Trollskïr: Chapter 1

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Kylo Ren and his Knights made their way through the Slør valley's golden grasslands, their black armour soaking up the merciless heat of the sun.

Why his uncle had settled here was beyond him. It was hot and full of peasants, no society and no culture. Just farms and cattle, empty countryside surrounded by imposing mountains.

He desperately wanted to take his helmet off and wipe his sweating face, but that would be a sign of weakness. And Kylo Ren was not weak.

Besides, they were not far now from Luke's castle, Ljósur. There would be water and shade, and his mother had assured him that the hot springs that fed the castle baths were second to none.

The peasants they passed along the dusty road scrambled to get out of the Knights way, as if they were unused to giving way to their betters. His lip curled inside his helmet.

They were just leaving the last village before the short road up to Ljósur, when he had to rein in sharply or be trampled by an unruly group of young stallions that trotted quickly across their path. He and the Knights had to keep tight control on their destriers as the strays ran by.

To Kylo's surprise and not a little anger, the last horse in the line had a rider, waving a long, narrow switch as they urged the horses onwards. The rider was slender, skin browned by the sun, riding bareback in a relaxed posture, completely ignoring the others on the road. Despite having no saddle or stirrups, the horse they were riding was perfectly behaved; moving smoothly, as if the rider and horse were one being, controlled by one purpose.

Kylo could see Javiell uncoiling the whip couched at his hip, but he didn't stop him. This sort of behaviour was unconscionable and should be punished.

The whip cracked out with a snap - Javiell was a master. It licked the knaves back, drawing a crimson line in the thin sand coloured fabric.

What Kylo had not expected, was the high cry of a girl, but even less, was the swift motion of her reaching into her boot with barely a look and a small snarl on her face as she threw a narrow dagger straight at Javiell.

Her aim was true, even on the fly like that and if Javiell had not been wearing armour, he would be wounded, or dead. The girl seemed to realise what she had just done, register that they were not just the usual riffraff and he saw fear ripple across her face as she comprehended whom she had just attacked. As well it should. With a roar, the Knights surged after her, expecting to ride her down in a few seconds, leaving their baggage bearers behind them on the road.

The girl was quick though, her horse unburdened as the Knight's horses were, and despite the blood starting to soak through her tunic she urged her horse on, leaning low against his neck as he stretched it out, the other stallions mirroring him, caught up in the moment.

They were going to lose her. "Leonmar, bring her down, but don't kill her."

Kylo found himself strangely curious; and she needed to be punished, yet Luke may be angry with him, if his first act before even reaching Luke's castle was to maim or kill one of his peasants, no matter her crimes.

Leonmar used his sling, he only used it amongst friends as others were usually derisive over the use of a peasant weapon; but it had its uses, one being a good way to halt someone without killing them or their mount.

The river smoothed pebble Leonmar used hit the horse the girl was riding in in the rear left leg, it was well aimed and the animal screamed in shock and pain, though it would recover from its wound. It lurched to a stop, holding it rear leg up as it rolled its eye in distress. After a few seconds the girl flung herself from the animal and started running. She was fast, her long legs barely touching the ground as she ran. But there was no way she was going to outrun them now.

They weren't far from her when she seemed to realise this and she turned to face them, dropping into a defensive crouch, the glint of steel in both hands. Her skin was pale under her tan, fear and blood loss presumably. And yet, she looked more angry than scared.

"Ish kaquin. Ai durugnul!" She spat at them as they reined their horses in to circle her as she revolved slowly. Kylo was interested to see that the blades in her hands were actually Kurambiks. They were outlawed in most parts of the Tokuni, though perhaps Luke had not yet implemented the ban here in the Slør.

"You will put down your weapons and surrender." Ingalan said firmly in basic. Kylo watched the girl, her eyes flickered and he was fairly certain she understood them. She merely made a rude gesture at them and went for Zainmar's horse.

Rather than hurt the animal she sliced the leather attaching the bit in its mouth, then slid underneath it in an attempt to escape, cutting one of the stirrups as she went.

Javiell's whip caught her arm and Zainmar leaned down easily and grabbed hold of her by the scruff of her neck, armour deflecting the thrusts of her free hand.

She continued to snarl and struggle, spitting curses at them even after she was disarmed and slung belly down across the front of Javiell's horse, wrists bound behind her.

"If you don't stop struggling, I will knock you out." Javiell told her conversationally as they started back to the road that led to the castle, he pressed a finger into the wound on her back and she hissed.

After spitting another curse, she added, "Let me go! You have no right!" Javiell looked over at Kylo who gave him a small nod, and Javiell used the heavy pommel on his long knife to deftly hit her over the back of the head. She went limp immediately.

Kylo studied the Kurambiks they had recovered from her, along with a few throwing knives. They were simple yet well made, a curiosity when added to her oddly cut peasant clothes and her obvious skills on horseback.

The rest of their journey was uneventful, there was barely a mile to go up the winding road that led to the sandstone castle of Ljósur, which perched on the top of a hill.

Kylo decided the view was quite pleasant, the rolling gold and green grasslands spread out before them, the darker green sides of the mountains and hills either side of the valley fairly lush. Admittedly the roads were dusty and some of the farmed fields looked very dry, but the ribbon of blue threading through it all, gave some relief to the eyes.

Stable hands and servants scurried out and attended them as the Knights dismounted. Kylo walked over to Javiell's mount to study the girl more closely. Javiell had given her quite a crack on the head, and there was blood in her messy hair, some had trickled along the line of her jaw.

"You!" He pointed imperiously at a stable hand who was staring worriedly at the still form draped over the horse. "Bring the girl." He instructed and turned to head towards the castle door.

He'd barely gone ten paces when he saw his uncle coming towards them. "Nephew! I did not expect you till tomorrow, you made good time. I hope it was a pleasant-" Luke paused, his relaxed expression becoming concerned. "What is this?" He said as the stable hand moved nearer. Luke hurried by Kylo to peer at the girl, gently turning her head so he could see her face.

When Luke looked back at Kylo, his face was now angry. Kylo blinked and pulled off his helmet, handing it to his squire. "You know her? She threw a knife at Javiell Ren. It was an insult we could not ignore."

Luke merely sighed, "Go and put her in her cot, and fetch the mender please, Finn." Then he turned back to Kylo and the Knights. "Here in Slør, we do not brutalise the peasants. While under my roof you will not harm them unless reasonably provoked, and-" Kylo cut him off angrily, "I don't think you understand me, Uncle. That girl threw a knife. If Javiell Ren had not been wearing armour, he would be wounded or worse."

Luke merely raised his eyebrows. "She has a habit of doing that, yes." The way he said it sounded almost… fond. "But she only ever does it if she feels threatened."

The unspoken question hung in the air for a moment, then Luke turned to the other Knights. "Please, be welcome, go and refresh yourselves. There are servants inside who will attend to you. There will be time for proper introductions once you have had a chance to wash your journey from your skin."

Kylo gave the Knights a nod and they left he and Luke standing alone together. "You did not tell me everything, I think, Kylo." Luke said softly as a servant hurried out and handed Kylo a damp towel for his face and a mug of water.

Kylo didn't answer till he had at least wiped his face and downed some of the water. His mother was right, the water here was the purest he had ever tasted.

"What is more, I'd like to know where all my horses are." Luke added as Kylo drank.

"Your horses?" Kylo asked surprised, "She is one of your slaves then? Why do you allow her to carry blades?"

Luke rolled his eyes. Kylo had forgotten how unrefined his uncle could be, no wonder he had got on so well with Kylo's father.

"There are no slaves in the Slør, Kylo. I have servants, who earn a wage. Rey is my horse wrangler. She has a strong sense of, shall we say, self-preservation. But enough of that, what exactly happened?"

Kylo shifted, he was unused to having to give explanations for his actions. "She rode straight across the road in front of us, herding a large group of stallions. We had to stop or be trampled. I could not allow such a lack of disrespect to go unpunished. Javiell caught her across the back with his whip, it was just one lick." He realised he was sounding defensive and shut his mouth.

"And the head wound?" Luke asked in a deceptively mild tone. Kylo shrugged his massive shoulders. "I knew you would be upset if I had her killed, so I was bringing her to you to punish as your custom. She refused to remain still."

Luke closed his eyes briefly, "You have been too long at Snoke's court, it would seem. You cannot go around just killing like that. There is no honour in it. While you are here you will bring anyone you think has wronged you or your Knights to me, unharmed. If a girl takes your fancy but is not willing, you will find another or visit a cathouse. Make sure your people understand this… Now, I will send someone to try and round up the horses, in what direction were they headed?"

Kylo gave Luke directions as best as he could then went to bathe properly and change out of his armour and travel clothes.

The baths turned out to be large, fed by a bubbling spring that was so hot it would take the skin of your hand off, or so the attendant told Kylo. He could well believe it, it steamed and must well up from deep within the burning earth.

The water was a balm to his aching muscles and as he went to sit on the stone underwater bench with the other Knights, Kylo felt the tension leach out of him.

He relayed his uncles 'rules' to the others. They weren't particularly happy about them. "Well. I like a challenge." Zainmar said in a rallying tone, "And I doubt the girls here will be much of one, just a few courtly compliments should do it. Though Phasma may have a harder time of it." They laughed. Phasma merely rolled her eyes at Zainmar and punched him in the shoulder.

The evening meal was simple yet satisfying. They ate the with Luke out on a terrace, watching as the sun descended behind the mountains, painting the valley in a red that faded to violet, to a soft dark blue, until the stars came out to shine in the darkness.

A/N:

So I've been working sporadically on this and another multi chapter for a few months (though I've tried to concentrate on my first fic, From One Spark To The Horizon Wide). Trollskïr is somewhat inspired by the album Slør by Eivör Pálsdóttir, some Dwarven curses and my weird, rampant imagination.

I will freely admit this is one a bit random.

Let me know if you think I should add a glossary in the notes… Also, comments give me life and make me write more, so please do let me know what you think ^_^

This isn't going to be the monster One Spark turned out to be, perhaps 10 chapters, give or take. I will try and update once or twice a week.