caged robin

Abner woke up.

As usual, it was the sound of birdsong that woke him from his chaotic dreams.

The clear eyelids trembled slightly, and the long and narrow eyes opened slightly, revealing a pool of peacock-blue stream.

The king of Black Rock City, Melvey Kasdey, once spoke well of him in the hunting ground of Silver Bow City. At that time, he had just ascended the throne and was invited to the spring hunting in Silver Bow City.Abner was 13 years old, and he helped to pour wine for the princes of the Black Rock Kingdom. The wine was made from the white grapes of Cargallos. The silver cup of fine wine was paired with the Huamao youth. At a glance, the king was fascinated and drunk, and gave it to him with a wave of his hand. bought a whole set of excellent glassware from Abner.He was also very popular with poetry, and the historians on the left and right hurriedly recorded, and probably only understood a small sentence among the upside-down and chaotic praises:

"A young man with bright eyes, prosperous and prosperous, is the beloved son of all kings."

After knowing that Abner is the eldest son of Duke Kut Apocassery, the prince of Silverbow City, and will inherit his father's duke title in the future, he even considered getting his 10-year-old daughter engaged to him.At this time, Earl Adair Caroline, who had a close relationship with him, reminded in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, everyone in Silver Bow City knows he is an idiot."

Fortunately, the king of Black Rock City didn't say anything, and almost made a big joke.But he still looked at the boy who was pouring wine not far away, lowered his brows and smiled slightly, without the slightest foolishness.

The earl continued: "To be precise, I'm an idiot. I can't do archery, horse riding, and fencing. I can't even memorize Chapter 1 of the "Red Dragon Bible". The best three things in my life are drinking, walking birds, and visiting brothels. .”

King Melvey took a sip of his wine and laughed, "It's really hard for him to be 13 years old."

"My lords," the count followed the king with a polite smile, "I never smelled a woman's instep when I was thirteen."

The count continued: "I'm afraid he inherited his mother, no matter how much he puts swan feathers on his body, he is still a wild duck."

King Melvey frowned slightly. Although he was the lord of the city, he was also a gentleman, and he was not satisfied with the earl's contemptuous tone.

The count glanced at Abner, who was standing docilely beside his father Kurt, and lowered his voice: "It is said that the young master's mother is a dancer, who has no relatives and no reason, and scratches on the dirty stage every day. She flirted with her, and for some reason, she hooked up with the Apocaceri family. At that time, Lord Apocaceri had not inherited the title, so he insisted on marrying her back home."

"Married?" asked the King in amazement, for he had never heard such absurdities.

"No, my lords, the old duke's old face was completely humiliated, and he insisted on not allowing the dancing girl to enter the house. She lived outside the city for a year and gave birth to Master Abner. The old duke took the young master away. , the dancing girl was still not allowed to enter the house, and later the dancing girl caught the cold and died soon. The young master was sweet-mouthed and smart-looking, his eyebrows and eyes were carved out of the dancing girl's model, and his nose and mouth looked like Lord Apocatheri, the old prince I treasure it from the bottom of my heart, and I still held his hand tightly before I died."

The king was silent for a while, and asked, "Then the Duchess now?"

"Riya Rolek from the Rolek family."

"Isn't Roleke the richest family in Blue Spring City?"

"It's exactly 'Gold is flowing everywhere, and the country is as rich as an enemy'."

"I've never heard of Rhea Rollecker."

"I've never heard of it before. Lord Rolek has many sons and daughters, and this Rhea is not outstanding. I don't know why she has such a blessing to marry the Duke of Apocassery. At the beginning, we all thought it should be the eldest son of Earl Rolek. Female Tanise, this is really a beauty, she can recite poems, compose poems, embroider and play the piano, she is proficient in everything, and she is just about the age to be married. And Rhea Rorek may have just had her period."

……

Although he has woken up, Abner still doesn't remember that this morning he dreamed that he was running in the valley again, still looking for that mysterious man, and every time he was about to find it, the figure of that man drifted away like a wisp of smoke .

He continued to close his eyes, trying to catch the afterimage of that person in his mind.

The man had an overly tall back, long black hair, and a long silver-black cloak that fluttered in the wind, revealing lacquer-colored high boots. He walked in the lush mountain forest with steady steps, and the forest wind was rustling, giving him an air of majesty for no reason. ... He anxiously wanted to call out to the man, but no sound came out of his throat. As soon as he hurriedly stretched out his hand, the man's shadow was blurred.

Damn it, Abner opened his eyes in frustration, why do I keep looking for this stranger?

Chirping birds flocked together, occasionally brushing past the laurel tree outside the window, its bright, slender leaves trembling.A blue tit came in and circled above Abner's head.

"Okay, okay, I see, I'll get up now." Abner took a deep breath, rubbed his eyes, and in front of him a bird with blue feathers and green eyes was standing on his quilt, opening its yellow bird Its beak chirped, and a handful of white feathers quivered slightly on its chest.

"Goddess, you should lose some weight, it hurts my neck." Abner poked the goddess' fat stomach, causing it to peck at his light brown hair in dissatisfaction.

Abner stroked the goddess's feathers, and suddenly remembered something important. He looked around, but there was nothing. He hurriedly lifted the quilt, and the silk bed sheet printed with cornflowers was empty except for his slender legs.

"big cat!"

Abner jumped out of bed in a hurry, opened the heavy silk and satin curtains, and the morning breeze mixed with the smell of grass and trees rushed towards his face, his light brown hair was shining with silver, and brushed softly behind his head, revealing his clear and clear eyes. eyes.

The flocks of birds had already flown towards him and surrounded him densely.

"Have you seen the big cat? It's a black cat that's almost as long and as big as I just brought last night. Its hair is as bright as black agate." Abner spread his arms, about two feet long.

The birds chirped to each other, as if they were looking at each other.

"It's really that big! It's a cat!" Ebner was eager to refute the denials of the birds, leaning down from the window, looking for any fresh broken branches and leaves, but found no clues.So he decided to climb down and have a look.

He looked at the laurel tree by the window, which hadn't bloomed yet in this season, and its lush leaves were layered.The tall tree trunk reached the room on the upper floor, which was the room of his father—Duke Kurt Apocassery. If there was too much movement, it would arouse his father's suspicion, but his father, as Wang Fu who was busy with business, had already Time to wake up.

All in all, it's a decent climber.

He briskly climbed onto the window sill, clinging to the rough stone wall with his left hand and left foot, and stretched out his right hand to the thick branch. The beautiful arc, like a bird landing steadily on the tree, the laurel tree only shook a few times before quieting down.Holding the tree trunk, he cautiously stretched his legs down, and then stepped firmly on the lower branch.The bright dawn light cast shadows on his fine linen pajamas through the mottled leaves.

Suddenly a "meow" came from the top of his head, and he looked up subconsciously, only to see a fat orange cat angry at him with a big face, and its hair was blown all over, probably invading its territory.He slipped suddenly and fell from the tree trunk. Fortunately, the tree was not too tall, and there were several layers of branches as a buffer, and a bird's nest was also dropped by the way.

At this time, he was lying flat on the lawn under the tree. Except for his calf being hot, which was probably cut by a branch, there was no major problem. The bird's nest hit his back, and all the eggs rolled out.A flock of birds flew down in a hurry, chirping all around him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Abner sat up, wiped the weed juice off his face with one hand, and the tit named Goddess pecked at his head.

Abner hurriedly picked up the bird's eggs into the nest and put the goddess in, "Sorry, I'll make you a new bird's nest."

The goddess sat on the bird's egg, chirping, and seemed satisfied.

"Ghosts? Ridiculous! I don't allow such things to happen in Silver Bow City. It must be dealt with as soon as possible." A serious and slightly angry voice came from the stone wall behind him. It should be Rota Marger, the king of Silver Bow City. During the day, he listened to the doctor's advice, and he would always take a turn in Duolun Palace in the morning, as if this would offset the double portion of venison he ate every morning.

Abner picked up the bird's nest and hurriedly hid under the laurel tree, the sound of footsteps and voices getting closer and closer.

"Obey." This sonorous and forceful voice would immediately remind people of a galloping knight.Abner poked his head quietly, and it turned out to be Vince Brand, the sword-clothed knight commander of Silver Bow City, wearing a black robe, black boots, a sword at his waist, and an indelible solemnity between his brows.

"Stand back." After King Rota finished speaking, Wen Si saluted and turned to leave.

"Coot!" Suddenly the king turned and shouted to those behind him.

Abner was startled, that was his father, why is he hanging out here too?He looked down at his dirty pajamas, feet covered in dust and grass juice, feeling a little embarrassed.

Soon Kurt walked with the king, chatting about gossip, what about the good grape harvest in Cargallos, the daughter of Lord Adair Caroline to be married, and the shooting of Prince Hall Sirieux of Blue Spring City. A deer... Suddenly the king mentions Abner:

"Abner is almost 16, I remember he was a little younger than Sean."

"It's coming of age next month."

"Haha, aren't you going to consider a marriage for him?"

Abner's breathing stagnated.

"Let's go with Ai Wen, he's still young." Ai Wen was Abner's nickname, and Abner's heart moved.

"I'm afraid he doesn't think of himself as a child, but well, I understand at this age." The king smiled lightly, implying that Abner knew everything, the roots of his ears suddenly turned red, and he poked his head out quietly, rushing Don't shut up while watching the king's back.

"I don't believe those rumors, Your Majesty."

"Hahaha, you can't let the child grow up..."

The voices of the king and his father faded away. Abner stood out from behind the tree. He looked up with the bird's nest in his arms and sighed. The tree can be climbed from the top to the bottom, but it is difficult to climb from the bottom to the top. At least one pair of pajamas must be scrapped and a layer of skin peeled off, and a lecture from Mr. Alvin, the housekeeper, is inevitable, but the most annoying thing is that Mrs. Apocatheri will laugh contemptuously before notifying his father.

So he whistled with one hand, and a flock of birds flew to him. He picked up a leaf, folded it, put it to his lips, and whistled a little bit, not very sweet, but very clear, and the birds heard it. It flew away quickly.Then he sat quietly on the lawn to mend the bird's nest for the "Goddess".

After a while, he heard the sound of approaching birdsong, as well as the sound of running footsteps and panting.He stood up, raised the laurel leaf in his hand and waved it excitedly at the person who came.

But when the visitor saw his attire, his face turned black, and he threw the clothes in his hand at him.