15min fic #55
Oct. 8th, 2004 12:47 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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yrae
Title~ The Real Kazin
Author~ Annarti
Disclaimer~ Mine~ mine mine mine~
Notes~ 15 minute fic, word 55. I went over fifteen minutes. My bad.
~ ~ ~
“Excuse me?” A timid voice piped up behind the two swordsmen, belonging to one of the boys they had just entertained. Five other boys stood behind him, evidently too nervous to dare asking something of the two members of the Own who stood before them. “What’s it like?”
Nimay blinked.
Melraan vocalised her thoughts for the boy’s benefit. “What’s what like?”
“Being in the Own,” the boy responded, a hint of whimsy in his voice. “Going to Kazin, riding a horse, knowing you’re the best in the kingdom…”
Nimay exchanged a look with Melraan, one she hoped told the swordsman not to be too hard on the boy.
Melraan shrugged. “He’ll learn it all eventually; it may as well come from one of us. What’s your name?” he asked, turning to the boy.
“Malud,” the boy answered.
Nimay cast one more pleading look at the swordsman, but he ignored her, folding his arms and looking thoughtful. “First off, we ride our valiant steeds—” Nimay raised an eyebrow. “Okay, most of us ride valiant steeds. Nol’s—sorry, Highness’—tends to enjoy acquainting his teeth with various parts of the anatomy of whoever’s riding beside him.”
He glanced at Nimay, eyebrows raised in question. The General waved a hand, urging him to continue.
“So, we ride our valiant steeds and one mongrel through a month’s worth of red dirt, then hit Kazin.”
The swordsman’s audience grinned broadly, causing Nimay to roll her eyes again.
Again, Melraan voiced her opinions. “Kazin is, in a word, overrated.” He began counting off the kingdom’s vices on his fingers. “It’s cold, you can’t see your hand in front of your face for the fog, and even if that’s not there, you can’t see past the trees, it rains so often they have… how many did we count? Ten or eleven different words for water falling from the sky? Something like that. They hiss at you, whether it’s their intention or not, and Aeia the Houses.” He put his face in his hands at the delays those Houses always caused.
“What’s wrong with their houses?” Malud asked innocently.
“Not where they live,” Melraan answered, shaking his head, “There are six Houses between Raykin and Silrona, and at each of them, the Own pays a silver piece for each member who goes past. Naturally, this tends to weigh down his Majesty’s expenses, so we go across country to avoid them. They’ve figured us out and have tried signposting the place to direct us towards the Houses, poor bastards.
“Anyway, that’s southern Kazin. Cold, wet, steep, rocky, hissy and… tree-y. But mostly cold. And wet. Northern Kazin’s just as bad, only it’s hot, wet, steep, rocky, hissy and… tree-y. But buggy as well. Blood-sucking, stingy kind of buggy. A single mosquito is as bad as Lin knows how many flies. They sting, and buzz around your head constantly, but they’re small enough that you can’t see them, and they’re smart enough that they almost always escape from your slapping hand.
“So, we traipse through Kazin for another month or two, talk to whoever we’re there to talk to, maybe brandish whatever weapon it is we feel like brandishing, then traipse back through Kazin, welcome back the month’s worth of red dirt, have a bath and die for the next day or two.” He grinned wryly and folded his arms. “Glamorous life, wouldn’t you say?”
To Nimay’s surprise, the boys still had a mystical look in their eyes. “I can’t wait to be part of the Own,” one murmured.
Nimay blinked slowly at the boy, but he didn’t notice her. Boys, she decided, were weird.
Author~ Annarti
Disclaimer~ Mine~ mine mine mine~
Notes~ 15 minute fic, word 55. I went over fifteen minutes. My bad.
“Excuse me?” A timid voice piped up behind the two swordsmen, belonging to one of the boys they had just entertained. Five other boys stood behind him, evidently too nervous to dare asking something of the two members of the Own who stood before them. “What’s it like?”
Nimay blinked.
Melraan vocalised her thoughts for the boy’s benefit. “What’s what like?”
“Being in the Own,” the boy responded, a hint of whimsy in his voice. “Going to Kazin, riding a horse, knowing you’re the best in the kingdom…”
Nimay exchanged a look with Melraan, one she hoped told the swordsman not to be too hard on the boy.
Melraan shrugged. “He’ll learn it all eventually; it may as well come from one of us. What’s your name?” he asked, turning to the boy.
“Malud,” the boy answered.
Nimay cast one more pleading look at the swordsman, but he ignored her, folding his arms and looking thoughtful. “First off, we ride our valiant steeds—” Nimay raised an eyebrow. “Okay, most of us ride valiant steeds. Nol’s—sorry, Highness’—tends to enjoy acquainting his teeth with various parts of the anatomy of whoever’s riding beside him.”
He glanced at Nimay, eyebrows raised in question. The General waved a hand, urging him to continue.
“So, we ride our valiant steeds and one mongrel through a month’s worth of red dirt, then hit Kazin.”
The swordsman’s audience grinned broadly, causing Nimay to roll her eyes again.
Again, Melraan voiced her opinions. “Kazin is, in a word, overrated.” He began counting off the kingdom’s vices on his fingers. “It’s cold, you can’t see your hand in front of your face for the fog, and even if that’s not there, you can’t see past the trees, it rains so often they have… how many did we count? Ten or eleven different words for water falling from the sky? Something like that. They hiss at you, whether it’s their intention or not, and Aeia the Houses.” He put his face in his hands at the delays those Houses always caused.
“What’s wrong with their houses?” Malud asked innocently.
“Not where they live,” Melraan answered, shaking his head, “There are six Houses between Raykin and Silrona, and at each of them, the Own pays a silver piece for each member who goes past. Naturally, this tends to weigh down his Majesty’s expenses, so we go across country to avoid them. They’ve figured us out and have tried signposting the place to direct us towards the Houses, poor bastards.
“Anyway, that’s southern Kazin. Cold, wet, steep, rocky, hissy and… tree-y. But mostly cold. And wet. Northern Kazin’s just as bad, only it’s hot, wet, steep, rocky, hissy and… tree-y. But buggy as well. Blood-sucking, stingy kind of buggy. A single mosquito is as bad as Lin knows how many flies. They sting, and buzz around your head constantly, but they’re small enough that you can’t see them, and they’re smart enough that they almost always escape from your slapping hand.
“So, we traipse through Kazin for another month or two, talk to whoever we’re there to talk to, maybe brandish whatever weapon it is we feel like brandishing, then traipse back through Kazin, welcome back the month’s worth of red dirt, have a bath and die for the next day or two.” He grinned wryly and folded his arms. “Glamorous life, wouldn’t you say?”
To Nimay’s surprise, the boys still had a mystical look in their eyes. “I can’t wait to be part of the Own,” one murmured.
Nimay blinked slowly at the boy, but he didn’t notice her. Boys, she decided, were weird.