Magicals Epic Ideas (Seeking F)

[MagicalPen]

These ideas are more epic in scale then my other thread of ideas.

The Mercenary and the Boy

Richard, at 17 years old, had never been further from home then the nearby village. His parents owned The Wayfarers Inn at a crossroads a few hours from the village. It could house up to 30, though rarely did so, and had an equally large stables outside. A vegetable patch provided fresh vegetables and a small wheat farm provided ample flour for bread - once the Miller had picked it up and churned it. Between his father, mother, and himself, Richard was always busy doing some form of work. Of course, he lived for the evenings, when guests from far and wide would come. He had seen many interesting people and many beautiful girls coming through those oak doors. He heard many stories and fairytales and knew most of the songs the bards would sing by heart now.

Tonight, everything was going to change. It was a quiet night and four riders approached. Richard ran out to tend to their horses and they paid him no heed. They all wore cloaks though it was a warm night, their hoods up. When Richard returned to the Inn, the four men were the only ones inside. They had taken residence in the darkest corner of the room and two of the men had thrown their hoods back. If not for a jagged scar on one, their faces would not be memorable. But Richards father had taught him well, looking for signs of wealth by looking for insignia. 

He tried to listen into their conversation but they always went quiet when he came close. His parents sent him on an errand to the barn and it was there that the trouble began. He was daydreaming in the hay on the loft when he heard voices below. He listened with growing horror to their conversation. A cramp in his leg forced him to move and one of the men heard him. When called out, Richard moved down the ladder to stand before them. The next words he heard one man say, however, sent him running for the for the Inn.

A blinding pain in his shoulder sent him sprawling to the ground and he blacked out even as flames began to lick the roof of the Inn.

[Looking for an older woman in the 25 - 35 age range, like the one pictured, a Mercenary, to come upon Richards near lifeless form. Something about him makes her help him out and save him. When he relays the story to her, however, she knows the men he is talking about and knows that the Kingdom is at stake. But the boy won't leave her and wants his own revenge. I would like her to take him under her wing, a relationship developing between them. Rough and tumble from point to point, but she ends up being the first woman to sleep with him - way down the line in this adventure.]