“Um-excuse
me, sir?”
Sorvar had
been staring down at his mug, contemplating drinking from it. The high-pitched
voice addressing him broke the liquid’s trance. He looked up through red-rimmed
eyes to see a scrawny half-elf looking at him.
“I got
no spare change, kid. Scram.” He mumbled in a gruff voice, glancing back down
at his mug.
“I-don’t
need money.” The kid stammered. “I was just wondering if I can sit at your
table….all the other seats are taken.”
Sorvar
glanced up at the boy again, studying him for a moment, taking in the worn
travel clothes and mussed blonde-brown hair. There was something familiar about
this kid. As he studied, he met the boy’s eyes. The slate-grey eyes pierced
through him. He had seen those eyes before. They were the reason he was here,
drinking himself to unconsciousness…again.
Even
though he knew it was extremely unwise, he still couldn’t stop himself from
whispering her name, “Faelynn…..”
The kid
gave him a shocked look, “What did you say?”
“Nothin’.”
Sorvar slurred. “Now go away.” The last thing he needed was Faelynn Stormbringer’s
son (Faerin, wasn’t it?) asking questions he didn’t want to remember the
answers to.
The kid
ignored his gruff request and sat down anyway. “You said ‘Faelynn.’” He
exclaimed in a tone not quite a yell. “Were you referring to Faelynn
Stormbringer?”
The
noise in the inn seemed to lessen as people took notice of the kid’s
outburst. People were staring at them. Many
of those stares were not friendly.
“That’s not a name you want to be shouting
in a place like this, kid.” Sorvar said, an edge of warning in his voice.
The kid’s
face turned a shade of red, and he seemed to shrink in on himself. “Sorry.” He mumbled.
“I just….I know so little about her…I thought…..” he broke off as he lowered
his gaze and began fiddle with an amulet he had pulled from under his shirt.
They sat in silence for several minutes as the other patrons resumed their
previous conversations.
“She
was beautiful, smart, and deadly, kid.” Sorvar grumbled finally. “There’s not
much more to know. Even her closest friends couldn’t tell you more than that.”
The kid’s head shot up. “Wait. You
knew her, didn’t you? Personally?” his eyes were lit up like bonfires.
“I knew all of them,” He murmured
over the lip of his mug, pausing before drinking. “At least, I thought I did.
Once. A long time ago.” Sorvar took a long drink from his mug and
practically dropped back onto the table. It made a dull thud as it landed.
“What were they like?” the kid
asked, curiosity and awe evident in his voice.
Some crumpled copy of a smile
crossed his face. “They were going to change the world.”
Outside the inn, in kingdoms and
cities near and far, the world burned.
