1. Willard

    Private The Ballad of the Blighted Shore

    'I'm glad you agree, Lady.' Despite his earlier attempt to temper both her's and the party's expectations, Willard had not sought to butt heads with the bard. Lately, it seemed half the words that left his mouth came out wrong, stoking enmity where once there had existed amity. Arrowdale was a...
  2. Willard

    Private The Ballad of the Blighted Shore

    Saw it between sips of sweet rose wine, perhaps, thought the dawnling, content enough to watch and listen as the bardess plied her trade on the others. Syr Sabinian was already quite taken with the larkling, he could tell. As for Syr Kerrigan, well, she was right, of course - unicorn or not...
  3. Willard

    Private The Ballad of the Blighted Shore

    "Hasn't stopped talking since we got here." 'Ears ringin' yet?' Willard asked, following Syr Hector's lead and dismounting, the voice streaming from the seaside hut that of a stranger. Lady Lark of the Lanes, the knight assumed, since Syr Kerrigan wasn't one for wasted breath and Sabinian's...
  4. Willard

    Private The Ballad of the Blighted Shore

    Clip clop. Clip clop. So went the monotonous hours spent in measured pursuit, iron-shod hooves beating a steady rhythm against the dry earth amidst the rattle of tack and the grumble-groan of weathered beech trees. The signs left behind by their brethren are easy to spot if you know what you...
  5. Willard

    Private The only brew for the brave and true

    A nod. 'Not a fuckin' clue,' he smiled thinly, trying to muster up some levity, as his half-eared brother was wont to do when the mood turned sour. 'You're right, of course, you're right. Even so, I cannot help but worry.' Trust was not something the dawnling handed out willy-nilly. The...
  6. Willard

    Private The only brew for the brave and true

    The young knight bore no ill will towards Magnar, despite the momentary anger the older man's words elicited in him. It felt like hardly any time had passed since the Thiels had invited them into their home, and already the eldest son knew enough to pass judgement. To condemn a future that may...
  7. Willard

    Private The only brew for the brave and true

    The trouble with a guilty conscience was that you could not hide it. The part of Willard that wanted to guard Venla's secrets struggled with the part that wanted to tell them the truth. Eyes being windows, he realised he could not withhold it from them, not with the pair staring right through...
  8. Willard

    Private The only brew for the brave and true

    The dawnling sat there, confused, until he wasn't. 'Ah.' Drachenberg. Fuck! Rubbing at his weary eyes, Willard looked from Magnar to Saara, his expression a mixture of guilt and self-loathing. How could I have forgotten that little detail? He asked himself, pushing his bowl away, his appetite...
  9. Willard

    Private The only brew for the brave and true

    Willard shrugged. No surprise there, he thought. Letters had a habit of getting lost on the twining country roads seperating Astenvale from the world at large. Highwaymen loved their stagecoaches nearly as much as poachers loved plucking pigeon feathers. And sending stones were a rare commodity...
  10. Willard

    Private The only brew for the brave and true

    'Don't mention it,' replied Willard, waving the thanks away. 'We were passing through. Only right that we stopped by.' Magnar's voice was thick with relief. There was even a bit of mist about his eyes, though surely that was due to the woodsmoke, and not the words written in his sister's hand...
  11. Willard

    Private The only brew for the brave and true

    Willard's eyes widened in surprise. He laughed, shrugging, as one often did when at a loss for words. 'Careful with this one, Hec. Last time Magnar offered me a drink, he damn near poisoned me,' the dawnling's smile was short-lived. Dusting off his boots, he followed Magnar inside. My, but this...
  12. Willard

    Private The Ballad of the Blighted Shore

    Willard smiled at Hector's question. 'Nope!' He replied. 'I thought, perhaps, the truth might suffice, only... it contradicts what we told them to begin with.' That they had been heading to Drachenberg, to serve the lord there. Willard as a sword-sworn, Venla as a kitchen maid. The lie had never...
  13. Willard

    Private The Ballad of the Blighted Shore

    The older boy's remark as to their trade drew laughs and smiles aplenty. Until his mother got involved. Then they fell as quiet as church mice, which was fine by Willard. 'Only the pretty ones,' he answered the boys, nodding gratefully to the barman. 'Your niece sends her love. Peace be upon you...
  14. Willard

    Private The Ballad of the Blighted Shore

    'Road dust does wonders for my complexion,' came a voice from the back of the group. 'Trap or not, I've never tried tracking a myth before,' said Syr Willard, pulling off his felt cap to check on his bowstrings. 'Besides, from what scuttlebutt tells me, this Lady Lark of the Lanes is a bard.'...
  15. Willard

    Private Venture forth, Young Dawn

    'Lucky's one way of puttin' it,' replied Willard, the idle brush of fingers against fletching reminding the dawnling just how damned lucky Hector really was. 'Hear that?' He smiled. 'Someone's spinning a yarn.' The tale of Sheriff Ronaldly. Classic! Edwynna was reaching the tail end of her...
See more
Back
Top Bottom