Second Sons (Xavier)

“Life's hard for bastards, thieves, and second sons ain't that right, Xavier?” A guard whom I've come to know well asks as we stand guard on the walls of Daggerfall. “That's probably the most right thing I've heard all night Rolf. You and I'd know better than most.” He grins slyly and takes a sip of his drink “To think there's a lowborn bastard and the eternal champion on guard duty, common folk probably couldn't imagine it!” I look to him “The lords probably couldn't imagine it...though most of them still think the eternal champion is some strong muscly fellow and the Dragonborn is an armor clad Nordic man. Can you imagine what would happen if Anna and I walked into a meeting with the lords of tamriel? They’d be outraged at the fact their countries were saved by the bookish second son of a carpenter and a Mage girl who happened to already like dragons.” Rolf and I laugh at the imagery of the kings, queens, and lords in their amusing fright. At midnight the guards shift places and we change sides of the wall. The two of us walk along the wall looking out to the Iliac bay. “So how’d you become a guard anyways? Weren't you a thief?” Rolf rolls his eyes “Always so many questions from you, Stephenson. But I'll tell ya. I was born in an ally off the road to the castle, closest I've ever come to royalty since. My father was the tax master and my mother was a...well you don't need to know what she was.” He pauses and clears his throat before continuing the story, “Anyways, she died when I was little. Grew up a street urchin like most of the population back then. I did have a brother but he was true born unlike me. Eventually I turned to stealing, but that's a crime in most of the world...except maybe parts of Morrowind”. He looks to me for clarification due to my friends in the country. “Yes Morrowind has government run Assassination and Thievery guilds. Is that good? Depends who you ask.” Rolf stares at me blankly. “Well Morrowind's a strange fucking place but the Dunmer know what they're doing I'll give ‘em that. But my brother yeah, true born kid three years older than me. Total prick that kids always was, always the favorite, got whatever he wanted and all the validation in the world. And all because he happened to be born first. In fact it was him I'd sometimes steal from. That's the reason I'm a guard actually. I stole a necklace from his bride to be and he called our father, of course the man was pissed, both of them and the lady.” He points to a scar on his right cheek “She came at me with a knife and did this before anybody stopped her. And while my brother and my father couldn't kill me, or ship me off somewhere for fear of ruining the family name, they could make me a guard. Kill two birds with one stone. Help out defenses and turn me into a mostly law abiding lad. Been here ever since.” Rolf takes out his sword and swings it a few times, slicing the air “they taught me how to swing a sword well that's for sure.” I take the sword from him and test its weight. It's iron forged instead of steel but it seems to be made well enough. “Bit too heavy in hand for me but it's a nice sword.” He takes it and puts it back in the scabbard at his side “Eh, you and your friends all either use staffs or spells or shortswords. Except for those twins they use slightly bigger ones, but in comparison they're nothing to a war hammer or something. So, I told you my story, you gonna tell me yours?” I ponder the question for a moment. “I don't see any reason not to. we’re going to be here for awhile. Might as well make ourselves comfortable.” Rolf and I sit with our legs hanging off the wall staring out at the bay and the Direnni tower, fleets of ships lay at harbor with the occasional trading ship coming or going from Summerset Isle or Hammerfell. “I happen to not only be the second son in our family but I happen to also be the youngest child of three.” I begin explaining to Rolf who listens attentively. “And to make things worse my birth was rather traumatic, causing me to have Cerebral Palsy, and a few other issues. I grew up liking rather feminine things, and still do but that's because I'm genderfluid. My brother Andrew, the oldest of the three of us, excelled at sports for all the times I lacked horribly. I was much more well suited with books, maps, and things of that sort.” Rolf pats me on the back “Good man! Education is the best weapon! And if you were my kid I would have let you do as you wish, in the scheme of things being good at sports isn't that big of a deal. Now knowledge, that's a real achievement.” Rolf didn't learn to read until he was in late teenage years and didn't learn to write until his early twenties. “I was always a thorn in my father's side, always the disappoint always the family insult or the odd one out. Andrew and Julianna got all the attention while I sat in the kitchen with my mother and my dog. So you're right, life's hard for second sons…”


I started writing this a few weeks ago at some hour of the night and decided to stick with it. Who likes Rolf the Guard? I, for one do. And it's good to have Xavier back after a long time. He pops into my head fairly regularly as well as the others just rarely shows in type or on paper. Do you have anything you'd like to see him with, prompts or anything?

Until next time,
Max