Ridley held the wet rag against his swollen face. The throbbing had stopped, but he wouldn't be seeing out his right eye for at least a day. He was now fifteen, and had been sitting in his father's chamber for an hour now. The chamber itself was nothing too impressive, but spoke of the man who lived within. Tapestries adorned the cold stone walls depicting many important events throughout history. None of these events were battles or victories, but peaceful negotiations and new beginings. Paintings of inspirational figures and wisemen filled the remaining wall space, leaving only just enough room for torch sconces and the one window above Darius's desk. The floor had a large dark red rug tossed over the majority of floor, which was even colder than the walls without cover. The rug was undeniably ugly, but possessed incredibley complex patterns in it's stitchings. It featured many cubes aligned just right so that one could not tell which were receding or which were advancing. Hundreds of small lines traversed these cubes, their pathways and destinies indeterminable. Ridley's father would pace around this chamber in the late hours of the night and stare at the infinite viewpoints of the rug, likely contemplating life and it's mysteries. The attention of Ridley's good eye was now entranced by his father's quill, which danced atop it's inkwell in the cool wind whistling through the window. The door behind Ridley opened and was then quietly closed, he did not turn to look, but knew who had entered. "Good morning, father."
"Hello, Ridley."
Darius crossed the chamber slowly and sat before the desk, pulling his chair in close. He laid his hands out onto the mahogony and laced his fingers, looking at Ridley with concern. "How is your eye?" Ridley's response was limited to a short "hmph," followed by an agitated squirming in his seat. Darius leaned in closer to Ridley, and frowned to himself before he asked, "are you going to at least tell me what happened? Tanis Ginwulf says you charged that Blake boy like an enraged bull."
"Ginwulf is a lying prick, Blake struck me first. Had he not struck first I wouldn't have gotten hit at all."
Darius squinted his eyes and looked at Ridley carefully. Those eyes could defeat legions were they not in the command of one so noble. "What did Blake say about your mother?"
Ridley turned a small bit away from his father, and maintained his focus on the dancing quill. "Blake and Tanis were practicing their archery nearby during combat lessons. I was sparring with Samson when Blake came over to us..." The quill had stopped moving, and Ridley quickly looked around for something else to hold his focus.
"Go on, what happened next?"
"Blake asked to swap with Samson, to spar with me. We did. As Blake and I were fighting, he started to taunt me. He said 'come on Ridley, what's the matter? Afraid you'll hurt yourself and mummy won't be there to take care of you?'"
"Son, you can't let something like that get to-"
"He said more. He said not to feel bad about mom dying, because the gods kill all the whores... not just mom."
"Son..."
Ridley began mimicking Blake, "Hey Ridley, I'd beat you in archery too, but your bow is snapped just like your filthy mother!"
"Ridley, that's enough-"
"My mother would die too if she gave birth to such a bitch of a man!"
Darius stood tall and slammed the table not with anger, but with command, "ENOUGH."
Ridley went silent, and looked at his father with a small amount of shock. He looked down at the rug. "Blake didn't hit me first... I hit him so hard he fell to the ground, and he kicked me as I tackled him. I hit him again... and again... Tanis and Samson had to pull me away..." tears began to slowly stream down Ridley's face, and he angrily wiped them aside. He was ashamed of what he had done, but did not know how else to act. His eyes had been following a particular pathway along the rug, and the pathway now moved chaoticaly from cube to cube. His father let out a heavy sigh, "Do you understand the consequences of your actions? You have been denied early entry into the Griffons... you earned maximum scores on every test given, and you are denied. You will have to wait until you are twenty."
Ridley did not remove his gaze from the rug, he continued to follow the erratic pathway. He nearly choked as the word boomed from his throat, "WHAT?"
"For every choice, there is an equivalent consequence," Darius looked to the window with dissapointment in his eyes. He began to walk to the chamber door.
"Father this isn't FAIR! Becoming a Griffon is all I have they can't just TAKE this from me!" Tears were now pouring from Ridley's eyes, and he ignored the burning it caused on the right side.
Darius stopped before the door and turned to Ridley, "You're so concerned about yourself you have forgotten to ask about Blake." Ridley's eyes remained low, his fists were clenched so tight he thought his nails would soon draw blood. His father continued, "Blake's jaw was broken, and his skull cracked. Without the aid of a Cleric he would have died." Darius left and closed the door gently behind him.
Ridley's eyes followed the path in the rug. He found some comfort there in between the rows of yarn. He continued along his path until he saw that it came to an irregular and sudden end. He looked up at the window, a raven was nestled on a tree outside. It called to him, and quickly flew away to the North. Ridley wished he were the raven, so that he might fly free of his mortal troubles and be released.
Ridley awoke from his bedroll in the cave. More memories had been flowing through his mind. Regrets he had been suppressing were welling up behind his barriers, and now surged through the cracks of his dreams. He looked deep into his mind as he returned to rest, daring to delve into darker nightmares and find some form of peace.
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