Fuck this. Ox couldn’t have sat any closer to me, and now I’m drenched in mead. Now everyone, EVERYONE is laughing their asses off. The so-called “Hero” is a joke. Not really the hero, but I still deserve some respect!

The servants pulled out the long table for tonight, within an hour it had a single long bench on each side and the table was filled with food, drink, anything the heart could desire. The whole setup took up most of the great hall, at the foot of it being Lord Alburno's massive throne.

Which is where he sat allowing himself to gorge on the large bovine that sat on the table. There were mutton chops, huge serving dishes of steaks of various parts, even two entire Buffbuffs. I heard Lord Alburno was saving those huge buffaloes for a special occasion. Then Ox landed his big hand on my head and stood, pushing down causing me to scrunch.

“Remember when I killed those huge fucks! Took them stomping on twenty of you small frys to tire them out!” Ox yelled while slurring almost every letter. He needs to calm down, I haven’t even gotten my pint yet, he keeps fucking taking them from the servants before I can grab them. The table was filled with knights, guards, and even the remaining villagers. All were sharing a table.

I really just want to drink my feelings though, which is good because I spotted Emera over by Lord Alburno. She just got placed there by Ulir after she probably tried sneaking into the kitchen, probably to try and fuck the head chef, again. But what she has is what excites me, the new pyment the brewing nuns were working on. The mix of their sweet mead with the elegant taste of their white wine made a hybrid drink that was to die for. I have SEEN servants die just to try it.

Ulir sat her on the opposite side of the table from me, right next to Lord Alburno. I’m close to him, but about five knights and Ox were between us. I’m still getting scrunched by Ox too, which I finally push his hand off because it's starting to hurt.

I leap across the table, quite impressive I must say, and tap Ulir on the shoulder. He was sitting on Emera’s left, probably to keep her from going anywhere. He looked up at me with a raised eyebrow and his pint to his dry lips.

“Hey! Ox wanted to have a drink with you! I’ll even offer my seat to you!” I yelled at Ulir as the sounds from the rest of the table were really starting to get louder.

Ulir after taking a sip put down his pint and looked over at Ox, of course right as he snatched another tray of drinks and started to fight off the four enraged guards they were going to. Ulir then looked back at me with a completely blank stare.

“Go toast with the big man you old fuck!” Lord Alburno bellows before Ulir could say anything.

Ulir turned to Lord Alburno as he said that, then back to me frowning. I put up my arms and shrug, raising an eyebrow at Ulir just to make it sweeter. Ulir takes another glance at Lord Alburno but then sighs and gets up. Ulir then takes the long journey around the table, and I take my seat, which was his.

I looked over at Emera, who was taking a swig from a bottle of the pyment. I took a look at the other two bottles she had swiped, oh I could taste the flavors from my seat!

“Thank First God you came by whatever your name is, I really needed some better company than the other guy” Emera said as she put her arm around me and puffed out her chest.

I tried not to stare, but fuck me that didn’t happen. I need to focus, get drunk and forget bad things. Wait, maybe some time with Emera COULD help me forget the bad things too.

“Anyone’s company is better than the old sack of rocks. I would rather eat a yellow bellied toad than even smell him” I said to Emera. Fuck that was bad, I couldn’t think of anything better?

Emera took a swig then spat up the pyment in her mouth and started cackling and snorting at my words. She even started slamming her fist over and over on the table. Ugh she's sounding like some kind of swine. Not really the best look for a lady…

SMACK!

OH FUCK SHE JUST PUNCHED ME! I could feel her fist collide with my right cheek. Felt like a rock was thrown at me.

“You bitch what was that for?” I yelled at Emera as she swung at me again.

“Lighten up, this is a feast so let's get into it!” Emera yelled at me.

She grabbed Ulir’s pint and tossed whatever was inside it across the table. She probably meant to hit Ox, but he had Ulir under his arm and the brown liquid splashed onto Ulir instead. I think Ulir asked Ox about my lie involving that drink he wanted, Ox of course knew that wasn’t true but the ability to have another drink drowned any care from his mind.

Ulir starts to yell about something but Emera quickly takes my focus away when she pours that… succulent pyment into the now empty pint. I could feel the love from the cup as Emera slowly brought it closer to me. I take the pint with both of my hands cusping it.

Oh the joy on my face couldn’t be overstated. I think it was the first time a smile crossed my face in a while. The last time was a couple months ago when Tark pushed Natan off of Mae. Oh the look on Natan’s face when he tried to push on the ground but instead gripped a huge pile of horseshit. Tark laughed until not a single sound remained. I remember… I remember…

I remember that I won’t be seeing Natan again…

Now there's a feeling deep down that I haven’t felt before, I wish that I got to know him better. If I wasn’t in the back then maybe he could still be alive, I could even ask for his story. Natan had so much to live for, maybe I could’ve known what.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“You okay?” asked Emera.

I snapped back to reality and noticed a concerned look on her face. Shit I need to calm down, there was a tear running down my cheek.

“Yeah yeah, just that it's my first drink of the day” I say to Emera as I wipe the tear away with my arm. She laughed at my remark, seems she believed me.

“Don’t laugh, men have the right to cry when they have the chance of relief after a hard day of work” Lord Alburno burped at Emera. “I know tears poured from my eyes when I returned to camp after my first scuffle with the giants and I received my first pint of beer”.

Shit I forgot he fought in the Giant War. To fight those huge beings would be terrifying.

“My lord, if I may ask what was the Giant War like?” I ask Lord Alburno.

He chuckled and grabbed a leg off of a Buffbuff and tossed it to me. I caught the huge leg but it almost crushed me, it smelled absolutely amazing though.

“My old war stories can wait another night, now eat, eat, EAT! How do you think I killed so many giants?” Lord Alburno yelled at me as he started flexing his arms. There was some muscle but it was buried under all of that flab.

It’s nice how Lord Alburno is in a good mood tonight, no problems should come from that.

I started to dig my teeth into the tender meat, oh it was juicy. The flavor was overwhelming, I couldn’t stop even if I tried. While chewing I look across the table and see Ulir trying with all of his might to pull his drink from Ox’s hand.

I chuckle and look further down the table and see Tark laughing and swinging a pint around with other guards. Even though he didn’t suffer like others down in the village, I’m glad he gets this night to enjoy himself. The only guy who ever talked to me here, the only one I would call a friend. Well Ox talks to me regularly, but I mean he talks to everyone so he doesn’t count. I mean someone who actually listens, and Tark fucking sucks at it, but still I think he tries.

I should go and speak to Tark, if at least to have a drink with him. I rose from my seat but immediately I felt myself plopping back down. When I looked at my shoulder there was a single fat finger pressing on it.

“Listen, no running off just yet. I have news for you Tekumah and I wanted to make sure you know of it before the end of the night” Lord Alburno said to me. His finger remained on my shoulder though.

“W-whats the news my lord?” I ask Lord Alburno with a shaky voice.

“Well Belch I heard some details from Ox about what happened down in the village. Of course there was some protest from Ulir but I personally don’t give a fuck about his opinion on this so tommorow morning I will be knighting you for your efforts” Lord Alburno said to me while lifting his finger off of my shoulder.

Holy shit he didn’t say that.

KNIGHTED!

I won’t have to stand on the wall anymore, I get authority and won’t be bossed around anymore. An honor to be one step closer to holy servitude and the chance to leave this shithole behind me.

Before I could give thanks Emera grabbed my arm and tried to pull me from the bench. I get up and she wraps herself around my left arm.

“I always wanted to fuck a knight!” Emera yelled.

The guards around us started wooing, lifting their cups in celebration. Never had this happen to me before, lifting a pint in honor of me. I wish it would’ve been for my help with the werewolf but whatever I’ll accept this too.

Suddenly a hand rested on my right shoulder and I heard a voice say “Seems you finally got caught in a line, now it's time to get reeled in”.

I turn my head and see Tark was the one standing there. Shit I didn’t even see him come over. Before I say anything though he hands me my pint.

“One last toast kid, to be eighteen years and finally becoming a man” Tark says while lifting his own pint up. His smile felt genuine, but there was a hint of a smugness in there.

I don’t care, I raise my cup and we both let out a cheer. We touch the cups together and Tark takes a swig.

“Just don’t forget to come visit your old wall partner, it was pretty lonely up there before you arrived and I’d hate to lose your stupidity” says Tark.

“I don’t know, my knightly duties may prohibit me from going ALL the way up the wall” I snark at Tark.

Tark chuckles and takes another swig. Before I got a chance to take one myself, Emera knocked my drink out of my hand. The cup dropped and the pyment spilled onto the stone. I think another tear slid down my cheek as I watched it hit the floor.

“I need one of us sober, and I choose you” Emera says as she poked my nose.

Fine. No pyment for me.

“Come on then bitch” I say to Emera while sounding a little miffed. I grab her tunic with the arm she’s holding onto and pull her as I walk. If I’m not getting my feelings drink then I just want this over with.

Emera easily stumbles with me. Not sure I like being able to just effortlessly pull someone like this, actually scares me a little.

We enter a hallway that leads to the barracks. Not sure it's the best place for this but I have nowhere else to go.

“Wait! If you want to drag me somewhere, take me to my quarters. I Hic don’t need those pigshit… Pigs getting too close to me” says Emera.

“Umm sure yeah, just show the way” I say as my grip loosens on her tunic. When I let go she stumbles a bit. After taking a second to steady herself, as much as a drunk could, she starts walking away.

I quickly move to walk next to her. We move deep into the fort, I don’t think I’ve ever been here before. The floors were cleaner, the smell was a smidge better, then I set my eyes on a massive wooden door. It rose high, maybe 8 feet high. It was adorned with images of rose vines and in the middle was a symbol of an apple.

Must be Lord Alburno’s chamber, how ironic for his door to have an apple on it. I don’t think he even knows what that is.

“We made it Taku!” Emera yelled as I moved my gaze from the big door to her. She was waving and pointing at a regular sized wooden door, which sat next to the big one, only a torch in between.

“It's Tekumah, not… Whatever you just said” I say as she opens her door and we walk in. The room wasn’t too big, only containing a small desk and a bed under a square window outlooking north to the village down the hill. Through it you could see the small village, the nearby forest and the single road leading farther than the eye could see. I wonder if Lord Alburno has a similar opening to be able to watch his subjects below.

“I think it’s much better than whatever you just said” Emera says while scooting into the room.

Emera lit a candle then slowly turned to me, then slowly sat on the bed. Her gaze was inviting, and I couldn’t resist. Her curvy yet firm body was a wonder to behold. She must be my age, or even a year older than me. I move to the bed as she turns her body and seductively lays back. Climbing on the bed I ran my fingers through her soft, short brown hair. Finally I could wave back to them as they did to me for so long.

As I leaned in to kiss her Emera spoke up “Before we start I know you never got that drink, so let me give you a little something to get you going”.

I’m not sure what she was talking about but I saw her pull out a small needle. Before I could ask what it was she blew lightly on the needle, which now glowed a deep green. It was magic, and I had a terrible feeling about it. Deep down I could sense something off with it.

Then she pricked my arm with the small needle. It was a sharp pain mixed with a burning sensation.

“OW! What was t-that…” I start to say but slowly nod off.

I felt something slowly move through my blood. My mind got darker, but I could still feel everything. I was awake, but my body wouldn’t move.

Then Emera grew a long, devious smile across her young face. Then she spoke slowly…

“I am so happy that someone finally took the bait”