Nadia pulled down her pendant and rubbed the tender flesh around her torn skin as the sought-after Lord Nostrum sat before them. He looked no older than a boy in his late teens with his underdeveloped beard, skinny frame, and lively brown eyes. Unkempt brown hair bleached from the ocean laid on his head like a mat on one side, and raised itself like a fire on the other. He smelt strongly of the ocean, and fish. He wore a single pair of brown overalls, thatched sandals, and a shark tooth necklace.

“You put up quite a fight.”

“What are you going to do to those two creeps?” Josh asked.

“They’ll be executed next morning. We don’t believe in wanton violence against innocents who visit our village. Though I wonder why your lass’s necklace was such a worthy prize that they attacked you openly?”

Nadia held her pendant, “It seems to have been my curse to carry it, but I’ve never understood all its powers. One thing I can tell you, it didn’t have anything to do with my escape. It has no effect on combat skill, not anymore.”

Lord Nostrum pawed it for a moment, then let it drop back against her chest.

“You best keep something that valuable tucked in your bosom.”

“Hey!”

Josh had to fight to keep from laughing.

“I hear many things about the world that most people would never care or dare to know. The big man is half troll, and the other is at least partly a stone imp, goblin, and human. A pair like that will take what they please, when they please, with no regards for situation. About situations, what’s yours. A couple of explorers maybe?”

“Why does everyone assume we’re explorers?” Josh asked.

“Your garb seems closest to that, though I’ve never seen such odd clothing for the feet. What are they perhaps?”

“They’re called sneakers,” Nadia said, “But I have a pair of wooden sandals as well.”

“Sneakers now? Would they be for sneaking?”

“No, now let’s forget about that. We need to get to the Tramen continent, and since you’re the leader of this village, we wish to ask for your help.”

“The Tramen continent, now really. That’s far too dangerous a place for a lovely lass like yourself. Why would you be wanting to go there?”

“It’s very important, any way you could help would be appreciated.”

“The traders don’t sail there no more,” Nostrum explained, “I’d give you one of the fishing boats if I wouldn’t feel guilty about sending you to your grave. You couldn’t load it with enough stores. Nay, one major storm would do you in. I could have something built for you, but wood comes at a premium in these parts. It would be expensive.”

“We don’t have any money, but we do have some items we could trade.”

“I doubt they’d be worth the cost of the boat. If you work here for half a year, I’m sure you could save up the funds for a bare-bones vessel. I’ll get work on the vessel started right away if you like.”

“I don’t have that kind of time,” Nadia said.

“Well, you were attacked in my inn so I have to make amends. And since I have such a weakness for beautiful women, I’ll make a deal. You give me everything you own of value, you work here as hostess for a month, the man works for me as well, and I’ll have the boat ready by the end of the month. Consider it a big favor, as I’ll be losing tethers on the deal.”

“It’s a deal if you cut the time to a week.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Can’t do that. Look, you two look a little rough from all that travel. Work for me and you’ll both have a meal and a room, plus a boat being readied for you. If you want to quit before the month’s end, I won’t be upset; I’ll just keep the boat. Of course, you won’t receive any tethers; those will be going to help pay for the boat.”

“Fine then, it’s a deal,” she said.

“Great, I’ll have my men take that contraption you wheeled into town, and we’ll send you back what we don’t want. That’ll cover the trade part. Have Swabert, my barkeep, give you the key when you’re ready. That’ll cover the room part. A pleasure doing business with you.”

At that, Nostrum got up and left. A few minutes later, Swabert came and presented them a key to their room. Inside, they found two mats on the floor, a small wash stand with a little bowl for water, and a desk with two stubby candles. It was small, but the open window allowed the day’s waning light to enter and made it airy. Nadia leaned outside and discovered two wooden shutters that could be closed for privacy. She pulled a pair of nail clippers from her pocket, kicked off her sneakers and socks, sat on her mat, folded her legs into her chest, and started clipping her toenails. The nails of her right foot shortened first, but she paused before clipping the big toe of her left. Toes wiggled as she stared at them.

“What are you doing?” asked Josh as he leaned against the wall.

“My feet... it’s just... this is the first time it hit me... they’re so, tiny.”

“So, a lot of women have delicate feet,” Josh said as she started clipping again, “You just let him take everything we own. I can’t even brush my teeth now.”

“We’ll get the cheap stuff back.”

“How do you know we haven’t been double crossed.”

“They wouldn’t dare. I mean, not after they saw us fight.”

“Some man calls you beautiful and you forget to even let us keep the essentials. What about our clothes? What about your map stupid?”

Nadia smiled as she finished with the nail of her small toe.

“You’re jealous that he thought I was beautiful? A compliment I didn’t even respond to.”

“Right, you claim to hate being a girl so much, yet some guy calls you beautiful and you’re ready to give him your panties, and my underwear.”

“He said he’d return what wasn’t of value to him. That means he’ll keep the bike, and the gown. There’s not that much else they’d want from us.”

“I hope your right,” Josh said.

She placed the nail clippers on the wash table, “We need this guy’s help to get to the Tramen continent. Who knows, maybe a little feminine charm helped our cause.”

“I just hope you were the one doing the charming. Are you sure you don’t like being a woman?”

“Would you like having an attack of cramps and bleeding? It’s a real blast, you should try it some time,” she covered herself with her blanket, “You should really get some rest instead of talking stupid.”

“Okay, I really didn’t need to hear that, so stop bringing it up.”

“Then don’t ask stupid questions. And it’s biology, don’t be afraid of human biology. I bet I could really freak those two blowbags out if I started talking about it in front of them. Their heads would probably explode. I hope they get found and thrown in jail!”

She snickered to herself. Then she remembered something awful and sat back up quickly in a slight sweat.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nostrum has all my padded liners.”

Josh shrugged, “Hmm, you’ll get them back I suppose. It’s biology after all.”

“You’re dumb. What did you think of that conversation though? Sounds like someone is making war. They mentioned some Sarsin guy controlling the north. I wonder if there’s going to be a battle soon?”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with us so we’re better off keeping out of it is what I’d usually expect you to say. Sometimes you surprise me. Let’s get some sleep.”

Nadia took a deep breath, returned under her blanket, and let sleep take her.

“Night,” Josh said, though she already relaxed and breathed softly. Her neck looked much better already, so he took breath himself before hopping into his bed.

-----

Quiet. So much so that the beak nosed imp-man couldn’t take any more. The blindfold was itchy, so he risked turning it into brittle clay and banging it against the wall. The pieces scattered over his clothes. He performed the same operation with his chains before stumbling around into the dark and feeling his way through the bug infested straw. A guard yelled for him to keep it down after he bumped into the wooden cell door.

After quietly sneaking around every square inch of the cell, whispering for his companion, he realized that Lobar was being kept somewhere else, which ruined his first plan until he heard a faint gurgle like snoring from the next room. He pressed his ear against the wall and recognized Lobar’s sound. Melted stone allowed him to sculpt an entrance noiselessly. Once found, Lobar’s chains melted. Then he turned a section of the back wall into soft clay, which he quietly molded into a large exit.

“Lobar, we have a contract to fulfill. No time to be executed. Don’t worry about my trinket. One of these days we’ll come upon that stupid little witch unawares, then I’ll have what is mine. Let’s go.”

When Lobar sat up his clay chains crumbled. He troll remained surprisingly quiet and crept on all fours with its impressive belly hanging down like a bear. The imp-man guided him carefully through the clay-lined hole. Once they were in the open, Groli jumped on Lobar’s back and rode away. Slowly at first, as a few guards stood in hearing range.