A Dance For Ribbons

The Day It Began

"Lord Asteros of Nailos, what a pleasant surprise!" Came the voice of Merlot, the tavern keeper.

Clad all in crimson red and with a silver rapier at his side under his velvet cape, Lord Asteros was a man who shone of power and high class.

Lord Asteros had neat dark blonde hair, dark blue eyes and a cunning face, a face showing confidence and pride.

"Well, if it isn't Merlot, my dear old friend. How is life treating you these days? Fairly, I do hope?" Lord Asteros answered, polite as ever.

"Oh yes, milord. Though it seems to be treating you by far better. Is that a new cape I see you styling?" Merlot asked, showing off his broad smile.

Merlot was a plump old man, with a thick mustache and an even thicker beard, though none if his bodyparts were ever thicker than his belly. All in all, one never met a more happy man.

"Well, one should dress himself as high as his name, should he not? My father would be quite unhappy to see me dressed in rags, I can assure you."

Merlot chuckled.

"Aye, and what can I do for my young master today?"

"I would have a drink of your finest honey wine, sit down by your cozy fire and relive life's wonders in my head." Lord Asteros said.

"But of course, milord. Here at the Melos Tavern, one can get the best honey wine that this world has to offer. As for the fire, I recommend the table on the left of it. It has been cold these last days. I would fancy a slap of that fire myself, but my wife wishes me to count how much inventory we have left." Merlot said, and cracked a laugh that filled the whole tavern.

"Then I will let you know how comfortable I am over there." Lord Asteros said, smiled, and walked to the table.

The Melos Tavern was most-a-times filled with kind people ready to have a good laugh and a good drink after a hard day's work.

And today was no exception.

Lord Asteros spotted a thin man playing cards with another man, of a lot more years than the previous one.

He saw another man, a gallant one, complimenting a young maiden on her dress. The girl laid a kiss on his clean-shaven cheek, and the man blushed.

He must be drunk, but either it's on mead or love, I would not know, Lord Asteros thought to himself.

The drunken man and the maiden left the tavern a second after the kiss.

Probably to his keep, to a night of romance, Lord Asteros thought again, and the thought made him smile.

But he never saw the man sitting at the table when he sat down.

The man had dark, brown hair, which hung near his cheeks and framed his face, and he kept the rest in a ponytail.

He was clad all in grey, with a darker cape covering half his front, and had a quill in his left hand.

He was writing on a piece of parchment, scribbling things down, and then frustratingly scratching at the notes he had made.

He had a goblet of wine in front of him, the colour of blood, and a bottle next to it, half empty already, though it couldn't have been as late as five' o clock yet.

The man looked up, greeted Lord Asteros with a courteous nod, and went back to his writing.

But as soon as he lowered his head, he raised it to look again at the man in front of him.

His eyes lit up.

He seemed to have recognized Lord Asteros.

"Look who decided to come back from the dead. Sir Dranzel of Mionera. It has been a while." Lord Asteros said.