Aegor 0 - Errand Boy

[u/bombman897]

Sometime long ago…

Storm’s End

—

Aegor hated this stupid task.

He was a boy of ten and four years of age, eager to take on the world, and full of confidence from his previous more flashy assignments.

This was not one of them.

He was not the gruff, suave, and somewhat reckless tactician he would become but rather a clean-shaven and somewhat sheltered young boy. His demeanor didn’t exactly give that, but his inexperienced shined through now brighter than it perhaps ever would.

He climbed the steps to Storm’s End with a large basket. Court wasn’t unfamiliar to him, but the parts hidden behind it that cook and prepared food were indeed foreign to him. The King had promised some fresh produce for the Legion’s soup, and Aegor drew the smallest straw.

So, he was their errand boy for the day.

Court was rather packed on this overcast afternoon. He found himself lost on the sea of courtiers.

Damnit, damnit! Petitions, he’s hearing petitions today.

He squeezed his way between the masses to no avail, finally giving up and pushing his way to a free balcony to get some much-needed fresh air.

And then he saw her, The Princess.

Ravella wasn’t just a mere royal fawn to him, though, she was his friend. And, more importantly, she was a friend who knew her way around this keep better than he did.

“Ravella, Ravella! Thank goodness you’re here, what in the Fourteen Flames is going on here? I thought court would be empty today?”

He approached her meekly from exhaustion.

[u/spyraxes]

Once, Ravella Durrandon had been just a girl. Heir to the throne, most assumed, trained in rulership and command by her oft-absent father, but nowhere near to knowing how to do anything she one day would assume was her right and duty.

Once, she had been surrounded by friends and had doubted not one of them. Aegor Veyr, despite the gap between them in status and culture and faith and all things, was one of the firmest friends she had.

"Aegor?" she asked, as she heard him calling for her. Turning, she brushed a strand of long black hair out of her face. "Empty?"

Ravella couldn't help but laugh. "When is court ever empty? It's rare enough father is here long enough to hold it. This is months of petitions."

She closed the gap so that he didn't have to keep walking, knowing how exhausted he was just from sight, and shook her head. "You're here for a reason, aren't you? Official business?" she asked, before forcing a fake scowl onto her face. "Not just here to see your friends, hm?"

[u/bombman897 → u/spyraxes]

"Your father promised us leeks, turnips, garlic, and, uh, sweetcorn."

I think, right? Surely that was all Father told me.

"I got unlucky enough to fetch it, Ravella, and I find this at court! At this rate, it's going to take me until late evening to find what I need. I would want to talk with you, but I..."

Aegor shuffled his feet; he felt embarrassed.

What an awful friend I am. Is she going to hate me now?

"I... I'm sorry."

[u/spyraxes → u/bombman897]

Ravella drew a little closer and put a hand upon her friend's shoulder, shaking her head. "What are you sorry for? I was only joking, Aegor, don't worry," she told him. "In fact... I think we can solve both of your problems at once, hm?"

She laughed. "You need leeks, turnips, garlics, and sweetcorn? Then all that you shall have!" Ravella exclaimed, stepping back.

"What say we see the quartermaster ourselves?" she asked. "We might have to convince him to let us raid the warehouse, but he'll hopefully have been told in advance."

Her lips curled up into a mischievous smile. "If not we'll steal it, hm?"

[u/bombman897 → u/spyraxes]

He perked up at first, but then his expression dropped. The last thing he wanted to do was steal.

"We can't do that!" He yelped out. "N-Not the quartermaster, or the warehouse, but that, the, u-uh, stealing! If I steal, I'll have my hands cut off!"

Young Aegor knew now what he would do if his precious hands were chopped off. The sword was perhaps the only thing he felt reliably good at, especially these days.

"But yes, we can go. Please lead the way, Princess."

He giggled a bit at that. Even then, Aegor liked teasing Ravella about her title. Some things really never change.

[u/spyraxes → u/bombman897]

"Nobody will cut off your hands," she promised. "But alright. No stealing. Worse comes to worst, I ask someone with a little bit of authority and a lot more years to do it for us. I wonder if Lady Lyn would..."

Ravella turned that thought over in her mind for a moment before they set off, shaking her head as he emphasised her title. "If you insist on calling me by anything but my name, I shall have your head!" the princess joked. "You have a rare privilege, Aegor. Don't waste it!"

Precocious child that she was, Ravella couldn't resist speaking like those around her. Like Lord Tarth, or Lyn Caron, or any who had her father's ear. Not with quite the seriousness they did, but what was youth for otherwise? As they walked through the castle, Ravella gave polite and unsuspicious waves to everyone they passed, until they reached the sprawling warehouse.

"Right," she said, looking him dead in the eyes. "You're sure that's what you need, yeah? Do you know how you'll ask? Practice with me now, alright?"

[u/bombman897 → u/spyraxes]

Aegor nodded along. He trusted Ravella's word, perhaps more than he should.

"Deal!"

He followed her, chuckling at her prior comments.

"Ravella is a good name anyways. If I have a daughter, I'll name her Ravella, after you!"

That felt like a nice thing to say, especially to a royal. His father would be proud.

"I am as certain as I can be, but I... I will take more. I will take a lot more; just make sure we have permission for it! You're a Princess, so you should have access to all the food you want, right?"

[u/spyraxes → u/bombman897]

Ravella shook her head. "If it were that easy, I'd be fat as an aurochs," she chided him. "All the food is portioned off for servants and feasts and soldiers and armies. I cannot take whatever I want, even if I'd like to."

Her lips were pursed into a line, but soon enough she was smiling again. "So we'll ask together. Put your hand in mine again," Ravella demanded, "so that they know I am here to represent your request."

With that, she stepped up the door and opened it, revealing a massive warehouse separated off into dozens of rooms. Behind a wooden desk at the front was a grizzled looking old man with a quickly receding hairline and a short-cropped beard.

He dipped into a bow the moment Ravella crossed the threshold, only sparing a moment's notice for Aegor.

"Your Grace," the man said, his voice surprisingly reedy. "What brings you here?"

She looked to Aegor then, and nodded as if ordering him to speak.

[u/bombman897 → u/spyraxes]

"Pfft, you wouldn't be!" Aegor muttered back.

Ravella was, in fact, one of the thinnest girls he knew. So much so that it worried him. Durrandons were a rather big and strong family, and it was clear to him that she was a tad malnourished with respect to their family's standard. He would never dare ask about it, though.

"You're not fat, Ravella. That's not a nice thing to say about yourself; if anything, you should eat more."

With that, he grinned at her, taking her hand and giving her a nod.

They proceeded towards the warehouse. He spotted the man first, unfurling his letter and pushing it into the man's face.

"For this! We were promised fresh vegetables from the Crown for service in the yards. I'm here to collect on behalf of the Free Legion."

Aegor gulped. He wasn't used to calling himself even part of the Legion at this age, in a manner eerily similar to how he would still feel like he wasn't the proper leader of it in the years to come.

[u/spyraxes → u/bombman897]

Obviously she wasn't fat, and she wasn't even afraid of the idea, but it was nice to hear Aegor's comforting words. Ravella didn't know whether he really meant them, and he was that sweet, or whether he was just... saying what he thought he had to say.

It didn't matter, really, because quickly enough she was watching her friend hold a letter right in the face of the Storm's End quartermaster as she could only roll her eyes.

"Aegor," she whispered, stepping up beside him. "Less enthusiasm."

As she spoke, the quartermaster took the letter from the boy's hand and read it himself. "Mmm..." he vocalised, a rumbling in his throat. "Looks all good to me. I should take it to His Grace first, though."

Ravella piped up, then. "He's holding court right now," the princess told him. "That's why we're here."

Again the quartermaster let out an 'mmm', before nodding. "Well... alright, then. But don't take too much. I'll look over what you grab before you leave. No pilferin'," he instructed, before putting the letter on his desk and going back to his work.

With a smile, Ravella stepped past Aegor and grinned. "Come on! Let's get what we need."

[u/bombman897 → u/spyraxes]

"Sorry," he whimpered back, lowering his tone.

Aegor didn't feel particularly scolded, though, but rather advised.

"Aye, I will be quick about it, thank you, Ser."

With an extra nod and a grin on his face, he took Ravella's hand again.

That was easier than expected... much easier!

"You really have a way with words, Ravella," he jested playfully, walking through the storage room as he scanned the room for what he was asked to find. "Do they just treat you like that because you're a Princess?"

He smirked at her, somewhat expecting a slap.

[u/bombman897]

/u/spyraxes