Chapter 3. Past

While asleep, Shawn dreamt of his grandfather. More specifically, how he had gotten that nasty wound. His dreams took him back to one particular day; he was standing on the streets pandering like normal when he saw a luxurious carriage which had stopped by at Olive inn.

His grandpa was not too far away pandering with him except he was a bit livelier and without the aforementioned wound. He was a year younger but he still dared not steal lest he be caught and, beaten by the old man. They were beggars but he was taught the consequence of thievery as he had seen a few caught and killed for their folly.

He knew that whoever rode in that carriage would have a lot of money. He naively thought they would be taken by his panhandling, emboldened by the success he experienced that day. Looking back to see if the old man was watching, he walked over when he saw the old man distracted begging a couple that were hesitating to give him something. He arrived at the carriage parked in front of the inn. He looked around steadily and then decided to knock on the door, a mistake he would come to regret.

After a few knocks, he then heard a woman give a command. A guard looking very muscular and holding a sheathed long sword opened the door and said, "what do you want?" Shawn looked nervous and asked, "Can you spare some change... please sir?" The guard looked less than pleased but before he could speak, the woman laughed and said, "Well what do we have here?" As the woman moved towards the open door, she cast a glance at the boy. Noticing his dirty appearance, she was immediately disgusted by him.

Shawn asked again but this time putting on his most pitiful appearance. The woman then put on an amused smile, not taken by his attempt. "I am in a good mood so what I will do is give you two silver coin if you survive one slash from my guard." The guard's face changed a bit, becoming gloomy and a bit annoyed but that quickly faded. "Yes milady." Shawn was very afraid, not understanding why this lady would propose such a thing. He timidly said, "No I am ok ma'am, forgive me for bothering you."

Her faced changed into something sinister when he rejecting her 'kind' offer, "Get Back Here You Little Rat! You will take this challenge or your head comes off!!" The guard steadily started to unsheathed his sword. Bystanders were gathering to see the spectacle taking place. The old man noticed that a crowd started to form and he had been looking for his grandson but couldn't find him anywhere, it was time to go home. He speedily headed off to the crowd as a bad feeling welled up in him.

On arrival he was surprised to find his grandson being threatened with a longsword. "Excuse me", the old man called out to the guard. He walked in front of his grandson and said, "May I know how my boy offended you, madam?" The guard looked at the man and noticed his speech was more than a little eloquent for a vagabond. The noble woman approached and said with a dark face, "Your little bastard interrupted my rest attempting to rob me." Anger started to overtake Shawn, he was a child and there was no way any sane person or child would rob a noble woman, let alone one with a strong guard.

Shawn wanted to defend himself but as he tried to speak, his grandfather gave him a stern look. The old man responded with apologies and asked, "I can see that we have caused an inconvenience, but seeing as you're from duke Ashton's family, I beg of you to show us the remarkable benevolence your family is known for. It is known to even a beggar like me that your family is selfless and loving to all." The woman frowned slightly, she was eager to see blood that would refresh her dull day, but since a crowd formed, she did not want her actions to negatively affect the family reputation.

It was one thing to kill the little bastard when few eyes were present but now there were many. Her family was well known for being kind and charitable… albeit on the surface. Many of the homeless had no education and although her family's symbol was on the carriage, it was still a feat for the old man to recognize it. The old man kept his composure and used speech to deescalate the situation. Most would have just pissed themselves.

"You will take three sword strokes from my guard and should you survive, you will be let go." Shawn was terrified of how evil the woman was, his grandpa was old and scrawny but that guard looked like a veteran warrior. Not only that but it went from one sword strike to three. How were either one of them to survive even one? To his surprise his grandfather agreed. "Shawn, I want you to stand and watch, pay close attention." The crowd gasped and murmured amongst themselves. No way the old man was to survive.