A Forgotten Time

It took a while for them to reach the capital. They took in the woodland & the abundant & rich towns that skimmed the imperial province. All of the townsfolk where happy, laughing & playing around. It filled Mitchil with joy to see those people & how they where living. Although he knew what the rest of the world had to offer in the next few years. He knew death & destruction where right around the corner. Every person he saw running around or working, he saw a death. A brutal killing in the name of a flag that would be flung above the church when they had finished & a faint sense of anger that would build & build in the other towns until they decided to do something stupid.
He pushed it from his mind for the time being& focused on the job at hand.
A large gate stood in their way. Two guards where posted at each side holding spears in perfect statuesque form. They moved in towards the group as they trotted towards the structure on horseback.
“Excuse me.” One cleared his throat & nudged the other in the side as an indication for his turn to speak.
“By order of his majesty the supreme emperor of this land of Colovia, you are asked to show proof of your citizenship.” He held out an armored hand in order to receive the correct documents.
Mitchil did not carry citizenship as he traveled around the land. His brain pulsed through his head until he formulated a plan.
He hopped from his horse & cruised straight into the now silent guard. He placed an arm over his shoulder & spoke friendly into his ear.
“We’re a bunch of mercenaries ok…so we don’t necessarily have the right papers right now. However, we would be very willing to do a job for your fair city n return for entrance & use of its facilities. Would that be in breach of his ‘magnificence’s’ wishes?”
The guard was dumfounded. It seemed that they did in fact need a job taken care of. A smile of satisfaction plastered itself onto Mitchil’s face.
He listened intently to the guards request as Jakoriah played with his bow in the background. The open fields that covered the surrounding environment spanned on for what seemed like miles. The produce that grew there where in a seedling stage of growth now which painted the expanse completely green. Besides that there was only a few trees sparsely growing around the walls & two large hanging baskets that clung to the arched entrance to the capital. The air grew thick as the dark clouds suddenly set over them high up in the endlessly blue sky. The sunlight disappeared & the guard, now finished in his request retreated to the shelter at the side of the gateway. He pulled a chain, a bell rung, a sound so gentle & quiet that Mitchil could only just hear it carried through the atmosphere. The doors began to move, slowly, with a slight creaking noise & noticeable clunking of heavy mechanisms from inside the walls forced then open.
A short road to the city would keep them away from the capital itself for at least five minutes, but seeing the shape of the buildings & the extravagant white steeples coupled with a faint sense of grandiosity that aired from them made the experience worth while, even if the weather was clearly turning bad.

The city radiated with commercial folk, standing at the open fronted marble shops while they bartered with passers by. Horses drank in one corner of the street while others ate dinner in another. The circular outer road could lead them around to housing districts, gardens, the cathedrals& then eventually, the palace. The group dismounted without even requesting service a strong young man came & tugged their horses to the nearby stable. The central road was cobbled & moss grew in the cracks between the carefully laid stones. Merchants pestered them as they walked past & one or two managed to make a sale. However it was not shopping that Mitchil & Jakoriah where interested in at the minute. They searched ever alley in the shopping areas & then, when they didn’t find what they where looking for, moved on to the housing district. There they saw the gigantic scale of the capital rather than the towns that they visited along the way. Housed where built upon houses & people shared gardens of vegetables. Sheep where kept in a small paddock off to the left side & a small park area sat in the centre. The community was close here, more people moved into the capital in search of catching their dreams. These people where the workforce behind the entire empire.
Over near the Karp pond they saw a man, dressed quite different than the others. His cloak slipped around his leg to reveal blue armor, the color that a different country wore as a mark of respect to their queen, Lethe Andronicus.
Promaneria is a relatively small Queendom on the southern peninsula of the continent. It is largely naval orientated, so much so that the queen herself has never set foot onto Pomanerian soil inn her life; however there are officials in place on the land. These wear blue armor of the exact same fashion as the man sat by the pond.
“Hey, you there!” Jakoriah shouted in direct contradiction to Mitchil who decided to remain quiet. The man stood up, looked intensely at the pair & then ran. His cloak flew off behind him & was left strewn across the wet floor. It began to rain. The common people gathered their children & rushed inside.
The streets where now deserted. The cobbled pathway glistening with the wet & know frigid weather. The cousins nodded at each other & ran after the man. They followed the sounds of the armor clanking as he ran, too. They knew they could catch up to him. They rounded corners as fast as they could, sliding on the now very slippery roads of the garden district. It would be difficult to maneuver now. Not only where they faced with ice-like floors to run on, not they would have to get through the beautiful, yet very thick & troublesome plant life. They brushed passed huge leaves & flowers whipped into their faces occasionally. The rain still beat down as they exited & arrived in the cathedral district. There they found huge structures made of polished marble, glistening in the downpour & large houses where the upper classes lived. In the entrance to the largest cathedral, they saw the figure of the armored man, banging on the door.
They ran towards him yet again. As they grew close he fell into the door which had been pulled open by one of the priests. He was grabbed under the arms by the pair & hoisted up to their level.
“We found you eh? Leaving your military & hiding out in OUR capital…you have some nerve don’t you?” Mitchil was tired from the whole ordeal & grew more & more annoyed with him by the second.
It would seem that he had completed the guard’s request. He was told that there was a Promanarian soldier using the capital as a hiding place & it seems they where right.
However, the priest, it would seem was more than a simple churchman. He came forward & beckoned the men inside with a small gesture of his hand.
Then men did. The divines where to be respected appropriately & refusing the request of a churchman could earn bad favor within the land.
The hall was light brightly with floating candles that swayed slightly. The ceiling was at least five meters high & the columns & archways made it seem even higher. Everyone’s features where visible now.
The captive soldier wore the blue armor, along with light blue hair. It was messy & unkempt. Probably due to the length of time he spent sleeping out on the streets. He was just a little shorter than Mitchil & more robust than Jakoriah. Perfectly built to hold a spear effectively, Mitchil had surmised already that he was a spear fighter by the way she ran. A piece of fabric flowed down is back, covering the seams of where the armor joined together.
He was silent. Walking in the churchman’s steps exactly as the group reached large double doors that presumably leaded to the main chamber. The priests’ cloak was long, white & trailed slightly on the floor as it flowed around him. The gold details spun into the fabric caught the light of the church perfectly. His under-robes where just as exquisite, midnight blue with more gold designs. His hair was also that same midnight blue, tailored in regular church style. He remained silent, too, until they reached the doors.
“This man is under my protection as of now. The church will look at this matter in depth & offer a place for him to sleep until this all resolved.” The churchman said in a shy voice. He cleared his throat to make sure that they listened. Clearly interacting with strangers was not something in this particular priest’s routine.
“Well for my employer’s sake I must take both of your names for reference.” Mitchil knew that he could do nothing in this situation; the power of the church outweighed his own moral conscience.
“My name is…” The priest began to talk, his face going slightly red at the same time. “Nathaniel, Bishop of Tourainne.” He finished his title & then turned to the captive soldier. “This is Paulus, a soldier who recently vacated his post in Paloneria due to personal reasons. I see no reason to persecute further.”
Mitchil took the names down & proceeded to the nearest in to rest. He would report to the guard in the morning.
‘Goodbye Nathaniel…I’m sure we’ll meet again soon. Paulus, I have my contract. Bare that in mind.”