The forge. A place that always attracts attention from the younger kids. To hear the rhythm of the hammer blow over metal, fascinated by the shapes beaten out and the rich warmth of the fire, always just a little too hot for comfort.
But that was all.
Until Morgan arrived.
Delwin was the first to try his hand. Morgan welcomed anyone, provided they stayed out of his way when he needed them to. Delwin brought Sand, but they didn't stay long.
This pleased the young Random. Morgan distracted was a bad idea. Random like to watched and listen. Finally, he plucked up his courage and took the plunge.
"I want to try it," he said.
Morgan stared down at him, sweaty. A dark silhouette of menace against the backdrop of the furnace.
"You need strength to do this job properly, but that comes with practice. Determination, and a good sense of rhythm don't. You got those, kid?"
"I got 'em."
"Okay, you're in. Don't get in my way, I'm busy."
And he proceeded to ignore Random. Now and again, he might point out where he was going wrong but that was all. Random ached and hurt and sweated alongside Morgan for many days.
Then it happened. Random turned up and Morgan wasn't there. The routine, like the blows of the hammer were silent.
He searched and couldn't find Morgan until he'd almost given up. It was then he heard it - the music. There was a room, not much used that housed a piano. A piano being used to play a soft, melancholy ballad that Random almost recognised.
"You might have told me," Random said, pushing open the door and finding a not quite sober Morgan, his hands drifting idly over the keys making a lie out of the difficulty of the piece.
"Told you what?"
"That you wouldn't be there."
"Why's that?" Morgan asked, throwing a dark and troubled glance towards Random.
"Because..." Random paused, thrown by the look in those eyes. "What's up?"
"Now, you're paranoid, kid. I'm taking a break, a rest day."
But at least Morgan stood up and stopped playing the infuriatingly slushy melody. He poured himself and then Random a drink.
"It's a woman," he said.
"Oh." Random plumped himself down by Morgan. "That's bad?"
"Yeah. It is when you can't stop thinking about her, when she's gotten right inside you."
Silence, then Morgan picked up the wine bottle and headed for the door. "I'm gonna go for a walk."
Random stood too.
"Alone," Morgan added and shut the door.
A minute later, Random was after him, tailing after him. He didn't believe it, it couldn't be that. Morgan was covering, setting up some other meeting and Random wanted to know what. It could prove useful.
Morgan left the castle gardens and strode to the upper slopes of Kolvir, disappearing into trees. Random followed quietly. Now he'd find out.
A couple of hours later, Random had. He'd watched Morgan get
quietly and efficiently pissed, whilst staring out over the sea.
**********
Next day, it was all back to normal. Morgan brought him along to the tavern, to a card game and the brawl that followed. He hadn't done it before, but he did it now, and again and again. So it wasn't quite the same; it was better. Morgan never mentioned the day before and Random didn't bring it up.
But occasionally, when Morgan paused and got that dark, distracted look that cost him a hand at poker, or a morning's work at the forge, Random knew what his friend was thinking and how much it drove him into the ground to think it.
It wasn't good. It was wrong.
So wrong, that the vision stayed with Random for a very long time afterwards.