Chapter 5
Bradwyn wiped the sweat off his brow as he proudly gazed over the day’s accomplishments. Thanks to the hard work of the commoners and him over the past couple of days, the castle was now over halfway completed. Even Tristan had helped for a while, but then he had disappeared. Bradwyn had assumed that his hulking friend wandered off to help in other tasks. He walked over to where his fellow workers were finishing up for the day and commended them on a job well done, then went over to a large water basin near the town square which had been recently filled with fresh water and began washing up a bit. He glanced around, seeing if he could spot Tristan anywhere since they were supposed to meet up and go to the tavern. He was beginning to wonder what had become of his friend, when a hand gently grasped his shoulder. He turned, expecting to see Tristan standing there, but came face to face with his father instead who was beaming with pride.
“Well done my boy!” He hugged Bradwyn and, putting an arm around his shoulders, they began to walk back towards the other workers, who were heading toward the water basin themselves. The king stopped them for a moment and smiled proudly at them and bowed his head respectfully to them. “I shall not hold you up my friends, but I wish to hold a short meeting in the town square after everyone cleans up a bit.”
The villagers bowed back as one of them spoke. “Of course, Your Majesty.”
“I look forward to seeing everyone in the square then.” He bowed his head once more and he and Bradwyn headed back to the square.
“Have you seen Tristan around by chance, father?” Bradwyn asked once they were back in the town square waiting on the others to arrive.
“Sorry son, but I have not. However, I would not put it past that boy to already be at the tavern.” Lorret chuckled. “That, Tristan loves his ale!”
Bradwyn chuckled back. “Aye, that he does.”
Once everyone was in the square and gathered around Bradwyn and the king, Lorret raised his hands to draw everyone’s attention to him. Once they stopped talking and all eyes were on him, he began to speak.
“My friends, my people!” He spoke loud enough for them to hear. “I brought you before me to tell you how proud I am of all of you! You have worked very hard over these last couple of days, and you have been working very well together! Everyone has been doing a magnificent job on such difficult tasks, and I am glad to see you helping each other out! I want to thank you all, for sticking by me during this rough transition, and for remaining faithful to myself, and to each other! Now, I realize that the tasks at hand can be difficult and grueling, and I have been trying help out in any way possible myself, but for everyone to go about their work with no complaint, that is truly something to be thankful for! I love you all dearly! I have just one last thing to say. To show my appreciation and thanks, all drinks are on me! Now, let’s get to the tavern, shall we?”
The crowd erupted in cheers, a few women wiping tears from their eyes from the emotional speech. As Bradwyn and Lorret stepped forward and started heading toward the tavern, the rest formed a line behind them and followed.
As Bradwyn and the king arrived at the tavern, Bradwyn opened the door to hear the all too familiar voice of a drunken Tristan. With slurred speech, he was arguing belligerently with the barmaid.
“Now lishen here, woman! I ain’ drunk too mush, an’ I ain’ drank! I’m payin’ ya ta sherve me, sho when I shay I wan’ mor’, ya besh’ bring it!” He swayed in his chair, gesturing violently as if to annunciate every word.
“Oh dear…” Lorret stood there, staring wide-eyed at the spectacle before him.
Bradwyn just sighed and rubbed his head. “Here we go again…” He muttered. He looked over at the king and rolled his eyes. “I’ll take care of big dumb and ugly.” Lorret couldn’t help but chuckle at the remark.
The barmaid sighed. “Tristan, look, you know I don’t like doing this to you love, but you can hardly even sit, let alone stand! And you’re wearing more ale than you’re drinking! You most certainly do not need any more to drink, what you need is to go home and go to sleep!” As she turned to walk away, Tristan grabbed her by the wrist, nearly falling out of his chair. She spun back around, glaring furiously at him, her face growing red hot with anger.
“Lishen here, wench! I demand you to-“
“Leave her alone Tristan…” Bradwyn came up behind his friend, startling the man into dropping the barmaid’s wrist. She rubbed her wrist for a moment, then cracked her knuckles, ready to lay Tristan out at a moment’s notice.
Tristan turned to face his friend, all three of them from what he could see, swaying unsteadily as he moved. “Do ya mind? I’m havin’ a lovely conshervation with the lady here.”
“Looks more to me like you’re making an a*s of yourself, friend.”
Tristan staggered to his feet, nearly falling over the chair. “I’m not makin’ an ash of myself! Yer makin’ an ash of me! Can’ let meh talk ta tha lady! An’ can’ let meh drink me ale in peashe! Why, I’ll show ya who’sh makin’ a asha who!” He swung at Bradwyn and missed him completely, causing him to spin around with his back facing his friend. As he barmaid watched with amusement, Tristan’s eyes rolled back and he fell backwards, right into Bradwyn. Bradwyn managed to catch him, with an effort, and as he did, he began to hear snoring. He and the barmaid rolled their eyes at the same time.
“I told him to go home and pass out!” She spoke out loud. Then, “Makes a lot less trouble for others who would have to carry his huge a*s…” she murmured. Bradwyn chuckled at this.
Lorret walked over to Bradwyn ad the barmaid and, looking down at Tristan, shook his head and tisked. “Well, I guess we had better get our dear friend home, eh Bradwyn?”
“Yeah, sounds like a good idea…” Bradwyn grunted, his arms tiring.
Lorret helped lift Tristan and each one threw an arm over them. He then looked over at the barmaid and smiled slightly. “I do apologize for our friend here. Sometimes, he tends to enjoy his ale just a tad too much.”
“No worries, Majesty, had he kept on, I would have laid him out myself!” She grinned and looked to Bradwyn. “Thank you though, for coming after the brute. I would have hated to break my hand on his jaw. Be hard to serve with only one hand.”
He chuckled. “It was not a problem. Besides, I don’t know what would have been worse for me…hearing him make a fool of himself, or listening to him cry for the next month over his wounded ego because he got beaten up by a girl!”
They all laughed for a moment, only remembering Tristan was there when he began snorting like he was coming to.
“By the way dear,” Lorret told the barmaid, “Drinks are on me for everyone. Just go ahead and take care of them and when we get back you can let me know how much it will cost.”
She bowed. “That is not a problem Majesty, Oh, and Bradwyn, your drinks are on the house tonight. Think of it as my little thank you for helping me out of a tough situation.”
Bradwyn smiled and bowed as best he could. “Anytime Elise, you know I always help out in times of trouble.”
Bradwyn and Lorret turned and left the tavern, Tristan’s feet dragging between them as they carried him away.
The king and the knight trudged slowly through the village toward Tristan’s home, burdened by the weight of the barbarian they were dragging between them. As they walked, they joked and laughed, Bradwyn ridiculing Tristan for his drunken behavior.
“You know, the poor lad is never going to live this down,” he said with a chuckle.
Lorret laughed. “Too true! He’ll be the laughingstock of the village for a month!”
“Or more.” Bradwyn chuckled again. “He drinks like a dwarf, but he handles his ale like an elf!” With Bradwyn’s remark, they both broke into hysterical laughter.
Tristan moaned and mumbled unconsciously, and they grew abruptly silent. He started snoring loudly again and it took every ounce of will Bradwyn had to keep from laughing again.
“I wonder how he will be feeling in the morning,” Bradwyn questioned.
“Not too well, I presume.”
“You know, I almost feel sorry for the poor guy, but then again, he needs to learn better control over his alcohol.”
Lorret nodded in agreement. “Aye, that is quite true.
Both gave a sigh of relief as they reached the door to Tristan’s home.
“Thank the Gods, I thought we would never arrive!” Bradwyn nearly dropped to his knees on the doorstep, but managed to hold himself up as they dragged Tristan into the house and over to his bed.
With quite a bit of effort they heaved him onto the bed. When they managed to get him lying right, they nodded to each other with a grin of satisfaction. Putting an arm around each other to keep one another steady, they made their way back to the tavern.
As they reached the door, they entered the tavern to nearly being blown over by loud cheers and applause.
They looked at each other and laughed. “It appears…that we…have…fans!” Lorret spoke between laughter.
The king and the young knight were led to a table and seated, and Elise came over to them with two large tankards of ale and set them in front of the heroes. Pouring her own tankard she came back and sat with them.
“Looks like you two have quite the following now.” She winked at them.
Lorret chuckled. “It appears so, Elise, thank you.” He raised his tankard, and Elise and Bradwyn followed suit.
“To heroes!” Elise toasted.
“Cheers!” Bradwyn and Lorret said in unison.
They clinked their tankards together and drank. As they sat, drinking and conversing, the maiden Bradwyn had been trying to talk to earlier came to the table and sat down with the group, placing herself next to the king.
“Hello Majesty, hello Elise.” She smiled at them, but when she looked at Bradwyn, she held a straight face and her eyes burned into his. “Sir Bradwyn.” She bowed her head mockingly at him.
To lighten the mood and ease the tension a bit, Lorret, who was beginning to get a bit tipsy, put an arm around her and smiled charmingly. “Well hello my dear! How goes things with you?”
She smiled back warmly. “Things are well, thank you. And how are you doing?”
“I’m doing quite well. Bradwyn and I just got back from delivering Tristan to his own bed. Couldn’t let him just lay there on the floor for people to trip over now, could we?” He chuckled.
She laughed slightly. “Yes, I did see what happened earlier.” She looked back over at Bradwyn. Though she still didn’t smile, she had a look of slight admiration in her normally cold eyes. “I must say, Sir Bradwyn, that I was rather impressed with the way you handled your friend there. I was surprised that you still remained calm even after he tried to hit you. In my eyes, that is a true friend, and I commend you for it.”
Bradwyn was so in shock by the fact that the girl who had brushed him off so coldly earlier was now not only speaking to him, but complimenting him as well, that he sat, mouth agape and lost for words.
Rolling her eyes, she leaned over toward the knight and pushed his chin up, closing his mouth. “Staring like that is quite rude, you know.”
Bradwyn blushed as both Lorret and Elise laughed, and he looked down at the table. “I apologize…it’s just that…I’m rather surprised that you would actually speak to me…after earlier. Thank you though, for the compliment. It means a lot to me.” He lifted his head and smiled at her.
She gave a half smile back. “You know, if you hadn’t done something about him, I was about to. No man should treat a woman like that, drunk or not.”
“Eh, he’s really a decent guy, he just enjoys his ale a bit too much. He doesn’t know how to handle it.”
“Maybe he should learn.”
“That’s why I prefer to be with him when he drinks. I stop him when I see that he’s had enough. I keep him from going too far. He listens to me when he’s not too drunk. Tristan knows that I’m only looking out for him.”
“It’s good of you to look out for him, but he needs to learn some control on his own. He’s a grown man; he shouldn’t need someone there to hold his hand.”
“That’s very true, and I’ve tried to tell him, but he’s as stubborn as an a*s! I swear he has to be part dwarf. He has the traits and even the features of one. Since he never knew his father and his mother never spoke of him, there is no telling.”
“Yes, well that doesn’t matter much anyway. Maybe you should keep a leash on your dog from now on.” With a cold glare she ended he conversation.
Bradwyn winced slightly at the remark and sighed.
Elise patted the girl on the back. “Now now, dear, that was a bit harsh. How about a drink?”
She smiled at her friend. “That sounds wonderful right now. Would you happen to have any of your honey mead back there?”
“But of course, dear! Let me go get some, I’ll be right back!” As she got up to go, the girl called after her.
“You may as well bring the whole bottle!”
Elise returned a few moments later with a freshly cleaned goblet and a bottle of her own famous honey mead. “Here you go, dear. I hope this makes you feel better.” She set both in front of her friend.
“Thank you Elise, it always does.” She smiled and poured herself a cup.
Before sitting back down, she picked up her tankard and those of Bradwyn and Lorret. “Would you boys like some more ale?”
“That would be wonderful, Elise! Thank you.” Lorret smiled warmly at the barmaid. She rushed off and was back within a few moments.
They all sat and conversed for a while longer as they finished their drinks, the tavern becoming a bit quieter as things began to die down and everyone started going back to their homes. Lorret yawned and looked outside.
“Oh, dear, it’s rather late. I think it’s best everyone turns in for the night.”
Elise and her friend began to yawn as well.
“That sounds like a marvelous idea...” Elise replied her eyes already beginning to droop.
Lorret gave Elise enough to pay for everyone’s drinks, as well as a rather generous tip. He gave her and the other girl a hug and a kiss on the cheek, then joined Bradwyn and turned to leave.
“I want to thank you both again for dealing with Tristan earlier.”
Bradwyn turned to her and bowed. “It’s not problem Elise, and you’d best believe that he will be hearing it from me tomorrow!”
They all said their goodnights and Bradwyn and Lorret walked out of the tavern and into the street. Bradwyn stopped and looked in admiration at the mountain that loomed over the village. As his eyes moved upward toward the peak, he got to about halfway when he thought he saw some kind of movement. His brows creased in thought, he strained his eyes, trying to get a better look. Lorret was watching him curiously, and he shook his head as they began walking toward the unfinished castle.
“Hey father, would you mind if I do a bit of exploring tomorrow? I would like to check out the surrounding area and see what kinds of things this new land has to offer.”
“Not at all son, you go right ahead. I would be rather curious myself to see what you find.”
Bradwyn smiled. “Thank you.”
Lorret smiled back. “Anytime, son.”
They reached the castle, and saying their goodnights, went off into the only two finished bedrooms. As Bradwyn lay down, he thought about tomorrow and wondered what, if anything, he could have possibly seen round the mountain. Could it have possibly been the darkness playing tricks on his mind? He planned to find out tomorrow, for, when dawn breaks, he would investigate that mountain. His eyes grew heavy and closed, as he fell asleep dreaming of adventure.
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