The Last few Errands before their Departure – 3B-HH

Chapter 3 – Getting Underway (continued)

Kaylen knew the exact moment his sister spotted not just him, but the siblings following him, and raised an eyebrow in question before he drew close enough to offer an explanation. “Before you ask, Vesili was the one who urged me to purchase a ****, as she put it, to spare her from someone cruel.” Kaylen held up his hands at his sister’s expression. “Gregory Thatcher here was being sold to pay off debts, but his sister Dinnae offered to serve in his place.” He gestured for Danny to step forward as Lyria, Ursa, and Alanthea all regarded the newcomers together. “Does that answer your questions?”

“I suppose it covers the important questions.” Lyria agreed, glancing between him, Dinnae, and Vesili, who blinked, but then nodded to confirm she had indeed recommended the sale before Lyria turned back to Kaylen. “I admit that when you said you needed to see it for yourself, I didn’t expect you to actually buy someone.”

“Is she coming with us?” Ursa asked, hanging back with a concerned expression.

“Yes. Dinnae is my servant now, and she’ll be going where I go. She is also a tanner, which means she can help maintain our equipment in the field, and handle other tasks we might require. That’s not going to be a problem is it?”

“It could be.” The half-giant continued. “If I have to focus on protecting her in addition to everyone else on the team it could make things difficult. Can she even fight on her own?”

“Let’s not get grumpy at each other.” Alayni piped up, putting her small frame between the towering Ursa and Kaylen’s new indentured servant. “We’ve got monsters to kill, no need to start fighting with each other.”

“She can learn to fight if necessary.” Kaylen added.

Ursa didn’t respond right away, but Dinnae spoke up for herself, “I’ve been in a few fights.” She began. “More than Gregory, but I don’t have much formal training with anything other than a knife. Not that I’d expect you to let me carry a weapon.” She added.

“You didn’t read the contract. I’m not about to bar you from defending yourself.” He informed her. “The mark already prevents you from attacking me, so a knife or even something a little heavier is perfectly fine.”

“A knife can be a solid weapon, depending on the situation.” Lyria told Danny.

“Especially if your opponent doesn’t know you have it.” Vesili added.

Ursa scowled, but Kaylen continued before she could respond. “Alayni’s right, if you have issues, we can resolve them. I’m not unwilling to listen to your concerns.”

“My concern is that she could be a liability in combat.” Ursa said carefully.

“If that becomes an issue, we will resolve it together.” Kaylen assured her.

“You hired me to defend you.” She countered. “Her presence could limit my ability to do that.”

“We’ll keep her out of combat as much as possible.”

“What about me?” Gregory cut in, “You could take me with you, and I could protect her.”

“I’m afraid not. I don’t feel like being arrested for ****, and since you’re underage, and not indentured, that’s what I’d be facing.” Kaylen told the brown-haired boy.

“What if we got my uncle’s permission?” He asked, looking back and forth between them.

“Greg.” Dinnae turned to her brother. “It’s not your job to protect me anymore. Master Kaylen will look after me. You just need to focus on staying out of trouble and living your life. Don’t worry, I’ll come back once I’ve paid my debt. This was my choice.”

Gregory sniffed, but nodded, “Very well, but there’ll be hell to pay if you let anything happen to her.” He said the last to Kaylen.

“Your sister will be fine. We’ll all look after her.” Kaylen assured him with a glance towards a few other others, most notably Ursa.

“Kaylen gave me a chance.” Vesili spoke up, adding her input. “And I trust him and the team he put together to keep all of us safe.”

Ursa sighed, “Sorry I brought it up.” She huffed.

“I’m sure Kaylen will be a great master to us.” Alanthea said, having moved forward to peer at Dinnae curiously. “Where is your **** mark?”

Dinnae looked down, embarrassed, “W-what do you mean? Are you a **** too?”

“No, Alanthea’s not a ****, she’s a priestess.” Lyria explained.

“Don’t worry about where I marked her.” Kaylen added. “It’s intentionally out of sight.”

Alanthea gave Kaylen an odd smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, “Master Kaylen likes being called master.”

“Actually, I seem to recall asking you not to.” Kaylen reminded her, and the priestess shrugged.

“You’re doing it to tease him.” Lyria guessed, shaking her head as she looked between them.

Kaylen sighed, knowing Lyria had the right of it. “Alright, well that’s enough of that. We need to get Gregory back to his relatives, then we have a few more purchases to make before we can get on the road now that we have a seventh party member.”

Dinnae turned to address Kaylen. “I’m sorry if I’ve caused you any trouble.” She said meekly.

“It’s fine. A little friendly banter is probably a good thing, in all honesty.” Kaylen offered a smile, and Dinnae returned it hesitantly.

“Don’t worry.” Lyria put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You’re part of the team now, and we take care of our team, right?” She turned to look at every member of the team in turn.

“Do we want to split up?” Lyria suggested after a moment, turning back to Kaylen. “A few of us could go with Gregory to deliver him to his relatives while you get Danny her new gear and supplies.”

“I’m going with him.” Dinnae insisted. “I might need to explain what happened at the **** auction.”

“I will also go with you.” Kaylen assured her. “I made a promise to see him returned safely.” Then he turned back to his sister. “You could get started on supplies for her, Lyria.” He counted out the money they would need to buy another share of rations and related supplies, and handed it to his sister. “How does that sound?”

“That sounds like a good plan.” Kaylen’s sister agreed. “Where shall we meet up after?”

“Ander’s Armory. We can get her fitted for her own chainmail tunic, and pick her up a weapon or two while we’re at it.”

“If the mark works like you say it does, then I agree she should have something to defend herself.” Lyria said.

“Does it prevent her from attacking the rest of us?” Ursa asked.

“It should prevent her from being hostile towards me or anyone she perceives as my ally.” Kaylen informed them. “She willingly signed the contract, and thus the magic is more binding and more specific than on other slaves with a more generally applied mark.”

Everyone seemed to accept that, so after a brief discussion they split up, and Kaylen went with Janel, Alanthea, and the Thatcher siblings towards the port district to locate Gregory’s relatives.

Meeting Breen and Dillon Thatcher was a bit of an awkward affair, though more so for Gregory than any of the adventurers. The blue-eyed boy faced his aunt and uncle contritely, as Dinnae explained most of the occurrences at the **** auction. She omitted a few details, such as how and where she gained her **** mark, and tried to deflect any hostility towards Kaylen and his teammates.

Vesili stayed slightly apart, not really speaking directly to Dinnae’s relatives, while watching Kaylen, and giving him encouraging smiles when he looked her way. But it still came to a one on one conversation between Kaylen and Dillon.

“I don’t know if there is anything you can do to reassure me of your intentions towards my niece.” Dillon said in a quiet but fierce tone as he and Kaylen stood several yards away from the others. “But I also recognize I have little legal recourse.”

Kaylen nodded, “I suppose all I can do is give you my word that I will protect her as any other member of my team. My teammate urged me to buy Gregory in order to spare him from a worse fate. But it was Dinnae who insisted on taking on Gregory’s debt to become indentured in his place. At that point, I felt I must honor her request in the matter.” He kept some of the details to himself, of course, particularly the fact that Danny had tried to use her body to tempt him.

“Just know that I will hold you responsible for her safety.” The brown-haired man said definitively.

“That is a responsibility I will take very seriously.” Kaylen agreed. The conversation seemed to mollify Dillon, at least as much as anything was likely to, and the two of them rejoined the rest of the group.

Danny hugged each member of her family one last time, lingering on Gregory as the boy fought not to tear up in front of his older sister. And then the four of them turned back towards the market district to rejoin their team at the armory.

Marian and Rolph Ander were surprised to see them back so soon, and curious to how Dinnae had come to join their group. But she didn’t seem inclined to elaborate on the subject, so neither did Kaylen or his team.

While the blue-eyed **** girl was being fitted, Ursa quizzed her about her limited combat experience and how she approached fights, it seemed they were getting a feeling for what sort of weapon would be suited for her. Something simple to use but which their group could train her to use more proficiently while they were on the road.

Alanthea had wanted to linger with Kaylen’s group, but he didn’t think now was the right time to sate her curiosity, so while the four of them were occupied with that, he sent the priestess with Lyria and Alayni to the stablemaster to buy a pony for Kaylen’s new servant. Vesili, meanwhile, stayed next to Kaylen, so they could talk in low tones.

“Something I wanted to ask you about.” The dark-skinned half-elf began.

“Is it about the spell I cast at the slavers?” He asked.

Vesili nodded, causing her hood to bob. “You charmed me.”

“I’m sorry, the way the situation was escalating I felt I needed to calm things down, but I had meant to only affect Master Tilk, but it seemed to have affected everyone in the room.”

“Oh…” She frowned. “Do the others know?”

“You’re the only one who sensed it, I believe.” Kaylen informed her.

“Has that sort of thing happened to you before?”

“Not that specifically.” He admitted. “I believe I simply put a little too much mana into it; perhaps because of the urgency of the situation.”

“That won’t happen with a combat spell, will it?” She turned her violet gaze up at him.

“I can’t say for sure, but I promise I will be careful with my spells from here on out.” He assured her.

She nodded, “Good. We need to be able to rely on you and your magic.”

“Most of my spells I have cast hundreds if not thousands of times, and they will be very reliable.” He insisted. “Charm magic isn’t something I’ve had as many opportunities to practice.”

She nodded again, and smiled, “Thank you for addressing my concerns. I’m glad you’re willing to listen.”

“You are welcome.” He returned her smile.

Dinnae and Hali settled on a shorter chainmail tunic than Kaylen and Alanthea were wearing, only a little longer than the leather tunic she’d been wearing presumably to protect her dress from dyes and oils she used as a tanner. Then before leaving the armory – while the girls were selecting weapons for Dinnae – Kaylen discreetly bought a set of sturdy manacles since he felt uncertain what his companions would think of the purchase, but knew they would be useful, especially if Danny gave them any trouble.

Finally, the seven of them met back up at the tailor where they purchased several changes of clothes, riding boots, and a few other items to round out Dinnae’s travel wardrobe. Their last stop was to buy a kit of tools Dinnae could use to ply her craft maintaining their equipment, for which she’d been so highly recommended by the hawker.