Saydra (Sayd) Tari's Story

Uxio Rocha looked down at the boy on the ground at his feet. In all honesty, he was at a loss as to what to say. To him, it seemed like a boy had just thrown himself from the crowd. Not that something like that hadn't happened before, but for a split-second his training had taken over and be had been about to take the ragged little creature's head clean off.

So now he stood over a reddening boy, one that couldn't be over the age fifteen or sixteen, maybe less judging by the lack of even a hint of hair on his lip, a hand on the hilt of his blade. As Uxio took another second to take look at the boy, his gaze fell on the sword. It was splintered hunk of wood, barely fit to be called a stick. A smile spread across Uxio's face. Not the Prince's smile. A smile of nostalgia. One from hot summer days spent swinging a wooden sword, dreaming of becoming a knight worthy of the adoration of the kingdom. A hero.

But soon the moment passed and the Prince was back. A porcelain puppet pulled by elegant silk strings. The Prince of the kingdom was not the Paladin Uxio, the champion. He was the gentle, caring man beloved by the people of the kingdom, and the man they hoped to follow. He had not the power of the Paladin, nor the human qualities that Uxio himself had buried beneath the surface. He was royal and elegant. But to Uxio, this was no act nor puppetry. This was him to his people and the way he must be. And that was simply it.

And so the Prince took his hand and put the boy on his feet, giving the boy a wide smile... Until he saw the boy's eyes. When he saw the boy's eyes, he felt the Prince slip away, replaced by the sense of duty, of honor. Of the power he wielded in the name of his kingdom. The eyes of the Paladin stared into this peasant boy's own like they would reveal some great secret. And the Paladin grinned. Had he ten warriors with eyes like that, full of fire, wise of things far beyond the years they had seen, an army of thousands would stand not a chance.

"What's your name?" Said the Paladin, already confident of one of his choices. "Never too early to start recruiting."

And deep inside, the Man in Uxio wished sullenly that he should have eyes such as those.

A sour frown formed across the face of Lieutenant Abreu, in stark contrast to the smile that lit up the prince's. Though he had come to expect behavior of this sort from his prince and commander, the seasoned lieutenant nonetheless could not understand his motives. If the boy was fit to be in the army, which, in the eyes of the lieutenant, was not the case, then he would very easily be able to pass the tests that they would hold in the center of the town. But the prince still chose to recruit this small, rather girlish boy. Abreu wouldn't have been surprised if the child hadn't done a day's work in his life, as fragile as he looked.

With one last glance behind him at the small company of soldiers and back at the prince and their newest edition, he sighed. Hopefully this town would have better to offer.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ten youths, not including Sayd, had been picked by Uxio's second in command, Abreu. It was a large town, but not by any means large enough for them to expect any more.

Uxio, at least, was satisfied. He would have been satisfied even if none of the boys who applied to recruit had been selected.

"Sir. May I ask you a question?" the voice of Abreu said to the side.

Uxio glanced at him and nodded. "Of course."

"That boy. Sayd. Why did you not have him go through the proper procedures?" Abreu said, straight and to the point.

Uxio glanced over at Sayd, who he had told to wait while the recruitment was going on. "He would have passed," he answered simply.

"How do you know?" replied the older man.

Uxio shook his head. Abreu was a logical and serious man. It made him a good commander of the troops and strategist when it came down to it, but all he saw in Sayd was a skinny, untrained boy.

"Trust me. He would have. If he's not cut out for the life of a soldier, I'll personally have him sent home."

Abreu nodded. "I will trust you on this, sir. But I won't go any easier on him than the others."

Uxio nodded and turned away as Abreu left. He hasn't expected anything less. Now, though, he made his way to Sayd.

"Sayd. We'll be leaving to make up camp for the night near the village in a few minutes," Uxio told him, all business now. "I thought I should warn you that if I or one of the others in command finds you lacking as a soldier in training, I may have to remove you from my company. This is a rule that applies to you more than any other recruits. Think of it as a price for any of the... Special treatment you may recieve."

Uxio smiled at him now. "And speaking of that, I expect to begin training immediately after the camp is set up and you receive your equipment." He paused. "Unless, of course, you would rather spend your time getting acclimated to your new lifestyle."

Jorg
Jorg had been traveling with the slaves for ten miles until they met a rendevou point where he left them to a larger force led by a loyal captain. He took ten bandits with him to move to another rendevou fifteen miles north of Mill Pines. There was a small military outpost that would send out a patrol to the now smoky town. The patrol would need to be destroyed so that the group holding the slaves wouldn't be hunted down. "Alright men!" Jorg shouted to his bandits. "We're going to get the the rendvou before sunset so no resting!"


Kork
Kork was a Lieutenant in Jorg's rabble of bandits and was ordered to kill the Prince. One of the neighboring kingdoms was willing to pay big gold for Uxio's head. The plan was that twenty bandits would set fire to the local tavern as well as killing civilians to draw the soldiers to them. On the way there the archers who had hidden on the rooftops would send volleys at the prince. If that wasn't enough he had ten bandits hidden in the crowds. He was stationed with the five archers on top of a roof top. He waited a few moments until a smoke gradually rose into the air, starting as a small puff to a river of smog. Then there were screams as his troops began to hack at any near the tavern. Kork's drawing finger was getting itchy.