"The northern b++$+? Oh yes, it's a joy to see our family line contaminated by barbarians." She says sarcastically, before laughing. "She's a dear. A little simple, but a friendly little thing. It's a shame about her bloodline, but she is obviously loyal to our family. We're in this world together, for better, or for worse."
"Right, of course. And are you married?" He smiles at her questioningly.
"My father hasn't been able to find a suitable man." She frowns in disgust. "All of them are unattractive old men with a lot of money and no ambition to use it. What about you?" She looks questioningly up at you. "Do you have a partner?"
"No, not at the moment. I tend to move around a lot. Makes it difficult to keep seeing someone for any real period of time."
"I suppose that's better than having to meet unattractive old men all the time though." Braydn smiles slightly at Kolina.
"Oh? Nobody?" Her grip tightens slightly, barely noticeable. "Very interesting."
Braydn pauses, searching for something to say.
"You... You mentioned you were the middle child, yes? That must mean you have an older sibling?"
"Yes. Five, actually. Opik and Requis are the only two younger than me. Most of them are married, but most of the boys still live here."
"Relying on the family fortune, I suppose. Not necessarily a bad idea. And you, what do you plan on doing when you get married?"
"Rely on his family's fortune, and raise my children like a good little wife, with absolutely no ambitions of my own." She says sweetly. "Of course, that plan may change if we find someone interesting." Her eyes rove up and down you.
Braydn is visibly uncomfortable.
"Right. Of course." He clears his throat. "Unfortunately, I really should be checking in on Valerin and Veras. Don't want them starting any trouble." He laughs forcibly. "It was lovely seeing you, Lady Kolina."
Bradyn untangles his arm from hers and bows his head slightly, before attempting to make a quick escape back to his companions.
She watches you as you go, the slight smile on her face sending shivers down your spine.
Everything is the same when you get back to the dining room.
Braydn decides it's time to retire for the day, before anything else happens to him.
You begin to move off to find a room, but a servant stops you. "Sir, will you be joining the family for dinner? It would be a great pleasure to have you."
It's only a dinner, what could go wrong?
"Of course I will." Braydn smiles at the servant.
"Good." He says, blank-faced. "Would you like to go to your room?"
"Yes, if you don't mind. Just until dinner. What time will dinner be?"
"When the sun sets, sir." He says, leading you to your room. He pushed open the door, and you can see a small suite, with a four-poster bed and a large table that looks like it would be used during war time. A stack of books is on it.
"Thank you."
Braydn walks into the room removes his weapons, placing them on the bed. He glances down at the books.
The book titles are Night in the Kraken Cult, The Craft Of Command, Above the World: An anthology of 4th age Draconic poetry, and Raising Undead for Fun and Profit.
Braydn sighs and pushes the books off the bed. It's not as though he could actually read any of them. He lays back and waits uneasily for sunset.
After an hour or so, you hear a rustling on the ledge of your window. You look over, and there is a small, rat-sized monkey sitting in the frame, staring at the bowl of fruit beside your bed.
Braydn watches the creature for a moment, before slowly getting of the bed. He picks up the bowl and brings it closer to the monkey.
"Hello. Would you like my fruit?"
It yawns, as if bored, but then quickly jumps into the bowl, and picks up a grape. It begins nibbling as it reclines back on the windowsill.
Braydn leaves the bowl and retreats back to his bed, watching the monkey.
It sits and eats it's grape, before grabbing one more. It then turns without a backwards glance, and jumps. You can see it's tail flapping in the wind as it disappears from view.
Braydn smiles to himself and lays on his back on the bed.
Imagine if you were a monkey. How much easier would that be? Just steal fruit and jump around. No worries...
An hour or so passes, before there is a knock on the door. "Sir?" The voice of the servant from before says, "Are you awake?"
Braydn shakes himself out of his daydreams and stands.
"Yes, I am. Is it dinner time?"
"Yes sir." The servant says, entering with a stack of clothing. "I must request that you wear the clothes provided by the masters, and if you must carry a weapon, make it a knife, and somewhere discrete."
Braydn looks at the clothes and nods.
"Of course. Give me a few minutes, and I'll be ready."
After a changing his clothes, Braydn takes his belt and uses it to hold his dagger in place across his front. He checks to make sure it isn't visible, before opening the door and stepping out of the room. He heads to the dining room.
The clothing is loose fitting, and slightly scratchy. The snake curled in your stomach hisses at you as you take off your shirt.
Be wary of the girl, Braydn Hellbane. She is more dangerous than she looks.
"Oh believe me, I'm wary of her. And terrified of her." He whispers to the snake quietly.
I know. I'm worried that you aren't scared enough. The snake says. She smells wrong. Unnatural. Even I am a being of this world. But her? I'm not certain.
"Things never seem to go simply for me. I'll be more careful around her." Braydn continues to the dining room.
The snake falls silent as you open the door to your room. You continue down the hallway, and into the dining room.
The uncle, Lord Dikali, a woman you think is his wife, Kolina, Opik, Opik's wife, and two other married couples sit at the table. There is also an old woman wearing a lot of jewlery, and a young girl, who you assume the be Requis. The table is empty at the moment. Opik pulls out the seat in between him and Kolina.
"Braydn!" he says happily. "Sit! Food is coming shortly."
Braydn smiles, accepting the seat despite having to sit beside Kolina as well.
"Thank you! How has your day been since I saw you last?"
"Quite enjoyable, thank you!" Opik says, beaming. "Me and Sheryl are just planning for our wedding." He puts his arm around his pale wife. "It's going to be splendid!"
"That sounds wonderful! I'm sure it will be beautiful." Braydn is making a conscious effort not to look over at Kolina, without being impolite.
"Will you join us?" He asks.
Servants start arriving with food, mostly familiar, although some are odd. Roasted scorpion tails in vinegar, a rat-monkey you saw earlier with it's head replaced by a miniature plum, and cream of camel hump.
"If you wish me to, I would be honoured." He smiles at Opik.
"Are you a soldier?" Requis asks.
"Not a soldier exactly. I work alone, rather than with an army. But I still fight like a soldier." He smiles at Requis warmly.
"Like a bandit?" She asks. "Or more like a mercenary?"
"More like a mercenary. My background is mostly as a bodyguard, but over time I've started to do other things."
"Who are the most interesting people you've guarded?" Requis asks, betraying the remanents of childlike exuberance, not fully smothered by noble education.
Braydn leans back slightly in his chair, thinking for a moment.
"Well, I've been tasked with guarding many people, kings and nobles alike, but I have to say the most interesting person I guarded was a young boy named Amadeus. I was around seventeen, and he was about nine I believe. I hadn't had much experience yet, a few simple fights, and easy to watch nobles. I believed, quite naively, that taking care of a simple boy would be the easiest job I'd ever had. The first few days passed easily, with no trouble. It wasn't until I brought him to the city's market day that anything happened. We stopped at a stall, I turned my head for a moment and when I looked back, Amadeus was gone."
Braydn laughs.
"I must have spent hours looking for that boy. Finally, I realized I was going to have to go back to the house and tell his parents of his disappearance. However, when I got back, there he was, playing by himself, completely safe and sound. He hadn't even mentioned me losing him to his parents. After a few more scares of the sort, I eventually figured out that he simply got bored easily and wandered off. So I made sure he was always occupied and in my sight. After that, everything went smoothly, but I'll never forget the moment I turned around and all of a sudden he was gone."
You ought to visit them again sometime. Amadeus must be almost fourteen now...
"Well," Lady Dikali, Requis's mother, says, "Remind me to never hire you for a babysitting job."
Kolina makes a giggling sort of laugh behind her hand. "Oh, I'm sure Braydn has learned his lesson. He would be the most wonderful bodyguard for us. Don't you agree?" She puts an arm on your hand, and squeezes it. "It would be so much fun."
Braydn nods and smiles.
"Ah, yes, I'm sure it would be. But I'm afraid I mostly work outside the cities nowadays." He laughs, trying to dismiss the idea.
"We found you inside the city." She points out. "You must do some city work. And besides, we can pay much more money than any farmer, and we can pay in other ways." Her hands move down slightly. Only the grandmother notices, and she gives Kolina a withering look, and she backs off.
"Well, I think you seem like a very nice young man, Braydn." The woman says. "It would be a pleasure to have you here. What is your family name?"
Braydn tenses almost visibly at Kolina's actions and moves slightly closer to Opik in his chair.
"My family name is Hellbane. Certainly not a name your Ladyship would have heard before." He smiles politely.