Kingdom Fallen

Volume 1 Part 3: Mr. Jacob and Ms. Mary

"Um...hey Mister. Did you wait long?" I sheepishly asked

"I see you haven't caught the boar," he said

"Well, you see something had happened," I said looking around to avoid his soul piercing gaze

"And what per se was that?" he asked then I noticed something quite odd.

Beside the boulder at which Mister sat was three full sized boars, each bearing an arrow in their heads. The quiver laid against the boulder as well and I counted however many arrows were left. Every morning Mister would wake early to crave a set of ten arrows. Two were given to me and three were used to kill the boars. There should have been five remaining arrows, but there were only four. It had crossed my mind that Mister might've missed one, but it would have been first time in four years. A small smile soon spread across my face

"Boy," Mister said snapping me out of my thoughts, "You haven't answered my question so why are you smiling like an i***t,"

"Thank you," was all I said before the old man left out a sigh and threw the rope made from vines at my feet

"Wrap these up, put them in the sack and let's head back to town," he said getting up from the boulder and walked away.

I quickly did as I was told and tried to follow behind Mister. The trip back was always to be made in silence as Mister had told me that returning from a hunt is best done quietly as to not get caught when you were tired

"Um...Mister," I said as we were nearing the exit

"Boy, what did I say about speaking on the way back?" he lectured

"We're almost out of the forest. There's no way any animal would attack us here," I naively said

"The beast that live in the forest are the least of our worries," he said as we made it out of the forest and continued down the hill

We were passed the fork in the road and heading towards the city of Sol, which was about thirty minutes away from the Wandering Forest on the grassy plains. It was a small city that sat just off the hill that people had rarely visited. As we made it to the city gates made from red wood, a piece of wood that was red in color, we were greeted by the gate guards. We showed our gate passes, again made from redwood and were allowed inside. Redwood was one of the most abundant resources in the city so many of the buildings, decor and everyday carts were made from it. Redwood was an extremely durable wood that was grown from the Redwood Trees in the Redwood Forest. They were many shades of red and the darker the shade the more durable and expensive the wood would be

After getting into the city, we continued down the stone path. The sun was raising higher into the sky so many people were leaving their homes. Though we passed a few people we didn't say anything to them, and they seemed to avoid us as well. Most likely because we, mostly me, were covered in mud and dirt. Not paying it any attention we continued our journey to a small store with a sign of a boar. Just as we were making our way up the wooden steps the door flew open and out came a man wearing a bloody black leather apron. He had looked down at the two of us. His drowsy face bursting into a smile

"If it isn't my least favorite customers, right on time as always," he chuckled

"Save the small talk for when we're inside," Mister said

"Yeah, yeah, come in. I was just about to open up anyway," the man said as he went back inside

That man was Mister Jacob, an absolute behemoth of a man standing at a huge six foot six inches and was as built as an ox. Not many people in town had spoken to him, yet he was always the center of attention due to his skin tone being much darker than the other people around him. Once when I was younger, I had thought that it was some sort of paint or dye that had given him that color, only to find out that was just the natural color of his skin. We went into the building and were greeted by a rather gory sight. Mister Jacob had run a butchery so from the moment we walked in we saw a boar cut to pieces on the table over a puddle of blood with bloody knives still in its body. Mister Jacob was a rather scary looking man if I were to be honest. His left eye was a mud brown color, and he wore an eyepatch over the next, his body and bald head were covered in scars and there was a large scar running on the left side of his face covering the edge of his lips

"So how you been V.C.?" Jacob asked with a playful smile

"I've got three more," he said gesturing me to put down the sack

"You know you could at least say good morning before you start slamming animal carcasses on my workstation," Jacob sighed as I dropped the sack

"Good morning, Az," he said looking down at me

"Good morning, Mr. Jacob," I said

"At least one of you as manners," he let out a hearty laugh as he ruffled through my hair

"Unfortunately, you're filthy as always," he said flashing the mud off his hand

"Come on, hurry up and give me the coins," Mister said

"Okay, let's see what we have here," he said taking out the boars one by one

"Okay three boars. Each around two hundred and twenty pounds? How about fifty bronze coins each?" he asked

"Fifty bronze, huh?" Mister repeated.

To me this was a ludicrous amount. Meat was still a rarity in this town as the Wandering Forest was where the wild animals lived and the fact that majority of the food was being used as rations. The price of just one of these would be much closer to a silver coin which was double what was offered

I tried to signal him to not take the offer, however today like every other day he ignores my gestures and took the pouch from Mister Jacob who had a broad smile on his face

"Better luck next time kid," he said to me and I could only let out a grief filled sigh

"Where's Mary?" Mister asked

"You know her, she's still fast asleep in the bed," Mister Jacob chuckled

"She is wasting precious daylight," Mister sighed annoyed

"And how the hell does that concern you, you fricking bastard?" Mary's voice could be heard from the other room as she walked in. Mary was a beautiful woman though she was rapidly approaching middle aged. She had short messy blonde hair reaching down to her shoulders, she had beautiful fair skin that were beginning to show signs of aging. Her sparkling blue eyes still showed signs of exhaustion and there were bags under her eyes

"Mary, you actually managed to wake up before noon," Mister Jacob faked a gasped, but only received a glare in response

"Yeah, I have an order to be done before the banquet this afternoon for that harlot, Cindy-Lou,"

"And you're up early for that?" Mister Jacob said

"Yeah, normally I wouldn't but she commissioned me for 25 silver coins,"

"25 silver coins. The hell kind of dress are you fixing?" Mister Jacob grasped at the commission

"Yeah, it's a dress bought by her husband on his trip to Silverwing City. It's made by a dressmaker from Esteria," Ms. Mary said

"But still 25 silver is a lot to fix a dress," Mister Jacob said

"It's a Series A #15 made by famous Esterian dressmaker, Paul Duviere. It's a dress that typically goes for 200 silver coins," Ms. Mary diligently explained

"And how the hell did she manage to get that damaged," Mister Jacob shivered at the mere thought of spending that much money

"Rumor on the street, she was almost caught having an affair with a wondering young Esterian lord in Silverwing City," Ms. Mary yawned

"What's an affair?" I innocently asked

"You see, kid. When two people love each other, but one of them is lying scum that no one should ever trust with a paper bag then they meet someone else outside of the person they claim to love and they-" she passionately described

"Ahem," Mister faked a cough

"Isn't that a bit too detailed for the kid," Mister Jacob awkwardly said

"Okay," Ms. Mary said

"Let's just say it's an adult activity for bad adults," Mister. Jacob gently explained

"Anyway, she ripped it and now she's spending 25 silver coins so she and that b***h Gwen can fight over the attention of incoming knights," Ms. Mary finished

"Speaking of knights, it appears that there's a squad lost in the Wandering Forest," Mister reported

________________________________________

Published on October 27, 2025