the shard ch1

The Shard: CH1
              The house could only be described as grand, for their was no other word for it, but then that was only suiting for a knight so highly regarded by King John III. It was large and very finely built, only the best stone had been used. It was so grand that many people from the village believed that it was nearing that granduer of the kings castle in Verona, but then most people in the village of Canon had never been to the capital.
              Ryan hated the house.
              And yet the caste was part of him, his past present and future. He had grown up here, he lived here now, and in the future he would inherit the castle and the village. The thought made Ryan shudder as entered through the large wooden doors. Some days he would give anything to trade in the castle for a little wooden cottage in the village.
            He was greeted inside the entryway by Tom the stableman and master of all the servents that worked in the castle. Tom was a tall rather proud man of little words. He was about 30 years old. He had short brown hair and scraggly brown beard. His eyes were bright blue and intelligent, Ryan's father had always told him that the stableman was far to smart to be working in the stables, but Tom enjoyed his work and would have it no other way.
            "Good day master Ryan," said Tom. He had a deep rather gruff sounding voice that always made Ryan want to clear his throat loudly.
            "Hello Tom," he said, "You wouldn't know were my father is would you?"
            "Lord Joseph is preparing himself for dinner, would you like me too fetch him?" asked Tom.
              "No I'll wait till dinner, will it be done soon?"
              Tom nodded. "Yes, you will be having roast boar from the last hunting trip."
              Ryan nodded; scratching at his stomach, hearing about the boar had reminded how hungry he was. He thanked Tom for his help and hurried up to his room to change for dinner he was wearing a old patched up tunic that he always wore when he made trips to the village too show that he was one of the villagers just a peasant not just a high minded noble.
              ***
                The dining hall was the grandest part of the whole house.  It was huge filled, with many trophies proclaming the greatness of its owner. Stuffed boars, deers, bears, and goblin heads covered the walls. Across the floor in front of the table was the pelt of a mountain lion killed many years ago in Goran mountain range (also known as the Dwarf Mountains). The lion was large for they grew extra large for some reason. Ryan’s father was very proud of the lion pelt and told the story of how he caught the lion whenever they had guests.
                The story went, Sir Joseph (Ryan's father) had heard from some friends how large the lions grew in the Goron mountains and being the adventure man that he was, always looking for a new challenge, had decided to head their to try and hunt one down. According to his father it was the hardest hunt he had ever been on. His father had only taken Tom with him to help kill the lion for he said T0m was the only man he trusted (Tom was a expert hunter).  When the two finally tracked down the Lion it had taken six arrows and couple blows from Joseph's sword to take him down. When his father finished the story he would always gesture to the pelt proudly and the guests would applaud his kill, but Ryan had always felt kind of bad for the lion. It seemed an injustice to the brave cat for if a warrior had continued to fight after being hit so many times with arrows he would have been granted the highest honors and funeral the king could offer, but here the lions pelt lay without a proper burial.
                  Ryan had made it to the dining hall before his father so he sat down at the table to wait for him. He had lost the old tunic and was wearing  a new splendid looking one of red.
                  His father did not make him wait for long. He entered the room with a large smile on his face that rarely left him for he was a very jolly man. He was tall over six feet, with wide strong shoulders from years of sword play and horse riding. He had wheat colored hair and beard that showed that he was still a fairly young man. He carried with him a happy feeling that rubbed off on all those around him on the opposite side though he carried a sense of pride, confidence, and even a little power, all the things that made a leader.
                  He gave a loud laugh that came deep from his belly. "You beat me here," he cried, " no doubt you're exited to give me news from that trader I hear has been going around the village!"
                  Ryan was a little surprised to hear that his father had already heard that about the trader, but then he realized that he shouldn't have been. Nothing happened in the village without it reaching his father's ears.
                  Ryan nodded, "I have some news for you from the trader, you should find it interesting," he said.
                  His father smiled even wider to show his excitement, "okay, but lets wait until after dinner to discus it” he paused giving yet another toothy grin, "I'm starving..."
                  Even as he said it, right on queue, Tom came out of a door of to the side of the dining hall, beside a magnificent fire place, leading a group of servants all carrying large laden platters with enough food to fead most of the kings army.
                  "Dinner is served" said Tom in his best voice.
                    It took a while to finish all the food sat before them and by the time they had finished and the servants were taking away all the empty dishes, Ryan had quite forgotten that he had news for his father, but his father remembered.
                    "Now what was that news you were going to tell me?"
                    Ryan thought for a moment, trying to decide how best to start, finally he decided to just tell it to him, he could handle it.
                    "Sage Black is dead."
                    The room fell quite as the dead man that Ryan spoke of. Sage Black was one of the Eight, a group of wizards who held court and decided new laws for the kingdom and picked the next king whenever one passed away. While most of the Eight were mysterious and kept to themselves, Black had been very personable and had been very lovd by the people. After a minute Joseph broke the silence.
                    "Well that is sad news, did the trader mention how old sage Black was?" he asked, the smile was gone from his face now replaced with a face of mourning as if he had known Black personally.
                    Ryan rolled his eyes, "the crazy old merchant claims he was 310 years old."
                    Suddenly Joseph gave a huge laugh. At first Ryan thought he was laughing at the crazy merchant, but then he realized his father was laughing at him.
                      "You have alot to learn yet boy. Sage Black was one of the greatest mages ever to walk this earth, it is said that even the elves hold him in high regard because of his magic," said Joseph his face carried the jollyness it had had before Ryan had given him the black news. "You forget what magic can do for a person. Magic grants long life and strength too those who are proficient in its use and old sage Black certainly was. I guess we should not morn too much for him, he lived a very long fulfilled life, God rest his soul."
                    Joseph paused for a moment thinking. "Have they picked anyone to replace him yet?" he asked his face alight with curiosity like a child.
                    "No not yet, but then they’re probly doing just that right now."
                   
                  END OF CHAPTER ONE OF THE SHARD. TO BE CONTINUED...