Things did not unfold the way Desiderius had hoped and planned. He thought that this journey meant lots of fighting and moments to discover himself and become a true man. Instead, he had rapidly become the least experienced member of their party.
Sure, Mirlín and Reynaer are these great adventurers who have seen the world, killed loads of people, fought in legendary battles, and felled beautiful dames but me and Fyen were supposed to be the two youngsters, eager to learn, fighting side by side by the established heroes, learning together. But now Fyen has taken a giant step ahead of me and though I'm not entirely sure I'd want to do anything that gruesome, perhaps shoot someone with an arrow instead, I still now lack the experience and knowledge of life and death she's gained. And she might even be younger than me! And she's a girl! Now I'm the little boy in a group of three tragic heroes. Desiderius sulked on Snappy's back, already feeling very much depressed with the whole journey.
The three of them have all learned the most valuable lessons of life already and can tell their tragic stories to strangers in taverns and all the common people will look at them with admiration in their eyes and buy them free pints and want to sleep with them. Fyen will probably fall in love with another young tragic hero with the physique of a bull and poor Desiderius will sit in the dark and look uninteresting.
Where's my fight? Where's my wild stallion? What's the deal with Fyen and Nightmare anyway? How did she tame a mad mare just like that? Is she born to become a wandering warrior? Am I not? Life's so unfair! Now the other three were riding so fast that little Snappy could hardly keep up. She was sweating more than the other mounts combined.
Desiderius looked at Midwin who galloped a few yards ahead. He's a nice horse, maybe the kind of horse I'd like to be if I was a horse. Blue roan, now that's a knightly color. Midwin also had big hooves for trampling down enemies and a long, flowing mane which added extra majesty.
Then Desiderius thought about the village of Coilea. Quite many of his relatives lived there. His grandparents had been among the first settlers to build homes in the area which was now Coilea. I would probably live there too, happily ignorant of Fyen, Mirlín, and Reynaer if my dad hadn't moved to Kumby, chasing after mom. Nonetheless, Desiderius hoped his aunts would see him riding with those three real heroes and think that he was a hero too although the boy understood he might not look the part. But it's mostly Snappy's fault anyway. She's a child's pony.
Desiderius still had no idea how he could ever fulfill the ultimatums his father had set. Building a house seemed like such a laborious and tedious task. I wonder if Reynaer knows about that stuff too. He must have built a house at some point! But finding a wife would be even more difficult, as in Desiderius's opinion, the women he had met had been too uptight or then they had been whores who wouldn't dream of settling down. Not even with a strapping young lad like me! Well, maybe I could find a wife but getting her pregnant will be a whole other deal! What if I get nervous and the White Knight won't rise to the challenge or what if I can't... enter the Chamber of Desire? I will fumble and the woman will laugh! Again Reynaer would know... but I can never ever ask him about these things! He might lie and then I'll just embarrass myself! Besides, all this mad riding really doesn't treat White Knight too well either. I wish we were there already. It's dark and the horses are tired and my ass and crotch are tired too, Desiderius ranted inside his head and tried to stand on the stirrups to spare his posterior.
About half an hour later they finally arrived to the village, its thoroughfare a sea of mud as the rain was still hammering their backs. Fyen had not said a word during the ride, she was just staring straight ahead, a haunted look in her eyes. Reynaer had borrowed her his hooded cloak to conceal the blood splatter on her clothes and face.
"Where was the inn again?" the big man asked, glancing over his shoulder at the youth.
"It's on the right, see, over there, the green building with flowerpots by the entrance. They have stalls there as well," Desiderius replied.
"That's great," Mirlín sighed, patting the tired horse. "I think the poor boy dropped a shoe."
She dismounted the gelding to examine its hooves. Desiderius slid down off Snappy's saddle with a sore backside and wobbly legs. He felt a bit shaky on the ground and couldn't remember the last time he had been this hungry.
"Four horses coming!" Reynaer called, heading to the stables.
A small, round fellow peeked out and guided the animals to free stalls. Mirlín explained to the man that she needed a blacksmith first thing in the morning while Desiderius went to Fyen and asked her how she was holding up.
Fyen smiled a little but her eyes did not look at him. "I'm all right. Just need a little sleep."
"Don't we all," Desiderius said, laughing nervously, thinking Fyen looked very pretty even when she was brooding and covered in blood. Then, reluctant, he returned to Snappy. He clasped a tuft of straws and started drying up the mare’s thick, soaked coat. It would prove to be a long and miserable process what with Snappy having quite a lot of hair and Desiderius being starved, dead-tired, and drenched himself.
"Let's see if we can find us some rooms," Reynaer said when the quartet were finally done with their horses and walked towards the entrance of the inn.
They got two rooms; Mirlín and Fyen in one, the men in the other. Desiderius watched as Mirlín took Fyen to their bedroom and wondered whether she would manage to get any sleep after everything that had happened. I know I couldn't sleep if I was in her pants... no, wait... shoes! In her shoes! Too exciting. She must feel like a new girl now. Or maybe that's the kind of a moment when girls become women. Maybe they will both get naked and perform some coming-of-age rites and rub oils on one another, their bodies glistening in the... oh shut up! That's disrespectful, right out dis... that’s gonna cost me at least five ‘Holy Suns in Heavens’... Perhaps girls become women when they face difficulties and commit murders. Then again, I wouldn't know because I'm not a girl. At all. I'm a man, Desiderius thought and followed Reynaer to their room. The young man fell on his bed to rest his sore backside and bones.
"We gonna go to sleep?" he asked Reynaer.
The big man was rummaging around his saddlebag. "I think I'm gonna hit the tavern a bit later."
He took out a spare tunic and hose and hung them to dry before a sparkling fire in the room’s fireplace since though they weren’t wet, they were damp and the weather outside was chilly. All of a sudden it dawned on Desiderius that if he wanted dry clothes too, he would also have to change. In front of a stranger. Is that… acceptable? I mean back home, sure, I can let the pieces dangle out but with that… madman… He still viewed Reynaer as somewhat of a threat but the fact remained, he would look like an idiot if he stayed in wet clothes and got himself consumption. Oh shoot, I don’t have a choice, do I? He gulped and hung his spare clothes next to Reynaer’s. Luckily enough, the big man appeared right at ease with being casual amongst themselves as he had already taken off his clothes and wrapped a blanket around his waist before he started going over his crossbow and swords with a dry piece of cloth without paying any attention to Desiderius. Encouraged, the youth also stripped down, dove under the warm blanket of his bed, and started munching on dried meat.
No comments:
Post a Comment