FreeHolds Adventure Cycle 3 Part 9c

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“Well, well. Look who’s returned home.” Crinokk smiled and hobbled off the porch as the wagon slowed, “Adwin. Lad, it’s good to see you.”

Adwin, smiling with joy jumped down from the wagon. He embraced Crinokk, “It’s good to see you too, old man.”

“Ha! Ow, careful lad. Look at the arms on you.”

Adwin let go, surprised at his own strength, “Sorry, Crinokk. I didn’t mean to crush you.”

“I’m okay. Have you been quarrying stone?”

“No, not quite. How have you been?”

“Oh, not so bad. The winter was rough, but things are better now that Breggan and Leysha have moved in.”

“Oh?” Adwin looked over to Leysha, she had remained on the porch. He thought she looked upset, “Hello Leysha. It appears congratulations are in order.”

“Adwin… you look silly with that beard.”

Calathy laughed as she climbed down from the wagon. Crinokk said, “Well, you’re a tall one. Are you going to introduce us to your friends, Adwin?”

“Of course. This is Calathy, she’s from GreensBridge.” The others had dismounted and were leading their horses over to the water trough, “That’s Whyse, from Maldorn. Sefla, she’s originally from Rogh Mohk Talh. And, Tipper, who’s from Darner’s Hold.”

The old man nodded and said hello to each of them in turn, “Darner’s Hold, eh. That pretty much makes you our neighbour. Welcome, all of you.”

Adwin continued with the introductions, “This in Crinokk, don’t let his good nature fool you, he’s a horrible task master. And this is Leysha…”

Leysha appeared to be on the verge of crying, she gave an unsteady curtsy then quickly retreated inside.

Adwin looked to Crinokk, “Is she okay?”

“Oh you know, women when they’re pregnant can get very emotional. Are you staying for a while? You’re welcome to stay as long as you need, of course. This old homestead has plenty of rooms, though they might need a good airing and some sweeping.”

Calathy asked, “Is it alright if I go inside? I can help Leysha get things ready.”

“Of course, go on ahead. I’m just going to make sure your horses are properly situated.”

Crinokk lead the others over to the stables, “We’re going to have to clear out some of the stalls, it’s been a while since I’ve needed more than one. Plithy is my plow horse, the old nag should probably be boiled down for glue. We’ll just drag this stuff out into the yard for now, I’ll get Breggan to help me sort it out later.”

“Where is Breggan?”

“He’s on duty. The lad’s been assigned to the west gate, permanent like. He’ll be back before sunset. Tomorrow is his fourth-day, the guards shifts are all staggered, can’t have them all taking a day off at the same time.”

“Of course not.”

“I’m sure he’ll be very pleased to see you.”

“Mm.”

“They was all worried when you disappeared, spent the best part of an eight-day looking for you, him and the hunters. I’d told them you’d just gone off on an adventure, sure enough Amretta said you’d headed to GreensBridge. Folks were a bit upset that you hadn’t been more forthcoming with your plans.”

“Most people we passed along the road didn’t recognize me.”

“Well, you left a youth and came back a man. Fancy clothes, horses, all these delightful women, it’s no surprise really.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

The stalls were cleared, Plithy was put in the pasture, their horses were brushed down and given some feed. Then they all went to the house to clear out three of the back rooms. Calathy seemed to have charmed Leysha and the two of them went to the summer kitchen to start on the evening meal.

Breggan was rather surprised when he wandered up the lane, after he had finished his watch, to find Adwin on the porch. After a moment he cleared his throat, “I’m glad you’re still alive. I assume you will present yourself to Lord Willik tomorrow, so that I don’t have to take you into custody?”

“That was my intent. It’s good to see you, Breggan.”

“Same.” He offered his hand, they shook and shared a quick embrace, “The food smells wonderful.”

“Well, come on in and meet my friends.”

Introductions were made and the group of them sat around the table. Calathy made sure Leysha was comfortably seated and was served first. They ate with only a smattering of conversation. Adwin felt there was some tension between he, Leysha and Breggan, but he was not sure. When the main meal was done Crinokk had Breggan fetch a jug of cider, Crinokk raised his cup and made a toast, “To the gods, to Adwin’s safe return and to the lovely guests sitting at my table.”

They all drank and Adwin was relieved when he noticed everyone relax a bit. He gave a toast in return, “To Crinokk, the man who helped forge two ruffian orphans into respectful, capable men. To my friends Breggan and Leysha, it’s good to see you again.”

“Tell us about GreensBridge.” Crinokk said. “Is it true there are three towers, each over a hundred paces high?”

“Yes, kind of, two of them still are, but one tower had the top quarter broken off, maybe only the top fifth. I went in one of them a number of times, it was where most of the city’s administration was handled. There were hundreds of people coming and going from that one, the ground level was huge, they had magic lights that illuminated everything.”

“Magic lights?” Leysha asked, “That sound wonderful.”

“They were throughout the city. There used to be a lot more of them, but most streets outside of the Grey had them.”

“The Grey?”

“It was the poor end of town, in the northeast part of the city. They had goblins and dwarves living there too.”

“Goblins! Living with humans?” Leysha was shocked.

“Yeah, goblins are not as bad as everyone says.”

“They’re ugly and they eat babies!” Leysha was adamant.

“Well, I did meet some goblins that were very different, they had been trapped by a bog witch for a hundred years. The goblins of GreensBridge seemed orderly enough, some of them even dressed like us.”

“What were the dwarves like?” Breggan asked.

“Different than I thought. In GreensBridge there was an entire clan of them that did most of the new construction in the city. They are a very proud people and they take a long time to say anything, I negotiated with one for the hatchet Tipper has, it took most of an afternoon. There were dwarves that came to help us fight Lord Sharlok, they had these weird battle wagons and really nice armour.”

“What’s that all about anyway? The fight with Sharlok, I mean.”

“Well, that’s a bit of a story.”

Crinokk encouraged him, “That’s alright, tell us about it. Breggan, be a good lad and fetch us another jug of cider.”

Adwin told them what had happened in Lekas; Crinokk hung onto every word, his eyes bright with interest, Breggan was also pretty intent, curious even, especially about the conflicts and to some extent the logistics of it all. Leysha thought it was a terrible thing, she was disconcerted that so many women had been involved in the fighting, as well, the role Tipper and the women from Predost played in the battle horrified her. “The teachings of Thray say a woman should comport herself in a modest manner and attend to the well being of her children and homestead.”

Tipper interjected, “What are you going to do if someone attacked your child? Or came into your home and threatened you?”

“Well, Breggan would protect me.”

Tipper was going to retort, but Adwin cut her off, “It’s getting late. I have to petition Lord Willik in the morning. Perhaps we can continue the stories tomorrow?”

Crinokk was quick to agree, “I’m exhausted and I’m sure you must all be weary from the road. Thank you, Adwin.”

Adwin slept soundly, though he hardly remembered getting into bed.

Breggan woke him early, before the sunrise. “Come on Adwin, I could use a hand before you head up to the keep.”

Adwin blinked in confusion, it took him a bit to realize he was not dreaming, “Yeah, give me a moment.”

When he stepped out onto the porch, the birds were chirping loudly and the grey predawn light was pushing the darkness back. Breggan was filling the trough from the well, when he finished that task he came to the porch with a full bucket of water and grabbed the ladle from where it hung by the door. He took a drink and then offered one to Adwin. After they had refreshed themselves they took care of the animals, Breggan fed the chickens as Adwin milked the cow, they then took the horses to the pasture where the two of them did some repairs on the gate.

Tipper sung somewhere nearby. Curious, Breggan looked in that direction. After a moment he shrugged and took Adwin back to the main yard. They spent a while sorting through the things that had been pulled from the stables. A fair amount of it went to the burn pile, some went to the mud room along the west side of the house and the rest went back into the stables, up in the rafters where it would be out of the way. It was well after dawn before they had finished.

Breggan suggested, “Might be a good idea to clean up and head over to the keep. Lord Willik takes petitioners until noon, if you remember. I assume you’re able to cover any fines and pay the tax for the loss of service your absence caused?”

“I should be good. I even brought Lord Willik a gift.”

“Really? What would that be?”

“A set of measures and true-weights, certified by the Mages Guild of GreensBridge.”

Breggan did not seem overly impressed, “Well gifts are all well and good, but you’ll need silver to pay the tax and any fines.”

“I’ve silver.”

“Good.” He regarded Adwin for a while, hands causally resting on hips, whatever he might have said was cut short when Calathy called them in from the porch, “Breakfast is ready gentlemen. Come get while it’s hot.”

They went in and ate with the others, Crinokk was happy with the company, he was relating a story to Sefla about a bard he had met in Maldorn during his own travels. Leysha was pleased that Calathy was doing most of the kitchen work. Tipper offered to help Breggan with any work that might need doing, rather uncomfortably he accepted the offer. Adwin was happy to see his old and new friends getting along.

Calathy had aired out his yuletide clothing and before he was allowed to wash, she shaved his face and trimmed his hair. Leysha seemed to think it was an improvement, even offered Adwin a smile as he headed out the door with the fancy box containing the scales and measures.

Surprisingly Whyse was waiting for him on the porch. She wore her courier’s uniform with the fancy breastplate, the leather of her boots shone from a recent polishing. “You look like you intend to join me?”

“I do.”

“It could be a long wait, depending on the number of petitioners.”

“That’s fine. I intend to be on hand in case you need a witness or a second.”

“A second?”

“In case there’s a duel.”

“That’s not something that really happens in cases like this… But, I won’t say no to the company.”

“Shall we then?”

He nodded and together they went into town, up to the keep. There were a number of people who recognized him and some who obviously wanted to stop and talk, but on seeing the way he was dressed and his escort, they did little more than wave or bid him a good day.

—

 

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