George had said before that food was easy to come by on Ludus. He said it was hard to starve, but Henry knew winter was coming. Could these people survive a winter in a land full of monsters with no homes and no food but the nasty plants in the forest? At this rate, some villagers might turn to crime to survive another year.
No, Henry knew what they had to do. He saw Jason slightly nod, and once again, Henry was proud of his friend. As Jason unfastened the crude bronze sword from his belt, George's face betrayed a variety of complicated emotions; grief, relief, gratitude, and shame all spread across his face. Henry clapped George on the back and walked with him and Jason to the city counselor.
"Hi," said Henry in Luda.
"Hello. My name is City Counselor Hirine. You may address me how you wish."
Jason held up the damaged sword and said, "I've heard that metal weapons are worth something. Would this on top of what these people already have get them some land?"
The counselor said serenely, "Perhaps so. Let me get this appraised."
A short time later, the counselor came out with a piece of paper marked with numbers. "You are in luck. The sword by itself would not have been enough due to its poor condition, but it is considered a spindly cave demon artifact of scholarly significance. It is worth more than an average bronze sword, even damaged."
"Spindly cave demons," Henry muttered under his breath, "so stupid."
Hirine produced a cloth pouch. "If you were to sell the spindly cave demon artifact to the city for research, the money you would have left after covering the caravan's rent shortage is in this bag. Do you accept these terms?"
Henry didn't know if they were getting screwed or not, but it wouldn't matter. This was another situation where there was only one available option open to him in order to still be the man he wanted to be. He glanced at Jason, who gave a small nod. "Yes, let's make it happen."
The deal was done. A guard was called over to lead George and the rest of the caravan to their new farming land and a new life. George came over to Henry and Jason with tears in his eyes and shook their hands. He was so emotional he couldn't speak, but his eyes spoke volumes. Before he turned back, he exchanged a long, significant look with Mareen, who nodded firmly. George shrugged and went to join his people as they began walking down a side road towards a section of rich farmland. He didn't look back. Henry thought, I wonder what that was about.
Mareen abruptly said, "I need to talk to the city counselor about something. Please find the first place inside the gates where you can rest for a while, and I will meet you as soon as my business is done."
Jason stammered, "But... huh? What do you need...?"
"Please just do as I ask, Jason Booth." Mareen's tone made it clear she was serious and not budging on the matter.
Henry mused, I guess women on every planet are born knowing how to do that, huh? The thought amused him enough that he was able to temporarily forget he was basically unarmed, broke, had no extra food, and was about to enter a brand new city with just the clothes on his back.
Jason asked Henry, "Is it cool with you if we wait?"
Henry snorted, "I don't think we have much of a choice. Let's go find a place to sit down."
Mareen's Heart Song
Mareen first heard the story of the princess and her heart song a few years after her parents died. It was a fairy tale practically every child on Ludus heard while growing up. Mareen loved the story and dreamed of one day meeting a boy who could awaken her heart song.
Her magic had manifested when she was an adolescent, at twelve years old. Her years of hard work reaching for a magical affinity had paid off. She admitted to herself she was probably a little lucky too even though she wasn't especially powerful. Then she trained hard so that one day, if her heart ever did sing, she'd be a strong enough person that fate wouldn't pass her by.
"The Princess and her Heart Song" taught all children to be the best person they could be.
It was hard to find mirrors, but Mareen tried to keep her appearance up as much as possible despite being poor. She knew that taking pride in how she presented herself to the world was one way to feel good about herself and stay motivated. She never avoided hard work, and she learned basic self-defense. Mareen didn't know exactly what she wanted in life, but she knew she'd know it when it came. She wanted to be ready for that day. She tried to improve herself in every way she could.
When she'd discovered she had talent for mathematics, she was excited. She didn't like math very much, but she was good at it, so she decided to throw herself into it and learn as much as she could. Luckily, she was able to easily teach herself from the odd book that George picked up for her.
She grew accustomed to handling her grandfather's finances and keeping track of the perishables.
From the time she started developing into a woman, Mareen knew she attracted the eyes of men, even some women. Sometimes it made her uncomfortable, especially when she had to pretend she didn't understand a love confession. It was even worse when she had to outright reject a boy who didn't leave himself any way to save face. Luckily, she'd only lived in farming communities, so there were never too many people around. As a result, by the time she was in her teens, it was common knowledge that Mareen was not interested in courting.
She didn't care what anyone thought as long as they left her alone. It did make her sad when she found out what some of them said, though. "Mareen is so pretty, it's too bad she isn't interested in love. She should be engaged already." Others said, "She will probably die alone, her standards are probably too high." Some even said in whispers, "She thinks she is better than anyone else. Just because she has a nice face and can use magic... someone should teach her a lesson. What a bitch."
She was approached several times by married women about being a second or third wife in their family. Every time she was approached, Mareen firmly but politely said no. She wasn't arrogant, but she knew her worth. She was a literate young woman, a life mage, and she was good enough at math to do simple accounting without making any marks. Unless she fell in love with a married man, it would have been foolish for her to agree to be a second or third wife in a farming family.
Even though the women obviously expected to be turned down, some of them still took it hard. Mareen was not popular among certain groups of older women.
Mareen didn't really have any friends. So few people really knew her very well that only her grandfather even knew she had a temper. She was just too busy most of the time to spend time on people who didn't understand her. She didn't dislike her peers, but she couldn't relate to them very well. While other girls her age mooned after boys or talked about rich ladies in the cities, Mareen dreamed of adventure.
She knew she wanted more for herself than to take an easy life. She had the memory of her father to follow, and he'd never done anything the easy way. She didn't remember her mother very well, but she remembered that she'd been strong. Beautiful and strong.
Luckily for her, in addition to being her only family, her grandfather was also her best friend. He never talked down her, never asked when she was going to think about starting a family, and he always quietly supported her. He seemed to understand that Mareen wanted more than a simple farming life could offer.
George had used what little money he had to buy her study books to educate herself. He told her stories of faraway lands he'd seen during his adventuring days and even described his time on Earth, the mysterious land he originally came from. Mareen dreamed of one day seeing the countries George talked about. She was always fascinated by the stories of Earth technology that ran on electricity (small lightning was how she understood it). But most of all, Mareen wanted to find someone to have adventures with.
Sure, when she was younger, she'd imagined finding her heart song, but as she got older, she realized it probably wouldn't happen. The odds were very low; it was a rare thing. Deep down, she still wanted to believe heart songs were real, though. One day, when she was fourteen, she'd asked Gra
ndfather George if people on Earth knew about heart songs.
Mareen remembered George frowning and saying, "Well, I do know what the concept of 'heart song' means; it's like a cross between 'one true love,' 'love at first sight,' and something to do with being strong enough to protect someone you love and teaching them how to be strong too. To be honest, the whole thing is a little confusing and strange from an earthling's perspective. You used to love 'The Princess and her Heart Song,' didn't you?"
Mareen nodded shyly, and George chuckled. "Don't ever been ashamed of what you want to do or who you want to be. The only person who controls your destiny is you. If you ever decide to change what you are looking for in the future, let that be your choice too. Never let other people tell you what your heart is saying or should be saying.
"You are your father's daughter, and nothing will ever change that. You could change the world one day, Mareen."
Mareen was taken aback by the seriousness of her grandfather's answer. "Do you believe in heart songs?" she'd asked.
George got a distant look in his eyes, and his tone was wistful when he answered, "Before I came to Ludus, I would have thought it was stupid. But the way your mother met your father and the way they fit together... I guess anything is possible, especially when it comes to love. Maybe there is such thing as destiny... or at least truly incredible chance."
Mareen's heart had soared after that conversation, and she no longer felt as foolish for believing in heart songs. She still didn't know what kind of man was out there for her. She didn't really believe he'd be a prince; she was a farm girl after all. But she yearned for someone to expand her horizons and make her believe that the impossible was possible.
Shortly after she'd turned sixteen, she accompanied her grandfather and those who followed him. Their group consisted of people who didn't want to rent land anymore, who wanted to own their own homes and farms. The only realistic way for farmers to own land in Tolstey was to claim ownerless land in the wilderness. The concept was simple in theory but hard to actually do. Not only was it a lot of hard work, but monsters were a constant danger.
Still, with high hopes, the group had hired some adventurers and found the spot of land that eventually became their village. Mareen worked hard and took pride in being valuable to the village with her healing magic. Everything had been going fine until Jeth's advances started.
It began slowly at first. Jeth would just follow her around and stare. But no matter how much she ignored him, no matter how often she asked him to stop, he just acted creepier. When she left the outhouse one day and Jeth was waiting for her, she'd finally had enough and told George. George talked to Jeth's father, Yelm, about it, but since Jeth hadn't actually done anything physically, he wasn't disciplined.
George had been livid. He couldn't believe Yelm defended Jeth when his son was acting like a stalker.
After that, the problems grew worse. Jeth knew Mareen had tried to get him in trouble.
Jeth stopped following her as much as he used to, but he always just happened to be where she was. He still stared. His eyes made it clear that he somehow believed she belonged to him. When their gazes met, he snarled and made suggestive motions at her. The way he looked at her made her feel dirty.
There weren't many teens in their new village. Deep in her heart, Mareen wondered if Jeth had had anything to do with Yelm coming with the group. Had he convinced his father to go? From a certain point of view, if he'd had designs on Mareen, it would have been easier if he was the only boy around near her age. The thought always made her shiver.
She'd endured this constant worry for years, always wondering if Jeth would be staring at her when she worked, touching himself when she walked by, scratching the wall of the cabin outside her room, or leering at her and licking the back of his hand. She couldn't get away from him since the village was so small. She was always nervous to take baths and made George stand guard whenever he could.
The only bit of luck she had was that she was a mage. She didn't have to fear for her safety as she would have if she were a normal girl. Even though her magic wasn't well suited for violence, she did have limited control over the school of Water, so she wasn't completely defenseless.
She hated the tension, though. She hated being constantly on edge. Part of her wondered if her magic was the reason Jeth had never tried to get physical with her. She didn't want to think about how bad things could have been otherwise.
By the time she turned nineteen, she'd slowly given up on ever finding her heart song. Granted, she knew that living in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere wasn't exactly the best way to find opportunities for love or adventure, but she had nowhere to go. She still hadn't even decided what she wanted to do in life, so where would she go? She was an adult now--four years into adulthood, six years older than the minimum marrying age.
She was almost twenty. She'd all but given up on her dreams and was thinking about just finding meaningful work or a chance to see more of the world. Maybe heart songs were just stories for little girls after all. At the very least, if she wanted any chance of ever finding more for herself, she had to leave the village.
She'd decided to tell her grandfather that she was going to leave. She had no money, and it was dangerous to travel, but she was a life mage. She could contact nearby settlements and cities with magic messenger birds to look for a sponsor. She was certain she'd be able to find someone willing to send a party to escort her. Life mages that were willing to work for rich households or noble families were in high demand.
Her grandfather would take it hard. He wanted what was best for her, but he would be all alone when she left.
However, she knew George sometimes glanced at her sadly when he thought she wasn't paying attention. She knew he wouldn't argue with her or try to make her stay. He'd already gently asked her a few times what she wanted to do with her life. She was already two years older than her parents had been when they got married. It was time for her to find her own path.
Mareen agonized over how to tell George she was going to leave the village but never got the chance. She'd almost summoned the courage when the goblins captured them. The rest of that day had been a nightmare of disjointed memories. She remembered trying to fight back with water magic. In her panic, she'd missed with the single attack she had energy for. After that, the goblins kept her restrained and helpless. She knew she was going to die in terror and agony. There was no hope.
As Mareen screamed on the ground in that terrible cave, she'd prayed to the Creator that someone, anyone, would save her--and someone had. A force of nature entered her life, a cursing, grumpy force of nature named Henry Sato.
He'd come into the cave out of nowhere, killing the goblin on top of her and going on to fight another two at once. Jason had screamed in defiance while fighting the goblin leader. Both men were utterly insane. With no special powers, no armor other than the thick jackets they wore, they'd picked a fight with a cave full of goblins. The two of them were only armed with sharp sticks! Sharp. Sticks. It was madness!
And they won! The two strange men had actually won! Mareen was shocked right out of her terror. Her amazement increased when neither man spoke Luda. In fact, she could understand some of the English they spoke. They were from Earth! They were shocked when she healed her grandfather with magic, so she reasoned they were probably new to Ludus too. The idea that two people would go straight from being transported to Ludus to jumping into a battle with goblins was ludicrous, yet there Mareen stood, alive and rescued.
At the time, it had frustrated her that her English was so bad, but she felt fortunate she knew any at all.
They'd somehow escaped and made it back to the village.
When she saw the two strange men the next day, she was relieved they were alright. She'd stared at Henry--she couldn't help it. He wasn't what she would normally have called handsome. In fact, he was a bit shorter than any man she'd thought she'd be interested in. He smirked and frowned a lot too. But there was j
ust something about him...
Mareen wished she spoke better English or Henry could somehow speak Luda. In some ways, the two men reminded her of her grandfather but Henry and Jason were still completely different than anyone she'd ever met before. She wanted to talk to them; she wanted to learn more about Henry. She knew she was falling, but she couldn't help herself. She was fascinated.
Mareen remembered the conversation in English that Henry, Jason, and George had had. They'd talked about magic, the races on Ludus, all sorts of subjects. She had a hard time following most of what was said, but she was able to understand that Henry and Jason had met Dolos. She saw they possessed a couple Dolos orbs. She was shocked to her core.
Around this time was when she first began to believe she'd met two legends in the making, heroes in the flesh. She felt a bit of awe, and her interest in Henry made her chest feel tight.
She didn't understand it. Henry was rude, he spit a lot, and he obviously vexed Jason at times. In fact, she had a hard time understanding the friendship between the two in the first place. They were both so different. How did they operate so well as a team? Who was in charge? Leadership seemed to switch every other minute between the two of them. Mareen had never even had a close friend. She was intensely jealous, and the more she'd learned about the two men, the more she wanted to be their friend too.
In her mind, she convinced herself, Just friends with Henry. Yeah. Just friends would be fine.
The next day had come, and she discovered Henry and Jason used their orbs. Now they could both speak Luda. All of Mareen's carefully planned scenarios to reintroduce herself and befriend Henry evaporated. She'd finally gotten her wish--they could all speak the same language, and she was... petrified. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't bear to just walk up and talk to them! It was ridiculous, and she hated herself for it, but she'd turned shy! The blunt, outspoken Mareen couldn't talk to a boy!? What was wrong with her?
Delvers LLC: Welcome to Ludus Page 9