It was close to midday when Micah walked past the market toward the bottom of the city. He stared at an old, half torn stable with partly burnt wood hanging from its roof. He kept his gaze at an old, barefooted man with a short, grey beard and a head full of hair, grooming one of his horses. Micah walked closer, taking his time with each step as he approached the old man from behind.
"Are you going to stare at me all day or are you mustering up the courage to say something?" asked the old man.
"How are you, Sir Elroy?" asked Micah as he stuttered the words out of his mouth.
"No need to use formalities now," replied Sir Elroy. "We've been past that already."
"Alright, I've come to buy myself and my uncle two of your best horses."
"You can't afford it, lad. Barely one, I'm sure. If my daughter was still here ,she would probably have given you it for free. She always had a likeness for you; thank goodness some Lord from Heartfell took her away and married her. Even my wonderful wife, Sariah liked you. Damn all the Gods for not saving her." Tears ran out from the old man's eyes and down his sunburnt cheek.
Micah looked away, staring at the horses, trying his best to not dwell too long in the past. "Cecilia," Micah muttered. "She was the only woman I ever loved; she was all I ever wanted. It's funny how in life, we don't always get the things we want no matter how much we want it. You did the right thing for her by refusing my hand in marriage. Both you and your wife raised a good woman."
"I swear to you, before my time here is done, I will make at least a dozen Red Vests suffer for taking my wife's life." The old man said the words as a promise to both himself and Micah.
"I'm sure you will," said Micah as he tapped the old man's shoulder. He handed Sir Elroy six gold coins in his hands. As the old man took, it he stared at Micah in disbelief.
"Where did you get this money? Did you steal it?"
"No," he assured the old man. "It was given to my uncle for his loyalty toward the former rulers of Elsinguard. It's for pledging his services to their cause."
"If this is all true, then I wish to join the cause," Sir Elroy confessed. "I have nothing else to live for. My daughter is far away with a family of her own and my wife is dead, awaiting me in the afterlife."
"I'm not taking you anywhere," replied Micah in disappointment. "If something were to happen to you, Cecilia would never forgive me. I shouldn't have said anything."
The old man handed back over all six pieces of gold to Micah. He stared at the old man, lost in thought. "I'll give you the two horses you need free of charge," said Sir Elroy. "In return, you'll take me to join whatever it is that I need to join."
Micah stared at the old man for quite some time before making his decision. "Meet me where I live on the morrow before sunrise and bring the horses along." Micah left the old man in wonder as he placed the coins back into Elroy's hand, and walked out the stable.
As he walked back further up the street, he stopped at the local blacksmith; staring at an old man as he melted down broken swords and made them whole again. The man was broad and wrinkled and his hair long and grey. His beard was as long as his hands. The old man noticed him staring and began staring back with his left and only eye. A growl came out of his mouth while he pounded away on his steel. He dropped everything he was doing and he approached Micah.
"What can I do for you?" asked the blacksmith; his voice was loud and rough. It even had the power to make children cry.
"I'm looking for something special," replied Micah. "My uncle said I could find it here."
YOU ARE READING
Traitors of the Realm - Kingmaker Book 1
FantasyFifteen years had gone by since King Ryker of Mordrid had defeated King Rohan of Elsinguard to have won the Serpentine War. Since then there have been five failed rebellions; each had ended in it's first month. Old Lobo, against his better judgement...
