The Two Men of Caelin

The Two Men Of Caelin


Chapter 1- The Wager

The village could probably never predict the coming trouble which would fall upon them as the two knights entered the town square. Upon one horse rode a knight in soft red armour, whose fiery red hair stood out from the firm look in his eyes. On the other rode a brown haired knight dressed in green armour, who gave a smug grin to three women as they rode by.

They were knights of Caelin. Kent and Sain. Of course, the civilians of this particular village had never seen them before in their life. If they had known about what would unfold they probably wouldn’t have thought of these knights in the same way.

They had been sent into the village to buy weaponry for the rest of the group. Sain thought back at how he had pleaded with Lady Lyndis to come with her to the other village where the rest were buying supplies.

“Come now Sain. Surely you can complete something this simple.”

“It’s not that Milady! I just don’t want to do something tedious with Kent. Besides, he already sucks the life out of any chore.”

“Sain, it isn’t really a chore. All you have to do is pick up some weapons from the armory, and then you and Kent have the rest of the day to enjoy in your own way.”

“But that’s the thing! Kent will never let me enjoy a free day!”

Unfortunately for Sain, Lyn had wandered off with the rest of the party and she didn’t accept his plea. So Sain was now forced to help Kent, who in turn would probably make his day miserable. Even as they rode through the town square Kent was continually pestering him to stop ‘eye boggling’ the ladies.

“You’re never easy on me Kent,” Sain sulked whilst dismounting his steed. “For once you could at the very least allow me to do my own thing.”

“We’ve been sent to do an important task. We can’t waste time socializing.”

Why must he always take everything so seriously?

“What about after we complete the important task?” Sain suggested, nudging him with his elbow as they walked into the sizeable armory. His face gave out a wide eyed looked as he pleaded with Kent. Kent simply ignored him and walked up to the blacksmith with a long list of items written on a large manuscript.

“Good morning. I was wondering if you had any of this weaponry available for purchase.”

The old blacksmith placed his hammer onto the anvil and took the long parchment from Kent’s hands. At the first look at the list he said, “You young knights are after a lot of weaponry if there’s only the two of you.”

“It’s not just for us,” Sain added.

“Oh, I see…” The blacksmith took another look at the list. “I’m sorry to tell you but I don’t have any weapons which are made of silver. I only do iron and steel.”

“That will be fine. We will just have to manage with steel.” As the blacksmith fingered the list, overlooking each item which had been written on it, Kent pulled out a sword from its fabric covering and placed it on the anvil.

“Tell me. Is there any chance that you would be able to repair this sword?” he asked as the blacksmith gazed at it.

“My goodness… this is the Mani Kati! The legendary sword itself!”

“Indeed,” Kent said, “It has been through a lot of wear lately, and I was wondering if it was possible to restore it to its former glory.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” the blacksmith said with excitement.

**********

“Kent?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think it was a good idea to trust that blacksmith with Lady Lyndis’s sword?”

“I’m certain he’s trustworthy.”

The quite streets which they had arrived to in the morning were now bustling with civilians, all of whom were haggling at the markets and carrying large amounts of goods. Standing next to a stall were two elegantly dressed young women. One with dazzling blonde hair and delicate blue eyes, the other with light lavender coloured hair tied in a bun and deep purple eyes.

Kent was quick to notice Sain’s wandering eye, which was slowly drifting towards the two women. As Sain attempted to wander off Kent swiftly stuck out his leg. As Sain fell head first into the nearby stand, the two women began giggling franticly and quietly walked away.

“Kent!” Sain shouted, “Why on earth did you do that?”

Kent kept his serious tone as he spoke, even though he too was on the verge of laughing. “We can’t go about wasting time Sain.”

“Wasting time? Do you never want to get married Kent?” Sain queried while dusting the soil from himself. “Do you just want to die a miserable, old man with nothing?”

“We’re in the middle of a campaign. We do not have the time to be going after ‘selfish desires’.”

Sain’s frustration grew. “So are we just supposed to wait here all day and night whilst the blacksmith mends and makes our weapons? In my opinion Kent, you’re the one who is wasting time!” Kent just stared in silence. “I could almost bet money on it that you could never woo a woman.”

“That is not true!” Kent protested, “We simply have never had the time to court a woman!”

Sain smiled, “How about this… We have today and tomorrow free. I wager ten gold pieces that I can woo a woman before you in that space of time.”

“I’m not sure I agree on this…” Kent said hesitantly, “If we are to waste two days on such a venture, I say we should raise it to fifty gold pieces!”

“Done,” Sain agreed, shaking Kent’s hand. “May the best man… or in your case ‘gentleman’ win.”

And with that, both knights were off.

**********

Chapter 2- Out of the Blue

Jeremiah was an old man. He had realised this long ago, when his once youthful looks had perished and his grey complexion began eating its way through his skin. It was sad how the only thing which couldn’t be won back, youth, was the only thing he desired. But that was a lie. Truth be told he would rather feel the comfort of his wife, Rosanna, next to him again…

Being a merchant wasn’t difficult for Jeremiah. In fact, he found it unbelievably easy. He was skilled at knowing exactly what the towns’ current demand was, and exactly how he could get it. He was so skillful at it that he could probably retire with his daughter soon. The thought tickled his opal grey beard. Retirement was probably the only good thing that ever came with age.

“Father!” Rosina called up to him, “I’m going to the market place! Do you want me to get you anything?”

“No. I’m fine,” he called back in his usual husky voice. “Don’t go too long though, alright?”

“Don’t worry!” she said back with a laugh. The next thing Jeremiah heard was the door closing downstairs.

As soon as she had left, Jeremiah pulled himself out of his chair and had walked over to the nearby table which was covered in beautiful oriental fabrics. He examined them carefully, making sure they were undamaged. He would probably sell them soon, but he had to pick a good occasion when they would become desirable to the public.

**********

Rosina walked through the market place, basket in hand, and observed the busying setting around her. She looked at the small list which she had made herself, and wondered what items she should get first.

Maybe I should get the fresh items I need first so they haven’t sold out of them by the time I get there.

She had arrived at a stand filled with delicious fruits and vegetables. She noticed, as she was picking some out, a man leaning against the other side of the stand. He was a brunette, who happened to be wearing emerald green armour. As he was staring spaciously up into the clouds, Rosina walked closer to him, pretending to examine peach. She had never seen him around before, but she was certain he was a knight. His armour was a sure sign of it.

“Hello,” she said as a pleasant greeting, “I haven’t seen you around here before. What’s your name?”

**********

Sain had been standing there quietly, asking himself why on earth he had made that stupid bet with Kent. After all, he had never successfully wooed a woman before. Who knows… Kent had never tried before so he might actually have some luck. But why was no one interested in Sain? What did he always do that made women think so poorly of him. He thought back to all the girls in the party he had been traveling with. Florina was the first which sprung to mind. She was awfully shy, but Sain had always tried to make her show her true colours.

Maybe that was why Sain had been unsuccessful. Maybe he had been too headstrong in his approached to women. Perhaps he should go about this another way…

Then suddenly a pretty girl walked over to him, holding a basket. Sain stared at the girl. Her pretty golden eyes and opal coloured hair were the first things he noticed. The fact that she was smiling at him was the second.

“Hello,” she said, “I haven’t seen you around here before. What’s your name?”

Sain was shocked. He hadn’t even approached the girl and she already wanted his name. Could Sain’s luck finally be turning around?

“Uh… my name’s Sain…” he said in an unsure voice. He was careful in his method this time. It had occurred to him that wooing a lady may be more of an art form than he had originally thought.

“My name’s Rosina,” replied the girl.

Her smile is one of pure beauty…

“…So Sain…” she continued, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m waiting for some supplies to be made by the blacksmith,” he replied trying to resist the urge to look into her stunning eyes. But he couldn’t help it and blushed at the sight of her. She gave a small chuckle when she saw his expression. “Yes… well… I’m only here for two days…”

“Only two?” Rosina said in disappointment, “Why can’t you stay for longer?”

“Well… I, um… I’m with a group, and we’re leaving in two days.” Sain was not sure why he mumbled those last words. After all, he was never inarticulate normally. Perhaps it was just the fact that this girl was talking to him willingly, and he got a strange feeling that if he acted the way he normally did he’d scare of this charismatic young girl.

“Well, if you’re only here for two days then I should probably give you a tour! You wouldn’t want to leave this town not knowing what you’re missing, would you?”

Sain was about to respond, but already the girl had grabbed his arm and was dragging him down the marketplace.

**********

Kent admired her. She was far prettier than any which he had seen before. The surface of her gleamed and Kent found it hard to look away. He stroked her carefully, being careful not to damage a single part of her elegant body.

“So… you were saying?” Kent asked.

“Ah… yes… she’s one hell of a ship. Took me two years to finish her.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah. I’ll probably send her to some ocean town. My work on ships goes pretty unnoticed around here.” The carpenter continued carving into a small piece of wood, which would probably become the name of her. “So what about that bet?”

“What bet?” Kent asked in shock.

“You know… the one that you and your friend made…”

“How on earth did you hear about that?” Kent insisted.

“How could I not hear about it!” the carpenter laughed, “You were only several yards away when you said it.”

“Oh…” Kent felt slightly embarrassed, “Well it may please you to know that I don’t care about that stupid bet.

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m not interested in winning gold, and there’s no way I could possibly loose anyway,” Kent stated.

“No way you could loose?” the carpenter said puzzled, “What if your friend wins?”

Kent laughed abruptly. “Sain couldn’t charm the backside of a buffalo, yet alone a woman!” The carpenter was slightly shocked with Kent’s over confidence.

“Maybe he can’t charm a buffalo, but that girl seems pretty keen on him,” the carpenter said, pointing over to Sain and a girl who was dragging him through the marketplace.

“How on earth…?” Kent muttered in complete astonishment.

A girl that’s interested in Sain… now there’s something I thought I’d never live to see…

**********
TBC...