The house was silent as he crept down the stairs so as to avoid waking his siblings and father’s housecarl. Although Jordis had been like a mother to them since their parents had disappeared fifteen years ago.
He slipped out the door, doing his best to ensure that it made no noise as he eased it shut.
His name was Alarne and it had taken him five years to get General Tullius to tell him where he had sent his father all those years ago. Apparently his father had been sent to hunt down one of the remaining groups of Stormcloaks who had been hiding themselves in the rift.
The only reference point that Tullius had been able or willing to provide had been that they had been seen near Sarethi Farm. A farm run by a peculiar Dunmer who was able to grow nirnroot, why anybody would want to was beyond him, just being around one was enough to have him wanting to tear his ears off.
Tullius had only agreed to divulge this as in one week to the day Alarne would be sixteen; it would also be ten years since his parents had gone missing and also ten years since the provinces greatest hero had disappeared; ten years since the Dragonborn had disappeared.
Looking back on the manor he could see the flickering light of a candle from his sisters’ bedroom. Runa was probably sitting up in bed reading another of those books that Jordis had recommended to help them improve their sword skills. Her fox Vix would be curled up at the foot of her bed sound asleep like she should have been.
Sofie on the other hand would most likely have her back turned towards the candle trying her best to get some sleep. At the thought of this Alarne felt a longing for the warmth of his own bed, he swiftly pushed it aside as he had a long journey ahead of him.
The memory of the last time he had seen his father flashed through his mind. He had been coming up on six and as such had been holding his mother’s hand, standing beside him had been his sisters both almost adults themselves. Their father had been walking towards the main gate when he had stopped and given a cheerful wave over his shoulder.
This memory quickly shifted to that of when his mother had gone in search of his father. Runa and Sofie had been standing on either side of him each gripping one of his hands tightly to prevent him from chasing after her. Both had been holding back the tears that they would later let fall in the privacy of their room.
Coming back to himself and the present Alarne realized that his cheeks were wet with his tears. He quickly wiped them dry and to stop himself from remaining in that very spot til morning, he turned towards the main gate and continued on his way.
As he stepped through the main gate of Solitude Alarne stopped to take in the view from the top of the rise that was the road to the capital. He knew for a fact that if the day was clear enough a boy with too much time on his hands could almost see Morthol from up on the walls of the city.
He had spent his entire life up until now in and around solitude, for him at least he was heading into a world of the unknown.
Alarne shook his head to clear his mind of thoughts of what awaited him, he still had to leave the hold before Jordis and his sisters realized that he was gone. He made his way down to the stables at Katla’s Farm, where Blaise; the Breton stableboy who barely came up to his shoulder even though Blaise was of an age with his sisters, was waiting for him along with a pair of horses both saddled and ready to ride.
“Hey there Alarne took ya long enough. Did ya get lost on yah way down ya halfwit?”
“I was simply giving you the chance to get the horse ready, I know how long it can take you to put your pants on in the morning so I wasn’t sure how long you’d take.” All this was said with an air of anxiety, they both new well enough how Katla would react if she found them doing this. Not to mention Alarne’s sisters, they both still had bruises from the last time they had gotten into mischief around them.
“What’s with the second horse?” The addition of another horse had been bugging Alarne since he had made out the shape of Blaise on his way down the hill.
“Oh that well I thought since yah only just of age, that I might come along to make sure that yah didn’t get into any trouble. And I sort of wish to be away from this place when they realize that yah gone and that a horse be missing from the stables.” As he said this a sheepish grin had spread across the Bretons face.
“That last bit I can understand, but you do know that I can handle myself in a fight better than you can.” It had been a well-established fact for the last few years, ever since Alarne had gained a foot on Blaise that of the two Alarne was the stronger and thanks to the training that he had been put through by Jordis from a young age that wasn’t his only advantage.
“Even so, I couldn’t have it on my conscience if anything was to happen to ya and it’s nice to have someone watching yah back no matter how good ya might be.”
“Well I can’t stop you and the company would be nice so you might as well come along.” This was said in the sincerest way that Alarne knew how, the only part of his journey that he hadn’t been looking forward to was the silence that came with travelling alone. “We’d better be off, for all we know they’ve noticed that I’m missing.”
With that the two of them mounted up and turned their horses away from the only home they had known in their lives. Before heading off Alarne took one last look at the city he had been born in, he realized that he would miss it no matter where he ended up. He made a silent vow to himself that he would return one day, once he was done he turned back to face towards their destination and urged his horse forwards.
Comments
Well your links are somewhat messed up but we'll sort them out in no time.
What I need you to do is to re-post your ToC's in the blog section. Don't worry as to what they look like, get them up here then we can sort them out... more
Very curious to see who the mother is.
Don't worry about offending me (if you actually managed it I'd be amazed) I wouldn't be surprise... more
First line.
The house was silent has he crept down the stairs so as to avoid waking his siblings and father’s housecarl.......... ... more