Spin Offs, Gweth A
Gweth was happy to be on the road again. Happier still to be far and away from Lekas, Aramy and the troubles that had been part of her life for the past year. It had been a year full of sorrow and suffering with very few moments of joy, a year that had changed her. She hardly remembered herself, her old self. She tried not to dwell on that. She tried not to dwell on the horrors of this past year, yet neither distance nor time seemed to provide any relief.
Gweth had left the day after the battle for Lekas, taking a horse and a chest full of treasures. Neither had belonged to her and while it was unlikely anyone would have missed the horse, the chest and its contents were most certainly going to be missed. As a result, she had set a steady pace, heading south by southwest, hoping that Adwin and his posse of friends would not come after her.
Her route took her across the migratory path of the wild folk. She had not run into any troubles, despite the numerous stories she had heard of vengeful elves killing any who trespassed into their territory. She kept to her course, and after more than two eight-days travelling through the uninhabited plains, she came to a river. Later she would learn that it was the Madden River. She travelled westward along the river’s edge for over a day then followed a road that lead past a handful of homesteads. A long stone bridge spanned the river, on the other side she came to a place called Olds.
Olds was a beautiful village, full of music, fruit trees and friendly people whose main worries were the weather and what to have for dinner that evening. It was a sizable place, spread out along the southern bank of the river to either side of the bridge, many hundreds of people lived there. She was surprised by the number of folk from elsewhere. The large village had an inn, two taverns and a roadhouse. There was an unusual number of minstrels and it seemed as if most of the locals knew how to play an instrument or three.
Gweth soon learned the reason for this was the local luthier, renown for his skill, considered a master of his craft by most folk. According to the locals there had been a master luthier in Olds for generations, the skills and knowledge passed along from one to the next. As a result, other masters of various crafts and trades had moved into the area.
The village boasted two small temples, one dedicated to Promad and the other to the Goddess of Mercy. Shrines of all sorts dedicated to various gods, both old and new, could be found throughout the village. Both temples and the shrines were skilfully constructed with wonderful masonry and woodworking. Such was the case with most of the village’s buildings, giving the place a festive atmosphere.
The locals were typically brightly garbed and their prosperity was apparent in displays of metal working; circlets, armbands and broaches of various metals were common.
Gweth had initially been disconcerted by all the prosperity and the relaxed, friendly nature of the locals. It was a shocking contrast to her more recent experiences. Despite her initial intent to resupply and move on, she instead paid for a small room at the roadhouse and stayed for a little while. A little while became an eight-day, and then two. The establishment was well run and clean, they offered a wide variety of food and drink. The employees were mostly women from far flung places; they were attractive, good with people and each spoke a number of languages. There was music throughout the afternoons and evenings. It was the sort of place that was hard to leave.
During this time she commissioned new clothing and riding leathers. She ate well and made sure her horse was well looked after, she purchased a better saddle.
From the stolen chest, she redistributed much of the silver weight, exchanging some of it for gold coins that she hung around her neck in a small pouch. She bought a proper money pouch and hid a fair amount of the silver at the bottom of her saddlebags with the gold bar that had also been in the chest. There were a few potions that she had been able to trade with a local alchemist for half a dozen healing potions. The wonderfully elaborate dress had not fit her, she made inquiries at the local haberdashery and was directed to a mage who had an interest in such things. She wondered what to do with all of the rings, the other jewellery, figurines, scrolls and two pouches. She could not unload it all here in Olds, it would attract too much attention. Yet, if the local mage was available to do business, perhaps she could take a few of the other items when she took the dress over.
She was hesitant to go see the mage, continuing to dither about the other treasures. She had overheard Mokha and Adwin talking about the magical nature of some of the items, there were dangers in using such things. Her experiences in Aramy and the ongoing nightmares she continued to have caused her to keep putting it off.
During an evening when a bard was being hosted at the Pheasant’s Fancy, Gweth had stayed in the common room longer than she usually did to hear the man’s stories and poetry. She had more mead than usual and of the servers, most of which she found appealing for one reason or another, had made it clear that she had an interest in her. The woman was of Tannican heritage, shapely, well spoken and about as different from Mir as she could hope.
Gweth had stayed up until the bard’s performance was finished. She chatted with Kahlahnti as she and the other servers cleared the tables and cleaned the common room. The two of them had taken a moonlit stroll through the cobbled streets of the village, after which she had invited Gweth to the room she rented from the miller.
It had been a pleasant night and Gweth had been happy to feel the warmth of another person. They had fallen asleep together, naked in the woman’s narrow bed. She had not allowed herself such intimacy since Mir had been killed early the previous autumn. That night she slept deeply. For the first time in nearly a year she had not been disturbed by nightmares.
Gweth woke late in the morning to the pleasing warmth of Kahlahnti’s body pressed against hers. The muted light coming through the room’s small, shuttered window did not reveal much about her surroundings. There was a wardrobe in one corner and a small table near the bed. Gweth’s back was against the wall, Kahlahnti’s head lay against the biceps of her right arm, her left was draped along the other woman’s side, her hand resting on a soft hip. Gweth sighed and allowed herself to doze off.
Eventually Kahlahnti stirred. She carefully turned around, they looked at each other in the dim light. She kissed Gweth softly, then asked, “No regrets?”
“None.” Gweth replied smiling, “You?”
“No.”
“I really need to pee though.”
The other woman chuckled softly, “Me too, come on.”
She rolled out of bed, went to the window and opened the shutter. The sudden midday light was very bright, Gweth sat up, dazzled. Kahlahnti spoke to someone through the window, “Good morning, Limmy. How’s your day?”
“Good, miss. You slept later than usual.”
“A bit.” She turned from the window.
Gweth asked, “Who’s that?”
“One of the miller’s daughters, she’s hanging laundry in the courtyard. Come with me, I’ll show you where the facilities are.”
Gweth was surprised when the other woman went to the door, opened it and then walked into the hallway still unclothed. She noted the cleanliness of the room, finished in hardwood with two braided mats on the floor. All the furniture was well crafted, aside from what she had already seen there was a small desk and two modest chairs. The place was tidy, other than their clothing scattered on the floor, with a lamp on the corner of the desk, a small shelf of books, a basin under the small table and a modest copper mirror on the wall opposite the window.
She started to pick up her shift but Kahlahnti stuck her head back in the room, “Don’t worry about that, it’s just women here.”
“Really? What about the rest of the miller’s family?”
“Oh, this building is not even directly attached to the family house.”
“I see. Is that odd?”
“Not in Olds, no.” She turned down the hall, Gweth followed.
There were three other rooms along the hall, which ran from the front room to the back room. The back room had a fireplace, though no fire had been lit, a small copper bathtub, a table, a bench and a couple of chairs. The room was finished in well worked hardwood.
Through the back door they came out into a small courtyard where there was a stone outhouse with seating for two, some wooden tubs and buckets in a neat row along one wall and a stone bench. A small gate lead out into a larger, attached courtyard where she could see two juvenile girls hanging laundry.
“This is a really nice place.” Gweth commented.
“It really is.”
“Do you pay much to rent the room?”
“Not as much as you would think.”
After they had seen to their needs, Kahlahnti went to the gate and called to one of the girls, “Limmy?”
“Yes, miss?”
“Two towels and wash cloths, please. And a bucket of water.”
“Yes miss.”
As they waited Kahlahnti stretched, she was obviously enjoying the warmth of the sun. Gweth admired her, she noticed a series of faded scars across the woman’s back, as though someone had lashed her long ago. The youth brought the water and cloths, the two of them cleaned up. Kahlahnti suggested, “We could go to the market and get something to eat?”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
“I should mention that when I’m working we can’t be making eyes at each other all the time.”
“I understand.”
“Okay. That’s good.”
They returned to Kahlahnti’s room, dressed then left for the market. Once again she was struck by how beautiful Olds was.
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