Lyalya led the old man past the brothel to her cheap apartment room.
She had been lying before, when she said she followed the 'Rule of Twice' and would repay the old man who saved her.
She hadn't followed 'The Rule of Twice' since her mother had died. She just couldn't see the point of it anymore.
Lyalya was just scared. Scared and lonely. The thought of going back to that empty room with no one there anymore... she couldn't bear it. She just wanted someone, anyone to talk to. Even if that person was an old man who smelled like seven different kinds of awful, and killed people like it was nothing.
More than that, she just wanted to feel safe.
She was so tired of feeling scared. Tired of being scared of the men of the slums, and their creepy gazes, tired of being scared of making too little money and having her ugly landlord kick her out of her room, tired of her pimp, tired of her customers who would sometimes hurt her, she was worried that one would go too far one day and maim or kill her...
But for some reason the old man didn't make her feel scared. He was scary, but he didn't make her feel scared.
Instead she felt safe with him. She couldn't put her finger on why, she just knew that the old man wouldn't hurt her.
In the slums, you didn't last long if you didn't have good intuition about people.
Walking out of the side street, Lyalya & The Bum entered the cheap wooden gate and into the small apartment complex. It comprised of three two-story buildings in a semi-circle, with a well in the middle of a dirt courtyard. There were chicken coops off to the side of the rightmost building.
"Um, my room is on the left-most side, on the bottom floor" she says while pointing.
She took out a rusty key from a leather strap on her neck and used it to unlock the old wooden door of her room
With a rusty creak, the old door opened to reveal a single room. With a single bed in the corner, a small woodstove sticking out of the wall, a cupboard, and a small table. Other than that, it was empty.
"well, here it is... you can sit down at the table there, if youre hungry i have a bit of bread and cheese leftover from this morning..." she says awkwardly
The Bum sits down, and Lyalya rummages around in her cupboard and puts a candle on the table, that she had lit with a still-hot coal from the woodstove. She also puts a half loaf of bread in front of him, as well as a wedge of hard white cheese with holes in it & a knife.
The old man looks like he's about to drool. With a quick "Thank you" he begins tearing into the bread.
Lyalya puts a waterskin in front of him. City water was contaminated, if you drank it without boiling it, you would get sick. Most people drank weak beer or wine. The rich however, drank tea. Tea was expensive and imported, and they also had access to clean water purified with sorcery. Lyalya had never tried tea but she had heard it was bitter.
"Have anything stronger?" he asks She shakes her head no.
After taking a swig from the waterskin, the old man started cutting off slices of cheese with the knife.
The Bum pauses for a moment, and puts a few slices of cheese in front of Lyalya.
"Eat girl, you're too skinny" The old man says between a mouthful of bread & cheese
Annoyed she responds "I have a name y'know, its Lyalya. Lee-All-Yuh. Not 'Girl' or 'Kid'."
The old man stabs a piece of cheese with the knife and eats it. Then chews for an awkward amount of time, while flatly staring at her.
Uncomfortable with the silence, the girl fidgets in her chair.
Finally The Bum breaks the silence "Yep, and its a good name. Girl." He said with an ugly grin.
"Ugh" she scoffs while wrinkling her nose "Y'know, you still havent told me your name yet..."
The Bum pauses for a moment while looking down. " I have no name, at least not one worth remembering"
Lyalya raises her eyebrow. "Thats silly, everyone has a name. Even my rude neighbor's dog has a name"
"Well I don't" Said The Bum tersely.
"Well, what am i s'posed to call you 'oh nameless person who saved my life'? " she asks with a small laugh
"I'm an old man girl, who knows how much time I've got left. So what's the point in learning the name of someone who wont be around much longer?"
"Well, then thats what i'll call you from now on." She says while pointing at him with the last slice of cheese.
"Until you decide to tell me what your name is, i'll call you Oldman"
***
'Oldman.' Thought The Bum... He had been called worse.
noticing he had finished eating, the girl spoke up.
"Its uh pretty late, if you want to sleep, you can sleep on my bed... I need to wash it anyway, so you dont have to worry about getting it dirty..."
Stolen novel; please report.
The Bum takes one look at the bed, and then back at the girl.
He just gives her a flat stare.
"I'll sleep on the floor girl"
She looked like she wanted to say something, but instead bit her lip.
"A-alright, i have a spare blanket you can use then..." she says as she goes over to the cupboard and gets her spare blanket and hands it to The Bum.
The Bum had spent years sleeping on hard surfaces, he would have no trouble sleeping on a nice wooden floor.
The Bum laid down on his side against the wall, and despite the awkwardness of the situation, soon felt drowsiness come upon him.
Lyalya blew out the candle, and climbed into her bed.
"Good night Oldman" she says, but The Bum doesn't respond...
In dreams the mind can find refuge. Like a weary traveler coming back from a long journey to a warm Inn, dreams provided much needed rest for the soul. In a dream, the powerless can become gods. In a dream, the horrors of the world became clearly defined threats transformed into nightmares in obvious black and white, A much better alternative to the ambiguous grey nature of evil in the real world. In a dream one can find romance and passion fiery enough to make reality seem drab and lifeless. And in a dream, you can be what you want, flying free from all the worlds constraints...
The Bum did not dream however.
The Bum had no escape from the ugly realities of the world. When The Bum slept, his mind would show him his life's memories, in perfect crystal clear detail. Over and Over again.
The only thing that helped was getting so drunk that he would black out.
So drunk that he couldn't ... Remember...
~~~~~
A young boy of seven sat at a solid table covered with books and scrolls.
The boy was well dressed, with a mop of wavy shaggy hair that he refused to brush. The room the boy sat in was decorated with maps and skeletons of animals, strange runes and crystals, and shelves of books.
There was an old man in the room, droning on and on, but the boy wasn't paying attention. He was too busy looking - with his bright brown eyes - at the window. Outside he could see the soldiers practicing their swordplay. A much more interesting sight than another one of his Grandfather's lessons.
"What do you think about that young man?" His Grandfather asked him.
Absentmindedly the youth just said "Yes Grandfather..." while still looking out the window.
*SLAM*
The boy is completely startled and almost falls out of his chair as a heavy book is slammed down on the table in front of him.
"Bowen Blackwood!"
"How do you expect to be the next head of House Blackwood if you cannot even pay attention to these basic lessons!" The old man said sternly.
He was very tall & slender, at around six and a half feet, with a long white beard down to his chest, and long white wavy hair parted in the middle.
He was Majeia.
And like all Majeia, he had long pointed ears, and a small oval gem in his forehead. His forehead gem, called a manastone, was a bright blue. And if his grandfather was angry or used sorcery, it even glowed. That meant that his grandfather was very old. He wore simple blue flowing robes, and baggy cloth trousers in the Majeia style.
"But Grandpa Elric! Ive been stuck in this room lookin at dusty books everyday this week! Can we go outside pleeeaaasssee!" Bowen whined.
"Heh" His grandfather chuckled "it IS a very nice day out today... Tell you what, how about we get through this lesson, and we get something to eat from the kitchens, and then we can go to the forest...where I can teach you about the local wildlife"
Bowens eyes lit up. The Blackwood forest was his favorite place to play, even if he wasn't allowed to go there without supervision.
"Also, out there" he pointed towards the door "I am your Great 'Grandpa Elric', but in here, in this room, I am your teacher. Understand?"
"Yes Grandfather..." Bowen says, slightly annoyed.
"Now, where were we?" Turning around, his grandfather walked over to a blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk. He proceeded to use his long sleeve to wipe the chalkboard free of markings, making his sleeve dusty in the process.
"Now, did you read your first few chapters of 'The West Continent's Trade' like I asked you last night ?"
"Yeah.." Bowen said warily. His grandfather was annoying about giving him surprise quiz's.
"Well then, lets start simple. I want you to name me all of the surrounding countries and their main Trade exports.
"Ugh, alright" young Bowen said, knowing that the sooner he satisfied the bearded tyrant of the classroom that the sooner he could leave.
"Well, first is Leitos. Their main export is grain & produce - the book said they were the "breadbasket" of the Western Continent, and had the largest population - and the most riches. Our country of Dàsos has been at war with them a whole lot, for a really long time"
"We're getting off topic young man. Tell me the other exports that Leitos sells." His grandfather said while drawing a simple map of the western continent on the chalkboard.
"Uhh, they also sell Wood, Livestock, Iron, Rock-Salt, Tin, Lead, Textiles, Olive Oil, Wool and... Thats all I can remember..." Bowen listed.
"Very good Bowen, very good. Next" his Grandfather paused to beam at him, then turned to write more lines in chalk. "They also produce Wine, Beer & Other Spirits, as well as smaller amounts of local Spices" His grandfather listed. "Now, lets hear the next country"
"Okay... that's.. The country furthest west is Amadora, a small country on the coast of the west peninsula. They don't have a lot of goods the book says - they only sell Copper, Horses, Preserved Fish, Garum, Wine, Oil & something called... Aasbeestos?" Bowen looked at his grandfather for confirmation.
His Grandfather chuckled lightly "Asbestos, young Bowen, asbestos. They make candle wicks out of it. Now, Amadora may not have many trade goods that it makes on its own - however they receive much of the trade from Turan across the sea. They supply our continent with Cotton & Silk." He said while jotting down the information on the map "Next country."
"The country east of us is Trachys." Bowen continued "They are right on the border of The Wild Lands, and they have to fight off barbarians all the time, so they dont have very many trade goods - they just have Wood, Limestone, Animal Furs, and Silver."
"Correct, The Frontier Kingdom of Trachys does not offer much in trade, yet they are valuable allies nonetheless - afterall, they make a solid shield against the barbarians. -Now, which country is our best trading partner?"
"That would beee... Michivas. They are our allies and fought with us against Leitos. They have Wood, Wool, The Best Copper, and the book said they make the best Wines and Spirits in the world.
"Very true young Bowen. I myself am fond of a nice Michivan White. Last one - Tell me about the goods our own country, Dàsos exports" His Grandfather said as he wrote more lines in chalk.
"uhhh... " Bowen furrows his little eyebrows, thinking hard to find his answer.
...
"...I don't know it Grandfather... I didn't get that far in the book" he mumbled while looking down
His Grandpa Elric lightly chides him. "Remember Bowen. There is no shame in admitting ignorance. As long as you take steps afterword to learn and educate yourself."
He turned back to the chalkboard and continued writing the final details, and lectured as he did so. "Our nation of Dàsos may not be the largest, but we ARE one of the richest. We have mountains surrounding us for protection - and as a result we have Iron and valuable minerals, We have Granite for building. We have the bountiful Sea to give us Salt & Fish. We do not have much farmland, but we do have enough to supply our needs." The old man turned and spread his arms proudly "But WE young Bowen... We export the most valuable plant in the world - The Blackwood tree. Your namesake."
His Grandpa stroked his beard for a moment "Alright, that's enough exposition for now, I think this is a perfect segue for our little field trip to the woods. Today Bowen, I will teach you about the Blackwood forest. Lets get lunch and spend the rest of the lesson outside"
"YES!!!" exclaimed Bowen, practically jumping out of his seat. Tired of being cooped up in a classroom, like all children.