A Crow's End (Slow Updates)

⚔️Chapter One ⚔️

When he was a child, Robin loved to play pretend. He would act out scenes with knights and dragons with his brother and friends, would rescue the princess from evil kings.

It was when he was a little older that he begged the knights to teach him.  All Robin wanted was to fight. It made him proud. Strong. Just by watching the guards spar and practice, he picked up in some of their moves and used them against his brother.

Ed never appreciated being bested, let alone it being at swordplay.

So, with the promise they would both learn, Edwin and Robin started lessons from the captain, Andragoras. A man as large as his name, Andragoras held the knights and guards in his firm grip, commanded them with authority and treated them with respect. That respect, as Robin soon learned, would always be shown back to the captain in return.

Years passed, and Robin got good. Fast. No longer was he a child, but a young man who could disarm opponents in the blink of an eye. He no longer played pretend, but went up against Edwin. Even his friend who'd been drafted into playing the dragon, Thomas, got involved. Thomas learned his fighting from his own kingdom, and straight from the king.

Still, the only one Robin couldn't beat was Andragoras.

He loved to fight until he had to.

Then, one day, he was sent with the guard. The king decided that if the eldest child of the queen liked to deal with swords, he could do it in a way that bettered the country.

Robin never quite understood Andragoras and his mother's protesting until it was too late.

The world turned from a beautiful place with the brightest skies to a world where darkness crept around every corner, where it waited to eat the dying like the crows, peck at the decaying flesh of humanity and wish for something stronger.

Which was why he no longer fought battles with swords, but with words.

That didn't stop the accompanying guard though. Even the most peaceful of missions could end with a burning of innocence.

It was that same type of innocence that caught up with him. It hid underneath the fresh snow and danced around the air, whispered in his ears with a voice that only spoke of storms. The six were to come back to the king with a messenger from Kallas. He had directions, notes, letters, all marked to the crown prince and his brother.

The guard reached the delivery point earlier than expected, with four entering before the other two. The town was small, with lanterns that struggled to keep a flame in the wind beside every business and house. The metal every man wore weighted down against their bodies and held to every gasp of cold in the world, must to their dismay. Upon finding no one at the hotel, Andragoras dismissed the rest of the guard to find somewhere warm to wait.

Robin waited with the captain. While the four remaining were kind enough, he heard their conversations when they believed him absent. There were only enough times one could hear "queen's bastard" in a day without wishing to run a man through.

Andragoras brought his horse near the prince and paused. "You needn't wait with me, your highness. The inn is more that welcome if you wish to be in there."

Robin clenched his hands around the set of reins. His fingers were already numbing from the cold, and feeling his face was another monster entirely. 

He shrugged. "It'd be easier to keep a watch for our man out here than in there. Besides, I've heard enough complaining today to last me an entire week."

"Gods." Andragoras shook his head. He held no attempt at trying to hide the disgust from his face. "One would think we've traveled countries with the way they sound. The king promised those held experience before sending them with us, but I believe I must disagree."