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Now, I may have made you think that Nafni was some kind of failure. The Izumyrians hadn't particularly cared for his renditions of their popular songs. Nafni's confidence had been shaken. He was also saddened by his past behaviour, especially when he compared it to the conduct of Adrastas and Obran.
But Nafni was a guslar. He could pitch his voice to carry, or give it that extra authoritative timbre. He was a performer, and he hadn't lost any of his craft.
He'd also chosen his moment perfectly. Asimir had the option to be filled with arrows, or to listen to the guslar. The choice was a fairly easy one.
- "I... I didn't know."
- "Of course not." said Nafni. "And I must apologize for the over-zealousness of the commander of my escort. But that woman is in fact his sister. And these women are all warriors. We hope to remind the Uplanders of their tradition of producing female heroes. You must have heard of Payl, the Shining One. Really? You should pay more attention to the classics, Hospodar. Have you not heard Borna's Bucket...?"
Nafni simply took over. Notomol and the rest of our archers were able to relax the pull on their bowstrings. They remained ready, without being so overtly threatening. Meanwhile, the guslar had a short, private conversation with the Hospodar. Asimir was persuaded to march his men past, while our company stood off to the side, like some strange honour guard.
We watched them walk off to the west.
- "That was well done, Master Guslar." said Notomol.
- "Just trying to help." said Nafni.
We headed east, at a strong pace.
*****
- COMMENTS
jcus0511about 1 year agoThis has been a great yarn from the get go with many interesting & varied characters. The saintly warrior Notomol is both engaging and frustrating - he is just too good verging on too nice. Of all the characters I connect with Guem is definitely the one.
In my imagination I can see this story going in my possible directions. Considering the politicking around Hvad though and the rival factions at work with their greedy inept leaders I don’t think it will be long before Notomol is called on has to get involved once again & to ultimately find a way to unite various factions of course, with the assistance of the Uplanders. This should pave the way for Guem to step into the role of boss cocky a position she is clearly growing into after each episode.
MimiRayabout 1 year agoThis was very deep, and very intelligently thought out. I have no idea where it's going, and that's a good thing. Love your characters, and love your world.
Anonymousabout 1 year agoKeep em coming! I just know they aren’t all going to live happily,ever after in the boondocks. Can’t wait for the next chapter!
Comentarista82about 1 year agoQuite true yet very sad Notomol had no future with all those fools wishing to only save their precious status quo. You explained the political pitfalls and intrigues very well! It still feels like a defeat of sorts, and you lead this story in a direction far different than any of your others; it is not unlike you bringing the least likeliest candidate to the forefront as such a possibly tenous time with Nafni--but what a great save!
It still feels very strange reading this. Despite that, you piqued my curiosity with this new angle. Can't wait to see how you play it out. 5
