Cresting one final hill, the view of a great river valley entirely bare of trees filled the eyes of the convoy. It was the Saint Gabrielle river that spanned from the tallest mountains in the far north down to the ocean and their final destination: the city of Fort Ettenne.

Now finally in the safety of human-frequented lands, the convoy could finally relax with the knowledge that any possibility of an elven attack was behind them.

 

Crossing an ancient stone bridge over a creek and descending down into the valley, the road joined up with another that ran parallel to the river. 

Dozens of orchards and ranches dotted the flatter sections of the valley full of both fruit and livestock respectively. 

Farmhands with large woven baskets meandered between the trees, eager to pick the harvest before the chill of winter set in.

 

Kalia stood up in the carriage and thrust her arms upwards in a great stretch to whiten her right shoulder responded with a satisfying *pop*. She could really go for some fruit right now.

The road led them through groves and pastures as Kalia searched the rows of trees for a worker both close enough to the road.

 

She considered approaching a couple different farmhands before one in particular caught her eye: a broad shouldered young man with golden hair.

 

“Hey. Cod?” She chirped at the lead carriage. “Mind slowing down just a bit so I can grab us some fruit?”

 

“There’ll be plenty of sweets when we get to town, Kal. If you really can’t wait, just munch on a date or something.” Codrin said before he glanced backwards to see that Kalia was pointing at the farmhand.

“Oh.” He muttered, pulling back on his reins slightly. “Whatever. If you take longer than a minute you get to walk to town.”

 

“Codrin! Don’t be so rude!” Kalia scolded mockingly. “I’m sure that a guy like him will at least last for 5 minutes.”

 

Codrin paused as he did a mental double take of what Kalia had just said.

“Wait, please don’t actually-“

 

“Yea, yea, I’m not gonna.” She chuckled before hopping from the cart to on top of the orchard’s fence and down between a row of trees.

 

Kalia liked orchards, but not just because of the fruit that they produced. Rather, it was the relaxing aura that they carried that endeared them to her. The small, yet slightly gnarled trees, the overgrown yet not wild grass, and the ease at which they could be walked through all gave her a feeling of great calm. It was nature, and yet it was protected and safe.

 

Kalia checked her appearance to make sure that she didn’t look too road weary before she continued, sweeping a few loose strands of hair behind her ear and straightening her belt.

While she was at it, she also loosened the buckles around the top of her armor to show a bit of cleavage just for good measure.

 

“Hiya blondie!” She called out to the farmhand as she approached him and his wheelbarrow full of baskets of pears. 

“Mind if I lighten your load a little?”

 

Andre the farmhand, who was halfway up a ladder at the time, glanced over his shoulder to see that the footsteps he had heard were not in fact coming from one of his peers as he had assumed. Rather, he was greeted by a well proportioned woman of medium build who loosely wore a set of dusty leather.

 

“Miss, I’ll have you know that this is private property.” Andre told the woman as he watched her carefully. The Saint Gabrielle valley was generally a safe place, but Andre knew that the frontier was not the place to let his guard down.

 

“Yep, I’ll be leaving shortly. Before I go though, do you think I could at least grab some fruit for my convoy? We've had a long journey and would love something fresh.” Kalia asked the man, taking the opportunity to admire the nice jawline and prominent cheekbones she didn’t know he had until he had turned around.

 

Looking off into the distance and seeing that the woman was indeed a convoy guard and not a bandit, Andre let himself relax slightly. He was nearing the end of a long day's work and the sight of a woman with the body of a tavern dancer was a welcome sight out here on the ranch. Still, His job wasn’t over yet and this woman was keeping him from it.

 

“Hey, I’m just an extra hand out here so these pears aren't mine to begin with. Also, you’re still trespassing.” He reminded her, descending his ladder to empty his basket.

 

“Aw c’mon. I’m sure that they let you snack on ‘em while you're out here, so what’s just a couple more? Does a copper point sound good for 7 of them?” Kalia asked.

 

“Maybe it would be if you take your shirt off as well.” He scoffed, half-jokingly and half  in an effort to get her to leave.

 

“Sure, no problem!” She chirped, unbuckling her chest armor fully before the man had a chance to say anything.

Kalia’s tits spilled out of her top like water from a burst dam, the inner layer of her armor soft enough that she didn’t need to wear anything underneath. It did get hot, wearing it all day.

 

“wHOA!” The farmhand sputtered, nearly dropping the empty basket he had just grabbed.

 

“Like them?” Kalia asked, reveling in the man’s wide eyed mix of surprise and magnetic attraction.

 

The farmhand’s jaw hung slack for a few moments as his mind tried to process the backlog of thought that he had just produced. Was this woman really here for fruit? Was someone pulling a joke on him? Did he fall from his ladder, hit his head, and was now in the middle of a wet dream? If this was a dream, then surely nothing he would do here could have any consequences, right?

 

“Fine. You win.” He relented, quickly shaking the uncivilized thoughts from his head. “Arguing with you was wasted effort on my part. Take as many damn pears as you want.”

 

“Hehe!” Kalia grinned, tossing the coin in a steep arc at the farmhand who caught it awkwardly.

“If you’re heading into town in the next couple days and want to meet again, I’m usually hanging around the Middle Mast pub. The barkeeps know who I am.”

 

Kalia buckled her top back up and scooped 7 pears into her arm as she once again stood silently. He really should have been prepared for that, Kalia thought. He did ask for it, after all.

 

“I’ll see you around, blondie!” Kalia bid the man goodbye and turned to head back to the convoy.

 

“Yea, uh, you too.” He said.

 

Kalia looked back at the farmhand a few moments later to catch him quickly shift his gaze back to his work. A smirk crept across her lips.

 

——-

 

Another hour and a half spent passing ranches of sheep and orchards of trees passed by until Fort Etten in the convoy’s sights.

A fort now in name only, the days of its defenses being needed had long passed by. The wooden walls characteristic of such frontier forts were expanded past into a real, true city over a hundred thousand souls strong.

 

From the edge of the sea and running up the sides of Mount Ettenne, the city was one of the more common spots for frontier immigrants to arrive, lured by the promise of cheap land and a fresh start. Debtors were common; both arriving and newly made, as were criminals both petty and much less so. As a result, blades for hire like Kalia and her party were both welcome and needed, and even someone without a relevant gift could make a living in the profession provided sufficient training.

 

However, despite the fort’s walls becoming unneeded in the recent peace, the city had not become a safer place to live. Developed quickly and unregulated, the city’s many narrow backstreets were full of muggers, racketeers and whores. They climbed the mountain in a flowing web of blood, sweat, tar and meltwater.

 

Coin exchanged hands quickly here. From a ship arriving in the early hours of morning a silver ringer arrived as a bribe to circumvent paperwork for the use of dock space. From the dock workers it passed to a stall in the street selling grilled octopus, with a handful change given in return for such a large coin. From the street vendor it passed to a gangsman as payment for ‘neighborhood protection’, a thinly veiled clause disguising a tithe funding a turf war. From the gangsman it passed to a reagent dealer, a vendor of components for alchemical healing, harming, or somewhere in between.

 

From the dealer the coin touched the soft hands of a prostitute, the wrinkled hands of her madame, the firm hands of hired security, and to the tired hands of a barkeep. 

The coin was then passed from the front of the tavern to the back and into the hands of a backstreet fight bookie to satiate a suppressed urge to gamble.

Finally, from the bookie it changed hands a final time to settle snugly in the pocket of a sailor making landfall for the only time in months, and eager for a bit of entertainment.

Before the dawn of the next day, the coin had left the city behind and bound for high seas. Would it end up in another port? At the bottom of the sea? In the coffers of a pirate’s stash soaked in the blood of its last holder?

Fort Ettenne didn’t care. How could it? After all, it had far too much going on within its narrow streets to care about the goings on anywhere beyond them.

 

To the naive, the city was the birthplace of new beginnings. A place that would accept anyone and ask no questions on what had brought them there. Through it, new lives were given out to those willing to accept nothing in exchange for everything and start from scratch.

 

To the learned, the city was the dwelling of a great number of wild beasts. Bloodthirsty creatures of all sorts that killed in the name of survival. Like all beasts, there was intrigue into it, but all those interested knew to keep watch from a safe distance.

 

To the rich, the city was a goldmine ready to bear profit so long as they were never inside when a portion of it collapsed.

 

To the poor, the city was a church handing out free soup and advice, but trapping them within its walls if they weren’t careful and stayed too long.

 

To others, the city was fear and hope rolled into a single unholy package of blood both new and spilled. The place created stories for better or worse, and everyone had them. Lives and loves found and lost in equal measure, a test for those willing and desperate enough to gamble with both their lifestyles and livelihoods. Every day, thousands set everything they had on the line, but only because they had everything to gain and so much more.

 

But to Kalia,

The city of Fort Ettenne was a lot of fun.