by A L Issett
ACT I
Josh finished with his practice and rubbed his sore muscles. He was to become an officer of some kind in the Faelin Army. His older brothers did not have any worries about their future, one would take his sickly father’s place as the Earl of Gastonin whenever his father died. His second brother was found to have magic and would no doubt find himself as a court mage for his uncle the king under the best of circumstances and as the Earl’s mage at the least. Josh though had no inheritance to speak of, as the seventh son, his other brothers having died in the Goblin wars he was expected to serve the king. It was the only way his father could see him making his way in the world and unlike his other brothers he was built for the job.
His oldest brother, Jakob was named after their father and was a fat pompous ass Josh thought. He was 23 summers and spent as much time in the pleasure houses as he did learning the position of Earl. He was short, and only knew the basic sword play each noble was taught. Jakob had their father’s blonde hair and steel gray eyes although with as much flesh Jakob had on his face they were anything but pretty. His second brother Jan, was tall but had the thinness father had in his youth. He was blond and despite having a cruel looking face he had always been kind to Josh and others. Two years separated the two, between Jakob and Jan was a set of twin brothers and right after Jan was another set. During an outing Jakob and Jan’s mother’s carriage was beset by goblins and their brothers along with their mother was killed. A year later Josh’s father met his mother, a minor noble and a young girl and married her, she died during the Josh’s birth. Josh wish she was here so he could thank her, he stood taller than Jan although he was only 16 and had shoulders far wider. He was also a natural with the sword, his length combined with his speed and grace made him a formidable opponent. Josh hurried to wash up, tonight he would go into town with his brothers on the behalf of the Earl and see the Duke of Rutland’s fifth daughter Irina.
Josh and Irina were the same age and sought each other out whenever there was a gathering of nobles. Josh thought they made a smart pair, he was tall, broad and had dark hair. She was slim, petite and fair although she was blossoming nicely into womanhood. Since the last time he had seen her, over a month ago older men were already commenting on this. Josh had a plan to marry her, most the men slightly older than he were already spoken for. He would live in a modest house at first but he was sure his exploits on the battlefield would bring him more fame and recognition therefore more money for his beloved. Josh stripped off his dirty clothes and jumped into the bath he had already knew one of the servants would have waiting for him. After a soak he climbed out of the bath and set about making himself presentable. His brother Jakob would get help from Jeeves, the finest tailor and designer in their lands. Likewise his second brother Jan would probably have specially made robes for his status as a mage. Jan was in his last year of schooling and would be considered a full mage soon. I would dress myself, the rest of the staff were all older females and I was much too old for them to see me naked. I dressed in my father’s colors, black on gray in the outfit he had made for me. Well the outfit he had Jeeves make for me since father did not leave bed much. This would be the first time we traveled without him and I was a little nervous, our lands was the first line of defense against the goblin lands although they had not attacked in almost two decades. I finished dressing and ran my fingers through my hair. I used to wear it slicked back with smelling oils and tied up in a tail, but Irina said she liked the way I looked one day when took my hair down for her. I strapped on my sword and my outfit was completed. It was midday now, the ride into Fashire would take around three hours where they ball was being held. I walked out of my door and towards the front where the carriage would be waiting, to my surprise Jakob was already there.
“Finally you decide to grace us with your presence” Jakob wheezed as I could see the sweat pouring right off him.
“I am sorry brother, I thought we were leaving later” I replied as I flew down the steps and over the small drawbridge.
“You are lucky father is still around, when I am Earl I may have no use of you, you are as worthless as your mother was” Jakob said as he climbed inside.
“Don’t be so hard on the boy Jakob” Jan said as he patted a cushion next to him, a signal for me to sit.
“Alright driver I haven’t got all day” Jakob said as he banged his hand on the wall of the carriage. Jakob had known Humphrey for almost all his life, the man had been driving the carriage for years but Jakob called him driver instead of his name every time. It was small things like this that made Josh want to leave the estate more than Jakob wanted him gone.
“Jakob is just anxious Josh, pay him no mind” Jan said as he smiled. “This is his first time coming on the behalf of father, his coming out party. The duke has three unmarried daughters and invited all the noble sons and daughters of marrying age to come to this ball, I am guessing he is trying to match up Gertrude”.
“Well good luck with that one, she is as ugly as she is annoying” Jakob said as he smiled at his own meanness. “A man would only marry that one for the money, she looks like a female copy of Duke Rutland himself, down to his crooked nose. Could you imagine pounding into that at night and being forced to stare at that nose?”
“Jakob you are terrible” Jan laughed. “And Josh here is too young to hear about stuff like this”.
“I was with at least seven women at his age, I’m sure I had left a bastard or two in one of the pleasure houses unless the whores took care of it themselves.” Jakob said as he dismissed Jan. “I know I am going to have lesser nobles falling all over themselves to marry their daughters off to me. You shouldn’t be so coy though yourself Jan, we are both unmarried and I am sure at least one person will prod to find out if you are courting anyone”.
“Well then they are going to be happy since I have not been seeing anyone, I have been too busy in my studies” Jan replied. “At academy I don’t even let anyone know of my birth so I won’t be treated differently. I think it has helped me become a better wizard although I am far from being the first in my class”.
The rest of the trip went on this way, I stayed silent as Jakob either boasted about how many women would line up at the ball begging him to bed them or him saying how pitiful some of the poorer nobles were. I couldn’t imagine any woman falling over themselves for my brother, the way he munched on the strawberries and cream puffs in the carriage looked absolutely disgusting, not to mention the way he constantly sweated. When we arrived at the Duke’s in town estate Jakob washed his face off with a damp rag and practically flew inside, leaving the rest of us behind. The higher nobles were expected to spend the night, there were only so many rooms so it was likely that me an Jan would have to find shelter elsewhere, probably in one of the inns the Duke owned. I climbed out along with Jan and was met at the door by a servant, I didn’t know her name but she sent us all to a room to freshen up, at least that is what I thought I would do if I didn’t run into Irina first.
“Hey stranger” Irina said as she came up to me. I sat there bewildered, it had only been a month since I saw her last but she was definitely filling out her dress in all the right places, a fact that I was privied to since I towered over her and got an eyeful.
“Uh hi” I said as I adverted my gaze. “You know if you wear that dress you are going to give people quite a show” I said as she playfully socked me in the arm.
“Why do you think I wore it” Irina laughed. “Although you are definitely the only one who would feel embarrassed about it or admit it to me. You are looking pretty nice yourself too, I am sure you will have more than your share of young girls falling all over you”.
“Who would want the seventh son of an earl, I have no inheritance,
just a position in the army” I said as I put on a fake look of despair. “The only poor girl that would have would be far down the line like myself, a fifth daughter of someone special”.
“Maybe” Irina smiled as she gestured with her finger for me to follow her. She led me to a rear door of the building where there was a small garden complete with over hanging fruit trees, in short it was the perfect area to do what I know she wanted to. I kissed her deeply as her arms searched my shoulders, our first time kissing each other had been an accident, I had become caught up in a moment but she didn’t resist.
“I have missed you” Irina said as she sat next to me.
“Not as much as I have missed you” I replied.
“When do you leave to learn your tactics to protect us from the goblins” Irina asked.
“I still have a month, father has had me tutored since I could remember, I am sure I will do well” I replied thinking about all the long hours I had put in learning the basics of warfare.
“Wish Gertrude would hurry up and marry, she is holding the rest of us up, keeping us from each other” Irina said as she lay her head on my shoulder and hugged my arm.
“I think it’s stupid that the youngest are not supposed to be married before the oldest, I still have Jan and that idiot Jakob in front of me” I replied and sighed.
“You can’t talk about the future Earl like that” Irina teased.
“The whole way over he bragged about how many women he has lain with and how every girl would be throwing themselves at him” I replied thinking about him boasting between wiping his sweaty brow.
“Wouldn’t it be perfect if your brothers married my sisters?” Irina said as we heard a noise signaling someone had come outside.
“I would feel sorry for Gertrude then unless she likes to treat commoners like the bottom of her shoe” I said quietly as I turned around and could see Baron Windsor’s oldest son.
Baron Windsor’s lands were virtually uninhabitable, the reason that despite his title he had not the riches of the other barons. Geoff though was a good sort, always looking to get into trouble. “Looks like someone has been playing kissy face, before you both deny it Joshua you have Irina’s lip covering all over your mouth” Geoff said as I went to wipe my mouth with the back of my hand before realizing Irina did not have on any covering.
“I knew it!” Geoff said as he started laughing. “What a scandal, Joshua the brute taking advantage of poor sweet little Irina, what would the court gossips say?”
“Oh shut up Geoff, I hope you get engaged to the most wretched girl at this ball” Irina said as she got up and shoved Geoff playfully and went back inside.
“I actually came out here because your brother wanted me to fetch you and I figured you would be trying to get alone with Irina, nice to see you have found out she had more worth to her than a friend. Now let’s hurry, Jakob looked a little distressed”.
I followed Geoff until I came upon Jakob, who was talking with a noble who I had never seen before. Jakob looked at me for a moment and continued talking to this man, he was well dressed and from their conversation I picked up he was also the first born to an Earl. I also picked up that he was uninterested in finding any woman at this ball, a fact that made my brother perk up a bit.
“Chauncey this is my little brother” Jakob said as he pulled out a small sack of money and handed it to me. “You can see he is worth nothing more than swinging a sword around. Now Josh, show we really do share the same blood and see to it Jan’s and your things get brought to the white dove inn and that you are settled in before returning. You may miss the beginning of this ball but do hurry back before it ends so Jan can have a ride home”.
I shrugged and left Geoff as I went to find our carriage which was parked not too far away. Humphrey was still about talking with another man until I walked up and opened the door. “Sorry Humphrey, I have to go to the White Dove Inn, where ever the heck that is and see to it that me and Jan have a room”. Humphrey nodded and got on his way as we immediately hit a bunch of traffic once we got off the side street. The news of the ball had spread and people were about trying to sale their wares. The city wasn’t overly big, empty someone in a fast walk could cover it in around three hours, despite it being slightly pass midday and being in a carriage I doubted we would be back before the ball started. We passed three inns on the way to this place, I wanted to get out and secure a rom there but thought better of it as I did not want to face Jakob if he found out I disobeyed him. It took four hours just to reach the inn, another hour to pay for the rooms and get all of me and Jan’s luggage situated then another four hours to get back to the Duke’s ball. It was well past dark when I arrived, my clothes were a bit sweaty from spending all day in a carriage when the sun was at its hottest. I finally got into the ball and was so late no one even announced me. I scanned the room and could see dinner was already over, luckily I bought something from a vendor while waiting in traffic. Everyone was broke up into their own separate clicks as I entered and began looking for faces I knew. I saw Jan and went to go over to him but he was in conversation with Duke Rutland himself along with Irina’s sister Gertrude. I had no idea what they were talking about as I saw Geoff who looked like he saw a ghost and motioned for me to follow him. As I began to move I saw my brother, chatting Irina’s ear off and thought poor girl. I followed Geoff to the hallway where he went into a side room.
“What is all of this spy business about then?” I asked him.
“I don’t want you to find out another way” Geoff said as he looked nervous.
“You don’t want me to find out what?” I asked. “Come on man out with it, I need to save poor Irina from listening to my idiot brother.
“The Duke announced to everyone present that Jakob would court Irina, they are to be married in the fall” Geoff blurted out.
“What? Jakob is marrying who in the fall?” I asked unsure if I heard clearly.
“He is marrying Irina Joshua” Geoff said with a sigh. “He is marrying Irina and Jan is courting Gertrude, it is to be a double wedding”.
I could feel my temperature rising as the news sunk in, Jakob was clever he had to have known me and Irina had a thing for each other, was that the reason he sent me away? No that wasn’t his style, he would have sent me away anyway. Perhaps he saw Irina and was enamored by her beauty? That was more likely I thought. But that bastard still had to have known me and Irina liked each other, we always sought out each other’s company. I left the room and was going to make my way back into the ball room as Irina came running out.
“Josh I am sorry” she said as she cast her gaze downward.
“What do you mean sorry? Tell me you are not serious about Jakob” I said as I grabbed her by the shoulders. “Tell me Geoff has lied and that this is some kind of jest?”
“He is going to be Earl Josh, he could have his pick with any number of women but he picked me” Irina said as she still refused to meet my gaze. “I would be taken care of, Gertrude would be taken care of, how was I supposed to say no when my father was so excited. Even Samantha found a suitor”.
“You could march in there and say no right now!’ I screamed. “I could take care of you!”
“How Josh?” Irina asked as she finally looked into my eyes. “How are you going to take care of me? What happens to me and any kids we may have if you die out there fighting Goblins? What type of money could you really make in the King’s army and how far away is that before you could support a family? Your brother would have enough money to take care of me comfortably, you can’t possibly want me to pass that up”.
“You love me though Irina” I said begging for her to see reason.
“I am young Joshua, so are you. You will find another more worthy of your love and I can grow to love your brother” Irina said as Geoff cleared his throat to let us know he was still in the area.
“Look at me right now in my eyes and tell me you would rather be with Jakob than me!” I asked searching for some semblance
of the girl I had shared a moment with only hours earlier.
“I want him” Irina said as she turned around and went into the ball room.
I stayed there for a while, crushed. Party goers had come out, some wondered who I was since I was dressed nicely but the small conversations I had I don’t remember. The only thing that stuck out to me was Irina on Jakob’s arm and the look of pity Jan gave me. Soon it was time to go, Jan said his goodbyes although I could see he left early for my sake. The carriage ride back was a long one, Jan gave me a hug and could see the hurt in my eyes but he stayed silent. The only time he talked was when he pulled out a covered plate of food he had set aside for me. Jan was my real brother, I felt so much hatred for Jakob I felt I could kill him.
~
The next two weeks saw me through myself into my training, I fought harder and longer than I thought possible. Whenever I had a spare moment I would hear Jakob gloat about how many kids he would have and how he looked forward to taking Irina’s maidenhead. To get away from him I stayed busy, Jan was a good source to vent my outrage to, but he gave me the same advice he was currently using. None of us expected to be able to pick our brides, even Jakob had lucked out since father had fallen ill. The only thing we could do was roll with the punches. Jan was scheduled to leave in five days, that is when everything really fell apart. Irina and her sister were coming for a visit and would stay until Jan left. I heard the news and hurt a little inside but I would not let it break me.
They came in the evening, father’s health was deteriorating so badly that he could not even greet them at the door. I was expected to be there though and I greeted them both, making sure I did not meet Irina’s eyes at all. I decided to skip eating with Jan like I normally did, he would be busy entertaining and I would be a third wheel, instead I ate my food with father who seemed to be so far gone I was unsure if he even knew I was there. The next day though, Jakob personally was waiting for me as I finished my midday session with Jacoby, the spear master father had hired for me. Not that I really needed him anymore though, I wasn’t the best but I could put a spear on target either on the ground or on horseback.