Utterly Mad

Continued:

Wile nodded happily and helped the old man to his seat near the end of the third table from the door. Roland wasn't extremely prominent, or of noble blood, he was not a hero, but even so he sat quite close to the noble's table, sometimes they even let him sit with them, albeit it was rare these days.

The newest Baron of the Fortress was named Richard, and he was a real pompous sack of wine. He was a sour, thirty-something fellow, while one would very rarely see a hero such as Thanatos, one always saw Richard. He paraded himself to the front of the Fortress and had re-instituted the nobles table. 

It wouldn't have been so bad if that was where it had ended, he would have just been a bit arrogant, but no that wasn't anywhere close to where it ended. Richard would go down towards the blacksmith's shop and constantly degrade the fellow for not making his work exceptional enough.  He would did this with all the craftsmen, he would bark stupid orders at the local military commander, all in all he wasn't just a bad ruler, he was a bad person.

Wile shook his head as he pulled the seat out for Roland, who nodded with a grin
"When did ye b'come such a gent Wile?"
Wile returned the grin, accepting a pat on the head which rustled his already tousled black hair.
"Been taking lessons from you, Uncle."
Roland shook his head, still grinning.
"Always knew ye needed better choices 'n role models."

The old man hooked his rod into the back of his chair, it was oaken wood, likely traded for by the Fortress with the King's Capital. It was fancy, not as fancy as the noble chairs but it still held it's engravings of what appeared to be a simple farmer hoisting up a bundle of wheat, you could almost see the individual hairs on the man's beard. Fancy.

Wile took a seat next to Roland, and waited there as he told his entire story from beginning to end, by the time he was done a couple of other people had scooted over to listen in.  When it was all done he clapped his hands a couple of times and then turned to see what was on his plate.

It appeared to be a pork chop of some sort, he wasn't really sure what piece of the pig he had received but it looked crispy and delicious. He dug into it, taking a big bite before taking a scoop of mashed potatoes and eating that as well. Finally he took a swig of the sweet fortress drink named Ambrose. It tasted like honey but it was much less viscous and flowed more like water. It could also have various fruits added in for flavor though this one was fairly plain.

Beside him, Roland took a drink of his own Ambrose. He could have ordered an ale if he'd wanted one; after all he was well past the age requirement, but he seemed to enjoy Ambrose a lot more. Wile had never drank a full mug of ale, the fortress had rules that those under eighteen springs should not drink alcoholic beverages for fear it made the bones porous and weak. Wile was only sixteen springs as it was, though he had plenty of childlike features he could also be quite serious when he needed to be.

He took in another scoop of mashed potatoes, wishing that he could have some corn or maybe peas of some sort to dip them into. He settled for putting the potato in his mouth and taking a swig of Ambrose at the same time.

"Boo." A female voice said behind him, a young woman stepped passed and gave Roland a hug from behind before taking a seat across from them.

"Hello m'dear daughter." Roland said as he let loose another toothy grin.
"Grand-daughter, Great Papa."
Roland nodded and pointed at her "And ne'er forget yer worth."

With that Roland returned to his food. Wile was watching the woman casually, stealing glances of her when he came up from his food.

She was Wile's age and stepped around with obvious confidence in her abilities, her hair was a snowy white, it was long and flowing and beautiful, Wile thought as he watched her. She had a fit figure and wasn't very weighty or too skinny. Her eyes were a light blue.

Wile snapped out of his staring for a few moments to compose himself.

"How are you today Winter?" he muttered with a bit less confidence then he was going for.

Winter turned her head to him, taking a sip of Ambrose before replying "Same old, same old. Still trying to learn how Boney does things."

Wile nodded, Boney was the fortress' head doctor, a quick-witted and excitable man who had a quick temper to boot.

"I hope he isn't causing you too much trouble." Wile said as he took a sip of his drink, the last sip in the mug.

"Today wasn't so bad, no one was really hurt much so we treated one of the Guard hounds, the thing tried to snap Boney in the hand when he started to set it's leg though." Winter smiled at the memory.

"Well, that's not too bad then. I promise if I ever break something I won't try to bite you." Wile said, giving a slight chuckle. She reciprocated and gave a giggle of her own.

"Why thank you Wiley, you are such the gentleman."

"Well, one does one's best."