by Allan Joyal
I raised my hand. "I'm the leader. We are a group called Daytona Trading. My name is Ron."
I started to fumble with my belt pouches, trying to remember which one contained the token we had received from the guard after our descent out of the mountains. The bald man stared at me. "Can you prove that?" he demanded. "And what are you trading?"
I had figured out which pouch contained the token and was working to get it open. Heather glared at the man. "I assure you that we aren't trading anything illicit," she snarled.
I put a hand on her shoulder as I finally fished the token out of the pouch and held it out for the man to view. "Calm down, Heather. You have to admit that it's probably very unusual for any trading group to travel in winter. Sir, as for what we have to trade, this group is actually supposed to be founding a new enclave once the snows melt, and we are heading to the location we chose. The goods we are carrying are to help found the enclave. I do not believe we have much to trade."
The man studied the token and then pushed it back into my hands. "We want no trouble here."
"We don't want to cause any," I responded. "All we want is a place to spend a couple of nights so we can rest up a little, and then we'll be on our way."
"Can you pay for that?" the man asked.
Before I could answer, Shaylin dashed in. She had a huge smile on her face as she raced up to the table and set a glowing stone on the table. "I did it!" she cried. "I never cast the enchantment for an Everlight stone before, but it worked!"
The bald man looked down at the stone on the table. I was looking at it as well and had to smile. The glow from the oblong rock was not as harsh as the glare from the crystal. Still our corner of the inn's common room was now well lit and I could see the rest of the group looking down at the stone in awe.
"Wonderful job!" Esme said. Shaylin was standing just behind her so the former coed picked her up and set her on the bench. "We knew you could do it!"
I saw Lydia walk out from the hallway. She moved slower as she came around the table. As she got right behind me, she bent down between Heather and me to whisper. "She actually made two. After she made the first, she started to worry that the innkeeper would want it, so she made another for us."
"How is she?" I asked.
Lydia glanced over at the girl, who was being tickled by Esme and Natalie. "It took quite a bit out of her," Lydia admitted. "I don't think she can do any more magic today. But she's very happy."
The bald man had turned away from the table. His shoulders shook. It appeared that he was waving to someone we could not see. I was watching this when Gertrilla pinched me.
I turned to the girl. She grabbed my arm and thrust the handle of my spear into my hand. "You gave this to me when you picked me up," she said. "You might need it now."
"Huh?" I responded as Roldophic walked up to the table. He had a puzzled expression on his face that turned greedy as the bald man whispered in his ear. Both men were gazing on the stone. Avarice gleamed in their eyes as the bald man spoke again.
"I haven't heard of any female wizards. In fact I thought the academy declared that a woman using magic was to be killed," he said with a sneer.
I stood up, shifting the spear to point it directly at the bald man. Beside me, Steve jumped up, bringing up the hammer. He must have had it sitting between his feet on the stone floor. Hencktor turned to the wall as he rose. When he faced the two villagers, he had the dwarven axe in his hands.
The women had not been idle. Victoria and Kariy had burst from their seats and run around the men. Both drew knives and dropped into a crouch.
"Well now," I said. "That's not exactly friendly talk. We come in to rest and you hint that you'll bring wizards into our relationship."
Roldophic was sweating. He tried to back up, but Kariy poked him with her knife, causing him to stumble forward. "Hold now!" the man moaned. "I thought you said you weren't here to cause trouble."
"We didn't cause it," Victoria said. The woman's monotone response sent chills up my spine. "Your friend did when he brought the wizards into it."
"He just spoke fact," Roldophic moaned. "Legend says that it was a woman who developed the spells used to cause the fall of the Empire. The wizards say that females are unfit to wield magic."
"That may be true, but to us it sounded like a threat against one of our company," I said coldly. "The sad thing is, we were going to offer to trade the stone for the two nights and food. Now I wonder if we should demand the two nights as compensation for the insult."
The bald man scowled. "I knew you were a bunch of bandits," he muttered.
Victoria moved forward and put the point of her dagger against his back. "We haven't robbed you yet," she hissed. "And I don't think we are inclined to do that despite the insult."
"Victoria," I said as I raised my left hand from the spear. "Peace. Roldophic appears to understand the situation better than the village headman here. I think we can work out something. If we hurt either one, we'd need to be prepared to flee, and I expect our token would be revoked the instant a messenger reached the traders guild. But now, if they complain, all they can say is that we took insult after they openly disrespected us."
"I never," the bald man hissed, leaning away from Victoria, who stepped back. He swung his arm behind him, but struck nothing.
"Stopped beating on his wife?" Lydia stage whispered to the group. Everyone laughed nervously as Lydia stood up. She had a look of disdain on her face that actually made Roldophic step back. The bald man was a bit tougher, but he seemed to shrink as Lydia continued to glare at him.
The man was looking around for support when Lydia took a step forward. Her head only came to the man's nose, but he seemed smaller than my friend as she walked up to him. "You!" she spat. "You are the worst example of a friendly villager. We came here in the middle of the winter and asked for two nights of peace and quiet. One of our members happens to perform a bit of magic and you just happen to mention that the wizards have decreed she should be killed. Then you try to act like we shouldn't protect her? Now, that stone was going to be our payment to the village for our stay. And unlike certain dishonorable people I won't mention, we plan on keeping our end of the bargain. So here is how it will work. We are tired and need a day to organize our goods. We'll stay in this inn tonight and tomorrow. During that time, the innkeeper will provide food and drink. Then we'll leave in peace and leave behind the stone that you want so badly."
Roldophic turned to the bald man. "Don't say anything!"
"But!" the bald man spat. "They insulted me!"
"You insulted them first," Roldophic said. "And that stone is worth far more than the two days of rest they demand."
The bald man refused to budge. He pointed angrily at Shaylin. "That girl used magic!"
"And?" I asked. "We won't talk about it to the rest of the village, so if you and Roldophic say nothing, it won't matter once we leave. You'll have a … what did you call it? … an Everlight stone and have obtained it for far less than it would cost you to purchase it from the wizards. Do you really want to fight us when you can say nothing and get everything you want?"
"There are a lot of goods on those sleds," the bald man pointed out.
"Seeds, food, a few tools," I said with a shrug. "None of it would be different than what you already have. We obtained it at the Wizards Academy city just a few days ago."
The bald man frowned, but Roldophic turned and put a hand on the man's chest. "Damn it!" he shouted. "Do you know why so few caravans use this road now? I do. I talk to the itinerant traders who come by with their carts. The caravans all talk about how you keep trying to find reasons to take items for free rather than pay a fair price. These people are saying they'll leave us a stone I couldn't purchase with all the profits the inn had made this year and you are muttering about taking more?"
The innkeeper kept his hand on the bald man's chest as he turned his head toward the area he had emerged from. "Ruta!" he shouted. "Can you go around and tell the ot
hers that we need a village conclave? I think it's time we elected a new headman."
A stout woman in tattered clothing emerged from the back and ran out of the inn through the front door. The bald man was shaking a little. He had both of his hands on the arm that Roldophic had placed against his chest.
"That's not necessary," the bald man whined. "I'm just doing my duty to the village. We need goods, and the traders we do see charge unfair prices."
"Because you refuse to treat them well," Roldophic snarled. "Have you noticed that no trader has spent the night in my inn for the last two years? Most won't even bring their wagons into the village. They stay out on the road and trade there. What little profit I get is because they'll pay for hot food and good ale to be brought out to them."
"If you'd rather be paid in silver, I'm sure we can come to an arrangement," I said. "It sounds like your village is poor, and this might be too valuable for your village to benefit from it."
Roldophic shook his head. "If I wasn't having to burn pig fat for my oil lamps, more people might enjoy spending a night in my rooms. I also have this toad thinking that his job is to confiscate the cart of any trader who makes the mistake of visiting. Without him driving away merchants, I'd have customers all summer and fall. That stone might finally get the others to see that our problems are caused by one overbearing man who thinks he knows best."
The bald man shook his head. "My family founded this village. You wouldn't even have the inn if my great-grandfather hadn't salvaged that Empire water-catcher."
"You farm the least land of anyone in the village, and it's Tozlin that keeps the water-catcher working," Roldophic snarled. "Now let's go outside to wait for the others."
The innkeeper looked at the table. "I'm sorry about this. My children will serve you. They should have the bread out here in a moment."
There was a brief struggle as the bald man heaved at the arm pushing against him. Roldophic merely grabbed the man's shoulder and spun him around before pinning one of his hands against the small of his back. He frog-marched the bald man out the door. We could hear angry voices in the distance.
I sighed as the others returned to their seats. Steve spoke first as he sat up after placing the hammer back on the floor. "The bald man might be trouble."
"The joys of nepotism and family ties," I said. "We'll have to guard things both nights. And here I hoped we could get a full night's sleep."
"What will he do?" Aine asked. "It sounds like he's not popular in the village."
Heather put a hand on my arm. I looked at her, but she shook her head. "Allow me," she mouthed.
The young blond turned to look at Aine. "The problem is that the bald man is like the young man in school who was for a long time the most popular kid in the class. If you suddenly make that kid into an outcast, he is going to blame someone for his fall, and it won't mean he blames himself," Heather said.
Aine looked puzzled. "How would you know? It doesn't make sense that he'd blame us."
Heather sighed. "It doesn't have to make sense. But I saw something similar happen at my high school. We had this one jock who was a star running back his sophomore and junior year. He also started on the basketball team and played baseball in the spring. A lot of the students all but worshipped him."
"I can see where this is going," Al muttered.
Heather smiled sweetly. "Well, why don't you finish it?"
Al coughed. At that time, two boys of about fourteen years came out with a large wooden tray. Thin strips of bread were piled high on the tray. The boys moved around and set the tray on the center of the table. "Pitchers will be a moment," one muttered before both ran away.
Aine was looking over at Al. He gazed at Heather for a moment and then shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't go to school with Heather, but I can almost picture the situation. I'm sure she'll correct me if I get it wrong. She mentioned that the guy who was the top dog at school was a starter for the sports teams his sophomore and junior years. So what probably happened is that someone transferred in after the junior year. The new person either played the same position, or was talented enough to change the way the teams played. The old guy probably also wasn't practicing hard anymore so the new guy quickly became the new star of the school." Al paused and looked at Heather.
Heather nodded. "It was Trevor Hilson. He was this incredibly strong-armed quarterback, but could actually run faster than Devon Moses, who had been the king of the school. Devon was upset after the first game when Trevor actually ran for more yards than him during the game. We started to hear that we was sulking in practice and not putting in full effort. By the fifth game, he was no longer starting. It came to a head at homecoming, when he attacked Trevor during the crowning of the homecoming king at halftime."
Aine looked over at the door. "So in here, the bald man ... ."
"Would be the former star," Heather said with a nod. "So we have to be careful."
Just then the boys came back. They had pitchers in their hands. The first boy to arrive walked near the wall and dropped his two pitchers at the far end of the table. The other boy stopped at the other end and set them down at the table's edge.
"It's my father's brew," the boy said. "He says it won an award at a spring faire in the Wizard City before I was born."
"Thank you," I replied. "Do you know how long until the roast goose is ready?"
"Mother put three geese into our oven before she came out here," the boy replied. "It will still be a while."
I nodded. "Thanks again."
The boy turned and ran for the back of the inn. I looked at the tray and found that almost half of the bread had been claimed by someone. I selected two pieces and pulled them from the tray.
"It's good," Esme said. "It tastes like some kind of nut was mixed into the batter."
"It is nice, but I wish we had some olive oil to dip it in," Natalie said quietly.
"Oh, I loved watching cooking shows where they used olive oil," Jennifer said. "Are we going to be able to make it?"
"We don't have any seeds or seedlings for olive trees," I said. "And I can't promise we'll find any. The weather around here with the extreme cold during the winter is not what olive trees like."
Jennifer looked over at Natalie, who nodded in agreement. "He's right. Olives don't grow well in the cold."
"We just have to set up our colony in a warmer place then," Jennifer said.
"Do you even know how to use olive oil in cooking?" Lydia asked. "I thought you were still learning how to cook."
Jennifer stared at the table. She was blushing slightly. The rest of the group laughed at her antics as we concentrated on nibbling on the bread.
Everyone concentrated on eating for the next few moments. Hencktor was the first to try the ale. He shrugged after taking the first sip. "It's drinkable," he said.
I filled a tankard with some of the ale. It proved to be almost tasteless, but it soothed my throat. I took the time to look over at Hencktor. "Had anyone disturbed the sleds?"
"No," Hencktor said. "Everything was untouched. I did tie furs over the sleds to help prevent things from being taken."
"What about the other items the dwarves gave us?" Lydia asked.
"I keep them in a pouch," I said. "They're too valuable to leave unwatched. There isn't much left, one more vial of glow grass and six mithril nuggets."
Everyone nodded and returned to eating and drinking. We were waiting for the roast goose, but as the bread disappeared some of the group decided to leave the table.
Aine and Natalie were the first to request to leave. Natalie's leg was aching and she wanted to lie down and take all pressure off the muscles. Aine had been pulling the sleds every day, and even though she had never completed a full cycle of positions, her back and shoulders tightened up as she sat at the table. Esme accompanied them, promising to massage hurting muscles once they were alone in our room. Al soon followed saying he wanted to see if Esme could massage a sore shoulder. Jennifer was the last to leave, she was
fighting to keep from yawning and after putting her head down on the table, decided to go and lie down.
I sat with Gertrilla to my left and Shaylin across from us. Shaylin had been quiet when Roldophic pushed the bald man out of the inn, but was now teasing Gertrilla about how one of the boys working at the inn had stared at her when bringing out another tray of bread. Lydia and Victoria looked on as the two preteen girls giggled and blushed.
Kariy had examined the bread but said nothing, and after watching the girls for a few minutes said she wanted to lie down. This left Steve, Hencktor, Heather and me sipping on the ale and sitting quietly while we waited for the roast goose to be served. We were still sitting there when Roldophic returned to the inn with his wife and two others.
The other two men were wearing threadbare outfits of some kind of thick cloth. The knees of the outfits were torn, and the shirts they were wearing stretched and twisted at the shoulders. Their skin was a bit pale from the cold outside, and they drifted close to the inn's kitchen. Roldophic came over to the table with his wife. He looked around with a puzzled expression on his face.
"Where are the others?" he asked.
"Resting in one of the rooms you allowed us to use," I replied. "We were told that the roast goose is not yet ready, so they decided to lie down while we wait."
Roldophic nodded. "I guess that makes sense. Just to let you know, the man in here earlier won't be a problem. He was taken to his home and will be kept there until you leave."
"I hope that won't cause any trouble for the village," I said. "We want to avoid problems."
Roldophic laughed. "Trouble? Everyone has wanted to remove that man from the headman position for the last three years. We just could never agree that it was time."
"Will there be any problem with the trade of your rooms and food for the stone?" I asked. "Are you going to be short of food because of the trade?"
"Not a chance," Roldophic said. "For some reason the bandits didn't bother us this year, so we could harvest some fields we usually abandon and leave to the army. Our storehouses are full. This trade is of more benefit to us than to you."