The day after the rowdy night in Icevale, Orewell is in his small house making himself breakfast. The house is just one massive room, his bed is on the eastern edge and the kitchen is just a small stove with few utensils, pots and pans. The walls of the house are made of cobblestone while the floors are made of wood and the roof is made of wood and patched with hay.
He's making a soup made with pork and vegetables he bought yesterday, a simple breakfast that he'll eat alongside some bread, but it was enough to at least get his head straight after his drinking spree last night.
His house smelled like cooked meat and spices blending into one marvelous fusion of scents. After a few minutes or so, he applied finishing touches to the soup and put servings of it and some bread in a bowl and plate then put it on his table.
While Orewell was eating, he got reminded of the events that happened last night in Icevale. It was a loud and chaotic mess with all the drinking and singing, made even louder when the King's eldest princess, Larene, kissed him out of her sheer drunkness. It's not like it ends there either, the death glare that Lady Catherine gave him was enough to send shivers down his spine. Ironically, it seemed like the death glare was the one thing that snapped Orewell out of his hangover, not the soup that he made.
He's just sitting on a wooden chair and eating his meal when he heard a knock on his door.
"Orewell! Open up!", a voice of a young man yelled out. The voice sounded urgent which was unusual this early in the morning. "Open up, damnit!", the voice yelled out once more.
Orewell paused his meal to answer the door, the voice was familiar to him but he couldn't get it on his head who. He opened the door and he was met with his older half-brother, Glen. Glen stood there wearing a pair of brown leather shirt and brown wool trousers, he also had black hair like their father, Felkin, but his hair was shorter than Orewell's and it's also neatly trimmed, he also had the same emerald green eyes that Lady Catherine has.
Before Orewell can even greet Glen, he immediately went inside his small house with urgent steps. He sat on a chair by the dining table and panted in exhaustion.
"You seem to be in a hurry, brother. What is this about?", Orewell asked curiously.
Glen peeked through the windows to make sure no passerby will hear their conversation. He sighed deeply as if he was bracing himself for something.
"Something is going to happen, Orewell. All lords in Divios came here in Bredost just a while ago. They're currently in the council hall in the castle along with Father and King Illain.", Glen explained with exhausted panting between his sentences.
Orewell raised his eyebrow, signalling to his half-brother that he can continue.
"Someone is going to be appointed as a Kingshield. Who the person is? No one knows.", Glen added.
"And...? What do I have to do with it?", Orewell asked.
"Father wants you to come. The tailors have made clothes for you, and we're going, now.", Glen urged.
Orewell doesn't understand why he was urged by his father to watch someone's knighting ceremony but it seemed important so he quickly ate his meal by dipping the bread on the soup to mitigate the heat away.
After eating, Orewell and Glen made a mad dash to the castle in Bredost. When they arrived, they were both panting heavily. They were met by their siblings and King Illain's children. Amelie stood there in confusion to why her brothers were tired, beside Amelie stood Mayne, holding their youngest brother, Pin. Beside the Ays children stood the Poynt children, Tomm and Vina played with each other meanwhile Larene stood there and stared at Orewell.
"Mayne, hand Pin over to Amelie and guide Orewell to the tailorers.", Glen ordered while still catching his breath.
Mayne nodded without question and took her half-brother's hand and guided him to the tailorer. Larene wasn't sure with what to do so she just followed Mayne and Orewell.
The three of them walked in the halls of the castle, cobblestone and more cobblestone greeted them the further they went.
"It's...nice to see you today, brother.", Mayne greeted softly, almost a whisper. Her grip on her half-brother's hand tightened as they walked.
"Yeah, it's nice to see you too.", Orewell greeted back and he squeezed Mayne's hands. Orewell's hands felt rough and callous, which is completely different from Mayne's that are soft and smooth.
Mayne and Orewell aren't that close so just starting a conversation is already hard. Mayne is probably the sibling that Orewell is the least close to since he hardly sees her.
"Who do you think the knight will be, brother?", she asked with a small smile. Her brown hair reflected under the sun and Orewell saw her beautiful blue eyes that shone just like the sky in a sunny day.
"I have no idea. Honestly, I'm only here because Father told me to come.", he admitted.
Larene was feeling awkward just following behind her two cousins so she decided to pick up pace and walk on Orewell's left side. She walked quietly, not wanting to interrupt her cousin's conversation.
As they walked, some of the servants in the castle glanced at them. Larene's drunken antics last night became a talk around Bredost, of course, that includes the people in the castle.
Finally, Larene took a deep breath and braced herself, finding this to be the right time to apologize.
"Cousin...", Larene muttered. It was soft but still audible enough to catch Orewell's attention.
The halls of the castle are all made of cobblestone, with the arches and pillars being an exception for they were made with polished stone. The walls were decorated with painting of the ancestors of House Ays and other memorabilia, trophies of war and other things.
"Mother and Lady Catherine told me what I did last night...", Larene muttered sheepishly.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Her cousin's sheepishness made Mayne giggle because she was also there to witness the smooch she gave to her half-brother.
"You were all tumbly and mumbly!", Mayne teased.
Her younger cousin's teasing was enough to embarrass her, but she was astounded that Orewell doesn't even care. He's just walking as if nothing ever happened last night.
"I guess I should apologize...for making you drink.", Orewell finally broke his silence by uttering an apolpgy to Larene. Without a doubt, if Lady Catherine and Queen Clira were to know that Orewell urged Larene to drink, they would never let him hear the end of it.
The three of them continued walking along the halls and reached halfway when Mayne stopped and turned left.
"We're here.", she muttered and open the dark oak door. The room was big and spacious, decorated by carpets and furnitures carved from spruce and birch.
In the room sat a lone woman that wore a purple dress with embroidery designs that are foreign to Divios. On the right-most side of the dress depicted a blue man with four arms with golden headwear with fancy jewels in it. On the left depicted a woman without any clothes, her skin yellow as dandelion and she's carrying a goat that sucked on her teat. He stared in awe and wonder at the designs of the dress when Larene muttered something.
"Uniosi...", Orewell heard. Uniosi, the folk of the country to the east? That Uniosi?
"You mean the folks in the east?", he asked.
Larene nodded.
"Yes. In the Pleatoss region, to be excact.", she answered. "The embroidery in her dress depicts the gods of Pleatoss people. The blue one, Moprish, is said to be the God of Rivers and Gummenaq, the yellow one is the God of Fields and Fertility.", she added.
Larene's knowledge about foreign cultures and religion impressed Orewell. He never bothered to study other because it didn't pique his interest, and Diviosi culture is already confusing as it is.
The woman that sat alone giggled after Larene's explanation. "You're a smart girl, My Lady.", she complimented with a posh and smooth accent, just like old Diviosi.
"Thank you.", she replied and did a small bow.
The three of them walked inside the room and was greeted by many fancy shirts and dresses, some foreign and some local.
Finally, the woman stood up to greet Orewell, but the way that she did had a sense of warmth and familarity to it. Her warm smile and soft touch in his hands felt nostalgic to him.
"So you're watching someone's knighting ceremony, huh?", the woman asked warmly.
"Yes.", he agreed.
"Take a seat, boy, I'll pick something to make you look dashing.", she said with with a small giggle as she rummaged through her collection of clothes.
As he sat down, Mayne and Larene sat on a sofa across him and waited.
"What's your name, boy?", the woman asked with a sing-song tune in her voice.
"Orewell.", he answered quickly.
The woman stopped in her tracks when she heard his name. This caught Orewell's attention, but he didn't question why she did stop and he just thought that she's thinking of something.
"You have no last name?", she asked. Her tone is now melancholic, a contrast to her previous tone.
"Grey.", he paused. "But it's less of a name and more of a title.", he added.
"A bastard, eh?", she asked. The bitterness was obvious to both Orewell and Larene, but not to Mayne.
"Aye.", he shrugged. "But it's no shame to me. I was still made from my father, Felkin's seed and incubated in my mother's womb.", he paused. "A person."
The woman chuckled at Orewell's philosphical answer.
Larene was a tad bit impressed by her cousin's existential answer. She never thought Orewell is the kind of person that thinks too much.
"It seems I've struck a nerve.", the woman said mischievously.
"Aye, you did.", he laughed.
After a while of rummaging later, the woman finally found something in her collection. A white shirt with a long sleeve and has an embroidery of House Ays' banner on the left side of the chest. She also brought accessories like bracelets and a silver necklace with Frostbite turned into a gem.
The woman carried all the clothes to Orewell and she asked him to take his shirt off. He nodded and complied, taking his shirt off with ease. His body is well built due to him working a lot of jobs that required manual labor. One notable feature of his physique is a scar of a burn in his stomach. It was from an accident that he had when he worked as a blacksmith's apprentice when he was only nine years old.
The woman assisted Orewell in wearing the clothes that she picked, helping him lock the necklace and bracelets on where they need to be. The sight of the woman and Orewell is one of a mother and child, at least from what Larene sees. The woman pat Orewell and dusted off his clothes afterwards.
"All done.", she said with a warm smile.
"Thank you, madam.", Orewell bowed respectfully.
"Orewell.", she called. "Do you believe in magic?", she asked.
"I can't say that I do.", he paused. "But I read something about the Firstfolk of Divios and Unio using it. Why?", he asked with curiosity.
"What do you think it is?", the woman asked. Now, her tone is filled with mystery.
"Well, I don't really know what it is exactly. But if I have to guess...", Orewell put fingers on his chin to think. After a few seconds of thought, he finally said something. "I guess it is the power to make what could be into what is.", he answered honestly.
"A power to make what could be into what is, eh?", she repeated with a small giggle. "If you allow me, young lord. I can show it to you.", she said with a sense of mystique.
Orewell, without hesitation, nodded. And the woman both of her hands on his cheeks and planted a very light and gentle kiss on his lips.
"It could also show you what was.", was the last thing that Orewell heard before he collapsed into the woman's arms.