Chapter One
The inn wasn't too crowded that particular morning, but there were enough people in the common room for gossip to be exchanged, mostly about the new king who had come to power in the past few months. He was only seventeen, some said. Others said that he was supposed to an even greater ruler than his father had been. Yet others said that he was a friend of the people, tossing out gold wherever he went, defeating bandits and crooks that raided towns, and even allowed regular people to work in the palace.
The young serving maids gossiped about how handsome the prince was rumored to be, each of them secretly hoping to someday go to the palace and become his bride. They hoped that he might come through their village and, graced by their beauty, sweep one of them off her feet and beg her to be her bride.
Yeah right. Karen Lirome could hardly be bothered with the maid's gossip. It's not like it would ever happen anyway, and besides, Karen wasn't interested in marrying a king, a prince, or even a minor noble if she didn't love him. Her father had brought her up that way, and on the other hand, he probably wouldn't let her marry anyone he didn't approve of, which so far had turned out to be all the young men you had tried to woo Karen. She was smart enough not to fall for their flattery, but her father always made sure that they didn't dome back.
Richard Lirome was a strange man; he used to be part of a noble family, but had left the royal life and took up residence in this village when he met Karen's mother. He bought an inn soon after to support the family he was going to raise. He and Karen's mother had three children. Karen was the oldest, and she had two twin brothers. They always complained that their father liked Karen better, and Karen couldn't argue with that. He always seemed to favor her above his sons. Karen suspected that the favor he showed towards her was simply his way of lending her protection. Her father always looked down upon the male youth of the village.
Karen had had many young men try and gain her affections even before she reached marital age. She turned them all down, and made them leave before her father found them together. When her father did find her with somebody, he would politely have the young man leave, start muttering about how sixteen was to young to get involved with anyone, and then declare a personal vendetta against the lad. Richard had a lot of influence in the village, and always somehow managed to ruin the young man's life for a while. He had done this so many times that he had gained a reputation among the youth of the village. Yet even the reputation was not enough to stop the suitors.
The reason was that Karen was exceedingly beautiful, and while she was not the most beautiful girl in the village, the kindly demeanor that she had received from her father made up for that. She had long, silky, raven black hair that spilled out from her head and down her back. Not short, but not tall either, she had the perfect height. Her skin was just pale enough to avoid looking sickly, while lending a soft glow to her visage, and she had full, rose colored lips. Her eyes were an emerald green that seemed to sparkle when she was in the sunlight. All the other young women were jealous of the attention she got from the men, though they were grateful to her father for doing his best to keep the one's they were after away from her.
Karen was currently leaning over the counter where she checked patrons in and out. It was one of the most boring jobs, since the town didn't get many visitors anyway. The inn made most of it's money selling drinks to the villagers. Karen's attention had drifted away from her duties as she heard the maids talking in the background.
Not interested in their conversation, her eyes started wandering the common room. She could see old Ben Gaye slouched over his corner table, drunk as usually. Karen shook her head in disgust. She wondered if that man was ever sober. Her father had also given her a dislike for alcohol; he always told her it was the drink of demons, and besides that, the stuff smelled nasty! She saw Tony Harland trying to woo one of the maids, and failing miserably. Karen honestly felt sorry for any girl that ever fell for that perverted old man's attempt to get her into a bed. The Kraven twins sat at a table together talking about some troublesome prank they were going to pull. They were good friends of her, and because neither one of them had tried to court Karen, her father liked them as well, despite the many pranks he was subject to. Karen eyes continued to wander the common room, picking out each person she knew, until she heard a crowd from outside. She looked to the door, and saw that there was quite a large crowd lining the streets outside. Because she had nothing to do, she left the counter behind which she had been standing, and decided to check out what was going on.
Karen stepped out of her family's inn to see what all the commotion was about. There were crowds of people lining the edge of the streets, blocking whatever it was that they were staring at from view. Probably a traveler, Karen thought. Their village rarely had any travelers passing through, and it was usually a big deal when one did. However, the turnout today was at least twice as large as any other time someone had passed through the village.
"Hey, Billy!" she called to a young boy that was racing pass. The short, yellow haired boy stopped and looked at her. "Oh, hiya Karen," he said in a high-pitched, excited voice.
"What's all the commotion about?" she asked the twelve-year old.
"There's a visitor," the boy said with eyes that were lit up with excitement.
"Thought so. Ok, thanks Billy!" Karen said as she waved the younger boy goodbye as he ran away.
Sixteen year-old Karen walked out into the street and up to the back of the crowd, standing on her toes as she tried to peer over the villager's heads. She held the hem of her white dress up from the ground to keep it from getting dirty, and her long, black hair flowed out from her head and straight down her back as she tilted her head back trying to who it was that had gotten all these villagers rallied up.
Finally, a small opening between people appeared and was just wide enough that Karen could get close to the front of the people. Finally she could see the man that everyone was staring at.
He was young, somewhere in his twenties, she estimated. His hair, black as pitch, was short cropped, and, despite his young age, he had a battle-hardened face with a scar on his right cheek. Were it not for the scar, Karen might have called him handsome. He was wearing a complete suit of leather armor, and he had a long sword fastened at his waste and a crossbow on his back the horse he was riding on likewise was encased in armor, though it's armor was metal. She could see why he had attracted so much attention.
"I can't believe that is actually him!" she heard a villager say next to her. She turned to look at the young man who had spoken. It was Thomas, Billy's older brother. He was about the same age as her, and had his younger brother's hair. He also annoyed most travelers that came trough by forcing them to tell him of happenings in the outside world.
"What do you mean, Thomas?" Karen asked him. "Who is he?"
"Who is he?" Thomas asked, wide-eyed and incredulous. "He's only the most famous mercenary in all of Aringil!"
"I still don't know who he is," Karen said, wondering why Thomas would think that she would know anything at all about mercenaries.
"He's Jared Argoth! He's one of the best fighters in all of Aringil!"
"Oh. So is that why he's famous?"
"No. He's famous because they say that no one can kill him."
"Oh, come on. I'm sure that isn't true."
"Believe what you want, but it's true all the same. You see, five years ago, before he became the famous man he is, he was married. One day, while he was in the city getting supplies, bandits attacked his village. When he was going home and saw the smoke rising from his village, he ran there as fast as he could, but was too late to save his wife. The bandits killed her, along with everyone else living in the village. They say he loved his wife more than life itself, and when he found out what happened to her, he went out and single-handedly slew the every last bandit that had attacked."
"Every last…" she looked to the man upon the horse as he walked it through the village. She could see the dead expression in his eyes, and suddenly Thomas's story seemed much more believable.
"Every last one," Thomas nodded. "And they also say that before then, he had never touched a sword in his entire life. Ever since then, they say he's been doing his best to get himself killed, so that he can rejoin his wife. He hires himself out to mercenaries who take the most dangerous assignments."
"But it's a sin to kill yourself," Karen said to Thomas.
Thomas nodded again. "And that's why no one can kill him. He fights with his entire being, so he's not just letting himself die. He just throws himself into dangerous situations, hoping that he will not be quick enough or strong enough to escape in time, even when he gives it his all. They say he keeps hoping to meet an enemy someday that even he cannot defeat, and that that enemy will take his life and allow him to be reunited with his wife."
Karen looked back at the man with a new sort of awe, and pity. She felt sorry for a man who lived that sort of lifestyle.
Suddenly, Jared's head turned toward her and Thomas, and he approached them. The two teenagers eyes went wide as he drew closer, wondering why he was coming towards them. Then he passed them and approached the inn that Karen's family owned, the Wandering Traveler.
Karen suddenly realized that she was shirking her duties. As the Jared brought his horse into the stable, she ran into the inn.
"Sorry, Thomas," she said as she left. "It looks like I've got a customer!"
"I can't believe it! Not only did he come through our village, but he stayed at your inn!"
Karen ignored him and ran inside and got behind the counter. She flipped open the book where they kept the records of each patron. She uncorked the bottle of ink and thrust her quill into it. She heard heavy footsteps and all noise in the common room cut off. Karen looked up. Jared Argoth was standing in the doorway as he looked around the inn. After a few moments, he nodded to himself and approached Karen.
"A room," he said to her.
"Uh... yes sir. One night?"
He nodded.
"Your name?"
"Jared Argoth."
Karen scribbled his name down on the register. "Alright, that will be ten crowns, please." She held out her hand.
"Ten crowns?" Jared grunted. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pouch.
"I'm sorry sir, I know it's expensive but..." Karen trailed off as Jared emptied the contents of the pouch onto her hand. There were at least fifty crowns sitting in her palms.
"Will this do?" Jared asked her.
Karen looked at him with wide eyes as she clutched the crowns to her chest. She nodded her head vigorously. "Yes, yes. Thank you sir!"
He stood there waiting.
"Oh, um..." She looked back down at the register. "Um... you're room is number twelve. It's just above this room."
Jared nodded his head and headed upstairs.
As soon as he was gone, the noise in the common room resumed, though twice as loud, gossip spreading anew with the new patron.
"Was that really him?"
"Jared Argoth? The Jared Argoth?"
"Did you see his scar?"
Thomas came rushing in and looked at Karen with awe. "He talked to you!" he said. "I can't believe it! He talked to you!" He stood there staring at her with his mouth open.
Just then, Karen's father came out of the kitchen. Along with owning the inn, he was also the cook. Hard though it may be to believe, Karen got fifty percent of her feminine qualities from her father. Back when he had first moved into the village, her father had been repeadiatly been mistaken for a woman, causing quite the embarrassment to numerous people. Her father took it all in stride, though. He like his long hair as it was, and despite his appearance, he was one of the strongest men in the village. People eventually started to wonder exactly how strong Richard Lirome might be if he actually built up his muscles. His light body build also gave him great speed. Karen had inherited both his illogical strength and the speed, which also contributed to the awe in which many of the young men of the village held her.
As soon as he stepped out of the kitchen, he looked around the common room. His eyes fell upon Thomas staring at his daughter, and his eyes narrowed. He walked over to them and put a hand on Thomas's shoulder from behind.
"Why, hello Thomas," he said.
"Wha? Oh, hello Mr. Lirome," Thomas said when he looked around.
"Why don't you be heading off now?" he said. "I'm sure you have work to be done."
Thomas smacked his head. "Oh no! My old man is gonna kill me!" He dashed out the door.
Richard stared after the youth for a few moments. He closed his eyes and slowly shook his head as he muttered, "Too young, too young."
Karen, having seen this seen played out many times before, knew that the next step her father would take would be to make Thomas's life miserable. She walked around the register desk to her father.
"Father, it's not what you think," he said.
"Hmm?" Richard turned to look at his daughter. "What?"
"I said that it's not what you think."
"Oh, and so now you know what goes through my head?"
"Yes, father, I do. You do this every time you think a boy is trying to get my attention."
"Oh. Well…" Richard looked to the side, avoiding his daughters gaze.
"Thomas wasn't trying to court me or anything," she said. "He was just amazed that some guy talked to me."
Richard's head snapped up. "Guy? What guy?" he said suspiciously as he slowly looked around the room.
"Some famous mercenary, that's all. He's staying at our inn."
"Famous mercenary? Now listen here, I don't want you going and—"
"Don't worry father. Besides, with what Thomas said about him, I doubt he'd be interested in that anyway."
"Karen, there isn't a man on Earth, save maybe one, who is not interested in that."
"Well he doesn't care about money that much. Kind of like you father." She showed him the money. "See? Mr. Argoth just paid with this and didn't ask for change."
"He paid that much!? Are you sure he's not thinking—wait, Mr. Argoth? Let me see that register." He grabbed the register off the desk and looked at the last name on the list. "Well, well," he said in a low voice. "Jared, my friend. So you are still alive. What a stroke of luck, time is almost—" His eyes darted to Karen as he cut off. His voice rose again. "Well, Karen. It seems you are right. That is the one man I was talking about. Poor soul."
"You know him, father?" Karen asked.
"Yes, of course. He used to follow me around when we were just kids. He lived in the village my family," his mouth twisted in distaste, "watched over. Whenever I'd go into the village, he'd seek me out. We both left the village when I turned thirty. He was my squire, you know. Anyway, when I met your mother, I released him from his duties, and he went back to his village He was younger than you then, you know? Remember all those trips I used to make? I went and visited him every time I could. He was best man at your mother's and my wedding. I met his wife, once too. It's a real shame what happened." Richard sighed.
"You remember how I left to visit a friend a five years ago? I arrived to find most of the village where he lived in ashes. He was the only one left alive. I found him in the village square, covered in blood, most of it his. Had I not arrived right then, he would have died. Now, seeing the kind of life he leads, I wonder if it were such a good thing that I arrived when I did." Richard fell silent.
Karen was staring at her father with wide eyes, deeply interested in the story of this man who had lost all reason to keep living. With the new depth into this man's story, which her father's story had plunged her, a new sense of interest, and pity, bloomed.
Suddenly, all noise in the common room cut off again. Karen and her father looked to see the disturbance, and saw Jared standing in the doorway. Every eye was fixed upon the mercenary, who had now shed his armor and crossbow, but still had his long sword on his belt. He walked over to a table and sat down. Slowly, talk resumed again, though instead of louder, this time it was quieter.
"Well, I suppose I should go talk to him, eh?" Richard said to his daughter. "Come on, I'll introduce you to him." He started walking over towards Jared, gesturing for his daughter to follow.
When they reached Jared's table, he looked up at Richard. "Richard? Is that you?"
"Indeed it is. So, how've you been, Jared?" Richard asked his old friend. "I never expected to see you again, though I'm glad I was wrong."
"Well, I'm out of work at the moment and just passing through."
"I see, well, I'm glad you chose my inn to stay at, otherwise, we probably wouldn't have met."
Jared laughed, though Karen, standing behind her father, saw that his eyes remained as dead as before. It seemed that his soul had died with his wife, and his body kept on living around him. She shivered.
Richard, feeling his daughter shiver, was suddenly reminded of his daughter's presence. "Oh, Jared, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Karen." He pushed her forward.
"Um, hello… sir." Karen said as she bowed to him, the formal greeting between people. Karen was normally not a shy person, but for some reason, this man made her feel very self-conscious. It must be the dead look in his eyes.
"Hello," he said, nodding to her.
"Um… thank you for the money," she said, averting her eyes.
"No problem, money doesn't mean anything to me. It's what I get for growing up around your father," he said.
"Yes, I can see how that might happen," she said as she glanced at her father, who grinned.
"Yes, your father was like an older brother to me, though I always thought he'd make a great parent. Turns out I was right."
"It seems so," Richard said, laughing. "It seems so. So, how long will you be staying, Jared?"
"Just the night, I'm off to the capital in the morning. I hear that the mercenary guild there takes on some of the most reckless and dangerous missions. "
"Ah, I see…" Karen's father trailed off, obviously thinking very hard about something. "Why don't you stay here for a few days? We can catch up on old times."
"No, I must be off in the morning."
"Well, maybe I can persuade you to change over a drink tonight."
Jared snorted. "Drink, you?"
"Non-alcoholic of course. Sparkling apple-cider, drink of the gods."
"I should have guessed. It's been a while since I've had any, so I may just take you up on that offer, but believe me, you wont be able to change my mind."
"Oh, don't be so sure. I could always talk you into things… or out of things for that matter."
"Well, we'll see." Jared stood up from the table. "Well, I must go and see about supplies for my journey to the capital. "Good day, Richard. Good day, Karen," he said, nodding to both of them as he walked towards the door.
Richard shook his head sadly at the retreating man. "Poor soul," he said again, and then he sighed. Looking down at his daughter, he said, "Well, I've got to get back to the kitchen. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"
"Alright. Thank you, father," Karen said.
"Alright then," Richard said, and he started towards the kitchen door. "And don't you go flirting with any young men, you hear?"
"Yes, father"
"Good." Richard vanished into the kitchen, and Karen walked out the door as she headed into town.
"Your dad grew up with Jared Argoth?!" Thomas said when Karen left the inn.
"Thomas? What are you doing here? Didn't you have some chores to do?" Karen asked him.
"Well, yeah… but how many times does someone like Jared Argoth come into town? I mean, I couldn't just go and work while the most famous mercenary alive sits in the inn. I still can't believe that your dad grew up with him!"
"Anyway, what are you still doing here, Thomas? I thought you'd be trying to shadow him as soon as he left the inn."
"Oh, I am. I was just waiting for you."
"What? Why me?"
"Because you've talked to Mr. Argoth—twice! I need you to introduce me to him. Pretty please?"
Karen rolled her eyes back and stared at the sky. Why me? she mouthed. Then she sighed, and nodded to Thomas.
"Alright, I'll introduce you," she said, "but that's it."
Thomas had tears of joy in his eyes. He clasped his hands together and bowed before Karen. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! I owe you one."
"Alright, let's go. He said that he was looking for supplies for when he left tomorrow."
"Right! To the market!" Thomas yelled as he took off towards the market, leaving Karen in the dust.
She sighed. Thomas was already out of sight. She wasn't going to be able to find him in his current state of excitement, so, as she headed towards the market, she took a path to a different area, heading to look for Jared Argoth.
She had been searching for quite a while now, and had found neither Thomas, nor the famed mercenary. It also seemed that the market place was more deserted than usual. Karen sighed. If she didn't find either of them soon, she was going to go home.
As she rounded a corner, she almost bumped into a large group of people, who were all pointing at something beyond them. Karen walked around them and followed there line of sight until her eyes landed on a man with a scar down his right cheek, Jared Argoth. Karen sighed, knowing that at least half of her search was over. Now she just had to wait until Thomas showed up.
So she trailed Jared from place to place, but Thomas never showed up, and Karen began observing the mercenary. He never bought anything at each place he went to, just observed and then left. From store to store he went, never buying a thing. It took a while for Karen to notice, but each store sold either food, or things used for healing. Well, he already has weapons, she thought to herself, realizing that the stores he went to actually made sense, even if it wasn't what she had expected. She wiped the image of Jared looming over a table of knives and daggers, making sure of each one's deadliness before purchasing it, from her mind. However, she was a bit puzzled as to why he never bought anything. Maybe he just could find what he was looking for.
Because it seemed that Thomas may never show up, Karen started getting bored. Trailing a mercenary can only be exciting for so long, and the excitement vanishes quickly when he never does anything. She was also beginning to notice that the villages were staring at her. She hadn't bothered trying to be inconspicuous since she had never had a reason to before. She saw Jared go around a corner. Standing up from the barrel, behind which she had been crouching, she took off around the corner so she wouldn't lose him.
And she suddenly met with a rock wall, or what felt like one at least. Falling backwards onto her hindquarters, Karen let out a yelp of surprise. She was a little dizzy from the fall, so she put her hand to her head and shook her head, trying to clear it.
"Are you going to sit there all day," a voice said, "or are you going to get up and apologize?"
Karen stopped shaking her head and opened her eyes, slowly looking upwards until her eyes met with Jared Argoth's. He had his hand out stretched to her, offering to help her get up, and he was smiling, which contorted the scar down his right cheek. His eyes remained the same, though. Dead as ever.
"Um, yes," Karen said as she took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. Dusting her self off, she said, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." From the corner of her eye, she noticed a crowed of people staring at them.
"I gathered," Jared said, oblivious to the stars. "Don't round corner's so fast, it's dangerous."
He was a lot taller than her, Karen realized. His eyes stood at least a head and a half above her own, far enough so that she had to step back and tilt her head to look into them. "I'll remember, Sir," she said, quickly bending at a ninety-degree angle in a bow of thanks. Her hair fell forward over her head and she could see it hanging down in front of her. She quickly righted herself.
"Call me Jared," he said, and Karen looked up at him. "Precious few people call me by that name any more, and I'd like to hear it again." He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. Karen was sure that she imagined it, but his eyes had seemed to have life sparkling in them for a second. "By the way," he said. "Do you know where I could get supplies for my trip? You know, rope, food, poultices?"
Karen blinked in surprise. He'd been stopping at shops selling these all day. "Ah," Karen said, "there's one right here." She gestured to the corner shop they were standing in front of.
"Yes, I've looked at this shop," Jared said, "but unfortunately the prices are a bit to high for me to afford. Do you know anywhere cheaper?"
Karen's eyebrows rose in surprise. This was the cheapest shop in the area, and she couldn't understand why someone who could just give away fifty crowns at an inn couldn't afford…
Suddenly Karen was hit with understanding.
"Um, Mr. Argoth?" she said.
"Jared, please."
"Alright. Um, Jared? Did you give all your money to me at the inn?"
"No, no, I have more. Plenty more," he said, and although his face was turned away from Karen so she couldn't tell if he was lying, his tone of voice clearly conveyed that whatever money he possessed wasn't much.
"Well," Karen said, pretty sure that it would be useless to try and give the money back to someone who grew up with her father, she said, "I'm sure we have some extra rope at the inn, and we can give you some poultices and food to take with you when you leave."
"No, no, I can't impose upon Richard anymore than I already have."
"You won't be. These services come with the room you bought," Karen lied. She felt bad because he had given her all his money. "You already paid for it all."
"Oh?" Jared said, turning to look at her in mild surprise. "I didn't know that. Hm… seems I've wasted much of the day away."
"KAREN!" a voice yelled, and Karen turned to see a heavily breathing Thomas run up to her. "I… found… you…" he said between breaths.
"Where have you been? I've been waiting for you for hours! You shouldn't run off like that."
"I'm… sorry…" he said, still trying to catch his breath.
"Is this your boyfriend?" Jared spoke up from behind, asking Karen.
"What?" Karen and Thomas said simultaneously as Thomas paled at the thought of what would happen to him if Richard ever heard that comment.
"Oh," Jared said, seeing Thomas's reaction. "I guess Richard wasn't joking…" he muttered under his breath. "By the way," he spoke up again, extending his hand to Thomas, "I'm Jared Argoth, and you are?"
Upon hearing Jared speaking, Thomas snapped out of his horrifying vision of what Richard would do to him and finaly noticed who he was talking to. He snatched Jared's hand and started vigorously shaking it. Karen could have sworn that there were stars in the young boy's eyes.
"Mr. Argoth!" he exclaimed, never letting go of the hand. "You have no idea how long I've waited to meet you!"
"Ah, yes…" Jared said as he tried without success to extract his hand from the boy's grip.
Karen shook her head. "Thomas, stop being rude," she chastised the young man. "This is Thomas," she told Jared. "He's obsessed with mercenaries."
"Yes, I can see that," Jared said as he cradled the hand that had just been shaken so vigorously. Jared was a bit unnerved by Thomas's enthusiasm.
"Mr. Argoth," Thomas said, "is it true you took out all the men that attacked your village and killed your wife?"
Suddenly the air seemed to chill and loose the feeling of goodwill it had earlier. Karen looked at Jared and saw that his face had become stony and his eyes lost whatever life had been in them. She felt a feeling radiate out from him. It wasn't anger, but more of a dead feeling, devoid of all emotion. She was afraid. She grabbed Thomas's arm.
"Thomas," she hissed. "I think we had better let Mr. Argoth finish his shopping." She couldn't believe that the man that stood before her was the man that had been there seconds before. Even though his eyes had no life in them, the rest of him had been lively and good natured. Now, that was no longer the case.
"What?" Thomas said, confused. "Did I say something wrong?"
Karen couldn't believe how dense Thomas was. "Yes, yes you did. You should go, now," she told him.
Thomas looked at Jared again, and it seemed to dawn on him that the man had undergone a transformation. "Ah," he said. "Never mind, Mr. Argoth. I should be getting back to my chores. Good day." Thomas bowed, and then started walking away, his pace quickening until he finally broke into a run.
There was no change in Jared's countenance.
"Um, Mr. Argoth? Jared?" she said.
Upon hearing his name, Jared suddenly returned the self that Karen was familiar with. "Oh dear," he said. "I'm sorry, Karen. I seem to have frightened your friend off. Please forgive me." He bowed to her in apology.
"It's alright," Karen said. "Besides, he shouldn't have asked you that anyway."
"I suppose so, but still…" He looked up at the sky. "It seems to be getting late. I think I'll be heading back to the inn now." He started walking back.
"I'll go with you," she said. "Father will be worried if I'm gone to long."
Karen and her family were sitting around their table in their dining room. Their house was attached to the inn, so they sometimes rented out the dining room for when special guests arrived at the inn. At all other times, however, they used the room to eat their family meals.
Normally, five people sat around the table, but today, six sat around it. Richard was at the head, with his wife, Karen's mother, by his side. The twins sat on his other side, and Karen sat next to her mother. Directly across from Karen, sat Jared Argoth.
Richard stood up. "Before we eat today, I'd like to propose a toast," he said. "To my dear friend, Jared Argoth. May he find happiness once more." He rose his glass, and everyone did the same, though Jared did so reluctantly, not believe that it would help in the slightest. Then they all clinked glasses together, and downed their drinks.
"You know," Jared said as he put his glass down, "a toast isn't really a toast without wine."
"Horse feathers," Richard said. "I've always toasted with Sparkling Cider, and never once has it failed me."
"Delusional as always," Jared said, lifting his fork and knife as he cut his steak into small squares.
"I dare say it's been a long time since you, me and Richard have sat at the same table, Jared," Karen's mother said.
"Ah yes," Jared said as he leaned back in his chair. "Seven or eight years, I believe. Has it really been that long, Rhiannon?" he said to Karen's mother.
"Yes, it has," she said as she reached across she table and rapped the twins across the head with the spoon, causing them to abruptly drop the apple they were fighting over.
"Mom!" the twins whined at their mother.
"Now, now, you two. No fighting while Mr. Argoth his here," she said.
Jared chuckled. "Quite the family you've got here, Richard. A beautiful wife and daughter, and twin boys."
"Karen? Beautiful?" the twins said before they started laughing.
"A beautiful pig, maybe," John said.
"No, an ostrich," said Jake. "She's too skinny to be a pig."
"Ostriches are fat too," John said. "They just have long necks."
"Stop it, you two!" Karen yelled at her brothers. Her face was turning red. Though she knew that what they said wasn't true, it still bothered her to be made fun of.
"Quite the family," Jared said again as he tried to keep from laughing.
"And you can't even get a boy friend," Jake said.
Rhiannon rapped the two on the head again with a spoon. "Be quiet," she said. "Besides, you know that's not Karen's fault. It's all Richards doing." She turned and stared at her husband.
Richard shifted in his chair while under his wife's gaze. "Whatever are you talking about dear?" he innocently asked.
"Oh, nothing," she said.
The rest of the meal was like that: the twins teasing Karen, followed by a rap on the head by their mother. Richard and Jared entertained them with stories of their youth, and when all was finally said and everyone full, it was very late.
Karen stretched her arms.
"Well, I'm going to bed," she told everybody. She bowed to Jared. "It was nice meeting you, Jared." She righted her self and walked towards the door, carrying her dishes which she would deposit in the kitchen before heading to bed.
It was very late. Almost everyone had gone to bed, and the common room was empty save for two figures sitting at a table by the fire.
"Richard," Jared said. "Can you do me a big favor?"
"Anything, Jared."
"Get me the biggest bottle of wine you've got," Jared said as he stared down at the table. "I need one badly right now."
Richard hesitated for a moment, before going to the bar and pulling out a large bottle of red wine. He grabbed a cup and walked over to Jared, putting the cup down and pouring the man some.
Jared grabbed the cup. "Thanks," he said before downing the wine.
"When did you start drinking?" Richard asked him.
"About ten seconds ago," Jared said as he poured another bottle.
Richard's eyes rose. "Why the sudden change of heart?" he asked.
Jared stayed silent for a moment. "I've never been drunk before," he said at last, "but I've heard tell of what it's like. Figured there was never a better time than now."
Richard could tell that there was more behind his friend's sudden need to get drunk, but didn't press the issue. He had more important matters to discuss.
"Jared," he said. "It's happening."
Jared was silent for a while. "This stuff tastes nasty," he said.
"Jared," Richard said again. "It's happening. The entire reason we first started out on our quest."
Jared looked up. "Knew we couldn't prevent it," Jared said. "I've always said that you were delusional."
"Jared, listen to me," Richard said sternly. His friend was downing glass after glass, but Richard didn't pay any mind to it. "Someone is looking for it, I can sense it."
"Richard, there is no way anyone could ever find it, we couldn't find it, so it's sure as hell that no one else will be able to either."
"Jared, I don't know who this person is, but I'm telling you that if this person finds it, not even you would stand a chance against him."
"We searched for years for it. The prophecy was vague to begin with, and I think your grandfather had a few screws loose in any case. I mean, look at what he did to you. He did something to make you sense things like this, while that ridiculous prophecy named you the protector." Jared made a face at his latest glass of wine. "I don't think this stuff works," he said. "Besides, if I really couldn't beat this person, maybe we should let him find the artifact we looked for. Then I'd finally be able to—"
Richard slammed a hand down on the table. "Dang it, Jared! If this person finds it, countless people will die! We looked for it so that it's power couldn't fall into the wrong hands! The Idol of Lost Dreams, with power enough to make its possessor a living god! If it falls into the wrong hands, there wont be anything that the possessor can't do! We all will be subject to him, and I know I'm not wrong with this. I can feel the evil radiating from this person, and have for sometime. I don't know who or what he is, but I can tell you that if he finds it, no one may survive! Do you really think Sarah would want that!?"
The wine glass shattered under the force of Jared's grip. Bits of glace cut into his hand, but he paid it no mind. His breathing was heavy and forced. "She looks just like her," he quietly said.
Richard's anger faded, and he looked at his friend. "What?"
A tear fell down Jared's cheek. "She looks just like Sarah," he whispered.
"What? Who?"
"Karen."
It had been several years since Richard had last seen Sarah, but he dragged up the memory. Overlaying the image of Jared's wife with his daughter, Richard's eyes widened. They were identical. He didn't know why he had never noticed it before. "Fate works us in odd ways," he muttered. How is this possible? "So is this why you gave her all that money?"
Jared had forgone getting another glass and grabbed the bottle, upturning it and downing most of the remaining contents. "Yes," he said, wiping his mouth. "As soon as I saw her face, I thought she was Sarah for a moment, but then I realized that couldn't be. I can't believe that she looks so much the same."
"Well, you know they say that there are at least six other people in the world that look just like you," Richard said, though even he didn't believe his own words. It was purely illogical that his daughter should so resemble his best friends wife.
"I need another bottle, Richard," Jared said, slurring his words just a bit. It seemed that the liquor was finally taking effect.
"That's enough for you," Richard said, refusing to give his friend another bottle. "You'll feel it's effects soon, though I doubt you'll be happy in the morning."
"Why? Whash 'appining in the mornin'?" Jared asked, swaying a bit.
"You'll find out soon enough," Richard said, and then remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He needed to make the most of the remaining time that Jared was at least halfway sober. His face hardened. "Listen to me, Jared. Sarah never wanted you to live your life like this. If anything, she would have wanted you to forget about her, remarry, and live a happy life. I know there is nothing I can do to convince you to do anything of the sort, but Sarah will never forgive you if let countless millions die because you were too caught up in your own misery to do anything!"
Jared was staring down at the table, playing with pieces of broken glass as he heard his friend talk. He shook his head. "I can't," he said. "I need to find that man." He said.
Richard walked to Jared and put his hands on Jared's shoulders and looked at him. "Jared," he said. "You've looked for years. Give up already, and live a normal life again."
Jared shook his head again. "I can't, Richard. I need to leave in the mornin'. I got a lead on them bandits after all these years. That emblem they were wearin', a guild's been started in the capital, and that's their emblem." He hiccupped.
"Jared, it's probably only a coincidence. What are the odds of the bandits starting a guild in the capital after all these years? Jared, your wasting your life away. I know I can't convince you to settle down and remarry, but for the Lord's sake, if you insist on leading the life you lead, at least use it to help the people. If the Idol is found, I don't know what will happen."
"No, Richard," Jared said, standing up from the table. "I know much you want my help, but I can't give it to you. I need to avenge Sarah's death. It's the one thing I must do before I die." He turned and started walking towards the stairs at the back of the common room, staggering all the way.
Richard watched his friend retreat up the stairs. Once he was out of sight, Richard walked over to the bench in front of the fire, and sat down, staring into the flames. "I'm sorry, Grandfather," he said. "I've done all I can." He turned and looked towards the stairs. "May you change you mind, Protector of Lost Dreams."