The Traveling Bards (for Cleverfox)

[Renton]

Ryna eyed her son with a glint in her eye as he asked not to sing. Of course, she thought, he must be thinking that he's too old to be singing.

"That's fair enough," she said, "but keep in mind that there are several men in this camp right now who would happily sing. You father sang. There's no shame or loss of manliness in being a singer. God gave you a gift and it'd be a pity if you let pride prevent you from exercising it."

She finished her bowl and gathered Nicolas's as well. "But if you don't want to sing, I'll respect that. Just be on time for rehearsals. You may explore the town if you have a friend with you, but don't stray into the woods, understood?"

[CleverFox]

Nicolas had actually been expecting her argument about the singing so he was prepared for it and not really swayed by her words that several men in the camp sang and that his father had done the same. "I...don't really remember that," he said quietly, giving her the bowl when she reached for it and then giving a slight nod when she told him to be on time for rehearsals. It was at this point that she gave him permission to explore the town if he had a friend with him and that got a slight frown from the boy.

"Can't I explore on my own Mama? It's daylight and I doubt the place if fraught with danger," he said quietly though he did nod about not straying into the woods. Normally his rebellious streak would have forced him to go just because of that but currently his backside was still too tender and was reminding him to behave himself.

"I shan't go near the forest," he told her, his tone sincere since he really had no plans to break his word on this one and disobey her.

[Renton]

Ryna listened to her son's pleas to explore on his own, but she wasn't one to budge. "My mother used to tell me that a child with a red bottom has only one acceptable answer: 'yes mother'. I know this town is not dangerous. But two incidents of you wandering off alone means you have to earn the right to explore alone again. Maybe in the next town, if you behave this week. But this week you are not to explore alone, and that's that."

Ryna turned and took the dishes to a water basin to wash them. "Rehearsals begin tonight at six, after supper. I expect to see you here in time for supper, otherwise you'll have to rehearse on an empty stomach."

Ryna considered the matter settled, and she believed that her son's sore, red bottom would remind him not to disobey her today.

[CleverFox]

Nicolas sighed and had to resist the urge to further argue when his mother made it clear that she was not going to relent and allow him to explore on his own, the boy huffing sort of indignantly as he ran a hand through his hair, further mussing it's already naturally unruly state. "Well you don't have to worry about me being late since you pretty much guaranteed that I can't go anywhere," he told her when she warned him that rehearsal was at six and he had to be back in time for supper.

It took a lot for him to keep his voice calm and respectful as he said that, the boy turning to walk away but not really with any set destination in mind since it had already been made clear to him that he couldn't go alone and it wasn't as though he had anyone else to go with.

"Thanks for that," he muttered under his breath as he walked away from the fire and ended up near their wagon, Nicolas leaning against it but being careful not to press his sore backside against anything since that was just not going to be pleasant for him.

[Renton]

Ryna saw her son sulk away but paid him no mind. Of course he'd be unhappy, but she was the mother and it wasn't her job to bend to his wishes. When she was done washing the dishes, she approached her son, as she wasn't one to put up with pointless sulking.

"Why don't you ask one of the other kids to explore with you? Fergus's granddaughter is your age, is she not? And I dare say, she is quite pretty. If not her then surely one of the other children would be your friend if you approached them about it. Give it a try."

She knew her son would be annoyed with her, but again, it wasn't her job to not annoy him. To Ryna, time spent moping was time wasted.

[CleverFox]

Nicolas was figuring that he would be left alone at this point but it turned out that he figured wrong, his blue eyes once again shifting to his mother as she walked over to the spot where he was standing and asked why he didn't ask one of the others to explore with him. He shook his head when she mentioned Fergus's granddaughter, Nicolas not having a clue how old she was.

"I couldn't tell you her age and think about it...have you ever seen me playing with any of them?" Nicolas said when she tried to get him to go and ask one of the other children to go and explore with him or otherwise be his friend.

The answer to that was a resounding no, at least not now that he was older, he may have when he was smaller, Nicolas really couldn't remember that far back. Point being, he was typically one to keep to himself so the suggestion that she was making to him wasn't really all that appealing as far as the young boy was concerned, Nicolas turning away from her slightly and going back to staring out into space.

[Renton]

Ryna sighed and let Nicolas get back to his staring into space. "You do what you want. Just don't rule anything out. Life is full of unnecessarily wasted opportunities."

She spent the rest of the morning working on preparing a space for rehearsal. She wanted to be able to rehearse into the night, so an impressive set of torches were produced for that end. When the afternoon rolled around, she spotted Fergus's granddaughter, and approached her. "Hello, Rosa," she said, cheerfully. "How are you doing?"

"Fine, Miss Ryna," she replied, politely. The girl had long, curly blonde hair and grey eyes. She was indeed very pretty. "Say, Rosa, how old are you now? 12?" "11, but twelve in two months, ma'am," the girl replied, politely.

"Well, you are growing up fast indeed. Say, I was wondering, would you be willing to help me gather some supplies in town? My son will join you momentarily."

"Yes ma'am, I'd be happy to."

Determined to get her son to meet some new people his age, Ryna tracked him down and gave him a list of supplies, namely small food items and tools to help built sets.

"Nicolas! Take this list and get everything you find on it. You'll be joined by Rosa, Fergus' granddaughter." She gave him the list.

"And before you get any ideas, the entire camp is busy preparing for the week's activities. It's a minor task and since you can't go out alone, Rosa will accompany you. Be polite to her, all right?"

[CleverFox]

"Yea sure, thanks for that," Nicolas said quietly when told that he could do what he wanted, the boy having no intentions of going out to find anyone to go exploring with since to him half the fun was in doing it alone. Which took most of the joy out if it when his mother told him that he was not permitted to leave by himself, annoying the already unhappy kid.

Nicolas spent his morning rather idly, eventually going to get his lyre since he didn't particularly care for not having anything to do. He was leaning against a tree and playing softly for no one save for himself when his mother approached him yet again.

The boy's gaze shifted in her direction when his mother held out a list of supplies that she wanted him to go and he was willing enough to do that until he was told that Fergus's granddaughter was going to be coming with him and at that point he decided that he wasn't so willing any longer. Trying to hand the list back to her Nicolas said, "Well if everyone's busy I'll just take someone else's job and they can go and get supplies."

Nicolas was adamant that he did not need a babysitter and especially not one that wasn't very much older than he himself.

[Renton]

"Don't talk back, young man," Ryna said, "Backtalk earns a spanking, you know, and I won't hesitate to redden your bottom a bit more if you can't hold your tongue."

"Rosa isn't your babysitter. She's there to accompany you. If you can't make a distinction, work it out while you're on your way into town."

She pointed Nicolas on his way and expected obedience. While Ryna wasn't an overly harsh disciplinarian (by their society's standards anyway) she was quick to administer discipline at the drop of a hat, or in Nicolas' case, repeated disrespect or backtalk.

[CleverFox]

Nicolas gave her a look that should make it clear that he thought she was being unfair but the boy wisely held his tongue and instead had to resist the urge to throw his lyre back into their wagon as he passed, clutching the list that she had given him in his hand. The fact that his mother had told him that Rosa was not his babysitter really just served to make the situation worse in his eyes and he was not happy about it.

However he knew that there was nothing he could do about it so he walked over to the spot where she was standing, not saying anything to the girl but figuring she'd fall into step with him since his mother had already spoken to her about this little trip into town.

His thought process was that as long as he didn't say anything to the girl he couldn't get himself into trouble for not being nice to her or anything of that nature. Plus he was still angry with his mother for forcing him to do this in the first place after telling him that he could do what he wanted so that was carrying over into the way that he was interacting, or refusing to interact, with the other kid.