It was strange, how time managed to both slide through one’s fingers like water and stretch on in taffy strands, sticky with emotion and worry. Pavak lounged in the shade of the impressive Keep, arms crossed lazily and eyes sleepily half closed. To the casual observer he appeared just another bored recruit, ticking the minutes off as he waited for direction, but he was keenly aware of everything around him. It had been a whim almost, to put his name on the list tacked outside the Keep, a sort of joke he’d played on himself and hadn’t really intended to follow through with. But when the first threads of dawn wove themselves between his shutter slats that morning, his restless feet had pulled him out and to this place of activity. Perhaps they knew, better than his brain, that he desperately needed direction right now.
Wardens and servants scurried to and fro, making last minute preparations, and Pavak had received his portion of supplies earlier from the quartermaster. A new pack sat at his feet, filled with the novelties of rations, a bedroll, spare cloak and more. He had little in the way of personal items to place in it, a pang of regret needling him as he thought of all the trinkets and mementos he’d been forced to leave behind in Dairsmuid. Idly he fingered the curved dagger strapped to the belt slung around his hips, the only thing of value he’d managed to bring with him. It had been his mentor Giri’s, and he’d’ taken it off his cooling body when he’d found the elder man dead in his bed. The passing weeks he’d worked to attune it to himself and the Fade, and it tingled at his touch with the electric promise of magic. To the casual observer, however, it was merely a weapon albeit more ornate than most.
The cat in him wanted to pace, restless energy burning through his veins, but he forced the impulse down and remained where he stood, languid and motionless. Purposeless movement did not convey confidence, and above all else he had to maintain appearances here. Who knew what manner of companions he would be assigned on this journey. First impressions were all he had at this point, in this strange land, and he was determined to make a good one.