Chapter Twelve

Symon had dreamed of seeing Lanos since he was a child, now that he was here though, it held no appeal. he made his way through the bustling streets towards the castle. Knowing he would not be granted admittance, he found a group of servants heading to work and followed them into the castle.

Once inside Symon had no idea which way he was to go, he wandered around for what seemed like hours, till he finally found the throne room. Outside of the room two guards stood watch. He stood around the corner and watched, trying to decide how he was going to get inside. As he was deciding his next move a guard was ushering a group of prisoners into the throne room, Symon joined the group and tried his best to blend in as they walked past the guards and into the throne room. Nothing could have prepared him for what happened next, once they were all inside, the doors closed behind them and the king and his men surrounded them, in one quick move they attacked. Each of the kings men taking a prisoner and feasting upon him.

Amidst the chaos Symon was able to steal a sword and make his advance on Tristan. He had no real plan,  just saw the opportunity to attack and  took it. As soon as he lunged towards Tristan, he felt like he hit a wall and was thrown back slamming into the wall. Tristan and his men had finished with their kill, and they advanced on Symon. He got to my feet and stood his ground, With a motion of his hand Tristan's men stopped, and he alone came to face Symon.  Symon held his sword between himself and Tristan, realizing that it was a futile move when Tristan drew his sword. In one quick move, Symon's sword lay at his feet, and Tristan's sword was pointed at his chest."Who are you, how did you get in here?" Tristan demanded. "I came here to kill you. To avenge my parents"  "I've killed quite a few peasants. You'll have to be a bit more specific"  "My parents owned the farm you had burned to the ground" before Symon could react, Tristan swung his sword intent on killing him where he stood. Symon moved just in time, so instead of killing him, the sword slashed across his face. He hit the ground as pain blossomed across his face, holding the side of his face as blood streamed through his fingers, Symon scrambled to his feet, but with just a flick of his hand Tristan sent him flying out of the room, slamming into the stone wall outside. The last thing Symon saw as his vision faded was the evil smile on Tristan's face.

Chapter Eleven

Symon was taken to the once prosperous land of Arda where he was raised as a farmer as his father before him.

When he was just a child Tristan became king. He had sent one of his nobles, Marius, and his wife Cecily to rule over Arda. Marius announced that they would still be permitted to farm their land, and would be given a part of the harvest to keep, The rest would be sent to Lanos.   They farmed, the soldiers came at the end of the harvest to escort father to the town center, where the harvest was prepared to be sent on to Lanos, he was then given their portion of the harvest, which was inadequate to say the least.

And so life went on, for Symon the same as he'd always known, hunger and hard work.
His Mother made sure that he knew the history of Arda, how they used to be free. Father did not approve of her telling him such things, saying that this is how it was now, forget about the past, it would just get them in trouble.

Days before his sixteenth birthday, everything changed. A messenger arrived at their door one morning as they sat eating their morning meal, bearing a letter. Mother brought the man inside and asked if he had been followed, to which he replied no. He handed mother a letter, which she quickly scanned the looked towards Symon. Just as she was about to say something the messenger saw the soldiers,as he had been watching out the window,  he turned back to Symon and his parents white as a sheet, and told them that he had been followed after all. Mother quickly took the letter into the kitchen where she threw it into the stove fire. Symon was concerned, trying to ask what was going on. Father had gotten up and went outside to meet the soldiers. Mother grabbed a bag and shoved some of his clothes into it, along with some food. She shoved the bag at Symon and said "Run, go as fast as you can, and no matter what you hear, don't come back." Symon ran out into the field, hiding a ways from the house, he peeked out to see what was happening. He saw the soldiers enter the house, then heard his mother scream. Symon wanted nothing more than to run to her, but knew his mother had a reason for him to leave. Some of the soldiers came near to his  hiding place, so Symon quietly snuck away, into the woods where he ran as fast as he could, not stopping for anything. He ran far enough that he was sure he hadn't been followed. Symon hid in the woods till the sun started to set, then made his way back home.



Nothing could prepare him for what he saw, his home was nothing but rubble, they had burned it to the ground. Hisparents lay in the yard, neither one moving. Symon knew before he got to them that they were already gone. He wanted nothing more than to stay and grieve for them, but I knew that I had to leave, He would not let my parents death be in vain. Symon spent the night burying his parents and the messenger that had led to their death.



Once he had said his goodbyes, he headed to Lanos intent on getting revenge on the King.