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You focus on the lady knight, and your gaze drift. Having her in your lair actually help finding your focus, a point far away in both space - border between Inair duchedom and Sonnstahl empire, empire side - and time - around your birth.
Inair is the most prosperous duchedom thanks to the breeders of Hippogriffs and commercial ties with the empire.
Paradoxically, the land is riddled with bandits in consequences of the lack of monster and the difficulty of getting Knights to focus on fighting non-corrupted humans in a world with lizardmen, goblins and chaos beasts.
The border with the empire gather a lot of deserters from the empire side, looking for an easier life as a Knight, and often resorting to banditism from imperial refugees that don't make the cut.
But enough about the far Kingdom of Equitaine, where your mother Valérie grew, and the tales about knights in shining armor, giving anybody a chance to shine by their own merit.
You can't help but wonder how much of thoses merits are simple consequence of knight children studying the blade and getting proper plate armor when commoner would be lucky to have a steel shield in addiiton to their sword.
You are a young lady, getting ready for Spring's equinox ball. Mainly, walking home with the fabric in which you plan to make your dress. Not that you care about the ball itself, but your father is getting old and another man would definitely reduce your own share of work in the fields to feed your mother, your sisters and yourself.
That would prove itself a challenge : you know most of the young men around. Finding someone not being a runt with at the same time a functional brain, and a minimal human quality will be impossible; standards will have to be lowered.
You are driven out of the unpleasant peasant thoughts. Is that smoke? You rush to your home.
