As air swirled into the room through cracks in the walls, it brought with it the chill of the mourning breeze. The room in question was sparsely furnished and at the same time, a disaster. Tattered cloths and countless empty mugs of ale covered the floor. There were even bloody bandages overflowing from the waste barrel; however worst of all was a certain stench that emanated from the center of the room. The source of which slept unreserved on an old bed.   

"mmmmm... f...fucking scum" Said a mumbled voice.  

The bed creaked and groaned as the mumbling man shifted his weight, sprawling his lengthily limbs to its far corners. The man appeared ragged to say the least. He was unshaven, smelled of ale and the only other sound aside from his ragged breathing and incessant mumbling came from a fly.

*Bzzz*

“…scum……every last one of – “

As if to add to this misfortunate scene, after circling the man’s head for a few moments the fly landed on his eyelid.

*Wham!!*

The man, swung for the fly in a seemingly robotic motion; however, he did so with a closed fist. He must have used all his strength for in the next second he was laying on the coble stone floor. Empty mugs clanged together as they rolled into the various piles of clothing.

*Cough...Cough*

“He’s an angle isn’t he Martha?” Said a husky voice.

A group of three stood in the only doorway leading into the room. They wore silver armor that produced an impressive gleam as the rays of suns hit them from the window across the room. Only the behemoth of a man that stood front and center had gouges and scratches on his amour. The two that stood behind him, to the left and right respectively, had armour that was immaculate. They shined and almost shimmered in the sunlight as if they had just been forged from the smithy that day.  The man that greeted what can only be described as a lump of fresh garbage, almost reached to the ceiling.

The man groaned as he propped himself off the cold cobblestone floor. To his greatest efforts he was only able to reposition himself; he now sat on the floor, legs spread out and back against the bed as he looked towards the direction of this unforgivable disturbance.

The two that stood behind this behemoth caught their first good look of the man before them. Even with the sunlight beaming into the room the only features they could make out were his scruffy unkempt beard and shiny head.  He wore a stained linen shirt under a tattered black jacket. To their surprise the right sleeve of his jacket seemed empty. The tan bottoms he wore had too many tears to count as the mans cocoa skin was shown in various places. His gaze shot up in their direction and for a split second they felt scared. 

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

He eyed the three before him, sweeping his gaze at the two in the back only to shift it to the man in front. He cleared his throat and spit out some phlegm onto the floor beside him.

“One rule, I only have one rule and you fucktards stomped all over it and in the most heinous way possible.” Said the man in a low threating voice.

 The two knights in the back looked towards one another. Apart from the disrespectful nonsense that he spouted another thing stood out to them. That thick accent, they had never heard anything like it. It seemed utterly impossible, they were well traveled and had read every book in the Kingdoms library on dialects and accents. It all served the purpose of being able to serve the Kingdoms people better, but here they found an anomaly. They kept quiet and looked towards the man in trepidation.

“What nonsense are spouting today outsider?” Said the burly man.

Laughter filled the air as the man seemed to have gone utterly hysterical.

“That’s Earl to you, Oldman. Now have you finally gone senile to the point of forgetting an assault you’ve committed not moments ago? Not only do you disturb my precious sleep, you even have to audacity to punch me, an unconscious man in the face!” Barked the seated man.

Silence filled the air as the trio stood utterly dumbfounded. The scene they had witnessed a couple seconds ago still fresh in their mind. Was this man a complete imbecile?

The room filled with laughter again, this time coming from the old man.

“You never cease to amaze me outsider. Don’t for – “

“Old man don’t test my patience!”  Said the outsider in a threatening voice as he interrupted the old man.

A deadened silence filled the air once again.

“As you shouldn’t take the patience I’ve shown you as a sign of weakness, outsider. You have yet to give me the name of your house and you expect me to believe that you’re an Earl. That’s very naive of you… Now as for your misplaced anger, why don’t you take a look at your left hand.” Said the Old man as he held up his own fist, gesturing towards it.

The outsider took a look at his own hand.

“Heh, just a formality. Now why are you here and who are the children behind you?”

One of the armored knights in the back took a step forward.

“Outsider we have come to escort you. You have been summoned by his majesty.” The knights voice had a feminine air about it as she spoke with authority and pride.

In the next second genuine laughter rang throughout the room.

The outsider wiped a tear from his eye as he spoke.

“That was a good one little missy. Now why don’t you and your friend over there take those sticks you’ve shoved up your asses, run along to ‘your majesty’ and pass along a message for me.” He brought his knee forward and rested his hand on it.

“Tell him that he can get off his lazy ass and come down here himself if he’d like to speak with me.” Said the outsider with a smirk on his face.

Gasp’s were heard from the two in the back as silence filled the room once again.