30th day of the 7thmonth 580th year of the 8th era

The crop had ripened and was ready for harvest. Akuchi and Aife sat on their log before the fire as they ate breakfast.

“The crop is ready for harvest,” said Akuchi.

“How long will it take us to harvest it all?” Aife asked.

“Too long. Which is why we will go to the fort and ask for help.”

“I haven’t been inside the fort before,” said Aife. A sparkle formed in her eyes as she turned and looked over the hovel and at the large fort that sat in behind their humble dwelling.

“Today you shall,” said Akuchi, finishing his breakfast and kicking out the fire.

They arose and, hand in hand walked up the small track towards the fort. They passed a large collection of gravestones. Many were faded and corroded. Many more were fresh and recently carved.

“I haven’t seen these,” commented Aife. “What are they?”

“They represent the warriors that have fallen in defence of the fort,” Akuchi explained.

“So many,” Aife said, casting her eyes at the rows of gravestones.

“For how long the fort has been here, not so many.”

The gates of the fort opened as they approached. A soldier met them at the gate, dressed in a chainmail hauberk and a metal coif. He carried a halberd in his hands and had a short sword on his hip.

“Please wait here,” he said. “Commander Oghenekaro will be with you soon.”

“Thank you?” Akuchi asked.

“Oh, sorry I am Lief Gunder,” the soldier replied.

“Nice to meet you,” Akuchi greeted. “I am Akuchi and this is my wife Aife.”

He saluted by placing his fist across his chest and bowing low. He shot a worried look at Aife before turning to the gate.

Oghenekaro came out of the gate and greeted them. He was dressed in his form-fitting leather armour. In one hand he carried two pairs of brown trousers. He handed them to Akuchi.

“What is this for?” Akuchi asked.

“For you to wear,” answered Oghenekaro. “Be lucky I am not asking your wife here to be completely covered.”

“I thought that you had repealed your nudity ordinance,” said Akuchi as he and Aife stepped into the trousers.

“I had, then Mayu left pregnant,” growled Oghenekaro.

“What happened?” Aife asked, pulling the drawstring tight, imitating Akuchi.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” brushed off Oghenekaro. “What can we do for you two?”

“Well since Aife has joined me on the farm, I need to make some upgrades. I was hoping to enlist some of your carpenters to expand my house and ask for you to send some men out to help harvest the crop that is now ripe.”

“Yeah sure,” agreed Oghenekaro. “Our deal is still in place?”

“Yes,” agreed Akuchi.

“For payment of the food you provide, I will provide you with men for harvesting and skilled men and materials for the expansion of your house.”

They followed Oghenekaro into the fortress and walked past the training field, which was full of people that were training; all wore at least a pair of trousers. Many of the women also wore light tunics or breast straps.

“Who is this Mayu?” whispered Aife to Akuchi.

“Mayu was a friend of mine. She trained me to be a warrior,” replied Akuchi in the same manner.

“It seems that Oggy liked Mayu,” continued Aife.

“Yes, he made several passes at her. But he also made several passes at many of the women here.”

“So why did he make such a big deal over Mayu?”

“I am not entirely sure.”

Oghenekaro opened the door to a stone building near the docks. Inside was a carpenter’s workshop. A small thin man greeted them. He had a lean muscular frame that suggested hours spent working hard at his craft. He had ear-length black hair and deep bushy chest hair to match his charcoal skin. He was dressed in a black knee-length kilt. He smiled a large toothy grin at Oghenekaro and then turned to Akuchi and Aife.

“Boleslav is here as a service to his god Justicar, he has been our carpenter for the past five years.”

“Akuchi and my wife Aife,” Akuchi responded extending his hand.

Boleslav looked at his hand and then smiled a warm greeting at Aife. His face dissolved into shock as he saw her ears.

“Are you an elf?” he asked.

“I am a dark elf,” Aife replied.

“Boleslav,” began Oghenekaro, “Akuchi and Aife are our farmers to the south; they provide most of the food that we eat. They need you to expand their housing.”

“Yeah sure,” Boleslav dismissed, still staring at Aife.

Aife smiled and then turned and walked out of the building followed by Akuchi.

“Boleslav, are you ok?” Oghenekaro asked once they were outside.

The door closed and cut off any further sound.

“We also need some supplies,” commented Akuchi.

“Why was he staring at me like that?” asked Aife.

“I am not sure. I have never met him before today.”

“That was the carpenter, and Oggy seems to be still talking to him,” Aife said. “Where next?”

“I want to collect on some debts that are owed to me,” replied Akuchi picking up his speed and heading around the mustering yard that was starting to fill up with partners beginning to spar and practice for the day.

“I take it that you don’t want Oggy to know about it,” observed Aife.

“I did a favour … as it were for the master of stores here and she owes me,” explained Akuchi, going a little red. “And I want to use it to get us some better stuff.”

“Like what?” Aife asked as they came to the entrance of the store.

“Let’s see,” suggested Akuchi. “Play along with me.”

“Okay,” Aife agreed, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

He pushed the door open and he was confronted by Aquillia arguing over a small bench with a lady he had never seen.

Aquillia was leaning forward pressing, against the bench, her small skirt bunching at the front. Her brown hair was tied back in a small bun; her faintly-painted green skin smooth and unblemished stretched over the large cording muscles. On her back was a large double-bladed sword with the blades covered in oiled leathers, strapped on a small strap that ran diagonally across her back.

A small gnome with lithe features stood on the bench, standing no higher than Aquillia’s eyes. She had pale skin, eyes contorted in rage. On her back, catching the light from the door, were a set of full-body gossamer wings. The gnome had hair that was a brilliant blue flowing around her body concealing it. The gnome’s feet barely touched the bench, held aloft with a flicker of nearly transparent wings.

Both women’s faces were centimeters away from each other.

“I am not going to give you a throwing knife!” shouted the gnome.

“It wouldn’t be a waste if you had one that could return to me once thrown,” pleaded Aquillia.

“We don’t have one of those,” insisted the gnome.

“Yes, you do, I saw one last time I was in the stores!”

“That one is no longer available.”

“I guess the master of the stores is gone,” Akuchi muttered. That’s a relief.

Akuchi coughed and both women turned to look at him.

They both smiled and gave up their fight.

“Ladies, this is my wife, Aife of the dark elves,” Akuchi introduced.

“It is so nice to meet you,” exclaimed the gnome, flicking her wings, sending her sailing forward. Her hair swirled around her body.

“We have met before,” informed Aife.

“This is Aife?” said Aquillia. “Last time I saw you, you were …”

“Ugly,” finished Aife. “Yeah, I know. Akuchi fixed that.” Aife blushed.

“Did you say you were a dark elf?” asked the gnome.

“Well,” began Akuchi. “She woke up on the second night and was like this.”

“Yes, I am,” answered Aife. “Who are you?”

“Well,” Aquillia said, “let’s call it magic.”

“Yes, that is a good idea,” agreed Akuchi.

“Oh, sorry,” exclaimed the gnome, “please forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself.”

“I heard that Mayu left.” Akuchi changed the subject.

“She was found to be pregnant and then she heard that her mother, her last relative, had died.”

“So, Oggy kicked her out?” asked Akuchi.

“Because he liked her and then found she was pregnant with another guy’s kid?” asked Aife.

“Well that is the current scuttlebutt,” agreed Aquillia.

“I did see a pregnant woman leave on the ship that brought me,” chimed in the gnome, her voice light and sounding faintly of bells.

“Please excuse my husband,” Aife cut in. “He interrupted you from telling us your name.”

The gnome gave Akuchi an evil stare, before her face lit up brightly, “I am Zizia, at your service.”

“Greetings, Zizia,” Akuchi welcomed. “I am Akuchi. Aife and I run the farm outside the fort. I was wondering if you could help us out with some items that I believe you won’t have much need for inside the fort.”

“I will see what I can do,” Zizia glowed.

Zizia turned her hair floating around her. She then alighted over the bench and beckoned them to follow.

“It was nice catching up with you,” Aquillia said. “Since I can’t get the returning throwing knife.”

“It’s not available!” shouted Zizia.

“I have to go back to training.”

“It’s my weapon now.”

Aife smiled as Aquillia left, Akuchi lifted the bench to one side and gestured for Aife to follow Zizia.

Zizia smiled and turned, flying down the passageway. “What are you looking for?”

“I was hoping to get a larger bed for the two of us and maybe some kitchen equipment, just things that we would need to make life on the farm a little more comfortable.”

Zizia stopped and turned back to them. “I don’t have a bed,” she pondered. “Maybe you should talk to the carpenter. I do have some pots, pans, basins, and things that you might need for a kitchen. I could also give you some sheets and such for the bed.”

***

Mayu stepped off the clipper ship, her khopesh strapped to her leg, a large canvas bag on her back held on by a single leather strap running across her chest and over her left shoulder. Her blonde hair was tied in a braid that came to her lower back. She caressed her stomach well aware of the young baby growing within.

A large-muscled sailor stepped up behind her and placed a hand lightly on her shoulder.

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?”

Mayu turned around. A smile lit up her ruby eyes. “You’re so sweet.” She placed a hand on his. “You have done so much already.”

“Do you have a place to stay?” he asked. “You sure you don’t want to go home?”

“When my mother died,” she explained, the smile fading from her full lips, “I lost all my family. Now this child is the only family I have. I believe I can do better here than at home.”

“If there is anything else I can do,” he said, “just let me know.”

“You have done plenty. I couldn’t ask any more of you.”

Mayu turned and then walked down the pier into the common dock area.

“Was she good?” another man asked the sailor.

“She was better than that night we earned the gratitude of the Sisters of the Veil in Ishtaree,” he replied.

“Damn,” replied the second voice, “that night still haunts my dreams.”

A large smile spread across Mayu’s face.

Mayu walked down the pier and came to the unloading station. Several men with large bronzed muscles were lifting crates onto a wagon.

“Excuse me, boys,” Mayu called.

The men stopped and turned to her, smiling.

“Do you know where I could find a place to rest?” she asked.

“There is an inn down the road to the left,” said one man on top of the wagon. “Stop gawking, men, and get back to work.”

The men tipped their non-existent hats at her and returned to work.

“Thank you, kind sirs,” Mayu said, beaming at the men on top of the wagon. She started moving towards the road on the other side of the loading station. She exited the loading station and stepped onto the warm cobblestones, her bare feet padding as she moved along the road. The road was busy with many workers hauling goods from the other sheds moving them on their backs to the road. Many men were naked under the warm sun, their bronzed bodies glistened with sweat. To her left, a thin fellow with a clipboard stood watching the labourers move back and forth with goods. A worker would come up to him with a load, he would check off what they had on his clipboard, then give directions; the man would then nod and start off down the road. To her right, a fat sweaty man did the same thing, occasionally stopping to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

The road ran for several paces to the edge of the loading bays, where it was met by another road heading along the wharf.

Mayu moved along the road and turned left, heading towards the tavern.