Lost In A Daydream

The trouble with living in such a ramshackle house was being able to hear the rooster just before sunrise.

Waking this early was usual for Henry, but normally he didn't toss and turn until well after dark, stressing over whether or not he was going to get fired the next day.

Begrudgingly, he got out of bed, let out a loud groan, and stretched his long arms up in the air, not being able to reach up all the way or they would hit one of the beams on the ceiling.

The clothes he had taken off the previous day were what he would wear today, except for the shirt change. He wore a cream tunic with a brown belt, brown pants, and brown leather boots. When he was undressing the night before, he noticed the blood from the goblin had stained his shirt, and he decided it would be a good day to wear something else.

As he washed his face, he saw the water in the basin become dark, and he wondered how much blood had been on his face as he walked around the day before. His mother and aunt hadn't said anything about it, but they had a way of ignoring things that were right in front of their faces.

In a rare display of effort, he decided to wash his hair in the cold water as well, figuring it would draw less attention if he didn't have blood all over himself.

If there was no evidence of what happened the previous day, no one could blame him for the goblin incident. At least, that's what he was convincing himself of.

As usual, his mom remained asleep and would be for the next few hours. It was normal for her to stay up late and burn a lot of candles while writing her books. After all, they were important to her, and they were her way of making a little money.

Henry left his house in silence and made his way down the dirt road until it became cobblestones, and he could see the stable in the distance as the sun rose.

The building was in a central part of town because the lower knights used it most. The constant use made it so the owner could afford the upkeep on it, and it wasn't dilapidated like many other houses or buildings in the area.

Upon approaching, Henry saw the owner, Leo, standing outside of the stable with his arms crossed. The angry look on his face wasn't good news.

Henry swallowed hard before he sheepishly walked up to Leo.

"Good morning, sir."

Instantly, Leo went into a fit.

"You caused a big problem yesterday!" he exclaimed. "They got the goblin carcass, but now you have to clean up the blood and vomit! What if royalty decides today's the day they visit?"

To prove his point, Leo bent over and picked up a mop and bucket that were resting against the wall before throwing them at Henry.

Royalty never visited that part of Hydrogia, but that was always the reason Leo had for keeping the stables in tip-top shape.

Having no other choice and deciding to keep his head down and be grateful he wasn't getting fired, Henry did as he was told.

The vomit and blood were both dried down badly, and it took a few tries to get them up completely.

By now, a few hours had passed, and Henry had finished cleaning the ground entirely. The sun was high overhead and burning off the usual misty sky of the morning on the coast.

Henry looked up and had to shield his brown eyes from the rays. It was an abnormally sunny day, even for summer, and he was worried his skin was going to get darker and he was going to further stray from what someone of higher status normally looked like.

"Go for a meal," Leo said, appearing out of nowhere. "When you come back, there's hay to rake."

Just as every other day, Henry cleaned up his task and started to walk up the street, back to his house. His mother always had warm bread waiting for him.

As he got through the front doors, he saw her pulling the round loaf of bread from a cast iron pot. He would eat half.

"We even have butter today," Celia said with a smile. "Your aunt brought it over just before you arrived."

He thanked his mom and ate quickly. It would be enough until he could eat dinner.

Each day he returned to work, he would go in a different direction.

If he walked over the hill, he could see the training grounds of the knights and the castle beyond that. Since his mother had stopped reading him bedtime stories, he created his own stories in his head.

The castle stood with its tallest spire in the middle and smaller ones surrounding it in a circle. There were four shorter towers on the far corners. It had an intimidating silhouette in the fog, but today was a clear day, and Henry could clearly see the brown, worn brick.

Having a castle by the sea caused it to have a worn appearance, but it had been standing strong for hundreds of years by now. He wondered if his family was still in the area 100 years ago. If they were, they were probably still peasants who could only look at the castle from afar.

Henry walked back to the stable, his hands in his pockets and his gaze drawn to the ground as he imagined what it must be like inside the castle. There were definitely gold-threaded fabrics and tapestries everywhere. It was most likely warm in the winter as well.

He wondered what it was like to be comfortable all year or to have people willing to help you. If he ever got to live in a castle, he wouldn't let servants do everything for him.

Lost in his daydream, he nearly missed what was transpiring in front of the stable. There were three knights in armor standing in front of the doorway, talking to the owner. All four of them were absorbed in their conversation.

Henry immediately hid around the corner, out of view. His brown eyes were wide, and he thought he was going to be sick. They must be telling Leo about how he dented an important sword. There was no way either of them could pay the knights back.

He looked left and right, trying to plan an escape so the knights wouldn't see him. If he went to the left, he might as well just greet the knights directly because he would be back in the street.

But if he went to the right…

His head turned in that direction.

Henry was going to have to climb a fence in order to get out of there without being seen. Beyond the back of the stable were a fence and a forest. Beyond the forest was the rocky shoreline.

He had explored the forest many times as a child, but as he grew older, he grew weary of the place, fearing the monsters that could live there. A few peasant children had been taken by monsters, never to be seen again.

He pushed himself away from the wall with the intention of walking to the fence.

"Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?" A booming voice came from behind him.

Henry snapped his head around and widened his eyes at whoever was there.

There stood, in all his glory, a knight he had never seen before. His blonde hair was probably messed up from wearing the helmet he was holding in his arm. He wore a full suit of armor, and Henry wanted to admire it, but he was too scared.

"You think a knight of Hydrogia can't track some kid hiding around the corner?" the knight asked with narrow eyes. "We've been looking for you."

Henry's heart dropped at those words.