Valkyrie's Shadow - 7The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom, Part III: Act 3, Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ehhhhh? ‘Let’s go?’ What’s going on?!

As they walked along, Natalia Abarca stole glances at the man holding her hand. She couldn’t figure out what had happened.

For the past two weeks, she was kept in a tent separate from the rest of the labour camp. There, she and several other women were prepared for their future as ‘wives’. Some had come of their own accord, confident that they could secure a new life with their looks. Others had given up on trying to survive in the city and the labour camps were the only alternative available.

Natalia, however, had a different story, though it was one that was becoming increasingly common. Her family, crushed by debt as it tried to hold onto its workshop in the city, had sold her to pay it off.

In other words, she was a slave.

Her father was a shrewd artisan, so Natalia wasn’t sold cheaply. The man from House Restelo, which financed her family’s debt, also assured her that she would be going to a good place. Natalia’s opinion didn’t exactly matter, but she was glad that she could be of some use to her family and might be valued elsewhere. The labour camp was just outside of the city, too, so she thought it would be nice if she could visit her old home once in a while.

It wasn’t as if she was treated like a slave in some of the stories, either. The women at the tent did everything they could to make sure she looked as good as possible, which meant that she no longer went to bed hungry and didn’t want for any other necessities. They had even made a fancy shift for her, though she was embarrassed to wear something that was cut above the knee.

When it came her time to line up on the platform, they fussed over her for hours before putting her on display. Her hair was combed to a silky sheen and they even used the super famous Kalinsha soap that was made out of olives to make sure her skin was perfect. They didn’t put on any makeup because being young was supposed to be her ‘selling point’. She was made to repeat what she had learned on how to behave and what was expected of her as the woman of a man of status. There was so much that it made her nervous about whether she could keep up with everything.

Then, not an hour after she took her place on the platform, Liam showed up, asked who could read and do math, and then ‘let’s go’. She could still feel the utter confusion of the other women as she left the platform with Liam and she was still thoroughly confused herself.

“Have you had breakfast yet?” Liam asked.

“No.”

Was that the appropriate response? Men didn’t like women who were too demanding.

Say something…

Liam didn’t say anything at all. Was he unhappy with her answer? For a few moments, she feared that he would return her to the platform, but all they did was walk straight through the middle of the labour camp to the other side. They crossed an empty yard to join a line of men at a nearby pavilion. The man at the back of the line turned to greet them.

“Hey, Liam, good work out there.”

“Hey, Marim. What’s for dinner?”

“Buttered bread, beef stew, collard greens and broiled bay haddock. And fruit, of course. We keep clamouring to have the chefs add crab and lobster, but they insist that those are an evening course.”

Natalia swallowed. The food that Liam and these men ate was far better than even the preparation tent. Most people in the city had to live on dried fish and seasonal fruit.

“That your girl?”

“This is Natalia Abarca,” Liam replied. “She’ll be staying with me starting today.”

“Hoh, I see,” Marim said. “Better hold on tight to Liam, Natalia. This guy’s going places.”

“I’m not doing anything that special,” Liam furrowed his brow.

“Well, I can’t be the judge of what you’re doing, but it’s more a matter of scarcity anyway. You’re the only specialist in your field right now. And it’s not as if you didn’t bring in a huge haul on your first day.”

“They were just small fish,” Liam looked to the side. “Why don’t the companies bring in more, anyway? I know for a fact that they have people with at least some skills. What we’re doing is more a matter of coverage than anything else.”

Several of the men nearby looked in on the conversation. Marim crossed his arms, stepping back as the line shifted forward.

“Mmh…you’re new, so I can see how you could think that. But being in the top companies isn’t just a matter of skill – it’s a matter of trust. Did you hear what happened to the guy that came before you?”

“Executed, or something?”

“Mhm. We’re in a position of power and authority and we’re the face of House Restelo in the capital. Maybe getting here was all smooth sailing for you, but we don’t let just any random guy in. Even with all of the effort put into testing people for the job, some guys still start acting as if they’re the king of the world and lose their heads. Literally.”

“And they smear mud all over our reputation in the process,” one of the men nearby muttered darkly. “Damage like that takes forever to repair.”

“Yeah,” Marim nodded. “Imagine if the thief-takers we take on were actually Rogues? We’d get kicked out of Hoburns so fast that we wouldn’t know what happened. Remedios Custodio herself might even show up to thrash us.”

Liam stared up at the other men in silence. Natalia couldn’t blame him. Rogues were terrible, evil creatures.

When their turn at the counter came, Natalia took a roll of bread and butter, some collard greens, and a small bowl of beef stew. Liam’s portion was humongous.

“Ah, this is dinner for B Company,” he said when he caught her staring at his plate.

“Oh.”

She and Liam joined Marim and another man at one of the tables set up nearby. The men all dug into their meals greedily while Natalia picked at her food.

“How come you didn’t bring your wives?” Liam asked.

“Mine worked in the Water Gardens before she came here,” Marim said. “She’s used to late nights, so she’s always asleep when we get back from work.”

“The missus is doing baby things,” the other man said. “I’m no good at that stuff. I bring her breakfast home once I’m done with dinner.”

“Home, huh…” Liam wiped up his beef stew with a roll of bread, “I just have the one tent I traded up into after the promotion yesterday. Where does everyone get their stuff?”

“There’s a market in the third tier of the lower camps,” Marim waved his spoon in a loose direction. “Right between the two main lanes to the offices.”

“Ah, yeah,” Liam nodded. “I’ve been on caravan escort this entire time so I haven’t gotten the chance to take a look yet.”

“A perk of working in Hoburns. You’re not going all over the damn place anymore and you get some time for yourself. Oh, since you’re going shopping, do everyone in the company a favour and buy the latrine seat with the water plug…”

Natalia continued to nibble at her breakfast as the men chatted away. Was this what being a wife was like? She didn’t know men could talk so much. Her father barely said anything outside of work.

Thirty minutes later, they were walking back through the camp’s office area. The place was as busy as a Merchant Guild branch in the city. She grabbed Liam’s hand again when a pair of men nearby raised their voices.

“So,” Liam glanced at her. “What do you do, Miss Abarca?”

“Um…you can just call me Nat. Everyone calls me that.”

He sounded so distant when he said ‘Miss Abarca’ that she was afraid he would just drift away like a piece of flotsam.

“Sure, if that’s what you want, Nat. About my question…”

“What did you mean?”

“How old are you?” Liam asked.

“Thirteen.”

“Then you should almost be a journeyman if you aren’t one already. You lived in the city, right?”

“I helped my father in the shop.”

“What sort of shop was it?”

“He did smithing and leatherwork.”

“Smithing and leatherwork?”

Natalia frowned at Liam’s frown. Was there something strange about that? Most artisans dabbled in multiple crafts so they could make all of the different bits and pieces of their goods themselves. It was inconvenient and expensive to buy things from other shops.

“Which one are you better at?” Liam asked.

“My father didn’t let me do any metalwork,” she answered. “But he praised my leatherworking skills and let me do as much as I wanted.”

Blacksmithing was a man’s job and her father only let her do leatherwork because it was sort of like tailoring.

“I see. So you’re a journeyman leatherworker?”

“No,” Natalia shook her head. “I’m not even an apprentice. Living in the city is expensive, so I just wanted to help my family out.”

“…just for clarification,” Liam said. “When did you start helping your family out?”

“After the war. At fourteen, I would’ve gone to the army but they don’t do that anymore.”

She thanked the gods for that much, at least. Being a soldier would have probably been the end of her.

“But, even if they still did,” Liam said, “you’d need a vocation after you got back from the army, right?”

“No? After the army, I’d get married and raise a family. My husband would’ve earned enough for all of us.”

Where was he going with this? She couldn’t figure out what he was thinking at all. First the reading and the math and now all the talk about work.

The sound of artisans plying their trade grew louder as they approached a camp section filled with colourful tents and stalls. Natalia gaped as they slipped through the bustling marketplace, not quite believing what she saw. Whenever she thought about the labour camps, a sea of tents where destitute Farmers struggled to survive by clinging to the cities was the first thing that came to mind. She had seen them from one of the gates, once, and the people that she saw all looked really poor.

They walked into a pavilion where a variety of clothing was on display. Liam let go of her hand.

“Pick some clothing that you like,” he said. “I’m not very good at fashion stuff.”

“Eh? But there’s no need for you to buy anything for me…”

“Did you leave your belongings somewhere in the camp?”

Natalia shook her head.

“Then I need to buy you some stuff. Everyone was staring at you while we walked here.”

A blush crept up her neck as what he was saying sunk in. She had been so focused on Liam that she forgot that she was walking around in a pair of straw sandals with a really short shift.

“I’m sorry,” she lowered her head. “I’ve shamed you.”

“Uh, more like you embarrassed yourself,” Liam said. “Anyway, find some clothes.”

One of the shopkeepers swooped down on her the moment Liam left the pavilion. By the time he came back, Natalia had somehow been convinced to buy three sets of fancy clothing that came complete with everything else. They even had real shoes for sale. Her head swam as she calculated the cost of it all. He was going to think she was a brazenly greedy woman and she would end up back on display. No one would want her after that.

“We don’t need three fancy sets,” Liam said. “Can you put together four sets of work clothes and four sets of sleep clothes? I need some sleep clothes, as well.”

“Of course, sir,” the shopkeeper nodded. “What about the, erm, ‘fancy sets’?”

“Um, just one for now. For her. It’s not as if we’ll be attending a festival every day. Also, do you have any boots? Those shoes won’t be any good for walking around if she wants to go to the market or the city. Oh, a good, waterproofed mantle for when it rains, too.”

It was a lot more sensible than what the shopkeeper had pushed on her, but it was still a ridiculous amount to buy all at once. She leaned in close to whisper into Liam’s ear.

“Is this really alright?”

“What are you talking about?” Liam replied, “I chose you, so I have to take care of you, right? At least for now.”

What’s that supposed to mean?!

The first part made her feel really happy, but the last part filled her with dread. She wanted him to explain, but he just turned to the shopkeeper and pulled out a coin purse.

“How much is everything?” He asked.

“A work set is six and a night set is two. The mantle is six and the boots are twelve. It’s forty for the formalwear, which includes customisation by the Tailor.”

Is that silver? Gold?

Was Liam a Noble? The idea that he could be carrying so much money was insane. As she boggled over the numbers, Liam started counting out some unfamiliar metal objects from the purse.

“Wait, what are those?” Natalia asked.

“It’s camp scrip,” Liam answered. “Oh, I guess you just came from the city so you don’t know. One of these metal chits can be redeemed for a full meal at most of the camp kitchens.”

“So the boots are worth four days’ worth of food.”

“One must also consider material and capital costs,” the shopkeeper said.

“Right.”

She knew that.

It takes around half a day for a master cobbler to make a pair of normal boots, so…wait a minute.

“Why is stuff so cheap here?!” Natalia exclaimed.

“Stuff’s actually around the same price as it was just after the war,” Liam said. “That’s still more expensive than usual.”

“But the city is way more expensive!”

“That would be a city problem.”

Did that make any sense? Living in the city was almost always more expensive than living in the country, but the stupid camp was right beside the stupid city. People in the city were supposed to make more money, too.

After being fitted for her new dress by the Tailor, she put on a set of work clothes and they left the pavilion to wander around the market some more. Liam’s next stop was a blocked-off area where a bunch of Blacksmiths were making bits and pieces of everyday essentials.

“What do you need from here?” He asked.

“…what do you mean?”

“Leatherworkers need tools, right?”

“Hah?”

Things were making less and less sense. Unless…

“Are you saying you want me to work as a Leatherworker?” Natalia asked.

“You don’t want to? I thought you said you were good at it.”

“But I’m supposed to be your wife.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

“I can’t be both! Raising kids is more than enough work on its own.”

What am I doing?

It had barely been an hour since he had met him, yet they were already fighting. At this rate, he was going to throw her away.

“Then don’t have kids,” Liam told her.

Natalia’s heart froze.

Ugh, I knew it. I’m a horrible wife. I’m going to die single and childless after causing endless problems.

She grew up hearing cautionary tales about women like that, but she never imagined that she would become one of them.

“You’re only thirteen,” Liam said. “You don’t have to have kids as soon as you can. We’re not being raided by Demihumans anymore, right?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“It means you can do lots of stuff before settling down because you don’t have to worry about being randomly eaten. Besides, I’ve seen plenty of working women. Like the ladies at the Merchant Guild.”

“That’s because no one wants to marry them,” Natalia told him.

A part of her felt sorry for the receptionists at the guild, but it was still their own fault that they were single.

“Then what about farming households?” Liam asked, “Everyone works on a farm.”

“Farmers are different.”

Why was he so insistent? Only weirdos like Wizards and Adventurers wanted to live unmarried lives and didn’t have kids.

“Why not just try it out?” Liam asked her, “Could it be that you hate it?”

“No…”

“Then you should give it a fair chance. It’ll be helpful for me, too.”

“It will?”

“Yeah. I’m a thief-taker, so a lot of my equipment uses leather.”

Natalia’s mouth fell open. Liam was a hero who fought Rogues. Why didn’t he say so in the first place? No, she was just stupid: the other men at breakfast treated him like someone special and she had just ignored it.

“I-I’ll do it!” She clenched her fists in front of herself, “I’ll fix your armour every time you get stabbed!”

“…please don’t make getting stabbed a requirement.”

It all made sense now. Just like mending underwear and socks, she would be doing proper wife things. She thanked the gods that they had prepared her in advance to help her husband.

Once she settled on a good set of tools from the Blacksmith, they went over to buy a stack of Lanca leather and sewing supplies.

“So,” Liam asked as the shopkeeper put their purchase together, “what did you make when you were helping out your family?”

“Mostly straps and belts,” Natalia replied. “Padding for armour, too. I made an armour harness once. Why?”

“I was just trying to figure out how you could practice efficiently. It’d be easier to do more if you could sell the stuff that you make.”

“Sell? But I thought you wanted me to repair your equipment.”

“I do, but improving your skills is good. The better you get at leatherworking, the better you get at fixing stuff, right? Oh, since you mentioned it, you could practice by repairing things around the camp, too.”

That was probably a good idea. She didn’t want to screw up fixing his equipment and get returned to the platform.

Their next stop was a yard filled with furniture. She fidgeted a bit while Liam examined a big bed. A skinny man came over from the far side of the yard, obsequiously dry-washing his hands.

“May I help you with something, sir?”

“We just moved to a bigger plot,” Liam said. “Um…I guess we need everything.”

We. He said ‘we’. Heheheh…

It seemed that he wasn’t thinking of returning her. Important men could have any woman they wanted, so she had to hold on tight to him as Marim said.

The shopkeeper took them around the yard, calling in labourers to carry away the things that they bought. After she thought they were done buying furniture, Liam pointed to a solid wooden table.

“How about that one for your workshop?” He asked.

“My workshop?”

“Yeah. You didn’t think you were going to have to work at the dining table, did you? There isn’t enough space on it for your tools and supplies.”

She often worked at her family’s dining table before since their workshop was small. As far as she knew, it wasn’t abnormal. Then again, people always said that important men did everything big.

The ladies at the tent said that appearances are important. But is this alright? He’s already bought so much…

Liam never showed a single shred of hesitation throwing so much money around. He was a real big shot.

After buying the table, three big chests, two shelves, and a tall cabinet, they went to the place next to the furniture market to buy two tents and some tarps. A giant pile of things greeted them when they finally returned to Liam’s plot on the other side of the camp. Several women watched them curiously from the neighbouring plots.

“This is a lot of stuff,” Liam said.

Natalia nodded. The people at the market had their things delivered as they bought them, so she didn’t expect to find a small mountain waiting for them.

“What do we do now?” She asked.

“Um…” Liam looked around at the neighbours’ tents, “The big tent will be the ‘house’, then this smaller tent will be the ‘warehouse’. The pavilion will be your workshop. The tiny tent is for the latrine. We’ll stretch the big tarp over the ‘yard’ between everything and make a floor with the other tarps. That way, we can have a kind of outdoor living room with lots of space if we need it. Will that cause any problems for you?”

“I’m fine if you’re fine with it.”

It was his plot and he had paid for everything besides, so she wasn’t sure why he bothered asking her.

After setting everything up and putting all of the little things in their places, they were left with the big workshop table. It was so heavy that it had taken two grown men to move from the market and they moved it really slow.

“How are we going to move this?” She asked, “Should we ask around for help?”

“I’ll do it. All of the guys should be asleep by now, so we shouldn’t go around disturbing the neighbours.”

She gaped wordlessly as he picked up the heavy table. He wobbled around as he walked since he had to hold it up from the centre, but he didn’t seem tired at all when he crawled out from under it.

“Is that good?” Liam asked.

The table made a sort of ‘counter’ on the side of the pavilion facing the lane, while the two shelves and the cabinet formed a wall on the far side. Her three chests were lined up in the back and, even with all that, there was plenty of room to spare.

“There was more room than I expected,” Liam said. “Have you thought of anything else that you might need?”

“Not really…”

“Just let me know if you do. I’ll do what I can to make sure you’re always at your best.”

Once again, Liam’s odd enthusiasm stirred up her confusion over what was going on. She had been sold to pay off her family’s debts and underwent preparations to become a wife. Yet, she hadn’t been chosen for anything that they had prepared her for.

It took a moment for her to come out of her daze and realise that Liam had entered his tent. She rushed in after him and closed the flap.

Alright, now we get down to the serious business.

…or so she told herself, but new worries came with that. Grown-up things were supposed to happen at night. It was still the middle of the day and it was so bright that Liam would be able to see everything. What if he didn’t like what he saw? She didn’t have the curvy figure that attracted the gazes of men. Could she put a sack over his head?

Nononono, you already have a fish in your net, Natalia Abarca! Focus on pulling in your haul!

Once she gave him a son, he would fall in love with her and her position as his wife would be all but secure.

She came forward to help Liam out of his uniform. He jumped when her fingers brushed his arm.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“Helping you out of your uniform, my dear.”

“It’s alright,” he told her, “I can do it myself. You can go ahead and start working on your leatherworking. Oh, I think a few things were pulled loose on my belt when I was climbing around; could you check on that, as well?”

“But–”

“I need to get some sleep now. My shift starts in the evening and it’s already past noon.”

With that, Liam crawled into bed, turning his back to the entrance of the tent.

But what about our babies?

Natalia stared at Liam’s back for a full minute, but nothing else happened. With a sigh, she bundled his clothing into her arms. She found three of her female neighbours looking curiously into Liam’s plot as she stepped out of the tent. One of the women offered her a sympathetic smile.

“Don’t let it get to you,” she told her. “Guys around his age are always in a rush to get the deed done.”