Rula brushed her eyes with the back of her hand and looked up at us as we slurped on our stew. "I've never returned home. I've been keeping an ear out on anyone passing through to pick up any news from home, but nothing seems to have changed." She took another mouthful of stew and chewed. "A few years later I Found Mellie here and we teamed up."
I nodded and looked at her. "Well that was definitely worth the wait. For what it's worth, I'm sorry." I took another ladle of stew and sat back against the boulder wiggling to get comfortable. "I don't know if I would have had the balls to do that. I think you did the right thing though. Although I'm surprised he didn't take your healing powers away not to mention banishment seems a bit harsh for a teacher."
She blinked back tears. "I wonder if my father thinks the same." She cleared her throat and took a sip of ale. "Well I embarrassed a noble family not to mention the high priest, and my healing comes from Uthar. Apparently he still thinks I'm worth a damn."
"Well if he's the one keeping you full of healing goodness, I imagine he has a good judge of character." I paused and narrowed my eyes. "I also noticed you're accent slips, what's the deal with that?"
Rula looked up wide eyed and then laughed long and hard. "Noticed that did ye?" She wiped the ale from her lips and spread her hands. "It's a bad habit I picked up, I don't know why. People just expect dwarves to sound a certain way and I just love the stereotype." I smiled and shook my head.
[Well, why don't we hear what happened next?] Derel turned to Mellie who was trying to choke down the stew. [She said she met up with you right? Well let's hear your story.]
Mellie chewed slowly for a second before swallowing and answering me without looking. "You sure you wanna hear it, it's not as interesting as being a general's daughter or a priest." She stared at me sadly. "You might hear something you don't want to hear."
"Uhh." I paused thinking of the right words to say. "Listen Mel, if you'd rather not say you don't have to. I just want to get to know you guys better." She offered a weak smile and I continued. "Besides, we're a team, knowing about each other will only help improve our teamwork."
Braga burped loudly, spoiling the moment a bit. "Sorry, it makes sense. Many warriors of my tribe share war stories and believe that it passes knowledge and strength from one warrior to another." She prodded Mellie with her elbow. "Go on Mel, besides I wanna go next."
Mellie chuckled quietly to herself. "Okay if you insist. But don't say I didn't warn you." She jumped up and climbed to the top of my boulder and held a dramatic pose for a moment before continuing in a deeper voice. "Once upon a time, a long, long time ago…"
"It can't have been that long ago, you're only 21." Mellie snapped her head towards Braga and glared silencing her, who chuckled and waved her to continue.
"As I was saying. Once upon, in a land far, far away…" She started again.
"It weren't even that far. Maybe a mile or two west of here." Mellie blinked slowly and turned toward Rula who was smiling behind her mug trying not to laugh.
"AS I WAS SAYING!" she cleared her throat and resumed her pose. "Once upon a time, not that long ago, in a land not so far away, there was a young couple. A locksmith and a carpenter, who fell in love…"