Birthright: Lord of Arda (19 page)

"Arms out, like this now stay still." Braden did as the smaller man said, before he slowly began to spin him around. Panorin stood with his arms crossed, his fingers running through his trimmed and well-kept goatee.

"Your core physique is good, so we don’t need to hide any lumps and bumps. Arms and legs, well defined."

The man grabbed different parts of Braden's body as he spoke, he carried a piece of white string in one hand using it to measure his body. Braden tried to make sure he didn’t fall off the stand again as he spun backwards and forwards, but luckily Panorin kept changing the direction of the spin so he could keep some semblance of balance.

"We can keep the trousers tight against the muscles and the chest and arms the same. We need some flare though, perhaps at the waist. What colours are we working with?"

He glanced over at Lydia who was obviously in awe of the man.

"White and Purple are the main colours, we can also use gold and black thread for the trim, Master Upperbeach."

"Fine, let’s try black trousers, use a white strip on the side to break it up, gold thread as well. Tunic, white, gold trim, black fasteners. Remember tight arms and legs."

Panorin spun him around again and clapped his hands.

Chapter XXXIV

Alexander

Panorin grabbed Alex balancing him on the pedestal, it was the fourth time since he had got on that he had almost fallen off. The first, second and third time, they had all laughed but the fourth time seemed to annoy the tailor.

"You need to have balance, unlike your friend here. I had to catch him once, now I can spin him like a bottle and not worry."

Alex looked over at Braden who stood smugly, he was half dressed in the clothes Panorin had designed for him. The majority of the clothing, was being pinned and re-pinned by the tailor’s assistants. It seemed to be getting tighter and tighter around Braden's body, Alex wondered what would happen if Braden pigged out on food for the next few days would he still fit into the clothes again. Luckily, his own clothes were less defined, although he was dressed in a similar manner to Braden. The same primary colours of white and black were evident but no gold or purple was being used, he was currently dressed in off-white trousers with a black stripe down his right leg, his top half partially covered by a black tunic, which Panorin was trying to pin round his sides, when he had fallen off the pedestal.

"We will use a white and purple trim for the tunic, I think."

Ashe had been taken into the other room with Miral and Lydia just after Alex had returned to the room. Panorin had poked his head into the room a few times, whilst the women were pinning up Alex and Braden. They stood on the pedestals for another thirty minutes before Panorin finally let them down, the women with him packed up his things, as he explained to Alex and Braden that he would be back tomorrow, to make some final adjustments before he finished and delivered the clothes. Ashe returned from the other room just in time to say goodbye to Panorin before he left. Her black hair was sticking up in different directions and she was struggling to get it back down into it’s usual flat state as she walked over and took a seat opposite the pair.

"Have fun?" Braden said gesturing to her hair.

"Those women were brutal, they must have had me in and out of fifty different types of clothes before they finally decided on a set."

"What did it look like?" Alex asked.

"Panorin told me not to tell, he wanted it to be a shock, according to Miral he likes to have a big reveal when he is finished. He has a flair for the dramatic."

"Really, I would never would have guessed."

The three of them sat down by the fire, Alex took the single seat as Ashe and Braden dropped themselves down onto the sofa. They were all tired from the long day’s events and it was almost midnight by the time they had finished with Panorin. Alex looked over at Braden's face, the swelling had seemed to reach it’s peak. They had discussed the day, whilst they were getting fitted. Braden's day seemed to be much more eventful than his and Ashe's, but he still was thinking back to Cecile's workshop. Some of the techniques the old man had shown him in that short hour were amazing. His father had been an excellent smith, he had made a few chainmail vests as well, but his main cliental had always been from the villages. Horseshoes, nails and axe blades were his usual work but Cecile was a master armourer, he couldn’t wait to get back down there again tomorrow. Cecile was starting work on a breastplate for a Knight in the King’s direct service and Alex was keen to see it from the start to finish. He saw Magnus out of corner of his eye as he slowly walked across the room, he stopped a number of times to stretch his legs and back before curling up at the feet of Braden in front of the fire. Braden was drifting off to sleep and Alex felt like following him, when the door swung open. He quickly darted up followed by Ashe, Magnus and finally Braden rubbing his eyes. Page walked through the door followed by a pile of walking books and two men. Alex watched as Braden placed his hand on Magnus' back pushing him down to the ground and out of sight, he wondered how long they would have to keep Magnus hidden. He was growing so quickly that in a couple of weeks it would be impossible to pass him off as an oversized dog.

"Braden, please come here."

Alex watched his friend walk around the sofa and Alex followed a few steps behind. He looked at Ashe and then to Magnus, she got the idea and sat back down, her hand on Magnus to keep him still. As they got closer to Page and his group, Braden realised the walking stack of books was Troy. The two men standing in front of him were well-dressed but had no gold or silver to mark them as anything more than prosperous men. The older of the two had dark hair greying at the sides, his face was tanned from spending hours in the sun, he was shorter than Alex but a little taller than Braden, the second man was almost a spitting image of him without the grey hair.

"Braden, I have some people I would like you to meet. This is Sir Mace Hearth and his son Jorge."

Mace was the first to drop to his knee bowing his head, his son quickly followed. Alex watched his friend take a step back shock was written over his bruised face.

"My Lord, I served your father before he passed away. He was a good man and a strong leader, the Kingdom and its people are worse off without him to guide them."

"Get up, please." Braden lent forward and lifted him up by the shoulders.

"I am no Lord, at least not yet. My father may have been a great man but I never knew him so there is no need to praise him in front of me."

"I am sorry my L..."

"Braden, please." He replied quickly.

"I am sorry Braden, but I owe much to your father including my knighthood and everything that followed, even Jorge here. I only met his mother through your father’s service."

"Why are you here then Sir Mace?" Alex interjected.

"He is here to serve as Braden's first guard, from the moment we walk into the great hall in two days time, he will be a target both from the common criminal and from the Lords he stands beside. Because of this he will need swords to stand beside him, and loyal ones at that." Page answered.

"And loyal I am, as I said your father gave me everything and made me the man I am today."

"Page, do you trust this man?" Braden asked.

"Yes, we have kept in contact over the years and I have no reason to doubt his loyalty. He is a good man both in character and with a sword and will do well to serve as your guard."

"I have trained my son since he was ten, to hold a blade, he is strong and skilled and I would put my life in his hands."

"Well maybe one day I will have to challenge you myself."

The young man smiled at Braden's challenge, before nodding to him.

"Now we should probably leave this for the night, Mace we need to get you back out of here before anyone notices. You still have strong connections to the late Lord Drake, and we don’t want anyone spoiling our surprise." Page said.

Mace and Jorge shook both Braden and his own hand before departing, Page walked them out of the room and began ushering them down the corridor before closing the door behind them. Both Alex and Braden were watching the door close when they heard a massive crash behind them, they spun around to see books strewn across the floor and Troy collapsed beside them. Braden was the first to reach the boy, he put his hand against his face before turning him over to one side.

"Don’t worry he's just fallen asleep."

"Let me."

Alex moved Braden to one side as he picked up the boy, before moving him across and laying him down on the sofa opposite the fire. He stifled a yawn himself before announcing that he needed to go to bed as well. He followed Braden into one of the adjacent room which the two of them shared with Page, Ashe bid them goodnight, as she went to her own room opposite. Alex stripped off quickly before dropping onto the makeshift bed they had made the night before. It had killed his back the first night he had slept on it and he wasn't looking forward to the pain again in the morning. It was only for a few nights however, as he knew as soon as Braden was made a Lord they would be put up in their own suite of rooms. Braden was having far more trouble getting his clothes off, Alex could see he was getting stiff from the bruises he had received earlier in the day.

"Serves you right, you always dive into trouble."

"I don’t dive into trouble, trouble just seems to find me." Alex rolled his eyes, as he watched Braden finally get his shirt off.

"So are you nervous?" He asked.

"What, about becoming a Lord of Arda? The Lord of the Rose Tower and High Duke of the White Hills, protector of the innocent and the justice of my people. And any other titles I shall inherit from my father?"

"Is that a yes?"

"No I'm not nervous, to be honest. It still sounds and feels so false. I'm not scared of the titles, if I'm nervous about anything, it’s taking responsibility of caring for all those people and having all the power that will be in my hands."

"Well you can still back out you know, we can go back to the shires?"

“We would be leaving our friends here, Ashe, Page, Mace, Jorge even Panorin, they have put their faith in me, I have to repay that faith."

"Your sense of honour will get you killed one day."

"Probably but at least I know you will be right behind me, being my friend and all."

"I'm not dying for your sense of honour."

They both laughed together before turning over and going to sleep.

Chapter XXXV

Ashe

She lay there staring at the ceiling, she couldn’t sleep. How could she sleep? In less than thirty six hours Braden was either going to become a High Lord of Arda or be taken away to be executed for treason. It was the early hours of the morning, she judged by looking at the candle on the small dressing table in the room, she had only had about a half an hour’s sleep so far. At first she had worried about Braden, then she couldn’t stop thinking about the book, Kingston had given her. She had spent the next two hours reading and practicing until she collapsed from exhaustion, but that lasted a short while, before she was woken by a nightmare.

"Ashe."

The word was almost a whisper. She sat bolt upright in the bed, the covers falling away leaving her chest bare. She grabbed the sheets again to cover herself, in case someone was in the room. She looked around but could see no-one. The door was still closed and locked. She shifted around in the bed letting her feet dangle over the side. Ashe thought about the voice, it was familiar but for a while she couldn’t figure out to whom it belonged. She was convinced she was alone, so dropped the sheets, put her head in her hands and began rubbing her temples. It always helped her relax and hopefully from there, drift off to sleep. Then it came to her.

"Father."

She looked up in hope, that he was somewhere in the room. She jumped to her feet letting the rest of the cover fall away. She stood naked in the middle of the room, her head darting backwards and forward before dropping to her chest.

"Oh Ashe."

She was talking to herself, she must have been over-tired and her mind playing tricks on her. Her father had died years ago, she had seen the limp body as the men had piled it onto the back of the cart to take back to Baron Gillard. He was gone. Ashe felt tears run down her cheeks as she thought about how he had died, for only a few pieces of gold. She wiped her face and turned back to the bed. As she pulled the covers over her body, she saw a light under the door. It was bright and unnatural and she recognised it immediately. She jumped back out of bed, quickly pulling on a few odd clothes enough to cover herself before opening the door into the main room. Ashe didn’t look to see if the others were in the room or even if they were awake. She moved directly onto the balcony where the light was coming from. As she stepped out onto the balcony there was only one of the women, looking out over the city. Before Ashe could say or do anything the others appeared in front of the first, they floated above the city not seeming to notice that they were hundreds of feet above the ground. Ashe watched as an argument began between the first women and the man standing opposite her. One by one the others got involved in the quarrel. After standing for a few minutes watching the argument she realised that she couldn’t hear anything. It was silent, only the sound of the wind convinced her she wasn’t deaf. Slowly each of the seven other women stepped away from the man and came and joined the first woman standing on the balcony. Finally, when he was left on his own the man bowed his head and walked over to the woman. He embraced her warmly, his gaze falling on Ashe before he disappeared from view. The other women quickly followed suit until only the first was left alone. She turned to Ashe and waved her over, Ashe was hesitant at first but the woman's eyes were pure and warm, calming her. She stepped up next to the woman who smiled before turning back out to the city, raising her hand she pointed up to the sky to a group of stars. Then she slowly disappeared and as the last of her body vanished, the star she had pointed to, flashed brightly. Ashe watched as the star flashed and then began to move, at first slowly in the dark sky, then faster and faster until Ashe was convinced it was falling out of the sky. She watched it streak past the other stars finally disappearing behind a group of hills in the distance, a second later the sky was filled with a flash of light causing Ashe to close her eyes. When she opened them again she was staring back at the ceiling of her room, under the covers of her bed. She sat upright looking to the door which was still locked, no sign of light beneath it. She turned over realising it was just a dream, she needed sleep, for the next day was going to be a big day. She pulled the sheets up and rubbed her arms pulling down her sleeves and burying herself into her shirt to warm herself up as she drifted off to sleep.