Chapter 5
She had only known Ben for a few days, but Lizzy vowed to herself that if anything happened to him she would lay down her life to find his captors and bring them to justice.
True to his promise, Ben relentlessly taught her her letters and words, awakening the long-lost lessons her parents taught her so long ago. Her progress was slower than she would have liked, but Ben praised and encouraged her as if she was his very own daughter, instead of just a bulky half-orc old enough to be his sister and towered at least two heads above him.
Between her reading lessons and Ben's bard-like influence to find them the cheapest rooms for the night at every inn they stopped at, the days of travel comfortably and swiftly flew by.
It seemed they had barely been on the road when they finally entered the forest marking the beginning of Arveya's territory. Ben sauntered down the road, whistling a new tune he had been practicing. Lizzy's feet slowed as she stared at the trees around them. She cautiously watched the trees while she walked, a strange chill creeping up her spine; it was almost as if the forest was watching her. She hurried forward and stood protectively behind Ben, keeping a watchful eye on the swaying branches.
After what seemed like ages, they finally broke through the trees and entered a wide plane. Ben skipped forward, but Lizzy took a moment to study the landscape.
Long grass waved in the gentle breeze and the air was filled with rumblings from the nearby town. Wooden and stone buildings dotted the area, some looking as if they were in the middle of construction. Villagers strolled through the numerous streets and more than once the sound of children's laughter floated up the hillside.
Lizzy jogged down the small hill and walked behind Ben who had already reached the main road. The young man greeted everyone he met and they gave him a wide smile in return. Lizzy ducked her head, not quite ready to meet the fearful gazes that she knew would come her way. After more than half a dozen villagers greeted her in the same, friendly manner usually reserved for her more outgoing friend, Lizzy decided the townsfolk of Arveya were either blind or needed to have their eyes examined by the local wizard.
"That place looks promising!" Ben startled Lizzy out of her musings and pointed to a large building down the road. "Maybe some sort of town hall. Wait here, I'll be right back!"
He was off before Lizzy could even call out in protest. She stood helplessly in the middle of the road, bringing her glaive in front of her and fiddling with the metal handle. Townsfolk meandered up and down the pathway, still giving her a warm nod in welcome, but Lizzy could see the confusion behind their eyes.
She turned in a small circle, taking a moment to look beyond the town and toward the hill that became more inviting with each second that passed. By the time she made a full circle she had half a mind to trek back up the hill, but a loud voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Well now you're not a familiar face. Just passing by or looking to stay?"
Lizzy gulped and stared down at the male human in front of her. A wide, cheerful smile stretched his face and his dark hair caught the rays of the sun, but the metallic glint of the strange weapon on his hip told her he was not someone to trifle with. Even more surprising was his companion, a bronze colored dragonborn only a few inches shorter than herself. A large black wolf stood by his side, further proving to her that the trio was not a group to be formidable opponents.
"Um, probably…probably looking to stay. I was told that some new nobles were trying to build up this town?"
She glanced around nervously, hoping the nobles were well out of sight. Several days worth of travel dust covered her and her gear, and she wanted to look her best before meeting the leaders of the town.
"Oh! The nobles…that would be us!" The human gestured to himself and the dragonborn behind him.
"I'm sorry!" She bent her knees in an attempt to curtsey, but her knees popped with the small movement.
"Ha! Oi, Kriv, I think she's the first person to try and bow to us! Don't worry about doing that kind of stuff…we just like the perks a noble title gives us. And technically speaking," he tapped his bushy chin, "only one of us is a true noble anyway. Well, two if you count Kriv, cause it's his mom. You never have said if you feel noble or not."
The dragonborn only raised the scales above his eyes. "Do I really need to answer that?"
"Ah, you're a hoot," Lizzy startled when the human slapped the dragonborn on the shoulder. "So, what can you do?"
Lizzy blinked, her mind wandering during their strange conversation. "Oh! You…you mean me?"
"Well I already know what to expect from this anti-social one here…" he tried to slap the dragonborn again, but he stepped out of the way just in time, "so yeah, I'm askin' you. Any particular set of skills that would be useful in the town's development?"
Obviously he eyed the massive weapon in her hands, but for the first time in her life, Lizzy was given the chance to introduce herself. Not someone announcing the Lightning Beast, not people running away with screams of 'the half orc.' Just introducing plain 'ole Lizzy…and she wanted to keep it that way.
"I can…knit, fairly well. I made this," she reached into her pack and after pushing aside a bundle of pink fabric, pulled out the scarf she had been making for Ben, "and I can cook."
The dragonborn perked up and even the human seemed impressed. "What can you cook?"
She shrugged, returning the scarf to her pack. "Mostly simple meals. And apple tarts, my mother's recipe. I've just recently been getting back into practice, though, so I'm still a bit rusty."
Something hard flashed behind the human's eyes. "What has been keeping you from practicing?"
It would be so easy to lie. No one knew who she was and even Ben didn't know everything about her past. But if she wanted to make a home here, then she figured a bit of honesty would go a long way…and not come back to bite her in the future.
"Let's just say I was forced to use this," she gave her glaive a bit of a shake, "enough to last me a lifetime."
"So are you never going to use that again?" the man crossed his arms and raised a brow. "What if the town is in danger and we need people to defend it?"
A rush of heat shot down her spine. She gripped the metal tightly in her hand, her throat growing tight. "Who's thinking of hurting Ben?"
To her surprise, the human laughed. "Good! Good, that's all I needed to know. Follow me!" He waved a hand over his shoulder and began to walk down the road.
"Wait, what?"
Her tight grip relaxed and she turned to the dragonborn for help. He sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Better just to follow him and ask questions later. That's what I always do."
Temples throbbing in confusion, she followed the strange group down the road.
"I'm Kriv, by the way," the dragonborn said, his voice younger than she expected him to be, "This is my wolf Naileen and the weird guy is Settri."
"Is he always like that?"
"Pretty much. He's the talker of the group. I just shoot things that need to be shot."
He patted the beautiful bow hung on his back. Lizzy took a moment to admire the amazing craftsmanship, but each time she blinked the wood seemed to morph and change, almost like trees changing through the seasons. Head throbbing again, she shook away the mirage and focused on following Settri through the crowd.
He cut through the main road and stopped at an empty building nestled between an apothecary shop and what looked like some sort of alchemy store with dozens of potions lining the windowfront. She stared at the building, absentmindedly enjoying the way the late morning sun streamed through the front windows and made them sparkle.
"Well there ya go! How do you like it?"
She turned away from admiring the building. "What? Oh, um…it's pretty, I guess."
"Great, glad you like it. Here–"
Lizzy fumbled with her hold on the glaive as Settri thrust a large, jingling leather pouch and a metal key into her hands.
"We have an extra copy of the key at the castle, but try not to lose that one, ok?"
"But are you giving me…" her voice trailed off until she could only point at the empty building behind her.
"Yep! We needed a cafe and you seem to be the perfect type to take over for us."
"But I can't cook!"
"Can you make coffee?"
"Yeah?" Everyone could make coffee…she could do that even when she still lived at the Citrine Troupe.
"And you said you can do dessert and simple meals…right?"
"...yeah…"
"Well there you go!" He slapped her arm and she fumbled the clinking pouch. "Sell some little knitted somethings or others that the women like and I'm sure you'll be a hit in no time. But gotta run…assassins to train, spectral wolves to housebreak, silver dragons to hatch…ouch!"
Even Lizzy shrank away from Kriv's heated glare.
"Anyway," Settri rubbed his arm, "best of luck to you! Just head to the castle if you need anything."
Kriv smiled, his reptilian teeth gleaming. "You're not the first person he's thrown money at, so don't worry about it."
Like a sand dervish they came and were gone.
Once again Lizzy stood alone in the middle of the road. With a confused shake of her head, she finally walked up the wooden stairs and turned the knob on the thick wooden door. The door easily swung open and the scent of fresh wood filled her nose.
The sun created cheery rectangles of light on the floor. A long wooden counter with a gleaming top stood at the back of the room. Two doors sat on opposite sides of the back wall. She opened one and saw a tall flight of stairs leading to what she assumed was the living area. After rounding the countertop, she opened the second door and stood in wonder, eyes burning at the sight of a deep brick oven, three stoves topped with countless heating pads, and enough counter space to assemble any kind of culinary treats she cared to create. It was more than she could ever dream of.
She turned in a small circle, admiring the fortune around her. Reality settled heavily on her shoulders. With a long sigh, she closed the door and walked behind the counter.
"Just how am I supposed to afford all of this…" she muttered to herself, carefully setting her glaive on the countertop.
She tucked the key into her front pocket, deciding to purchase a more secure holding for it. The leather pouch bounced heavily in her palm and heard the sound of coins clinking within the small space. After a prayer to remember how to correctly count coppers, she undid the ties and nearly fainted at the sight of gleaming gold coins. She frantically dug a hand through the pouch, seeing nothing but shimmering, shining gold.
With tears blurring her vision, Lizzy pounded up the stairs leading to the living area. She hardly noticed the small bed and dresser in the room and dumped her pack, armor and glaive onto the mattress. She ripped open her pack and took out her new armor, hurriedly tying it on before pounding back down the stairs and onto the street.
Ben waved to her from in front of what looked like a trade goods store and she eagerly waved back. Pouch of money carefully clutched in her large hand, Lizzy hurried down the street, the straps of her apron flying behind her. She patted down the pink, frilly fabric, so similar to the one her mother used to wear, and could feel both of her parents smiling down on her.
No more darkness, no more fear. She would begin her new life the way she wanted. She would choose her own fights, to protect those she loved and were placed under her care. But for now, she would put all of her energy into her A Taste of Home Café and make it the best rest-stop this side of the Spine of the World. Her pink apron flashed in the sunlight, making the hand-embroidered message gleam a dark green: sugar, spice, and everything nice.
Thank you for reading everyone!
Little bit of behind the scenes of my main dnd campaign: yes, Kriv is my main character...he is a dragonborn ranger/druid with a dire wolf animal companion. And I do have a super fancy bow now that I'm beyond excited to use!
The assassin training is a real thing, the spectral wolves are Naileen's pups she had with Oberon's Fey dog, and the silver dragon eggs are supposed to be a secret, but no one other than me and my mom (Akheri) seems to remember that. And to be honest, we are swimming in money right now, so we tend to give people bag-fulls of gold to help get them on their feet, so long as they promise to help Arveya in some way.
So yeah, that's my crazy party and my even crazier back up character, whom I absolutely love! Thanks again for reading my random drivel and don't worry...I'll be documenting all of Lizzy and Ben's adventures! Sorry for the long author's note, so I will wish you a good night and God Bless!