《The Tale of Roland》 Prologue | A Prophecy Please tell me if there are any spelling mistakes, I wrote this on my iPad so I''m sure there are some. Anyway, enjoy the prologue. --------------------------------------- Castle Lonely Light, Kingdom of Alan | 500 A.F On a small, desolate island there stood a seemingly out of place structure. This structure was large, domineering, and yet, had an odd rugged beauty. If anyone with half a brain was here they would immediately recognise this forbidden land as Castle Lonely Light, one of the residences of the mighty Welf family, a family so noble and prestigious it could be surpassed only by royalty. Fitting the creepy appearance of the castle, a beautiful woman''s agonising cries and wails could be heard. These cries and wails were so painful to listen to it could bring a golem to tears, however there was no sadness in the air of the people standing around her, in fact, if you looked closely you could see a faint smile on their faces. A tall and stern man with striking silver hair and weary golden eyes spoke with an uncharacteristically sweet voice, "Honey, don''t cry. It will be over soon enough." The beautiful black haired woman quipped back with a rushed and angry voice, "DON''T CRY? EASY FOR YOU TO SAY, I''D LIKE TO SEE HOW YOU''D HANDLE PASSING A BABY THROUGH YOUR COCK." Shock. Nearly everyone in the room was shocked by the words used by the noble lady, they never would have expected such a dignified woman to use such crass words. Nearly everyone. The stern man raised his now red face slowing and looked straight into the woman''s stunning blue eyes and with an embarrassed expression stuttered, "Ah, I''m sorry my dear. I''m sure I wouldn''t be half as strong as you are. I''m sorry." A long and awkward silence followed with only the woman''s occasional screams interrupting it. After what seemed like an eternity of eerie silence, a withered and elderly woman who was standing at the end of the bed finally spoke, "Lady Elizabeth we''re nearly there, just push a bit more! PUSH! PUUUSHH!" The yells of the elderly woman were in odd harmony with the deathly cries of Elizabeth and soon after the elderly lady''s voice quieted down a small, silver haired and blue eyed child was brought into existence. The company present were all in awe as the elderly lady picked up the crying child and cradled it in her warm and loving arms. With a still weary voice from all the yelling the woman looked at the stern man and croaked out, "It''s a boy, m''lord." An excited expression ran across the face of the stern, silver haired man when he heard those words. He had already decided to love and care for the child no matter what gender, but he already had four daughters, but he had only one other son, so of course he would be ecstatic to have another. The tired woman still on her bed spoke gently to the elderly woman, "Thank you Juliane, may I hold my child?" Juliane handed the silver haired baby to his mother and said with a genuine, sincere smile, "Of course, m''lady. He will grow up to be strong and handsome, I just know it!" With that last line the entire room starting laughing and as the mood changed all the people in the room came to view the baby, and congratulate the parents. "He will be a great commander and warrior, just like his father! I can''t wait for him to join us on the battlefield someday." said a muscular man, just from his build anyone could tell he was a great warrior. Next to speak was a woman, roughly the same age as the mother but with none of her unearthly beauty, "No, he will be a beautiful and kind ruler loved by the people, just like his mother!" As everyone in the room starting praising the child the parents couldn''t help but blush. Eventually an aged man with similar features to the black haired mother spoke in a joking tone, "So, what are you going to name my grandson?" The stern silver haired man looked towards his wife before slowly opening his mouth. --------------------------------------- The Imperial Palace, Empire of Sol | 500 A.F. Situated on top of a hill and overlooking a massive and sprawling city sat a majestic and beautiful palace. Similar to Castle Lonely Light, screams could be heard from within the palace - however instead of the screams of a beautiful woman it was the screams of a regal looking man draped in purple and gold sitting on a great golden throne and held a seer''s ball in his hand. A brave adviser spoke up in an effort to quell the regal man''s anger, "Your Majesty, please be calm. It is nothing more than a mere coincidence-" This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "NOTHING MORE THAN A MERE COINCIDENCE, YOU SAY?" A loud and authoritative voiced boomed from the regal man, "THE SIGNS ARE ALL HERE, ARE YOU SAYING THAT THIS COULD BE A COINCIDENCE?!?" The now timid adviser replied, "Your Majesty, there are an impossibly large amount of prophecies, how could one not seem to come true via coincidence? When were we, the mighty Empire of Sol frightened by mere prophecy?" The regal man seemed to calm down as he spoke with none of his previous aggression, "Senator Lucius, how goes your family?" The room was dead silent and no sound was made until the adviser slowly opened his mouth to speak with tears already in his eyes, "I''m sorry, Your Majesty. I didn''t know my place and your judgement is always correct. Please forgive this humble servant." The gold and purple draped man looked into Lucius eyes and spoke with a voice so sinister it would frighten even the mightiest of men, "You''d better hope that prophecy was false, or else you and your entire family will take a flight from the top floor of the Sky Tower." With an audible sigh the man stood up from his throne and walked down the grand chambers that were lined with all the ores and rare materials the world has to offer. The man turned back to his group of advisers and said calmly,"I will still take precaution, give me the names of all the great seers in this empire and send them here. Now." The advisers all hurriedly dispersed from the magnificent chamber to do their duty, leaving behind only the man. He soon walked out of the palace chambers himself, into the wide and open courtyard that held a wide variety of exotic and beautiful plants. He once more looked at the crystal seers ball in his hand and then at the mesmerisingly bright starry night sky. He then whispered to himself, as if afraid others might hear him. After a brief moment of silence the man starting crying and pleading like a madman with night sky, if he wasn''t the legendary Emperor Remus, many viewing this scene would think he was a common lunatic. --------------------------------------- An Unknown Cave | 500 A.F "What do you make of this sister? After all these countless years the child has finally been born." An ancient and powerful voice spoke, and with every word the massive underground labyrinth shook. "Brother, we have waited so many eons just for this moment! We have seen the rise and fall of countless Empires, the falls of conquerors and tyrants, the deaths of millions and yet here we stayed, waiting. Waiting for this day. Hahahah, brother I can''t believe it has truly come!" An equally ancient voice yet melodious voice replied. "We must wait longer sister... We must wait and see the child grow and develop. We cannot hinder its development with our intervention. The child must experience life, it must let that life shape itself. This was stated in the prophecy, and even if I was 100x stronger, I still wouldn''t dare defy a prophecy from them. My sweet sister, the child will come to us eventually... he must. What are a couple more decades to us? Hahaha". The ancient sibling''s laughter roared through the cave and threaten to collapse it. "Yes brother, but surely we can give the child some boons? Only simple ones that won''t affect the prophecy, of course." With those words a beautiful golden light shone from within the cave, illuminating it and revealing the figures of two humans... trapped within the walls of the cave. One had the face of an angel and an unparalleled beauty that would turn the highest of High Priests into a blushing mess. Although half her body was trapped in the rock and stone, one could still make out her stunning hourglass figure and beautiful olive complexion. Her long, straight hair was a stunning violet and she had piercing, deep blue eyes. Opposite the woman was an equally grand man. His long violet hair was almost as long as his sister''s and his eyes were just as blue. His face was simply beautiful. Trapped deep within a cave he still carried grandeur an Emperor would be envious of and his tanned olive skin shone like gold when illuminated by the odd light. "No sister. That child has a harsh but great destiny, we cannot alter anything yet. He must survive these initial storms himself." With a mention of the child''s destiny the man''s voice grew melancholic and the mood in the cave grew cold. "Let us just hope that the child is strong enough brother, it will need to be." As she finished her words the golden light retracted back into her being and the cave returned to absolute darkness. Chapter 1 | The Adorable Devil Emerald Castle, Kingdom of Alan | 508 A.F "ROOOLANDDD, GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!!!" In this serene castle a peculiar scene was taking place. An old man approaching 70 was currently chasing after a small boy who held a large painting in his hand. "Hahahha, you''ll never catch me grandpa!" The small boy mischievously said back to his grandfather as he continued to sprint down the wide corridors as fast as his little legs could take him. "You''re too slow grandpa!" The old man couldn''t help but smile when he heard his cute grandson speak to him like that, it was one of his only weaknesses - he was too doting on his grandchildren. "Roland, if you give grandpa back the painting I''ll let you train with soldiers in the barracks!" "Really grandpa?!? Dad said I had to wait until my 12th birthday before I could start playing with swords... Will you really grandpa? You''d better not be trying to trick me!" The little boy replied as he slowed down his pace and eventually came to a full stop waiting for his tired grandpa to catch up. The old man suddenly snatched the painting in one hand and the little boy''s shoulder in the other. "Roland, this is an extremely expensive painting, do you understand? It was a portrait of our family done by the genius artist Bartolomeo! BARTOLOMEO! We paid 100 gold coins for him to come and paint this! He had to come all the way from the Republic of Lucca just to paint our family! This was a great honour for our family, so please don''t play around with it any more." The old man then stared at the young boy, waiting for a response. "Sorry grandpa... I didn''t know it was the important to you. But-" The boy sad face instantly changed into a menacing grin, "Can I really play swords at the barracks!?" "No Roland. I lied, you are 4 years too young. Wait ''till your older before you start talking about playing swords with the soldiers. You have a wooden sword in your room, go swing that." The old man''s tone seemed harsh but Roland knew his grandpa too well and he saw weakness in his grandfather''s willpower. Roland starting to softly cry, then it slowly transformed into a loud weep, "But, but grandpa, I always swing the wooden sword. I want a real sword! Grandpa you promised! Pleeeease grandpa, I love you forever if you let me grandpa." Roland knew his grandfather was always soft with his grandkids and knew that with enough crying and guilt tripping he could get what he wanted. The crying continued for a few minutes, drawing the attention of the servants and guards although they were quickly dismissed by the old man. "Alright Roland, alright. You can play swords in the barracks. Just. Don''t. Tell. Your. Mother. You have to promise me that." "Thank you so much grandpa, I love you the most!" Faced with his grandson''s bright sky blue eyes, wide smile and adorable face the old man couldn''t help but smile, despite knowing all too well he was just blackmailed by the adorable devil. --------------------------------------- The adorable devil walked into the barracks and called out to one of the few Knights overseeing the training, "Good morning Sir Arnold! One sword please!" "Roland? What are you doing here? Does Lord Greenspear know you''re here?" The burly man responded with a sincere smile that showed his broken and crooked teeth. Roland always thought Sir Albert had all the chivalry of a knight, but none of the looks. The boy innocently responded, "Lord Greenspear? Oh, grandpa! Yeah, he let me play with you guys since I''m his favourite grandchild." The homely knight laughed, "Hahaha, I don''t know if your siblings or cousins would agree with you on that little man." He moved over towards the weapon rack and signalled from Roland to follow. "So, what kind of weapon does our mighty hero require?" Brimming with eagerness and joy Roland squeaked back, "The BIGGEST, the STRONGEST. The one the heroes use to slay dragons and rescue princesses!" Arnold replied with a hearty laugh, "Rescuing princesses? I think you''re a bit too young for that little man, hahaha." The soldiers and knights within earshot of the two starting laughing like mad, some couldn''t even stay standing after seeing Roland''s sweet and innocent face turn to confusion at the laughter, "What do you mean Albert?" "Don''t worry, you''ll find out yourself in a few years. Anyway, this is the largest and strongest sword we have. Think you can handle it?" Albert spoke as he lifted a gigantic claymore from the racks and put it on the ground in front of Roland. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Of course!" said Roland as he went to pick up the sword. "Uggghh, this sword is really heavy! Uuughghh I CAN DO IT! UUGGGHH JUST A BIT MORE! THERE! See, I lifted it!" "Yes you did, however you only lifted it one inch. How could you possible fight when you can only lift your sword one inch?" Roland turned red with embarrassment as he replied, "I guess I could try a... smaller sword..." Albert smiled at Roland''s response and grabbed out a miniature longsword, the perfect size for the eight-year-old Roland. Roland spent the rest of the day swinging the sword around and sparring with the other soldiers and knights, surprising them all, even his grandfather who came to watch, with his skill. After hours of swordplay dusk was slowing approaching and with it came a loud, horrific scream from within the castle - scaring all those who could hear it shitless. Roland recognised this scream as he had heard all too many times before, usually when he did something wrong. "ALBERT GREENSPEAR, YOU STUPID OLD MAN. WHY DID YOU LET MY SON PRACTICE SWORDPLAY?!!??!" --------------------------------------- In a large but bleak room sat four people, an old man, a middle aged woman, a middle aged man and young boy. The odd thing about these four was that the old man had a black eye and the young boy has a red hand mark glowing across his face and his eyes were red from crying. "To think my once cute little daughter would grow up and even hit her own father." The old man with the black eye sobbed to himself. "I''m sorry father, I overreacted. But why in the world would you let Roland, an eight-year-old play with real swords?" The beautiful black haired woman replied to her fathers sobs with regret written over her face. "Mummy, daddy, I asked grandpa to play swords and he tried to stop me but I just kept crying and had a tantrum, I''m sorry." The little boy with the red face replied with teary, puppy dog eyes. "Oh my baby, I''m so sorry for hitting you. You know mummy has a bad temper and I didn''t mean to hit you." The woman hugged her son and kissed the red whelp on his face. The middle aged man spoke up, "It''s ok Albert, I know you would never do anything to hurt or harm Roland. But... I heard something interesting from Sir Arnold when Elizabeth was chewing into him. He said Roland has quite some talent with the sword, is this true?" "Yes, it is true m''lord-" "Oh, Albert, we''re family. We are no longer a Duke and his vassal. We are father and son, just call me William." The elderly man smiled and the tension in the room dispersed, "Thank you William. And yes, it''s true what Sir Arnold said about Roland''s swordsmanship. It was quite impressive, it didn''t look like that of an eight-year-old amateur, it was like he was dancing with the sword. It was as if the sword was an extension of himself. Of course, he is still a poor fighter but that can be attributed to his age, but there was definitely something special there, with proper training he could become one of the greatest fighters of our Kingdom, of this I have no doubt." Listening to Albert speak of his son in such high praise William''s golden eyes widened. He always had high aspirations for his children and hearing this about his son was absolute ecstasy for him. He looked towards his wife and said hesitantly, "My dear, you heard what your father said. I think we should let him train, if he has half as much skill as Albert said he will be able to handle it. Please my dear?" Elizabeth looked at William and then towards her son and saw his beaming sky blue eyes and a face with so much happiness it could suffocate a clown. Seeing her son''s face like that she had to give in and replied, "Fine William, but if I see a single scratch on his body you''re sleeping in the kennel." "Thank you mummy! I love you so much!" "Alright Roland, you''ve got your wish, now we need to head back home to Seabreeze Island, thank you for looking after Roland for these past few weeks, Father." Albert replied with a smile, "It was my pleasure Belle. Roland, you''re welcome anytime you want, grandpa is allows happy to have you." And with that the Welf family left the Emerald Isle and travelled home back to Seabreeze Isle where Roland would start on the path of swordsmanship. Maps Hey lads. No real chapter, just a couple of sexy maps. Roland''s father is the Duke of the Isles and the Head of House Welf, the whole part about him being Duke will be more obvious in the next few chapter but I thought I''d just state it here. His matrilineal grandfather is the Head of House Greenspear and the Count of Emerald Isle and is a vassal of the Duke of the Isles (William, Roland''s father). The heraldry next to the duchy names are going to be the real family shields of the Dukes. Something cool is the shield representing the Welf family in the map is the actual shield of the historical Welf family, which I have obviously nabbed the name of. You might be wondering (although you probably aren''t), where is the Empire of Sol? Well, that''s a little secret. The world will be slowly explored in our little protagonists adventures, especially the other lesser known continents. There''s nothing greater than adventure, is there? This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Anyway, here are the maps. The Known World: The Kingdom of Alan: Chapter 2 | Seabreeze Isle Belle is a nickname for Elizabeth, if you didn''t know. Enjoy the chapter! --------------------------------------- En route to Seabreeze Isle, Kingdom of Alan | 508 A.F In a vast sea littered with lush green islands was a magnificently decorated sailing ship bearing the shield of the Welf family. Two golden lions imposed over a red background on the left, and one blue lion imposed over a yellow background and surrounded by red hearts on the right (A.N: If you want to see what it looks like just type Welf family into google images). This was the shield of a family that had been the Duke of the Isles and the Shield of East since the founding of the Kingdom by the legendary King Clovis nearly 1,000 years ago. The legends of the first King and his trusted companions are still famous throughout all of the Kingdom. The legends say that Clovis granted the Dukedom to his close friend and companion Welf, for his role in the founding of the Kingdom now known as Alan. Welf was widely acknowledged as a skilled captain and is dominion of the Isles was only natural. Even today, his descendants the Welf family have a fondness and skill of sailing that the other Houses of the Kingdom could never hope to match. As the magnificent ship sailed onwards through the deep waters a boy and man could be seen looking out from the bow. "Ooh, dad! Dad!! I saw a mermaid!", The boy said, pointing towards a small ripple in the endless ocean. "Roland, you should already know you won''t find any mermaids this far west. You''d need to go to Sothos if you wanted to see one, and let me tell you one thing about mermaids, they''re not pretty like the fairytales say. They''re ugly and scaly little fuckers, and smell horrible as well, you can be sure of that." William replied in a somber voice with a face that seemed to be reliving an old memories. Roland just looked towards his father with a face full of confusion before speaking, "No, dad. I saw one, I know I did! It was definitely a mermaid, it had a tail and everything!" William managed a smile at his son''s claims and was about to speak when he saw an ageing but still graceful figure coming towards him and Roland. Smiling and with a sarcastic voice he said, "My dearest Elizabeth, how was your beauty sleep? Out enjoying the fine morning air?" Elizabeth seemed to ignore his jape and said to Roland, "What''s this nonsense about mermaids? You''ll never see one in our seas." She walked to him, bent down and kissed his now healed cheek then gave her husband a stone cold glare. Elizabeth thought to herself, It''s his bloody snoring that keeps me up at night. "Can I go to Sothos and see one, please?", Roland''s pandering didn''t seem to work and his parents just laughed at his request. William quickly calmed his laughter and returned to his previous grim appearance, "Nowadays, with our Kingdom''s relations so strained with that god damn Theocracy on Sothos, you''d be captured and publicly executed within a week, at most." Roland suddenly remembered reading about a land that no country ruled situated on the western coast of Sothos, the Frontier. He asked his parents, "What about the Frontier? Couldn''t I go there, it''s one of the few places on Sothos the Theocracy doesn''t rule, I think?" His father suddenly spoke up with a rough voice Roland had come to love, "You overestimate the Theocracy''s power, Sothos is large continent, larger than we could possibly know, and the Theocracy holds but a portion of it. The Theocracy is nothing but a gang of old eunuchs." William continued his rant about the Theocracy until Elizabeth interrupted him by grabbing Roland''s hand and staring intensely at him before warning him in an uneasy voice, "Aye Roland, the Theocracy doesn''t rule that place, no one does. The only thing that rules that place is the greed of men even though they act more like beasts. Promise me you''ll never go there, Roland. Promise me." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Roland, somewhat scared by his mothers change of mood replied, "Alright mummy, I promise you." As he finished speaking he grabbed his father''s large, calloused hand with his small and still delicate one. He looked turned to face his mother once more and said in his most innocent voice, "What''s a little fucker?" William''s face contracted in fear and a cold sweat started forming on the back of his neck, and when he looked up and saw those now deathly sky blue eyes he had only one thought, Oh shit. --------------------------------------- Seabreeze Isle, Kingdom of Alan | 508 A.F Days and weeks soon passed and eventually Roland and his parents arrived at Seabreeze Isle, his home. He had spent an entire month with his grandfather at Emerald Isle, and while he loved spending time with his grandfather, he truly longed for home. Stepping off onto the gangway Roland heard his father affectionally say his goodbyes to the four-masted ship that had been their transport for the journey. Roland had been told that the Lady Ariel was the greatest carrack to ever sail the Central Sea. Although he doubted the truth of those words he still was proud that such a ship was in his family''s retinue. Roland had seen far larger and grander ships at the Kingdom''s capital of Newhope when he would visit with his father, and even here on Seabreeze Isle occasionally the large and beautiful ships from the Republics in the East would dock and he and his family would always run down from the castle to view them. Roland, like most of his family has always been attracted to the seas, it had a kind of magnetism towards his family. His father was an avid sailor, and his father before him, and his before him, all the way up to the legendary and almost mythical Welf. As he continued his walk down the gangway he saw familiar faces waiting for him at the dock. He couldn''t help but breaking into a smile when he saw them all, his brother Karl was nearing 20 and had the build of a powerful warrior and had the silver hair and golden eyes of his father. He was already a true knight, one of the youngest to in the realm at that, and Roland dreamed of when he would be knighted himself. Next to Karl stood Abigail, his oldest sister. She was 18 and had all the looks of her mother - black haired, blue eyed and already a stunning beauty. She had always been kind and loving to Roland, and he had always looked up to her. Next his eyes fell on a pair of identical twin girls, Hilda and Helga -- though Roland wondered if he should call them women now, considering they had recently celebrated their 16th birthday and by the customs of the Alani people they have reached adulthood. They were joined at the hip, always had been and Roland suspected they always would be. When it came to appearance, like Abigail, they shared their''s mothers jet black hair and bright blue eyes. Standing next to the twins was Sofia, a young girl of only 11 years. Despite her tender age it was easy tell she would become a great beauty and because of that had no lack of potential betrothals. Unlike her sisters, she had the silver hair and golden eyes of her father but none of his austere attitude, she was always sweet and kind. Roland wouldn''t dare count the hours they had wasted together playing and messing around, they were infamous in the castle as the silver duo and never failed to make mischief when together. He continued to walk towards his family with tears threatening to stream down his face, he was only a child of eight, and to be apart from his family for so long would make anyone downcast. The first to speak was Karl, "Welcome back brother, I hope you and our parents enjoyed the stay at grandfather''s." As he finished speaking he opened his arms and hugged his brother tightly, and soon all his siblings had joined. Roland didn''t speak as he buried his now tear filled face deep within his sibling''s hug.