by Marcus Sloss
I took all this in. The part about Nalia made sense. I was still getting mixed vibes from Velia. She kissed me on the cheek, never fought my touch, and teased me. Yet she said she was having emotional conflict. Women...
“Velia sorry if I make you uncomfortable at times. I want us to stay the same way but if you need more time before we become intimate say so. Maybe some structure to how the culture here would help me. Nalia is a third wife, is that common? How many wives do Kings, Dukes, and Barons normally have?” I asked her.
“I know you didn't ask but let me go over nobility on Vin first. The titles from low to high goes like this, Knight, Trade Master, Baron, Viscount, Count, Earl, Duke, King, and then the King of Kings is the Emperor. You become a noble in one of four ways. First is you are born into it. The second way is a Baron or higher anoints you to nobility. There are some rules here. A Duke can make a Baron, a Baron cannot make a Duke. If anyone higher in title disagrees with the promotion they may dismiss it. For example, a Duke names his dog a Baron and the King can overrule it. The third way is the next highest group of nobility appoints a temporary noble unanimously. If no higher nobility objects within three months the title sticks. This was done recently in Cern. Frin's father who died defending Cern needed to be replaced. Cut off from the nearest Viscount, Earl, and Duke they voted in the current Baron. Baron Liffa was a Trade Master, he got the votes, no one replaced him and now he is a legitimate Baron. The final way is to become a Trade Master. A Trade Master is any merchant that a noble deems worthy of promotion. For soldiers, you got Knights, for merchants you got Trade Master. Got that?” Velia asked, to which I nodded.
“Okay wives is really messed up right now. As you have seen I help manage widows and orphans. Assuming there was no savage war, trade routes were open, and people were prosperous most of us would have found a new husband by now. Being a second or third wife was not unheard of in the past. Humans still fought humans in border skirmishes and men still did most of the dying. There was a good chance if Frin never died I would have been a sister wife to Nalia. Which, while I dislike her, I bet we could have eventually found happiness with the three of us. Anyway, the Horde changed everything. Look at the women down there.” She pointed to the field where the widows worked with the children. “Many of them are beautiful, charming, great women who would make a fabulous wife. This village only has twenty men, most have two wives already. The problem is if they take on more they can’t feed them, clothe them, and provide in general. Times are too rough. Nalia got lucky, she married a captain of the city guard. She may not have gotten the Baron's son but she did land a Knight. Which leads me to you. Micka is right, if you don't form a harem, a harem will form around you. Assuming you survive long enough. You are wealthy, can get food, and are kind. If you had a dog face and a third arm, you would still get a harem in these conditions. Ten years ago with dashing looks and no money probably still yes. So you add all that together and then take into account the current situation. You are doomed...
“Minor confession here, we set you up with Lyna and the well. Merely take a second to think about Lyna. She has two daughters and no hope of a husband. She is smart though, she begged us to set you up to prove you were a man. She knew right away the best shot she had at your harem was to bed you early. Many of us want more children, some want a male role model in their lives. The pressure on you will be great, and unless you run from this village you will get tied down to it if these women have a say.”
“I think I get it, I had a bit of warning before coming here and I am not upset about Lyna. No one forced me at knifepoint to have sex with her. Public sex even behind cover is not normal where I come from. Casual hookups are normal though. Polygamy was deemed legal a few hundred years ago, and while still rare occurred mainly with important or famous people. Even women have harems where I come from, actually more powerful women have harems then men do. I personally have always been unattached, too busy with training and school. I am already falling in love with the idea of Vin and being in Fernlan. Maybe one day I will sweep some beautiful women off their feet and make them as happy as I am. Until then there are more adventures and tasks to be done. Speaking of which, you talking to me while others work is just not fair.” I said then scooped her off her feet and tossed her over my shoulder.
“Unhand me you brute!” Velia hollered as I marched her down to the berry fields. I planted her on her feet and laughed at the scowl she gave me. When she turned to leave I swatted her ass. A loud snap echoed over the fields. Maybe I did that one a bit too hard. Yeah... she was rubbing her ass from the sting. Less force next time.
“We are even now, have a good day at work wife!” I said with my biggest grin.
She looked ready to explode in a tirade, took a deep breath and went to work.
I cupped both hands around my mouth and shouted “Donnie!”
Off in the distance, the young man came running from the tree chopping area. He deposited the ax away in the collapsed tool shed and came to my side.
“I want to check fish lines the goblins left in the water, my guess is they baited them again before coming to yell at me.” I saw at least three female heads pop up from working. Before they could say something I continued. “But... I know there is a high chance of an ambush being there now. So I will go outside the eastern part of the village. I will take you with me, our next stop is the village blacksmith.” I told the lad.
“You mean it sir, you will let me help you fight? I know I am barely a man but I promise to listen and do exactly what you say.” Donnie said.
“And that young sir is why you will be allowed to come. Listen to what I say and ask if unsure... quietly.”
I walked off the fields and up the dirt ramp into the main village. Luckily none of the women had deemed it necessary to stop me from arming Donnie or from taking him into the wild lands. We needed food, and I could use him as a runner. Well, honestly I could use him to help with baiting, pushing, carrying, and more. I would actually like more help but the other men all had vital jobs and the next oldest male child was eight. Maybe I could hire an adventurer or two from Cern who were languishing because of the current Baron’s policy on the wild lands. Add it to the list.
We arrived at the blacksmith and I expected it to be extremely loud and hot. Instead, it was quiet, cool, and no one greeted us at the front desk.
“Hello, looking for the blacksmith,” I said loudly.
“One moment.” The older gentleman I had met at the feast last night came from a doorway. “Ah, Sir Gryff how may I help, and before you get your hopes up I cannot make anything new without smelting something old down first. This village has not seen any new raw metal in a while.”
“Dennis, right?” the man nodded yes at my question. “Well Dennis, Donnie needs a weapon. Something that he can move quietly with. We aren't too picky with the what, we can master it later. For me, I was wondering if you had any pikes. It seems these javelins I have are too light and easy to launch. I need something bigger to kill bigger things.” I said.
Dennis nodded with this then turned and motioned us to follow him into the back.
“This is my storage room. It has my entire stock in it. Hand me your short sword.” I did as requested. “Damn fine work this, not even sure what metal it is made from, the smith was a master. I guarantee it. I am a decent smith and do fine work, but what I have for sale is not nearly as fine as this.” He handed the blade back and I placed it in the ring on my belt.
“I am sure whatever you can offer will more than suffice,” I reassured Dennis.
“Hmmmm... For the lad. Let me see...” We went into the storage room and on the right was a rack of swords. Some short some long. He picked out a two and a half foot thin sword and handed it to Donnie. “Run out back, there are a few dummies thru that door. Swing it around and come back when you got a feel for it. Understand if you like it, it’s an offense weapon only. It will break easily if hit hard by another weapon. Wait… take this shield too, equip it
while you swing, they are a squire set.”
Donnie eagerly ran out to the back practice yard. I face palmed and dragged my hand from my forehead to my chin. Damn lad was so excited I was surprised he didn't trip and kill himself.
“Ah, the joys of youth...” Dennis commented. “That is the best sword for him. We used to have a bowyer in the village but he passed near the end of the war. His wife sold me all his stock.” We moved over to the bow section of the storage room. “You interested in a bow yourself, or for the boy?”
I looked at the rack, there were forty bows and hundreds if not thousands of arrows.
“I don't want a bow myself, not enough power for the effort. I can throw pikes as fast and as far as an archer can shoot an arrow.” I said with an effort to avoid sounding conceited.
“Magical strength. Legends of old tell of men that could accomplish such feats. No surprise with your stature and odd origins. Bow for the boy?” Dennis asked as he ran his hands over the tops of the unstrung bows.
“May I see the pikes?” I asked and he nodded. We moved to the section of the wall where long weapons were kept. I saw greataxes, halberds, and pikes on this rack. “May I grab some of these to test in the back?”
“Of course, let me get a cart real quick.” He apparently saw the hunger in my eyes at more than a single weapon. A moment later he returned with a long very narrow cart. I loaded that thing to its carry capacity. All the straight and well made long weapons were taken into the back.
I strolled out of the storage room and into the training yard. Donnie was swinging the sword from earlier at a dummy. His chops, stab, and swings were in need of work. Still, he was determined and focused. Easy to train someone with those traits. Hire a weapon master trainer guy... Added to the list.
Dennis rolled out my test weapons onto the training yard. The greataxe had me the most excited; it was almost as tall as I was. The training dummy I lined up on was a tree trunk buried upright out of the ground. Chunks were missing from it where others had used it. It was a sturdy thick tree, it would handle a full greataxe swing no problem. I hefted the weapon and got a feel for its balance. It was a bit heavy but as I spun it to let it flow around my body it balanced itself. The dual sided axe heads had an even feel to them telling me both sides used the exact same amount of metal. The shaft was perfectly circular and straight. I was calmly spinning it around and getting used to the weight. The grip was tightly bound leather that gave my hands a nice solid grasp. I twirled it for a few minutes and became comfortable with the weapon.
I wanted to see how it reacted when it struck something solid. Would it flex as the wood pushed back, would it reverberate and leave my hands numb? I wondered how it would hold up to a strong defense such as a shield. I gave it a full swing into the training pole. The head sunk deep into the wood with such a force that splinters exploded from the impact. The long standing log gave a final creaking noise and collapsed in a fall.
“Timber!” I yelled in triumph. The shaft of the weapon had flexed allowing for minimal pain in my arms and hands. I was in love.
“Yup, magical strength for sure. That weapon suits you.” Dennis said with his arms crossed.
“I will replace that, got about fifty of them down on the west field. I will drag one up here later.” I told Dennis. It was only fair. You break it you buy it sort of thing.
I bypassed the halberds and longswords to try the pikes. The training yard was not very big and Donnie had moved over to stand by Dennis. I scooped up the best five pikes I had picked out from earlier and rested them against a wall. The yard had three circle arrow targets at its longest strip.
“Hey, Dennis before I test these how hard are the arrow targets to replace?” I asked.
“Well with no excess hay being grown and the bowyer dead not easily. I am sure for the right price we can get some from Cern.”
“Hmm... Okay, I will hold off and test these in the western fields. I want the greataxe, the sword with shield Donnie has, these five pikes, and all the bows with arrows. Name your price?” I said to as I pointed at each item I listed.
“The pikes were all field salvage from Greybeard's Company, was a local militia from the area that lost a battle not far from here. I can do a silver per. The greataxe took me two weeks to craft and she is a beauty. The materials and time at standard rate puts it at a gold low end two gold high end. The bows, of which there is near forty... maybe more than forty. I haven't counted in years. I got them from Davie's wife in bundle for a gold and nine silver. I hear your coins are as pure as pure can get. I will do four gold coins for the whole lot. I will even toss in the bow targets.” I knew I could haggle but why bother. I liked Dennis, the deal seemed fair and I had more than enough coin.
I stuck out my hand and said “Deal.” We shook on it and then I went and produced the four gold coins from my purse. “I can carry the greataxe and the pikes if you want to cart the bow and arrows down to west field we can go now.”
“Works for me.” He replied.
Dennis, Donnie, and I worked our way through the village and down the dirt ramp to the western fields. Heads popped up from the berry bushes and watched the three of us approach. I am sure we looked odd. Me with arms full of weapons and Dennis with a cart full of bows, arrows, and targets.
Velia hushed the chatter down from the ladies who gossiped and came toward us.
“Hello wife, I come bringing gifts,” I said loudly for all to hear.
“You married Velia?” Dennis asked.
“No, not yet anyway, I am jesting.”
“You sir, live a dangerous life.”
“Dearest Velia, I bought everyone bows and arrows to train with, or for fun. I got a great deal. I know how busy you are so I will set this stuff aside.” I said as I tossed the three pikes and my javelins by the tool pile. The javelins needed to be left behind. Their craftsmanship was superb and they flew straight and true, but I wanted to switch to the larger projectiles. Maybe Donnie could train on them or the ladies could find an alternative purpose for them. I huffed at the tool pile, it was literally a collapsed shed. Add it to the list...
The greataxe and two pikes were roughly eight feet long. Some might debate the eight feet being a spear. I considered them long spears and short pikes; the best of both worlds. I took the strap off the javelin container and made it work for the three weapons. I would need to figure out something better down the road. My armor was on with my sword and dagger on the belt. My back had my shield, pikes, and the greataxe. I jumped a few times to sort the stuff on my back. I adjusted until I could jump without a loud clang.
“Going to war? You know we have no purpose for the bows right, we will never go into the wild lands and fight.” Velia said to me.
“Hey, Lyna want to come into the wild lands with me?” I saw her perk up in excitement.
“No Lyna, keep working. Not funny Gryff.” Velia scolded me.
“Look maybe one day I bring an ogre to the edge and we jump over and shoot it. I don't know, Dennis cut us a deal and it seemed smart. Everyone knowing how to shoot a bow is not the worst idea. How does that work, I step into wild lands, shoot a bow, and then step back into safety does that violate the accords? We still have plenty of coin...” I undid my purse, pulled a single silver coin out for later, and threw the sack of coins to her. “Almost forgot. Going to try to find more meat, or a wild field of veggies, or a fruit orchard. Either way, Donnie will be in the wild lands with me, the purse is safer with you. Oh... Add weapons trainer for Donnie and me to the list. Also, remind me to ask about adventurers from Cern, it would be handy to have some back up besides Donnie. No offense.”
Donnie shrugged, he was in a world of bliss for a sixteen year old. His shield hung off his back and his sword off his belt. The young man was ecstatic and definitely had me worried. Oh well, I needed the help.
“Thank you for thinking of us, but the bows may never get used. The peace accords are clear. Any attack from inside is a violation, outside is okay. Attackin
g from outside and running inside is also okay. Which is why the Horde rarely set traps and ambushes close to the barrier. They almost never do something dumb like the goblins did and come right up to it. Stay safe, and if it’s you, or a meal. Well... come back please.” Velia was serious and somber.
“Yes my Lady,” I said evenly. I decided not to tease her. I leaned down and turned my head to present my cheek. Velia softly planted a kiss on it.
“Time to go Donnie... griffin shit... Let’s get a log and haul it to Dennis' place, got to replace the one I broke.”
We hauled an equal sized log to the Blacksmith's shop. We pulled the old log out and set it off to the side and inserted the new tree in the old hole.
“Hey, Dennis where could I get a hand cart?” I asked the man.
“The market was run by Elan, anyone who dies or leaves behind a cart for whatever reason he resells. If not him, maybe Morga and Stov might have one. The best bet is Elan though. Thanks for fixing the training pole. Most wouldn't have.” Dennis said to me.
Donnie and I made our way over to the town center. I swear that damn Elan watched the dirt roads for people approaching. He again greeted me before I got to the door.
“Howdy Gryff, what can I do for you?”
“In need of a flat hand cart, something to help carrying weight. I got lucky with the goblins yesterday, they died right by the barrier. If I get something further I may not be able to carry it all without help. Which reminds me, in case I am not here when Nalia and Lirkon return, I want to hire a weapons trainer and a few adventurers from Cern if able. I told Velia the same thing, not sure who will greet them when I am gone.” I said.
Elan leaned on his cane and thought on this for a minute. “Gryff we can trade with more than just Cern. I guess it’s time you came into my office. Follow me. Donnie lad, guard the door please.”
We entered the large building of the town center. It reminded me of a church. Pews faced a podium, the stage had a wooden sign over it the read 'Fernlan'. It was a meeting room for probably more prosperous times. Off to the side was a large office that we walked into. A cluttered mess of papers, bark sheets, and maps made it extremely unorganized. On the wall by the door hung a massive map. Elan used his cane to point at it.