Chapter 10 - Lay of the Land

The white haired blond, stormed through the halls and corridors of the castle until she reached her room... it was a big enough to fit a royal bed and have enough room, for a night stand, and some cabinets, it was well decorated with blue, red and golden details all over the place. There was a big framed painting of her younger self, her father and her mother hanging in a wall...

She calmed down a little sitting on her dressing table, which even had a mirror, a rare commodity on those lands... She looked at her reflex... And she saw a young lady in training gear with a well tied up hair... still a bit out of herself but slowly calming down she could notice it in her crystal blue eyes...

Why was she so riled up for? she thought to herself... She just now had won two consecutive duels, she escaped once more the clutches of an unwanted fate, she should be happy, and yet there she was, unable to forget the last duel... The image of the boy was still fresh in her mind... his glaring eyes after her first attack seemed so vivid and experienced... it were not the eyes of a boy... and how could he evade it? She was sure to have taken him by surprise... and yet she hit nothing... actually, now that she thinks about it, that was all she did, over and over again going through the fight, in retrospect, she was unable to land a single hit on the boy... he always managed to miraculously escape unhurt at the last second...

Her eyes flared up again, the calm and almost emotionless crystal blue eyes were no more, in their place a deep hate boiled her up for a reason she could not explain... why was she not able to reach him... why? She kept asking herself, mad at her inability as a fighter...

And then there were the soldiers... she recognized them as being part of the First Army and under Bhalrom command... why they put him up to the fight? it was clear they were the ones behind it, "Like me, the boy didn't want to be there" she realized while her anger was subdued again...

And thinking back, what were those shouts? She could not understand the soldiers reactions... they seemed to get even more exhilarated with the boy when he started to lose ground... it made no sense for her...

Was then, she recalled she had lost composure... "I tried to kill him..." she recollected surprised... perhaps that was the source of her hate... she was angry at herself, that she gave everything she got, even tried to aim to kill and yet that shorty was able to barely escape every single time... "He could have died..." she thought as the weight of her actions suddenly got to her... and she remembered the smiling boy... "he could have died and yet he was having fun... he was not worried... he was not worried at all... not for a moment..." she leaned forward in the realization

He also only attacked once during the whole duel, his strikes were strong enough to get her out of balance, but intermittent enough to allow her to get back in position to receive the next one... as if he was...

Her eyes widened up and her head lifted as she tightly held the chair where she was sitting... suddenly the pieces came together... the soldiers putting him up... the awkwardness... the glaring eyes... the soldiers reactions... the unrelenting smiles and joyful eyes... and that ending... where somehow his sword went flying when she was the one struggling to keep hers... it was a ruse... all of it... he intended to lose from the start...

The joyous dark blue eyed and brownish messy haired boy was not struggling, he was actually holding back...

"Brown, messy hair..." she thought, where have she seen that before? And another realization stroke her as a lightning... she was remembering the boy leaving the arena, giving his back to her... and was only now that she realized have seem the exact same figure... he was the one in her fathers study room with Maximilian beside him...

- "Who is he?" She asked her image on the mirror... and quickly stormed out the room eager to find some answers...

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Riou was getting hungry... he was shown around the garden and the garrison by the soldiers for awhile and was already time for lunch, they told him that guests usually gather in the mess hall at lunch, and indicated how to get there...

Riou said his goodbyes to his fellow soldiers and directed himself to it.

He began to see more people moving to the same place as he, most of them were at the arena earlier on, he was able to recognize some of them...

Entering the hall, he could see the exuberance of the castle once more, many details and art exposed all over, there was a table that was U shaped, and had very elongated arms, that could easily accommodate a great number of people, and leaving the hall with enough room to easily accommodate even twice the number of tables already used. the center was left empty probably to allow people to hear and look to the king who probably sat on the throne like chair in the center of the middle table.

Amidst the many people there he could see a friendly face, Bhalrom with his austere appearance, was not wearing his armor, but a kind of uniform that seemed to be indicative of his military status. Riou waited by a pillar while everyone accommodated themselves and noticed that more men were wearing a similar uniform as Bhalrom, one of them was the prince and other 3 older men. Near them there were a lot nobles, he judged by the clothing they were using and their posture towards the officials.

Something also caught his attention, he saw about 7 robed figures amongst the wandering people, dispersed, with same robes wearing the hood off their heads, going towards the table, 4 of them had longer hair and slender faces, paying more attention he noted they were beautiful women, he'd say around 30 years old perhaps more, except one, she possessed the face of a younger girl, petty frame and innocent face, her hair resembled a red flame that went down in waves, it was a long enough to reach the middle of her back... but she clearly was younger than the rest of them... the other 3 were male, and resembled a lot Maximilian mannerisms, but they all had darker colored hair, black, brown and one was almost a dark blue, and none had beards.

They were sitting down in the table and the hall was getting less active, Riou was still a bit away from the commotion, with his back against one of the many columns that held the roof over the hall.

- "Watching from the distance are we?" a known voice spoke in a whisper...

- "Yeah... I have no place here, everything is so different, I feel like I don't belong... Also all of them will show disgust if I approached the table, giving so much importance to oneself status is tiresome." Said Riou getting behind the pillar, away from the view of the table... and joining Max for a conversation...

Maximilian stepped outside of the pillar to take a look there as well...

- "Very well my friend... lets eat somewhere else" Said the Mage with a warm smile... - "I know a very good place to eat in the city... a friend of mine is the owner, I'm sure you will enjoy the place... if we leave now we will be able to still get warm food there"

- "Ho! Sounds good!" said a smiling Riou, as they began to move outside of the hall, and towards the castle entry...

As they were leaving the hall, on the other side, totally unaware of their presence, was a white haired beautiful woman still in her training outfit, elegantly searching the hall for something... or someone... she had fiery determined eyes, and was quiet enough that few noticed her presence... she gazed upon the people of the hall, as if searching something through them... it seemed she was in that quest for a while now since the duels... once concluded whatever she was looking for was not there, she gracefully turned and continued on her quest...

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Riou and Max reached a tavern , it was big and in the middle of the town, well localized and full of people inside... it had a hanging sign with the image of a bear sitting down holding a keg. with strange signs that seemed writings on the sides cornering the border of the sign...

- "The Drinking Bear" - Said Max looking Riou trying to identify the sign...

They went up and Max went straight to the balcony... a very large and tall woman that really resembled a bear, with 2 braided golden hair coming from the side of her head, and big golden eyes, she was wearing a commoner cloths and a big apron on top of it. Riou could tell she was not all fat, she had a built made for strength, as a strong man contestant... or woman in this case...

As soon she saw Max she called out - "You are still alive, you old fart!" Leaving everything she was doing behind to give the old man a hug... he seemed very small and almost disappeared between the woman arms... when she released, he took a moment to recover from the interaction...

-"This.. this here is Syldis, she is an old friend of mine from the North Kingdom... she was once an adventurer and retired to a calmer life taking care of this tavern..." Said Max a bit more recovered...

- "Indeed! You will find no better cuisine in all Allard!" - she proudly complemented...

- "I'm already salivating!" Said Riou expressing his hunger and anticipation by the food.

- "Is this your son Max? He is such a smart lad!" - Asked Bjorn clearly messing with the Mage

- "Don't joke around Syldis... This is Riou, he is also a friend of mine, so please take care of him when I'm not around..." said Max.. continuing in a more joyous manner - "Bring us your finest meat and beverage... I have much to discuss with this young man here..."

- "Very well! Sit wherever you like the best food you ever tasted will be coming shortly after...."

The tavern was rustic, but very well built and sturdy, truly in a way resembling the owner physique and personality , the wood and stone tables gave a good ambiance... it was big room with the balcony, and behind it probably the kitchen and warehouse... there were a sturdy wooden stairs to a level above, probably where rooms could be rented.

They sat down and the food quickly followed, Riou didn't wait to start to eat... and attacked the food, it really was the best food he tried since coming to this land...

- "Riou, I will be going back to my place to investigate about... that subject... in a few days, I think it would be best for you to stay here and get acquaintance with the culture and the land... the North is way harsher than Allard, it would prove much difficult for you to do that there, it would be even harder to keep your secret hidden..." Said the Mage calmly to him... - "I think I will take a couple of months to get back..." he continued

Riou listened with interest and nodded while still eating... in agreement. - "So I will leave some money with Syldis, I'm sure you will be welcomed to stay here for the time being... you can also depend on her on whatever you need, she is a very smart woman, and surely will be able to help you in my absence..."

Riou looked to Syldis who was back at the balcony attending other customers, and looked back to Max - "If you say so... no problem by me" complemented him nodding his head.

- "Also, if you end up in any trouble, come to my place, I have friends in Thanes, the north capital, look for the Flying Dragon Inn... if you ever need to find me, go there and ask for me... they will be able to guide you..."

Riou felt like in a spy movie... and smiling and agreeing... - "The Flying Dragon it is..." Repeating the name to assure he got it right...

- "And whats up with that thought, why do you think I will get in trouble? " Asked Max humorously.

- "Just a precaution... just a precaution young man.... "Said laughing the old man clearly humored by the remark..

He grabbed a knife to cut up the meat... and continued

- "Very well my boy, let's eat up and then lets take a walk through the city I need to show you around so you are not totally clueless... I will go in a few days, lets use the time to get used to this city..."