by Noah Layton
What a steal.
‘I’ll take it.’
‘Excellent.’
We initiated the trade. I took the bed and stored it in my inventory. It’s image was repeated 20 times in my inventory slots, indicating its respective weight.
That must have been how it worked – obviously there was no way that I could have stowed 50 beds on my person. Weight had to be taken into account.
I went to say goodbye to Cobb but he simply stared back at me, tapping his chin with one of his long, clawed nails.
‘Not yet,’ he smiled. ‘You look like the kind of man in the market for… Other things.’
‘What other things?’ I asked slowly.
‘Well, you have a bed, but what about someone to share your bed?’ He grinned at me and raised an eyebrow in the most disgusting way possible before glancing at Alorion. ‘Unless you two are…’
Alorion and I shared a quick look.
‘No, no, no,’ we both said hurriedly, shaking our hands before us.
‘No?’
‘No,’ I said insistently. ‘He’s my… advisor.’
‘Just because he is your advisor does not mean there are boundaries. Plenty of tribe masters lie with their-’
‘Let’s move on,’ I said. ‘What do you mean by someone else sharing my bed?’
The goblin looked about the empty tent to check nobody was around. He turned wordlessly and led us through the tent into a darkened area. We followed him through a locked door and into a much smaller section of the tent, lit by a single lantern hanging from the ceiling.
A series of much more valuable objects lined makeshift shelves on either side of the small space, some of which were recognisable as gold and silver items such as idols and jewellery, and others that I couldn’t figure out the nature of at all.
At the back of the room was a large cube, six feet on all sides, with a sheet cast over the top of it.
I didn’t know what to expect when Cobb grabbed the sheet in one of his clawed hands and pulled it away. He had asked if I wanted someone or something to share my bed with.
I really didn’t think that he would have an actual person under there, though.
The girl looked anything but defeated. She was in her early twenties, with dirty blond hair. From the top of her head a pair of fox-like ears protruded, their orange color matching the freckles on the cheeks of her pretty but angry face. She was entirely human save for a pair of long, pawed feet at the ends of her legs.
She was wearing nothing but tattered rags around her perky breasts and tight waist, leaving her body exposed, but she didn’t seem to care.
‘Let me out of here, you little worm,’ she said to Cobb through gritted teeth. ‘What I’ve been through already isn’t enough to you?’
‘She’s got something of a temper,’ Cobb said, ‘that considered I can offer you a discount if you’re interested.’
‘What the hell is this?’ I said, stepping back and looking from Cobb to the girl. ‘Oh, not you,’ I continued, holding a hand up to the girl.
‘What’s the matter?’ Cobb said, his tone becoming serious all of a sudden. ‘Please don’t tell me we’re going to have a problem here.’
‘You’re going to have a big problem in a minute,’ I said. ‘Why do you have a girl in a cage back here?!’
‘HA HA HA!’ Alorion laughed, loudly and suddenly. ‘This is just a joke, a big misunderstanding.’ He tugged on the trouser leg of my flight suit and shot me a wide-eyed look, nodding his head to the side. ‘Please excuse I and my colleague for a brief moment, Mr Cobb.’
‘Of course,’ he said slowly, staring at me suspiciously.
Alorion pulled me off to the other end of the small tent.
‘I don’t mean to be disrespectful, Jack, but speaking like that is going to get us both killed.’
‘What are you talking about? You can’t just lock people up in cages. It’s trafficking, it’s… slavery.’
‘It’s not exactly pleasant. I agree. But once a tribe has been overrun by another, everything upon the land becomes fair game. The resources, the weapons, the animals – and the people.’
‘You’re serious?’
‘Deathly. From what I can gather this girl’s tribe will have been overrun, and now she’s on the market.’
‘This is so fucked up,’ I muttered, shaking my head and staring over at Cobb. He was reading from the pages of a pocketbook through his spectacles. ‘I should go over there and beat the shit out of that guy right now.’
‘You could, but the entirety of the Juggernaut Tribe would come and lay waste to our own, and in case you hadn’t noticed there are only two of us right now. Don’t you remember what he said? They aren’t a violent people, but if it’s in the interest of coin then they take things very seriously. Being hot-headed will be a sure-fire way to a quick end.’
‘So what do we do?’
‘There isn’t much we can do, Jack. I’m sorry.’
I looked back over at the girl. She wasn’t even bothering to look over at me with puppy-dog eyes; her face was filled with so much despair that she could only look down at the ground as she held onto the bars.
She might have been confrontational, but the tears in her eyes were undeniable.
I quelled my temper enough to return to Cobb for a few minutes.
‘Sorry about that,’ I said through gritted teeth. ‘I’ve got a weird sense of humor.’
I may as well have been a ventriloquist’s doll on Alorion’s knee. I really wished that I was.
‘No harm, Mr Hawthorne,’ Cobb said assuredly. ‘So, are you interested?’
‘I am. How much would you like for her?’
‘Well, considering her disobedient nature, I can let you have her for… 200 gold pieces.’
Shit. The 17 in my pocket suddenly felt mighty light. I had another 10 available on top of that, but I still needed it for the stable.
‘That seems a little steep,’ I replied. ‘There’s no way you could bring it down to, say… 15?’
‘You think I’m worth 15 gold pieces?’ The girl said, scowling at me through the bars.
Cobb broke into hysterical laughter, keeling over before regaining himself and pointing at me.
‘You’re right,’ he chuckled. ‘You are funny. All right, I can let her go for 180, but no less.’
‘Yeah… See, the thing is, I’m a little light right now. I could return first thing tomorrow with the money, if that works for you?’
‘I’m not so sure about that. She could be gone by then. Plenty of masters around that would snap her up for their own, uhh… Pleasures, if you catch my drift.’
Oh, I catch your drift, you seedy little shit.
There had to be some way for me to get her out of there.
Cobb drummed his fingers against his chin again, looking between us.
‘Tell you what,’ he started. ‘How about I give you a loan? I can give her to you now, we can set up a contract, and you can bring me the money tomorrow.’
To my side, Alorion screwed up his face and shook his head at me slightly. Not a good idea, Jack.
I tilted my head to the side with pleading eyes.
But I can’t just leave her in there.
We may as well have been having a telepathic conversation.
‘All right,’ I finally conceded. ‘You’ve got a deal. 180.’
Cobb and I shook hands, and the window appeared before me.
Trade details: 180 GP (deferred) w/ 50% interest.
‘50% interest?’ I read. ‘Are you kidding me?’
‘It’s a standard deal, and I’m giving her to you for free right now without a deposit. It’s a smart plan, friend.’
I’m probably going to regret this.
I executed the trade. Alorion sighed deeply from my side. A huge grin spread across Cobb’s face.
‘Excellent choice. I knew you were a smart man from the moment I saw you.’
Don’t hold your breath, asshole.
Cobb
produced a key and a length of rope from the pocket of his grimy suit. The girl shot me a look that was slightly less miserable than before and turned away.
Cobb unlocked the cage and bound her wrists tightly from behind with the rope, before pulling her out roughly.
‘Easy,’ I said, ‘remember – she’s mine now.’
‘Of course, sir, of course.’
He bowed cheaply and pulled his hand away from her arm, just as I placed mine on her other.
To my surprise she didn’t try to make a run for it, not even after we exited the tent and returned to the market. She didn’t struggle or resist – she was totally submissive.
It felt weird holding a girl by the arm who was literally in her underwear and had her hands bound in front of all of these people, but not a single head belonging to any of the passers-by turned our way. To them it was completely normal.
If I had done this back home I would have ended up on state news.
‘I just want to go on record as saying that this is a terrible idea,’ Alorion said as we left the market.
‘Believe me, you don’t need to tell me that. Feel like I just took a loan from the mafia. But there was no way I could leave that place without her and sleep soundly tonight… Or ever.’
A hundred yards down the trail I retrieved the sickle from my inventory. The moment it appeared in my hand, the girl’s eyes went wide and she staggered back.
‘Please… Please don’t hurt me.’
‘Woah, woah, relax,’ I said insistently. ‘I’m just going to cut your bindings.’
I cut her free and she stepped away, gulping.
‘What are you going to do with me?’ She said, looking between Alorion and I.
‘Nothing that you don’t want to do,’ I said. ‘You’re free to go.’
‘But I don’t have anywhere to go. My tribe was overrun… They’re all dead.’
I was a little taken aback by how casually she said it.
The obvious idea suddenly came to mind.
‘Well, look – we’ve just started a new tribe a few miles away. You’re welcome to join if you’d like.’
‘How many of you are there?’
‘Right now it’s just the two of us.’
‘Two?’ She scoffed desperately. ‘How do you expect to hold off any invaders?’
‘Well…’ I started, before turning to Alorion. ‘Actually, that’s a damn good point. What do I do if an army tries to invade our land? We’d be cut up and hung out to dry.’
‘This acts in your favour,’ Alorion said, tapping his head. ‘It was common knowledge that Master Marco was insane by the end of his life. He even went to the trouble of burning the land to a crisp before he gave up entirely. Everybody in the surrounding area knew, and as a result nobody came near. Everyone knew that there was nothing to steal or salvage.’
‘What do you mean burned it to a crisp?’ I asked. ‘It looks fine to me.’
‘The land resets when the master of the tribe is killed.’
‘There’s your reason,’ I said to the foxgirl. ‘Nobody knows about us and nobody seems to give a shit about us either, but we’ve got a good setup and fertile land. I’m inviting you to join our tribe. Or, you know, you can stay out here in the wilds, unclanned and unprotected, waiting for somebody else to capture you.’
The girl looked me up and down quickly before nodding lightly.
‘Okay,’ she said, smiling lightly. ‘You seem quite trustworthy, although I have been wrong before.’
‘There’s one thing we’ve got in common. What do I call you?’
‘Ariadne.’
‘I’m Jack. This is Alorion.’
Ariadne held out a hand to shake, which I took.
Another window suddenly appeared before me.
Accept Ariadne into the Orakin Tribe?
I agreed, and just like that we had our third member.
Chapter Three
We set off at a jog through the forest in an effort to get back to our lands before the sunset.
Emerging onto the lands for the first time, Ariadne took in the sight of it.
‘This is a beautiful place, master,’ she said. ‘Albeit a little empty…’
‘Like I said, I’m kind of a beginner. Right now I’m just trying to keep my head down and stay alive. And you don’t have to call me master.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, I-’ I turned to Alorion, wondering about it. ‘Is this such a strange concept for everybody in these lands?’
‘A tribe master’s word is law upon his land,’ Alorion replied. ‘You decide how you wish to run things. That said, your people do not have to obey you.’
I paused for a moment. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. If you give somebody total power its essentially natural law that they turn into a complete asshole.
But what was wrong with being tactical? If I was going to get the tribe up and running, I would need to put my citizens to good use.
‘On second thought,’ I said, returning to Ariadne. ‘You can call me master, at least for the time being.’
‘Of course, master,’ she said, a little sheepishly.
‘Tell me, do you have any skills?’
‘Several. Mostly just domestic trades. Those were my assigned duties back at in my tribe. I am also trained to handle throwing knives, too.’
‘Impressive,’ I remarked. ‘I’ll keep that in mind. Before we turn in for the night we’ve got a few more things that need arranging.’
I spent the 10GP required on creating the starter stable. It emerged from the ground as promptly as the others, a squat building with two large wooden doors. Inside was a fully-grown horse, black with white splotches across its skin, and a reasonably-sized cart.
In addition there was a crate on a ledge at the back, which I crossed to and tapped to find 30 inventory slots – 29 were available, with one being occupied by a saddle.
‘I don’t know much about horses,’ I said, looking to my companions. ‘I used to ride years back, but it’s been a while. Any information would be appreciated.’
‘We kept some for a short time on our lands, master,’ Ariadne said. ‘They simply need grass and water to survive.’
‘It’s more what grass turns into that I’m worried about,’ Alorion said.
I headed into the grass pasture with the sickle and stowed away a stack of ten portions of corn in my inventory. All crops seemed to be able to store in stacks of ten, at least the ones that I had harvested so far. Grass didn’t exactly qualify as a crop, but the rule still seemed to apply.
I returned to the stable and set down the grass inside upon the ground. The horse seemed to eye me suspiciously before lowering its head and munching away indulgently.
Turning to the cart, I pressed my hand against its surface and examined the inventory window.
300 spaces. The boxes spread before my eyes vastly. It could carry six times what I alone could.
And I would need every single one of them if I was going to pay back the debt to Cobb, but worrying about that could wait till morning.
One thing would set my mind at ease a little. I headed to the blacksmiths, activated the anvil and inserted my iron bars, leather hide and wood block into the window.
Craft Basic Longsword?
I accepted and waited, and just like that the sword appeared on the workbench. I picked it up and felt the weight of the weapon in my hands. Even if the blade was a little dull and the leather a little shoddily wrapped, the seriousness of holding a real melee weapon for the first time in my life was unmistakable.
I had been to my local firing range more than once, but this was a whole other beast that needed taming.
Heading back outside with my sword in hand, I called to Alorion and Ariadne.
‘How do I look?’
‘Positively terrifying,’ Alorion smiled.
‘I hope so,’ I said, ‘Now I just need to learn how to use it.’
That could wait till tomorrow, though. The sk
y had turned a faded purple, and the light was almost entirely gone.
I headed into the treehouse and retrieved the bed from my inventory, setting it down in the corner of the room.
But then it struck me – I had been so obsessed with getting some rest that I had completely neglected to think about my companions.
I may have been in charge, but I still had to look after them too.
What had Cobb said? What about someone to share your bed?
No, no – there was no way that I was going to climb into bed with Ariadne. True, I couldn’t deny how hot she was, and the fox ears and pawed feet she possessed had only made me want her more. It was a strange thing to consider at first, but her exotic nature was undeniably sexy for reasons I couldn’t even begin to understand.
But it wasn’t about that. I had just met her, and even if I was the tribe master, it didn’t mean I could just invite her in. It felt wrong.
I headed back outside.
‘You can take the bed, Ariadne. I’ll sleep out here.’
‘What? That’s ridiculous, master!’
‘No, it isn’t. Trust me.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes. That’s an order.’
‘Thank you, master. Goodnight.’
She bowed to me slightly and disappeared up the steps.
‘I hoped you’d be happy with the crate I found you in,’ I said, addressing Alorion, ‘as long as you’re okay with it.’
‘As an imp I’d actually prefer to sleep in the forest. I have a particular tree on the edge of the forest that I call home.’
‘Whatever suits you, bud.’
‘Bud? What is bud?’
‘It’s… Like a friend, I guess.’
‘You consider me to be a friend?’
‘I’d hope so. You’ve done nothing but help me all day. I’d probably be dead without you.’
‘That is simply my duty, Jack.’
‘Call it what you want,’ I smiled, slumping down at the base of the tree. I ripped off the arms from my flight suit and used them to create a makeshift pillow that gave some relief to the back of my head from the rough, chipped wood of the trunk.
‘You are sure you’re okay with sleeping down here?’
‘Don’t worry about me. I’ve slept worse than this, and I’ve got my sword that I don’t know how to use in case we get attacked.’
