Fortunately, they made it back to the inn before Sylvie could buy out half of the market. They’d ended up with a total of thirty bolts of cloth, two cases of white wine, two bags of saffron, a bag of glass beads, and seven large spools of thread that Sylvie was positive would sell instantly on the market. He loaded it all into Sylvie’s room with a sigh of relief before going back down the stairs and heading straight for a table in the main room. He needed lunch desperately. His stomach was threatening mutiny if he didn’t feed it soon.
Basically everyone was at the table except Wolf, who was likely still recovering upstairs.
“I ordered lunch while waiting on you,” Siobhan volunteered.
“Bless you,” he responded fervently as he took the seat next to her, which made her smile. “Shopping with you two is hungry work.”
“You were very patient with us. I do appreciate that.”
“I stand to profit handsomely from today,” he pointed out, reaching for the bowls in the middle and loading up his plate with what looked to be delectable food.
“And arranging a signal with Sylvie, pretending to be a husband to her when she needs protection, is that because you’ll profit as well?” There was a knowing tone in her voice. “Jumping into a cold, swift river to save a man when you yourself are not a confident swimmer, I suppose that’s also for your own profit? Tran, I do not need a month to evaluate how you will fit into this guild. If you want a place here, it’s yours.”
His mouth flapped open and closed, lost for words. Uncertain, he glanced at the other faces around the table.
“You had my vote from the get-go,” Sylvie informed him, grinning.
Grae didn’t say anything, just smiled and inclined his head toward Siobhan, silently stating that he agreed with her. Fei nodded, supporting this, although with his mouth full he didn’t try to speak either.
Beirly was on his right side, and he clapped a hand on Tran’s back. “The way you fight and work, we would be at a loss without you. So say you’ll stay, Tran.”
Feeling warm, truly warm, for the first time that day, Tran beamed at them. “I’ll stay.”
Epilogue
In the spirit of Wynngaardian story-telling (which this was), Tran ended with, “And that is the story of Tran Amar.”
“It was a fine telling, and I thank ya for it,” Rune responded promptly. He mulled it over for a moment before offering, “Was that really all there was to it? They liked you because you were as big as Wolf-dog and were quick to react?”
“That and I got along with most of the guild just fine,” Tran admitted easily. “They were desperately short on enforcers, especially when taking on the larger jobs, and Siobhan was willing to take any decent fighter that would be good to her people. The fact that I wasn’t lecherous with Sylvie, or cowed by Wolf, helped cement my position with them. Of course, the real trick after Siobhan offered me a permanent place was to figure out how to work with Wolf.”
“Ya fight alongside him all the time,” Rune observed doubtfully.
“That took time,” Tran denied. “At first, the easiest method we found was that we divided duties and didn’t step into each other’s territories. It took a few years before we figured out how to fight back to back like we do now. Shi-maee almost despaired we’d ever get to that point.”
Rune’s brows were twisted up in a dubious manner. “But I’ve seen the two of you go out together?”
Tran chuckled. “Yes, we do. Shi-maee sometimes complains that she liked it better when we didn’t get along as well. Less expensive that way. Of course we all know better. And it’s not like Wolf and I go looking for fights.”
“Sometimes fights just find ya,” Rune stated with perfect understanding.
“Exactly.” Tran walked in companionable silence for a few minutes. “If I hadn’t joined the guild, I might have gotten tired of this life by now. I really do like having a place to return to, and a family to spend time with. As much as I enjoy seeing the world, I wouldn’t have been able to keep working as a caravan guard forever. At the end of my Learning, I might have chosen to return home if not for Deepwoods.”
“Your learning?”
“The Learning,” Tran corrected. “It is what my people call it, roughly, although there’s not a Robargean word that carries the same weight or meaning. It is what we call the period of time when we choose, as teenagers, what path we want to follow. We train in that area and live it out for a decade or so. At thirty, we are given the opportunity to evaluate how we feel about our life and if we are content, we stay. If not, we are given the chance to change to a different path.”
Rune followed this closely. “Aren’t you thirty-two?”
“Indeed I am, this winter. So I must find the time to write home soon and tell them of my decision. I am at the end of my Learning, after all. I kept thinking we’d travel that direction, and I would be able to tell them myself, but apparently that won’t happen soon. I’ll have to write to inform them.” He glanced toward the sleeping camp. “As long as Deepwoods exists, I will not return home. This is my path.”
A deeply contented sound rumbled out of Rune. “I understand.”
“Yes,” Tran gave him a small smile, “I thought you would.”
The Story of Denney Icean and Conli Rorona
Prologue
Denney brought a sack of rocks to Rune’s side and dropped them at his feet, grateful to let go of the thing. “How close are we?”
“Another two thousand ta go,” he told her with a tired grimace. Dropping his voice, he admitted, “Don’t tell anyone this, but I feel like an old man when I stand up.”
Considering he had been heckling Tran last night about moving around like a crotchety old man, that was rich. Not that she didn’t understand why he felt that way. After spending two straight days hunched over, she felt about eighty herself. As she had been working all morning without a break, she flopped onto the grass and drew her canteen out of its side pouch, taking in a healthy swallow. “If this is what it feels like to be old, I’ll pass.”
“I’m with ya.” Rune also sat back, then went flat altogether, groaning as he did. “Owww.”
“Muscles in your back knotting?” she guessed, although it wasn’t much of a guess—that’s what hers was doing.
“And calves.”
“And the insides of your feet, right?”
Rune opened one eye to look at her. “It’s like ya know.”
Unable to decide whether to laugh or groan, she did both. “I do. Trust me, I do.”
Siobhan called out to the whole guild, “Take a break! Who’s on lunch duty?”
Fei and Sylvie raised tired hands. Then, realizing why she asked, started shuffling in that direction.
“Thank all mercy,” Denney sighed, also lying flat. “I thought she’d never let us stop.”
They lay in silence for a moment before Rune spoke, tone a trifle hesitant. “Denney. Can I have your story?”
Denney had grown up in her formative years in Wynngaard. She fully understood what Rune was asking. “I don’t mind. I heard Tran mention that you asked his story last night. Are you collecting all of ours?”
“Part curiosity,” Rune offered, turning his head to look at her. This close, she could see every light blue speck of his eyes mixed in with the darker blue. “But mostly because I feel like I know ya all better after I hear the story.”
It was true, Rune was missing a lot of backstory. Of course that couldn’t be cured in a single day, but telling him how they each came into the guild was likely to be very helpful. Denney also recognized his question as an embryonic attempt to grow closer to all of them. This expression of curiosity was a new one and not one she’d seen much of before. Prior to this, he only asked if it was pertinent to the situation. It delighted her to see the change. “Then let me tell you the story of Denney Icean.”
Chapter One
Denney hated traveling. Hated it. Because of her mixed heritage, she was uncomfortable in both Wynngaard and Tehe
rani. People saw her milky brown skin, blonde hair, blue eyes, and assumed the absolute worst about her. So far, Robarge had been kinder, but even here they’d had trouble. The people in Converse had not been unkind, just unwelcoming. Widstoe hadn’t been much better.
Her uncle’s skills were such that they were always in high demand no matter what city they lived in. But he didn’t want to join just any guild. Conli had to be able to trust that the guild they joined would be kind and protective of her. That was hard to do with the larger guilds, as no guildmaster could keep an eye on every single person when they had over fifty people in their charge. Conli kept hoping for a smaller guild, one with a good reputation, but so far luck hadn’t been with them.
They’d been in Widstoe for over a year and felt more uncomfortable with every passing day. Conli asked around and found an open position in Goldschmidt, which was a much larger city, and thereby had more guilds to choose from. He told her to pack up, which she did, and without a complaint. It’s just that moving meant traveling. Denney didn’t mind seeing new places, but the only safe way for them to travel was to join a caravan and it always seemed like there were a few bad apples in every caravan. Being forced to deal with them for several days without any real way of escaping made her beyond nervous.
Conli was a skilled surgeon and Apothecarist, but he wasn’t much of a fighter. He did his best to protect her and usually got hurt in the process. It killed Denney every time it happened. For his sake, she hoped the rumors about Goldschmidt were true, and there really were good guilds over there. If they didn’t find a place to call home, Conli was going to continue to be hurt defending her.
Denney hovered just outside the travel board, keeping a close watch on their luggage, and waited for Conli to return. He’d gone to talk to the caravan boss in person several minutes ago, leaving her under the charge of a Widstoe enforcer. The place was more than crowded as it was spring now, early spring, which was the start of trade season. People were jammed in front of the board, trying to read over each other’s shoulders, hoping to join some major trading company or another.
Thankfully, Conli was back within a few minutes, a relieved smile on his face. He went directly to her, picking up two of the heavier bags with a slight grunt of effort. “I found one. Better still, they hired an escorting guild out of Goldschmidt that has a Pathmaker.”
She perked up hopefully. “Does that mean we can go straight there?”
“Not quite,” he denied, “as apparently no one is going directly to Goldschmidt. But there’s a caravan that needs to go to Goodliffe and the escorting guild is returning home to Goldschmidt after that. There’s a lake and stretch of desert in between us and our destination, and pathmaking won’t cross those. It’s a roundabout method, but because we’ll travel by path, we’ll still come out ahead in the long run.”
Denney let out an excited squeal and bounced on her toes. “So how long will it take?”
“About six days, barring any incidents.”
That was so, so much better than what she’d feared it would be. “When does it leave?”
“In about an hour. They’re forming up now. In fact, I barely secured a spot for us.” Conli shifted from one foot to another, anxious to go. “So we better load on quickly.”
She stuck close to him, using her uncle as a trail blazer as he led the way to the caravan. They had to go outside of the town, because of course there wasn’t enough room to form it up inside the town itself. Once outside, she took in the long line of wagons with a startled blink.
“That’s a very large caravan. A Pathmaker can handle that many wagons?”
“I’m wondering that myself,” Conli admitted. Looking around, he spotted who he was looking for and turned that direction. “Guildmaster Maley!”
A rather pretty woman with fair skin and red hair turned. Seeing who it was, she waved him forward, although she kept talking to the giant of a man standing next to her. Denney felt a wave of apprehension sweep over her. The man had to be Wynngaardian. Ice pale skin and light blond hair was purely from that continent and nowhere else. He was huge. He’d block the sun if she stood next to him.
Conli paused when her steps faltered, eyes taking in the same man she was staring at, and dropped back to whisper to her, “I met him. His name is Erik Wolfinsky. I don’t think you’ll have trouble from him.”
So her uncle had been aware of this man and still signed on? Denney prayed Conli was right and bolstered her courage enough to walk forward.
“A top of the morning to you,” Siobhan greeted with a business-like smile. “Master Conli, you’re good to your word, which is helpful. Is this your companion?”
“Yes, this is Denney. Denney, meet Guildmaster Siobhan Maley. She’s in charge of the escorting guild for this trip. And this is Erik Wolfinsky, one of her enforcers.”
“More like my right hand,” she corrected with a more genuine expression of open affection. “Pleasure, Miss Denney. We cleared a space in our own cart for your bags, so put them there without a worry. I have two other enforcers wandering about and another three guildmates aside from them helping to organize things. We’ll introduce you to all of them as we can.”
“Thank you.” Conli hesitated before asking, “Can we really travel by path with this many wagons?”
“Ah, that? We’re still waiting on Grae to give us the answer. The way he was muttering, it likely won’t be possible. We’ll likely have to split the wagons into two groups. But that’s done easily enough and will only lose us about a half a day’s travel time.”
That wasn’t too bad. Denney could live with that.
“Wolf, show them where to put their bags. Excuse me, will you, I want to make sure we’re forming up right and get an answer from Grae.” Siobhan inclined her head and walked off.
“This way,” Wolfinsky directed and led them the opposite direction. As he walked, he rumbled in a low voice, “There might be trouble from some of this lot. They hired on temporary drivers, so we’re not sure if they’re good men or not. Miss Denney, I’ll introduce you to our other enforcers after we get your bags stowed, as well as our trader. Our Sylvie’s like you, too pretty for her own good, so it will help if the two of you can try and stay together or with one of the enforcers. It makes it easier for us to keep an eye on you that way.”
The way he said this was not flattery but a sincere warning and guidance. Denney blinked up at him, surprised by this unsolicited concern. Was this attitude because it was his job?
“I do appreciate that,” Conli offered with a glance back at her. “I’d rather not take chances with her safety.”
“Understandable, Master Roroana, and you have my sympathy.” The man unbent enough to mock-complain, “I have two beautiful women to protect, after all.”
Conli grinned up at him. “I can relate.”
“Here, this is our cart.” Showing a surprising amount of courtesy, Wolfinsky turned and grabbed the bags out of their hands, lugging them in one-handed with no noticeable strain. This was astonishing to Denney, as one of those bags weighed more than she did. So those muscles of his weren’t just for show, eh?
“We’re glad to have you,” Wolfinsky informed Conli bluntly. “We’ve no one to tend to injuries on this trip, and while we’re familiar enough with this route, it’s still better to be prepared.”
“I quite understand,” Conli assured him, “And I’ll be happy to help whenever I’m needed.”
“Good man. Then, come this way.” Wolfinsky led them off and toward the front of the caravan, or what was becoming it as things were organized. Drawing air into his lungs, he bellowed, “TRAN!”
Another giant turned at his hail and Denney’s taut nerves started to fray. A Wynngaardian was bad enough but this man was Teheranian and as large as his guildmate. He looked rough, too, with scars on his arms and three long braids dangling down his back. The man looked perfectly capable of crushing boulders as a warm up before breakfast. In a deep, mountainous voice, he called back, “WHAT?”<
br />
Wolfinsky impatiently waved him closer, not stopping himself until they met in the middle. “This is Conli Roroana, an Apothecarist and surgeon. He’s bought passage with us and will go the full distance to Goldschmidt. With him is his companion, Miss Denney.” Jerking a thumb, Wolfinsky finished the introduction, “This thug is Tran Amar, one of our enforcers.”
Without pause, Tran slugged Wolfinsky in the arm for the insult, which made the other man laugh. That playful punch would have knocked Denney flat. He took in the pair of them from head to toe in a quick sweep, eyes widening only slightly to show his surprise at Denney’s appearance, but he greeted them civilly enough. “Nice to meet you. If you come across trouble, come to me. I will deal with it.”
Denney believed him. There wasn’t any amount of trouble in this world that that man couldn’t handle. Especially if Wolfinsky joined in.
“I extend the courtesy to you,” Conli returned sincerely. “If there’s any way I can help, let me know.”
Tran was about to say something then paused and visibly changed his response. “Actually, there might be. Wolf, did you warn him?”
“About what?”
“Fei.”
Wolfinsky snapped his fingers. “I forgot. I don’t think Siobhan remembered it either. Master Roroana, we have one member who has bad reactions to food sometimes. We’re not sure what it is exactly, we can’t find a common thread, but he’ll eat something and act like he’s drunk afterwards.”
“It’s our other enforcer, Fei,” Tran added. “He’s not the type to drink, we know it’s not that, but you wouldn’t think it the way he reacts. If he does it on this trip, can you check him over and see if you can find the cause? He’s an entertaining enough drunk, but we’d rather him not go out of control at random like this.”
Conli’s eyebrows rose to kiss his hairline. “He becomes drunk after eating foods? I’ve never heard of something like that before. Yes, certainly, I’ll be glad to take a look at him.”
Origins: A Deepwoods Book - a Collection of Deepwoods Short Stories (Deepwoods Series 0) Page 23