Chapter 17The day after their return from their quest, the apprentices spent as they had before they had left; working for their masters, although this time it was to catch up on everything which needed doing. As soon as his day was finished, Niall went to see how Merek had fared. As Naill had predicted, the blacksmith was making the most of his apprentice’s fame, even to the point of allowing him to sleep in a small room at the back of the shop rather than having to face the wrath of his parents for, as the blacksmith told him they’d said, “Running away with a gang of ragamuffins to do who knew what.”
“You’re better off here than with them,” Niall said. “I wager, in time, you can turn the room into your own home, the way I have with my room behind the carpenter shop.”
Merek agreed it wa
