[20] A Real Caravaneer

[20] A Real Caravaneer

Freja woke up to the sound of Wyatt and Caleb, the goblin brothers, complaining about having to clean up the campsite so early in the morning. She was in a small one person tent and even had a sleeping roll lent to her by Sabec. Bjorn was curled up with her though he was already awake. She had to force him inside the tent when they went to bed as he wanted to stay up and guard her all night. She doesn’t know if he actually got any rest but having him with her helped.

Now that she could feel his emotion through the familiar bond she knew he was apprehensive but not hostile to the people in the caravan. She felt about the same but mostly felt thankful they had been treating her so well. With the new perspective into his emotions he felt more like a father figure always looking to protect her. Given the fact that he had been doing that since he was born it was no wonder he felt that way. She hoped being in the caravan would allow both of them to have some normalcy for a change. She knew damn well she was ready for something normal.

She reached for her glasses pleased with the runes carved onto them that had protected them all this time. She crawled out of the tent and stretched, Bjorn did the same thing. The goblin brothers approached but not for her which she didn’t mind as goblin males were not handsome. They were known for their appearance being an acquired taste to most other races. Goblin females loved every bit of their partner's ugliness and in fact have not been known to date outside of their race.

The brothers are more easily distinguished by their hats. Wyatt always seemed to wear a brown fur hat while Caleb wore a blue leather one. They pulled out jerky from their pockets and ran over to Bjorn. They only seemed to notice Freja after he walked around her and they nearly ran into her.

“Oh, good morning, Sif.” Wyatt said. “Can we give these to Bjorn?”

“Good morning, let me see it.” She said as she held out her hand. “What is it?”

Wyatt handed her one of the strips, “Chevon jerky.”

Freja smelled the jerky and bit off a small corner, her teeth easily slicing through the jerky like scissors. She then handed it back to the waiting goblin.

“It should be fine if he wants to eat that is.” Freja said.

Freja stepped aside and the two boys reached out their hands for Bjorn, each head took one of the strips. The goblins lit up with excitement, their long tails wagging in the air.

“He is so cool, what is he?” Caleb asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Freja shrugged. “I couldn’t find anything on him in our bestiary. He is only about a week old though so he is probably going to get very big.”

The boys continued to ask questions about Bjorn. How big is he going to get, is he venomous, can he breathe fire or something, and why does he have two heads among other questions. Freja told them that he was venomous and that, yes, she found out yesterday he does in fact breathe fire. She kept the fact he grew a second head after being decapitated to herself.

“You will be riding with Sabec on our journey.” He says as he points out a space for Freja to place the folded up tent. “Sabec is the only one with space for an additional rider. Go bring your things, we will store them now.”

Helina was cooking breakfast over the fire for her family. It was a mixture of sausage, potatoes and manchet bread. Bjorn laid down across from her, angling himself so he could see Freja and Sabec and react quickly if he needed to. He felt like he was just being cautious about meeting such nice people out on the road. Owen walked up and kissed Helina on the cheek.

“Almost ready?” He asked.

“Only a few more minutes dear.” Helina stated.

“What did you find out about our new guests?” Owen inquired.

“Wait, shh.” Helina stated. “Her familiar is right there.”

“He's delta at the most.” Owen with a dismissive chuckle. “No different from a regular pet right now.”

Helina looks at Bjorn for a long moment then sighs. “She is definitely on the run, at first I thought thief, or common criminal. Her staff and knife are druid made and I think she killed someone to get them.”

“Hmm... That could be trouble.” Owen said in a long breath. “You think she is a deserter from that war they're fighting again?”

“Does she look like a fighter to you?” Helina asked sarcastically. “No, I don’t know how she got the weapons but she definitely used them on someone or something recently. I think it was her first time too. I’ve seen eyes like hers when she first arrived.”

“Yeah, I was worried about that.” Owen said as he got much closer to his wife.

She playfully nudged him with her tail. “More importantly I remember that uniform she is wearing. Some magic academy in the Salstar domain. She said she was kicked out of her family, the shiagaunt thing they do to failures or whatever.”

“Hmm. It's a shame they do that to their own like that, but it does mean no one is looking for her.” Owen said as he rubbed his chin. “Let’s see what she can do. She just survived a harrowing experience after all. We can let her see what it is like to be a real caravaneer. No reason to rush things.”

Bjorn continued to lay there acting as if he could not understand them. The two goblin’s conversation quickly shifted to bedroom fun as they got a little too frisky for Bjorn’s liking. He chose a time in which Freja was walking around to get up and leave inconspicuously. He knew he was going to have to watch the goblins a little closer now.