After screaming repeatedly into the pillow on the bed, Pallas lay there thinking about the many ways this new world sucked. 'What's the point of being reborn in another reality if this life is going to be even worse than the one I left behind?' she thought numbly. 'They don't even have toilet paper!' A loud knocking at the door stirred the young girl from her frustrated daze. She sat up and cautiously called out, "Yes?"

"Miss Pallas?" It was a female voice, muffled by the door. "Eber has asked for you to come downstairs at your earliest convenience."

Pallas hopped up to answer the voice, throwing open the door to reveal a young woman in a simple gray dress with a linen apron. Pallas looked up to see the woman's face. She appeared to be quite young - smooth skin and large brown eyes. Her reddish hair was swept back and tied in place with a white scarf, tumbling down her shoulders.

"Hi! Um... hello! I'll be right down," Pallas said, fumbling for words. It was still incredibly disorienting being so much shorter than other people and Pallas realized somewhat awkwardly that she was essentially nose-to-breast with the girl who had come to fetch her. The other girl nodded and stepped away from the doorway to lead the way downstairs. Pallas closed the door behind her and followed.

The number of people in the great room had increased, probably due to the fact that it was around lunch time. A few curious gazes followed Pallas as she and the red-haired girl made their way to Eber's desk where he waited with a distant stare. As the taller girl approached, she waved her hand around in front of Eber's face to get his attention from whatever matter occupied his mind. He blinked his eyes several times and smiled. "Ah, thank ye, Amelinne!"

"You're very welcome, Eber. I shall return to my duties," Amelinne replied before turning toward the kitchen.

"Um, thank you, Amelinne!" Pallas called out to the taller girl's back. Amelinne paused, turned her head toward Pallas, and gave a quick smile before continuing to the back. Pallas felt herself blushing for no apparent reason.

"Well, then. Now that ye've had some time to settle into yer room, I'd like to go over an arrangement that I think will benefit us both," Eber began as he looked Pallas up and down. "Despite yer size, ye're surprisingly sturdy, so I think we'll have ye cleaning and stocking, for now. Ye will work two days on and one day off until ye're settled." His smile didn't quite reach his eyes, and Pallas got the impression that Eber was somewhat less than satisfied with this arrangement. "In return, ye shall be permitted to stay in the room provided and receive two meals per day."

"That sounds fine by me," Pallas responded quickly, hoping to sound more eager than she actually was. It really wasn't that much different from some of her basic duties at the flower shop, there was just more space to clean. In all fairness, she really had no idea of the fair market value of the room or meals... or the labor, for that matter. The inn wasn't exactly hopping with activity from what Pallas could see. She doubted the rooms were in particularly high demand. In fact, it appeared they made more profit from the meals they served to the various unmarried tradesmen that lived and worked in the village, judging by the slouched bodies at the various tables tossing back tankards of ale with their meals.

As she surveyed the room, Pallas felt a bit of clenching in her heart. 'How long am I going to be stuck here?' she thought to herself with a bit of despair.

Seeming to sense the difficulty she was having, Eber said, "Ye'll be starting tomorrow. I'll not have ye working about here with a look on yer face that's holding back tears. Today, ye're free to explore the village, acquaint yerself with the folk, and maybe get to know the sights a bit." He stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment and seemed to make another decision by the shift in his eyes. "In fact, I'm going to send ye on a few errands. Ye're going to need a few things if ye'll be staying here."

Eber proceeded to pull a sheet of parchment from a cubby within his desk and quickly scrawled some notes with a large quill. His handwriting was precise and neat... and completely unintelligible to Pallas. She frowned as she watched him write, her annoyance at being unable to make out the words displayed plainly across her face. The older man heeded her expression and smiled patronizingly. "Worry not, lass. There's nothing here for yer eyes. Ye'll be delivering this missive to the tailor on my behalf."

Pallas persisted. "But what does it say?" Her insatiable curiosity was driving her to absorb as much information about this world as possible. For survival.

Eber chuckled softly. "Okay, okay. Here, let me show ye." He pointed one gnarled, bony finger at the first line of text and began to read aloud.

"Good day, Mallory! I'm calling in a favor." Pallas's eyes widened as she followed along on the letter. As Eber spoke each word, understanding of the text seemed to explode in her mind. "Can ye please provide some clothing for young Miss Pallas? She has been left in my care with nothing but the dress she wears. I leave to ye the quantity and variety, but please be certain they are suitable for scullery work." His finger stopped short of the end and he withdrew his hand. 

Pallas looked back and forth between the paper and Eber. "And the rest?" she inquired.

"Oh, nothing important," Eber said cryptically.

Pallas squinted at the text. "See... to... it... that she... remains... a sight... for the men... to behold...?" She shifted her gaze directly to Eber. "You want me to be eye candy for the men? Gross." She stuck her tongue out for emphasis.

Eber's face had gone ashen as Pallas read the final words on the page. "How... how were ye able to read this? Have ye already been educated by the Church?" His white-rimmed eyes were wild with surprise as his hands covered the remaining text. "Only members of the Church and merchants chosen by the Church are educated in reading and writing! What trickery is this?"

The commotion had once again attracted the attention of the patrons of the inn and Pallas's face flushed red from the attention. "Hey, hey! Chill, please! Is it really that big of a deal if I can read? I haven't tried writing, yet. I was just sorta picking up what was on the page as you were reading it off to me," she admitted. "I honestly couldn't read it at all until you read it out loud to me."

Eber folded the paper in half and placed both hands on top, closed his eyes, and drew in a deep and calming breath. "Ye're telling me that ye were able to ken the words on the page after I spoke them aloud?" He opened his eyes and shifted his gaze directly at Pallas. "Do ye realize how unbelievable that sounds?"

Pallas folder her arms in front of her chest and tilted her head curiously. "Do you have a better explanation?"

After a moment of thoughtful consideration, Eber relented. "No, ye're clearly not affiliated with the clergy and ye seem far too ignorant of the ways of things to have a formal education." He paused and shook his head in disbelief. "Ye're quite full of surprises."

Pallas smiled awkwardly and rolled her eyes. "You don't know the half of it," she muttered quietly. She collected herself quickly, however. "Okay, so, I'm taking this letter to the tailor. Where is that?"

With a half-hearted grin that creased into his aged face, Eber folded the letter and pressed a candlewax seal where the last fold met the rest of the paper. He handed the paper to Pallas and placed one of his bony hands on her shoulder. "Go out the door, turn left, and walk three buildings down. The Tailor will be the third building. It's got a thatched roof and a sign with a needle and thread. Can't miss it. When ye're done there, come back to me and I'll send ye on yer next errand."

"Okay, this is feeling more and more like the opening fetch quests of an MMORPG," Pallas stated dryly. "Next thing you know, I'll be getting money and XP from random strangers for running errands."

Eber frowned, clearly not understanding the reference. "Most folk are not so well off as to just hand over coin for every favor," he said with a bewildered expression. "But if ye have free time, ye might find some reward in doing work for the townsfolk. Everyone is busy and there's goodwill to be won. Ye might even find yerself a suitor or two!" he added with a smirk.

"Yeah... let's not talk about that. I have no interest in marriage," Pallas curtly replied. "Especially not in the starter village of some fantasy game."

Eber raised an eyebrow but apparently decided to ignore the last statement. Instead, he simply said, "All the more reason for ye to take Berna's invitation to the Church. It might suit yer fancy, more. In any case, daylight is wasting. Hurry on and I'll have another letter for ye to deliver when ye get back."

Pallas nodded and headed out the door. The sun was still high and it cast harsh shadows into the nooks and crannies of the surroundings. Despite the amount of buildings, there were still a large number of trees in the village and the sunlight filtered through the leaves in dusty beams. The parallels to her own hometown of Forest Springs were difficult to ignore. Looking between the buildings, Pallas was just able to make out the river for which the town was named.

It was a very short walk to the tailor and Pallas found herself feeling quite unfulfilled at the amount of exploring she'd been able to do. Nonetheless, she was assigned a task and she wanted to see it through to completion. Pallas pushed the door inward and a small bell jingled to announce her entrance. 

The interior was surprisingly well-lit by the hanging candelabra overhead, illuminating a craft store nightmare. One entire wall consisted of rolls of fabric, ribbon, and thread hung on pegs. Cubbies had been built into another wall to accommodate bolts of fabric folded into neat little bundles. A rudimentary wooden dummy lurked ominously in one corner. Everywhere were tables littered with projects awaiting completion.

Among the jungle of furniture and fabric, a tall, slender woman with dark hair pulled into a tight bun stood garbed in a long-sleeved forest-green dress with a tan apron. This woman was intensely focused on a bit of mending, and she regarded Pallas's entrance with a loud, "Good day! I'll be with you momentarily!"

Pallas nodded and wandered around the store, peeking at the different fabrics and materials. A pang of homesickness and regret swept over her as she handled the wares. 'Can't believe a craft project is what got me killed in the first place... ' She thought to herself morosely. The sinking feeling of depression was beginning to cascade upon her consciousness and her eyes filled with tears.

"How can I help you?" came the tall woman's inquiry from directly behind.

Pallas jumped in surprise, dropping the fabric she was holding. Embarrassed, she leaned down to pick up the linen and return it to the shelf in an erratic, jerky motion. "Sorry! I didn't mean to... I mean, I was just..."

The woman tilted her head and looked curiously at Pallas's red-rimmed eyes and tear-streaked face. "Ah!" she interrupted. "So you're the mysterious girl everyone's been talking about, today!" The woman smiled warmly and placed a reassuring hand on Pallas's shoulder. "Don't worry about the fabric. I keep a clean shop, and you'll not find a speck of dirt on the floor."

To demonstrate, she lifted the edge of the fabric and turned it back and forth. "See? No harm done!" She regarded Pallas up and down and admitted, "I'm pretty sure that's not why you're crying, though, is it?"

Pallas shook her head and rubbed the tears out of her eyes with her fingertips. "Uh... no. Forget you saw that, that was nothing." She handed over Eber's letter. "I was told to give this to you by the guy who runs the inn... uh.. Eber?"

The woman nodded and took the letter in hand, carefully peeling back the seal to read the contents. After a moment of consideration, she sighed and put the letter in the pocket of her apron. "Well then. Welcome to Rivergarde, Pallas. My name is Mallory. Everyone calls me the tailor, but I do a fair bit more than that."

"I thought women couldn't own property? How is it that you have your own business?" Pallas asked bluntly.

Blinking in surprise, Mallory admitted, "Technically, my husband owns the shop. But I do everything that keeps it in business. It's give and take for us - he farms the materials that I use to create clothing and I turn them into something people can actually use."

Pallas nodded thoughtfully. 'Perhaps it's not as bad as Berna made it out to be?'

Mallory scrutinized Pallas more intently, as if trying to measure the smaller girl's body with her eyes. "You're a tiny thing, aren't you?" She smiled suddenly. "Lucky for you, I don't have the kind of clothes that old lech, Eber, has in mind for you in a size that will fit. So we'll just make sure you're comfortable, presentable, and able to work."

"Thank you," Pallas said quietly. "I really appreciate it. Um... as for payment, I-"

"Don't worry about that," Mallory interrupted. "Eber may be a pervert, but he's done me many a kindness in the past. Fitting you with some charity clothing is a small thing to call that debt even."

Pallas nodded in relief. "All right. But if there's anything I can do as thanks, just let me know."

Mallory waved a hand dismissively. "I have some things I've been meaning to be rid of, so this is nothing to worry about." She paused in mid-wave and dropped her hand, looking Pallas up and down again. "Actually, I might have something you can help me with in a few weeks. Come see me after you're settled and we'll discuss it. Until then, don't worry about it - Rivergarde can't turn its back on someone in need."

As she began leafing through some garments stacked on a table, Mallory asked, "Do you have any requests? Colors, styles, anything like that?"

Pallas stood on her tip-toes and cupped a hand to one side of her mouth to whisper conspiratorially, "Do you have anything with pants?"

Mallory smiled. "You are a strange girl."