Destiny: A Tale

The man stood stirring the fire in a hearth with a poker. He was not an old man, but looking at him he had lead a hard life. The lines on his face proclaimed the difficulty of the choices he had made during his time walking the earth. He wore the clothing of a farmer, but looking at him you could tell he was still uncomfortable in the clothes. He frame was more suited to armor and weapons that clothes made for a less violent lifestyle. His eyes bore into the flames, times long past still moving through the windows of his soul.

“Papa?” a small voice asked as little hand gently tugged on his pants leg.

The hardness in the man’s eyes and face evaporated in an instant as he turned and looked at the blonde haired blue eyed little angel standing at his feet. He seemed a changed man as he reached out smoothed the hair back from her face.

“Yes my little one?” he replied.

“Tell us the story of how you and mama met, please.” She said as she hugged his leg.

The man glanced over at the blonde lady in the kitchen area of their small home. She moved as if she was gliding over the floor more than walking on it. When he caught her eye he could not help but smile as she smiled at him. A wry little tilting of the corners of her mouth as if she was trying to contain a laugh. Her blue eyes still had a magic to them that made the man a little weak in the knees even after all the years they had spent together.

“Of course angel.” The man said as he scooped up the little girl in his arms and moved to his chair near the fire. A young boy came bounding across the room dropping his toy along the way and sitting upon the floor at his father’s feet. The boy’s hair was a fire red and he had a glint in his eye that said he was always curious and looking to cause trouble. The man bent and squeezed his son’s shoulder and the boy let out a laugh that filled the room with sound and happiness.

“Well” the man started, “That quite a tale and it might take us awhile to get through it.”

The boat rocked under the man as he lay sleeping below decks. His eyes covered with a rag to keep out the light. He snored gently as the waves rocked him deeper in to his sleep.

He was startled awake by a boot to his ribs. The man jumped upright pulling the rag off his eyes and peered around him fumbling to find a knife that he was sure had been in his belt when he lay down for his nap.

He squinted in to the sudden brightness trying to figure out who had awakened him in such a rude fashion.
"Hey now, what's this?" he said to no one in particular as the world slowly came in to focus.

"You know what I want sneak thief." a lady's voice said from behind the raised lantern.

It was the sweetest voice the man had ever heard, and he knew that he was in trouble.

"A sneak thief I am not m'lady." the man stated matter of factly as he sat back down on the bench and began putting his boots on. "And I'll be wanting my father's knife back please."

"Do you deny that it was you that took the crown jewel while the queen's maidens cleaned them?" the lady asked as she stepped closer to the man. He long blonde hair glistened in the lantern light like fine spun gold. And her blue eyes pierced the man to his soul when she stared at him.

The man stood and looked down at the lady, she stood only to his shoulders in height. "I do not deny such a deed. But I do take exception to being termed a sneak thief." he snorted. "I do not, and did not sneak anywhere. I walked right through the castle gate and into the the chambers where the jewels were located. Then it was merely a kind word and distracting glance and I had what I wanted."

"I'm sure you did have exactly what you wanted from the servant maids." the lady stated, a hint of anger in her voice.

"You wound me m'lady." the man said with a flourish and slight bow. He had been gently edging his way from the bench toward the stairs leading up to the deck while fumbling with his boots. "You of all people should know my heart is faithfully entrusted to another."

"Humpph" the lady said as more anger began to build behind her now icy blue eyes. "So you have said on occasion, yet still you seem to be running. Is it to your hearts desire or away from it?"

The man suddenly produced a knife and began to clean under his nails with it. The lady patted down her side where she had put the knife when she taken off the sleeping man, but it was gone. "Why you little..."
the lady started, drawing her own knife.

"Now m'lady, I told you I'd be having it back." as he began backing up the stairs. "And I am a man of my word." At this he turned and gave her a wink as she started up the stairs before he closed the hatch. She rushed up the last couple and pushed the hatch open. Once on deck she looked around but could not see her target. She stomped and huffed as she walked over to the rail to see a figure swimming back toward the town they had just left. She stomped again still staring after the man.

A young deck hand walked up and touched the lady on the shoulder. She spun and startled the unsuspecting recipeint of her anger. "What?!" she said much more forcefully than she intended.

The deck hand bowed low and held out a leather pouch to the lady. "The crazy man that jumped off the boat said to give this to you." The deck hand said handing the pouch to the lady and backing away.

She tugged open the strings of the pouch and looked inside to see the stolen jewels nestled in a soft cotten bed inside. "What in the world?" she asked herself and stared again at the man swimming back up the harbor.

Whose the gentlemen theif .. lol Guess we will find out next chapter

Lol niceeee

The lady removed her sword and placed it in the rack next to the door of the throne room. The guards looked her over, but did not say a word to her and she silently passed them up the long deep blue carpet. The carpet ran between rows of pillars and opened into a large area dominated by a large golden colored throne. Upon the throne the queen of the land sat in silent judgement of her best tracker.

"Well?" the queen asked as the lady dropped in to a deep courtsey.

"The jewels have been recovered my queen." The lady said holding her position and looking at the ground.

"I sense a but at the end of that." The queen said. "Rise, so that you may explain yourself."
"My trackers, of which you are the best" the queen continued, "do not let their prey escape. And yet I hear reports that this is exactly what happened."

"M'lady..."the lady began though she still held her deep courtsey.

"In this case" the queen interupted her "this is a good thing. We have need of this man and his talents."

At this the lady started up to look at her queen, remaining silent as the queen pondered her next words.

"Yes, you will track this man down. And at our behest you will hire and accompany him to a destination that the master of arms will give you."

"But M'lady this man is a scound..."

"I have spoken!" the queen said emphatically. "Just because you are a valued asset do not think to question your queen."

The lady bowed her head examining the floor at her feet. "Yes my queen." and again she lowered herself into a deep courtsey.

"Now you will report to the cairn, where you will rest and reflect on your failure." the queen said in a voice that brokered no argument. "When the master of arms feels you have learned the error of letting this man escape you will be given the rest of your assignment."

"M'lady." the lady said, and lowered herself even closer to the floor.

"Go." the queen said and the lady turned on her heels rose and strode out of the hall head down. The guards outside the door were not silent this time.

"Aww, the prized dog is getting punished." one of them said. The lady moved so quickly the insolent guard had no time to move to protect himself before she was on him. She slammed him to the floor and placed her knife on his throat hard enough to draw blood.

"You will remember your place in the hiearchy here, or next time you'll have more than a small scar." the lady growled at him.

The other guard cleared his throat hoping to not draw the ire of this suddenly very dangerous woman. "Lady, the master at arms awaits." he said in a small voice.

The lady pushed her knee once more into the now silent guards chest as she rose and silently continued toward the large wooden door at the end of the hallway. She reached the door, took a deep breath and opened it. She took another breath as she began the descent into the darkness toward the waiting master of arms and the cairn.

The lady was unsure how many days she spent in the darkness. The cup of water a day had been enough to keep her alive, and the rumble in her stomach at bay. But it made keeping track of time in the darkness very difficult.

At last the door opened and she held her hand over her eyes to block out the blinding light of the torch the master at arms held high.

"Are you ready to do your duty to your queen?" he asked quietly.

The lady couldn't even form words, but nodded her head slowly and tried to speak. A dry crack was all she could muster.

The master at arms stepped back and waved the torch ahead of him. "Then you may go to your quarters, get a little to eat. Remember not too much to start, you will only make yourself sick."

The lady made the painful journey on legs that felt like rubber as she ascended the countless stairs to the rooms the trackers had set aside in the upper level of ther castle. Once she arrived where her room had been she noticed her things had been removed. She looked around to find her biggest rival glaring at her.

"How the mighty have fallen." the rival sneered at her. "Your room in now in the neophyte area. You have been stripped of rank and title and must work your way back up." The rival kicked some dust toward the lady, and turned quickly and walked away.

The lady reached for her knife, before she remembered she was still in the cairn rags and did not have her weapons on her. She stumbled down the hallway until she came to the smallest room. Not much bigger than a crack in the wall. But the mat on the floor was like a queens chamber compared to the cairn. She grabbed the shred of towel piled at the head of mat and headed to a wash basin. As she stood scrubbing the dried blood and grit off her body the water turned quickly from clear and fresh to muddy and red. At last though the grime was gone. She went back to her area and collapsed on her mat. As her eyes closed she thought of the man that had gotten away, and how much she would enjoy their next meeting.

The interior of the small tavern was dimly lit. The patrons quietly talking to each other as if sharing secrets. It wasn't the type of establishment one went to if they were looking for revelry and laughter.

The man sat at a back corner table a tall drink of ale on the table before him along with some papers. Though he appeared to be lost in whatever he was reading he was searching the small crowd with great care. He was looking for a certain man, one which he hadn't been looking forward to meeting. After a short wait the door to the tavern swung open and a large man walked in. He scanned the tavern and the hushed conversations stopped. He spotted the man sitting in the back of the tavern and began striding toward him purposefully. He reached the table and stood looking at the man.

"May I?" he inquired gesturing at the empty chair at the table.

The man nodded at the chair surprised by the hospitality the large man was displaying.

The large man sat down and gestured to the barmaid for a drink. She hurriedly brought over a flagon of ale and sat it before the large man.

"You have what I required of you?" the large man asked.

"I have equal value." The man in the corner said.

"That was NOT our agreement, and you know I do not like failure." the large man growled as he drained his flagon.

"I had what was requested, but there were unforseen circumstances." the man said.

"I do not give a rat's hide about your circumstances." the large man stated and began to rise from his chair. As he rose two of the patrons of the bar moved closer to the table even while observing everything else in the tavern besides the table in the corner.

"Wait a moment and consider my offer." the man in the corner said calmly as he pulled a large pouch from under the table and sat it between them. The pouch jingled with coin as he sat it down.

The large man waved his hand a little and retook his seat. "Your offer may have merit." he said as he lifted the pouch. "Though I still must ensure that others do not think I am going soft." and he raised a finger. On the signal the two men turned to the table and produced a pair of knives. The large man stood and walked between them. "Do not kill him, but make sure everyone that ever sees him knows he failed me."

The two men motioned to the man to rise. "Nothing personal my friend." one of them muttered.

As the man rose he looked past the men to make sure the large man was out of the tavern. While he did not like the large man he had been a fair employer and he did not want to have to kill him.

He walked around the table, and between the two men heading for the door. One of the put a knife in the small of his back. "There is no need for that, I'll go peacefully." the man said and turned and smiled at the two men. He took two hurried steps back for the men and signaled with his hand. Several patrons rose from their seats and the barmaid pulled a crossbow and leveled it at one of the men.

The man bowed to the men and flourished his hat "You two seem like reasonable men," he said as he stood straight. "You see this is my tavern, and these are my people."

"If you want to walk out of here you'll sit down at the bar there and enjoy a mug of ale, on me." He said as he hooked his foot on one of the stools at the bar and pulled it out. "If you fear the large man more than me, by all means lets please continue this discussion in it's current manner." at this he opened his coat and remove two blades. Each blade was over a foot long, and edges glistened in the low light of the tavern.

The two men looked at each other and swallowed as they looked around at the odds stacked against them. "He..he'll kill us if we don't do the job." one muttered.

The man with the blades flashed his best smile. "We'll surely kill here if you try. But I do have need of good men to watch over my Sassy", and he winked at the barmaid who gave him a perturbed look, "if you gentlemen would consider the position I would appreciate it."

The two men looked at each other again, sighed and sat down at the offered stools. The man replaced his blades and threw his arms over their shoulders. "Good choice gentlemen, Sassy hates it when I get blood on the floor. But, I tell you this, if you cross her you'll wish the large man had found that you had failed him." He patted their shoulders and stood up straight.

"Where are you off to now?" Sassy asked she replaced the crossbow under the tavern.

'I don't rightly know...I'm sure something will present itself." the man said as he flashed his smile to her again, turned and walked out the door.

I like the lack of names but the visual I could see in my head, very nice alt