Mavis stood at the gates leading outside the capital. She was silent in her frustration that Gretel would screw her over like this. She left the chatting with the client to Viktor, who was more than happy to be the face of their two person party.
“Is the young lass okay?” The client, an elderly gentleman, asked Viktor. He was referring to the dour look on Mavis’ face.
“Oh she’s well.” Viktor said. “She just seems to be a bit shy. I met her this morning and she’s not one for talking. She’s barely even said a few sentences to me!”
The client nodded, taking Viktor’s words at face value.
“My name is Jeorg Vanbar, owner of Vanbar General.” The client introduced himself. “My son, daughter-in-law, and grandson are just finishing getting the carriage prepped for the journey. We only need you to get us to the next town. We’ll be staying there a while so we won’t need you to stay with us after we arrive.”
“Well met!” Viktor exclaimed. “I am Viktor Nikos, an up incoming hero! And my companion is Mavis Millwood, a fellow newbie adventurer and hero-in-training!”
Mavis really wanted to snap at him, or just snap him. Whichever would do the trick. But hearing his name again, she could help but feel it was familiar somehow. She tried to think where she heard it but couldn’t remember. She decided to just let it go because there was no way she wanted to ask him about it and get sucked into another conversation with him. A young man with black hair stepped out of the carriage, addressing the client.
“We’re all good to go, Dad. Gloria and the baby are comfortable in the back too. We can leave as soon as the adventurers are ready.”
Jeorg nodded. “We’ll be ready soon, Andrew.” He said addressing his son. He turned to the other two. “We should be there by sundown if we leave right away.”
Viktor stood straight and gave an exaggerated salute. “Understood!”
Mavis hopped into the back of the carriage, just wanting this to be over.
The trail to the town of Yoton was rather unkempt. The rocks that were left on the road made those walking on foot more weary as well as jostle the items inside whenever a wheel ran over one.. It practically became Mavis’ job to make sure nothing fell over and broke. She wasn’t alone though. Inside was a woman with brown hair, holding a baby no older than six months swaddled in cloth.
“Mavis, was it?” She said in a friendly manner. Mavis turned to look at the woman addressing her. She didn’t expect someone to try to make conversation with her after the offputting first impression.
“Yeah. Do you need something?” She said while trying to keep the cargo from falling.
“I just wanted to see how you were doing. You looked like something was bothering you when you and your partner arrived.” Gloria said gently. She might have mistaken Mavis’ irritability at having to work with a loudmouth like Viktor for something more worrying. She couldn’t blame her for being concerned either. Mavis was supposed to be her bodyguard. If something was wrong with her and she wasn’t in the right mindset, if they got attacked by bandits or monsters, the chances of their survival would drop by a non-negligible margin.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t really get to choose my party because of some stupid Union rule. I was kind of looking forward to getting the reward all to myself as well.” It wasn’t a very high reward all things considered. It was listed as two hundred gold pieces in total. Split evenly among Mavis and Viktor, they would both only get one hundred each. It would have put a good dent in the fine if Mavis was allowed to do this by herself. But there was no way she could get around the rules of the Union. Especially after she tried to once before.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Do you not get along with your partner? He seemed very enthused to be working with you.”
Mavis sighed. “Yeah, well, he’s kind of an annoying guy. Really loud and overly friendly with people he just met. It can really rub a person the wrong way you know.” Mavis knew full well she was being a hypocrite. She acts much like Viktor when she puts on her sales pitch. But it was more of an act just to get people’s attention. Viktor did it without a hint of irony.
“Do you think you’re being too harsh on him?” The woman asked.
“What do you mean?” Mavis didn’t really understand. The guy was practically screaming about being a hero adventurer in her face when they first met. He didn’t really leave the best first impression on her.
“As a fellow merchant, you should know how important it is to appear friendly and sociable. Your customers would think ‘Oh this person seems nice, how about I buy something to help support them?’ even if it’s just a persona. Besides, I think he genuinely wants to get along with you.”
Mavis paused. She was right. Viktor may have been loud but that was it. He didn’t mean any harm. She had been annoyed at the events of the last few days and the ridiculous fine and was taking it out on him. She started to feel a little bad.
“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” She said, ashamed. “Wait a minute....” She continued. “How did you know I’m a merchant?”
Gloria let out a light giggle as Mavis looked at her with suspicion.
“I don’t just sit around as my husband and father-in-law run our shop, you know. I have a good network of connections so I hear all sorts of gossip. Like how a half-elven shopkeep fought a member of The Twelve in the back alleys, for instance. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”
While she was distracted, the cart came to a sudden stop. The box Mavis was trying to balance flung towards her. She couldn’t keep her grip on it and the box fell right on top of her, pinning her to the ground.
“Son of a BITCH!” Mavis yelled in a mix of pain and anger, while the baby let out a giggle.
Mavis removed the box from on top of her, a bunch of toys and figurines spilling from it and scattering on the carriage floor. Most of them were wooden swords and spinning tops, but there were some figures of The Twelve among them. As Mavis cleaned them up, making sure nothing was damaged in the process, she recognized a few of them. She noticed Charlotte, clad in light armour and wielding twin rapiers, striking an elegant pose. Another was easily recognizable even though Mavis had never met him before as he had been in many magazines and had the longest career of the current Twelve. Number Three, Cyrus Reins also known as The Ironclad. A dark skinned man in his late 40s, though the figurine didn’t really do many of his sharp features justice. Then, as Mavis reached for another figurine, she recognized who it resembled immediately. Not because he was in an article that she read, but because she had met him recently.
“You’re kidding me.” She said out loud, finally putting the pieces together. Her company in the carriage didn’t have time to inquire what Mavis was mumbling about as a gruff voice yelled
“OI, YOUS IN THE BACK! GET YER ASSES OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!”
Mavis knew why the carriage stopped now. That voice didn’t belong to Viktor, Jeorg, or his son. Mavis stepped out of the covered carriage to see that it was surrounded by men wielding crude axes and wearing tattered clothing. They looked and smelled like they hadn't bathed in weeks. They all grinned at the sight of two women exiting the carriage, thinking they only had the one armoured man gripping his still sheathed sword to deal with. There were about two men on each side of the carriage, outnumbering Mavis and Viktor by a ratio of four to one. Jeorg and Andrew were both sitting on the coachman’s seat, in fear of moving and provoking an attack from the bandits. Mavis moved slowly towards Viktor with Gloria, being vigilant in making sure no moves were made against the person she was supposed to protect by the bandits. Mavis couldn’t see from inside the carriage before but now she saw they were currently on a road that split a forest, with bushes on both sides. A prime spot for an ambush, bordering cliche. She took up a stance, ready for whatever moves the bandits make, while eyeing Viktor. She already had an idea of what he could do but wanted to see it first hand. Both were ready for whatever came next.