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Brambles whipped at the tattered remains of the proscribed messenger's uniform. Her chalk-white legs bore no scratches, but she was fatigued. Not far to go now.
She had left her homeland, crossed dangerous wastelands and climbed steep mountains to deliver this message. The one message that might prove the most important mission of her life.
There it was; the cottage she was heading for. She couldn't tell if it was occupied, but she didn't need to meet the person she was sent to. She just had to deliver the message.
A large dog watched from across the field behind the house. She had always feared dogs, as did all messengers of her model. But it didn't seem aggressive. She walked confidently to the front door of the house and slid the letter under.
Her job done, and with no home to return to, the messenger left for a new life.
Dave enjoyed visiting John. Both took an interest in weapons and honing their skills with them. John's father was also very hospitable, frequently baking something for a visitor. The man kept strange things in his house. Jester figurines, an assortment of pipes, a strange white orb. The boys could spend hours playing and practicing with the smiths' merchandise, or discussing the knightly Order of Iron.
It was at the end of one of these visits that John was accompanying his friend back to the castle. Dave's brother had ordered a new sword from the smiths, so they brought that along too. The sun was getting low, and conversation was starting to wear thin.
"Okay," John asked. "Who would win in a fight, Hephaestus or Typhoeus?"
"Hmm, tough one. I'm gonna say Hephaestus."
"Why?"
"Well, he's god of the forge, right? He's got all kinds of toys he can use in a fight. Hell, he has automatic servants that would fight for him."
"I think it's Typhoeus."
"What? You're a blacksmith! Aren't you supposed to worship the forge god?"
"Yeah, but we don't. And we make things just fine."
"Oh, so that's why my brother keeps breaking your swords all the time!"
"Hey, that's his fault, not ours! We make them very precisely and test them for strength and balance too."
"Yeah, I know, I know. I was just kidding."
"Speaking of your brother, where is he?"
The castle was mostly deserted. A few servants wandered around, but otherwise the only life in the courtyard was the mice.
Dave clicked his fingers. "Friday night. They'll all be at the bar."
"The castle has a bar?"
"Pretty much. Well, there's a room with beer kegs in it, and someone put a plank on some bricks. It's a bar."
A raucous, and somewhat cruel laugh roared from the bar as the two boys approached. Perhaps there was a jester present? John cringed as he considered the thought that it might just be his dad, with all the weird things the man does. He was lucky there, but the real cause was rather worse.
Sir Joseph, the knight, was sitting on a crate, holding up a piece of paper.
"What this is, girl, is a joke! Someone's messing with you. Your old man's dead, and everyone knows it."
"He's not!" wailed the huddled form in front of him. He started to fold the sheet. "He's alive, that letter proves it! I need you for this!"
"It's not proof. I already said, it's a fake! Say, who did this?"
There was a general murmur of denial, though a lot of the knights look like they wished they'd had the idea.
"Well," Sir Joseph continued, "when you find out who did, tell him I'll buy him a drink." He threw the now-folded paper plane into the crowd, to a laugh and a cheer.
Jade broke down into tears in front of him. Immediately, John went to her side and tried to cheer her up.
Dave glared at his brother.
"That's it!" he yelled. "I've had enough of you!"
The crowd parted a little to give a clear space between the two brothers. The elder brother scowled.
Dave kept ranting. "You're an arrogant moron! You're prejudiced! You only do good because it reflects well on you! You don't even know the meaning of honour!"
Joe's scowl deepened. "Watch your tongue, boy," he growled. "You're just a squire. I don't have to take this from you."
Dave would not stop. "And on top of everything, you pick on my friend! You made a young girl cry. Really heroic of you." He wielded the sword he had been carrying, and pointed it at his brother. "I challenge you to a duel!"
The knight laughed. "Looks like my little brother thinks he's a man! Fine. I accept your challenge. Right here, right now."
Sir Joseph drew his sword, and the crowd parted further to give the battle space. This was far more entertainment than any of them had hoped for.
The brothers stood, swords just barely touching between them. Dave pressed the first attack, swinging left, then right, then thrusting. The elder brother parried every strike. The younger pushed on further, slashing wildly from all directions, each time meeting only the clang of sword against sword. It was a strange sort of rhythm, swing, clang, swing, clang, stab, clang, swing. He was good with rhythms. Both were. Dave brought his next attack in just that fraction of a second faster, and while he was still parried, the defence was weaker.
The knight looked almost bored by the battle - parrying again, and again, starting to feel like a metronome. In truth, Dave could barely fight. He wouldn't last out on the field. But this was just a personal duel. Joseph parried once, twice, thrice before forcing Dave's sword to the side and thrusting forth.
The younger brother dodged, just barely, giving him that brief moment he needed to get control of his sword again. This time it was the knight that attacked, faster and harder than his brother did. Dave struggled to parry again and again, deflecting the much better-trained knight's attacks. Still, he felt he was holding back, that the elder brother was going easy on him. It was insulting, even more, perhaps, than a shocking defeat. He was better than this. Both were.
Dave parried the attacking sword aside and lunged at his brother. Joseph stepped back, so quickly that you could barely see him move. Dave lunged forward again, to be dodged yet again with that incredible speed. Before he knew it he found himself charging past his brother, who thumped him in the back as he passed, forcing him to the floor.
The squire rolled over just in time to parry another attack, then another. He had to get up; from this position he would lose. Dave spun on his back in a strange sort of dance, and caught the back of his brother's leg in his own. He used the support to pull himself up, destabilising the elder as he did so. He swung round, bringing his sword to again be parried.
Both combatants stood to face each other, and both swung their swords in unison. They met in the middle as the brothers pushed against each other.
"I'm tired of this," Sir Joseph hissed through gritted teeth. "And I'm tired of you."
The knight jumped back and brought his sword round for another attack, this with much more strength behind it. It was easy to follow, and Dave caught the attack with his sword.
There was the familiar clang, but mixed with a crack. then there was a clatter.
Sir Joseph was left holding half a sword. Dave's was scarred, but intact.
The knight threw his half-sword to the ground. There was a murmur. "I submit," he said. The murmur became a hubbub. "You have defeated me, and thus you're no longer my squire. You like the girl so damn much? You take her quest." He walked out through the back of the bar as the hubbub became an uproar, taking with him the half-glass of beer he had been drinking, and a white ball that had sat on the crate beside him.
"What were you doing here, Jade?" Dave asked once they were back on the street.
"I came to ask for help," she said. She'd stopped crying, but there were still signs of tears on her face.
"Help with what?"
"This." She produced the letter, and unfolded it. John took it and read it aloud.
"Jade," he read. "I am so sorry for not contacting you for so long! If I had known I would get as caught up in this great mess as I did, then I would never have begun this expedition.
"You see, the chessmen, in their lands to the north, are locked in eternal battle. Perhaps you know this already by now. The politics have been complicated here recently by revolutionary elements which I ended up involved in. There is very little means to communicate with the outside world from a battlefield if you are on neither side!
"For the last three years I have been working with a war-weary villein to bring peace to this area. Unfortunately, while operating in one of the kingdoms, I was captured! At least from this shining prison I can get a message out to you - a sympathetic courier has offered me her aid. If you meet her after reading this, please repay her any way you can!
"I am once again sorry for disappearing for so long. I am sure you have become an excellent young woman in my absence. I regret only that I cannot see you for myself.
"Lovingly yours,
"Your grandfather,
"Harrison Harley."
Tears started to well up in Jade's eyes again. John gripped her hand, tightly and encouragingly.
"What I need," she said between sniffs, "is someone to rescue him for me."
"So you came to the Order," Dave finished. "I see. Guess they wouldn't help, then."
She hung her head.
"I'll do it, Jade."
She looked at him. "Really?"
"I don't know if I'm a knight yet. Probably not. But I'm more than a squire now. You saw how I beat my brother. I can take this! If you'll let me."
John spoke up. "He let you win, Dave. Anyone could see that. He's been practicing that sword move for ages, that's why he keeps breaking them! You won't make it alone. If you're going, I'm coming too."
"Don't talk nonsense, John," Dave said. "You can't fight."
"I can fight at least as well as you can! You've seen me with a warhammer."
"True. Fine, you can come. At least, if Jade accepts us for the quest." He turned to her. "Do you?"
She looked at the two boys, her eyes wide, a hopeful smile on her face. "You'd really do it? For me?"
John spoke first. "I've known you for years, Jade. You're the best friend I've ever had. I'd go to hell and back for you."
"Yeah," Dave agreed, "I wouldn't turn down something like this. Not for anything."
She pulled them both into a hug. "So when do we leave?"
"We?" Dave asked. "Should you really come with us?"
"I want to see my grandpa," she said sincerely. "I want to make him proud."
He looked at John, who nodded. "Alright. We'll go to Smith's for supplies and leave immediately. I don't really want my brother to know where we've gone."
Theodore Smith was very understanding about his son's undertaking. He gave him the best warhammer his smithy had in stock, and an abundance of food for the journey. He wished the three of them the best of luck. There would be no prouder father in the town that night, nor the barony. Perhaps not even the world.
As the trio reached the edge of the town, a figure approached.
"You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye, were you?" she said.
Though it was hard to see with the sun down, the girl was wearing a hardy but elegant dress. Her hair was tied in a bun, supported by two long pins, though she still wore a hairband. She carried a satchel. Rose de Rein was ready for an adventure. She knew what they were doing.
She addressed Dave directly. "What if you don't come back? I might not even have known why you'd gone."
"You know everything, Rose," Dave shrugged. "But yeah. I should have come to say goodbye. But there wasn't the chance. Sorry." He paused. "I guess this is goodbye then?"
"Are you joking? I'm coming with you."
"What, another one?"
"Face it, if you want to rescue Harley, you wouldn't last out in the wilds. You need me."
She looked at John and Jade. "I don't believe we've been introduced."
"Rose, this is John, a blacksmith, and Jade, an inventor. They're my friends. John and Jade, this is-"
"Everyone knows who she is," Jade said. Her voice was bitter.
"Daughter of the baroness," John confirmed. "Stays shut in her house all the time. Wouldn't deign to walk among the people."
"Do people really think that of me?" Rose asked, rather hurt. "My mother doesn't let me out of the house. I don't have friends because I can't. I wish I could, I really do."
"Well you can't come with us," John said. "You'd only weigh us down."
"Don't be too hasty," Dave argued. "She'll be more useful than you'd think."
"How?"
"Best not explain while we're in the town limits. But we'll tell you."
"Besides," Rose said, "I wouldn't leave my Strider's side. No matter what you said. Now, we should get moving. I want to be as far away as possible when my mother realises I'm gone."
The sky grew darker still as the night settled in. Thus began the tale that would inspire songs and legends for generations to come. Four men and women, barely out of childhood, started a journey that they would finish as heroes.