A fourth man entered last, the potter, I assumed. Griloc was ready the previous day but the incident with the Princess made me reluctant to see any more people. The two assistants placed the prototypes to the right of the table while Griloc placed the chest on the table and was about to open it.“Not yet,” I said, stopping him, “throw it on the floor.”An expression of confusion crossed the woodworker’s face but he obeyed. Making sure it was locked, Griloc raised it over his head and dropped it. The chest held, the sound of rattling coming from inside.“Throw it down, hard as you can.” I insisted.Griloc obliged. The chest held. Impressed, I motioned for him to bring it over. Aside from a dent in the corner, the chest appeared sturdy no matter how hard I shook it. The surface composed of a pattern of dark and lightly colored squares of wood was smooth. I opened it and was awed at the craftmanship of the pieces ins
The rest of the day, thankfully, went without a hitch. Naifen arranged for the lessons to continue again so the children were back at the music room before I even stirred. I quickly committed some jumbled up ideas to parchment for projects to assign to the Princess before heading down to watch some matches. I spied Hanni sitting in section supposedly reserved for the royals and their guests. She looked terribly bored.Next, I passed by the kitchens to ask about the proceeds they were making from selling snacks and drinks. At an estimated ten to fifteen percent profit, it wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either. The biggest thing driving the profits down were the nobles and lesser nobles. While food was prepared separately for them, they also didn’t care for extras and took as they pleased from the stands without paying, especially the town lords and their companions.I thought about ways to stop this from happening in the towns where local tourname
Innovate, Innovate, InnovateYear of the Golden Gilled Boar, 1983, Veeratha, Naesu 14thOur mock meeting lasted longer than I expected, again. We got carried away with the plans - tightening timelines, evaluating worst case scenarios, and checking for other possibilities we can add without necessarily adding more cost. Jakeli raised an objection when I brought up the necessity of spying on his nobles but was swayed by our combined efforts. Naifen nailed the last nail on that argument by reminding the prince that each one of them already had a spy in their households – the gartutri on loan. Once we were done, I made a point to apologize profusely to Jakeli who graciously accepted it but insisted that such displays be limited, if not eliminated. I agreed. Deeply.The whole episode left me feeling dirty. I’ve never hit a woman before. That was the line I drew for myself. It was jus
Her face turned bright red. She looked around the table, high cheekbones appearing to go higher as she squinted. Only Litoc and Hanni met her gaze, Naifen and Jakeli did their best impression of boys being chided.“Unbelievable!” She spat. “Listen here you-”“I will talk and you will listen. Perhaps no one has told you yet but I will start now. You are in a very precarious position, woman. I have plans for you but I’m not sure yet if you should be included in said plans. I-”“I will suffer none of this! I am Queen. I am not certain what it is that made my pathetic excuse of a husband cower before you…”I tuned out her rant and turned my gaze at Jakeli. I was starting to think he was not acting anymore.That kind of couple huh?“You are trying my patience woman. Naifen? Tell her who this man is.” I gestured at Litoc.“Prince Erdimal, son of Deterin
Queen of HarshYear of the Golden Gilled Boar, 1983, Veeratha, Spobi 13th“I’m all for maintaining appearances Jorj, but this is… Cousin! You can’t be for this too?”Litoc was beside himself, scratching his head and laughing loudly. Even Hanni who sat near the wall was smirking. I understood Jakeli’s protest, I just had no other avenues left.The Princess, was fast becoming a problem. She was to be queen and she knew it. Already, she had single-handedly turned the environment inside the castle a little gloomy for my taste. The people at the kitchens were skittish, the staff inside the castle nervous, the servants and soldiers stiff.The previous night, she happened upon the tailor and his assistants as they left our quarters and subjected them to a fierce scolding, saying without saying, that they should not be heeding the instructions of on
“Sorry, I just have trouble believing this. You’re saying as long as you’re not surprised it’s fine?”“That is precisely what I’m saying.”“I… forgive me but I did not think you were capable of being surprised.”“Do not mistake my condition for not being able to feel Jorj. I, in fact, feel deeply. More than anyone I know. I only lack the facility to express myself. It’s the price I had to pay for using my talents the way I did.”I had to take my gaze away from the match happening below to regard the old man while I digested what he just said.“The way you did?”“Wildly. Wantonly. I wasn’t always with the church. I was part of a band of brigands in my younger days. I was lucky enough another of my kind, a gartutri, recognized my symptoms. Even then it was late. Not too late, but still late.”“Could you tell
It was when I exited the kitchens when I was first alerted to the Princess’ arrival. A convoy consisting of a carriage and three wagons behind, with four riders in front, slowly entered the gates. The convoy turned left but stopped before reaching the stables and out of the carriage the Princess emerged.She looked around, eyes sticking to the area where the tournament was being held, then looked around some more before marching off into the castle, attendants running after her.I wondered what kind of royal she was as I was allowed inside the church’s offices. Then I wondered how the loremaster managed the trip several times a day. There were four flights of stairs before we reached the level where his office was. Before I was announced, I considered the stairs as the factor why he could still manage it. Any amount of exercise is still exercise after all.“Your Greatness, how may I serve you?”“You can call me Jorj when it&r
Magic 101Year of the Golden Gilled Boar, 1983, Veeratha, Camt 11thI expected the previous evening to go long. I did not however, expect it to go past midnight. Fortunately, the meeting happened in my secret throne room which had, as Jakeli put it, a secret passageway to our new rooms. Being from the modern world, the decorations escaped me for a while. What they considered lavish, if that was what they were going for, looked more like a jumbled mess. Tapestries and paintings strewn about the walls with no obvious themes. Rugs made of furs of different colors laid out side by side. Console tables and mismatched chairs, sculptures and trinkets, all strewn together without consideration for aesthetics. If shocked was what they were going for, I was mildly shocked at how bad it was.What didn’t escape me was the effort. The place still smelled of an attic long abandoned but there was no speck of