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I'll post all chapters in this initial post. I dunno how many characters I can use here so when I run out I'll put the overflow in the second post. The last post is always the newest chapter, in this case the second post.

Chapter 1

It was a cold night in New Albion. I’m sitting at a table in the local tavern. My Count, Arthos Romaria, is sitting on the other side, gazing into the room. We’re in Colchester to visit Count Couper. He and Count Romaria are good friends and to keep the relation strong after they both became counts, Romaria proposed they’d visit each other every once in a while. ‘Every once in a while’ became a yearly thing really. As we both took another sip of our pint, Romaria shifts in his chair and turns to me. “Hjalmar”, he says to me with a hint of concern in his voice, “Who’s the man with the cap on the other side of the room?” I looked through the crowd for the man Romaria mentioned, but couldn’t find him. Then I spotted a hood moving, and just before the hood would cover the man’s face again I saw dark brown eyes, a thin beard running from ear to ear on the bottom of his cheek and on his chin curving upwards with a moustache on the other side of his lips. “I haven’t seen him here before”, he continued, “… and that worries me.” “I do not know…” I said as I turned back to Romaria, “… but I’m going to find out.” I stood up, making sure not to hit my head against the ceiling again and made my way to the stranger.

The tavern was filled to the brim with people, as usual, and I had a hard time getting through the mass of people. Halfway to the other side of the tavern I noticed his pint was almost done. ‘Ha!’ I thought to myself as I changed my direction towards the bar, ‘That will have him talk with me’. After slamming 2 gold pieces on the counter I asked the bartender if he knew something about the stranger. He didn’t, other than that he was staying here for the night. After receiving my two pints I returned on my journey towards the stranger’s table. As I drew near I noticed him sitting up straight in his chair, as if ready to stand up and fight. ‘I guessed he noticed me’. Whilst I sat down opposite of him, I knocked his almost empty pint away with a new one and put it down in front of him with a big grin on my face.

“A-Who do we have here?”

“Who’s asking?”

“Haha! Balsy one eh?! Hjalmar is the name and muscle my game. Your turn.” I said with a big grin on my face.

“Hmph” he said whilst raising one end of his mouth and lifting his hood. “DeWynter is the name and Bows my game.”

Now that I got closer to DeWynter and could clearly see his face I noticed more and more details. He was young, no further than 20. Leather tunic under his cloak, but with gold stitches and a gold brooch with a weird bird on the end. It had no beak and though legs were depicted it had no feet. A golden ring on his finger with an engraved sapphire. ‘There was the same bird again, but inverted and three of them... weird’ I thought. And he actually had light brown eyes when in the open.

“So, what made you toss my pint away and replace it with one of your own?” He continued.

“Oh that? That was just something to wake you up and make you speak with me instead of ignoring me” I said with an even bigger grin on my face.

“Well you’ll be buying me the next one too then”

We laughed together and he continued: “But really, what makes me a target for conversation over the rest of the tavern?” “I saw you came from the noble man over there.”

“I hope I haven’t displeased him, I’m not in for trouble at the moment…” he added with a disheartening sadness in his voice.

I immediately realized there was more to this man than meets the eye and continued with a serious tone, instead of a euphoric one.

“Well spotted, sir. I’m his friend and guard and we haven’t seen you here before. I just came to make sure you weren’t up to no good… Are you?”

He took a deep breath, probably to calm himself. “Nope. I’m here for an audience with Count Couper.”

“Have you got one yet?”

“……… No.”

He was clearly not in a happy mood and I didn’t see any harm in this man, yet. “Hear me out. Tomorrow my Count and I will be visiting Count Couper. Meet us here in front of the tavern at sunrise, I’ll get you your audience. Enjoy your beer.” I said with a serious voice and stood up.

He yelled thank you as I walked back to Romaria and gestured that we were leaving. With a concerned look on his face he stood up, tossed some coins on the table and walked out with me.

Once outside he asked what was going on. I explained the situation and added that I thought it was better to let his sadness vent than to let it crop up and explode into anger, and thus invited him to come with us. “A bird without a beak and feet…” he softly repeated to himself as if he knew more than he was letting out.

Chapter 2

I woke up with the sun on my face, the small window of my room wide open. My boots were thrown off in front of my bed, my clothes on the chair beside it and my cloak on the door of the drawers. Outside a pesky cock cackling to greet the sun……. The sun…… The SUN!!!! I jumped out of my bed straight into my shoes like a cat surprised by a loud thunder. Luckily most of my clothing was within reach and I could quickly dress before I ran out, payed the good man and ran towards the tavern.

“He’d better be here before I lose my patience, Hjalmar!” I could hear Count Romaria scream in the distance. As I drew closer Hjalmar’s calm but assertive voice could be heard too. “…. Be here soon, give him a little longer.”

I ran around the corner, stopped right before knocking Count Romaria over and fell to my knee. “My apologies for being late, m’lord. I have no excuse for my incompetence.” “Hmph. At least there is manners in there, kid. Stand up, head held high and learn from your mistake.”

He turned and started walking towards Count Couper’s manor. Hjalmar and I followed quietly. As we approached the guards they nodded as Romaria greeted them, letting me pass without any question. I can understand Romaria and Hjalmar are ‘regulars’ and thus are free to pass, but they haven’t seen me before. ‘I guess Romaria has quite the influence then’. We passed the courtyard towards the main gate. I counted about a dozen archers on the wall and half a dozen spearman in the courtyard itself. Apart from the heavy duty guards the courtyard was actually quite comforting. Some green, some crops and a pair of horses cuddling. A majestic white and a strong brown horse. “Ah, Arthos, my friend how are you?!” A voice from above disrupted my daydream about the courtyard and made me look up to see who ruined my moment of tranquillity dreaming of a normal peaceful life. Though I quickly regretted thinking that once I saw it was Count Couper yelling from his balcony. ‘Good thing I didn’t say that out loud’.
“I’m doing great Coup! How’s the wife?” “Oh well, you know, wife-y. Come on in and I’ll tell you more!”

Romaria gestured not to come with him…. ‘Yet’ I hoped. Hjalmar shrugged to me and walked back into the courtyard, gazing at the greenery. I followed his lead and started wandering. I wondered if it was Count Couper himself taking care of the flowers, bushes and trees. I had no clue what a Count had to do during your average day. As I walked along the side of the house gazing into the courtyard I heard voices in the distance. As I realized and looked around where it might come from I saw a window, slightly opened so the room on the other side of it could breathe. As I inconspicuously moved closer to the window I began to recognise bits and pieces of what the voices were saying.
“… Martlet … Murder … Family …”. I drew closer and closer, and could hear sentences now and realized it was Count Romaria and Count Couper talking. “I was there, Coup. He died in my arms!!” sigh “If only we had found the boy…” “We need to ask him ourselves, Romaria. I’ll invite them both in, Hjalmar will have his mind at ease knowing too. “

‘Martlet … Merlet … Merlette. Where have I heard this before?’ The doors opened abruptly and with the force of a strong grown man they flew open. I saw Count Couper take two steps outside, looking around and stopped when he spotted me. Then I saw his eyes change as he realized I had probably overheard the conversation. Instead of getting angry at me for eavesdropping though, he simply gestured me to come with him. As he turned back towards the house he called for Hjalmar too, who looked up from the roses he had been sniffing and now calmly walked towards the house.

I followed Hjalmar’s lead once more and calmly walked back towards the main entrance. Upon reaching the door and looking inside I felt my mouth drop. The interior was even more detailed than the exterior. White marble pillars and floor, red carpet with golden clamps to hold them in place as people walked over them, two banners hanging from the wall high above the curved stairs leading upwards to the level above the main hall and a gigantic chandelier with at least a dozen candles and lots of gem shaped glass. As we were led up the stairs I noticed a golden Leffit sitting on the railing on the top of the stairs, typically with its tail half-curled around the upper bar of the rail. “Hi, Snuff” Count Couper said as he walked past, giving the Leffit a gentle tap on the head.

We got into a room which was much like the rest of the house. Wooden floor, red carpet with golden clamps, maple bookshelves and in the middle of the room what seemed to be dark cherry wood desk surrounded by 3 bordeaux red armchairs and an equally bordeaux red armchair on the other side of the desk. On the desk was a candle, some paper and a swan-feather stuck in an ink pot.

As we sat down, I noticed Hjalmar was still standing behind his chair, arms crossed. ‘Well, he does look like the chair would split if he tried to get in’. Once seated Count Couper began. “Show me your ring please”. Not fully seated yet it surprised me and with some hesitation I removed the ring from my finger and put it on his desk. He picked it up with both hands and studied it closely. He noticed the words inscribed on the inside of bottom part of the ring. ‘Bien en Aviegne’. I remembered the words like it were the first I ever spoke, but I never understood what it meant. “Do you know what this means?” He asked me. Afraid to answer I slowly shook my head. He continued to study the gem of the ring. A sapphire engraved with a shield, some decoration around it and on the shield, three Merlette. He stroke the engraved sapphire with his index finger, as if he had a moment of nostalgia. I was sweating in my chair anxiously awaiting his next question. I had no perception of the world around us, no Hjalmar, no Romaria, no guard passing by the door every once in a while, even that weird leffit, Snuff. He gave the ring back to me and briefly looked at Romaria. I put the ring back on my finger where it has been for as long as I can remember. It felt weird not having it there, but it’s back now. It kind of slotted back into place, as if it has never left my finger. I felt a little euphoric as I slowly stroked the sapphire on the ring.

“What was it you wanted an audience for, young man?” were the words that once again pierced my thoughts and brought me back to the real world. “I… I wanted to purchase a parcel of land my lord” “A parcel of land? Why that?” “To build a house my lord…” “… to live and fletch my lord” I quickly added. Then, a small moment of silence in which both Count Romaria and Count Couper were staring at me. I didn’t know if it was because of my request or because of what they discussed ‘privately’ earlier. “Do you know who this ring belongs to, young man?” said Count Romaria. “To the DeWynter family my lord.” “How did this come into your possession?” Count Couper continued. “The old lady that raised me gave me this when I was six. She told me to keep this close until the day I died. She told me it was the ring of the DeWynter family, my family, and that it was my inheritance and everything that came with it. She saved my father’s tunic, this tunic, for me for when I’d turn 21. Unfortunately, she passed away a few months ago. She instructed me that if she ever came to pass, I was to go here, purchase some land, build a house on it and live my life the way I wanted to.”

This time a longer silence ensued. I noticed Hjalmar moved behind us for the first time since we had seated. Like he was uncomfortable with the tension that was rising with the silence growing longer and longer. Count Romaria was staring into the distance through the window behind Count Couper. Lost in his memories he just sat there, like a static object. Count Couper, playing with his necklace, dropped it, folded his hands and put his head on top of them. He took a very deep breath and sighed. “Come” he said and stood up. Count Romaria snapped out of his memories and followed Count Couper outside. Once more Hjalmar and I followed quietly. THUMP “A…aaaaaaAAAAARGH” A loud bang followed by a bone shaking roar of anger and pain interrupted the quiet walk out of the room. As I turned around, I saw Hjalmar bend over with both his massive hands on his forehead and an expression of pure agony on his face.

Chapter 3

With all his might, he tried to speak with a neutral voice. “My deepest apologies Count Couper, I believe I cracked your doorframe…” As I looked behind him towards the room, I noticed the top of the doorframe had a crack in the middle and was bend towards us for about an inch. “I stand corrected. I ‘have’ cracked your doorframe.” he said as he too turned around and looked at the doorframe. “Don’t worry about the doorframe, Hjalmar.” a voice said behind us. A little surprised I looked over my shoulder to find a woman standing in the doors that led to the stairs we had come up earlier. Her hands folded and with an expression of ‘oh you silly’ on her face she walked towards Hjalmar to ease his pain. Smuck a kiss on his forehead, “Better now?” “Yes, thank you, Lady Couper.” “Come, we’ll put something on that.” Lady Couper smiled to me and gave Count Couper a look of ‘It’s ok, go on.’ As she took Hjalmar downstairs to the living room, Count Couper beckoned us to follow him. I glanced back at her once more and then followed Couper and Arthos. ‘Why does her face feel so familiar…’ like I was on auto-pilot I followed them like a dog, but with my mind somewhere completely else. The red carpet, the oaken decorated walls with paintings, a chair every now and then, some shelves with decoration on them, the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, the beautiful view outside you could see though the odd window, it all didn’t appear to matter to me. ‘That face… Where have I seen that before?’ My mind was racing through my memories, like a fairy bouncing around a massive library searching all the books for that one line of text.

A loud metal clang shook me awake again. It was Arthos opening a large door leading outside. As we stepped out, the morning sun welcomed us with a warm glow on our skin and put a golden glow over the massive garden behind the house. A couple of steps down the stairs the gravel path began, leading through the garden. At the edge of the path small conifers prevented you from accidently stepping on the flowers patches. Trees, flowers, little wooden sculptures as far as the eye could see. We walked down the stairs and went into the garden, completely in silence. We wandered through the gardens and reached a pond with on the edge of a patch of trees a bench overlooking the pond. We sat down on the bench and gazed into the pond for a while.
“Kenneth, your father was not just ‘your’ father. He was a very kind man, and as such, a father to many of us back then.” His voice assertive, but kind. His face, still staring into the distance. I was not sure what he was looking at, but I believed he had drifted away in his memories. “His father, your grandfather, had created a town, from the ground up. This small village was happy and provided for itself with the odd merchant coming by to sell his wares.” “But when your grandfather died…” sigh “… your father didn’t want to manage a village. Instead, he appointed a new mayor in his place and had a small villa built for you and your mother in the nearby forest. ‘A simple life’ he said. The usual chores, fletching bows and arrows when he had time and sometimes even archery.” “Hahaha!” Arthos laughed. “He was certainly a horrible shot though!” “Very true, Arthos. Nevertheless, he was a loving man and cared not just for his own family. He still made sure everything ran smoothly within his father’s village, even when no longer obliged to. He’d do groceries with your mother, strolling through the village. Greeted by many he always stopped to have a small chat.” “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you get to know him, m’lord?” “Long story short, our families have been friends for quite a while.”

Still gazing into the distance the conversation went cold. Arthos had stood up by now and was slowly making his way back to the manor. Afraid to disturb him I simply sat back and enjoyed the last bit of the sun. ‘Wow, the last bit of the sun, huh? I think they weren’t the only ones gazing into the distance after all’ “We should get going too, Kenneth” As we got up Couper mumbled something, but I couldn’t make out what exactly. We made our way back to the manor and re-joined Arthos. Once inside we found Hjalmar and Lady Couper sitting at the dining table, enjoying a meade. It’s a sight I can’t seem to get bored of, Hjalmar on a chair. The small wooden chair, luckily without armrests, almost breaking and cracking with every move the giant bulk of muscle made. Hjalmar filled the hall with a loud roar of laughter and the crying of the chair. “Did we miss something?” Couper asked his wife. “Oh nothing dear, I was just telling Hjalmar about our honeymoon, that’s all” She replied with a grin from ear to ear. Couper crossed his arms and sighed “Oh boy….” then chuckled shortly. “He must be exhausted then.” “M’lady, Gentlemen, I think it’s time for us to excuse ourselves for a little while. Hjalmar, you coming with?” Arthos asked after a brief laugh together. They greeted the group adieu and made their way to their chambers, I think. Taking this as my moment to stop bothering the count too I excused myself and thanked Couper for having me. He gently bowed his head to which I made a proper bow myself and went off. The guards outside of the main entrance had been changed for the fresh night group and was patrolling rather than standing guard. The outer gate was closed so I had to wait for one to walk into sight before I could make my way back to the town. The path back was dark now, which made it a little harder to find my way but the openings between the trees made it easy to find where I was in comparison to the town. Once back to the tavern I took a single meade and ate some chicken before heading to bed. Clothes on the chair this time and shoes on the end before I slammed myself on the bed, falling asleep during the flight to the pillow.

…

…

..”Ke…” ….. ”Kenneth…?” ..

…….