3rd scene: The second son of the merchant

A soup was served with crumbs of bread, but the main dish was the grilled hare meat that came on a plate with onions and a jug of wine. There was no fine cuisine. On the contrary, Donovan noticed the soldiers didn´t mind as they had as many servings as they could. He found it disgusting that they would let the wine fall from their mouths and noses when laughing.

Still, it was a day to celebrate. Those soldiers had safely arrived at castle Froler, where they would stand for another four seasons with no prediction of when they could go home. He stood up, not forgetting his wine, and walked out of the noisy main hall. That place was disgusting with it´s old stone walls and dusty floor, not to mention the food and vomit.

“I knew you wouldn´t find it pleasant to stay here…”

His father met him just when he was about to breath the fresh air.

“When are we going to resume our way?”

Kol was tired of all that. He sighed and looked at his father with raised eyebrows lowered head. To him, they would have continued the trip, not stopped at the castle.

“You know that travelling with the army is much safer… and we couldn´t have denied their hospitality when we arrived.”

Brasi wore his white beard short and his hair, or what was left of it, consisted of thin threads. His son was already an adult and this trip was also meant to help him deal with his impatience.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“…If you are not too drunk by first light, we shall be on our way.”

Kol whispered a few curses and Brasi heard it clear. His father looked right into his eyes, but said nothing, just shaking his head in disapproval before turning his back and walking away in silence. This caused him to look down and grit his teeth.

The reason they had gone on that trip was not his idea, it was his father´s. Even so, he was forced to head all the way to the capital to live the rest of his life like those dirty soldiers. Kol had no hope to inherit his father business anyways. He was only the second son and his brother was already a fine merchant.

He threw the jug of wine on floor in a moment of rage before calming himself. At least, nobody in the hall was going to hear with that much noise coming from their celebration. Maybe it was for the best that he was to become a soldier. They have food and a small payment guaranteed.

Every time he thought about the idea and tried to accept it, he could only give up on it. He was just out of options. He couldn´t be a farmer with no land, neither be a merchant with no caravan.

“…Dammit!”

They were barely one day away from the capital. He had but two remaining possibilities: to take the examination of the Imperial guard or to make the test of bureaucrats. Their payment was much higher than a common soldier´s and so was their prestige. But it was a task far from easy since only the best could pass through their criteria. Not only that, it was said that their examination method changed every year.

It was impossible for him. He had some training in the sword, but his love was for cartography and history. The examination for bureaucrats involved much more than those two and he had no education like a noble would.

Still, he had some time before the examination, somewhere around a moon cycle.