To Be King

On the other side of the city a group of men from the Kreishan Islands laughed and talked and sang in their native tongue. They were sailors and hired men who didn’t usually travel this far inland into Takkam and were glad their lord and employer was done politicking and that they could start the journey back home. They planned to drink all day, sleep all night, and start the long march back to the coastal city where their boat was docked. The innkeeper glared at them but since they were the only guests at the time, he didn’t say a word. Some of the men drunkenly crooned love songs for the beautiful girls back home, others boasted loudly with exaggerated stories of the exploits at sea and on land.

“I hate to interrupt the revelry, but we are not going home just yet, my friends.” One Kreishan man said as he entered through the front door of the inn, somehow speaking above the din without shouting. He looked quite a bit different from the others. While he wasn’t scrawny he was still the most slender and lithe of the men there. His clothes were neat and clean and the calluses on his hands were those of a young master who played around with swords and scimitars for fun and exercise rather than those of a man used to hard labor. His long, black hair was tied into a low ponytail off to the right with two braids hanging by the right side of his head. The left side of his head was shaved, with two braids braided along the border between his long hair and the shaved part. On the shaved part of his head was a large, colorful tattoo of a pink and orange flower. He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway, a light and easy expression on his face.

“The fuck are you talking about, Paen?” One of the men slammed his pint down, squinting at Paen as he slurred, “we’ve watched your back as you frolicked with these Takkam nobles for long enough. I got a pretty, young wife at home to satisfy!”

Paen smiled, a dimple appearing on his left cheek but not his right, “but wouldn’t your wife be more satisfied if you came back a very wealthy man, my friend?”

Some of the men sobered up and showed earnest interest in Paen’s words, while others rolled their eyes and focused back on their drinks.

“Now if you’ve been paying any attention you might’ve noticed that the atmosphere of the capital was pretty tense today. That’s because the princess Eleisiya was kidnapped.”

“What did you do, you snake!” one of the men jeered good-naturedly and the others laughed a little too uproariously.

Paen widened his eyes and pressed a hand to his chest looking insulted, “do I look like the kind of man who would do something like that?”

“Yes!” Many of the men called out, leading to another chorus of laughter.

Paen laughed along with the men, “well, I didn’t do it. But...” Paen’s voice grew darker and quieter and he put his hands down on a table, leaning forward. His men all grew quiet, waiting for his next words, “I am going to rescue her and you all are going to help me.”

“And why would we do that?!” the first man who spoke stood up, towering over Paen, “could the reward really be worth staying in this filthy country any longer?”

Paen’s smile grew larger, his eyes squinted a bit and his other dimple finally appeared, “oh, it is. The reward for rescuing the princess is her hand in marriage.” Paen straightened up and started pacing around amongst his men, “if I marry the princess of Takkam then my family’s position on the council becomes stronger. Whatever reward Takkam gives you for your contributions my father will double upon our return home. And when I become King of Takkam, well, you all know me well. I never forget loyalty.”