Ewen was restless with excitement, he’s confident that his rewrite will be a success and runs to the barracks where the performers are preparing for the big day. They were a well known family run theater troupe and King Cronhe’s favourite, the performers traveled all over the land and were granted special permissions to use magic in their show. The lead actress, Gwyndolin was an aged beauty with immense talent and a booming presence, she feared nothing-not even the king. There were rumors that there may have been more between them but no one would dare mention it. 

The fellow actors were all related to Gywndolin either by blood or marriage but all of them were professionals and were guaranteed to put on an engaging show. Ewen politely knocked on the door and Gywndolin welcomed him in with a bright, mischievous smile and her coffee brown skin sparkled in the candle light as she wrapped her body in her lush robe that she was gifted from a far away land.

“My, my little Ewen,” Gywndolin giggles with youthful delight, “I gotta say, I’m impressed with your work.”

“Thank you, I’m honored that you find it worthy of your talents.” And the older woman laughed, brushing back Ewen’s hair motherly as she brought him inside the barracks, the troupe were all jovial and slightly drunk on the barrels of wine gifted to them by the king. “I know it…may be risky but I deeply feel this will be a success.”

“Then it will be,” Gywndolin said and smacked the rear end of another performer named Smitty, “We’ve been doing this for twenty years we don’t even need to read the script anymore and then here you are. Gifting us a gem of a story!”

“Oh, yeah, anything with dragons is a must!” Smitty rubs his rear and swallows another cup of wine, “More dragons please…be an age since we’ve even seen one about.”

“Rumor says all the dragons fled to the Southern Lands after the magical purges,” Another performer named Elisse whispered as she continued to patch up the costumes, “You’d think that would be the opposite, no magic means no protection from their horrid flames.”

“The Lir Kingdom uses magic.” Gwyndolin walks over to a large window and opens it to let the fresh night air in, “When the first king slayed the King of Black Birds, he forced all creatures of the Veil into submission. That includes the dragons and their kin. An unbreakable vow, to leave the lands of Lir to mortal men or the vow will take their lives.” Ewen was transfixed by her deep voice that gave off a feeling of sadness but why? “It’s been centuries but the dragons will never forget that vow and considering the Southern Lands are not as hospitable to them…there’s a good chance that they died out.”

“Don’t say that mama,” says Elisse and she stops sewing to stare at Gwyndolin, “Dragons are strong and smart and-”

“Enough.” And Elisse flinched, her eyes welling up with tears and she sniffled before returning to her work. “Now child, we have everything we need to make this show one to remember, don’t let your imagination run too wild. His majesty will only bend so far.”

“Thank you, I’ll be sure to remember…” And as soon as Ewen said those words, he realized something, “We need a knight!” Gwyndolin cackles from the window, “I-it’s a minor change!” Smitty roughed up Ewen’s hair and took another long sip from his cup.

“Unfortunately all of our roles are filled,” Smitty gulps, resting his arm on the top of Ewen’s head, “where will you find an actor who can fulfill this new role of yours before tomorrow's show?” And Ewen ponders for a while before it comes to him. 

“This is a castle! We have plenty of knights! Surely one can sing and dance!” The whole room erupts in laughter and Ewen pouts, it’s true, he’s heard singing from the knights quarters many nights before and that couldn’t have been from his imagination. “Don’t worry! I’ll find a knight worthy of this production!”

Turns out…that was far easier said than done. Every knight Ewen approached shooed him away the second he even suggested the role, the Lir knights were proud and skilled and the very idea of them prancing on stage to pretend was an insult to their station. Of course that was never Ewen’s intent, he thought that they would be honored to perform for the king that didn’t involve traveling to foreign lands and killing but when one knight threatened to take Ewen in the shed to ‘rough him up’. And Ewen's mind flashed with the memory of the blond young man and the larger brute going at it...the pain and the pleasure; he stopped asking and fled from the quarters.

Ewen was crestfallen, not a single knight wanted to take on the role in his story…he didn’t want to give up and reconsider removing the role entirely but in his mind. The knight character would represent the king. It was noble and courageous! At least to him it was. Feeling sheepish, Ewen retreated to the stables and tended to Clay since Dust was currently being used by another knight for patrolling. 

“If you were a knight you’d be magnificent.” Ewen softly whispers as he brushes the dappled coat, “Clay the Kingly Knight.”

“Horses can’t become royalty.” A voice spoke up from behind him and a lumbering figure rolled out of the hay from a nearby stable, a young man with pale blonde hair and clear blue eyes that sparkled with his smile. Revealing two deep dimples that complimented his handsome if not unkempt visage. He was wide shouldered with long limbs and strong thighs but he also appeared gentle and chewed on a bit of straw as he towered over Ewen and gave Clay a few light pets. “I mean you can try but I don’t think anyone would follow a horse.”

“Of course not!” Ewen said hotly and chewed his bottom lip, trying to hide his embarrassment for being caught talking to a horse. “But if he could, I’m sure he’d be a fine ruler.”

“Careful, people might think you mad.” The young man laughed and Ewen felt the tension ease from his body, he’s seen this man before but never interacted. “My name is Cray…and you?”

“Ewen, a scribe for Praetor Ludwig.”

“The beautiful boy with his head in the clouds.” 

“What?”

“Sir Antonius, my master.” Cray remarked and fed Clay a carrot he had in his belt, “He said you were always daydreaming in the royal library. He caught you a few times.” And the flush returned to Ewen’s cheeks, in fairness he was right. Ewen was a diligent scribe but whenever he was in the royal library he would just find himself drifting away into stories of history, of the former kings of Lir and their conquests, of distant lands containing fascinating characters and legends. While the royal library had thousands of books that he could read forever, it was clear at one point the library was far larger and many books were destroyed in the magic purges. Such a tragedy, not that Ewen would ever voice that to anyone, not even Praetor Ludwig. “So dreamer…what are you doing here in the stables?”

“Hiding from very angry knights for the crime of asking them to join the retelling-er-my retelling of the founding of Lir.”

“Ah, that probably wasn’t the best approach.” Says Cray as he leads Clay to a nice pile of fresh hay, “Knights have talents but not in the way you think.”

“But I’ve heard singing in the quarters…surely that came from someone.” And now it was Cray’s turn to become embarrassed and Ewen picked up on that immediately, “You!”

“I was raised as a noble's son with formal training…I can sing, dance-” Ewen grabbed his arm, beaming a smile brighter than the sun. “W-wha?!”

“Can you perform as the Knight? Please!” 

“B-but I’m a squire!”

“You’re perfect!” Ewen squeaked and Cray found his resolve slipping, “Tonight, you’ll be a Knight! Come with me!” Cray barely had a chance to resist and laughed as Ewen tried to drag him out of the stable but he barely budged from his spot. “Oh please! Please it can’t be anyone else! You’ll be the gallant knight who slays the dragon and brings peace to Lir!” 

“A-a dragon?” Clay knocks his massive snout against Cray’s back and pushes him forward, “Hey!” Cray laughed clearly outnumbered. Ewen quickly tugged Cray’s sleeve and led him out of the stables. “Well, I can’t refuse a king now can I?” 

“Exactly! Now let’s get you ready for your debut!” Ewen and Cray stopped outside the stables, noticing a large flock of black birds were perched on the ramparts of the castle, seeming staring down at them. Their caws filled the sky before they flew off in a dark feathery cloud. “How strange…I have never seen so many before.”

“Eh, they’re scavengers,” Cray brushed off and took Ewen’s hand, squeezing it protectively, Ewen felt his heart race and a warmth fill him. “Come, we have a show to prepare for.” 

“Y-yes, right! Let’s go!” Ewen exclaims and races back to the barracks with Cray behind him, tomorrow everything was going to change…he just knew it.

He just didn't know how right he was.