SecondHandLion
Experienced
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2015
- Posts
- 32
Toustí̱thos rolled his head on his shoulders, trying to loosen the muscles of his neck. He never noticed the stiffness of his muscles on days when he was in battle. The aches and pains only seemed to set in during the interminable days of peace and negotiations. Right now the men that Toustithos led and fought with were camped outside a walled city. Negotiating a price to protect it. Or not to sack it. Some days there was a little difference between the two things.
Calls of "Captain Tous" rang about the camp as Toustithos made his way to the center of the camp and his tent. Tous was not a hard man to spot. He stood six and a uuarter "feet", in the measurement that had migrated down from the northern lands, making him a head taller than the average man in the camp. Unlike the other men in camp, his head and face were clean shaven, though a visible stubble was beginning to appear on scalp and face. Tous preferred the lack of hair when he fought, but if peace was going to become an ongoing affair, he might just have to let it grow out, as was the common fashion. If not, he'd shave it off. Leda was good for holding the mirror, and telling him where he'd miss a spot with his blade.
Leda, Tous grimaced to himself, thinking of the girl. She'd been two years old when he left his home, half a life time ago. The various kingdoms and cities along the warm shores of the Great Inland Sea had been getting into a stir about some new shapes or something showing up in the temples. Tous never understood what exactly the agitation had been about, but it had been enough to call up every able body man and boy who could wield a spear and sword. Sixteen years later, Tous had demonstrated that he had learned how to use those weapons very well indeed. The tall sinewy man had easily become one of the most recognized and feared warriors on the shores of the Great Inland Sea.
And there were a lot of warriors across those lands, and towns and cities had fallen to a great sprawling war that was only now beginning to act as if an end might be in sight. One of those towns had been the one he had grown up in. It was only happenstance that he and his men had been in the area that was flooded with refugees, Leda among them. He almost passed her by, when something about a girl in the crowd caught his eye. Something around the eyes. He had pulled the girl to the side and questioned her, bluntly but not unkindly. He quickly established she was the toddling sister he had left in his parents' kitchen a decade and a half ago. Now she was a young woman, all of eighteen years.
That had caused only one incident, when he had put her into his tent. One of the older men who brought wood and supplies to the tents of the army's captains had thought that he could take liberties with Tous' sister. Tous had caught the man the first time he had tried it. A lesson liberally applied with a thick stick disabused the man and others from assuming such liberties were available.
All in all, Tous thought it was a good relationship. The girl got a roof over her head, warmth on midwinter days such as this, and security from the strong who still roamed the land unchecked. Tous did not have to worry about a vassal running off every time he was in battle.
The comforts of home, Tous thought to himself as he approached his tent. It was large, divided in three parts, and even had a cooking area to itself behind it. Speaking of which...
"Leda! Drink and meat!" Tous yelled as he stepped into the tent. He quickly stripped down to a breach cloth, revealing a tanned, leanly muscled body, sporadically covered with scars. "And a bowl of clean water to wash my face and hands."
Calls of "Captain Tous" rang about the camp as Toustithos made his way to the center of the camp and his tent. Tous was not a hard man to spot. He stood six and a uuarter "feet", in the measurement that had migrated down from the northern lands, making him a head taller than the average man in the camp. Unlike the other men in camp, his head and face were clean shaven, though a visible stubble was beginning to appear on scalp and face. Tous preferred the lack of hair when he fought, but if peace was going to become an ongoing affair, he might just have to let it grow out, as was the common fashion. If not, he'd shave it off. Leda was good for holding the mirror, and telling him where he'd miss a spot with his blade.
Leda, Tous grimaced to himself, thinking of the girl. She'd been two years old when he left his home, half a life time ago. The various kingdoms and cities along the warm shores of the Great Inland Sea had been getting into a stir about some new shapes or something showing up in the temples. Tous never understood what exactly the agitation had been about, but it had been enough to call up every able body man and boy who could wield a spear and sword. Sixteen years later, Tous had demonstrated that he had learned how to use those weapons very well indeed. The tall sinewy man had easily become one of the most recognized and feared warriors on the shores of the Great Inland Sea.
And there were a lot of warriors across those lands, and towns and cities had fallen to a great sprawling war that was only now beginning to act as if an end might be in sight. One of those towns had been the one he had grown up in. It was only happenstance that he and his men had been in the area that was flooded with refugees, Leda among them. He almost passed her by, when something about a girl in the crowd caught his eye. Something around the eyes. He had pulled the girl to the side and questioned her, bluntly but not unkindly. He quickly established she was the toddling sister he had left in his parents' kitchen a decade and a half ago. Now she was a young woman, all of eighteen years.
That had caused only one incident, when he had put her into his tent. One of the older men who brought wood and supplies to the tents of the army's captains had thought that he could take liberties with Tous' sister. Tous had caught the man the first time he had tried it. A lesson liberally applied with a thick stick disabused the man and others from assuming such liberties were available.
All in all, Tous thought it was a good relationship. The girl got a roof over her head, warmth on midwinter days such as this, and security from the strong who still roamed the land unchecked. Tous did not have to worry about a vassal running off every time he was in battle.
The comforts of home, Tous thought to himself as he approached his tent. It was large, divided in three parts, and even had a cooking area to itself behind it. Speaking of which...
"Leda! Drink and meat!" Tous yelled as he stepped into the tent. He quickly stripped down to a breach cloth, revealing a tanned, leanly muscled body, sporadically covered with scars. "And a bowl of clean water to wash my face and hands."
