Traveler - Chapter 3

Introductions
Chapter Three

Kallin woke in his bed with the sun shining brightly on his face. He stirred and pulled his blanket over his face to shield himself from the bright light. Looking at his hands through the diffused light that penetrated his blanket, he saw how dirty and covered in blood they were and he shot up in bed, throwing his blanket off of him. He was still filthy and his clothes ragged, nothing changed from what he last remembered.
After looking around the room, Kallin fell back onto the bed. The room he was in was not his own. The walls were all stone and a single long window opened up to a bright blue sky. A thick brown rug covered a fair portion of the stone floor. Other than his bed, a small desk and a chair remained the only furniture in the room. On the desk was set Kallin's box with the knife and the ring in it.
Kallin sat in his bed unmoving and tried to figure out how he got into a room such as this. As he was contemplating, the only door into his room opened with a loud creak. A man dressed in a large baggy shirt and tight fitting pants took a step into the room and looked immediately at Kallin. His eyes widened with excitement and he quickly left the room shouting something incoherent.
Kallin got up out of his bed and tried to stretch his still sore muscles. He assumed that the man who just left his room would cause someone or something else to enter soon, but he couldn't even begin to guess what might happen. In complete bewilderment at his situation and still trying to figure out if the past couple days actually happened, Kallin went to the window in his room. There was nothing fancy about it. It was a simple rectangular hole in the stone wall that surrounded him. Below him stretched what he guessed was the village he saw earlier. He was a good distance above the village and from this point he guessed that he was in the castle which stood just beyond the village.
As he was pondering, the door opened and a middle aged, dark haired man dressed in a bright red and somewhat formal looking tunic walked in. He wore baggy pants and high-top boots. Under his tunic, it appeared he was wearing a shirt of chain mail.
"What be your name lad?" The man asked with a heavy accent that sounded Scottish. There was a very high level of excitement in his voice.
Kallin looked at the man, a bit taken back by the anticipation in his voice, "It's Kallin."
The man smiled, "Ah, knew it. Them guards brought ye in here like a fugitive corpse. A bit rough they were. I knew ye'd be fine. Yer pappy was tough. One o' da toughest I seen. It be only right that yer like him."
If Kallin was taken back by his circumstances, the medieval like village, the attack in his room, and this man's excitement, nothing prepared him for the shock of hearing mention of his Father in this sort of situation. Kallin's wonder at this man's statement showed in his expression.
"Ye be surprised at somethin' lad?" The man asked. "Hoch, it be my mention of yer blood? Yer Father?"
Kallin nodded.
"It appears Zhal has left ye in tha dark. My name be Jansen."
"You knew my Father?" Kallin asked.
"Aye. But it be not the place of mine to speak of him. Fer now, come with me lad. We need to get ye cleaned up."
Jansen walked out the door and Kallin followed as well as his weary legs would carry him. On his way out the door, Kallin grabbed his wooden box off the desk and held it close.
"Where is my Father," Kallin asked as he followed Jansen down the large stone hallway past countless doors.
After a long hesitancy, Jansen replied, "As I said boy, it is not my place to tell ye."
Kallin frowned at the statement, but knew he wouldn't get anything else out of this man, so he decided to try and pry other information out of him.
"Do you know what's going on?"
"What do ye mean about?" Jansen asked, only looking forward as he continued to lead through a series of hallways.
"What's going on with me? You seemed to already know who I was before I told you, and you know my Father. You've got to know something about what's been happening to me."
"Aye lad. I do."
"Well, then will you tell me?"
"It's not my place to do that either."
"Why not?"
"Ye are not my charge."
"What?"
"Ye are not my charge." Jansen repeated as they began an ascent up a large stairway from what appeared to be a very wide foyer to the castle.
"I meant, what do you mean?"
"It be my duty to hand ye off to someone who will answer yer questions and help ye along the way."
"Who?" Kallin asked obviously irritated with Jansen's lack of answers. "Along the way to what?"
Jansen remained silent as they passed through a set of oversized doors into what appeared to be a throne room. An elaborate chair sat on a raised pedestal on the far side of the room. Long red curtains hung from the high ceiling and the series of pillars that bordered the central walkway up to the throne were carved in elaborate designs.
"Can you at least tell me if I am actually in the castle I saw earlier?"
"Aye lad, I can answer that one," Jansen responded with a smile. "Ye be in that castle that most likely caught your eye earlier."
"Can you tell me who you are exactly?"
"I can answer that one to an extent. I be the captain o'er the king's soldiers. I train them to fight better than any other kingdom around."
"Can you tell me where we're going right now?"
"To this room," Jansen said as he pushed open a door in a corner of the extravagant throne room.
Kallin entered a small room with two men who appeared to be servants of some sort, dressed similarly to the man Kallin first saw peek in his room. There were several basins of water, one of them with some hot embers underneath it, obviously to keep it warm. On some shelves in the room were various bottles, each with labels foreign to Kallin, all full of different liquids.
"These men will help ye get cleaned up," Jansen said and turned to walk out and leave Kallin.
"Woah there," Kallin said, raising his hands in objection. "These guy are going to help me? Can we change plans here and give me some privacy?"
Jansen laughed, "Ye do be like yer Father. I ne'er did remember culture differences with 'im either. Come on boys, ye heard our guest."
The two servants left with Jansen and closed the door leaving Kallin in the washroom alone. Kallin sighed and looked around until he found a mirror behind a thin black curtain. What Kallin saw shocked him. It was no wonder the man who seemed to summon the guards on him earlier acted the way he did. Mildly put, Kallin was a mess.
He was covered in dirt from head to toe. A cut on the top of his head, which he didn't realize he had, had bled down the side of his face. His arms and shoulders were covered in cuts and the blood from those wounds had stained his shirt and run down his arms. Although he wasn't currently bleeding, the cuts and scrapes still appeared fresh. His clothes were tattered and even had pieces of branches and bark and leaves still in them. Kallin was frightened by the sight of himself and the condition he was in.
A brief knock sounded at the door and one of the servants peeked inside. He told Kallin quickly which basin to use for initial washing and then for rinsing and for soaking to relax and help heal his muscles. He also told him which of the bottles were which so that Kallin knew which soaps to wash himself with. He then pulled a set of clothes out from a cupboard and placed them on a counter for Kallin to change into when he was done.
"When you are finished," explained the servant, "There is a door behind the throne. You are to go there."
Kallin thanked the man and he left Kallin to get cleaned up.
After removing his clothes and setting the wood box he was holding aside, Kallin saw that the dirt had gotten under his clothes and that it gave him an even, although very dirty, tan look. As he was directed, he used the various basins of water to scrub the dirt and blood off himself and made sure to use the proper soaps. He shuddered in pain as some of the soaps entered his cuts, and he had a hard time scrubbing the parts of his body that were bruised. By the time he was done washing himself, the hot water of the basin with the embers felt remarkably good. Almost immediately his tense muscles relaxed. As he lay in the basin, the pain in his body became soothed and quickly dissipated and he became so rested that he even drifted off to sleep for a few minutes.
Kallin was jerked awake suddenly as water filled his nostrils and he struggled to breathe and he realized his head slipped under the water. He decided this was a good time to get out as he was coughing up all the water he unintentionally swallowed.
The clothes that were left out for him were very plain. A pair of brown leather boots accompanied the plain brown pants and white long-sleeved tunic. A brown sash went around his waist and he looked at himself in the mirror once again. He looked much different than he had before. Although a couple cuts on his face were still visible, he at least looked presentable now. As he looked at himself, Kallin was amazed at how dangerous a dark forest could be. Never did he imagine that idle trees and uneven ground hidden underneath a thick blanket of foliage could prove to be a threat to one's health.
With his box in hand, Kallin stepped back into the throne room and headed towards a door behind the throne. As he did, a girl appearing to be his age at seventeen, with long brown hair and a beautiful complexion crossed his path through the room. She wore clothes that fit the form of her body well, and both the pants and shirt she wore were a brilliant white. The sleeves of her shirt and ends of her pant legs both flared wide. Along the outside of her arms and legs, embroidered in the cloth, were ornate gold patterns that appeared to be writing of some sort. Around her waist, covering the seam where the shirt and pants met was a gold sash that matched the color of the gold designs on her clothes. He paused to let her by, but as he stopped, so did she and they stared at each other for a moment. They were each mesmerized by the other, but neither could think of why.
"Kara," Kallin said to her.
"Kallin," The girl said back in a naturally soft voice. "How do you know my name?"
Kallin shook his head in disbelief, "How do you know mine?"
"Well, glad I be that ye have met," Jansen said, startling both Kallin and the girl in front of him, "We be needin' to talk to the King. Come. Quickly."
"I'll be in the galley," The girl said.
"Nay Kara," Jansen told her as she started walking away. "Yer father will be needin to have yerself around too."
"Me too? But I was just on my way to..." Kara started but was cut off by Jansen.
"I understand that be busy ye may be," Jansen told her sternly, "But from what it would seem, some things are more impatient than even yerself Kara."
Kara scowled at Jansen, let out a frustrated breath, and followed him towards the door behind the throne. Kallin followed behind her, but not before receiving a quick, harsh glance from her.

Note: See my portfolio for more chapters.