by Tom Liberman
“Of course,” said the boy. “But grandmother will want to meet you before you leave. She insists on meeting all the visitors.”
“Hello,” said the girl with a grin. “Are you adventurers?”
Rhia nodded and smiled. She recognized the gleam in the girl’s eyes because the same stared back at her face in the mirror when she was that age, “Of a sort. Do you want to be a swordswoman when you grow up?”
The girl nodded her head and looked up with glowing eyes at Rhia, “I bet you’ve got lots of stories to tell. Someday I want to be the one telling stories!”
Rhia smiled, “I was just like you a few years back, my name is Rhia and I’m from a place called Elekargul, I bet you’ve never heard of it.”
The girl shook her head, “No, is it far away?”
“About as far away as can be,” said Rhia.
“Were you scared to leave your home?”
“We can talk about all that later,” said the boy with a grin and hooked his arm under that of the girl. “Come on, sis; let’s take Rhia and her friends inside.”
“I’m Marianna,” said Marianna.
“I’m Mike,” said Mike deepening her voice slightly.
“Nice to meet both of you,” said Andrus with a grin. “Come along then. I’m afraid things are pretty quiet around here right now, but we can get your bellies and packs full. Never let it be said a Treowe let a traveler leave without a full stomach!”
They passed through the heavy gate, guarded by a couple of soldiers, and the young men straightened up and nodded their heads as the three went by. They seemed to focus their gaze mostly on Marianna. Rhia realized the girl was actually quite pretty with her flaming red hair, freckles, and pale skin. It was hard to shake the image of her downtrodden state just a few days previously.
Once inside the little fort Andrus took them down a stone walkway that wound its way between buildings. There were half-a-dozen large buildings within the fort and a number of smaller ones as well. Andrus led them to a little cottage that was near the center of the compound situated next to a pond that glistened in the sunlight. Bursting flower boxes stood at every window.
Andrus went up to the front door and knocked a single time and then let himself in. “Come on now,” he said to the girls with a motion of his head. “Grandma!”
An elderly woman’s voice called out from another room, “I’m back here.”
“You have some visitors,” said Andrus loudly. “Young travelers and I know how you like to talk to visitors.”
“Get them something to eat and some tea,” came the voice. “I’ll be out in just a bit. These old bones don’t move as fast as they used to.”
“Yes, grandma,” said Andrus and smiled. “Take a seat over here,” he said pointing to a comfortable looking room adjacent to the entry hall. There was a large sofa with a floral pattern, a pair of sturdy chairs around a thick-legged table, and a rocking chair with an old wooden tub in front of it. “Just not the rocking chair, that’s for grandma.”
The girls looked at each other smiled. Rhia and Marianna took up a place on the sofa while Mike sat down in one of the heavy chairs. Andrus went off through another door and disappeared, although the sound of clattering dishes soon followed.
“I’ll go help him,” said Marianna getting up from the couch and Rhia thought about joining her, but then decided it wouldn’t be bad for the girl to be alone in the kitchen with the handsome boy. Mike still wasn’t talking to anyone so the two sat in silence for long minutes. Eventually Marianna returned with a plateful of little cakes and then a platter with cups and saucers.
Soon enough Andrus returned with two steaming pots of hot water. One he placed on the table and the second he emptied into the wooden tub. He looked up at the girls with a wink, “Grandma has sore feet,” he said.
“You’ll have sore feet when you’re seventy!” said the voice of an elderly woman with thin gray hair and a thickness about her waist. Yes, you will!”
“I thought your hearing was going, grandma?” said Andrus and smiled broadly.
“Only in my left ear, young man,” said the woman with a smile. “She hobbled over to the rocking chair and sat down with a thump. Now, now, now, what have we here?”
“I’m Rhia, ma’am,” said Rhia and Marianna and Mike introduced themselves as well.
“I’m Greta but most folks just call me grandma,” said the woman as she lowered her feet into the shallow but steaming water. “Ahh, that’s the good stuff. Get me another kettle of hot water before you join us, will you, Andrus?” she said to the boy, who immediately set off to do her bidding.
“He’s a good lad, just like his father.”
“Is that your son?” said Marianna.
“No, no, my son-in-law,” said Greta with a cackle. “My daughter married a decent man and that’s a good thing. You youngsters look like you’re about the age to start thinking about marriage. Any prospects?”
The girls looked at each and said nothing.
“Why, I don’t believe that for a moment,” said Greta turning to Rhia. “You’re a strong girl, I can see that. Maybe not as pretty as the other girls but steady. Good hips for breeding.”
Rhia’s eyes darted back and forth between Mike and Marianna while Mike barely suppressed a snort and Marianna looked rather scandalized.
“I’m an old lady,” said Greta with another cackle. “We can speak our minds and no one gives us any trouble. It’s one of the few benefits of outlasting all your peers. Now, then, don’t you worry any, young Rhia. There’s plenty of boys who like a sturdy frame. Not your friend, Mike of course, such a slight little fellow. You’ll want to focus on dainty girls although you’ll have a hard time finding one prettier than you are yourself.”
This time Mike couldn’t help but snort with laughter and the other girls followed suit.
“I remember when I was your age, that I do. Now then, I’ve just been blathering on like an old lady. You’re here visiting so you owe us some stories. It’s the traveler’s way. Visitors tell their stories first.”
“I’m from a place far to the south of here,” said Rhia once again feeling that lump of homesickness in her stomach. “It’s called Elekargul.”
“The Freeriders then,” said Greta with a smile.
“You know it?”
“I know of it at least,” she replied nodding her head and scratching an ear. “When you get to be my age you’ve seen a few things. I believe my Tarragonus mentioned your people to me years ago. He and Volorious were discussing the various nations around the world where people were still free.”
“Is Tarragonus your husband?” said Marianna taking a sip from her cup of tea after carefully watching how the old woman held the cup and mimicking her motions.
“He was,” said Greta with a smile. “He passed, goodness, now, twenty years ago. No twenty-one. It was the winter, he caught a bad cold and just couldn’t shake it. Men die before women you know; it’s the way of it. You have to brace yourself for when you’re alone after your husband passes.”
“I’m sorry,” said Marianna quietly and looked at the carpet under her feet.
“I appreciate that, dearie,” said Greta and waved gently at the girl with her free hand. “It’s a kind sentiment. We were married for nigh on forty years we were. I was just a young girl living in a village far to the south of here. He had just taken up with Volorious back then, before they settled here and built Tanelorn.”
“Volorius?” asked Mike.
The old woman cackled and threw back her head, “Of course, of course, how silly of me. Yes, the Gray Lord is what you call him I’m sure. But he was just plain old Volorious back then. A moody fellow and too smart for his own good.”
Marianna looked at the old woman with wide eyes, “You know the Gray Lord?”
The woman laughed again, “Why of course, my Tarragonus was best man at his wedding. Why I used to bathe the twins in this old tub right here,” she said looking down at her feet.
&nbs
p; Even Mike’s eyes opened wide at this revelation, “In there?”
Greta laughed again, “My, oh my, of course. They weren’t born so tall as they are now. They were just little babies like everyone else. I do believe bathing together back then was probably about the last time the two of them got along in anything like a civil manner!”
The girls all laughed and Greta looked up at Mike with a keen eye but said nothing.
“How did you meet your husband?” said Marianna with a smile just as Andrus came back with another pot of boiling water.
He walked over to Greta and started to tilt it down.
“No!” said Rhia starting to stand up and reach forward. “It’s too hot!”
Greta laughed again, “These old feet are sore but a little hot water doesn’t bother them at all. Go right ahead and pour away.”
Andrus did so although carefully made certain the new water went into the side of the tub and away from direct contact with her feet. He maneuvered over to her right side and whispered, “She’s not as tough as she thinks she is.”
The girls looked up but the old woman gave no indication she heard the boy’s comment. “Ah, that’s nice now then, isn’t it? An old woman has to have a few luxuries before she passes on. Now what was your question again, Marianna?”
“How did you meet your husband?”
“Oh yes, that’s quite a story and if I can manage to stay awake long enough I’ll tell it to you. But I want to hear about you. Where are you headed and why?”
“Grelm,” said Mike who seemed to have settled down and was enjoying her cake and sipping at her tea. “We’re on a mission!”
“That sounds exciting,” said Greta. “Those gnolls are a wild breed and you need to be careful, young Mike. You girls will be fine of course. There’s nothing more important to a gnoll then a young woman of breeding age. If anyone were to harm you, they’d soon hear about it. But you, young fellow, traveling with two young women, you’ll be the target of a lot of trouble. All the young gnoll boys are full of spit and vinegar they are. They’ll want to test you to see if you’re worthy of your wives.”
“We’re not …,” started Rhia looking with alarm over at Mike.
“I know you’re not but the gnoll boys will feel differently. It’s the custom up there for girls to become betrothed at a very young age to an allied family and as soon as she’s old enough to have young ones she’s shipped off to be with her husband. It’s the way up there. They won’t understand two girls traveling with a boy who isn’t their husband.”
“What can we do about it?” said Rhia.
“Well, Mike, you’re pretty for a boy, that’s for certain. I think in a dress you might pass for a girl, you just might. It’d be safer that way for the three of you. You’d just have to tell them your husband sent you up there for some reason or another and most of the gnoll boys would leave you alone. That’s how it is up there, you see. If a gnoll boy wants another man’s wife he doesn’t take the wife, he kills the husband. They are a violent people but they respect women very much. It’s strange because if you saw a chain of wives cooking and cleaning and hiding behind those veils of theirs you’d think they were nothing more than slaves. I guess in a way they are. When we women are free to do as we please, as it is here in Tanelorn, there’s a tradeoff. We give up safety.”
The girls all nodded their heads.
“Which way do you like, grandma,” said Andrus interjecting himself into the conversation.
Greta nodded her head, “Why, that’s an easy question. I prefer to be free. When Tarragonus came into the village that day with Volorious and that young rogue fellow, what was his name? Dashed handsome little fellow but a bit shifty. Oh well, it doesn’t matter I suppose. Yes, I was betrothed to a village elder but I knew the moment I saw my Tarragonus that I’d have him! He wasn’t as handsome as that other fellow was nor as smart as Volorious but he was steady, strong, and true. That’s what you want in a husband, a fellow that’s not going to have his head turned by a pretty face but doesn’t shirk from doing what needs to be done either. Ah, those early years were hard, they were. I remember when we met Claire, the Gray Lady you’d call her. That’s a story in itself but we haven’t got all day.”
“I don’t mind,” said Marianna staring up at the old woman from the couch. “I could listen to you tell stories all day.”
“No, no,” said Greta. “Your friend there tells me you’re on a mission and I believe him. I guess you want to get supplies before you head north?”
“That’s right,” said Rhia.
“Good, that’s the proper plan. The gnolls aren’t all bad; they just have a tendency to solve their problems with violence. They have villages and hamlets all over and if you’re polite and respect their customs they’ll feed you fine, still, it doesn’t hurt to be cautious, you never know when things might go wrong and having a pack full of food and a skin full of water has saved many a life over the years. Now you tell me, what are you three youngsters heading into Grelm to do?” said the old woman with a grin as she leaned back and began to rock in her chair sending little waves across the tub at her feet.
Mike looked over at Rhia who shrugged her shoulders, “I suppose it’s not really a secret.”
“No, I guess not,” said Mike and smiled. “Do you know a fellow named Pillswar?” she asked the older woman.
“I’m not sure I do,” she said. “But don’t let that stop you from telling your story.”
“He’s causing trouble in Tanelorn,” said Mike. “He thinks the Gray Lord is weak and wants to take over himself.”
“Weak?” said Greta with a chuckle. “He’s an odd fellow, moody, of that’s there’s no doubt. But weak? Hardly. He’s a tough one, strong as they come and stubborn as a prairie dog watching over his clan. What’s Volorious done that makes this other fellow think he’s weak?”
Rhia shrugged her shoulders, “I’ve been here for less than a year so I’m not sure.”
Mike opened her mouth to say something but then Marianna gave off a little cough and raised her hand slightly, “I know.”
Mike looked sharply at the girl, “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Marianna looked at the ground and mumbled something inaudible.
“What?” said Mike in a sharp tone.
The girl shrugged and continued to look at the floor.
“Go on and tell us now,” said Rhia trying to use a soothing voice. “It’s fine.”
Mike jerked her head to look at Rhia with a penetrating gaze and opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it at the last moment, and said nothing.
Marianna continued to look at the floor and shuffled her feet back and forth, “The Gray Lord doesn’t do anything anymore. That’s what he says. The Gray Lord is going to let the country be destroyed. He just sits in his house doing nothing.”
“That’s actually pretty much true,” said Mike leaning back and nodding her head. “And I already knew it anyway.”
“He’s a crafty one, Volorious is,” said Greta rocking back in her chair. “If he’s doing nothing then he’s doing nothing for a reason.”
“There’s going to be a big war,” said Marianna her eyes still fixated on the ground.
“How do you know that?” asked Mike looking at the girl. “And could you manage to look at me instead of the ground when you’re talking to me?”
“That sounds like something a parent would say,” said Rhia under her breath.
“You stay out of it,” said Mike but she did smile.
Marianna looked up and her eyes darted around the room looking toward the door and then to the kitchen but eventually they settled on Mike, “He wants there to be a war. The dragonkin in Dagor’dal know that the Gray Lord has the Staff of Sakatha. The Rock Lord knows he has the Black Sword. They are working together I think. Sometimes they talk when I’m around because they don’t notice me. There is something about the Longgrass Tribe of the Five Nations. The chieftain from there has been around a couple
of times.”
“If Tanelorn is attacked from the south by the dragonkin, the north by the gnolls, the west by the Rock Lord, and the east by the Five Nations we don’t stand a chance!” said Mike suddenly standing up. “I don’t care how many soldiers we have, no one can withstand an attack from all sides. Maybe Pillswar has a point. If the Gray Lord isn’t going to do anything about the fact that they are building up armies, then someone else does need to be in charge.”
“I don’t know,” said Rhia looking to Greta.
“What would this Pillswar fellow do?” said Greta with a little frown on her face. “It’s always easy to criticize the other fellow but the real question is what would you do instead?”
Marianna looked back down to the floor, “I’m not sure. They don’t talk about that as much.”
“Of course not,” Greta shaking her head sadly. “Of course they only talk about how everything is the other person’s fault. That’s the way of it. People find it all too easy to be unhappy about their own life and blame everyone but themselves. Volorious used to talk about that all the time. That he wanted to build a nation where people were responsible for themselves and their nation. He settled here in this little valley, gosh, fifty years ago.”
“You and your husband did as well?” asked Marianna.
“I was not so young as you three,” said Greta. “Even back then, but I was a lot younger than I am now. We built a little house right here where you are now, but it burned down ten years ago and my daughter and her husband built a new one for me. It’s been a good life. I have a few regrets of course, doesn’t everyone? But in the end I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’ve got my little grandchildren, a nice home, and occasional visits from interesting folks like yourself. Now, you’ve told me your story, you have. That’s all an old lady like me can ask. I’m sure you’re eager to be off to the frontier for a little excitement. I hope at least I’ve given you some good advice. Especially you, young man,” she concluded looking over at Mike with a smile.
