Rai Halfhead was having a damn good day. Last night, he got to see Fool, as he had dubbed the heir to Stormholme Estates, have his arse handed to him by Big-man. Always nice to see that, yes it was. And today, he could finally get the hell off of this thrice threshed horse. He liked Brown-nag well enough, sure, but a man’s leg’s were made for walking, not riding, and his backside made for a chair or the ground, not a horses back. Although, he had to admit, it was somewhat empowering to be taller than any of the foot traffic they passed. Rai had always been slightly below average height, something that he made up for with the broadness of his shoulders and their strength. Big-man assured him that he wasn’t done growing, but Rai didn’t hold out much hope. Best he could remember of his father, before the fire took him, was that he had been only a little taller than Rai, but with shoulders as broad as a doorway, and a chest as thick as a barrel.
There was still some hope though, he was only fourteen, or maybe fifteen? He could never exactly remember how old he was when the fire happened, and he and Mute ended up on the streets. Well, Mute ended up on the streets, and he ended up face down in the Dupandover River, with a half-melted face, a left hand sliced to ribbons, and only four or five years to his name. That was how he’d lost his left hand, not to thieving, like everyone thought (He wasn’t stupid enough to get caught at that), but to the infection that set in after he had decided to dive face first into the stretch of river that acted as the primary sewer system for the lower dock’s. Not that he could blame himself too much, he had been on fire after all, and with only four to five years to his name.
Regardless, he had lived, and made it to this point, and that was all that mattered. He would be getting onto the Dupandover River again today, this time in a boat, and a considerably cleaner portion of the river. He had long conquered his fear of the river, as a young thief, some of the older boys liked to try and throw him into the river, delighting in his fearful squirming. So, he wasn’t filled with any particular existential dread as they rode forward, just a desire to get the hell off of this thrice threshed horse. He rode nest to Big-man and Mute, while Lordling and Sailor-man chatted amicably behind him. Truly, Lordling had come a long way from his arrogant self after spending a week or two around Caj. The Bloody-cloaks rode in front of Rai, Mute, and Big-man, with a comfortable silence between them. Rai watched them carefully, cautiously, like a thief would watch a growling watch-dog that looked ready to chase them down for whatever they’d stolen. They seemed like nice enough fellows, but ‘nice enough’ could be faked, and it was their crew that was responsible for killing One-eye. But then, Rai knew better than most that it weren’t a Crew’s fault what their Boss-man did. That was just the nature of things.
Beside Rai, Big-man looked deep in thought, a careful frown affixed on his face. Rai restrained himself from letting out a sigh. It seemed that the big lout was thinking too hard about ‘morality’ again. No doubt he was questioning whether or not he should’ve given the beating to Fool that he did the night before. It was a foolish line of questioning, in Rai’s estimation, and one that he should long have been done with.
The first thing ye’ve got tae be asking in a situation like tae this is as follows: Rai thought, with no little exasperation.
Yelling at the Boss-man of his Crew in public would be unwise, so he confined his rant to a more internal space.
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First o’ all, ye’ve got tae ask, did the filthy, little, grub-sucking, swill-eating, pencil-peckered, rabbit-molester deserve it?
Rai counted down on his fingers as he went, making certain that he got all of the swears correct. That had been a lineup he had worked particularly hard on over the last few days. As soon as his thought was finished, Brown-nag let out a snort and a wicker, which Rai took as her sign of agreement.
Aye, that be right, Brown-nag. The little bastard damn well got what he deserved.
Rai pulled out his water skin and took a long sip, smacking his twisted lips, before putting it back. He stretched, and scratched the back of his head. He would need to shave the back and side again soon, as patches of stubble were starting to show.
The second thing ye have tae be considerin’, is if it be necessary tae put that filthy, little, grub-sucking, swill-eating, pencil-peckered, rabbit-molester’s arse in the ground. Rai paused for a moment of reflection. I’d say it was necessary.
Big-man’s horse, Duff, snorted now. This was probably in response to Brown-nag’s whicker, but Rai elected to hear it as a questioning snort. It suited his purposes better that way.
Well, Duffy-boy, ye see, if yer goin tae be leading a Crew, protecting a Crew, like Big-man here is, ye’ve got tae draw a line somewhere, otherwise, it all goes tae chaff. See, it’s like this; Big-man let Fool scream his bloody head off all he wanted, ‘cause words just be words, but Fool crossed one line when he entered that there carriage, and he crossed another when he touched Crew. Rai paused his internal dialogue with a horse who looked profoundly uninterested to scratch the side of his burned nose, then continued. So, Big-man had tae put him down. Tae, ‘set a precedent’ as me old Boss-lady would say.
That pretty well summed it up in Rai’s mind. There weren’t no reason for Big-man to be so damn contemplative. It needed to stop. So, Rai braced himself for the lecture he was about to receive, and spoke.
“Say, what in the Chaff kind of name be ‘Swallows Rest’ fer a town?”
Big-man looked at him blankly for a moment, then sighed.
“Rai, we’ve had this conversation before. You have history books that you are supposed to study.” Rai shrugged.
“Aye, I do, but it’s more interesting tae here ye talk about it then read.” He grinned. Big-man grumbled.
“You have some cheek Rai.” Big-man took a deep breath, “Swallows Rest is the first ever settlement made by northerners of the Vencheng Empire some 800 years back. They came up the river, looking for shelter from the storm, and found a little inlet, where they made dock.”
Rai nodded along, trying to look interested. He really didn’t care for history, it was just a bunch of people doing stupid things, much like the present in his opinion, but he knew that Big-man loved the subject, so he would suffer this lecture to put his employer, guardian, and friend in a better mood.
“Their ship, called the ‘Swallow’ was damaged beyond repair by the storm and they were forced to settle until they could build a new ship.”
“Swallow.” Rai said lightly, “Now there be a right odd name fer a ship if I ever heard one. Seems a little weak fer my taste in names.” Big-man shot him an annoyed look.
“Maybe you just have poor taste.” Big-man said acerbically, before continuing as though nothing at all had been said. “The Town was originally supposed to be called ‘Swallow’s Roost’, but when they realized that they would not be able to repair the ship, they named it the final resting place of the Swallow. Swallows Rest, as it were.” Rai nodded sagely.
“I see, I see.” He said easily. “I don’t suppose that’d be it just up ahead now? Would it?”
Big-man tuned his head to see where Rai’s finger was pointing and smiled,
“So it is.” He replied, “So it is”