The Beginning

Sun simmered with an orange shade as it was about to set near the great mountains of Mir.  “Atop these mountains, one could see the whole world,” said some of the men. Red didn’t believe that, he had climbed these mountains one or two times, but couldn’t have seen more than a few hundred miles.

 However, if that had been true, he would have looked to the south & the east, for his family, & for his love.

Red rambled on his horse, atop the plains he had become familiar with in time. He had been a stranger to these lands, but grew accustomed to them, & even started to like them slowly.

“Gods beauty can be seen in any place in the world,” said Red to himself, “but the one I am looking for still eludes me.”

Red had left his home years ago, to find something. “To light your way, you must find yourself again”, the seer had told him. From that day onward, he had searched the world, but still his search failed him till now.

Red was a strange name to be called, but he liked it for reasons he didn’t knew. When people used to ask his name, he couldn’t think of what to say. The silence would often become awkward, until a hermit once called him Red. 

He had called him Red for the red hair & the red wolf-skin cloak he wore. When he asked from where he belonged, only one place came to his mind – Barder. So from that day, he became “Red “The Ranger” from Barder”.  

He rode silently on the grassy roads of the plains, with the hooves of his horse gently piercing the mud out of them. After riding for a few miles, his horse started to grow weary, & refused to move its feet.

“Come on! You lazy bastard,” said Red to his horse, “You can’t possibly be that thirsty.” 
Bara made a slight whinnying, and refused to budge. “Okay we will find an inn, to take care of you,” promised Red.

He got off his horse, and walked alongside Bara to find an inn. Inns were aplenty at this place as it was an important travel & transport route. Apples & berries, from Kilito in the north would go to the south, while wine & rum from Amer in the south would go to north. 

He usually avoided going to inns. In his search for himself, he had embraced silence. Gatherings of many men & that too drunk were not one of his favorite places. But these places also provided with opportunities, with news of the extraordinary.     

It was already dark when he found an inn, old & big enough for his liking. Lime & Lemony sounded juicy & delicious, but it wasn’t named for its food, but for the two harlots that worked there. And from the looks of it, Lime & Lemony was doing a great business. He had never been to the inn in his visits to these parts, but he had heard of it from afar.

As he reached the gate, a boy came running towards him & took the reins of Bara from his hands. “Two coppers for stable food & warm wash a day,” said the boy in one breath. He looked at the boy; not more than seven, wearing loose shirt, & a pant just hanging in his waist.

“And what’s your name, boy”, asked Red reaching low to give him the coins. “My name is Biter, Sir,” said the boy slightly embarrassed, “But my sisters call me Bee.”

“Why did you call me Sir? How can you say that I am a Knight?” inquired Red, looking at the boy curiously. He had eyes a little lighter than black. A tinge of scarlet could be seen in them. He also had perfectly blonde curls atop that long & sharp face of his. He looked kind & fierce at the same time, & much smarter for his age.

“Because you ride like them; your head held high, & your chest swelled,” said Bee, “In fact, you ride better than all I have seen, & I have seen many, Sir.” “I too want to become a knight,” said the boy, at last. Bee smiled with pride after saying that.

Red too smiled and handed him one more coin, a silver. “It’s for you, only you,” Red whispered in the boy’s ear.

He moved inside the inn & found it to be empty at the moment, leaving a few drunks, snoring deeply seated in their chair. He moved towards the bar & found a woman seated across it. She looked around mid thirties, but still had a very fresh & young skin. She had dark hair & a beautiful face.

“And what would you like to have big man,” inquired the hostess. Her eyes pointed him towards the two afraid girls, sitting quietly at the end of the bar. They too had big eyes, like their mother & brother, but none of the three had the blonde hair of the boy.

Red glanced towards the girls, but then he pointed towards the hostess & threw a silver at her, “You”, said Red. The woman’s eyes widened for a moment, but after seeing the coin she lifted her legs from the stool next to the one she sat upon & moved towards the stairs.

“I am afraid, you won’t have enough of those to keep me all night,” said the woman mischievously, “You see! I am twice their worth.”

“I am banking on that” said Red to himself.

When he reached the room, he found the woman sitting atop a shabby bed. She had a great body, much younger for her age. There was a beauty in that. She got up from the bed & moved closer to Red, her breath falling softly upon his bare neck. She grabbed his cloak, and removed it effortlessly, revealing his bare body, chiseled, in the form of an ancient sculpture.

Red could feel the touch of the bosom on his back, as she hugged him from behind. Then, she gracefully came in front of him, took his hands, & moved them closer to her face, to caress them.

He felt a strange sensation in his body, that he had known previously, but was missing in him for some time. He lifted her face & then gave a very long & hard kiss to her lips. She let a silent moan that only he could hear, and then he knew that she also had waited for this for a very long time.

“To be desired is the greatest human wish,” some men had said long ago. She too wanted to be desired, to be loved, but the beauty of her daughters had long eclipsed hers. Only a fool would look upon her, in front of her young daughters; only a fool with a red hair and a life full of broken promises.   

She took him with enhanced passion, biting his lips, scratching his arms, pulling his hair, like a tigress playing with her prey. He continued to kiss her, lips, then her cheeks, then again her lips, as she moaned continuously.

“I will continue to love you, till the end of days,” remembered Red, “and even after that.”  He let go of that thought, and focused on the things in front of him. “I will love you till eternity,” words came unwelcome in his mind, “I will love you, as no one has ever loved anyone,” words that he could not let go, how hard he tried.

“A man is made up of the promises he keeps, the promises he fulfills,” believed Red.  So, if he couldn’t keep this, he wouldn’t be worthy enough, to be called a man, in his own heart. 

He had broken many promises in his life, but he couldn’t break it even if he wanted. “Let me go to my grave with the satisfaction of at least one promise fulfilled,” prayed Red to the gods he had never felt in his life.

 

  He moved away from her, went to the window, and started to look outside. He saw the boy playing with his sisters, the three of them laughing as they moved around the small fire they had made for themselves. No stars burned that night, but the world suddenly started looking bright to him.

“I am sorry lady, for your inconvenience, & my manners,” Red said ashamed, still looking outside the windows, “Tell me how much more do you want, and I will double that.”

The woman was shocked yet there was an understanding in her face, the understanding of a common pain.

“I pity your heart, Ranger” said the woman, with a kind face, “I pity your pain,” she said, as she left him alone.

He didn’t know when sleep caught hold of him, but he had one of the most comfortable nights of his life. As he got up from his bed, the girls brought him his breakfast. He thanked them for the food and readied himself for the journey. As he was about to leave the room, the woman came with a bag in her hands.

“I never asked your name”, remarked Red, feeling sorry for the rudeness of last night. 

“Beth,” said the hostess, simply.

She handed him the bag, “For you journey, Ranger,” she said, sounding as cheerful as she could.

Seeing it, something happened to Red. A feeling of anger & disgust caught him, as he remembered something.  

“Pity you don’t feed your boy this much,” exclaimed Red. He looked her straight in her eyes, his eyes accusing her's. 

“I feed him all he need, just as I feed my girls,” replied the woman sheepishly. “They bring me business, my girls,” said the hostess her voice louder now, “what does he bring me?” “The foolish boy wants to become a Knight, but who would tell him that the son of a whore can’t become one?”

 “But a son of the lone wolf can become anything he wants,” said Red, his hands tightening around the apricots in the bag, becoming numb. “And the son of Lord Ewan Berg is certainly honorable enough to become a Knight.” “Don’t fool me woman, for I can recognize a son of Ewan from a thousand faces.”

He returned the bag & said to her, “Feed him well, build him strong, so that we can make a soldier out of him.” He didn’t look back at her as he descended the stairs in huge steps.

As he reached the lowest level, he saw an escort of armored men in different colors, of different regions. He saw knights from different kingdoms, some landed, some not.

He went outside the inn and found the boy ready with Bara, his small hands patting the beasts black mane. His hands were steady but his feet shaky, afraid of the horse’s size. He lifted the boy in his arms & sat him atop Bara. He then took the reins in his hand & walked him around the inn.

“I want to come with you, Sir” said Bee, his voice pleading. “I will come for you,” promised Red, “but not today.”

 “Help your mother and sisters, be an obedient son, and a caring brother,” Red said to the boy, as he listened him patiently, “Protect the weak & the old, respect a woman’s dignity & honor, and you are no lesser than a knight.”

“Who said that?” asked the boy innocently. “A good knight, and a great friend,” replied Red, “and your father”. The last words were only for him.

Red started to move, leaving Bee standing alone in the gate of the inn.

“Are you too going to Kilito?” asked Bee, his voice a little shaky. “Are the rest of them going to Kilito?” Red asked instead, pointing towards the crowd of men inside the inn. The boy nodded, “they are going for the melee, hosted by King Amadeus, to celebrate his son’s marriage.”

“To whom?” asked Red, perplexed.

“The princess of Barder,” replied the boy.

For a moment, his heart stopped. There was an absolute silence, like he was cut from this world, as if he was never a part of it. Usually silence was a refuge from all the pain he had inside him, but at the moment, it hurt him the same, or more. Flashes of memories came in front of his eyes, some happy, some sad. But her beauty didn’t lessen in any one of them.

“She too had said the words, she too had vowed,” argued Red inside his head, “she too had promised herself to me, for eternity & more”.“But I also had asked her to forget those same words,” remembered Red, “ Maybe after these many years, she has obliged to my request.”

There were still doubts in his mind, a little hope to avoid the unthinkable. He looked back at the boy, who was still standing, as if waiting for him to change his mind.

“Emelia?” asked Red, already knowing the answer to that in his heart.

The boy just shook his head in agreement. Red was grateful for that, as even one word would have made him cry. He wanted to take him to his journey, now more than ever. To raise his friend’s son would have been a nice farewell for the man’s soul, but the boy needed his mother, a mother even as worse as she was. 

“So where would you be going?” asked Bee, at last. He looked at Red in a strange way, as if knowing what was going inside his mind.

“To see the Princess” replied Red plainly, his heart beating very fast. He went back to the boy & kissed him in both his cheeks. He then climbed upon his horse & rode fast.