Yes, Samantha had a wonderful life, and Jim loved her. That's what she should keep in mind. She knew both of these things to be true. Her life, which often felt like a fairytale with Jim, was obviously wonderful, and she knew Jim loved her because he’s said so many times. “But do I really know what he means by that?” she wondered. Was it the kind of love a brother bore for his sister or like how two close friends inevitably have love for each other? She hoped it was the same kind of burning passion she felt for him, but how could she be sure? When it came to tricking her, Jim knew how to do it. When it came to keeping secrets, Jim and his circle of friends were the most tight lipped people that she'd ever met.

The sinking feeling in Samantha's stomach returned. This time it came with a strong feeling of guilt. Sure, Jim could be somewhat crafty at times, but every time he's tricked her, it put a smile on her face, like when she received this mirror for instance. Jim took her to the market to get a woman's opinion on items he should stock in the store. He asked her to pick out the one item she thought a girl would like the most out of the available inventory. One month later he gifted that golden mirror to her for their one year anniversary. She thought it was to be a display item. Maybe she should have known better, but Jim had her completely fooled, and the whole time, he told her nothing but the truth.

Jim could trick her, but he’s never lied to her nor treated her poorly, and there she was gazing into her beautiful mirror while directing suspicion toward the man who gave it to her. The man who was the most honest, caring, very handsome, strong, and... “Crap, I'm doing it again,” she thought, “What if Jim really is too good for me?” and there was again, that nauseating feeling that kept coming back and kept getting worse every time it came. Maybe growing old with Jim just wasn't in her cards. Jim does care for her. She knew that was true for sure, but maybe Jim only keeps her around out of some sense of obligation.

When Samantha met Jim, he was an adventurer, and she was a panicked foreign girl. They first met at the Adventure Guild when she was soliciting adventurers to search for her missing parents. They were serfs who decided to abandon their simple farming life in the hope for a better future on the frontier. They moved to Brunseborough and became adventures, and one day, as is often the case with novice adventures, they failed to return from a quest.

Fourteen year old Samantha had been in Brunseborough for less than a month when it happened and knew literally no one. She didn’t even have a copper to her name. When everything she held dear went missing, she became distraught and did the only thing she could think to do, beg random adventures to search for her missing parents.

“Please, my parents are copper. They went missing. Will you help me search for them?” Samantha pleaded to an adventure with yellowish black teeth and a dirty beard. Had she not been in such a desperate state, she would never have spoken with someone who looked as rough as this man did.

“Calm down. What’s your name sweetheart? How longs them runts gone missin’ fur?” he asked, his rotten teeth showing through his lecherous grin.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I’m Samantha. They were supposed to return two days ago. I can’t pay you right now but if you help me search for my parents, I swear I’ll pay you back.”

“Name’s Kevin, but you can call me Daddy, and if you can’t pay, then you can’t hire a party, now can you?”

“I know, but me an my family just moved to town. We have no gold, and now they went missing. Please, please help me find my parents.”

“So what? Your parents are gone, it’s not the end of the world. I killed my parents when I was around your age. Better off without them I say. Ha ha ha,” the grungy adventure let it an odd, hard laugh.

Samantha was beginning to doubt his sanity, but she was desperate. “I love my parents and I’ll be homeless without them. If you help me find them, I swear I’ll pay you back,” she begged, tears of desperation welling in her hazel eyes.

“Sorry beautiful, gold up front, that goes double for a homeless brat like you, but if you’re looking for a place to stay, I have a two room hut on the East Side. I’ll even feed you.”

“No, I need someone to help me find my parents, not a place to stay,” she said, and attempted to walk away.

“Not so fast there.” Kevin grabbed her arm. “I’ll search fur ya folks.”

“Really!” Samantha’s eyes lit up.

“Really. I’ll even fork the gold the rest of my party deserves for takin’ yur quest.”

“Thank the gods, and I swear I’ll return every copper.”

“I still want payment up front. Name your price sugar.”

“Excuse me?”

“You, I’ll buy you. What’s your price?”

“Uhm, I’m not for sale.” By now she was sure talking to this disgusting man was a mistake, and tried to leave again.

Kevin tightened his coarse, dirty hand’s grip around her wrist. His fist was tight, painfully tight. “You can pay me by taking three or four goblin squirts a week. Once you get used to it, it’s very soothing, and ain’t no one else gonna help a skinny brat like you find your dumb fucking parents. What do you say baby?” he asked, pulling her closer. His breath smelled liked putrid corpse compost.

Samantha didn’t know at the time what a goblin squirt was, but she was sure that she didn’t want to take it from this creep. She was about to scream for help when an onlooker’s fist smashed into the pervert’s hideous face.

Jim, a complete stranger at the time, overheard the whole thing, and knocked three of the lechure’s teeth out on her behalf. “Are you alright? Did he hurt you?” He was so handsome in that moment. Well, he’s always handsome, but in that moment, he was her savior. That was when she fell in love with him.

Jim and the Rascals, without any compensation, took her quest. Jim also arranged for her to stay with their manager while they searched. She shuddered her to think about what might’ve happened to her if Jim had’t been there that day.

The Rascals spent three weeks searching for her parents, and ultimately found their remains in a goblin hole. “Jim wasn’t able to save my parents, but he was able to save me,” Samantha thought as she touched the only remaining keep sake she had of her family, her mother’s locket, that Jim had returned to her.

Could it be that this whole time she’d been taking advantage of Jim’s kindness while only being a burden herself?