Stephan liked books. He spent most of his time in the small library of the group of villages he called his home. Pine Valley was small, with Barely four hundred families living among three villages, barely making it into the category of a town. It was on the poorer side in the Empire of the Plateau, but it was extremely stable. The forestry industry that made up the backbone of the village livelihood never ceased demand, and the spring water imbued with wild magic that flooded through the valley kept the forest constantly stocked with new healthy wood.
That magic spring is exactly what led Stephan to try and learn magic. He had made some progress in his sixteen years, but minuscule. The most he could conjure was a fingernail-sized bit of fire. His magical energy stores were just too small. Only the noble, divine, and travelers have enough energy to use magic consistently, which Stephan found, to his great dismay, at the age of seven when he fainted trying to burn a stick. This unfortunate situation led to his love of books. So it wasn't a complete tragedy.
Ever since the age of eight, he had spent almost half of his time holed up in the library by the creek, the only one in the town. At this point, he knew the couple hundred books kept in the library more than he knew the valley. This wasn't wasted time either, as he not only contributed one or two books to its collection but also found his talent for tinkering and magical instruments.
Unfortunately, his family wasn't close to rich enough to get him a magical focus to create anything serious. But Stephan was well known for making small magical toys that could be powered with basically no energy at all. This led him to gather a lot of attention from the village elders and parents. They were sure he was going to be picked up by the capital University one day.
Any day now, for the past 3 years, Stephan waited and wasn't sure at this point if it was something the rest of the villages said to keep his hopes up or if it was just wishful thinking on their part. While he would like more books, for the most part, Stephan was content just becoming the officiant for the village; given how lettered he was, sure it was a shoo-in, as was Geoff, the current and ready-to-retire officiant.
His friends were pushing him to head to the capital, but he didn't think they understood how much and how expensive of a trip it would be. His parents once pushed him too, but quickly stopped once he made It clear he was content in Pine Valley. It sure told him they didn't have the funds to send him away. He wasn't sure if enough funds existed in the valley overall.
Speaking of friends he could hear them speaking on the other side of the door from his reading spot on the windowsill of the library. It sounded like they were trying to whisper, but neither tof them were quite quiet enough to pull that off. Closing his book he waited for the inevitable clamor that was about to invade his space.
“Stephan!” Came the deep yell from the barrel chested young man who burst through the front door. With his cropped brown hair, stubbly face and huge arms you would think that this seventeen year old was a twenty something sailor. “Hello Stefan” replied Stephan from his reading spot, which was opposite the way Stefan was looking, which gave the burly teen a start.
“Dangnabbit bookie, how come your always in a different spot in here, you're always able to startle me” Stefan pouted, he certainly didn't have the mouth of a sailor.
The other one stepping into Stephan's sanctuary had a mouth that would make a sailor blush however.
“Damn you book bastard. We told you to be at the fucking river crossing twenty minutes ago.” The feminine voice that came out of the diminutive blond teenage girl didn't quite mesh with the words spoken
“Language Stephanie, what would your father think of you speaking like this?” Responded Stephan. “I imagine your mother would outright faint at the judges daughter being the dirtiest mouth in the valley”
“Good fucking thing she's not finding out” Stephanie gave Stephan a hard stare. Stephan gave her a reproachful stare back “Didn't think so bitch” she said as she broke eye contact.
“Come on let's stop, we're giving puppy here a conniption” said Stephan with a grin. Said puppy was standing awkwardly on the side, clearly unbothered with the language being spoken.
“It was the one time bookie.” Replied Stefan exasperated at the work out joke. “we should've known you'd have lost track of time today. Now are you going to come with us to the crossing or not?”
Stephan sighed and put his book down. He knew what this was about, and while he wasn't too keen on it, he might as well get it over with.
“Allright let's go.”
It took a second for Stephan's eyes to get used to the daylight after being in the dark library for so many hours. The crossing was a good half hour walk away, might as well enjoy it. It was springtime in the valley, so pine shoots had begun to over run the paths as usual. Once in a while the group passed by one of the valley residents pulling them out, they kept the uprooted saplings, as some nobles loved the fast growing trees and bought them at ridiculous prices. Saying hi to these people and making small talk with them added a bit of time to the walk, but Stephan didn't mind, it pushed the inevitable annoyance the rest of the day would be by precious moments.
“Look book bitch, I know you already know whats happening today, but fucking please act surprised and happy when we get there, my parents worked their asses off for this.”
A request, and not a demand, was rare for Stephanie. So Stephan had no choice but to nod in acceptance.
“Not to mention” Stefan added, but your and my parents too, I think you going to have more fun than you realize”
“Uh huh” retorted Stephan as he clambered over a rock the other two has no trouble climbing. “you both know this isn't too important to me, I’d much rather have finished my book”
“And that's why youre the book bitch” Stephanie looked back at him. “But…” she trailed off and gave a bit of a giggle. Stephan looked at her with interest. He wondered what could make them so sure that this wasn't going to be another exercise in tedium. They both knew him quite well, so it probably was true. He let himself feel a little excitement.
He probably could've let himself feel more. When Stephan and his friends crossed around the corner into clearing he had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. In the clearing that was often used for parties and festivals his family and friends had set up a massive birthday feast for him. While normally he wouldn't care too much for that kind of thing, the three presents on the table in the middle of the clearing more than excited him, at least two were books.
“How did you guys afford to get me TWO books?” He cried, running up to his parents. “Well” his dad, Gerard, a tall lean dark man, still in his lumberjacking outfit. “It wasnt JUST us”.
“Yeah” his mother, Helfa, added. She was a short, hardy blonde woman. “The lumber master and judge decided that for your 16th they'd go all out. Your little magic tool you made helped the town quite a lot” She was talking about the self installing ax head he created last year. It apparently saved the lumber workers a lot of headache, but he never really saw it in action, he never cared to.
He did care however at the generosity of his friends parents. He looked over at where they were seated. The lumber master, Deckard, and his wife, Freida, Stefan's parents, were both of darker complexion and giant build. The Lumbermasters wife was known to keep up with the rest of the Lumberjacks when things were tight. They were looking at him with unrestrained pride. They had been almost second parents to him in his early childhood. They helped him quite a lot in his magical tinkering, always there to lend him materials or funds. It miniscule amounts of funds, but that was all they could afford.
The judge and his wife, Winfred and Holly, on the other hand were as demure as could be, acting as if this was only natural for them to do. It was not. They were notoriously stingy with their money and time, so Stephan was absolutely sure that Stephanie pulled some strings.
“What's in the other box” Stephan asked his parents. Wondering about the smaller box in the middle of the books.
“You'll find out later” sad his mother with a wink.
While he definitely wanted to just go over there and rip it open, he restrained himself, better to let everyone have their fun at his birthday party.
Candied pine cones, roasted boar, pine liqueur, the town really went all out for this, and Stephan couldn't quite figure out why. Everyone was there. Even the clique, a group of kids and teens that lived to make fun of him for holding up in the library all the time. They never met his eyes, but that was to be expected for such, he long ceased to care for juvenile behavior. He was at the table with Stefan, Stephanie and their parents, and was quite stuffed by the fifth course of the meal, but the whole table kept on urging him to eat more.
Sometime during the salad courses, Pine Valley loved to separate meals into different courses, his father stood up and raised his glass.
“A SPEECH” gasped the crowd. While Pine Valley also loved speeches, it was quite a serious thing to make. And while it was expected at such an event, it was surprising it was coming from the lumberjack Gerard, who was famously frank with his words.
“I don't know how the gods blessed me with my son” he began, then waited for the clapping to die down. “his mind is so unlike his parents”
“Watch it” his mother menaced.
“Neither me or Helfa ever made it past our basic letters, and yet my son has created TWO books, can you believe it? Two!” He waited for the cheering to die down again.
“Now everyone knows about him and his friends. The three stephs. The serious, the stubborn and the sage. Of course we know them as the simple, the stubborn and the stupid.” Laughter erupted from the crowd as Stephan and his friends tried to figure out which of them was which.
“But going forward I want to to embody all three. You're coming into your own now, and I think it's finally time to live up to your potential.” The crowd grew quiet in anticipation. “your mother and I have scraped every last penny and done we could over the past ten years. And we finally had enough to get you what you always wanted.”
Stephan stood up in surprise. No way did they even have enough to get him what he thinks they got him.
“Stephan! Your brilliance in this town knows no equal, I think it's time you head somewhere where it is. We got you one year at the Capital University!”
Cheers at a volume Stephan had never heard before erupted in the clearing. No Pine Valley resident had been to the Capital University in a century. He was completely at a loss for how they managed to get him a spot there. But he wasn't going to waste a second of it, he was sure about that.
His friends and acquaintances almost tackled him to the ground in a group hug. While he want a fan of those, this time he'd allow it, mostly because he was too stunned still from finding out he'd become a student.
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“Now for dessert!” his father cried. And with that his mother, who must've slipped during the speech, came out from around the bend holding his favorite desert. A giant strawberry cake. How the hell had they gotten the money for such a thing?
Everyone was happily eating the cake, Stephan had somehow found the room for it. When a trumpet sounded form the other side of the clearing. Out from the northern entrance a rather richly dressed woman came riding with two soldiers flanking her ridiculously large horse. Everyone stopped eating abruptly, strangers in the Valley was something that happened extremely seldomly.
“Well! I didn't know what to make when I found the valley had been almost emptied of people, now I see there's been a party that I wanted invited to.” The woman spoke whole looking disdainfully at the party before her. “Is that anyway to treat a Kings Messenger?!” She pointedly asked the question.
“AH” shouted Winfred “You must be Sandra! I'm so very sorry, I thought you were coming in tomorrow! If I had known that you would be here ofc you would've been invited. Come! Sit! Eat your fil we can bring our plenty of food for you!” He began to get a place ready for her at the head of the table, quickly pushing away Stephan's cutlery and food to the side, then Stephan and his chair after that.
“The air here is nice and I'm sure the fare is just as much so I'll gladly take some sup here. Dirkson!” She said as on of the soldiers quickly went over and used his hands as a makeshift stirrup for Sandra to step down on. As the horse was twice the height that would allow a safe dismount otherwise.
“I'm very sure we sent you the correct date,” she said as she sank into the fluffy chair that Winfred himself was sitting on just a second ago. “But no matter, to what do I owe the pleasure of stumbling into?”
“Well it's my birthday, Ms. Sandra.” said Stephan before Winfred could say another word, Winfred's rather obvious groveling was getting on Stephan's nerves.
“Hm? Daring one aren't we? And just what is your name child?” Giving him a look that gave Stephan a slightly unpleasant feeling, he couldn't quite place what it was though.
“My name is Stephan.” He said, not breaking eye contact, he knew much to the dismay of most of the people there, and great amusement to a particularly foul mouthed girl. But he had to learn to stand up to such aristocrats if he was going to survive in the University.
“Yes!” Interjected Winfred, wringing his hands. “it's the boys 17th birthday today!”
That was strange, it was his 16th, was Winfred nervous? He'd never seen him make a mistake like that before. Stephan opened his mouth to correct him, but was stopped by the exclamation of the Kings Messenger
“AH! So he's the one!” He turned to look at her again, the look had intensified and Stephan could finally place it. It was a look his father had given pigs at market, as if they were meat already. “Now I can do my job and be out of the sticks!”
“ATTENTION” boomed Sandra. Her voice was almost certainly magically amplified, as all chatter and sound cease, and birds within the trees in every direction scattered.
“My name is Kim El Sandra! Messenger of The Royalty and here to do their will! According to her majesty Temari Lionheart the thirds’ will, all towns and villages comprising of more than 100 persons in the Plateau Empire, may its cliff never fail, shall grant one able bodied male to the majesties army in preparation for the rise of the Arch Lich Trayzen. In accordance with previous correspondence Stefan son of Deckard shall represent Pine Valley in the Majesties glorious army!” With that the soldiers sounded their trumpets once again.
Stephan could feel the blood drain from his face. She got the wrong person, but that will be cleared up soon, but he couldn't bear to see Stefan sent to the kings army, the stories and histories he'd read gave him a good idea of how much of a hell it was. Not only that, but Stephan knew that Stephanie and Stefan were planning on getting married the moment Stephanie turned 16, which was next year. As he ruminated on this new terrible news the messenger turned to him.
“be at Cliffgate within the next week. Be aware that any attempts to ignore or avoid this order shall be considered military treason and Pine Valley will be fully punished in accordance with the majesty's will.” looking him over one more time with that evaluating look, she turned to her guards. Who once again helped her up onto her ridiculously large horse. “I know your face now, so don't turn any funny business, and while your body is nothing to sneeze at your courage is commendable, you'll make a fine soldier.” With that she soured her horse out of the clearing. Leaving the townsfolk stunned.
The first thing to break the silence was the sobbing of Stephanie, which the turned into yelling
“Don't you DARE fucking go” she cried, grabbing into the still stunned Stefan's arm. With that the clearing erupted into a cacophony of sounds. People wonder about what's going to happen to the village when the Lumbermasters apprentice goes, it took almost a decade to train and had never left Stefan's family. Others were shouting about the arch lich being the worst thing to happen to Pine Valley, it wasn't. And others still worried that the majesty might try to take more than just one for their children for the war effort.
“SILENCE” came the bellowing voice of Winfred. “LET ME SPEAK”
“First of all, Stephanie! Language! Look what you did to your poor mother!” Said mother was currently fainted on the table “Secondly Stefan will not be going anywhere.” A murmur of confusion went through the crowd. As it did it began to dawn on Stephan what was about to happen. “Stephan will be going! The kings messenger has already saw his face, and any changes could lead to us taking heavy punishment from the Majesty.” There was a silence for several moments. Stephan farther slower stood up. Then he flipped the table, his strength through decades of working made it fly into the trees behind him.
“You son of a bitch set us up!” He screamed as he charged the judge. Winfred quickly jumped behind some townspeople. “THIS IS WHY YOU PAID FOR EVERYTHING!” Gerard was now currently trying to find a way to get through the townspeople who were in between him and Winfred. While the towns people were clearly disgusted after learning about the farce, they didn't let Gerard through, he looked like he was seriously going to kill Winfred.
“Gerard stop!” Yelled Deckard. “Let sit and figure this out calmly, what's done is done, and I don't want my best friend to be a murderer at his son's birthday.”
“Easy for you to say!” Shouted Gerard back. “Your child isn't the one being sent to hell!” at that point Helfa got up, who had silently been sitting where she collapsed. “Gerard! Not only did you just insult Deckard, your also going to scare the daylights out of the children!”
Gerard, his fury still clearly unabated, stomped to his wife's side, who looked like she might collapse again, and supported her. “This isnt over Winfred. Your going to pay for what youve done”
“N-now hold on Gerard, you will be fully compensated for the university fees I assure you!” Winfred stammered. “We NEED Stefan here, the village can't survive without a Lumbermasters apprentice for long. And we don't have the time to train up a new one before the majesty asks for more lumber for the war effort!”
“Father how COULD you!” shouted Stephanie, still clinging to Stefan's arm. With this Stefan seemed to snap out of the fog he seems to have been in and stood.
“I will go. The original edict was for me. Im the only military aged male in the village under thirty, it's my duty to go.” Stephanie, who had replaced her sobbing with anger began to sob and quietly repeat curses under her breath. Stefan looked at her, the look full of sadness broke Stephan's heart. “Im going to go Steph, I need to, I'm not going to let Stephan take the duty that was meant for me.”
Stephanie stopped her crying and stood up, then slapped Stefan so hard he fell onto the floor,
“Than go die for your fucking duty!” She cried and ran out of the clearing, grabbing the small present on the way out.
The silence that followed was thick with hostility. All directed at his honorable judge Winfred.
Stefan began to speak again.
“I'm going to go, explain what happened and try and make things right.”
“But we need you!” Interjected Winfred. This was followed by many mutters of uneasy agreement.
“You don't get to decide what I do, you are judge in our town, and while you may decide the application of the kings law, you are not the king” the resolution of Stefan was clear for everyone to see.
“Now hold on son,” said Deckard “we're not sending Stephan or you. We're going to fight this in court. The people of the Plateau have always been fair to us, I'm sure we could make a deal”
“E-EXCUSE ME??!” Sputtered Winfred. “do you all not understand the severity of ignoring a command from a kings messenger?!?!!” Stephan knew that in fact, the townsfolk did not. And knew what he had to do.
The shouting began again “you're not sending my son to war!” “I'm going as is my duty!” “Stefan we need you here!”
Stephan took a big breath and shouted at the loudest volume he could muster.
“ENOUGH! I'll answer the kings summons.”
Silence once again.
“Good, everyone let me talk. Stefan, your not going, Winfred is right the village needs you, but Stephanie needs you more, and you know and I'm not going to let you leave her. Pops, ma, I know exactly what I'm getting into, I've read the whole library, twice, and there's plenty of literature in there. Winfred, don't you dare think you're going to get out of this unscratched, I'm sure you've already prepared to take some damage for this for the sake for the village, but whatever it is I'm going to make sure you lose more.”
“Stephan, we can work on this, well send someone to the court in Cliffgate, work out a deal like we always do”
Deckard offered. Lots of people nodded in agreement. Such demands have been made before and they've always been able to weasel through.
“Unfortunately not, Winfred is regrettably right about thar. We've never had a Kings Messenger, the punishment for ignoring an order from one of them is losing a limb. And Ms Sandra promised me that any funny business would have the village pay the price.”
A ripple of shock went through the crowd. Losing a limb for a lumberjack is a death sentence.
“I'm right about this. I'm going. That's the final decision.” Taking that as the que to leave most of the acquaintances began steaming out of clearing, clamoring amongst themselves about the suddenly very uncertain future other the valley.
Winfred has the guts to stick around. But someone must have carried his wife off for him.
“I'm very truly sorry-” he began.
“I don't want to hear it. I know this is the best for the village, but mark my words you'll regret this.”
“Wha-” Winfred stammered and left ahuff. Muttering about how a child is going to do anything to hurt him.
Now that it was just him, his parents and Stefan's family Stephan let out a big sigh of relief. The tension from talking to so many people leaving his body.
“Stephan are you sure about this?” His mother stared at him with an intensity he'd never seen before.
“Yeah, I need to follow the Kings Messengers order, but from there I may have some options. I may get out of this yet.”
Stephan came up behind him and clapped him on the back “Well I'm glad to see you aren't just giving up on freedom, if any of us could get out of it it's you. I wouldn't let you go otherwise”
“Well” started Stephan, “ I'm not about to let you leave our sailor, but without me here I don't know who's going to stop you two from having kids”
Stefan's face grew beet red as his parents began to laugh “WAIT, ALL THOSE TIMES WERE YOU?!?”
Stephan pushed him to the side “go find Stephanie and let her know your not going, don't want her to hurt you too bad next time you see her”
Stefan gave him a look, “you’re not going to say goodbye to her, are you?”
“You know she won't let me leave if I do, I'm not as physically fit as you.”
“You better come back soon” said Stefan as he turned and walked out of the clearing Stefans parents soon followed but not before thanking and apologizing to him profusely.
His parents then tackled him and wouldn't let go of him for a good ten minutes. Stephan let them have their fill.”Allright” he said, tapping their backs, giving up. “You can let go now. It's not the last time I'll see you.” It got a little bit harder to breath after that line, but he supposed he deserved it.
“You're going to get out of this?” His mother asked, boring holes into him with her stare. “You know he will,” his father replied for him.
“Now come on, let's get home, we've got a travel pack ready for you already, we assumed you were gonna go to the university right away. But now we aren't letting you leave until you have one last family meal with us”
Stephan wouldn't have it any other way.