I hadn’t made it far from the mess tent before walking straight into an ambush.

“Alright then, Fel,” growled the head of the brute squad while stepping out from around a tent, “Now that you’re over that little spell of dying you and I’ve got a matter to discuss.”

To my back I heard two more of the brutes moving in toward me. Completely cutting off my chance to escape.

“Well word is our next stop is Barken,” I said cautiously, “So I can probably buy you a replacement for the shirt you ripped in the alley when we get there. I’ll be on the market for some new overalls myself anyway. So perhaps you can go with me to a tailor and-”

“Oh now that’s all fine and good, lad,” replied Garris, “But you do owe me for more than just a wrecked shirt now. Don’t you remember?”

The two men behind me both stepped forward and each placed a hand down on my shoulders, making sure I was listening up good.

“You know making me use my mana like that back there takes an awful lot out of me,” Garris lamented, “What with having to force my will to overpower the ground’s and all.”

I gulped noisily.

“Mighty rough on my arms, I’ll tell you,” he continued, “Not to mention the way it rattled up all of my insides. And the darndest thing about it is I don’t even know what you did to heap all’a’that trouble down on us.”

“Well, you know,” I began in an attempt to plead my case, “Technically speaking if you and Charlie hadn’t gone running away from the guards with me they probably wouldn’t have paid you any mind.”

“Oh now don’t go giving me that!” he grunted, “Without us you wouldn’t have made it out from the Commons. I know you’re not a fan of debts and favours and all of that but would it really kill you to be just a little grateful? When I saw you all bloodied up outside’a’Dandy’s Dream like that do you know what I thought? I thought about how desperately I wanted to save you. Did you know that I still had time on the clock and left behind my entire purse just to fetch Charlie and come to your rescue?”

“A-all your coins?!” I blurted out, shocked, “Listen, Garris, I’m real sorry-”

“Oh well no not all of them,” he mused thoughtfully, “I’m sure you yourself know a thing or two about separating your savings. But still that was my main funds for stopping in at towns.”

“Oh. Well I-”

“And so as you see, it’s fine that you’re so eager to replace my shirt in Barken. But the thing is that really isn’t all I’ve got you on the line for right now. D’ya understand?”

“Yeah I’d say you’ve made yourself fairly clear,” I stammered out not being used to Garris acting even half as serious as he was in the moment, “So what is it you want from me exactly?”

“Well the thing is, Fel, one of my boys here overheard you having a conversation with the boss while we were busy tearing down after today’s show. Go ahead now, Trilles, tell him what you heard.”

“Sure thing, chief,” came a deep voice from behind me and to my left, “Well I was carrying a trunk over for the puppet freaks to put their little dolls away in. And I was walking passed the covered wagon and thinkin’ about what alehouse I wanted to go to after we were done with the tear down. And anyways so I was right near the wagon and what I heard was I heard our boy Fel here asking the boss all sorts of questions about that new girl he hired. And so anyways-”

“That’ll do, Trilles, that’ll do,” interjected Garris, “Now I’ve been with the company going on what? Seven or eight years at this point and I’ll tell you, Fel, I didn’t think you were capable of taking interest in any person. Now here I find out you’re just as red blooded as the rest of us! So to pay me back for everything you’re coming on back with us fireside and we’re finally going to sit ourselves down and share some talk and drinks like men! I tell ya, I never thought this day would come!”

There was a sparkle glimmering in his eyes. Had I ever seen Garris this excited?

“Wait what?” I started to say.

“Oh honey, we’ve just been dying to have you come join our little group for ages!” came the voice of the man standing behind me to the right (who I now knew was Reginald thanks to the high pitched squeak of his voice), “And now that we have you, you simply must tell me the secret to keeping your skin so perky and youthful! I mean it’s just not fair. You’ve been with the troupe way longer than the rest of us but I’d swear you haven’t aged a day. Don’t tell me you’re actually related to that creepy old puppet master, are you?”

“Come on now, Regi, that’s enough,” said Garris with a hearty chuckle, “Can’t you see the man is feeling overwhelmed? Though I do have one more question for you, Fel. What’s up with that bag you’re dragging down there? Did it have something to do with why that big man was attacking you?”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Oh this?” I said while looking down and suddenly remembering that the pack even existed at all, “Um. Well, see the thing is Boss had said that um- That the new hires didn’t have anything to bring here with them so I bought them each a pack and bedroll from the mushroom man down in the east end. That whole thing with the adventurer was something else entirely.”

“Well oh my, aren’t you refreshingly bold!” gasped Reginald, “Of course if any man was going to offer me a bedroll I’d only want it if I got to cuddle up next to him inside it. Say, Sorrel dear, you let me know if you strike out with that girl okay?”

“Oh hey well that’s actually pretty thoughtful,” said Trilles, “Anyways what I mean is that, you know, it’s like real sweet to show you’re even willing to look out for her kid brother. Ma always said women want men that come off as reliable and anyways maybe a dirty pack and stuff isn’t the most romantic sort of thing you can give a lady but given their current situation it’ll probably mean more than jewelry and flowers. And you know-”

“Shaddup, Trilles, you’re spoiling the moment,” barked Garris.

The four of us stood there silently for a moment. Listening to our thoughts and the mixed conversations carrying over to us from around the fire.

“Tell you what, Fel,” spoke Garris softly with a smile brushing against the thick fur over his lip, “Come sit with us and eat up your soup. Me and the lads will give you some advice on how to approach your girl while you do. Then, when you’re finished, we’ll send you off to make your move and you can go give her those thoughtful gifts. We can save our real man to man talk for breakfast.”

And with that my shoulders were released. Trilles and Reginald stepped out passed me and Garris turned to take the lead.

  Not entirely sure of what had just happened I figured it was best to simply trail behind and join them. Usually I took my soup to my tent and otherwise always kept to myself. Come to think on it, the last time I could remember sitting with the troupe around the fire was way back when old Boss Strise and myself handled all the work done by Garris and his boys now.

  As we approached the jolly chatter around the fireside I took stock of the crowd. Charlie was sat beside the last two members of the brute squad, Zen and Eustace, and held his arms out while describing his new horse and going on about how she was already his pride and joy. Mirrin and Shay were sat next to each other awkwardly trying to stop eating their soup in unison. They bickered as only twins could do about how annoying each and the other was when they kept copying their own way of eating.

  Mirrin went to pull up more soup and Shay used her empty spoon to flick his full one away. A large chunk of a white skinned root and a mouthful of broth splashed onto the dirt and became wasted. Icarus, the troupe’s thirty-six year old accountant, scolded them both for throwing away money. His seamstress wife and their two teenage daughters just laughed at all the commotion. Their infant son was likely tucked away and fast asleep inside their large tent.

  Off on their own and settled down on their haunches, next to a ratty old tent that had once belonged to our previous pickpockets as well as several of the ones who'd come before them, I saw a sister and brother huddled side by side and whispering to each other in between devouring spoonfuls of soup.

  Reginald caught me staring and clapped me softly on the back, worryingly close to my vast bruise. He, Garris and Trilles went and sat on some crates by the others. I noticed a few surprised looks from the gathered members of our troupe.

  I supposed it would be strange to have me joining them so suddenly and thought it might be better to leave.

“What? No way!” cried out Shay in her whimsical voice, “Mr. Fellingwood is really going to eat with us?”

I felt my cheeks start burning and struggled to think of what to say. I’d known these people for several years each but didn’t actually known them much beyond their names and what they did for Boss Strise.

“Come on now, sis,” chided Mirrin, “Now look you’ve gone and made him embarrassed!”

“Oh, no no it’s nothing like that,” I said in a hurry, “It’s just that I’d rather be called by my other name. Using my surname feels too formal when you guys say it. I mean we are all troupe mates, aren’t we?”

I felt my face burn even hotter after going back over what I’d just said.

“Oh, Sorrel!” cried out Shay again while setting her soup down so she could come rush me, “I never knew you thought of us that way!”

She threw her arms around my neck and pulled me in for a hug. It would have been nice if the sudden movement hadn’t shot lighting through my bones. The bowl of soup in my hand sloshed around menacingly. Thin lines of warm broth running over the sides and into my gloved hand.

“Shay!” shouted her brother, “The man’s ribs are broken and he’s holding a full bowl of soup! Now get off of him before he has to go get his fractures set all over again!”

“Whoops! Sorry, Mr. Sorrel!” laughed Shay as she let me go.

Her cheeks were now roughly just as red as my own. We both smiled awkwardly while the others laughed at our expense.

  That evening, the Wakeful Moon on the verge of robbing us of her light, I found that something about my full portion of soup tasted better than I’d ever imagined it could. But sweet merciful fuck did my whole body hurt. At least on the bright side, all of the recent bruises to my ego had turned out to be fairly light.