So yeah, there was a rather hilarious autocorrect induced typo last chapter. Got to stop writing on my tablet.

Setting up a side-story that will be M-rated, but won't be required reading; just much requested fan service. Also, a couple of people wanted to know more about Minotaur Blacksmith, so some more OC material incoming.

Married Life

Chapter Nine: On The Road Again

Summer was starting to give way to autumn, turning the leaves in the trees golden-brown. The sun, while still warm, lacked the oppressive heat it had only a few weeks previously, and a fresh breeze from the north hinted at the winter to come. Being back out on the road again put an unmistakable spring in High Elf Archer's step, for as much as she missed being at home with her wives, she was an Adventurer, a Ranger, and her place was out in the world.

It shocked her, at times, just how quickly she'd begun to see the cottage as home: it was nothing like the sprawling Elvish home she grew up in, with its wide open patios and grand staircases, but it felt far more intimate, lived in. Her parents house always felt somehow empty, even when her entire family was in residence, but the little cottage, with its apple-red walls and the near constant smell of something delicious being cooked felt like a warm blanket that she just wanted to wrap herself up in.

There was one aspect of her home life that did put a dampener on her elation, but it was something she did her best to avoid showing.

Guild Girls pregnancy had progressed to the point where she was starting to show, while the Midwife seemed sure that Cow Girl was carrying twins, explaining at least in part her dreadful morning sickness. Both women, already far more buxom than their Elvis counterpart, had only grown even more impressive as their bodies prepared to feed the littleones growing inside them. By comparison, High Elf Archer's stomach was still flat, her chest still comparatively miniscule. And it wasn't as if she wasn't trying to get pregnant; Gods knew she was trying to get Orcbolgs seed take root inside her every chance she got, to the point of even going to see the midwife herself. The old woman had examined her and reported that there was no physical reason why she couldn't conceive a child, and just looking at Guild Girl and Cow Girl made it clear that Orcbolg was more than up to the job.

But he was a human, and she was an Elf.

Oh, it wasn't unheard of for the two species to reproduce: there were plenty of Half-Elves to prove that, but that wasn't to say that it was easy or common. It could theoretically take years for her to fall pregnant with her husbands child, something she desperately wanted to do. Yes, she'd been there to nurse her wives through their morning sickness and the countless other little ways that it was affecting them, but she'd also seen the unmistakable glow about them, the way they would sometimes just stop what they were doing and hold themselves, even before they were showing and smile with utter contentment. She couldn't even find it within herself to resent them, given just how much encouragement they were offering her, going as far as to forgo the chance to make love with Orcbolg when she was fertile. But as much as they loved her and she loved them, they had what she wanted and that felt like a knife to the heart.

"Tiss a glorious day to be alive!" Dwarf Shaman proclaimed, having finally recovered from the news that he'd missed out on a life-changing windfall by not being there when they found the battle-axe they ended up selling to Thunder Warrior, helped in some small part by his party mates giving him the money they'd been paid for mapping the labyrinth.

"Isn't it just." Lizard Priest nodded in agreement, breathing in massive lung fulls of crisp, clean country air, "And to be paid to be out in it? Pure bliss!"

Their infectious joy went some way towards lifting High Elf Archer's spirits: it was indeed a grand day to be walking through the countryside with your friends, especially if someone was willing to pay you for the trouble. Technically they were guarding Priestess, who had been tasked with taking a holy relic from her home temple in Frontier Town to the main temple in Water Town for a special ceremony to honour all the Gods and Goddesses of law and order. While the relic had no intrinsic value in and of itself, there was always the possibility that someone may try to steal it for ransom, so the Mother Superior had elected to entrust it to her prize student and her Adventurer friends. Fortunately, there were no reports of bandit activity in the area, allowing them to make good time along the main road, even on foot.

Well, everyone but Orcbolg was enjoying themselves.

High Elf Archer had seen him laugh, cry, smile and smirk, but whenever they were on a Quest, he was never anything but deadly serious. Even on the rare occasions when they were able to get a room at an Inn for the night, he was far less affectionate than he was at home.

"So, tell us, Beard Cutter, how is it that you know a Minotaur?" Dwarf Shaman asked, making the Rangers ears pick up: it was a story she was longing to hear herself.

"I spent some time in the Eastern District before I joined the Guild." for some reason, the normally stoic Adventurer seemed to be in a talkative mood, "He's a member of a Party I spent some time travailing with. They were led by Lord Paladin."

"Lord Paladin? As in Hero of the Fields of Fire Lord Paladin?" Priestess stopped dead in her tracks, "The Gold ranked Adventurer who slew the King of Dragons?"

"Yes." her mentor admitted as if it was a perfectly normal thing to admit to.

"By all the Mountains, you travelled with Dragonsbane?" Dwarf Shaman blinked and turned to face High Elf Archer, "Did you know of this?"

"I knew he spent some time travailing, but not the details." The Ranger shook her head, amazed that her husband had kept such a secret from her. She turned to look at him, "Orcbolg?"

"It wasn't important." he seemed genuinely surprised by their reaction.

"Wasn't important?" High Elf Archer all but screamed, "They say that Lord Paladin was almost elevated to Platinum rank, and you don't think it's worth mentioning that you spent time with him?"

"It wasn't important." Goblin Slayer insisted, "We were simply travelling along the same road for a while. That is all."

"All Prayer Characters travel the same road." Lizard Priest spoke up, having been deep in contemplation, "I have made no secret of the fact that I wish to become a Dragon myself, but even among my people, the story of Dragonsbane is known. And while most of my people regret the King of Dragons actions, there are many who still hold the name Lord Paladin accused for what he did."

"He'd be one of them." Goblin Slayer spoke softly, "He never spoke to me of that day, but I passed by the Fields of Fire on my way back: none who lived through that did so with honour."

The Party fell silent: the so-called Fields of Fire had been the site of the climatic confrontation of the war against the King of Dragons and his army. Less than a third of those who stood against him lived to see the next day, and all those who did carried scars both physical and spiritual. Many silver and Gold ranked Adventurers had fallen that day, but the Bards only ever sung of one name, that of Lord Paladin, the Dragonsbane, Slayer of Kings. He was who most people thought of when they imagined all that a Knight stood for and strives to become. But Goblin Slayer knew that he had paid for that fame with part of his soul. He alao knew that, should Female Knight learn that he had so much as crossed paths with Lord Paladin, then she would not rest until he recounted ever single moment of their time together. And that was not his story to tell.

The group fell silent, and it was some time before any found reason to speak.

To Be Continued...