Fated to rule

Hillock

Going side by side on the path, Gellerion and Ethan were getting closer to the large village where the rescuer lived. Hillock, as from its positioning on a gentle hummock, was well-known mainly for the most fertile lands near and far.  People who lived there were working every day on them, and their reward was a great harvest, which was enough for them and was also needed in 157 miles distant fortresses, guarding the Devil´s Mouth, main entrance, and way out of the Shadow kingdom.

That´s how it worked there since the end of the Great war. The supplies were usually transported to the first fort by a caravan of carriages, going through several cities, packing with other needed stuff such as weapons, iron ore, clothes, sometimes even men and women from brothels. There were men and women in the army of Eden, and no one would doubt the abilities of each. Being locked in a fortress wasn´t something that would please any soldier, no matter the gender, and that's why the companions were offered great money for their services there. However, it wasn´t allowed to keep them there for more than 3 days. Nevertheless, it was enough to please the client and get back on the road with the caravan freed from the load.

Entering now the village, Ethan told Gellerion to wait next to the church, which was obviously dedicated to Hávia by the statues of gorgeous women standing in front of it, situated on the small village square, where people were selling everything they didn't need or what they had in abundance. Ethan went straight to the beautiful, dark-haired young lady standing behind one of those markets. From the place where Gellerion was standing was hard to say what they were arguing about when suddenly, another man appeared, and the conversation turned into a fight. Seeing his "saviour" is in trouble, Gellerion ran quickly to the market and the fistfight ended when he got there and pulled them easily apart. 

"Stop it right now." Said Gellerion. 

"Stay aloof!" Said the man furiously. "It´s none of your business."

Gellerion helped Ethan to get up from the dusty land and then placed himself between them. "What´s this all about!" Asked politely and with a calm voice. 

"That´s none of your business!" Came the response from behind. It was Ethan, who said it this time while cleaning his nose from the blood. The boy threw at him a look of hate, then marched away. He looked mad. Gellerion didn´t want to disturb him, so he stayed on the market when suddenly a hand touched the hulk of a man.

"Hey, boy. I like how you stood up for him, however, you chose the bad one." 

"Why?" "What was it about?" 

"Well, simply said, Ethan owns me a lot of money. If I may dare to ask..." said the man with respect "how is it that I´ve never seen you before? I mean, it's highly impossible to overlook a man of your size, and yet I've never seen you here." 

"It´s alright. I got here accidentally and Ethan saved me." The young lady chuckled and so did the man, her father. 

"He?!" Wondered at it. "The ne'er-do-well Ethan?"

"Why do you call him like that?" Frowned Gellerion. 

Noticing his great two-handed sword forced the man to respond just briefly. "You should probably ask others who came up with this nickname. Come on! Be my guest!" Shouted and now, leading him to the inn, it was obvious he is the publican. Gellerion was in a pub before. He was following the man when suddenly his head hit the doorframe. He had to step back and enter on the second try, this time successfully. 

The indoor of the pub was spacious and fully occupied. Most of the visitors were sitting at the largest table, two meters from the entrance, by Gellerion's left side. They, mostly men, were playing cards and drank ale. The game took most of their attention, but when the boy came in, it quickly drew their attention to him. Silence set in with a hushed whisper. Although after some time, the whisper was replaced by screaming and joy again. 

"Come and sit here." Brought him the innkeeper wooden chair. 

Gellerion hesitated. "I´ve got nothing to pay you with." Said sadly. "Don´t worry about it. This time I am buying! Take it as a gift for a new dweller of Hillock!" 

The boy just smiled and accepted it. He was starving, and when the publican placed food in front of him, he couldn´t resist. After the meal, there was something else poured in a mug, something Gellerion never tasted. 

"It´s not bad at all." said publican, seeing Gellerion hesitation. "It´s not that tasty as in Guenill, but still..." Smiled at him. 

It took him some time to convince himself to drink. He drank just a little sip from the mug but immediately spat it out and placed it on the bar. One of the others, slightly drunk, visitors noticed it and frowned at that. It took him some effort to get to Gellerion. 

"You don´t like this drink?" Chuntered. "I am sorry, but I am not used to this drink." Answered the boy politely. 

The disconcerted man seemed to be surprised. "You are not used to it. Well, maybe it´s time to get used to it.." With that said, the man reached for Gellerion´s mug and gave it to him. "Cheers!" and hit his mug with Gellerion´s. 

The boy drank the whole mug with several gulps. Seeing that, the already drunk man was amazed and invited him to others, playing the cards. 

The night came. 

Gellerion tried to compete with others in drinking and completely forgot about Ethan or the nickname. However, as he said, he wasn't used to this and so got drunk after the third mug. The publican spotted the fact that he had enough and waved on his daughter, who got back from the market, to help him get the boy to the bedroom upstairs. Men, sitting behind the same table as Gellerion was, slapped his back to express farewells and then went to their homes. With a lot of effort, publican and his daughter managed to get him to the nearest empty room and place him on the bed. 

"Take off his clothes." With that, the innkeeper left the room. The first thing that his daughter had to do was to unsheathe the big sword. It was really weighty for her, although she managed to put it on the floor. After, she started taking off his clothing and revealed his ripped muscles. That was a noticeable and pleasant change from the drunk or slim dwellers of this village. She was done and prepared to leave when Gellerion mumbled from a drunk state: 

"Don´t leave me alone."