The Messenger Part 2

April 2, 1213 Rodrick was born to the Messenger family. He was the 4th child of the current heads of the family, but the 1st son. As such from birth he was destined to take over the mail delivery service that his family has been providing for all of Deodalion since January 1, 820.

At some time in 1220 after his birthday, Rodrick's dad came to him, sat him down and spoke respectfully to him for the first and only time in his life. "Listen, Ricky. You know how you don't have an older brother?"

Rodrick nodded.

"That's because- Well, I can't explain that to you just yet, but I- You're going to own our family's company."

Rodrick nodded.

"You see, we've been serving the royal family for hundreds of years. Every single head of the family has had a delivery that they had to make that defined them for generations. Do you understand?"

Rodrick nodded.

"You see, when I was your age my father, your grandfather, may the Great King lead him to a peaceful rest. Told me about how he had to deliver the peace letter to the King of Amenti-Aaru at the time. It was a painful journey, he almost died in the desert. He had to fight off a dragon! Do you know what dragons are, Ricky?"

Rodrick paused, then shook his head.

"Ancient powerful creatures, long to have been said to be extinct. Creatures 12 times your size, and 9 times mine, sometimes even larger. Yet your grandfather fought one off just so he can deliver a letter. Isn't that amazing?"

Rodrick nodded. "Do I have to fight a-"

"Shut up! Ricky let me finish before you start talking. I've been waiting for this moment for decades. I don't want you to-" his father stopped himself and stared at Rodrick. His face was tense, but he relaxed it.

Rodrick put his head down.

"Raise your head Ricky. You're a Messenger, from the moment you were born to the day you die, you will be a Messenger. Never be ashamed. Be confident. I'm sorry for my outburst."

Rodrick raised his head, scrunching up his face to hide the fact that he was holding back tears.

"You probably won't ever find a dragon in this day and age, so don't worry about it. When it was time for me to deliver my generational letter I had to bring news of King Azariah's second marriage to our allies. I believe that was about 3 decades ago. I traversed the desert, and personally handed it to King Osiris of Amenti-Aaru himself. I fought off hunger, heat, exhaustion, and even thirst! Then the war came… but that is for another time. Do you understand me so far Ricky?"

Rodrick nodded his head.

"Perfect! You start paperboy training tomorrow, by the following year you will start delivering papers to everyone in Marigold City!"

Rodrick quickly responded with, "What about my sisters, are they going to deliver."

"No! You need to hone your body to deliver anywhere, at any time, on time; no matter the cost! So don't waste time, and start asking your sisters how they do it! Do not bring me disappointment!"

Rodrick would spend the next decade honing his skills as a paperboy. Despite him not fully understanding what his father was telling him at the time of his father's sit down. He still retained every word told to him, replaying the scene over and over again in his head like a broken record. It was enough to keep him going for all 10 years as happy as he could be.

It was around an hour after midnight on the start of his 9th year as a paperboy when he returned home from his daily required delivery service. The year was 1230, all 4 of his sisters were in the family living room along with his father and mother. His father sat in his usual chair, his head down and hands folded. His mother was beside the chair, leaning against the arm of it and slowly falling to the ground. His sisters were randomly assorted on their couch, none in their favorite positions. They were all silent, save for his mother who was crying loudly.

"What's going on here," Rodrick would ask.

"His majesty is dead," his father began. "They have summoned the Messenger family to deliver his will to his children."

Rodrick looked all around the room, his sisters looked away from him, and his mother started screaming even louder. He started tearing up and sweating as he asked, "Which one of us is going to deliver it?"

"You," his eldest sister said.

"They await for you at the King's court," all of his other sisters said almost in unison. His mother screamed again, "my baby boy, why!"

"Mother, I'll be fine. I've been training for this all my life."

"No! Ricky I don't think you'll be fine at all! You haven't trained to deal with mage born people and their antics! Those mages are going to ruin you, that is all they are good for!" His mother screeched while rushing up to him and grabbing his shirt. "They are not normal like us. They are not peasants like us. We don't even see Prince Richmond nowadays. We only see Prince Jeremy in those whore houses. Don't get me started on Princess Athena, she is either always there or never there. There is no in between for that woman, and I know you've told me that you wanted to marry her, and I said I'll put in a good word for you, but I'll bring you back to reality. She won't ever marry you, and I didn't even put in a good word for you. I called you a filthy little peasant paperboy. And she laughed darling!" Her mother sniffled and chuckled as tears fell down her eyes, "I have never heard her laugh before, until that moment I had never. So don't do this Ricky. Find another generational delivery, or wait until you are 18."

"That is enough Mary," Rodrick's father shouted, his head still low, "He is ready now and he will complete the delivery and be named the heir to the Messenger Company. That is final! Rose, Nancy, Gertrude, and Joan. Escort Rodrick to the King's court."

"Yes father," Rodrick's sisters said as they all moved in order of age (like his father had called them) towards Rodrick. Gertrude and Joan helped their mother take a seat on the couch they sat on. While Rose and Nancy walked out of the Messenger home with Rodrick, Joan and Gertrude tried to calm their mother down with, "He'll be fine. He's just as good if not better than father at delivery," Gertrude would say.

"Is it true that Princess Athena laughed at that," Joan would ask.

"Why are you asking that," Gertrude responded with a hint of anger.

"Well, every girl at my school says she's the perfect lady. Laughing at such an insult, isn't that- un-ladylike?"

"Don't listen to those girls Joan, they're more likely to join Jeremy's bed than ever be lady-like."

"That's disgusting! Oh! I should tell Rodrick to tell Prince Richmond to marry me. Every girl at school says he's Prince Charming himself, the man of chivalry!" Joan jumped up and ran out the door to catch up with Rodrick and her other sisters. Gertrude shook her head, and comforted her mother.

As Rodrick and his sisters walked through the sleeping streets of Marigold City, the capital of Deodalion, Rodrick replayed his father's decade old speech to him, like a broken record, however this time he understood it more. His mother's outburst, though, perplexed him.

"Why did mom go on about mages like that," he asked Rose.

"She's from an older generation little brother. She hates magic more than even father."

"But mages are so cool! You know in Alfheim, the Elves invented a magical rune to charm animals to deliver messages for them. I feel like if we just learned a bit from Elves, we'll be able to really advance the company."

"You want to learn a bit from the Elves," Nancy laughed as she continued, "Good luck trying to get something out of them. I've been trying to find out about their beautifying rune for years. On top of that it costs a fortune to just get the materials needed to even attempt it."

"Well once I'm head of the company, I'll invest into the materials."

"Can we get a shape shifting rune," Joan interrupted.

"We'll see," Rodrick said as he looked up to the huge castle that towered over Marigold City.

For the rest of the 15 minute walk over to the castle, the Messenger siblings stayed quiet. Most retreated into their own minds. Gertrude wouldn't join them because she took it upon herself to care for her mother. Once reaching the castle gates, Rose showed the night guards a golden badge with the carving of a pigeon holding a letter in its beak. The night guards took it, inspected it, then nodded their heads, opening the gates and letting only Rodrick through. As he walked through the gates, his sisters waved goodbye. "Good luck Ricky!"

He smiled and waved back as well. "Promise me you'll tell Prince Richmond to marry me!" Joan said.

"I promise Joan! I'll be back soon everyone." Rodrick said as the night guards closed the gates. Two of them (one younger, the other older) began directing him through the castle's front lawn, to a large set of doors that led to the inside of the castle. Once inside Rodrick noted how everyone was up and about running all over the place. Servants and nobles alike were rushing, and disregarding anyone that didn't mean anything to whatever they needed to do. It was customary for everyone in Deodalion to sleep before the start of the new year, in order for them to metaphorically wake up as a new person in a new year.

"Mad isn't it," the younger one of the night guards commented towards Rodrick.

"Quite," Rodrick responded as a noble pushed him aside to continue running in a straight line.

"Ever since the announcement the whole castle has been in a frenzy. Everyone needs to get their new year's slumber, without it they can't hope to ever change for the new year," the night guard said.

"You actually believe in that kind of stuff," the older night guard next to him said.

"Have you never heard about mages getting a new soul every time they dream," the younger night guard said.

"I don't give a damn about those rune speaking demons," the other one said as they neared the entrance to the King's court.

The King's court was in the middle of the castle, it was a small garden, it had no ceiling and was surrounded by 4 walkways that lead to other parts of the castle. There, many noblemen dressed in all black with black hats that covered their eyes. They all were huddled together talking and shouting at each other. Rodrick gulped as the night guards introduced him, "The messenger from the Messenger family has arrived!"

Rodrick stepped forward past the night guards and approached the nobles. One of them broke away from the group and analyzed Rodrick. They gave him a royal messaging hat and 3 letters each with a different name on the front of it, "Richmond Bela, Jeremy Bela, and Athena Bela?" Rodrick asked.

"Names of the 3 siblings. Wear that hat at all times, without it people will shoot the messenger. If you cannot give the letter to the three siblings, then here is the general message you need to tell them. Their father is dead. To Richmond, tell him that he will have the crown. To Jeremy, tell him he is to be regent king until Richmond returns, the resorts and beaches are his after his brother returns. To Athena, she is to marry Prince Tut of Amenti-Aaru as per an agreement that her father made with Queen Cleopatra. Do you mark my words?"

"I do, sir."

"Right, you have until the dawn after next. By noon today there will be a boat for you on the Azariah River to take you to Alfheim where Richmond is at. It is a rune powered boat invented by the elves, so it will take you to Alfheim in haste. However it will not come back for you or wait for you, it costs far too much money. Farewell and safe travels," the nobleman returned back to his group. Rodrick turned back and put on his messaging hat. He then placed the three letters into his bag of letters from his work. He then walked over to the night guards, who started following him as they began walking back the same way they came from.

On his way out he thought on where to begin, "If they gave me the letter for Athena, that would most likely mean that she wasn't in the castle. They didn't even tell me where Athena was either, so her location is unknown even to them. What could she be doing late at night on the night her father dies. How curious. Has she perhaps snuck out of the castle. Everyone is sleeping so it would be easy to find her. She'll be the only one on the street. Jeremy would be at a whore house at this time, most likely. Alright I'll start at the whore house."

Just then, almost on cue, as Rodrick heard the gates of the castle close, he looked in front of him and saw a long brown haired woman with a defined nose putting her hood up and running into the back of an alleyway.