NTRPG - Fallen Heroines Ch. 02

The curvaceous blonde looked up from her work to explain that she really didn't need payment, only for to feel her heart drop into her stomach at the way the smiling man's face fell as he reached into his pack.

'Oh no,' She thought, her worst fears coming true as she watched as the man pull the shattered remains of what was obviously once a very fancy vase from his pack.

The pack he had been wearing on his back.

The pack he had fallen on when he so narrowly avoided being killed by her carelessness.

Mary was no expert on pottery, but even she could tell that the vase must have been worth a fortune when it was whole. The gems studded around the rim were proof enough of that. She couldn't even begin to imagine the workmanship that would have accompanied those priceless stones.

'And it's not like I can pay to replace it either,' She lamented.

For all that she was an up and coming cleric, heralded as the foremost talent of a generation, she was still just an acolyte who had yet to graduate and select her patron deity. With her monthly stipend she would be lucky to buy a regular vase, let alone one studded with rubies.

"I'm so-" She began, for what felt like the hundredth time, only to lapse into silence as the man's raised hand stopped her from finishing.

"It is fine." The man said tightly as he cradled the broken pottery, "It was an accident Yaasir forgave you for already, and he would be a lesser man if he were to take that forgiveness back afterward."

Still, the way the man pieced forlornly through the broken contents of the pack belied his sorrow. And his lack of anger in the face of it only served to make the cleric feel guiltier.

Something that must have shown on her face, because when the older man looked up at her, he chose to plaster a weak smile on his face.

"It is fine girl. This is the life of a merchant. Sometimes ups and sometimes downs. Yaasir will not starve." He said, before his smile took on a slight joviality, "Although he might be a slightly thinner man before the year is through." He added with a hearty slight slap to his massive belly.

Despite her inner turmoil, Mary smiled a bit, grateful for the man's weak attempt at levity.

"I know it's not much in comparison to what you lost, but I can definitely fix your leg." She assured him, "It will take a few hours though."

"That is fine girl," The older man answered, "Yaasir wasn't planning on going anywhere else today anyway. This fat old uncle's heart probably wouldn't survive another encounter with those abominable little goblins. And Yaasir thinks such a meeting would be an inevitability if he continued stumbling blindly through these woods."

Mary looked up at that, seeing an opportunity to help the man whom she had unintentionally wronged.

"Are you lost, Yaasir?" She asked, stumbling slightly on the foreign name, not sure whether to add a title before it or not. Fortunately, if the man noticed her hesitation he didn't comment on it.

"Yaasif is afraid he is," The man admitted candidly, pulling a silken handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the sweat gathering on his brow, "Fool that he is, he abandoned his caravan and tried to find a shortcut through these woods, only to end up lost for his trouble. This uncle must confess that this was the other reason he approached you. He was hoping you would be so kind as to provide a humble merchant with directions out of this forest."

Mary smiled brightly at that.

That was something she could definitely help with.

"I know the way to the nearest village. From there they have a road that should take you straight to the Capital," She explained, "although there are a few towns between them."

"Good. Good." The sweaty man exclaimed gratefully, before turning suddenly pensive, "Yaasif must ask however, do you recall if any of those towns have a sizable dock?"

Mary's tapped a finger against her plush pink lips as she thought over the foreign man's question. "I think Oldtown did? It's about a two-week journey from here, give or take a day or two."

Although that measurement was on horseback. She didn't know how long it would take for a man traveling on foot.

Especially for someone one of Yaasif's... size.

'And it's not like the road is entirely safe.' She thought worriedly as her brow furrowed, 'The monsters and wildlife thin out the further you get into the empire, but by then you have almost as many bandits and highwaymen to worry about...'

It seemed Yaasif was having similar thoughts, based on his next question, "And do you think it would be possible for Yaasif to hire a suitable Kranir-" He winced as his native tongue slipped into the conversation, "-sorry, Yaasif meant 'guard'. Could he find a man or woman such as that in any of these outlying villages?"

'Not of any quality.' The blonde cleric thought uncertainly, 'More than likely you would end up with a local boy with more bravado than sense.'

"Ah, not likely then," The portly man grunted after reading the expression on his companion's face. Mary flushed at being so easily read but didn't refute the man's assumption.

"Ah," The man huffed ruefully, running his now damp cloth overs his once more sweaty head, "It seems Yaasif is in something of a pickle young lady."

Idly he reached into his bag and pulled out the shattered pottery within, "Although, I suppose it will take all my remaining funds to secure a ship home, so a quality Kranir was not really an option to begin with."

"I can help!" Mary called out, "I may be a rookie adventurer, but I'm more than talented enough to get you to Oldtown." She rambled, sensing an opportunity to further alleviate the crushing guilt eating at her, "I won't need payment either. It would only be fair after what happened."

'Erich will probably be upset about us separating, but he'll understand,' She reasoned. "I'll just have to explain what happened when we meet up later."

For his part, Yaasir visibly hesitated, obviously unwilling to call on the debt she had one-sidedly accepted. Eventually though, it seemed that pragmatism won out over pride, and he nodded slowly.

"If it is fine with you Miss. Yaasir would be honoured and most grateful if you would accompany him to this 'Oldtown'."

Mary nodded eagerly, relief flooding through her.

She still felt more than a little guilty about her earlier lapse in judgement, but by helping Yaasir she would at least be taking steps to lighten her karmic debt.

"It would be my pleasure," She answered solemnly.

***

Obviously, the pair of them couldn't start their journey straight away. Yaasir could barely move from the building until his leg was healed.

That he had managed to stumble into the church was a praiseworthy feat as far as Mary was concerned. The man must have an iron will hiding under his outwardly affable demeanour.

.

No, the pair of them were stuck until Mary's healing prayer finished its task.

Heck, even if she had felt Erich, or any of the others, summoning her urgently, she could hardly have rushed to aid them and leave injured Yaasir vulnerable.

Not that she really expected it to come to that. Despite their status as 'rookie' adventurers, each and every one of their party was a force to be reckoned with, and she could imagine very few creatures in these woods giving any of them pause for thought.

That had been one of the few reasons she had been willing to let them split up at all.

So instead she found herself sitting in the quiet comfort of the unfinished church swapping stories with Yaasir.

For all that the man occasionally switched into his native tongue, he was a veritable font of tales from his journeys across the continent. By comparison Mary felt just a little lacklustre, this trip being the furthest she had ever travelled before.

Perhaps that was the reason she found herself talking about herself than her experiences.

Specifically, her most recent worries.

It wasn't something she would normally have done, but Yaasir seemed so worldly and wise, it felt right talking to him. He listened and nodded, occasionally adding in small comments, but mostly just he just listened to her worries.

It was nice. More than nice to be honest.

It was the first time she had spoken to anyone about her personal problems since her father had died all those years ago, and it felt like getting a load off her chest.

She had been the 'big sister' with all the answers for so long, it was a relief to finally have someone to talk to about her own problems.

Her fears about the path she was taking. Her worries about her younger siblings no longer needing her. Being bereft of a purpose that had defined her for so long. Being placed into a position of leadership and responsibility she didn't really want. How she was far more content following the plans of others, satisfied in simply completing a task without the worries of the bigger picture.

It all tumbled out of her, and she was powerless to stop it. Not that she really wanted to.

Which was why when she found herself chattering away to the older man about her issues with intimacy of all things, she wasn't entirely sure how the subject had come up.

Still, that didn't stop her, and she found herself baring her deepest concerns to the wise old stranger who had proven such an able counsel.

"...and I just don't know what to do with all these people that confess to me. Some of them seem nice enough, but I've always been too busy for romance. And now I finally might have the time, I don't know what to do. What if I go about it all wrong? What if I'm awkward? I just have no clue how I'm supposed to live up to this 'ideal image' people seem to have of me in their mind?" She confessed, gripping the sleeves of her cloak in frustration as she did so.

For his part, Yaasir simply nodded as he listened from his spot on the floor. The portly man was sat in a cross-legged position that looked quite uncomfortable to the younger blonde, but he seemed utterly serene and at peace as he listened to her worries.

He rarely spoke, but when he did his words carried a weight of experience to them, and Mary found herself eager to hear more of the foreign man's wisdom.

Which was why, with her confession finished, she leaned forward with interest and hope in her eyes as the man began to speak.

"The heart of a maiden is a complicated thing," He uttered quietly, "And for all that Yaasif is no maiden himself, he has in his travels met and romanced many a fair young lady." He added with a barely audible tinge of amusement at what was no doubt a private joke, "So he would like to think he has some inkling as to the complicated inner working's of a lady's heart."

Sitting back, the dark-skinned merchant rubbed his silken washcloth over his massive glistening gut.

"It would seem to me that the young lady is at an impasse. On the one hand, she knows that she is without experience, and fears that it will make her clumsy in the complex dance of romance. But, on the other hand she knows that for all her modesty, she is peerless in beauty and talent," Mary flushed at that, but couldn't quite bring herself to correct the man, even if she wouldn't have quite put it that way herself, "So she knows that others admire her, and in her kindness she desires not to disappoint them by conveying her mere human fallibility of others."

From anyone else, Mary might have thought those words tinged with mockery, but from the portly man in front of her, they rang with understanding and kindness.

"In many ways I can see no easy solution to this problem." The man admitted, causing Mary's heart to drop.

In all her other problems the man had, if not solutions, then a few kind words that would make her feel better about her situation.

'It seems even he has limits though,' she thought disappointedly.

"Now, now," The man chided slightly at her crestfallen expression. "Yaasif did not say he was completely without answers." His expression to turned slightly pensive. "Although he admits that his solution might not be palatable to Northern sensibilities."

Mary's hopes soared once more. She didn't care if his solution was odd. An odd solution was better than none.

"I'm sure I won't mind. North or South, if you think it might help me with my... problem, then please tell me." She asked with a note of pleading in her tone.

Yaasir visibly hesitated, wiping the sweat from his bald head, before relenting as the young woman stared so earnestly at him.

"Ok, ok," He acceded. "Yaasir will explain."

The man sat up fully, "Please forgive my poor choice of language, but in my country, we are not as... prudish about matters of love as you Northerners seem to be. The art of romance and loving is delicate thing, no? And like in all such things, one is expected to have someone older and wiser to teach them. In my country that would usually be a friend of the family."

Mary nodded. What the man was saying wasn't so strange to her. After all, here in the North a parent would be expected to teach a young man or woman how to be a good spouse.

'Although, Mum certainly didn't do that with me or Agnes, and Dad wasn't around for Erich.' She admitted.

Their mother cared in her own way, and was an excellent martial instructor. But when it came to things with a less... martial bent, it was predominantly Mary who looked after her younger siblings.

So no, none of them had really been taught anything about romance.

"Ah, you nod, but you don't truly see." Yaasir snorted as he stood up, walking off to fish through the contents of his pack. After a minute he pulled from it a necklace of such intricate beauty that Mary found herself transfixed by it.

"It's beautiful," She gasped.

The portly man beamed at the praise, "Thank you miss, I am pleased that you think so. My grandfather claimed that he discovered it, amongst a cache of other artefacts predating the Sundering, during one of his expeditions to explore the continent."

'From before the Sundering!?'

The cleric turned her awestruck gaze from the necklace to the smiling man, "Really?"

The portly foreigner nodded, "Yes, and he gifted it to me, along with a dozen others of similar quality, but vastly different designs."

Mary gasped, imagining such a collection.

'But what does this have to do with what he was talking about?'

The man must have understood her confusion because he continued, "In my culture, valuable gifts such as this are given to young women of marriageable age by male acquaintances of their family.

Should these young women accept them, then those people enter a pact of sorts. A pact in which they become student and teacher. From there, the man is expected to teach the young woman a skill or talent, through which that young woman may better their lives as they enter adulthood. The same is true, but in reverse for young men. It is a truly beautiful thing, and it allows communities to remain close."

Walking over to her, Mary realized just how massive the man was as he loomed over her. "And this one, I would like to give to you." He said solemnly as he held the necklace above her.

"Before me I see a lost maiden without guidance, and Southern custom demands I provide it for her. Even if only for the short time we are together. I would be your Kashir, and you my Meriir, and I would be honoured to educate you on the ways of lovemaking and romance."

'L-love making!?' Mary panicked at the word from the foreign man. 'I couldn't! I barely know him.'

"I can't-" She started to say, only to be cut off as the man placed one massive finger over her soft pillowy lips.

"Child," He hushed, "You are lost and without guidance, and I am willing to provide it for one such as you. I am very learned in this, and have taught many young women. Please do not deny me out of some misplaced Northern prudishness. It pains me to see one as beautiful and kind as yourself so bereft of knowledge on one of life's most wonderful experiences."

Mary flushed crimson at the man's familiar actions, but to her surprise his words stuck a chord with her.

Because of that she hesitated, and in her moment of confusion she felt the beautiful necklace settle around her neck.

"There," The older man crooned as he stepped back to admire her, "You need not fear this Meriir. What is to come will be beautiful, and you will be better for it. My people know this, and you shall be far better served by my experienced caress than the callous fumbling of some overeager youth. You need not fear judgement from me."

She wanted to protest. But, how could she? The man sounded so sincere, so kind and full of compassion in contrast to his words. Could she go through with this? With someone she had met mere hours ago?

'He was so kind though, wasn't he?' A voice called in the back of her head, 'After we nearly killed him and ruined his goods with our carelessness. He listened to us and gave us answers to questions we would have never worked up the courage to ask another. Would it really be so bad to have our first time with such a man? A first time that is long overdue?'

Looking up at him, she couldn't help but think, 'I barely know him though! And he's so big... And fat... And old.'

She cringed at those thoughts. She had thought herself better than that. Was she really so shallow as to judge such a kind and compassionate man on his outward appearance alone.

Perhaps it was that new influx of guilt, combined with the guilt that lingered from her earlier actions, that prompted her to answer.

"I'll do it." She whispered quietly, before looking up into the expectant eyes of the man before her, "Please by my 'Kashir' Yaasir."

"Of course," The man crooned, wiping a stray lock of golden hair from her eyes, "Come. Stand up. Let your Kashir see what he is working with."

Still flushing, Mary none the less rose on unsteady feet to let the portly merchant look her over.

"Good. Good." He murmured, turning this way and that as he inspected her still form.

'Is... Is this really how he's going to do it?' She wondered.

She had expected something a little less... objectifying.

"Loosen your cloak, girl." The man called suddenly, with a note of command entering his voice.

'He wants me to what!?' Mary thought incredulously. 'I couldn't... I mean...'

"Loosen your cloak, Meriir." The man called again, this time using the strange foreign word.

Yet for all its strangeness, the man's voice held the same tone that she would expect of an instructor back the academy. There was no doubt or hesitation. Just a straightforward expectation that she would obey.

And to Mary's surprise she found herself hastening to do exactly that.

"Good." The portly man grunted to the shocked cleric, "Even if only for a short time, I am your Kashir. Like any teacher I expect obedience. There is no need for fear or hesitance. Everything I do, I do to better you."

"Y-Yes Kashir, I will try to obey more promptly in future." She murmured hesitantly.

Just as she would have done back at the academy.

"Good, you learn quickly. This will aid you. You have much to learn and little time to learn it. Admittedly I will be rushing in my capacity as Kashir, but I see little recourse." His thick greasy lips moved into a brief, small smile. "Your Northern upbringing has left you critically ignorant in the ways of men and women, but this may prove to be an advantage. We will not have to unlearn any bad habits."

'Bad Habits?' Mary wondered. 'What exactly constitutes a bad habit?'

"Thank you, Kashir," she responded when it was clear the man was waiting for a response.