Frosted Iron

”The king had sent him away for the same reason we had such an easy time travelling through the forest.” This was something Caiside himself had not realized until later, much later, but it was too important to leave as a twist closer to the end. ”He was a bastard, born of a...” Caiside struggled with his words here, his face twisting to make the one that eventually fell from his lips sound dirty, ”...union between the king and a forest spirit. He was the first born son of the Mother. Reithdur’s mother cursed him, and his family, and the king had been told that letting the child die would alleviate the effects of the curse.” But he hadn’t died, not until much later. Too much later. ”They, Reithdur and his father, had a rather... public disagreement, the result of which was a duel, of sorts. Reithdur won, and took the crown and the kingdom. And then decided he wanted to discover his other birthright..” He was trying to keep from being too detailed, Jigano would ask questions if he needed to, that Caiside was certain of, but the early days were intentionally hazy for him. He’d done his best to forget as much of it as possible. Jigano did a much better job of building tension in his tale, Caiside literally leaning in closer when the bard answered him. A smile brushed over his lips along with his friends chuckle, before they fell open in surprise. Everything that was described sounded unbelievable and amazing, ”You just found an ancient artifact?” There was a curl of jealousy in Caisides voice. ”What did you do?” he was more engrossed in the story than he was the lesson at this point, trying to see what Jigano describes in his minds eye. It was all so fantastical, compared to his own world, and compared to here. Hammering drew his attention back to the task his hands were doing. By this point the  steel was looking more and more like a blade, and Caiside found himself staring down at it, disappointed. He supposed they could have made something else, though he’d chosen a blade because of its ease. There were other easy projects though. They had gotten too far into the project to restart now. Caiside I have never been allowed to be Holy, I have never been forgiven for Wanting;