37 New Friend
1486 Words
The next morning, Janus was woken up to the noise of the camp coming into life. His head was still on the table, but it was now resting on a pillow. He didn't even notice that someone had taken away the stacks of papers in his table.
There were other men and women (and a few goblins) seated around his table now. They were examining the papers that Janus had checked the night before.
Right in front of him was Master Ringo, who was providing orders with a hushed voice. Yvaine was beside him holding a cup of tea and a refreshed look in her eyes. He recognized the group as the task leaders for each discipline. Captain Caleb of the guards, Fleetfoot and Astrid who would-be leaders on hunting and gathering. Mistress Isha along with Mr. Rufus who was in charge of food production and gathering. Adduk for the building of tools and Mr. Sandor with Chief Kazzuk who would oversee the buildings for men and goblin alike.
They were all in deep discussion, with each holding a piece of parchment and coordinating their tasks. Around them, Janus could see all manner of men and women (and goblins) scurrying around with various different tasks. Some were cleaning up and sorting the area, while some were moving around their animals to their designated places. There were sounds wood being sawed and clanking pots and pans with people shouting out orders.
Janus had overslept and everyone started working before him.
"What time is it? How long was I out?" He noticed spit was pooling in his pillow. "Such a shame, I'm sorry."
"Now now, your highness." Said Master Ringo. "You've done well enough during the night. You can leave everything to me, might I say your plans are impressively well drawn out and detailed. You're not leaving much for me to do except giving them out."
Everyone around him nodded, Yvaine smiled at him.
"Are you sure? Is everything in order? I've failed you all back then at the geysers, I wouldn't want to mess up now."
"What are you talking about? No one blames you for that." Yvaine said.
"It was all circumstance, your highness." Echoed Captain Caleb.
"All water under the bridge." Said Mr. Rufus.
"You've done well Prince." Kazzuk said.
"See? Now you can just relax and have some rest your highness, one of the guards reported to me that you were still awake at dawn. You have done more than enough I would say, leave the meeting to me and have your breakfast. We wouldn't want you burning out in our first days at camp now would we?" the old steward said.
Everyone around him nodded again. Their smiling faces filled him with confidence.
In front of him was a small bowl of stew along with water and a piece of bacon. The smell filled his senses and his stomach growled.
Perhaps he deserved some rest after all.
As he was enjoying his food and looking around at busy men and women around him, a guard approached his table with a message.
"Your highness, the hermit has come. He said he wanted to meet you."
"Bring him in. He's one of our citizens now."
The old man was wearing a large coat and looked better than they last met him. He was accompanied by seven dogs who surveyed the area with great caution. They all stayed close to their master and caught a sniff or two of the passing child and goblin.
"Aye, there ye are Prince Janus! And ye found the place! Shame, I was planning to make some sort of rest house in this place."
"Hello there Errol. You're always welcome here now. Perhaps we can build you something in the future."
"Nah, I was just kidding. Although I would like to have some breakfast if there was some that you could spare."
Janus looked at his bowl, it was half full.
He called out for one of the serving maidens to bring him another bowl.
It was an everything-they-had-in-camp stew with some of the Prince's own bread on the sides. Janus' copied recipes were a lot better than the standard fare, and he could see it from Errol's eyes as the man spooned in his first bite.
"Aye, this is marvelous! I've never had such bland-looking stew taste so great. This is better than anything I've had in inns and pubs all over the place. I daresay this could go toe-to-toe with my mum's stew but she would kill me if she heard. Ahh, bless her soul."
"We'll thanks I guess, you're free to have some whenever you want."
"Ye get a good operation going here, kid. Your guards are alert, and yer men and women seem to be hard-working folk. You'll have this area transformed in no time."
"That's the idea."
"Something is missing though if you don't mind me giving ye some advice. Ye need a kennel."
Janus looked at all the dogs surrounding the man. They looked relatively calm now, some lying down and at ease but some were still scanning the surrounding, looking for any potential danger in sight. These were the kind of dogs you needed when out in these fields, big breeds who could hold their own against wolves and had a menacing bark that could intimidate the largest of beasts.
"Oh right, silly of me to not think of it. We only have one or two are pets. Having breeds like these would help us guard the place and it would be a valuable resource for hunting."
Errol made a sound that alerted one of the dogs. It looked like the smallest and the youngest of the bunch. Janus estimated it to be two feet long and with a thick black coat and a pointed snout. It had thick wolfish whiskers in the side of its head.
"This 'ere is Otis. One of the pups I have that's the tamest and smartest one of my last litter."
He pointed at two of the dogs. "Missy and Biggie right here have been giving me a great breed for the last ten years. I'll leave Otis to your care. When I come back from my trip, I'll have another pack for you to start a breed in your village."
"Really? Thank you, Mr. Magiera, this is something I really wanted but my parents never had the money get one."
"What? Ya mean the crown couldn't afford a dog? Now now, the young prince that sounds like none sense ter me."
"Wait what did I say? I meant time, the King claimed I'd never had the time to care for one. Said I needed to concentrate on my studies."
"Aye." The man said, amused. "That makes sense."
Janus almost forgot that he was in another world. The thought of having a dog just transported him back to his real hometown. They could never afford one when he was younger, so he relished the thought of having one right now.
He gestured for Otis to come, and the dog reluctantly sniffed him before going closer for a head pat.
Janus' heart leaped. He gave Otis neck scratches and the dog wagged its tail. The other members of the pack just laid down and watched as if this was a common occurrence.
"You're always welcome here Errol, remember that," Janus said. "Thanks again for directing us here. You mentioned you were going somewhere, do you know of other settlements or villages in this area? We will have a need for trade in the near future, and the sooner we can establish routes the better."
"Aye, there is a Knights Order in the north known as the Stings of Venom. One of the crazier mercenary armies who run a barracks. Their training regiment involves throwing recruits into the Forest of Mist. A crazy lot, but they trade fair and well. I will be heading there soon to trade some of my hunted game. I can give them a message if you want. Then there is a small village in the southeast a few days of travel away on foot. The place is called Gaddi, and the Earl secretly denounces the royalty and runs his town within its own set of rules. Something akin to yours. You'll have to seek them out as I'm not too keen on returning there."
"Why not?"
"Err... I'd rather not talk about it. Sometimes things we get ahead ourselves when we're drunk. Tee-hee she was a lovely wench though, shame it didn't work so well."
Janus opted not to pry for any more information. He started writing a letter to the Stings of Venom to inform them that they would be building a settlement under the Kingdom of Galedon and would be open to trade and looking forward to good relations in the future. He sent this letter to Yvaine in which she carefully reconstructed his use of language to make it perfectly presentable and enticing for any leader.
Otis stayed at his side the whole time. It's as if the dog fully understood the exchange of ownership.
Errol left that noon and Janus returned to his work, with a new friend in tow.
- Writer
