Thomas Grey
Tom was frustrated with his brother, his stubborn brother, and his stubborn ways. Will had no desire to rule, and constantly seemed to hate when Tom brought up his lineage. Tom often himself in an argument with his brother about the topic of his throne.
Tom could not help, but feel jealous of his brother, he had just been handed a crown, and he refused to take it. Yet if Tom had been in his place, he would have happily claimed his birthright, it was only natural. That was not quite the only thing that bothered Tom about the situation, it was his father as well.
John Carathian had only taken the two in, because he had suspected Will’s bloodline, not out of love, or desire to see the two boys grow. Not only had the man admitted this, but he also admitted that he had allowed Tom to be place in more danger than Will.
Tom felt rather unimportant, he tried not to think about it, tried to focus on the future, but he could not get it out of his head. Elaine had noticed something was wrong however, and while Tom wished to keep his brothers secret, he had told her about what John had said.
Elaine had taken it with shock, but she when that had worn off, she comforted Tom, made him feel less guilty for the feelings he was having. Now the two rode together side by side talking, Elaine’s long black hair streaming in the wind, as she rode her black stallion, and he rode his white. Elaine was the most beautiful girl Tom had ever seen, and on more than one occasion they had confessed their love for one another and had promised to wed once they were ready.
They spoke as they rode, they were ahead of the wagons now, Lont taking the position of scout for a while so that he could relax, Black loped along next to his horse. William’s new cat had bothered him too, Tom felt as if his relationship with the hound had made him special, more important somehow, and now Will had an animal of his own. Not only did he have a pet, but he had never trained the animal in his life, and Tom himself had saw the creature act obediently to his commands.
“Tom, Tom” Elaine said, loud enough to knock him of his train of thoughts, he realized he had gone silent once again. “Sorry, what did you say?” Tom said his cheeks flushing red, Elaine smiled at him, something that made his heart skip a beat. “It’s fine, what are you thinking about” she said to him gently.
That was one of the many reasons Tom loved her, she was kind, and never got mad at him. Other people yes, brutally so at times, but never him, she treated him better than anyone within their small village, even William.
“Nothing, just stray thoughts” Tom said, giving her his best smile, she raised an eyebrow, “and those stray thoughts would be?” Elaine asked. Tom sighed, but answered, “just feels like I have less worth is all” Tom said with a sad smile.
Elaine snorted, “none of that now, love” she said in a way that turned Tom’s melancholy smile into a brighter one. “You have more worth to me than anyone else in this world” Elaine said looking at him with loving eyes. Tom smiled, and gave her a loving look back, for a second he forgot about what was bothering him.
When he heard Landon speaking behind him, he turned to look at the kid, and immediately regretted it. As soon as turned around he made eye contact with Will who was being followed by the kid, the two had argued harshly earlier. Will nodded to him, and Tom nodded back, but he felt anger bloom in his chest.
The anger grew once will rode past him, moving up the line to the front towards John, and Lain. Elaine watched them pass, with a guarded expression, but she smiled once again when she turned towards Tom. “Enough of them, tell me what you would do if you were a king” she said once the two were out of earshot.
Tom, though seriously on the matter, then smiled when he had an answer, “first I would make laws stricter on men who commit crimes, make the death penalty happen more often to stop families from getting destroyed by crime. I would feed the children in the streets, and I would find more jobs for men to make coin” Tom replied.
Elaine smiled “would you make me your queen” she said with a dramatic flourish of her hair. Tom answered without delay, “absolutely, and I would make sure no one in the world would harm you” he said in a mockingly dignified way, which made her giggle.
“Most importantly however, is I would claim my crown to keep the village safe” Tom said slightly more serious. “That is what Will doesn’t see, he could have the villagers protected, even from the Gold Dragons” Tom said looking at Elaine.
“Tell him that, help him, if he becomes a king, he will need an advisor” Elaine said in a sweet tone. “Will is probably scared of change, just be his brother, and help him, Will would never refuse you, he knows you are smarter.” Elaine continued.
“How do you know that you know of the man’s stubborn pride” Tom said with a snort. Elaine chuckled, a sweet sound to Tom’s ears, “That he does,” she said, “but he listens to you, trusts you, you know that” Tom nodded reluctantly. “Let him be a king, you will be a ruler” she said placing a hand on her arm. Tom thought about that for a while, eventually finding himself smiling at her words.
Late that night Tom found himself apologizing to Will.
William Grey
Will relaxed under a tree, it was close to mid-summer now, yet still a light layer of snow sat on the ground. There was also a slight fall of snow, making the area look like a hazy white dream one might have if they were sick. Not bothered by the cold, Will sat alone against a rock, the tree above him blocked snow from getting in his face.
Will wasn’t far from the camp, close enough to be there in a second, if need be, but he wished to be alone. Though he and Tom had made up, Will felt more alone now than he ever had, Will knew he was different from the other villagers before. Now it felt like a world of difference, and he found himself wincing whenever he caught a glimpse of his silver eyes in the mirror.
While Will desired to be alone, he quickly found a companion he had not expected to run into. Anna the snow cat that had decided to follow the group, now laid next to him, with her giant head leaning against his leg. Not uncomfortable, and the beast’s presence had become comfortable, so Will had taken it upon himself to bring her any raw meat that they could spare.
Yet to call her a pet, or even his would be wrong he felt, she was her own being, every time Will looked into her eyes, he knew she would never be fully tamed. Will had practiced commanding her of course, and often she just stared at him, as if he were telling a horrible joke. Though he did find one command worked, Will need only call her name, and she would come.
That was fine with Will however, it wasn’t like he needed Anna by his side all the time, and something about taming her felt wrong somehow. Will himself did not like to be caged, or commanded to do anything, why should it be any different with her. Will was happy to have her companionship, even if she was wild, and now he casually stroked her fur as he read the book John had given him.
“If I knew finding my history meant studying, I would have stayed an orphan” Will had protested when John had given him a giant book. The History of the Frozen Mountains, written by Dalen Black, a famous historian, at least according to Tom. The book was huge, and leather bound, and old looking as if it might fall apart at any time.
A novel that spoke of the north, and the Winter Kings, who were named Winter as well, Will had found out after reading it among the first pages of the book. John Winter had been the first Winter King, and then his name had passed on, and on for centuries.
“Will Winter, just doesn’t have the same name to it as Will Grey,” Will thought to himself as he read the name of the first king. The book was supposed to be a telling of the history of the northern mountains, but even Will struggled to believe what was written in the giant leather-bound book.
Winter Kings driving off dragons, and armies, even instances of a winter relic user, killing a dragon. Will thought that was a clearly an exaggeration, he himself had a winter relic, and from what he heard he would not stand a chance against a dragon. John had vouched for its accuracy, but he was not alive in the time of the old kings.
Will had his ring for a while now, and all he knew about how to use it, was how to freeze what he touched. Even that had taken years, John had told him he would learn over time, but even then, he doubted he would ever stand against a dragon. In truth Will had never used his relic in combat, never had need to he was a formidable swordsman, and was more confident in his sword than his ring.
John had always pressured him to learn though, but with the trip, Will found himself not being forced to practice, something he was grateful for. Will also surprised himself by enjoying the book he was reading, he felt as if this book was teaching him about his family history. While unbelievable at parts, he still found himself fascinated with the heroic stories of his ancestors.
Will had read a great deal of their trip, and they had traveled for several weeks after leaving Moon Rock. Though he was still nowhere near finished with the book, when he asked John why the book was so long the man only laughed, “there was more Winter Kings that Golden emperor’s boy” the old man had said with pride.
Another story that Will struggled to believe, all his life he had grown up hearing about the old Golden Empire, and how it had been the greatest civilization in history. However, he had never known John to lie, so maybe there was more to the story than he knew.
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While reading about a Winter Queen, named Raseen, who had killed an uprising of bandits under a man named the Bandit king, around four hundred years ago. Will noticed the light had been dying, and it was getting harder for him to see, realizing it was time for him to head back, Will gave a disappointed sigh. Closed his giant book, patted Anna on the head in the place of a goodbye, and stood, beginning to head back to the camp.
Will found his way back fast enough, and made his way through the camp, occasionally accepting a greet, or giving one on his way. The travelers stopped earlier in the day, because the large camp needed longer to set up, this gave Will a couple hours each day to spend reading. Will was an expert at setting up his tent, being able to have him, and his brothers’ bedrolls out in the tent in ten minutes or less.
John was the reason for this, he had insisted they learn as quickly as possible. Will had hated it at the time, even though about running away from the village once or twice after they had to set up a tent in front of the old man’s house again, and again. Now however, Will was grateful for the practice, and even enjoyed the satisfied feeling once got when they saw their fully set tent.
Will quickly found his fire, and sat down in front of it, hugging his fur cloak over his body to keep himself nice, and cool. Will had always figured his hatred of heat had been due to his northern blood, he had been far more correct than he could have guessed.
Tom came, and sat down next to him, and handing him a glass of ale, “back already then?” he asked as Will took the mug. Elaine sat next to him, on the bench next to theirs facing the fire, she said nothing to Will, which was fine by him. “Seems like we travel longer these days, less daylight to read in” Will said with a sigh, “would be I had your relic, wouldn’t need to come back until morning” he said slightly envious.
Will took a sip of his ale, it was good, Lain had bought to barrels of it back at the last village they stopped at. Lain claimed it was some of the best he had ever had, Will thought he was happy to have something to drink other than boiled water. Will flashed his relic, and the drink cooled down significantly, the next time he took a drink, he smiled in satisfaction.
Tom raised an eyebrow at him, and then shook his head, “and if I had your relic, I would do more with it than cool of drinks” he said in a lecturing tone he stole from their adoptive father. Will winced at the reminder and replied with a simple “would be I could trade you” was all he said.
Though the truth of the matter was different Will was starting to realize, Will had always hated his obvious differences from his brother. Nor was he happy with his relic, Tom could use his relic to hide in shadows, see at night, and hear better than any man when he wanted.
Will had always been slightly jealous of his brother’s relic, Will’s relic was mainly used to intimidate. Will would freeze his cloak to a tree to free his body up for a fight, or he would activate his relic to make his eyes glow. While that worked sometimes it was nowhere near as useful as Toms relic, now however was different.
Now Will felt like his relic could grow into something formidable, but he kept that to himself, no need to make himself sound foolish if he was mistaken. Tom spoke with him a little bit longer, before turning to start a conversation with Elaine, that didn’t bother Will though. When Tom got up to get a pot, to start making their dinner that night, Will decided to take a walk-through camp.
Should anyone need help with anything, Will would happily lend a hand, after all there always seemed to be something that needed to be done. So, he walked, he saw other families gathered around fires, cooking their meals, Landon waved at him as he walked by their fire. The boy did not chase after him though, his mother Rose would not allow him to do that.
Will saw the boy thinking about it though, and shot him a smile, and continued to walk through the camp. Most of the camp members slept in their wagons, and their fireplaces were set in front of the wagons, benches that could be disconnected from the back of the wagons were set up around the fire.
Will walked until he heard Plet’s loud angry grumble, and the banging of wood on wood. Walking to where he could see the older man, Will almost laughed at the sight. Plet held a wooden walking stick, and was stabbing it in, and out of the back of his wagons, the wagon had a fabric roof too it. So, Will could not see what he was stabbing at, though the sight of the old man, red faced, and muttering angry things was a funny sight.
Some of the other villagers were trying to hold in their laughter, especially when the old man fell over. Will realized that the man was likely to hurt himself rather than whatever he was attempting to strike, so he walked over to the old man. “Need any help Plet?” Will asked the man who scowled at him, “no I do not, I am not some weak old man who needs to beg for a child’s help” the old man said continuing his rambling as he stood up and brushed himself off.
Will rolled his eyes, “I never said you were, but I have a sword, you have a stick, if it’s a pest problem I can help” he said with a sigh. Plet scowled, thought for a moment, and then sighed, “ah very well, a damn bird got in the food wagon” he said practically growling.
Will raised an eyebrow, and stifled a laugh, making Plet even more angry, “just get rid of the damn bird” he said, crossing his arms. Will chuckled, and walked over to the back of the Wagon, when he looked in, he gave a slight gasp in surprise.
The bird was a solid white bird, with a yellow beak, and red feathers around its eyes, it was eating dried jerky from a sack it had torn open that laid on the floor. Upon hearing the gasp, the bird looked up at him, and cocked its head studying him. They stayed there like that for a second, Will staring at the beautiful bird, and the bird pausing from its mean to watch him.
Then Plet came around the back of the wagon, “what are ya looking at boy, kill the damn thing,” the old man said. When the bird saw Plet it began squawking wildly, a sound that came out like a high-pitched laughter. Plet took his wooden walking stick, and thrust it at the bird, who flew out of the way, going further back into the wagon.
“Stop that” Will said to the man, who didn’t seem to hear him as he continued to thrust at the bird in the wagon. Only when Will grabbed the walking stick did the man look at him, “what’s wrong with you boy” Plet said frustration plain on his face. The bird took the chance to fly out of the wagon, however instead of flying into the sky, it landed on Will’s shoulder.
Will jumped in surprise, but the bird stayed on his shoulder, “what the hell,” he said, the bird only cocked its head. Plet looked at the bird with a curious look, that seemed to replace his scowl, “guess maybe it wasn’t a dumb beast after all” he said.
Will looked at the old man with a shocked expression, “uh what do I do,” he asked the old man in a slightly panicked voice. Plet gave a cruel laugh, “serves you right for getting in my way boy, whatever you do it over there away from the wagon” he said shooing Will off.
Will took a step back, and tried to shoo the bird off his shoulder, it didn’t budge. Will tried to swipe it off, and it bit him, the villagers who saw it started laugh at him. Landon must have finished his meal because he approached excitedly, “whoa you have a pet bird” he said with a smile. Will scowled at the boy, who didn’t seem bothered by the look in the slightest.
“It’s not a damn pet it just won’t get off” Will said with a sigh, the bird cocked his head, and then jumped off his shoulder. It flew in a circle around Will, and landed on his other shoulder, giving a squawk which made some of the villagers laugh once again. Sighing, Will went to find John so see if he knew how to get rid of the bird.
When Will did find John, the bird had flown around him once again, and began circling him as he walked. Though it landed on his shoulder once he stopped to speak with the older man. John looked at the bird with a surprised expression, before raising a questioning eyebrow. “It was in the food wagon, I stopped Plet from killing it, now it won’t leave me be,” Will explained impatiently.
“Curious,” John said, then he reached out to pet the bird, who promptly bit his finger, then if squawked again, and Will was seriously starting to think it was laughing. John scowled at the bird, “well it’s certainly not tamed, the bastard” he growled, which despite his situation almost made Will laugh at the older man.
“seems to be a mountain raven,” John said, still scowling at the bird itself, “I’m not sure why its so far down south though, they don’t usually leave the mountains,” he said, studying the bird. The bird decided to clean its feathers at that moment, an if to hide from John questioning gaze. “Try to touch the bird” John said after a second, Will looked at him incredulously, “it just bit you, why would I touch the damn thing” Will said in a nervous tone.
“Just do it, I want to see something” John said with a scowl, Will hesitantly reached up towards the bird. The bird stopped cleaning itself, and looked at his hand, Will took a deep breath, and touched the bird. Which allowed itself to be touched, to Will’s surprise, and relief, John grunted with a nod.
“Seems as though it senses your blood,” John said rubbing his beard as he spoke, “Curious though, I’ve never heard of the kings of old having control over mountain raven’s” he said deep in thought. Will wasn’t paying too much attention to him; however, he was busy staring in wonder at the bird as he stroked its white feathers.
“Well, what do we do,” Will said, which seemed to bring the older man back to reality. “Nothing we can do I suspect; it will fly off when its want’s or better yet when it sense’s that snow cat around” John said with the beginnings of a smile. “Till then just ignore it and pretend its not there” John said giving Will a pat on the back as he walked past him.
“Wait what” he turned to ask his adoptive father, who just kept walking away, but Will could have sworn he heard the old man laugh.
Over the next couple of days, the bird did leave a couple of times, but he always came back, when the bird had met Anna, it hadn’t even batted an eye. Anna didn’t seem to mind its presence either, Will learned to live with it.
None of the other villagers could touch the bird, except Landon, who had fed it meat until it liked him enough to allow him to stroke its feathers. Landon was riding with him that day, the bird on Will’s shoulder as they road, Will ignored the bird.
Landon spoke up, as he did so often, “So, have you chosen a name for your bird yet?” the boy asked Will. Who replied with a grunt, “it’ll probably fly off soon, no point in naming it” Will said with a shake of his head. Landon practically bounced in his saddle, “then can I name him please?” Landon asked excitedly.
Will raised an eyebrow at the boy, who seemed to be the only one who liked the bird. Sighing, Will nodded, “very well, but how do you know it’s he” he asked with a raised eyebrow. Landon smiled, “I asked John this morning when I rode to him, and my dad with a message from my mom” he said satisfied. Will grunted, and waited on the boy to choose a name, when Landon didn’t speak up Will shot him a look.
“So what are you going to name it?” Will asked the younger boy, raised a hand to his chin, probably attempting to copy his father or John. That made Will smile at the boys’ antics, “you didn’t have a name in mind” he asked with a raised eyebrow. Landon gave an embarrassed look, “I didn’t think you would said yes” he said with a glance at the bird.
“Well then” Will said with a chuckle, “when you think of one let me know” he said focusing on the road in front of them. Landon was silent for five minutes, which was a long time for him before he spoke up once again, “how about Cain,” he said loudly. Will cocked his head, “after the eagle from the king’s bird” he said with a brow raised in surprise.
The Kings bird was a story of a giant eagle named Cain, who finds an injured boy, and carries him to a king who could not have his own kids. The king names the boy his son, and when the boy becomes a king he finds the eagle again, and names him the king’s bird. Its an old tale that all kids heard as children, however with his current knowledge of his background, Will felt a sense of foreboding with the name.
Landon nodded excitedly, not wanting to discourage the boy, Will nodded, and then kept riding. Landon rode with him, and pulled out a piece of jerky, Cain, being a greedy bird flew to his shoulder, something he had never done before. Landon cried out in panic, and then laughed at himself when the bird grabbed the jerky and began to eat it. Will found himself laughing, leaving both merry as they road north.
One day of riding later, and they reached their first northern village.