Pervikar Ch. 02
Keywords: Pervikar, Ch., 02,
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*Pervikar - Chapter 2 Cedric*
The next eighteen years passed swiftly, but not without problems. Tenan, Karina, Rolph and Dagmar taught Per what they knew- woodcraft, the farm, plants and medicine. Tenan taught Per to speak in ogre, troll and orc. Per grew like a weed and at eight years old, he was almost five feet tall. It was at this time, during one of his trips to the village, that two fifteen year old bullies decided to pick a fight with him. Luckily for Per, several of the villagers saw them start the fight as he sent one boy home with a broken nose and the other home with two cracked ribs. After the fight, Tenan started teaching Per about combat. He taught him how to fight with sword and dagger and how to shoot a crossbow. Dagmar saw them practicing and taught Per how to fight with a halberd. At age thirteen, Per was the same height as Tenan. The boy had developed a wanderlust and often took long trips around the neighboring countryside. Karina, overriding the objections from Rolph, Dagmar and Tenan, tore down the old farmhouse and built a new one, which had ten foot high ceilings and eight foot tall doors. The men stopped complaining when Per topped out at 7'6" and about 375 pounds on his eighteenth birthday.
Of course, Per was under no illusion of who he was. Any mirror showed him his skin with the yellowish tinge, the green hair and violet eyes. His face was broad with a large, flat nose and sort of triangular ears. When he added in the oversized incisors that jutted up from his lower jaw, the best description Per could come up with for his looks was "unique".
The old baron, who controlled Dosser and the surrounding countryside, had died when Per was eleven. The baron's son, Cedric, took over the barony. Cedric was vain, impulsive and shrewd enough to realize that he had to make money to spend money. Cedric had found an old law that required all the people in the barony to serve one year for the baron upon reaching the age of eighteen. The law had been enacted when the land was first being settled to give the baron a much needed work force. The practice had fallen into disuse, but Cedric could see the possibilities of having workers that he did not have to pay, only feed and house. Cedric reinstituted the law and used the workers in his fields and castle for his own profits.
Per, the day after his eighteenth birthday, packed his clothes and went to serve Baron Cedric. Cedric, awed and scared of Per's size, almost dismissed him at first, but changed his mind and sent Per to work in the fields. Because of his ogre ancestry, Per could perform feats of strength that would normally take two or three men to do. Per was assigned most of the hard, strong-arm work both in the fields and around the castle. He did it all quietly, counting the days until his servitude ended. Cedric was delighted at the work Per did. Cedric would tell his friends that he may have to feed Per twice as much as any other man, but he got five times the work out of him.
One day, with only about two months remaining on his year, Per was told to report to Cedric in his audience chamber. Per went to the room only to find it empty. Light streamed into the chamber from two large windows illuminating the tapestries on the walls. A gallery, which led to the north wing of the castle, looked down on the room. A huge circular oak table was in the center of the room which had a porcelain vase resting on it. Per, waiting for Cedric, walked around the room looking at the tapestries. Suddenly, his foot pushed down on a tile in the floor. Before he could move, Per saw the vase topple over and crash to the floor, breaking into hundreds of pieces.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" shouted someone from behind Per.
Per spun around to see that Cedric had entered the room from a door underneath the gallery.
"The tile was loose and it must have moved the table," Per replied.
"I don't believe that!" said Cedric, hotly. "There are no loose tiles in this room. Do you know that vase was priceless? It is irreplaceable. How do you expect to pay for that?"
"But the tile was loose!" exclaimed Per.
"Which tile?" asked Cedric sarcastically.
"This one," said Per, pointing at the tile.
Cedric walked over to the tile and stepped on it. It did not move. Cedric then stamped his foot on it. It remained rock solid.
"So you are also a liar. How are you going to pay for the vase?" smirked Cedric.
"I don't have any money," said Per, confused about what was happening.
"Because of your clumsiness, I'm going to add another year to your service to pay for that vase. Get out of here!" yelled Cedric.
Per ran out, bewildered and confused. Later that day Georg, Baron Cedric's steward, told Per that his service to the baron would be extended one year unless he could pay 1,000 gold saurers for the loss of the vase. Per knew he did not have that amount of money and he did not want to involve his mother or Tenan into this mess. Per accepted the extended service, but resolved to get the answer to what had happened.
A week later, Georg had Per carry several heavy trunks up to rooms in the north wing. Baron Cedric had invited several guests to stay at his castle.
"The guests are in the ballroom and dining room," said Georg. "I don't want you in their way. Take the trunks up through the gallery in the audience chamber."
Per heaved up one of the trunks and started on the roundabout route to the north wing. As Per carried the trunk across the unlit gallery, he looked down into the room and stopped, amazed at what he saw.
On the round oak table was a vase, exactly like the one he was supposed to have broken. The room was empty, but Per was certain that it would not stay that way for long. As fast as he could, Per rushed back and forth carrying the trunks up to the north wing. He took time on each trip, however, to enter and pass through the gallery quietly. When he was finished and released by Georg, Per started back towards his room, but as soon as he was out of sight, he raced up to the gallery. The light from the windows did not reach the gallery, so Per secreted himself in the shadows by a column where he could see the entire room.
Per waited only a short time, before the door leading to the main corridor opened and a girl, who Per had not seen before, stepped into the room. She was about 5'-8" tall, with straight honey-brown hair, which was pulled behind her falling down to her waist. Her face was pretty and her dress did not hide her lush figure.
Per watched as she walked around the room. He held his breath as she stepped on the tile he had stepped on and he saw it move. The vase once again toppled over and crashed to the floor.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Per heard Cedric shout.
The girl spun around and fell to her knees facing the door which opened underneath the gallery. Per, from his vantage point, could not see Cedric, but could hear him perfectly.
"What are you doing?" demanded Cedric again. "Do you know that vase was priceless?"
"Milord, I don't know what happened," stammered the girl.
"The vase was worth 1,000 saurers. How are you going to pay for it?" shouted Cedric.
The girl looked up stunned. "Milord. I...I can't....I don't have 1,000 saurers."
"Then you'll have to work it off in service, won't you?" asked Cedric. Getting no reply, he shouted, "Won't You!?"
The girl hung her head. "Yes, Milord," she said weakly.
"I'm sorry, girl. I didn't mean to yell. I suppose I could tax your parent's farm for the gold," said Cedric, walking into the room to look at the broken vase. Another well-dressed man followed him. "Don't you think so, Felinor?"
"Of course, Milord," answered Felinor, with a smile.
"No, Milord!" cried the girl, spinning around. "They would lose the farm. I'll do anything. Tell me what I need to do."
"There is a broom in the cupboard over there. Clean up the broken vase and then I will tell you what to do."
Per watched as the girl swept up the pieces of the vase. Cedric and Felinor walked over to two chairs and sat down. The girl finished cleaning up and then walked over to stand in front of Cedric.
"What is your name?" asked Cedric.
"Melinar," was the reply.
"Melinar, my guest here is going to stay awhile. Your service will be to dance for us for a week," said Cedric. "Behind that screen is a costume. Change into it and then you will dance for us."
Melinar went behind the screen where she stayed for only a couple of moments before coming back out.
"Milord, I can't wear that in front of you," she cried.
"I see. You won't fulfill your service," sighed Cedric, standing up. "I will inform your parents."
"No, Milord! Don't do that."
"Melinar, you broke a priceless vase. You have to pay for it. The decision is yours. Taxation or dancing?" asked Cedric.
"I'll dance for you," was the subdued reply.
"Good, but you have insulted me in front of my guest. Your service is now two weeks and I will extend the time and punishment if you insult me again. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Milord."
With that reply, Melinar went behind the screen and Per could hear the rustle of clothing. Shortly, Melinar stepped from behind the screen and Per could see why she did not want to wear the costume.
The costume was a halter top and bikini bottom, with gauze and silk pieces attached. The halter top barely contained her large breasts. Per, even from the gallery, saw her hard nipples poking out the silk that was covering them. Per realized that the metal in the top and bottom were just frames that held the gauze and silk in place to cover her body. Silk pieces covered her breasts and ass while streamers of gauze flowed off the halter top and bikini bottom, which barely concealed the rest of her body.
Cedric and Felinor, meanwhile, had moved their chairs close to the oak table. Cedric pulled a lute out of the cupboard and gave it to Felinor. He then pulled out a small hand drum for himself. As Melinar stepped out from behind the screen, Cedric offered her his hand.
"Step up on the chair and then up to the table," he commanded.
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Keywords: Pervikar, Ch., 02,