I’m not quite sure how long I slept for. I knew it must have been at least a few hours; it was lighter out and the trees were much thinner. Quietly stretching my arms I took a look around the wagon only to find Volk wasn’t there. As I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes I could hear a conversation coming from the front.

“So, are you going to tell me?” Volk’s voice rang.

“Tell you what? You haven’t asked anything.” While Friia did still sound annoyed, she also seemed to be a bit calmer.

“I think you know. Daniel told me you lived in a cozy little village free from worry. What I want to know is why you left. Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t that an ideal life for the elves?”

She let out a long sigh before responding. “Of course he told you. Not that it was a secret, but yes, my hometown was quite safe. And as much as I’d rather keep it to myself I’m sure you’ll just pester me until I tell you.”

I smiled a bit at Volk’s raucous laughter. “I love how well you guys already know me!”

“Ugh...fine. But keep it down will you? Daniel’s still sleeping. Gods know he needs some rest. As for your question, I’ll have to go back a bit. My village is nestled within an ancient forest clearing founded by my ancestors. I know that’s hardly original but it is how most elven villages were made. Only the cities have odd stories about their creation and before you ask no, I don’t know most of them.”

She paused for a moment before continuing. “My father was a fletcher. He worked closely with our blacksmith making arrows and weapon shafts. He loved his work almost as much as he loved my mother.”

“You say that as if he’s gone,” Volk pointed out.

“Gone? Oh! Oh no he’s still alive. My mother as well. It’s just been so long since I’ve been home. Anyway, stop interrupting. Now my mother was from one of our cities. She never did tell me the details, but she decided to leave it behind for a more peaceful life. She took up baking and started a small shop. That’s when my father noticed her. He’d stop by every day just to see her, though my mother would laugh and say it was really so he could eat the sweetbread she made.”

I could hear more chuckling come from Volk before Friia huffed. “What? You asked, and I’m telling you.”

“I asked about you, not your parents.” He corrected. “Though it is still nice to see your parents were fine folks.”

“Do you want the story or not?” I could almost hear her little pout making its way onto her face. “I swear you’re insufferable. But fine, when I was a little girl I was...not very talented. I would try to help my mother bake, and ended up making bricks instead. I tried to help my father with his work but I snapped most of the arrows I made. Honestly it was pretty disheartening, though I kept trying my hand at everything I could. I don’t completely recall when but I had started helping my mother out in her shop. Instead of baking I ran the counter and it turned out I was a decent saleswoman. Business picked up about five years ago once we started to see more travelers, though it was largely due to the war. Though it took some time nobody was surprised its effects reached us eventually. Many were refugees; others were simply looking for opportunity. Each one brought stories and gifts from outside and I could feel my interest peaking with each new tale. I had begun longing to see the world, but never could find that final push to set me out.”

“But surely something must have,” Volk prodded. “What was it?”

“About three years ago we were paid a visit from a rather odd fellow. He rode happily into town in a creaky old wagon, immediately set up a stall across from my mother’s bakery and started selling anything he could. Weapons, accessories, medicine, food, you name it and he probably had it. I didn’t pay him much mind at first. I never even spoke to him until the second day he was there. He walked up to my mother after buying a pastry and started to pitch her some flour from the Illucan region.”

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“Oh? I’ve heard good things about their exports. They say their grain is blessed by some minor harvest gods, but that blessing really does something for the flavor.”

She chuckled a bit at that. “That’s exactly what he said. She ended up agreeing and went off on a baking spree. People started to line up quickly and we could hardly keep up. He came back a few hours later with three more sacks of it and offered her a bulk discount; like he already knew how popular it would be. After we closed I headed off to the tavern to relax and found him up by the bar laughing and telling stories with the others. Before I knew it I was enraptured. I found myself hanging on every word as he described journey after journey, near death experiences and the people he’d met. He saw me after a while and started talking to me about my mother’s business. Said he had a soft spot for helping families out.”

I smiled at the memory bittersweet though it was. I saw a bit of myself in her back then, as I used to be. Family oriented yet naive. And the way her parents doted on her reminded me of my own. Looking back I suppose she just struck the right cords with me.

“He started giving me tips to get more sales, how to upsell, how to properly discount something. I was listening with rapt attention, as if I couldn’t get enough of the free advice. Before I knew it I cut him off and asked him to take me with him.”

“Is this the part where you tell me it was Daniel?”

“Oh good, you caught on. You’re not as brainless as I took you for.”

Volk scoffed. “Even I can be hurt Friia.”

I struggled to contain my own laughter as she replied. “Oh I’m counting on it. A touch of payback for your...insensitivity earlier. But yes, it was Daniel. You should have seen his face after I asked. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen him speechless! He stammered for a few moments before settling on asking me why. I told him I wanted to travel and to learn; to bring back anything that could become useful to my family and my village.”

“Quite a tall order to ask that of someone out of the blue, especially a stranger. Amicable as he is, I find it hard to imagine he accepted then and there.”

I heard her give a small sigh. “He didn’t. He floundered around making a variety of excuses: ‘the places I go can be dangerous, I’ve never taught before, etcetera.’ I stood firm though. He mentioned he would be in town for one more week and I set about doing everything I could to convince him. Watching him run his stall, how he haggled, the interactions he had. I saw him as the outside world itself, as silly as that sounds. I had already discussed things with my parents at that point. At first I thought they’d refuse, but my mother immediately was on board. She said she learned quite a bit travelling herself and could tell Daniel was a good mentor. Her word was all it took to convince my father, and before I knew it he’d gotten half the shops in the village to offer him exclusive contracts on exports as payment for my apprenticeship.”

“Really? That’s quite a bit of incentive, I must say. And could make or break some of those businesses. Were they truly so desperate to help you?”

“Yes,” she affirmed with a hint of pride. “Our village was always a very close community. They saw an opportunity to pay my parents back for everything they did and jumped on it. And yet Daniel didn’t accept it.”

“He knew, didn’t he? About what could happen?”

“I think so, yeah. He even told them he couldn’t in good conscience take an entire village’s trade rights for himself. Before anyone could interject he said the fact that they’d even offer was enough. And that he’d accept me as his apprentice on one condition.”

I could hear the wagon creak as Volk leaned in. “Oh? Daniel making a condition? Now you’ve got me curious. What was it?”

“Gods, you’ve no concept of personal space do you? All he asked in return was for anyone he sent out there to be treated with the same hospitality he was. And for my mother to bake him some sweetbread whenever he was in town.”

“I may not have known him for long, yet that sounds exactly like him.”

“Most definitely. You could learn a thing or two from him you know.”

“We’ll see. That’s all my questions answered except for one: if you were such a talentless child, where’d you learn how to handle a spear?”

“No. Just no. You got the one story, that’s it.”

“Aw, c’mon! I’m sure it’s just as interesting!” Well, I was well aware of Friia’s aversion to this particular subject so I decided to cut it short. That and I was starting to feel a bit bad for accidentally eavesdropping...with that said, I let out an exaggerated yawn and made a show of stretching. As I rubbed my eyes I looked to the front where Volk gave a subtle wink and tossed me something. Catching it, I looked it over to see a small stick of seeds, berries and other small foods stuck together. “There’s that snack I promised. Try it, you’ll like it. Salty sweet.”

I raised an eyebrow at him before taking a bite and gods above it was fantastic. From what I could tell he stuck them together with honey and a light touch of salt. “Salty sweet…” I mumbled as I took another bite.

Friia did a light double take as her eyes widened in surprise. “Wait, those are edible? I thought he put seeds on a stick as a joke.”

“Again, even I can be hurt Friia. I may be difficult but I’m not an arsehole.”

I found myself laughing at his look of indignation as she hesitantly took a bite of her own snack. It was a considerably lighter mood than before, and at least for the moment I found my worries set aside thanks to my companions. Sitting back I found myself gazing at the scenery and enjoying the temporary calm.