Wilbur looked back at Erin, who was obviously upset by his pain. Wilbur gritted his teeth, caught between what he considered family honor and the woman he loved being distressed by his refusal of help. “I..,” Wilbur paused, more conflicted then he thought he should be.
“Ya take me sister an’ ya go see an alchemist,” Stacia put in quietly, but her tone held unbending iron. “After ya be well, ya be takin’ her to hunt goblins. Tonight, an hour after the sun goes down, ya will meet us here for dinner in celebration of her first hunt.”
Wilbur looked at Stacia, seeing only love for Erin in her eyes and the iron will their mother had instilled in them to never back down. “I yield,” Wilbur finally said before he turned to Erin. “Does that plan suit you, Erin?”
Erin nodded, her eyes shiny with unshed tears. She’d been so worried, and now she felt relief and giddy happiness. “Aye, I would do nothin’ less for the man me heart beats for.”
Wilbur sucked in a breath at her words, shock and realization flashing across his face. “You are too kind to me,” he said, his voice barely carrying. “I see that I didn’t speak forcefully enough to my brother this morning about the love between you and I. You give me no quarter in our battle of wills. I have much to consider, now that I see where my heart beats. Please, Erin, show me the way, for surely I am blind without you at my side.”
Erin’s smile was brilliant as she took his arm and led him outside. The trio inside watched them go until the door closed behind them. “Now that man is surely conflicted to his very soul,” Kim commented. “I do think Erin is going to win out over his family, though. Too much honest love from her and too many years of hatred from them.”
“Aye, tha’ be the way of it. I think we be seeing more tonight at dinner. Where we be goin’, Asthore?” Staci asked.
“Grimgar is making the reservations,” Alburet’s lips twitched into a grin. “I think a family tradition is about to be born.”
“Ahh, now tha’ will make her day to the very end. Only one thin’ will have a chance to top it.”
“Where are you going?” Kim asked curiously.
“Where champions dine,” Alburet replied.
“Oh, very nice. Kind of pricey,” Kim nodded. “It’s been years since Rolland and I went there.”
“Hmm, maybe I should arrange something in a few days then to thank you for your hard work,” Alburet replied.
“You’re going to spoil your staff, not that I’ll complain,” Kim laughed. “Stacia, take him away before he bankrupts your house.”
“Aye, off to hunt we go. Come along, Asthore,” Stacia told him as she strode out of the hall.
Alburet followed her out, one eyebrow raised in bemusement. He caught up to her and spun her into a tight hug. “Who is in charge here?”
“Why ya of course, mast… Asthore,” Stacia giggled.
“Just like a cat,” Alburet laughed, taking her arm as they walked towards the portal guild. His message icon began to flashing in the corner of his vision.
Message from Karen:
You awake yet? I’m thinking we should go gnoll hunting again today.
Message to Karen:
Is Fluff with you?
Message from Karen:
Yes, we’re on the way to the portal guild. I’m going to tag Gerald and see if he wants to join.
Message to Karen:
Actually, I was thinking it might be good if we split into groups of two and go check on our recruits. Lend a hand here or there and see how they’re doing today. Tomorrow we can go grind gnolls, if you still want.
Message from Karen:
Boring, but okay.
Alburet put his Mindstone away. “Sorry, advising Karen on the plan for the day.”
“What plan be tha’?”
“We’re going to head out to the Goblin Fort area and check in with the recruits. See if any of them need help. Then we’ll head out to the orcs and do it again. None of them are up to handling the gnolls yet, so it will work out. We’ll head back at sundown to clean up and get ready for dinner.”
“What about the others?”
“Karen is passing the word along to Fluff, so they can team up for the same thing. I’ll tell Gerald and Marysue when we reach the portal guild and suggest they team up as well. Tomorrow we can all meet up for more hunting together.”
“As ya wish, Asthore,” Stacia said squeezing his arm. “As long as ya be with me, I will do anythin’ ya wish.”
“Change of plans,” Alburet greeted Gerald and Marysue. “I think it might be a good idea to spend the day checking in on our new guildies. Group up with them for a few maybe, and see how they’re handling themselves. If you’re near a few groups then just sit back and watch, maybe chip in if they need it. See how they interact with others. Maybe we can spot the ones who are going to cause issues before they do too much damage.”
“I was thinking the same thing and was going to suggest we do that tomorrow, but we can swing it today instead.” Gerald replied, “We took rooms at the Dead Man Inn. Alistern even gave us a discount when he saw the guild crest.”
“It be good to see me Da’ doin’ the right thin’,” Stacia added.
“What about Karen and Fluff?” Marysue asked.
“Already told them,” Alburet replied. “Karen insists on gnolls tomorrow, which is fine, but it will be after my first meeting.”
“Meeting?” Gerald asked.
“For the next several days I have meetings scheduled in the morning and in the evening with different noble houses. It all ties in to our guild having the charter from the Crown. I’ll fill you in on all the details tomorrow while we’re out hunting, Karen and Fluff need to know as well. Short version is that the charter is a reward for finding valuable information about the Forgotten Prison.”
“Is that what you meant a while back about knowing you being a good thing?” Gerald inquired.
“Pretty much. Anyway, all the major nobles sent word that they wanted to meet with the leader of Alpha Company. So for the next several days I have meetings scheduled with all of them.”
“Hmm. Have you ever dealt with these sorts of people?” Marysue asked, looking uncertain.
“Not as such…”
“You’re going to hate it,” Gerald cut in. “You’ll hate it to a large extent, and if you step wrong you could really put the guild behind the eight ball. People of that caliber are used to specific standards. Can you take me along with you? I can act as your mouth piece for most of it, I’m used to making peacocks think they’re special.”
Alburet chuckled, “I don’t see why not. I could probably even send just you to some of the ones further down the list. I’ll get Kim to give you a copy of the schedule. She has transport already arranged for each one, so it will just require you to be at the guild hall.”
“Alright. This is really going to get interesting,” Gerald grinned as he took Mary’s arm. “We’ll head out to the Orc Grasslands, check with those guildies.”
“Sounds good. We’re on our way to the Goblin Fort. No idea which spot the other two will be at.”
The pairs headed off to their chosen areas. Once at the Goblin Fort, Alburet summoned Bob. “Bob, how are you doing today?”
“Any hotties with you? Stacia, of course, but none of the others?” Bob sighed, shaking his head in obvious disappointment, “Did you run them off?”
Stacia giggled, “No. We be doin’ help work for our guild mates. Tomorrow we be huntin’ with them again.”
“Well, okay,” Bob sighed, a hangdog look on his face.
Shaking his head, Alburet summoned Tiny, “Tiny, how are the wives?”