won't take any other students. He really is an excellent teacher, nonetheless."
"Might I ask the name of this apprentice?" Father asked.
"Pyter. Pyter Gorrum, your majesty. You see, Master Pyter was actually the one your first region captain, Edord-- I think his name was--planned to bring here. But Master just didn't want to teach anyone else, even if it was the princess." Arrion paused and let out a cute little chuckle before he continued. "That's when the captain thought it was smart to bring me along instead. Since I still have lessons with Master Pyter every day, I could come over to the palace and teach your daughter the same things and in the process, honing my own skills at the same time. That's my two cents on the situation, sire."
Father looked down intensely at Arrion with his right back hand on his chin and using his left hand to support it. He cracked a small smile.
"You. I like you boy. You are quite well mannered and clever for your own good. Also, it looks like Edord wasn't a fool after all. I misjudged him . . . oh well, it's all been said and done. There's nothing I can do to change his situation. He even threatened me so. . ." How convenient father, how convenient. He is so petty.
Father turned to look at me, and I timidly kept my head down, trying to avoid his gaze. Then his eyes went straight back to Arrion.
"Are you sure you'll be able to teach my daughter to wield a sword? If by any chance, she does not get a suitor when she is of age."
Arrion bowed for the millionth time. "It will be an honor your majesty."
A look of dismay shun on my mother's face. I forgot she was in the palace because she had not said a word ever since Edord came in. The "me not getting a suitor by any chance" part made her stir uncomfortably in her throne.
I didn't know when Arrion came forward, but he was already kneeling in front of me, which made me frown.
"If we're going to be partners now princess . . . well, me being the teacher and you the student, I would like to get to know you better." Arrion said, and I was starting to seriously doubt that this boy was eleven years.
I finally felt some confidence in me, I straightened up, held my head up high, and introduced myself.
"I am Rin Vinyard, daughter of Dormunt Vinyard *cough*unfortunately*cough*" My father turned and glared at me, and I did mine back, "and daughter of Cicinia Vinyard, formerly known as Cicinia Grimrose," I smiled over at my mother, who returned it with a very lovely smile which showed off her beautiful dimples I so much loved to see, "but you may only address me as princess." I finished, putting into practice what, Kinta, my disciplinary tutor taught me.
This didn't help, because Arrion just stared at me, and so did father, with his stupid, huge, owl eyes. I frowned as I usually did.
To stop the awkwardness in the room, my mother-- oh bless her! -- gave me a round of applause with a reassuring smile to bail me out, which caught my father's attention. With the look on his face, it wasn't hard to tell that he was irritated.
Before the king left the throne room, he told Arrion. "Get to know each other better, but not too much, she can be a bad influence. I forget sometimes that she is my daughter. Make her more worthy of my praises, and your pay will be remarkable. We will negotiate about the money later. In the meantime, I will send someone to show you round the castle." He said bluntly.
His words hurt, but not as much as you think it would, Gin. I hate to brag, but over the years, I finally got used to father's behavior towards me. it's starting to feel normal now anyway.
I was busy giving my father a cold stare down-- which he also did the same-- while my mother was still stunned by father's choice of words. Father left the throne room and mother scurried after him, and I was left alone with the peasant boy.
Arrion stood from his kneeling position and checked if my parents were really gone-- at least that's what I think he was doing-- and confirmed that they were. I watched him with my arms folded over my chest as he moved, checking, double checking . . . triple checking . . . whatever comes after triple checking. Then I couldn't take it anymore, what was he doing?
"Hey! What are you doing?" Arrion stopped to look at me.
"Your speech is rather formal now, isn't it?" He said with a smirk on his face.
I glared at him, "I asked you a question first and you look bright enough to know that questions should be answered and not asked with other questions." I told him. But I don't think he got the message.
"Ugh! Are you wearing pink? It doesn't suit you at all." He touched the silky fabric of my dress.
I smacked his hands away." Are you even listening to me?" But he went on . . .
"I'm sure royal blue or black will be a lot better." And on . . .
"You sure do slouch for a princess." And on . . .
"Your hair and eyes don't look normal either." And that was the last straw.
"You don't look anything like your par--"
"JUST SHUT UP!!!" I raged and this made him to really SHUT UP this time. He stared at me, unmoving for a few moments and then started to speak again. Heavens! Does this boy have a mute button?
"What this means is, majority of Edalians have got you all wrong! They view the princess to be this calm, gentle, humble and kind angel that was sent down as a blessing by the gods. What I'm seeing here is something else. You are actually quite arrogant, manner less and impatient." He finished. And I agree with him, I am those three things he mentioned as hurtful as they may sound.
"You are impossible." I told him.
He grinned at me." Thank you. I've been told that quite a lot of times."
Mother came back into the throne room. But only to correct Arrion on a little mistake he made.
"Arri, Arrow, Aon . . . Um . . . Whatever your name is," He smirked when he heard the first name my mother called him." . . . next time, you speak to the king formally and not informal, like you were doing a while ago. He does not usually notice when people speak to him like that because, if you have noticed, he speaks informally. Now if he had found out that you spoke informally to him, you my boy, would have been in big trouble. Understood?"
"I hear you loud 'and' clear your highness." Arrion erupted with enthusiasm.
Before mother turned to go, she added, "Oh, and is it okay if I call you Arri?" She asked.
Arrion brightened." Please do, your highness."
My mother is the nicest person ever and at least I have someone in the castle that actually communicates with me and understands my feelings.
"Your mum's cool."
I couldn't help but snort, "Better not get ahead of yourself 'Arri.'"
Arrion stared at me in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? What, I can't call your mum cool?"
I folded my hands and moved closer to him, "Did you not hear to speak formally? And it's 'mother,' dimwit."
"It was only your 'father' I was told to speak formally to." He said.
"If you think you can get me to speak informally to you, you have got another thing coming. The only people I speak informally to are my father and my journal." My eyes grew wide and I put both my hands over my mouth as I realized how carelessly I gave out the fact that you exist. Now he's going to think I'm weird.
"Thanks for that useful information, Rin--"
"That's princess to you!" I placed my hands on my hips.
He grinned at me before saying." Anyway, see you tomorrow morning at 8 a.m."
"That early!?" I exclaimed, but he had already walked off somewhere in the palace.
I made a face.
Then I realized, that that was the longest conversation I'd ever had with anyone other than my mother. I really treasure the moments I have with her.
Oh well, that's what happened Gin. That was a really long story, wasn't it? Long enough to make a chapter of a book, am I right? Anyway, goodnight and don't let Arrion bite! Seriously, he could pop out anywhere, but don't worry I'll protect you. . . ALWAYS.
. . .
51st April, 1646
Gin, today was my parent's 16th anniversary. I was genuinely happy for both of them but I was and still am very surprised how they could even spend sixteen years together. Especially on my mother's part! She's been through a lot concerning my father and its very shocking to me how she could even keep up with all his shit. My take on the whole thing? Trust me, it's not love. Rather, it's Edale's stupid tradition/rule about things concerning the throne and those that ascend the throne. No matter the circumstances both parties are in, they have to stay together no matter what! Which means, they're basically stuck together for the rest of their lives. Of course they held a ball and as I'm writing right now, it's still going on downstairs. It is fucking noisy and I can't get some sleep with all the chatter and that annoying organ playing repeatedly in the background! Might as well rant about it, right?
Actually, earlier this morning, fresh soldiers swarmed into the castle barracks so my father and the Diamond General, who is the most famous and well accomplished amongst the four generals and was also the general Edord was under, welcomed and congratulated them on passing the final stages of the recruitment process.
There are four generals and they all have four regional commanders under them. These regional commanders, sometimes called captains, are in charge of the safety of four of the main towns in Edale whilst the generals take care of external forces outside the kingdom before they can even come close to it. The breakdown:
Diamond General (First region)- Sir Eli Dom (the perfectionist)
Emerald General (Second region)- Sir Kiv Elam (the flower boy)
Crystal General (Third region)- Sir Etera Gorrum (the dick)
Sapphire General (Fourth region)- Sir Naal Etol (the mystery)
Those are the four generals and what their personalities are like. . .in my opinion at least. Sir Elam is the easiest to talk to; he gives me advice here and there whenever he runs into me at the training grounds, also because he's the youngest amongst the generals. Sir Etol is just too quiet and suspicious but out of curiosity, I try to have a few chats with him when I can but I just get more and more confused every time I chat with him. The other two, I just don't give a shit about them. You want to know why? They suck up to my father more than Kiv and Naal do and that's saying things. And obviously Sir Gorrum's a dick so. . .
Anyway, they split the new soldiers up and assigned them to the different regions under the four generals. My father handed everything over to Sir Dom and left the barracks to attend to other things. How do I know all this? Well I was loitering about the castle grounds because after morning basics with Arri I had nothing better to do and Arri himself was busy with the castle gardener, Acai, out in the orchards. He said he was serving some kind of sentence because apparently he accidently chopped off some of Acai's precious blue bell flowers. Mother was busy with preparations for the ball tonight. So naturally I just wondered round the castle premises to observe what everyone was up to.
I creeped into the barracks after father left and was greeted with a sea of men and women, young and old, but not too old, scattered about into groups all over the room. As I tried to get through them, I observed almost each and every one of them. I noticed the littlest of things; their laughter, their mannerisms, the builds of their bodies, their faces and a whole lot of other nonsensical things. I cracked a smile despite myself; I just really loved seeing new faces, new people with new personalities. It was all so refreshing.
I tried looking for who I could start a conversation with since, surprisingly, no one had taken notice of me yet. Maybe it was because I wasn't dressed elaborately; I mean I was just wearing a plain white buttoned down shirt, brown breeches and a pair of boots with my sword in its sheathe hanging loosely at my hip and there was a considerable amount of females in here that wore almost exactly the same thing; maybe that's why.
I noticed two middle aged men whispering to each other and stealing glances at none other than Sir Elam, the Emerald General. They had lustful gazes; one of them even licked their lips!
I made a face, appalled, on Sir Elam's behalf. Kiv was speaking to a few of the soldiers assigned under him and they were all women. . .not surprised.
I walked up to the middle aged men, they didn't notice my presence yet but I had to make sure they knew I was watching them.
"I understand." The men faced me in alarm. "I mean who could ever resist those wondrous green eyes, his long shimmering platinum hair and those rosy lips of his?" I said with such enthusiasm as I taunted them.
One of them cleared their throat. "What are you on about, you little bastard!?" he raised his voice a bit but not enough to grab the other soldiers' attention.
I folded my arms over my chest and looked both of them in the eye, unfazed. "I'm sorry to disappoint you gentlemen, but I don't think Sir Elam will ever be interested in ugly bastards like you. No matter how he looks, he isn't like that."
They both just stared awkwardly at me, which confirmed my suspicion. With a look of shame and disappointment written across their faces and without saying a word, they went off to join some other soldiers. That was too easy! Kiv owes me big time!
Almost immediately, another suspicion caught my eye. I caught a girl in a green cotton cloak staring at me from across the room. Her hood covered her face and let her straight ginger hair fall over her chest. The girl had her back against the wall close to the entrance of the barracks; she looked really young. It's like she already planned to leave until our eyes met. Did she sneak into the castle? I decided to go over and meet her to find out, making my way through the sea of soldiers. I got through most of them and stopped to check if she was still there, and thankfully, she was. There were a few more men to pass through, until one of them bumped into me and fell to the ground.
The man didn't look too happy about it as he stood up. He towered over me at over six feet tall with my five feet like an angry gorilla. He was probably in his twenties. He had short, messy sandy blonde hair that almost matched his light brown eyes. It really looked like he was about to smack me, but I was unfazed as usual.
"Hey, you little shit!" He bawled at me. "Can't you watch where you're going? You just knocked me over!" his voice was loud enough to catch the other soldier's attention.
I looked him squarely in the eye. "What surprises me is that you toppled over so easily." You could hear some 'Oohs' as a small crowd started to form a circle around us. I gave the bulky man in front of me a once over. "I mean just look at you." The crowd wailed at my sass.
I definitely ticked him off as I noticed his left eye twitch and a vein popped on his left temple. He clenched his fists and fumed on the spot.
"If you'll excuse me." I only walked like two steps past him until he reached out and grabbed my collar from behind with such brute force and brought me back to face him. You could see and feel how shocked I was at the audacity. He moved closer to me clenching his teeth.
"Why don't you say that again, bitch?"
At this point I was really pissed. I huffed, blowing a strand of hair away from my face. I took small strides still in front of the man, planning my next move.
The man just got more irritated as I didn't respond on time to his stupid request. "Didn't you hear what I sa—! I slugged him. The crowd around us howled.
He fell to the ground and groaned, holding his nose as blood started to flow gradually from it. He looked up at me, shocked, while nursing his nose. I looked down at him, breathing heavily myself. No one has ever treated me in that manner before and it just really got to me. It just goes to show that no matter how excited I am to meet new people, I still get reminded that there are literal assholes out there. I was also very sure that the idiot on the ground wasn't expecting a brat like me to hit him that hard. What can I say? Arri is just a really good teacher; he has a bit of experience in hand-to-hand combat too. That boy just knows how to do too many things.
"Brute!" Someone called out from among the crowd of soldiers
The man on the ground started looking around him.
"Brute!? Where are you?" The voice continued to call out.
I suddenly remembered that I was going over to meet someone, the ginger haired girl. I checked to see if she was still at the entrance but to my disappointment she wasn't. I frowned and looked back to the man on the ground and glared at him. He caught my eye and flinched; he scooted back a little. Because of his pathetic ass, I lost my prey.
Soft hands tapped my shoulder and I turned around to see gentle emerald eyes staring back at me. "It's nice to finally meet you," she bowed " your highness." She smiled delicately at me. It was the ginger haired girl! I stared at her, wide eyed and blinked multiple times. Like, did she just say 'Your highness?' and why is it 'nice to finally meet me?' The man, on his feet now, stared at me in disbelief, his eyes about ready to pop out of his sockets. The crowd of soldiers started whispering and chattering amongst themselves.
"How did you know I--"
"My name is Keri, your majesty." She said abruptly. "From across the East mountains, in the village of Sarn." She said in haste but filled with enthusiasm.
"I'm afraid that is all I can tell you right now, your majesty. I hope to see you again soon." With that, she pulled her cloak back over her head and headed towards the entrance to the barracks. Her name was Keri, from Sarn? What am I supposed to do with that information? Why was she so happy to see me? I tried to reach out to her.
"Wait—! ''
"Brute?" I heard from behind me.
I turned and saw a soldier around my age-- but older-- attend to the soldier I punched in the face; the bloodletting wasn't stopping anytime soon.
Brute, was the soldier's name. He leaned towards his partner. "Krone . . . I had no idea she was the princess," he said between breaths " I wouldn't have messed with her if I had known."
The boy identified as Krone, looked over at me and met my eyes; he arched an eyebrow. He walked towards me and I put both my fists up; I didn't care! Both of them could get it from me.
Krone quickly put his hands up." Hey, hey, slow down there. I am not going to do anything, I swear! I just want to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about." I looked over at Brute. "How dare he lay a finger on me."
"Look, he's very sorry. It won't happen again, your highness." Krone defended Brute.
"What? Can't he apologize himself?" I put my fists down and sneered at him.
Krone sighed and tapped Brute on the back. "I- I am truly sorry, your majesty." Brute managed.
I wasn't exactly satisfied but I let it go. "Fine then. I hope I don't ever run into you two any time soon. Now if you'll excuse me."
Krone sighed and raked his fingers through his hair, letting a strand come loose.
With that, I took my leave. I had had enough of everything at that point. I was still processing the whole Keri thing as I walked out the barracks, a whole bunch of soldiers staring at me as I moved out.
Sigh. That stupid organ is still playing. . .