Callie's Heroes

PART VII: THE STORY OF LENORA MOSSWOOD

“Fine, I’ll tell you. But I’m going to preface everything by saying I was a dumb kid that became a dumb young adult, and I’m making up for it now. So none of you get to judge me!”

Lena quickly filled her wine goblet and took a long sip. “Okay, you remember I told you about the cave when I was young, right? Well, after that, I swore to become self-reliant and became friends with a lot of questionable people. I didn’t really have parents. My father was long gone; never met him. My mother would show up a few times a year, be absolutely dreadful, and then disappear again. It really messed with my head until I got old enough to just give up on her. But, because I was such a pain in the arse in foster care, nobody would ever adopt me, so I just was shuffled from one foster family to another, assuming I wasn’t in the group home. Eventually, I just left the system; walked away and went to the capital city. There, I found a few like minded people and created my own family of other outcasts.”

Lena took another long sip of her wine before continuing, while everyone else followed along in rapt attention. “I was nearly seventeen when I finally received my class, so it was very delayed. Upon finding out I was a Bladedancer, a pretty rare specialist, suddenly people were interested in my talents. I fell in with this Elf guy named Hoxx, who was a low-level fence among other things. Actually, he was more of a small-time nobody, now that I think about it. An absolute master of messing with the head of a seventeen year old. He dangled out a promise to make sure I got all the training I needed.”

“But, for a price,” Vanis said, having rejoined the group.

Lena nodded. “First it was simple things he needed me to do. He taught me how to pick pockets and sneak into buildings to swipe things, and in exchange for lifting a few things from a few people, he gave me a roof and a meal and even some bed companionship. He never really saw to my Bladedancer training, though, but I was able to pick up a few things on my own, and even unlocked the Triple Riposte skill, which also gave me my Dual-Wield and Ambidextrous perks. Eventually, I got smart enough to realize he was using me, and I let him know it. That didn’t work out so well for me. He played all apologetic and then to try to make up for it, he pointed me towards a job that fell apart.” Lena rubbed her shoulder.

“That led to your tattoo, right?” Callie asked.

“My first one, yeah. It was a petty break in, and Hoxx had set me up to get caught. His form of ‘disciplining’ me for daring the stand up to him. Looking back, I have no idea what I ever saw in him. Well, actually, he did have a really nice arse. I was just a stupid kid, so maybe that was enough to hook me.”

“He sounds like a complete, grade-A jerk,” Callie snarled.

Lena sighed and continued. “Yeah. He was. Anyways, for that botched job, I got my thief tattoo and I’m sentenced to eight weeks to ‘cool off’. All in all it was really a light sentence, honestly. I think the magistrate hoped I’d learn a lesson, and maybe even spill some information about the people I was running with. But, I followed the code and kept my mouth shut about Hoxx, and that impressed another guy named Flick.” Lena gestured to Callie. “He’s a Gnome, like you, and he runs a very organized smuggling ring. He offered to take me on as one of his people once I was released, and more importantly promised me actual training, which of course, I had long realized Hoxx was never going to do."

“I take it this ‘Flick’ was as bad as the previous?” Vanis asked.

“Actually, no. He’s actually quite pleasant, and treats his people very well. He’s gentle as long as you don’t cross him professionally, but quite fierce if you do. I actually trained and legitimately learned some things well enough to fully unlock a few thieving skills. I did a few jobs, sometimes functioned as a guard for this deal or that, and generally was taken care of. He always treated me honorably, and unlike Hoxx, he never tried to bed me. I probably would have if he’d wanted to, though.”

Lena topped off her wine, as did a few others around the table.

“After I spent a couple years working for Flick, I decided I wanted to go independent, which he encouraged. I’d still work for Flick occasionally on contract, but I just really wanted to try my hand at running my own life, y’know. Not be beholden to anyone but me for the first time. Unfortunately, the results were … mixed. I got the bad side of a lot of deals early on. That’s why I learned Truthseeking. Nobody would expect a Bladedancer to know that skill, so once I had it, I was able to sniff out who was going to do me wrong, and even saved a few of my friends from getting taken advantage of as well.”

“So how did you end up with two m-m-more tattoos? And the Curse?” Pixyl asked.

“I was dumb and got greedy. I took this job I shouldn’t have. It was a high-risk high-reward thing, swiping something from some noble of some kind.” Lena chuckled and gestured to Vanis. “Probably someone snobby rich boy you know, Vanis.”

Vanis just raised an eyebrow. “You got caught, didn’t you.”

“Yup. I actually could have escaped, but by now I had a half-dozen people working for me, so it was either them or me. I chose me and they were able to get away. Probably not the wisest of choices, although it was honorable, so I guess that’s something. That led to a public lashing as well as two more criminal tattoos. One for attempted theft, and one for being the leader of a criminal gang, although I don’t know how eight people are a gang. But as part of the punishment, I was also sentenced to three to six years indentured servitude.”

“Who bought your contract?” Vanis asked. “Flick?”

“No. Flick was away on extended business, so he didn’t even know I was in trouble. No, Hoxx was going to buy it, just to spite and take advantage of me. He even sent the bidding so high that the others in my little tribe of misfits couldn’t afford it, and they tried, too. Then, just before the bidding closed, the bastard came by the jail to actually gloat, saying he finally had me back where I belong! It would have been six years of absolute misery. Oh, he even dangled buying it down to the minimum, but for him to do that I’d have to be basically his … ‘subservient concubine’ I guess would be a polite way to put it.”

“I thought they outlawed that?” Vanis said, a perplexed look on his face.

“Nah,” Lena said, shaking her head. “Like anything, there’s always a loophole. If the buyer and the indentured ‘negotiate’ it in advance, then it’s considered a consensual agreement. You just can’t demand it of someone as a condition on an existing contract any more.”

“Wait, so you’d basically be his slave for six years?” Callie asked.

“It works this way. Rather than have someone just rot in jail for years being of no use to anyone, the convict's sentence can be assumed by someone. Hoxx could bid, say, five thousand gold crowns for my six year contract. Absent any other agreement, I’d just have to do general labor. As long as it was legal, I’d have to do it, although with the new rules a general laborer can't be made to work in a brothel. If he had me work somewhere earning a wage, that went to him, minus a portion that was held aside for me when my sentence ended.“

“What if you didn’t want to work where he told you to?” Callie asked, quietly.

“If I didn’t do as told, I could be sent to the penal mines as 'unindenturable' for a time, or at minimum have my term extended. As part of the arrangement, he’d need to provide me food, shelter, clothing, care for my health, and the like, at least to a minimal standard. But, if I agreed to the terms he really wanted, he could pay maybe an extra twenty thousand crowns, and the term would be only three years before I was free. See Vanis, that’s how you get around the rules.”

“I honestly didn’t know,” Vanis said, his hand making a fist. “Damn, I thought that was addressed with the new restrictions.”

Lena shrugged. “It’s the way of rich and powerful people. They always can find a way to make the rules work in their favor, Vanis. You certainly have seen this. You seem pretty honorable, from what I can tell, but if you didn’t want to be, you’d still get away with it.”

There was a long silence at the table, nobody sure what to say as the mood turned slightly dour and politically tinged.

Finally, Lena shook her head and looked up, a weak smile reforming on her face. “Sorry, that was a rant. In any case, obviously there was no way I was going to be indentured to Hoxx, either as a general laborer or as anything else, especially what he wanted me to do. I went and begged the magistrate for any other option. The other option she offered me was Conscription. I didn’t even have to think about it. I chose that in a heartbeat instead of one minute under Hoxx’s power. Coming here and getting a worm? That I never could have expected.”

“And somewhere in there you met Tazrok?” Callie asked.

Lena nodded. “After I took the option for conscription, three people came and questioned me for nearly an hour. From what Xera said this evening, that must have led to me being assigned here instead of basic training. I guess they saw something in me, maybe because I was head of my little tribe of misfit thieves? This trio told me when and where to report, put the Curse on me, told me to check in every few days, and I had about ten days to get my affairs in order and say some goodbyes to my people. The going away party? It lasted three days and was absolutely phenomenal.” Lena laughed, a lost twinkle sparkling in her eyes. “Honestly, I don’t remember half of it. Lots of drink and dancing and a few illegal things. It’s fair to say a good time was had by all, that was for sure.”

Lena signed deep, her thoughts lazily looking back at what had been her life just a short time ago. Good people. Good friends. Good times. And now she was here, in a new life, with new friends, and all of them good people.

“As for how I met Tazrok?” Lena eventually continued after drinking back most of her wine and refilling it. “Just before we were to leave, I stupidly went to tell Hoxx off once and for all; to rub his face in the fact that he didn’t get my service contract no matter how much money he bid, and would never, ever, have me again. Hoxx was still livid, having lost out on his chance to have me truly back under his control. By now, he had a sizable group of people working for him, and he ordered several of them to kill me. I don’t know if it was out of spite and anger, or something else, but I was being hunted. I ran as fast I could to where we were supposed to muster for the journey here, being chased the whole way.”

“I see Lena Elf running from many others,” Tazrok said. “So help tiny Lena Elf.”

Lena laughed. “Yeah. By coincidence, as I’m running down the street, I pass Tazrok, who is also on his way for the trip here. He steps in, saves my arse, and a few of those people chasing me won’t be walking for a few months.” Lena made a popping sound with her mouth, and gestured with her hands someone’s legs being pulled off.

“Am big hero,” Tazrok said, pointing to himself with his thumb, grinning.

Lena smiled, patting Tazrok’s arm. “Tazrok and I had a few days traveling together to get to know each other. Along the way, the wagon stopped occasionally to pick up another recruit or two. During the trip, Vanis showed up and joined us. The rest you pretty much know.”

“Any concerns that this Hoxx guy is going to come after you again?” Callie asked,

“Nah. If he does, I’ll be at least Silver Tier, if not Gold. That won’t go well for him,” Lena said with a smirk. “He’ll never have that kind power over me again. Ever. No person will ever have that kind of power over me.”