I spent the rest of my day practicing with my lute as I struggled to control my hand properly. My remaining fingers were clumsy and I missed strings more often than not. I didn’t let the frustrations build in me and told myself that after doing something one way for thousands of years that it was bound to be difficult to change the habit. I skipped lunch not finding myself any hungrier than the morning as I was engrossed in attempting to regain some of my skills.

Soon enough dinner came around and I headed to our small communal dining room to enjoy the meal with the other members of the lower court. I spotted the younger scribe sitting at the table and made my way over sitting across from him as he poured over a scroll of some kind. He was so engrossed that he didn’t notice me looking over his shoulder as I scanned what he was so interested in.

“Oh, the poetry of Vanellope Portage, the current Duke’s grandmother.” I said as I recognized the signature at the bottom.

Startled young Paetor jumped at my voice and whipped his head over to me before he stumbled on his words, “I-I-ummm yes it is. I find her works to be very descriptive and the flow of words is so beautiful.”

I sat down across from him smiling all the while. “Tell me about it. I haven’t had the privilege of reading poetry much. I heard that there are poetry duels sometimes in the higher courts. Is that true?”

“Oh yes, I find it quite exciting when they partake in it. I’m usually called to scribe their words so that the poetry isn’t lost to time. I am a much faster writer than my grandfather.” The young man blushed as he boasted about himself. “As a minstrel you must know something of poetry. Would you like to share some?”

“I know only songs and stories. There are some minstrels that specialize in poetry but I am not one of them. Though maybe you could teach me, I wouldn’t mind someone as smart as you showing me things I don’t know.” I leaned forward and tried to look at the scroll upside down as if I was fascinated.

“I would be happy to. I know a lot about the poetry of nobility. How they flow and how they’re shaped. It is all so interesting. My grandfather is more interested in the histories of the kingdom. We often find that it is our duty to read as much as possible so that if nobles have questions we might be able to answer them so they don’t have to worry about it.” Paetor started talking with his hands as he waved them about expounding on the virtues of poetry and how it sharpens the hearts and minds of those that practice it.

I saw his grandfather enter and after listening to his ranting for a moment went to the other end of the table. The overall feeling that he must do this at home filled my mind as I smiled at the thought of the old man rubbing his forehead while the excited Paetor went on and on about his passions.

When the food came I dished up a plate for him and set it in front of his face while I took a plate of my own food and let him go on and on. It was so easy to just smile and nod, I had spent plenty of time with others that would fall into passionate speeches like this throughout my life.

I held up a hand slowly and stopped him as he continued to ignore his food. “Paetor, you have to eat something. We can continue talking once everyone has eaten. Is there a parlor that we can spend some time in and you can give me examples of some poetry?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Of course, yes. Let me eat and then I’ll show you and we can speak a lot more. Oh so exciting to have someone amongst us that knows how to enjoy the good things in life.” I’d never seen someone that wasn’t starving eat so quickly. Like a dying man he shoveled food in his mouth barely chewing in his excitement as he washed it down with weak wine.

By the time I finished my own plate Paetor was waiting on me to finish so that he could whisk me away and start reciting poetry that he like most. I let him speak well into the night as I slowly fed him wine and stoked his ego like a fire. Giving him a recognition he seemed to crave from others.

Soon he was drunk and slurring so I patted him on the chest. “I think that is enough for the night. How about in a few days we do this again. You can bring me some poetry and maybe I can take a swing at reciting it myself. Who knows, I might get stuck in a poetry duel myself.”

He smiled lopsided at me as I hoisted him up and helped drag him to his room. When I entered I saw that he had quite the problem with taking things to his room from the royal collection and I smiled to myself. I had hoped one of these scholars were going to be sloppy with their duties and willing to bend the rules. If it was Paetor I would try with his grandfather.

Paetor was asleep in my arms as I slung him into bed and searched through the room as he began to snore. I found something that I was looking for. A small personal journal of the king’s of yore. I snagged it and hoped that the young man wouldn’t notice that it was gone. With how everything looked it seemed like he wouldn’t pay it any mind.

I slipped off to my room and lit a small lamp. I opened the journal and began to read the beautiful penmanship of a king. It wasn’t that old. Not during the fall of Profitable and what they must have done with him. However as I looked at it all I noticed one thing. I cursed the gods as I read further into it. I had a hunch that it was in code.

“Damn,” I whispered into the night.

…

I rubbed my sleep deprived eyes in the morning after I spent the entire night trying to think about how this could be interpreted and I wondered if all the writings were going to be in the same code. Yawning greatly I looked forward to a hot cup of tea.

As I walked into the dining room where we all would meet I saw an extremely miserable Paetor. He was clutching his head and seemed to flinch at every clanking of a fork on the plates. His food was untouched and he was nursing his water as if he wasn’t sure it was going to be staying down. I could see a devilish smirk on his grandfather’s face as he smugly looked down on the young boy.

I dished up quietly and did my best not to cause any more undue suffering to the poor man. I sat with Reichsgaurd instead. “Were you able to get your answers yesterday? It seemed you were in quite the hurry to get out of here.”

“Oh yes, I think I will have to take a visit to Duke Ursal himself and look over what he is doing on the warfront. I know that he has some of the best advisors when it comes to war time as he is bordering on a hostile nation at all times. Though I am going to need to get permission from His Majesty.”

“Permission? Sounds like it is a little more important than waiting.” The memory that the king was keeping people in the capital so that he could keep things under control filled my mind.

Reichsguard looked at me closely. “Well, it is always good to tell your lord what you plan to do. Though he has been more strict with letting people leave once they arrive. We have a lot to learn from one another now that all the Dukes can leave their lands and are not trapped in the winter weather. I need to make sure I’m not needed here first.”

I nodded along and wondered if that was the true reason that the man was needing permission. If the king was just keeping others here because he needed updates on their lands would make sense. However I had my doubts. “Sounds like you are going to have a couple of busy weeks. I’m sure though that the duke will have quite the welcoming for you when you arrive. He was a gracious and kind host when I was with him. I wasn’t even recognized by nobility at the time. So I think he will treat you kindly.”

The man seemed placated by more non interest in the topic of the king’s choices on keeping people here. Instead I felt someone come into the room behind me and stilled as some part of my neck crawled with a sense of danger.

I turned around and laid my eyes on a beautiful tan woman. She had short military cut hair that was brown and glossy. She was wearing leather armor over blood red clothes as she looked around the room for something.

I took a deep breath in the air and could smell a tinge of blood all about her. Her eyes locked on mine. She squinted at me.

“Dolan Talespinner I assume?”