Chapter 4365: Future Trouble (Part 1)

"I’ll tell you what, the next time Lith comes to buy his bread, I’ll tell him how you treated the people who saved his niece, nephews, and baby sister. I’m sure he’ll be happy to know that not all Lutia is worth saving." Vexal snarled, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade.

"He’ll save himself a lot of money by not helping you lot when the Incontinent King returns, and so will I. I can’t believe I wasted my bread on a bunch of ungrateful pigs like you. You disgust me."

Zekell had been waiting for the Fastarrows ever since Leria had contacted him. He couldn’t know that they had stopped at the Drinking Wolf tavern, and after not seeing them coming for a while, he had gotten worried.

Afraid that the worst had happened, Zekell had looked around Lutia for signs of a brawl, returning home when Vexal was already giving the Lutians an earful. The blacksmith had waited for his moment, but it had never come.

The baker had said everything Zekell had prepared and then more, keeping him from getting a single word in edgewise.

Yet the blacksmith couldn’t let his rival win. He had to have the last word and let everyone know that he was the man they had to fear.

"What he said!" Zekell yelled, drawing all eyes on him.

***

The walk back to the Warp Gate in the barn was very different. The people of the temple were cordial with the Fastarrows, and after Vexal’s speech, those who had been too scared of the reaction of their fellow citizens found the strength to step forward.

They expressed their solidarity to the Fastarrows and praised Lilia and Leran for their bravery. The supervisor of the local branch of the Mage Association apologized for being late, adding balm to their injuries.

The old mage praised the kids’ magical talent and thanked Protector for the support the Association had received from the beasts of the Trawn woods on the day of the kidnapping attempt.

He also offered to recommend all the young Fastarrows to a scholarship in any of the six great academies of their choice.

Selia knew her kids could get into any academy on their own, but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless. More importantly, she appreciated the effect that the words of a Royal Official had on her children and the Lutians.

The doors of all the shops remained open upon their passage, but she swore to herself never to set foot in those establishments and to give them the reputation they deserved.

"You heard the kind old man, Mommy. I can go to any academy!" Fenrir jumped and ran around her parents in joy.

"You’re too young for that." Selia smiled, glad to see her kids in high spirits. "You’ll have to wait until you are at least twelve."

"That’s not true!" Fenrir pouted. "The kind old man never said that!"

"You’re right, pumpkin." Protector knelt to lift the little girl in an embrace. "You can enroll whenever you want. Mommy and Daddy will miss you a lot, but five years will go by quickly."

"Five years?" Fenrir was a little older than four and remembered nothing of the first two. "Isn’t that a long time?"

"We’ll see again when you are as old as Frey." Protector said with a straight face. "Until that moment, you’ll have to stay at the academy all alone. Don’t worry. We’ll call you every day and take good care of Bash for you.

"He’s too big, and he doesn’t know how to shapeshift, so he’ll have to stay here with us.

"I changed my mind. I don’t want to leave home!" Fenrir started to bawl her eyes out. "I’m sorry, Mom! I’m sorry, Dad! Please, don’t send me away!"

"It’s okay, baby girl. You don’t have to go to the academy if you don’t want to." Protector patted her back. "Do you want to stay with us until you get a bit older?"

Fenrir nodded and sniffled, clinging to Protector with her claws.

’Did you really need to make her cry?’ Selia asked via a mind link.

’Did you want to spend hours convincing a child who finds brushing her teeth bothersome that joining an academy is not all fun and games?’ Protector replied. ’I just saved us a lot of time and future trouble just by giving her what she wanted.

’Fenrir won’t bring the academy up every time she throws a tantrum anymore.’

’I don’t like your papa wolf methods, but I can’t argue with the results.’ Selia sighed.

***

Later that day, Zekell and Vexal met for a beer at the Drinking Wolf.

"I hate your guts, but credit where credit is due." Zekell spat more than spoke those words. "Standing up for the Fastarrow kids was brave of you. Many of those people won’t forgive you for tearing them a new one in public.

"Your reputation might suffer for what you did today, and you’ll lose a lot of clients for that."

"Brave my floured ass." Vexal scoffed at the compliment, but accepted the strong red ale the blacksmith offered him. "Doing anything less would have been ungrateful and stupid of me. I am neither."

"Still, it’s not you that Lilia and Leran helped, and they are not part of your family." Zekell replied. "You took a lot of risks for them."

"No, I didn’t." The baker took a big gulp of beer before speaking again. "I will make up for whatever revenue I’ve lost from those morons by having all those weirdos of your temple and the rest of Lith’s fanatics as new clients.

"On top of that, I owe Salman my life. I couldn’t just say no to Nalrond when he asked me for help. More importantly, if my daughter manages to seduce Salman, one day my grandchildren might be in those poor kids’ shoes.

"I didn’t do it only for them, but also for myself! If those bastards had treated my Brina like that, I’d be in jail with multiple charges for homicide by now. With a little luck, I just saved myself a lot of money on bail and lawyers."

"Spoken like a true merchant." Zekell nodded, ordering another round of beer.

***

When Selia returned to the Mansion, she was still upset from the unkind welcome she had received from too many people in Lutia. Yet she had received the support of too many good people to consider her life in her hometown over.

On top of that, her children had come out of the experience with new friends and no trauma. The only thing that scared Fenrir now was the idea that the bad old man would take her away from her parents and send her to the academy.

The young girl stuck to Bash’s head, apologizing repeatedly.

"I won’t abandon you. You are my best friend." She sniffled. "I’m not going to the academy until you can come with me."

The Cron had little knowledge of academies, but was familiar with Protector’s methods. Mother Crons also offered young and rebellious hatchlings to jump off the nest in a freefall, which always knocked some sense into them.

"Thanks." Bash replied. "What do you say if we fly a bit and forget about this story?"

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