Collisa (Outsider Book 1), page 18
Ellui stared at him as if he was an alien. Which, he supposed, he technically was. “If she's not a slave then what is she?” she asked, pointing at Zuri.
That was a good question. “I don't know. I saved her from a panther in the woods. Now I'm trying to find her family or tribe or whatever.”
“There aren't any goblin tribes in this region,” the farmwife said with a frown. “They mostly infest the mountains to the north or west, or the jungles far to the south where they breed like flies. Aside from the occasional marauding band most goblins in Haraldar are slaves.”
She motioned at Zuri. “Your goblin's most likely either a runaway or a survivor from some band of travelers. Either way, you should probably find out before you're accused of theft.”
Dare moved protectively in front of the little goblin. He wasn't about to turn her over to some master for a miserable life of drudgery or worse. But Ellui was right that he should probably find out what Zuri's situation was so he knew what he was dealing with.
“Where can I find out?” he asked.
“The Mayor, of course,” the farmwife said. “He gets regular reports from Driftwain a day's travel to the north. Things like bounties and wanted criminals, notices about escaped slaves, announcements for raiding parties to hunt dangerous monsters, and stuff like that.”
“So I guess you haven't heard anything about a missing goblin?” Dare asked, just to be sure.
She laughed again. “You think anyone around here can afford a slave?” Her lip curled as she stared at Zuri, who was peeking around Dare's leg. “Not even a pukeskin . . . they might be common and cheap enough that nobles and wealthy merchants toss them aside like garbage on a whim, but we're all living hand to mouth here.”
He flushed. “What did you just call her?” he asked quietly.
The farmwife just laughed harder. “What, insulted on her behalf? You'll hear her called worse. And end up beaten half to death in a ditch if you try to defend a gobbo's honor.”
Dare shook his head, giving up. “I could call you worse too, but I'm polite enough not to.” He motioned to Zuri and started past the farm towards the track leading into the village.
“Wow, I keep on forgetting what a smug, superior bastard you are!” she yelled at his back. “When you finally give in and come back for another taste of me I'm going to have to hate fuck you.”
He ignored her and sped up, Zuri seeming happy to keep up to get away from the unpleasant woman. Once Ellui finally stopped shouting the tiny goblin looked up at him and babbled something.
“You said it,” Dare said, patting her head.
They got odd looks as they made their way through the village, along with a few hostile ones. Dare assumed that even if goblin slaves were common, the villagers probably didn't see many.
When Dare knocked on Durrand's door, there was no response for almost a minute. Then the Mayor pulled the door open dressed in a sleeping robe and night cap, yawning into his fist. “This better be good.”
Dare felt a moment of chagrin; it was midmorning, and he'd assumed everyone would be awake. Good thing he'd been traveling slowly with Zuri or the man would be even more pissed off.
“I'm sorry, Mayor,” he said. “I didn't realize you'd still be in bed.”
Durrand glowered. “Well I'm up now. What's this about?”
Dare motioned at Zuri. “This is Zuri. I saved her from a panther in the forest, and now I'm trying to figure out if there are people who are missing her.”
“An escaped slave, huh?” the Mayor mused, looking the goblin over. “I imagine someone's missing her. She's good breeding stock so she'd be valuable . . . for a goblin.”
“We don't know she's a slave,” Dare said, not pleased about the reminder of one of the ugliest sides of slavery. Or the insult to Zuri's race.
Durrand stared at him with a look of bafflement Dare was becoming familiar with. “What else would she be? There's no wild goblins in this area.”
Again, Dare wasn't overjoyed at that term. “She could have been freed. Or part of a caravan that was attacked and her master died. Or-”
The portly man held up his hands to stave him off. “Okay, okay, lad. Finders keepers, especially if she was about to be ripped apart by an animal. If nobody's missing her then you're free to claim her as your own.”
“I don't-” Dare started to say, then gave up. If he was free to claim her then he was free to free her as well.
“Come on,” Durrand grumbled, opening the door wider for them. He led them over to the same sitting area near his office space in one corner, where he ushered Dare to the same seat as before. Dare motioned Zuri towards the other seat, but Durrand quickly interrupted him, aghast.
“Let the goblin sit on my wife's good furniture?” he demanded. “Are you insane?” Zuri whimpered at his tone and huddled against Dare's leg; he could feel her trembling.
The Mayor saw her reaction, along with Dare's disapproving scowl, and sighed. “She doesn't look filthy, at least,” he grudgingly allowed. “I suppose she can sit on the carpet. And goblin or not, I should be a good host.” He raised his voice. “Maritha! Tea for three!”
Dare didn't like that compromise, treating Zuri like a stray dog even though she was probably the cleanest person there thanks to her spell. But he needed the man's help and couldn't afford to antagonize him.
So he nodded at her silent request to sit on the carpet, and she settled down.
Durrand began rifling through a stack of papers on a side table: most had large block letters with crude drawings in the center and looked like notices, complete with reward offers. An uncomfortable silence settled as he searched the stack, and Dare filled it by teaching Zuri more words in Haraldaran, ignoring the Mayor's occasional looks of disgust.
A few minutes later a plump older woman wearing a robe over a nightgown hurried in with a tea service, bustling around pouring them tea as she filled the air with warm chatter meant to put guests at ease. She didn't seem to care for Dare particularly, and only grudgingly gave Zuri a cup of tea, sternly admonishing the tiny goblin not to spill on her carpet.
But she showed at least the veneer of politeness, which was something.
Finally Durrand stepped away from the stack, shaking his head. “Nothing with any goblins of her description.” He reached into a box and pulled out a finely cut piece of rose quartz hanging from a thin steel chain, slipping it over his neck. He turned to Zuri. “Who's your master?”
“She doesn't speak-” Dare started to say, but Zuri was already chattering back at the Mayor in her high, chirping language.
Interesting. Was the quartz some sort of translation artifact?
“I see.” Durrand turned to Dare. “She says her master abandoned her in the wilds because she was no longer useful to him.”
Dare looked at the tiny goblin. So she had been a slave, but had essentially been freed, if in a really cruel way. That was good, right?
“It might even be true,” the Mayor continued. “Goblins have such low value that unless her owner was poor, he probably won't raise a fuss about her.” He waved at the stack. “I'll keep an eye out for the next few weeks, but otherwise it looks as if you've got yourself a new slave.”
Dare frowned. “I don't want a slave.”
Maritha looked up from the tea service. “Are you selling her? I've just been pestering Durrand to start saving up for a-”
“I don't want to sell her either,” he said, doing his best not to snap. “If she's mine I intend to free her.”
They both gaped at him. “Free her?” the Mayor's wife said as if he'd suggested bringing pigs to a cocktail party. “Why in the world would you do such a thing?”
“Even if you're one of those fools who thinks non-humans should be allowed to operate in Heraldar same as humans,” Durrand argued, “you do realize the moment you set her free someone else would just snap a collar on her, and probably send her straight to the breeding pens or an arena as a runaway. And if she tries to go it alone in the wilds she'll end up in a monster's belly like she already almost did.”
Zuri, who of course had understood everything the man said, cried out and scurried over to Dare, spilling her tea as she went. She threw her arms around his legs and began babbling at him, face frantic and big yellow eyes full of terror.
“Hey, hey, it's okay,” he told her gently as he patted her back. He lifted his head and glared at the Mayor. “You didn't have to scare her like that.”
Whatever the man might feel about goblins, he still looked a bit guilty. “I forgot I was still wearing this,” he mumbled, fingering the rose quartz hanging around his neck.
“Well what's she saying?”
Durrand shook his head grimly. “She's begging you to keep her as a slave. Saying she's always been a good and obedient worker and that it wasn't her fault her master abandoned her.”
Zuri was still babbling frantically and Dare turned his attention back to her. “It's okay,” he told her. “Dare help Zuri.” That seemed to calm her a bit, although tears still streamed down her cheeks.
He looked up at the portly man. “Tell her that of course she can stay with me. I would never just abandon her like that. But she'll stay as my free and equal companion . . . she gets to choose what she wants to do, and I won't try to make her do anything. And if she ever wants to leave she can.”
“Equal with a goblin?” Maritha exclaimed. “Of all the foolishness!” She snatched up the tea set and strode out of the room, bristling with affront.
“You aren't by chance touched in the head, are you lad?” Durrand asked. Dare just glared at him until he sighed and turned to Zuri, repeating the words.
The tiny goblin calmed down as she listened, although she also stared at Dare in bafflement. “Your guess is as good as mine how much of that she understood,” the Mayor said when he was done. He grimaced at the mess Zuri had made with her spilled tea and sighed, reaching for a cloth to begin cleaning it up. “Mari's gonna kill me.”
“Sorry about that,” Dare said, gently extricating himself from Zuri and moving to help.
The Mayor waved him away. “If there's nothing else I won't keep you,” he said with forced politeness. “Got lots of things to do today.”
Dare hesitated. “There is one thing . . . could I ask about your necklace?”
“What, the translation stone?” Durrand said, fingering the large quartz. “Handy thing. It's enchanted to allow me to be understood by people speaking most of the common languages on Shalin, and to understand them as well. Better yet, you get a dozen people wearing these speaking different languages in a room and everyone hears everyone else in the whichever one they know best.”
He chuckled. “Although it can get overloaded if too many people are speaking at once, leading to some hilarious garbling and translation errors.”
Dare stared. He'd assumed the stone just allowed the Mayor to speak Goblin, but that was infinitely better. So good, in fact, that getting one for himself should be a priority. “That's quite the valuable enchantment.”
Durrand looked startled. “I suppose it is, now that you mention it. Not that I have much use for the thing here.” He chuckled. “Benefit of living in a quiet place in the middle of nowhere.”
“Was it expensive?”
“This?” The Mayor fingered the translation stone again. “Not too bad. Twenty silver, although I haggled this one down to fourteen.”
Dare could afford that. And while there were other things he needed more, if he was going to be stuck with Zuri then it was essential.
He immediately felt guilty when he thought that; it wasn't fair to consider it that way. Especially since the poor goblin was in an even worse situation. And he couldn't begrudge her desire to stay if he was willing to help her, especially if the alternatives were being taken as a slave again by someone, or going back out into the wilds and potentially getting eaten by a panther.
Besides, even if they couldn't talk right now Dare found himself enjoying her company. He hadn't realized how lonely he'd been, even with his regular trips to the village.
And he was willing to help her. He just needed to find a way to do it where she had a chance for the life she wanted, and he was able to accomplish his goals on Collisa.
“Can I buy one around here?” Dare asked.
“What, in Lone Ox?” Durrand laughed easily. “Like I said, not much call for them here. And even the more prosperous villagers don't have twenty silver to drop on something that's not going to be useful for them.”
He scratched his chin. “You may be able to find some in Driftwain, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Since these things have such a specific use anyone who needs one usually already has it, and isn't willing to sell. Especially since the only person in the region who can make them, an Enchanter a week's travel away in Kov, is willing to deliver them via courier for a nominal fee.”
Dare perked up. “What if I wanted to order one? How long would it take to reach me?”
The Mayor chuckled. “Well the order would have to make its way to Kov through merchants or travelers passing along messages. Then the Enchanter would put you in his client queue, and then the courier needs to deliver it.” He touched the quartz. “Mine took a couple months . . . your best bet is probably to head to Kov and order in person if you're in a hurry.”
Damn. Dare probably wouldn't even be in this area in a few months at the rate he was leveling. He sighed. “I suppose I'll be passing through there at some point, or visiting some other place with an Enchanter who can do it.” He paused, eyeing Durrand's necklace. “Unless . . .”
The portly man laughed. “Sorry. I may not need it often, but when I do need it I can't afford to not have it.” He mock glared. “Besides, you've already got something of mine that you've yet to earn.”
The map for his remaining quest. Right.
Dare nodded sheepishly. “I'm leveling up as fast as I can, and looking into getting a group together to take the bandits out. I've already scouted the camp and learned a bit, although I've needed to be careful.”
The Mayor perked up. “Show me what you've found,” he said, moving to his own map of the area. “You can consider the information rent on my map.”
Fair enough. Dare ushered Zuri up onto the chair he'd vacated, defying Durrand to protest again, and moved over to join him, quickly describing what he'd found and his thoughts on the bandits.
Durrand wasted no time politely inviting them to leave once he had the information, although Dare insisted on him keeping to his word about buying monster loot. It was selling for more now that he was Level 8, giving him almost 5 silver with the trash loot alone.
Then he left the Mayor to his morning routine and toured all the people willing to buy from him, selling what he could. Zuri stayed quiet by his side the whole time, curiously looking around and watching him haggle.
While the villagers stared at her (or glared in some cases), nobody made a fuss about her being there.
“Don't mind their glares,” Dare told her when one big man's particularly fierce scowl made her duck around to his other side and clutch his leg fearfully. He patted her head, smiling. “I think you look cute . . . anyone who's rude to you is probably a jerk anyway.”
The timid goblin gave him a tentative smile, although she kept holding his leg as he tried to continue down the street. He offered her his hand instead, and for most of the rest of the time in the village she held it.
Occasionally her small, soft hand with its lotion-like slickness would squeeze his in sudden fear when she met eyes with a glaring villager, but for the most part the contact with him seemed to calm her down.
Soon enough Dare's business was done. He bought a few simple items like a pot, a pan, a pottery jug, and more soap, as well as a ribbon for Zuri that was the same bright yellow color as her eyes, so she could tie up her long inky-black hair in a ponytail or whatever other style she wanted.
The goblin seemed to love the simple gift, treating it with far more reverence than it deserved. She even tried to get on her hands and knees again in gratitude.
“No,” Dare said gently, pulling her up before she could. He hadn't thought to ask Durrand about it, but he was almost certain that was a slave position. Or if not that, at least a subservient one. “You never need to do that again.”
“Zuri no?” she asked timidly.
“No.” He gently lifted her pointed chin, then raised his own and assumed what he hoped was a proud and independent pose. “You're free now, Zuri. Free.” He pointed at himself. “Just like me. Free. No kneeling.”
She looked at him blankly. “Zuri no?” she clarified as she made as if to kneel once more.
He nodded. “Zuri stand tall,” he said, lifting her chin again.
The woman who'd sold him the ribbon was staring at them in a mixture of bafflement and disgust. “Is this some kind of mummer's show?” she asked.
Dare ignored the villager and offered his new companion his hand, leading her back towards the forest. “Come on, back to hunting and adventuring, if that's what you want to do.” Zuri stared at him blankly and he smiled and pointed straight up to indicate midday. “We can get back to our camp by noon and have lunch. Food?”
“Food!” she agreed happily.
He couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm. For so much of the time she seemed so nervous and timid, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop in a world where they fell like rain. But he caught glimpses, more and more as time went on and he slowly earned her trust, where he could see the bright and sparkling person she could've been if the world had been a kinder place to her.
And still could be, he hoped, if she was free to pursue it.
“Hey,” Dare said as they reached the edge of the village. “Want to see something cool?” She just stared at him curiously, and he grinned and pulled out a silver coin. “Watch.” He casually flipped it into the air, making no move to catch it as it fell towards the ground.
Then it disappeared.
His new companion shouted in surprise and began looking around on the ground for it, and he couldn't help but chuckle. “Zuri,” he said. She looked up, and with a grin he reached behind her short pointy ear and pulled out the coin, showing it to her.
