Relaxing before return

In the king's chambers, locked away behind sealed doors that always have guards outpost around them. King Dean, ruler of the City of Va rests on his bed staring at the mirror that is hung up on his wall. His reflection stared back at him as it should. He sighed deeply whilst thinking about the visitors that came to his nation as his act fell down in front of him.

"Shit." He said to himself as he flung his bed cover over his head and proceeded to scream into the pillow.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

His muffled screams couldn't be heard by anyone. The guards outside were too occupied with their jobs to see it as any concern.

"Damn it. Damn it. Damn it." He kept saying and he threw a tantrum like a child in bed. "That bloody commoner… What kind of demon is he to have that kind of magic?"

The king sat up in his bed looking at the candles that lit the room. They danced about as if they were enjoying the king's embarrassment, taunting him.

"What a sorry sight." A deep voice said as if coming from the candles themself. The king, sure he was going insane, dived back under the covers. By the time he was brave enough to even peak, all the candles that were once lit, were snuffed out.

"W-who's there?" The king said with a trembling voice. His eyes dashed around the room, unsure of what they were looking for.

"We've told you…" The voice said again. "The church doesn't allow such failures."

The king that was once trembling jumped out of bed and made himself presentable as anyone would when faced with someone higher up than them.

"My lord…" The king said hunched over. "I made no such mistake… That commoner was merely stronger than I thought."

"Commoner? You think this is about that traveller? No one told you to get involved with him. You just decided to do it on your own."

The king's eyes shot open as his mistakes were listed out in front of him. His heart was uncontrollable and torturing its owner. The king clutched it as hard as he could just to make sure it was still there.

"Please." The king pleaded, almost choking on his tears. "Spare my life. I shall make up for this mistake."

"Do not fear." The voice said, attempting to reassure the king by suddenly speaking as if they were equals. "The great hero, Fintan, would never wish death upon us. They only want us to thrive."

The king's sweat dropped to the ground as a smile appeared on his face. His safety was assumed but he could never be certain. He stayed facing the ground as if eye contact would kill him instantly. The guards that were outside never made any sounds. Even the armour they wear never made even a clink.

"Dean," The voice spoke back in its usual tone. "So long as you serve the church, you'll be saved. Be prepared."

"Yes, your lordship."

The king bowed one last time before the candles relit themselves. The king fell to the ground unable to feel his legs. He patted them to check they were still there and that his heart was still beating. The noise of the guards returned and checked if the king was ok after hearing his collapse, helping him back into bed.

"NO!" The king refused, batting away the hands that were held out for him. "I'll do it myself."

# # #

"This is the place."

In the middle of the night when partying was high. Ziu, Fishy and Clara all stood outside a building that was leaking chatter. Lights were bright and through the windows, they could see waitresses running around handing food to all the knights who drank their problems away.

"This is so cool," Fishy said to himself. "Just like a true fantasy tavern!"

Fishy wasted no time and walked straight in. He was expecting everyone to look at him but to his surprise, everyone was already enjoying their food and drinks so they didn't care about him.

"We'll have this one day," Fishy said to Clara, unable to hide his excitement at the thought and just having to tell someone.

"Over here." Ziu dragged the two of them over to the bar where they all sat high on stools. Opposite them was one worker cleaning glasses and pouring pints whilst juggling several conversations.

"Hey, Ziu." She said, "What can I do for you?"

She spoke with a soft tone. Her long brown hair covered her ears. She looked young but had the experience and skill of someone who had never stopped working since birth. Her beauty was something that easily rivalled Clara's. Fishy couldn't help but stare, even as Ziu gave him weird looks and formed the relationship triangle in his head Fishy couldn't stop admiring her cuteness and beauty.

"Hey, Cai. This is my master, Fishy, and his secretary Clara."

Fishy politely shook the Cai's hand as he was still unsure of how to act around her. Before Cai could get a word in, a man who stood out and was the drunkest in the room, pulled Fishy off his stool and over to him.

"Well, If it ain't the man who beat me!" They said trapping him in a headlock, almost crushing him as he still wore his caramel armour.

"If it isn't Vogef…" Fishy said as his level of awkwardness continued to rise higher and higher.

"OI, VOGEF!" Ziu screamed as he smashed his foot on the top of the barstool. "Get away from my lord!"

"It's ok, Ziu…" Fishy said pulling himself out. "Good to see you having a nice time."

"HA!" Vogef let out a deep single laugh alerting all the other guards who panicked but went back to drinking in no time. "I'm drinking because I lost! I haven't lost in years!"

Fishy stood and could only smirk whilst nodding slowly. He quietly shifted his body back round to face Cai who was still cleaning without being fazed at all.

"So what do you need?" Cai asked.

"I hear you know about magic," Fishy asked. "I need help with it. I'm not sure how it works."

"Does anyone?" Cai asked pulling back her hair behind her ear that was sharper than most.

"An elf?" Clara said, understanding of where her beauty comes from.

"Half-elf." Ziu quickly corrected Clara who was trying to work out where in the conversation she asked to be corrected.

"But to get back to magic," Cai said preparing a drink. "I'd just experiment. Be prepared to fail. Here, have this drink. It's taken me many attempts to get to this point. Try it."

Fishy looked at the contents that foamed perfectly to the top in the see-through stein. The drink was a tender orange that fizzed to the top rapidly. It was clear enough to reflect back the drunk face of the drinker whilst dark enough to make their mouths water.

Fishy, excited to try his first beer of the new world, didn't wait for the others and downed it all in one. He let out a mighty breath that he used to down it all and immediately ordered another for himself and the others.

"THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE!" Vogef said putting Fishy back in the headlock. "WHAT A REAL MAN! But may I ask, why is someone with powerful magic such as yourself asking for help?"

"I can't control it. I don't know how to improve." Fishy's face sunk as the beer arrived in front of his face, not even lifting it after he had to admit his mistakes.

"A LEADER SHOULDN'T HAVE THAT FACE!" Vogef said as he laughed his drink away.

"FISHY! I WISH YOU THE BEST!" Vogef stuck his hand out and almost ripped Fishy's off just trying to shake it. Fishy was unable to contain his composure and could feel his skin tear.

"Bring forth a nation that will rival Va. Create a place that you are proud of. And maybe one day, we may face off in a war." Vogef laughed at his own joke as he continued to drink away. He stood up and went over to a group of soldiers who were happily laughing. When he arrived, it was clear they were talking about him as they went silent, but he quickly lifted the mood and drank with them all.

"Let's hope we don't go to war…" Fishy said to himself as he couldn't get it in due to Vogef's persistent personality

# # #

"Shall we go?" The following morning, with Fishy's head playing the drums and unable to shut up, he jumped on the horse that Clara was already riding on.

"Don't worry about where I got these two from," Ziu said. "Just let's leave… soon…"

Fishy didn't question it because he didn't want to admit that he wasn't listening. He rested on Clara's back as she rode the horse for him with Ziu on the other next to them.

Clara wished she could have done something about the situation she was experiencing. Emotions dashed around her head of what to feel. Should she be embarrassed? Is what she thought, but mainly she was just annoyed. Annoyed that her leader was a drunken idiot.