Things I will change in transfer to comic form: It isn't a 'hospital' in the way we think it is. It's more of a clinic. Thing. Anyways. That's one thing. I'm also going to get rid of a LOT of Gehnn's lines. I have since disposed of the idea of giving her a speech impediment, since it didn't add anything to the story and just made writing (and reading) dialogue a huge pain. But part of her character is being less chatty and social and more quiet and observant. So not as many lines. 

Oh, man, I have rewritten this so many times. I recently read that it's best to just be simple and straightforward when writing scripts, and let the artist (well, me) figure out the pictures, instead of outlining them in the script. And it has made writing these scripts SO much easier. 

So, anyways, this is the end of chapter 1 and the start of chapter 2. The chapters are pretty short thus far - need to lengthen them a bit, methinks. Ah, well. Hope it makes sense!

(Gehnn takes Rex to the hospital. She bursts through the door, Rex drooping over her shoulders)

Doctor: Well, hello, Gehnn.

Need something?

Gehnn: I….(pant pant) found him…..outside….thicket…..

Skin hounds…..attacked….almost didn’t….

Doctor: What? Skin hounds? How’d you make it out?! Not even a scratch on you!

Gehnn: I…..he…..

I…ran. Somehow got away.

Please. Just help him.

Doctor: Well, you came at a good time. Most of the beds are empty. Here, let me help you –

(they plonk him on a nearby bed)

Doctor: Well. Certainly is unique, isn’t he? I don’t think I’ve seen clothes of this make…well, anywhere.

Gehnn: Can you help him?

Doctor: Hm. His heart’s beating normally. And he seems to be breathing normally.

Of course, I can’t say anything for certain until I get a proper look at him.

You found him in a thicket, you say?

Gehnn: Well….under it. He was resting there. I think. I was going out to collect....to cut some seasoning. For supper.

And I found him.

Doctor: I see.

I’ll look at him, see what’s wrong.

You should probably head home. Get some rest. You’ve had a big shock.

I’ll send you a message later.

(pause)

Gehnn: I….guess so.

Oh, wait. Min.

Doctor: (pulling back cloak) Tell him you had to go home by Doctor’s orders. I don’t think he’d be willing to risk annoying the Merchant’s Guild by making you work with that over his head.

Gehnn: Yeah.

Thank you.

Doctor: I’ll be sending you the bill later, you know.

Gehnn: Heh. Yeah.

Yeah.

(Scene: Gehnn walks back to her house. She sits down on the bed. She rubs her head, and stares at the wall.)

Gehnn: Rex…..

(flops back)

Rex.

Is that a name? Or a title? Or a race?

(pause)

How did he speak to me?

(she sighs, and closes her eyes.)

Min’s gonna have a fit.

CHAPTER 2: Rex

(Scene: Doctor examining Rex. Still has mask on.)

Doctor: Don’t want anyone to see you, eh?

I can understand that. In this part of the world, not many do.

Lucky for you, this is the safest place for miles around. So whatever trouble you’re running from, you’ve found a good hiding place here. A second chance.

(pause)

Heh heh. Why am I even talking to you? It’s not like you can hear me.

(feels around the edges of the mask. Perturbed.)

Huh.

You sure got it well stuck.

Don’t think I’ve ever seen a mask like yours, come to think of it. Nothing like with these slots or markings. Or these….cursed….straps!

(he gives up. Sighs.)

Do I seriously have to call Arzin in and have him cut this thing off?

(looks at mask.)

Well, you’re not gasping, I guess. Nothing I can do about that now.

Let’s just see about the leg, then….

(Scene: Gehnn is at the stall again, this time with customers.)

Boy: C’mon, Gehnn, just put in a good word for me!

Gehnn: No.

Boy: Come ON!

Gehnn: I’ve told you a good thousand times, Hy, she said no. She’s not gonna change her mind.

Hy: But, if you talk me up to her –

Gehnn: Hy, the plain fact of it is, Yul knows what she wants in men. And nothing I’ve said about it has ever changed her mind.

Hy: Uh…..what…kind of men does she like?

Gehnn: You would probably be better off not knowing, Hy.

Hy: I mean, maybe if I spruced myself up a bit, she’d –

Gehnn: It ain’t spruce she’s going for, Hy. Trust me on that.

Hy: But if you told me-

Gehnn: Hy.

You’re a good guy. Don’t let her spoil it.

Hy: Oh.

Gehnn: Really.

Hy: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Sure. Um.

I guess….I guess I’ll just….go this way. And think about this.

Yeah.

Gehnn: (sighs)

Customer: Boy troubles, honey?

Gehnn: Not mine, praises be.

Customer: They all come around eventually, don’t you worry.

My own Pike, he an’ I were bandit children up on those desert trails. I ignored him until he killed up a pack of skin hounds and made a coat outta their hides for me. I married him the day he gave it to me.

Gehnn: That sounds….wonderful.

Customer: It is, isn’t it?

Just remember what I told you, Honey. Keep strong!

Gehnn: Sure will.

(thinking, wearily) Yul would love that.

Min: Gehnn!

Gehnn: Oh, hi there, Min.

Min: Gehnn, Arzin finished those chair repairs. I can take over shop while you go to pick it up.

Gehnn: Does this mean I don’t have to sit on this thing anymore? (points at splintery old stool upon which she was formerly sitting)

Min: Just go and get it.

Gehnn: Sure thing!

(runs down street, towards smith’s. She comes to a barrage of crowds – goes down alley, climbs on top of wall, runs across roofs, drops down in front of smith’s. She walks up to the door, and rings the bell.)

Apprentice: Someone’s at the door.

Arzin: Then get it.

(door opens.)

Gehnn: Hi, Clem. Arzin said the chair was ready for pickup?

Clem: Uh, yeah. He’s busy right now, but I can-

Arzin: Hey! Is that Gehnn?

Gehnn: Hey, Arzin.

Arzin: It is you! Here for the chair, I take it?

Gehnn: Yep.

Arzin: Clem! Go to the back and get the chair.

Clem: Yessir.

Arzin: It’s been a while since I’ve seen you around my shop, girl.

Gehnn: Min’s been running the stall longer since the Trade Fair. He’s even had me work on rest-days.

Arzin: Ridiculous. Who would be at the bazaar on a rest-day?

Gehnn: He just likes to take what chances he can get, I guess.

Arzin: Hmph. Ridiculous.

If he’s not careful, he’ll get reported to the Guild. They’re tightening their hold on everyone these days.

Gehnn: Eh, he’ll figure out how to get around it.

Arzin: One of these days, though…..

But never mind that. How have you been faring, with all this extra work?

Gehnn: Well enough. I’ve gotten a little extra pay out of it.

Arzin: Good, good. And how’s Yul? Managed to stay out of trouble?

Gehnn: Do you even need to ask.

Arzin: Ha ha ha ha! I like that girl. She’s got spirit. And a strong fighting arm.

Gehnn: Yeah. Wish she’d keep it to herself, though.

We’re already under the wire as it is.

Arzin:….people asking questions?

Gehnn: No, just….can’t let ourselves stick out, you know? Can’t take chances.

Arzin: Hm.

Well, everyone here has something to hide. This whole city was built on second chances.

Gehnn: Some things don’t warrant second chances.

Arzin: Don’t you worry about it, Gehnn. I’m sure Yul will settle down. Or else be tossed out on her rear. Either way, you’ll be at peace.

Gehnn: (laughing) Guess so.

Clem: I’ve got the chair here, ma’am.

Gehnn: Oh, yeah! Thank you.

Arzin: That should stay sturdy. And I polished it, so you’ll be able to sit without getting splinters.

Gehnn: Thank you so much.

I’d better get back to Min.  He’s all alone at the stall right now.

Arzin: Of course, of course.

You just make sure to come back and visit!

Gehnn: I’ll see if I can make the time.

Arzin: Come at midnight, I don’t care. Just visit.

Gehnn: Sure thing. Thanks again.

Arzin: Any time, Gehnn. Just say the word.

(she leaves)

Arzin: (to himself) That girl has something on her mind.

Clem: Didn’t she say she was working long hours?

Arzin: No, something else.

Hm.

Oh, well. Back to work, boy! Can’t stand by ogling pretty girls all day!

Clem: Um….right, sir!

(scene: Gehnn is walking over the roofs, about to come to the market. She sits down, sighing.)

(looks up at sky. How pretty.)

(she notices a shape, high up. She squints. The shape looks like a blimp of some sort. She raises a hand to her eyes, trying to get a better look, but is then suddenly distracted by a shout.)

Min: GEHNN!

(Gehnn looks down.)

Gehnn: Um….hey there, Min!

Min: GET DOWN HERE!

Gehnn: Right, right. Sorry, sir. Be right down.

Min: I told you to go and get the chair!

Gehnn: I did get it. It’s right here.

Min: I meant….never mind. Let’s just get back to the stall.

Gehnn: Right, sir.

The Woodsman and the Wizard

So, sort of in the style of a Tolkienesque Grimm fairy tale ... something I am writing for my ENG 370 class.

The Old Wood was forbidden. It was not forbidden by law or decree of any sort, but by the common sense of the people of Worthmint. The Wood itself was not like the other forests, even the other forest which surrounded Worthmint and lined the road that passed through it—while the sun shown through the forest on the King’s side and the Lord of Worthmint often hunted in them, the Old Wood was dark, as though the sun could not penetrate into its canopy of leaves and its walls of thickets. It was a deep green which never lost its color, even in the direst of winters. One blisteringly hot summer, a fire had begun after a thunderstorm, and it burned a portion of the forest on the King’s side, leaving a visible line of blackened land and felled trees at the foot of the evergreen Wood.

At the edge of a farmer’s field, where a poor woodsman and his wife lived by agreement with the farmer, the line of tall pines that stood against the naked fields of Worthmint’s farmland served as a barrier on all the kingdom’s maps as the boundary between the King’s realm and the wilderness where the creatures of the old world still ruled. The sky above was dreadfully silent and deep grey-blue, just at the very onset of dawn. The trees were black against the dim light of the sky, their stillness unsettling. Even when a gust of wind from the west rustled the wheat of the field and creaked the timbers of the wooden fence surrounding the field, the forest seemed to swallow the wind, its branches and leaves unmoved. Then the silence was shattered.

A voice, high and inhuman, shrieked with delight. From the darkened homestead on the edge of the field leapt a pale, indistinct thing. It was the size of a small man, but moved too quickly to be seen clearly. It ran, laughing in horrible cackles, toward the forest. A tall man sprung from the door after him, half-dressed, crying,

“Fey-man! Thief! Coward!”

The pale man-kin hopped over the fence without a glance behind it and disappeared into the blackness of the Wood, its harsh giggles lingering. The man ran after him, but stopped at the fence. A shiver ran though his body as  he peered intot he depths.

A woman emerged from the house, more dressed than he, and cried after him,

“Aelfric! Come away from the Wood!”

“I must follow it!” Aelfric returned, “It’s ruined us if I don’t!”

“What has it done?” she said.

“It has taken my axe!” And with that he crawled over the fence and he, too, disappeared into the Wood.

After the pale fey ran Aelfric, roaring with the pain in his head from the last night’s drinking and stumbling in fatigued clumsiness. He wove between the trees as best he could, bush and thistle slapping his face and arms in the darkness around him. Beneath the canopy of the old wood in the predawn and all but choked in by thorny growth, he could see only a faint glimmer of light ahead like the tail of a comet marking his query’s progress ahead of him.

The forest seemed to have a will of its own, however, and the harder he ran after the faery, the more the bushes and thistles seemed to throw themselves into his path. He strove with the invisible thickets and vines that lashed and tugged at him from the darkness of the forest, but like a fly wrapped in spider’s silk, he soon found that his struggles only worsened his lot. Soon the silvery glimmer of the fey faded away, and all fell dark. He gave a shout of despair that was consumed by the thick air around him. He struggled, but the vines and thickets held him as tightly as rope. So there he lie, staring upward in despair, straining his eyes for a snatch of light through the vaulted leafy ceiling, but all was silent, cold, and black.

Then, much to his surprise, the silvery light returned, at first faintly, then stronger, until he saw he was in a grove of trees. Each tree trunk was thicker than his house, wrapped in vines and furry with moss, stretching too far upward to see even the branches of. Near the center of the grove he lay tangled in every manner of forest plant, roots, vines, bushes, thistles, and thickets, all clinging to him and wrapped around his arms, his hadns and feet, and his neck, and they seemed to writhe as through controlled by a mind. they moved in utter silence, not stirring one another’s leaves, but in perfect togetherness dragging him closer to the center of the grove, where the growth was densest and from which many stones thrust upward like jagged teeth.

The fey stood above him. He looked rather like a child, small, beardless, and slight, with pinched features and a wicked grin upon his face. He was naked and his flesh was bloodless and pallid. His white hair, tangled and knotty, fell heavily around his bony shoulders, from which hung long, thin arms down to his long, thin legs. He leaned over him and gazed into his eyes with his own white-within-white eyes, like a blind man’s. He parted his teeth and spoke,

“The manling has become caught! How have you become caught so quickly?” He held up Aelfric’s axe and looked it up and down. “the Wood remembers you, methinks, and the bite of your axe. But no!” he seemed to spasm, and went kicking the vines and branches which held Aelfric down. Each went slack and motionless as the fey struck it, and soon Aelfric freed himself. No sooner had he risen to his feet than he gave a cry and lunged toward the fey, who deftly stepped out of his way.

“No!” he giggled, “No, no, no! My game is with you, and the Wood shall not spoil it!” and he lighted off again, deeper into the wood.

“What game?” cried Aelfric, charging after him, “What game is this? Why do you toy with me and not someone else from the village?” He was too slow—the faerie was already so far ahead that Aelfric could only run in the direction of the light.

“You, you!” the fey’s voice floated back to him from the trees ahead, “It is you I want!”

“I think,” Aelfric wheezed, winded from running, “You will not be so pleased with me when I catch up with you!” Now as he ran, Aelfric tore away any vine or branch that caught on his clothing, and was lighter on his feet than before. His head was clearer, also, and his headache ebbed.

A deep, dim blue light began to fill the Wood as the sun’s early rays penetrated the fortress of leaves and branches overhead, and his eyes had adjusted better in the half-light of the fey far ahead of him. These trees stretched far above, and were unlike any he had before seen. Unlike those of the grove, these trees were gnarly, bent, with stretched bark showing beneath carpets of moss, like the belly of a fat man poking out from under his shirt. Some stood straight, like unbending giants, while others leaning to one side before laboriously reaching upward.

More Jadrus Script

For context, Gehnn has been sent out by her employer to collect a certain type of leaf. 

Rex is my favorite character to write/draw. I think it shows. 

(She walks out into the wilderness - show off the plantlife and greenery, with a tiny river flowing down a small channel. She stops to look at the pearly insects flying around it, and smiles.)

(she continues walking, looking around as she does so. She comes to a rugged set of rocky columns and such, riddled with small and large caves. She carefully makes her way over to a patch of spidery-looking bushes with thick leaves and red stems (sort of like poison oak). She sets down her basket, kneels down, and starts to cut.)

(she hears a noise behind her. She turns around, sees nothing there. She turns back to her clipping. She suddenly notices a glint through the bushes. Curious, she puts down her clippers and basket, and makes her way through the thicket.)

(she discovers the figure of a man, lying on the ground, wearing strange clothes and a mask that makes him look like an insect. He is bleeding from his leg, and he clutches a strange staff-like tool across his chest (hence the glint). She stares at him. The man suddenly turns his head towards her. Gehnn backs away, frightened. He sits up, reaching out a hand. She backs out of the bushes, and flees. She hears rustling behind her, and picks up her speed. She looks behind her, leaps over some brush, and then stumbles into a pack of sleeping skin-hounds. They wake up, and attempt to pounce her. She tries to run away, but is cornered.)

Gehnn: (thinking) Damn it! Damn it, damn it!

(The skin hound pounces, but suddenly flies away. The pack turns to see the man, leaning on his staff. They all go for him - Gehnn looks terrified. The man makes a strange gesture - the hounds are all swept up in some invisible tornado, and thrown everywhere. They all take off, wimpering.)

(Gehnn stares at him. The man stumbles forward, and falls to his knees. Gehnn rushes over to him. They look at each other, and then the man reaches out and touches Gehnn's forehead.)

(She suddenly has the image of kneeling in an empty space, her surroundings melting away. A soft whispering speaks in her ear. Gehnn looks confused, and then speaks, slowly.)

Gehnn: R....Rex? You are.....Rex?

Rex: Heh....Heh heh....

(She sees the eyes behind the mask's lenses - they are half-shut, exhausted. She stares at him, and then, slowly, reaches out to touch his face. He collapses.)

(Gehnn stares at him for a few more seconds. Then, she reaches down, and pulls him up, draping him over her back. She is surprisingly strong for her size. As an afterthought, she reaches down and picks up his staff, and with that, she takes off with him towards the city.)

(She comes to the gate, banging on it. It opens, and the guard comes out, looking concerned.)

Guard: What -

(she rushes past. The guard looks astounded. His partner comes out, staring after Gehnn.)

 (A few minutes later - The man is lying on a table, in Yul and Gehnn's room. They stare at him. Yul reaches out to touch his mask, looking wary.)

Yul: You found him? Outisde?

Gehnn: H-he.....was in the...bush.

Yul: A Rem. Outside of Asorame.

Never thought I'd see it.

Gehnn: His name is Rex.

Yul: What?

Gehnn: That's....that's what he...um....gave me. His name is Rex.

Yul: Gave you? What do you mean?

Gehnn: I don't...I don't know. H-he just....he t-touched my...head....and it was...in my brain. Just that. Rex.

(Yul backs away from the man)

Yul: We need to call the Captain.

Gehnn: What? No!

Yul: It's dangerous, Gehnn! I'm not gonna be in the same room as a mind-controlling Rem.

Gehnn: He's hurt! A-and sick! He just n-needs help!

Yul: What if this is all a ruse, Gehnn? What if, the minute he wakes up, he starts getting in our heads? Getting a hold of our thoughts, twisting them around?

Gehnn: He....he wouldn't.

Yul: Why? Did he give you that, too?

Gehnn: No, he....he saved my life. He.....h-he made a pack of skin hounds run away! I was g-gonna get ea....eaten!

Yul: What? How?

Gehnn: Um.....

Yul: I knew it. I knew it I knew it I knew GEHNN! This is bad! We're already under the wire as it is! What are we gonna do with a Rem?! A live Rem? What if he makes the city explode? What if he makes us kill people? Oh god oh god...

Gehnn: Y-you got....that out of stories....Yul.

Yul: He cowed a pack of skin hounds! How's THAT for a story?

Gehnn: Yul!

(Yul looks at her)

Gehnn: Please. He's....he's sick. And hurt. H-he needs help. And he's....alone.

I mean....we kn-know how that...well, y-you remember.

 (Yul looks at her. And then looks at the man. She closes her eyes, in a tight-like fashion, rubbing her nose, and then goes over to the man, looking down at his insect-like mask.)

Yul: If he burns the house down, Gehnn -

Gehnn: You always hated this place, anyway.

Yul: Dern straight.

All right...lessee....

(Hesitantly, she touches his face. He makes no move.)

Yul: D'you think.....there's, like...a face, under this?

Like, a human face?

Gehnn: (touches goggles) He has....e-eyes, I guess. Human-sized ones.

Yul: Well, that's....good. I guess.

(She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath. They both lean in, wearing intense expressions.)

Yul: I'm betting....he's not getting enough air. Through that mask.

Gehnn: Y-y'think s-so?

Yul: I just bet.

Gehnn: So we....sh-should maybe...maybe take it off, then?

Yul: I....I guess that would be the best thing to do.

(She hesitates, looks at Gehnn. Brow set, she then places both hands on the sides of the mask. She feels around trying to find a buckle.)

Yul: (annoyed) Is this thing melted to his face?

(She finds a slide on either side of his neck, under his collar)

Yul: Hm?

(She slides the switches. The mask suddenly hisses, causing them both to jump back. They stare, frightened, before realizing the mask has come loose. Cautiously, Gehnn approaches, and removes the mask.)

(She stares. Yul comes up and stares as well. There is a lot of staring in this chapter.)

Yul: Huh.

Gehnn: Huh.

(Viewing the man's face - it is quite human.)

Yul: (after a pause) How'd he get his sidies like that?

Gehnn: P-probably....magic?

Yul: Hm.

He's breathing now, anyways. And his leg is bleeding. I guess.

And his clothes are....filthy.

Gehnn: Are.....are you...s-saying...?

Yul: (bright red) This is what you do with hurt people! You gotta get 'em clean!

Gehnn: But-

Yul: Just go to Min and borrow some clothes.

(She turns back to the Rem. Sighs and rolls up her sleeves. In a manner of speaking.)

Yul: Let's get this over with.

Chapter 2: The Stranger

(Flashback – blue ink? Boy’s hands in water. Cuts his palm on a rock. His hands are enveloped by his mother’s. He looks up into a sweet smile and deep teal-black eyes. The face suddenly transforms into that of a little girl, who holds up a pendant, grinning. She places it around his neck. He looks down at the pendant, looks up again. The girl is replaced with a skin hound, who snarls. He opens his eyes, staring at the ceiling.)

(He looks over, seeing the open window. His brow furrows, and he sits up, looking out the window. A bird flies past. He jumps, frightened, banging his leg against the bed. Or wall. He winces. Curious, he pulls up his pant leg and sees that his calf is bandaged. He is very confused. He swings his legs over the bed, and tries standing up, wobbling a little. Successful, he smiles. He looks around the room, taking in everything. There is a black and white photo pinned to the wall (Yul and her family), a dresser, two messy pallets on the floor, a table, and a stove in a little niche. He is instantly drawn to the stove, feeling the heat with his hand. He looks up at the pipe, seeing it go through the ceiling. He looks through the grate, seeing the coals within.)

Rex: Hm.

(the door opens, Yul comes in. She turns to lock the door, and turns to the see Rex standing there. He stares at her, and then smiles awkwardly.)

Rex: Ah…..viat ae-

(Yul’s eyes get bigger)

Rex: Eh heh…..niat viat ae viridam (looking uncomfortable)

Aaahhh…..

(Gehnn comes in, her blacksmith apron over one arm. She sees Rex, and is startled.)

Gehnn: He’s awake!

Yul: (very distressed) Yeah! Yeah, he’s awake!

(Rex smiles broadly, seeing Gehnn. He points to her.)

Rex:  Duam turraem!

Gehnn:……what?

Yul: I think he’s talking to you.

Gehnn: I-I……what?

Rex: Ah…..

(he thinks for a minute, and then points at himself, and points to the window)

Gehnn: Um…..(pointing at herself questioningly)

Rex:  (nods)

Gehnn: A-are you….um….asking me....if I was just outside?

(Rex looks elated for a minute, and then performs a weary facepalm)

Gehnn: I d-don’t think we’re…… getting anywhere.

Yul: Does he look like he’s going to blow up the house?

(in the background, Rex notices his clothes folded by the stove. He rifles through them, pulling out a small book.)

Gehnn: Yul, d-does he…..look like….he is?

Yul: I don’t know what a Rem looks like when he’s about to blow something up.

Gehnn: A-and I do?

Yul: You’re the one who read his mind or whatever! Why wouldn’t you?

(There’s a growling sound. They all look at Rex. It’s his stomach. He looks suitably embarrassed.) 

More Blushby

She quickly took to her newly found masculine ways. It was most helpful, and relieved her of the stress that befell most young damsels. When another young woman slighted her for the tackiness of her garb, she simply struck her over the head with a large stick. Consequently, the young woman made no more attempts of mockery. When the young cowherd she fancied laughed at seeing her, a woman, attempt such manly feats as swordsmanship and archery, she knocked a sword in her bow and shot it straight underneath his arm, lodging the sword in the cow at his side. She soon found herself having to make the excuse that she was preparing for that terrible day, and every bit of violence was necessary to this preparation. Did the villagers want to be quivering under their tables while their homes burned around them? It did not take long, though, before she no longer had to make excuses to others, as people generally avoided her; nor to herself, because she began to be genuinely comfortable with it all.

So it came to be that one day as she was shaving her chin (her face was quite smooth, as becomes a lady, but she felt she had best get into the habit in case she should be mistaken for the frail damsels prone to require rescue) with her sword that Edmund Humblebottom, master of the most prosperous farm of the forest, came to beseech her hand in marriage on behalf of his nephew, Blushby. She knew little of the boy, who was kept out of sight of the villagers most days, but she could not deny that she was pleased to be approached by so manly a villager with a personal invite into his hairy family. And besides, she thought, she would no longer have to be so careful not to permanently damage the eligible young men of the village.

The marriage contract was drawn up, the date was set for a lovely manly day in the dead of winter, and a tasteful dwelling for the soon-to-be happy couple was built by Master Edmund Humblebottom. It was furnished with the finest furniture that could be found after he had raided all the local carpenters for their finest furniture for his own tasteful dwelling, all those years ago.

As for Blushby, it seemed that he had resigned himself to his fate, his heart broken and hopes dashed. He could no longer hope to marry a fair elven maid from the old Elvenwoods or go on his grand adventures. It no longer mattered that he could fire seven arrows at once, with twelve more knocked by the time the string twanged (which he admitted was impossible, but how could he be expected to vanquish the heart of an elven maiden within the realm of possibility?). All that mattered now would be that the farm is taken care of, that he would not go hungry, and that the farm would be defended on the off chance that the evil king should ever want to hunt down him, specifically. It was as though no one gave the faintest care for his own hopes and dreams. His life was over, written for him to the final page; the only excitement left would be to turn the pages over the years. He wandered as though a ghost in the house, saying nothing and being ignored in return, staring with the most morose of eyes at Uncle Edmund. Unfortunately, Uncle Edmund had only eyes for his crops and his quite tasteful furniture.

Blushby sighed, and thought, Uncle Edmund may be able to arrange a room with excellent taste and bedeck it with the most beautiful furnishings and decorations, but for all that, he knows nothing of the furniture in the darkened room of my heart.