Brothers: Seventeen

Loem, age 11

Gilneas, after the Second War

Hektor looked in on Loem over the course of the next few days, but he said nothing as there was nothing to say. All hope of seeing his brother again, the only family of his blood he had left, was gone. He spent the days in the stable seeing to Praetor or in a small clearing outside of the town, silently practicing with his sword and his daggers. The nights he spent curled up in his bed, quietly crying himself to sleep.

It was on a very bright morning that Uldor grabbed him, turned him over, and splashed water on his face. “I know it hurts, Loem, but you’re killing yourself. I’ve sent a message through the gate and I can only hope it gets to your brother, wherever he may be, but this is ridiculous. You can’t live the rest of your life moping about forever. Besides, I need you. Until I say otherwise, you’re still in my employ.”

Loem, wanting to give back a biting retort, thought better of it, and slowly sat up, rubbing his face with his hands, trying to dry it. “Was the water really necessary, m’lord?” he finally had the courage to say, but Uldor only shrugged and left, pointing to some clean clothes that had been set out as he exited, next to a warm bath that had been prepared.

Loem stripped from his filthy clothes and eased into the steaming water. He sat there for some time, simply soaking, before finally scrubbing away the dirt and grime from the road and the past days of moping about. Feeling cleaner and much better, he got out of the bath, dried off, and put on the clean clothes, tossing his old ones into a pile near some of the other washing that still needed to be done. Taking a deep breath, he finally opened the door and went down the stairs to the main room of the inn.

Hektor was there, talking to a young woman, most likely the barmaid, a smile on his face. The Innkeeper was conducting business with another tenant of the inn, and Lord Uldor was drinking and eating breakfast, reading a scroll. Feeling a bit sheepish, knowing how insulting it was that he had acted so foolishly after everything that Uldor had done, he made his way over to the young lord, bowing his head.

“I wish to apologize, my lord, for my behavior. I... understand what you did for me, and I’ve been repaying you in a very poor way. For that, I’m terribly sorry.” Uldor looked up from his work and stared at Loem for some time before nodding and gesturing to the seat next to him.

“It takes a great deal to come to me and apologize, Loem. I respect you for that.” He turned to the barmaid, indicating that she should bring a plate of food for Loem as well, and continued, “I know that you’re dealing with something very difficult and that the transition to living here is not going to be an easy one. I promise to do everything I can to make it as comfortable as possible, truely. I know that Hektor wants to spend more time with you, training you, as you have some real talent.”

The barmaid came by, then, carrying a plate laden with warm food and a mug of simple melon juice. It was a hearty meal, of ham and eggs, and some vegetables. Loem dug in right away, the smell of the food reminding him that he had hardly eaten for several days, and the food before that had been simple, and rather awful, prison food. Once he had eaten his fill, the table was cleared and he sat and listened to Uldor, Hektor, and one of Uldor’s men from his estates go over the plans for his return.

Loem was fascinated by all the planning that went into running a large household smoothly, and how much had to be dealt with even when the lord wasn’t at home. He listened intently, learning about various things like the proper way to store grain (as some of Uldor’s hadn’t been was was now ruined), how to split up work between farmers so that all of them would have plenty to do (as idle hands are the worst kind, as Uldor laughingly put it), as well as how much and what kinds of food to keep to plant next season.

Hektor motioned for Loem to follow him out once the talk between Uldor and his servant changed to politics. As they stepped outside, the sun shone down, warming the stones, and their faces. “That was terribly dull to me, yet you seemed to enjoy it, Loem,” Hektor said, walking towards the stables, the young squire in tow.

“Yes. My father... I mean, I...” He paused a moment, realizing that, now that he couldn’t return, the estates of his family would pass to his younger brother. He shrugged, suddenly realizing that it didn’t really matter to him, anyway, and continued, “My family’s estates aren’t very large, Hektor. I never had to really learn any of those things because the size of our wealth never warranted it. Still, it’s good information to know.” He spotted something shining in the dirt and bent closer to look, but it was just a bit of tack or scrap metal.

Hektor smirked. “I keep forgetting just how young you are, Loem. You speak so maturely, but then go and dig about in the dirt, thinking you’ve found a silver piece.” He chuckled, patting the squire on the back. “I want to teach you so much, Loem. Many things, if you wish to learn, and I’ll do it gladly. I’m a hard taskmaster, though. I expect the best from my students.”

Loem frowned. “Students? As in, more than just me?” Hektor chuckled again as they finally entered the stables and walked to his gelding’s stall. “Yes, more than just you, although right now it’s just one more. My niece, actually. I think you’ll like her, she’s just a touch younger than you.” Loem grabbed a brush and went over to Praetor’s stall, opening the gate to join him inside.

He got to work, getting all the tangles out of his mane and did all he could with the tools he had to get rid of most of the dirt from the road. Though he had been seeing to Praetor over the last few days, his heart hadn’t really been in it, and now that he was more himself, he intended to really fix up his father’s stallion. “Hektor, I do want to learn from you. You and m’lord Uldor, both. In fact,” he finished up, closing the stall door behind him, “I’m ready when you are. Any time you wish, provided I’m not busy doing something for our lord, I’ll be glad to learn from you.”

Hektor smiled wide, a glint in his eyes. “Oh, you’ll regret that, trust me. Still, I’m glad to hear you say it, and I’ll definitely take you up on the offer. And since Uldor doesn’t really need you right this second, lets get started. Grab your daggers and meet me in that clearing you’ve been in. Your form’s a bit off and I want to correct it now, before it gets worse.”

Loem smiled and nodded, going back into the Inn and running to his room where he grabbed his twin daggers. Belting them on, he thought, As much as I wish I could go home and find Leodry, this is my life now. I miss him... I probably always will, but he’ll get that message from Uldor and he’ll know I’m safe and sound. Besides, I have a new life here, one that suits me pretty well, and now I have time, time to learn and time to become something more than the brute soldier my father wanted me to be. With that thought, he bounded back down the stairs and out the door, past a bewildered looking innkeeper and a pleased Uldor.

Once he met up with Hektor, he smiled, saying, “Okay, Hektor, teach me what you know. I’m ready for anything.”