The Traveling Bards (for Cleverfox)

[Renton]

Ryna gently tuned her lute, listening intently for the strings to sound just right. When she found the note, she began to strum and play. On this morning, she was just playing for herself. At 39, she had been playing for more than 30 years now. The life of a travelling musician was the only one she knew. Her parents had founded this wandering troupe of actors and musicians, and she had inherited it from them. Eight months a year, they wandered countrysides, cities, and villages, putting on plays and singing songs for the entertainment of the locals. The other four were spent in their home village in the winter, writing new songs and learning new plays. It was a committment, but a labor of love for these performers.

When they were lucky, they got to put on a show for a knight's wedding or the birthday of a noble's daughter. Those shows yielded good pay, allowing them to feast properly when holidays rolled around. Most of the time, it was more of a struggle, but one Ryna had learned to appreciate. It had been harder these last four years after her husband passed away, leaving her raising their only son, but music was therapeutic for her, and she had the rest of the troupe to help her keep an eye on the boy.

So as the sun rose and the rest of the troupe slowly awoke, Ryna played a sweet song, a lullaby that she used to sing to her son when he awoke as a baby. And even though she wasn't performing a show today, some passersby couldn't help but listen to the woman with the voice of a songbird and the lute-playing skills of a master.

[CleverFox]

Before the stars faded and the darkness with it young Nicolas had been up and off to explore, the boy figuring that he could go out and have a little bit of fun and then be back before anyone awoke and was the wiser. Dressed in a simple tunic and pants the brown haired, blue eyed boy was now on his way back, figuring to slip back into his bed and pretend as though he had been there this entire time. Actually he was fairly tired at this point since his few hours of wandering had tired him out, the excitement of that having done wonders to make him desire sleep.

Being a part of the traveling troupe of entertainers was all that he had ever known but as he grew older he was starting to get an adventurous streak. That was making him become a bit of a daredevil, as was evident by his little excursion out on his own. He was a musician as well, being fairly skilled with a lyre an having a sweet singing voice though he tried to avoid that more often than not as he got older.

He was also a bit of an acrobat and enjoyed participating in the plays that the troupe performed when he could. However he was guilty of occasionally trying to shirk his responsibilities in favor of going to have an adventure.

Hearing the sound of the lute his gaze shifted in that direction and as the song drifted to his ears he of course immediately recognized it. His mother and singing a song that he'd heard more times than he could count, the kid smiling slightly and then returning to the task of getting back to bed without anyone catching him though if he couldn't manage that then he was planning on lying and saying that he'd woken up but recently. Lying was of course frowned upon but as far as Nicolas was concerned it was better than getting himself into trouble by a long shot.

[Renton]

Ryna continued to play, the sun making her dark red hair shimmer. She closed her green eyes and smiled. The small crowd of passersby applauded and some threw her coins which she accepted gratefully. It was time for breakfast, she thought, as the camp had begun to stir.

Had she known her son had sneaked off all night and was only now returning, she's have turned him over her knee promptly for a sound spanking. Nicolas was a good boy and she loved him more than anything, but he had developed an adventurous streak that had necesscitated more than a few bare bottom spankings and switchings.

While she allowed the boy to explore, he was forbidden to do so alone after dark.

As she walked back to her tent, she stopped by their wagon. Sure enough, Nicolas was not inside as he promised he would be. The boy didn't always like sleeping in a tent with his mother and sometimes preferred the wagon. However, it was not certain that he'd done anything wrong.

As she made it back to her tent, she saw Nicolas sneaking back towards it.

"Good morning, Nicolas," she said, crossing her arms suspiciously. She was not angry with the boy but she had a mildly accusatory tone. "Not in bed, I see. You didn't spend the night wandering again, I hope. Because you remember what happened when I caught you out after dark not three months ago."

[CleverFox]

Nicolas was just starting to think that he had managed to get away with his little adventure when he turned a corner and saw his mother, his blue eyes shifting to her as she told him good morning. Instantly he was nervous and that was not helped by the way that she crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at him, the boy shifting his weight from one foot to the other before realizing that he was doing it and stopping.

"Good morning Mama," he told her, offering her a smile even though she was pretty clearly suspicious of him. When she mentioned him spending the night wandering and what had happened the last time that she had caught him. He remembered that incident quite vividly and was not anxious for a repeat and it was for that reason that he was going to lie to her despite that he knew how much she frowned upon that.

"Of course not, I awoke but a short time ago," Nicolas told her, trying not to look suspicious despite the fact that he was a pretty bad liar. Maybe that was a good thing since it meant that being dishonest made him feel guilty but in this instance the boy was thinking that it was decidedly bad since he was afraid that he was going to give himself away. "I heard you playing that song again, you like it a lot," he said, sort of trying to change the subject at that point.

He could hear the other members of their little troupe starting to mill about and was hoping that would serve to distract his mother so that she'd forget this whole line of questioning and he could manage to stay out of trouble. At this point the kid yawned, Nicolas raising a hand to cover his mouth and try to conceal that lest his mother decide to ask questions about that as well since he'd told her that he just woke up.

[Renton]

Ryna could tell right away that her son was fibbing about something, and given the circumstances she figured she knew what that was.

"Let's see about that," she said, grabbing her son firmly by the wrist and leading him into the camp. She tracked down Fergus, an old man who built sets for the troupe's plays, and who helped feed the horses who pulled their wagons.

"Fergus!" she called out, spying the old man as he stirred some porridge in a kettle.

"Eh?" he said, looking up.

"You fed my horses this morning, did you not?"

"I sure did!," he replied.

"Were you able to find the feed? I'm sure Nicolas was able to help you."

"Ah, the lad wasn't in the wagon this morning when I fed them. I was able to find the feed on my own though, I'm not senile yet young lady!" the old man replied, a little defensively, oblivious to the true point of this line of questioning.

"And when was this?" she asked.

"I always wake before dawn, you know that, Miss Ryna," Fergus replied, now confused.

"Thank you, Fergus," Ryna said, smiling, then glancing down at her son with an eyebrow raised.

She led Nicolas back to their wagon.

"Well now, what do you have to say for yourself, young man?" she said, visibly annoyed with her son, half tempted to bare his bottom and spank him right then and there. However, she wanted to give him the chance to at least come clean and do the right thing. If he kept up the lie, she might have no choice but to use the switch on him, but if he admitted his wrongdoing she would consider just using her hand for now.

[CleverFox]

Nicolas was pretty sure that things were going to turn bad for him when his mother grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him along across the camp, the boy sort of dragging his feet but not enough that he'd get in trouble for that. his blue eyes shifted to fall on Fergus when his mom called for the man and he was curious just where it was that she was going with this. He didn't say anything as he listened to what his mother was saying but he did get a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when she asked about him helping Fergus to find the feed.

That was enough to make him fidget still more, the boy alternating between looking up at the adults and looking down at the ground, finding it oddly fascinating in this moment. Nicolas one again shifted his weight from one foot to the next, the sinking feeling getting still worse when his mother asked Fergus what time that he had gone to get the feed and the man confirmed that it had been before dawn.

Nicolas happened to glance up at his mother when she looked down at him with that raised brow look that he knew meant trouble, the boy once again dragging his feet as he was lead back to their wagon.

Looking up at her when asked what he had to say for himself Nicolas could tell that she was annoyed and that just did not bode well for him but even so he was not quite ready to come completely clean with her. So he hedged and said, "Um, so maybe I got up earlier than I said but that's nothing for you to be angry about Mama." His tone was his best imitation of innocent, the kid shrugging his shoulders as he added, "Didn't think that he'd need my help with the horses, he does it every morning. I didn't go far though."

Nicolas didn't think there was any way that she could disprove that but he also didn't think of how it was going to look now that he was changing his story.

[Renton]

By now, Ryna could tell when her son was trying to lie his way out of a situation, and lying was something she had no tolerance for. She knelt down and looked at her nervous son squarely in the eyes.

"Nicolas, you have already lied to me once, and it's clear that you are still lying. If you got up earlier than you said, then you lied to me, and you lied to me for a reason. You are not going to avoid a spanking, so stop thinking you can lie your way out of one. Now tell me the truth: when did you leave the wagon? Lying about it any longer is not going to help you."

Ryna spoke firmly and sternly, but she did not raise her voice. She had no qualms with spanking her son out in the open if it came to that (there wasn't much privacy for a spanked kid in an open camp) but for now she didn't want to call the attention of the troupe to the matter at hand.

[CleverFox]

It was pretty clear that the jig was up when his mother knelt in front of him and gave him that stern look that made his stomach practically do flips, the boy barely managing not to groan. His blue eyes took on a sort of pitiful look when she pointed out that he had lied and then went on to inform him that he was not going to be able to avoid a spanking, that actually getting a soft whimper from him since he of course didn't want a spanking.

Being told to tell the truth caused him to fidget and squirm still more, Nicolas looking to the ground once again as though there was something of great interest there to stare at. Even though he was pretty much just looking at his feet.

"I don't really know what time it was...still dark," Nicolas told her softly at that point, the boy not knowing how long he'd been gone but he was guessing that it was several hours at the very least. He'd sort of lost track of himself while exploring, the moon giving him enough light to be able to see where he was going without the aid of a torch. "Nothing happened or anything...I didn't cause any trouble," Nicolas told her on the off chance that would help him out in this situation.

Not that he was really expecting for it to but at this point he was desperate enough to try anything.

"I'm sorry Mama," he added softly, finally raising his blue eyes to look at her and once again trying the pitiful look on her to see if that would help him.

[Renton]

Ryna nodded when her son told her the truth and resisted the urge to spank him immediately. She was upset with him for breaking rules, but wanted to be sure that he understood why what he'd done had been wrong before punishing him.

"Nicolas, you understand that you are forbidden from wandering after dark when we're in an unfamiliar town. Do you know how dangerous it can be?", she said softly, sounding very upset. She glanced at the woods and shuddered at the thought of some foul creature making a meal of her only son.

"You are never to do that again," she said, standing up, her voice turning stern.

She then took her son by the arm and tucked him underneath her left arm so that he was snugly held against her side. "This is for lying to me," she said, matter of factly as she yanked down his trousers, revealing his round, bare buttocks. Again, the parents in the troupe tended to dole out discipline promptly and seeing one of their youth getting a bare bottom spanking was a non-event.

"When I am done with this, you are to fetch me a switch and we will deal with your sneaking out after dark."

She then began to slap her son's bare bottom briskly and sharply, holding him in place with her left arm while doling out the punishment with her right hand. Her hand bounced rapidly off her son's cheeks, quickly turning them pink as she made quick work of this first half of his punishment.

She continued to spank Nicolas fast and sharp, determined to leave an impression on her rebellious son.

[CleverFox]

Confessing to what he had done had pretty much been the last thing in the world that Nicolas wanted to do however when his mother told him that she knew he was lying and then said that to continue to do so would only make things worse for him the child knew that he had no choice in the matter. So he offered up his confession and then gave her a pitiful look as he told her that he hadn't caused trouble and that nothing had happened.

A ploy that did not work for him, the boy looking at his mother as she mentioned the fact that it was forbidden for him to wander around at night when they were in an unfamiliar town but that was of course what made if fun. Still he nodded his head when she said that though that turned to shaking when she asked about it being dangerous. "It wasn't...nothing happened," he protested weakly, knowing that it could have so that was a pretty flimsy argument.

Nicolas tried to pull away as his mother grabbed him by the wrist but that didn't work out so well, the boy blushing bright red as he found himself tucked under his mother's arm and his trousers pulled down to fall around his ankles since the pants were big on him to begin with. "Mama..." he whined, embarrassed since although it was a common enough occurrence it was still humiliating to have his bare bottom on display to whomever might happen to walk past. "I'm sorry..." Nicolas whimpered and he just got even more pitiful when told that he was going to have to fetch a switch. "Please don't make me do that," he begged her before yelping as she started to slap his bare bottom.

Nicolas started to squirm as the brisk spanks caused the heat in his bottom to build, the sting that was being left behind by his mother's hand anything but pleasant. "Agh! Mama, I'm sorry!" he yelped, trying to pull away and wiggling in the attempt to both dodge the smacks as well as to alleviate the sting that was being left behind, the boy feeling the first signs of tears starting to sting at his eyes.