This chapter took a sudden turn for the comical. I didn't mean for it to play out that way, but I suppose an elf's first impressions in a "barbaric" human society would be… well, comical. Enjoy! ^^
Two—Kirian
"By Eragon's head!" Kirian cried out in fear, dashing away from the man's fists, slipping on the fresh hay beneath his feet. With a wordless whoop and a hard thump, he fell onto his butt and scrambled his feet against the earthen floor to scoot himself further away, backing into the hay.
"Eragon?" the burly man thundered, his fist raised high raised high over his big round head. "I don't know any Eragon, so you sure as better hope he'll be willing to cart your remains out of here after I'm done with you!"
"How barbaric!" Kirian huffed at the man, kiltering sideways as he fumbled to find his footing beneath him. Almost immediately he sank into the straw, hay up to the mid thigh.
"Barbaric!" the man repeated. "I'll show you barbaric, you useless piece of crud!" He advanced upon the trapped youth, grabbing him roughly by the collar of his tunic.
Unable to move a step in the deep hay, Kirian raised his arms about his head in defense and shouted in protest. "Sir, I meant no offense!" He didn't mean to start a fight on his first day in human lands.
"What's going on here?" a matronly voice cut through the din. By the door stood a middle aged woman, her arms full with a basket of eggs. Though she had gaunt cheeks, she had a round stomach, which Kirian wasn't sure if it signified pregnancy or fatness as he had never seen a pregnant woman in all his days. At the woman's elbow stood a teenage girl, tall and slight with a dash of freckles still across her cheeks.
Turning to peer over his shoulder, the burly man shouted, "I found a thief in my barn! And I intend to cut his ears off!" Kirian noted that the man held no knife nor wore one on his person, but he did not mention it aloud, lest the man take it into his mind to rip his ears off with his bare hands.
"Wait, Daddy! He's kinda cute!" the young girl cooed. Kirian made sure to shoot her a dazzlingly smile for his gratitude. The effect was immediate, as her eyes widened and she only smiled more broadly.
"Cute!" The man's face turned dark purple – as dark as a radish, Kirian thought, abhorred. He tried his best not to visibly shrink away from the putrid man, lest his distaste be mistaken as fear. Showing fear to man is as dangerous as showing fear to a wolf, he reminded himself.
"Don't kill him, daddy," the young girl pouted, stamping her feet as she approached her father and yanking his fist down from its menacing position above the youth's head.
"Yes, I concur with her!" Kirian agreed emphatically, trying to smile pleasantly. "Please, do not kill me." The man's fist only tightened on the front of his tunic.
"Oh, Leonstad, leave the poor boy alone," the woman admonished, lumbering slowly forward and placing herself in front of her husband and between him and the youth.
Kirian liked her suddenly and immediately. "You, my lady, are a true rose among thorns."
The burly man's face turned red. "Don't you sweet talk my woman!" His fist raised into the air for the strike.
"Leonstad, that is enough!" the woman demanded, her steady hand on his chest. "There's nothing wrong with a young man paying a compliment when it is due."
The man calmed but did not release Kirian. "Well, what are we supposed to do with him?"
"We are going to invite him for breakfast. Poor boy, I'm sure you're half starved and half froze to boot." At her words, the man finally released him and stepped begrudgingly away.
"Oh, yes! A visitor at last!" the teenage girl burst out, chatting so fast Kirian could barely understand her words over her accent. "And a boy to boot. I knew those were my lucky star in the sky last night! Marian said that I –"
"Here, boy," the middle-aged woman cut it, "you carry this inside for me and then follow Leonstad around for the morning chores. When that's done, you come on in with him and eat with us. Breakfast will be ready soon." Her orders delivered, she pushed the basket of eggs into his arms and lumbered out of the barn, drawing her chatting daughter away with her to the house.
With the sudden subsidence of chaos, Kirian finally took in his surroundings in the morning light filtering in through the cracks in the barn ceiling. The wooden structure was old, but the beams were large and solid. Kirian stood by the hay beneath a vaulted loft. What was above he could not see. The other side of the barn stretched into a long row of stalls, holding the various prattling livestock. To his side, nails and hooks covered the wall, tools and tack and articles of cloth hanging from each one. Beneath them were wooden containers built into the wall.
Leonstad's booming voice made him jump. "Come, lad! Else I'll take your delay as an insult!"
Kirian scrambled after the man as he strode out of the barn, careful not to jostle the eggs in the basket in his arms. "Oh, no, sir, I wouldn't mean to insult you for all acorns in the elven forest."
"What?" the man bellowed. Kirian ducked, just missing the man's knuckles as the he swiveled on his heel and his arms swung out as he glared behind him. Eying the youth, he growled. "Don't you dare cause any trouble around here, or I swear I shall take you head off!"
"I'm quite fond of my head, so I can easily agree not to cause any trouble," Kirian promised, nodding gravely.
Scratching his head, the man muttered, "You sure are a strange fellow."
Kirian hurried to follow the man out of the barn and into the bright morning sunlight. He found himself smiling then, for he had always been partial to the morning sunlight.