A path to Honor

It had been a long time since he was this frustrated. Never having farmed in his life, he was having difficulties yet again this year with the two small fields he tended to. He did not grow up working the land or tending to livestock, he had not even been past the gates of the city until he was old enough to serve in his majesty's army. He was born a soldier, and until his discharge and banishment, he thought he would die a soldier. He had no useful skill besides fighting, he had no family and few friends to rely on for assistance, so he found himself a small plot of land and worked for a man in a neighboring village until he had enough tools and skills to build himself a little home on his land and farm the ground.

After five years alone in his new life, one would think he would have gotten the hang of this, yet here he was, still trying to fend off vermin and battling yet another new form of invasive plant. He still to this day misses his old life. Being a soldier was everything he had ever dreamed of. He had worked up the ranks and had even commanded his own company of men until he was promoted to the King's royal guard. It was a position many career soldiers who lived long enough dreamed of. That dream ended one fateful night when he was involuntarily chosen to take the fall for an error he didn’t commit. He was an easy man to pin it on; youngest and freshest recruit in the royal guard without any ties to the community, who would miss him. Without so much as a review of the incident, he was discharged from the military and banished from the city. Forced to live another life than what he had dreamed, he made due but still trained on a daily basis, not ready to give it all up yet.

As the early spring sun started dipping towards the horizon, filling the air with a slight chill, his training was still coming in handy. Steadily up the hill, a man in a long white flowing robe and a peculiar hat lead his horse in the direction of his property.

“I am looking for a man named Caden, would you happen to be him?” the man in the white robe said as he got close enough to hear.

“Not many folks come around these parts, and none dressed the way you are. I’d like to know what business you have with this Caden before I answer that,” Caden said as he ran his hands through his long red hair to fasten it into a loose knot.

“That's a fair question I suppose. I have been sent by the high priest to offer Caden the chance to carry out a holy mission.”

“Did your high priest fail to tell you what kind of person I am,” Caden said.

“So it is Caden I am speaking with,” the young man said. Caden quietly scolded himself for making such a idiotic mistake.

“It is, and what makes the high priest think a banished royal guard is qualified to carry out his work?”

“Oh, not his work, it is the lord's work sir.”

“Why me?” Caden asked with a sudden sense of irritation in his voice.

“The high priest has indicated that you were at one point a very skilled tracker, and he could greatly use your service.”

Doesn’t the church have its own holy knights to send on such ‘missions’,” Caden said.

“Indeed they do. Unfortunately, all of the church’s trackers are currently, indisposed.”

“As flattered as I am that the high priest would even consider such a man as myself, I fail to see how this benefits me.”

“The High priest has instructed me to negotiate the terms of this arrangement. He is prepared to make an offer of forty gold pieces to track down a young man last seen in the town of Bremen.”

“Did you say Bremen? That is at least a three day trip on horseback. I would need double that to abandon my farm and track down this lad,” Caden said. Honestly forty gold pieces was not a bad price for the job, but he wanted to know what kind of man he was dealing with here as well as just how far they were willing to go to find the lad.

“Double is out of the question. Forty could buy a tracker anywhere else.”

“But you didn’t go anywhere else, you came to me,” Caden said as he watched the young man squirm as his argument was being cornered.

“Sixty is the highest I’ve been instructed to go,” the young man said.

“Well, I’m afraid you might have to find someone else to do the job then,” Caden said as he picked up his shovel and turned towards his house.

“The high priest is well aware of your unfortunate discharge and banishment. I’m not sure if you have heard, but the kingdom is now ruled by his eldest son, a man who values the high priest’s wisdom.” Caden stopped mid stride as he thought about what that implied.

“The high priest is prepared to go to him on your behalf to discuss your removal should you successfully complete this mission.” The mere thought of returning even as a grunt in the military was enough to capture his attention. The life he strived for could be his again all for the sole price of tracking down and returning this young lad to the church.

“ Thirty now, thirty when I deliver the boy and the high priest puts in a good word to the new King for me,” Caden countered without turning back around.

“These terms are agreeable, but the high priest makes no promises on the King's decision.”

“I understand all too well. Now tell me, does this lad have a name?”