Chapter 1: A World Apart(Revised)

Rayln sat quietly in the Roaming Pony tavern. She didn’t know why she was there. She had sworn to stay away from taverns, but she had been hoping to find some entertainment for the moment. Emerald green eyes scanned the room; silently, looking for someone to spark her interest or anything for that matter. Her eyes ran through the dark atmosphere, roughly cut round tables swarmed the room, a few misplaced chairs still sat near the unlit fireplace. Rayln smiled to herself slightly as she noticed that no two tables were the same size; and they all were of poor workmanship. The tavern still smelt like stale ale from the night before and a few places she suspected could smell like bile. Then there was the bar keeper. He worked diligently at cleaning the bar space and making sure all of the mugs were clean, and in uniformed rows. He seemed to be very detail oriented, and proud of his bar, though you could never tell by its appearance. Hastily he placed mug after mug on the wall behind the counter or somewhere below it.

The bar keepers was tall and masculine, he had the look of a field worker not a bar keeper. But then again, it was rare in a port town that you saw a scrawny bar keeper, someone has to break up the fights and if you can’t afford strong hands, you’d have to do it yourself. The beast of a bar keepers’ bald head glistened with sweat.

A strong breeze fluttered in from a window near Rayln bringing a strong sea scent with it. The smell of the sea…she loved it. Something about that scent had always enchanted her.

Rayln was once again staring at the bar keeper. She envied the hard work he displayed. The crew aboard her ship never worked that hard. Maybe it was her fault, perhaps she wasn't hard enough on them. She tended to be a more gentle captain rarely using force, but when she did, it was never good. She ran a hand through her shoulder length brown hair. She was a beautiful woman their was no denying it. She was of average height and curvy. She appeared weak but it was quite the opposite, she had surprised many with her strength and work ethic. The thoughts running through her head were quickly interrupted as a tall gentleman entered the tavern. Rayln couldn’t make out his features exactly, but she knew he was aged; this was for certain. A dark black cloak seemed to hide his face from the world. He carried a thick brown scrappy journal in his left hand. Quietly he sat down about three tables from Rayln. Carefully he opened the journal and produced a pen from inside the cloak and began to write.

‘Nothing to exciting,’ she thought quietly. Rayln began to play with her hair, twirling the brown locks between her fingers, then letting them bounce free. Slowly she shifted her eyes back towards the bar and made a small form eye contact with the bartender it was enough to let him know what it was she wanted. With a quick motion of her hand the bartender came running to her with an ale. She gave him a gracious smile as he left. Rayln shifted slightly in her black cloak, her clothes were fresh, this always brought a smile to her face. It wasn’t often she was able to gain new clothing. But the brown trousers and shirt had been a nice change.


‘ I’ll finish this ale then leave…’ Rayln thought to herself. There wasn’t much excitement going on in this port city of Morryntor anyway. She just as well should get back out to the sea. The sea was always calling, she found peace there. It was home in a sense. Though once again her thoughts were interrupted by someone entering the tavern. This time, he was young, and handsome.

He entered the tavern standing tall and proud displaying his Naval uniform. Rayln let out a mental sigh. 'More naval men…that’s all I need.' Walking with a swagger in his step the man seemed to make a point of going out of his way to walk closer to her table his shaggy blond hair catching the sunlight and glowing like an angels would. Before Rayln knew it she was smiling at him, or more so swooning.. It was enough to give him confidence, and he made his way directly over to her table. His uniform shined brightly. To Rayln it looked like a baby blue prison outfit just slung with a few shiny brass pins and chains, but she was sure he was much more proud of it.

‘ Nice one Ray,’ she thought as he approached her, blue eyes smiling almost more then his mouth.

“ Excuse my intrusion fair lady, if I offend you please say the word and I will leave,” his words were smooth and silky. Enough to make Rayln almost melt just listening to them.

“ No, no, you are fine; please take a seat,” Rayln smiled at him as sat. Right next to her. There wasn't much she could do but stare into his beautiful blue eyes.

“ I am Saveryn Broadshield, I don’t believe I have seen you around these parts before, I would certainly remember eyes as bewitching as those!” Saveryn proclaimed as he was also staring back into her eyes.

“ I am new here, I just came by ship not too long ago,” lie, she had been here many times, but he would surely leave her company if he knew she was well versed in the city..

Rayln bit her lip playfully as she looked him up and down a bit. He was a strong man, built in all the right places, he seemed utterly perfect. But over confident. This she could have fun with.

Her stares were interrupted by crude laughter coming from outside the tavern. Both her and Saveryn glanced towards the window. The laughter stopped almost as quickly as it had started. Rayln had barely noticed that the sun was setting, and people were beginning to head home, the streets would become very busy soon. Shrugging her shoulders Rayln returned her attention to Saveryn.




“So you're only visiting here in Morryntor?” Saveryn asked quickly after the laughter had stopped. “ What brings you here?” Saveryn asked next. his faced squished slightly. Rayln let out a small giggle, he was rather eager to know about her. She bit her lip again. She was attempting to look over interested hoping he would try to take advantage.

“ I am looking for a place to stay, but right now I’m looking for something to interest me,” her dim eyes seemed to brighten as she gazed at him. He was easy on the eyes that was for sure, she just couldn’t soak him in enough. “ What brings you to my table?” she shot him a sly look as the question was asked.

“ Have you seen yourself lately? No man could pass up the opportunity to spend some time let alone possibly the evening in your company,” Saveryn chuckled slightly, “I don’t believe I ever caught your name,” his face became slightly red.
“ Rayln Corban and yours?” she had heard his name before, but it would be fun to make captain suave here sweat a little bit. He did, a look of confusion came across Saveryn’s face.

“ I’m Saveryn Broadshield,” Saveryn faltered when he spoke. Rayln smiled deviously at his falter, before turning her attention towards the window again. Night was in full swing, yet the tavern was unusually dead. The bar keeper had lit the fireplace at some point and it burned brightly lighting most if not the entire tavern.

“ How long have you been here?” Rayln asked as she returned her gaze to Saveryn and his eyes.

“ I’ve been here nearly twelve months now, stationed from Carrion, I drew the short straw on duty and I’ve been stuck here for that long, but two more weeks and I am free, I do miss Carrion greatly,” Saveryn smiled as he spoke to her. “ Though there have been some pleasant distractions,” A sly smiled escaped Saveryns face as he spoke.

He was going to try and beat her at her own game. Rayln knew all to well this wasn’t possible, but it made her smile none the less. Saveryns eyes began to wonder until they came to rest at her waste. Her sword no doubt, it would be the only object of interest around her waist. Quickly his eyes returned to her.

“Distractions? What kind?” Rayln asked seeming interested to say the least. She moved her chair closer to him.

“ A member of the Carrion Navy will not speak of such things” he was shocked at the boldness of her statement, “ At least not in public,” a sly smiled escaped from his lips. He tugged slightly at the collar of his uniform with an uneasy look upon his face. “ Would you care for a drink Rayln? I suddenly find myself very thirsty,” he asked, already motioning the bartender towards them. Rayln reached out and gently placed her hand on top of his.

“ I’d love one,” with slight pressure she slid her fingers down the fronts of his before bringing her hand back to herself.

With the look of a nervous school boy on Saveryn’s face, Rayln knew she had won this little game. He had broke and didn’t know what to do. But he was saved by the timely placement of Ale.

“ Thank you my good man,” Saveryn said as he paid for the ale. Rayln smiled at Saveryn, as she took her drink into her hand and sipped from it.

“ Thank you,” an even brighter smile crept across her face. Saveryn was a gentleman no doubt about it, he just wasn’t very experienced. At least not as much as she.

“ You are welcome Rayln,” Saveryn said in an uneasy choke.

The older gentleman had finished writing in his journal and now sat at his table drinking an ale. It was obvious he was listening in on the conversation between Rayln and Saveryn. The one that had ended. But it wasn't obvious what he had written in his journal.

“ Well it seems our conversations have run dry, and I have things to attend to,” a dry and bland look appeared upon Raylns’ face. She stood up quickly, “ Until next time Saveryn Broadshield,” she paused for a moment before leaving. Saveryn looked at her slack jawed. No words coming from his mouth. Rayln dropped a small piece of paper that read “ The Black Lily” onto the table top. “ I was never one for goodbyes,” With that Rayln left the Roaming Pony tavern.







Saveryn awoke from his daze. ‘What had just happened?’ he thought to himself. Where was Rayln? He couldn’t believe she was actually gone. He noticed the paper that was laying on the table. "The Black Lily", A ship maybe? It was his best guess, she carried a sword so she must travel. And seeing this was her first time here, she just had to come by boat. He felt compelled to see her again. Slowly he stood up and let his eyes scan the room. The only other person was a middle aged gentleman holding a journal. Saveryn approached him with a longing in his eyes.

“ Excuse me sir, did you see that fair maiden leave?” Saveryns’ eyes pleaded with the man, “ I feel as if I have been drugged and can’t remember what happened, or what went wrong…” laughter came from someone who had just entered the tavern, Saveryn recognized the laughter it was the same laugh he had heard eariler come from outside the tavern before.

“ Drugged ya-ha ha ha ha, that’s a good one, lad, why don’tcha go after her? Go on and get her!” the man laughed through his rotting teeth and over labored clothing.

“ Imma f'raid I havens seened much,” the older gentlemen chimed in, he was obviously drunk. He took another gulp of his beer, before vomiting all over the table. Saveryn jumped back away from the vomit in shock and disgust. The bar keeper ran over to the aged man and Saveryn, with a rather displeased look upon his face.

“ That’s the third time this week he has done that… Can ye help me get him to his room?” the bartender pleaded with Saveryn. Saveryn gave a nod and grabbed an arm of the aged man and the bar keeper grabbed the other.

“ I'll grab his feets!” the peasant man chimed in. Together they all shuttled him towards the back of the tavern and up the stairs. The hallway was narrow and the mans room was small, but they all got him into his bed. The man was muttering something fierce about his mother and failing her, but no one paid him much attention. Once they had returned to the common room Saveryn turned to the peasant man.

“ Did you see what happened? I let that beauty go...” a depressed look came across Saveryns face.

“ Lad, you need to go after her, your not going to get anything done by sitting around here all day, moping about,” The peasant man barked at him and began to push him out the door, “ Go I say!”

Saveryn was pushed out the door with enough force he almost fell on his face. The Black Lily he thought to himself. Saveryn took a deep breath and headed in the direction of the port.