The Vagabond

Fredrick could hear the hunter stealthily crunching twigs and leaves underfoot, this one was young and inexperienced. Sighing, Fredrick turned and went deeper into the woods. He needed food, but he couldn't risk going to town knowing a hunter was so close. It didn't matter if he was only hunting rabbits, if the hunter discovered Fredrick's camp it would mean trouble. Settling down in his hammock, Fredrick fell into an uneasy sleep in the mid-morning fog.

Opening an eye, Fredrick guessed it was somewhere around one in the afternoon. Listening hard, he could hear the wild of the wood had resumed their normal activities. The danger had passed, he was free to make the trip to the town now. Sitting up, he grabbed his coin pouch from his belt and counted the coins. Only fifteen gold should be enough to get the provisions he needs for the week. He should inquire about work too while he is there. As he walked through the forest towards town he thought about his twenty years of life. Living life as a vagabond wasn't easy, sometimes it wasn't even honest. For his survival, Fredrick believed it was necessary to live this way. Especially after his father attempted to kill him. When Frederick was just eight years old, he had woken up to the sounds of his mother pleading with his father just before the man killed her. Turning to the boy, his father had a murderous look in his eye so Fredrick did the only thing he could and leaped out of the window and never looked back. Since that night, Frederick hasn't stayed anywhere for more than a few weeks, working where he could and stealing when he had no choice.

Reaching town, Frederick trudged through the thick mud left by the rain the night before in the direction of the markets. After a bit of time haggling with the various traders, he loaded up a bag of provisions and carried it over his shoulder as he walked to the blacksmith. The thick scent of coal, wood, and melted metal grew stronger as Fredrick approached the bear of a man with shaggy brown hair standing at an anvil pounding on a glowing sword with a giant hammer. Holding up the sword to inspect his handiwork, the blacksmith threw the sword into a barrel of water and crossed his arms at Fredrick. “What can I do ye for?” he asked in a deep husky voice.

“I am hoping you might have some work that needs done or know of someone else who has work for a stranger to do? I don't know how long I will be in the area, but I prefer to earn my keep as opposed to eating wild berries and twigs,” Fredrick stated flatly, he learned early on it was best to not beat around the bush when it came to finding work.

The blacksmith scratched the stubble on his chin as he looked over the young man in front of him. Fredrick only gazed back, unflinching in the examination. This happened every time, it was part of the process. They sized him up, trying to determine if he was honest, trustworthy and if he was worth the trouble. Before the smith could make up his mind, a woman around the smith's age and a younger maiden with golden-brown hair around Fredrick's age rounded a corner into the smithy.

“Father,” the maiden's voice twinkled in the air like a bell, “our dinner will be done soon. Oh, my apologies, are you with a customer?”

The smith looked to the ladies and he shook his head. “No, he's not a customer. Looks to be a tramp, asking for work. Sorry lad, I don't have enough work to be done to justify bringing you on and I don't know anyone else who needs an errand boy either. There is another town roughly twenty leagues from here, you could try there.”

Fredrick nodded and thanked him for his time and advice as he turned to leave. “Hold a moment, Theron. What is your name, young man?” The other lady asked him.

“My name is Fredrick, fair lady. I am as the good man says, a homeless traveler seeking work,” Fredrick bowed in greeting.

“I am Madeline, this is my husband Theron and our daughter Raelyn. I think my husband might have been a little quick to dismiss you, what skills do you possess that you are inquiring about work at a smithy?” Madeline's sharp eyes pierced through Fredrick, he flinched slightly. Something about her gaze unnerved him.

“Truth be told, I know a little bit about everything. I can do more than just fetch stuff. I have worked long days in the fields, crafted arrows, and worked metals. I haven't been trusted to handle coins for anyone, but I have been on my own since I was eight. I had to learn some skills fast to live and while my life hasn't been the easiest, it's mine all the same. Sometimes I don't find work for weeks at a time, and when I have to I resort to theft. I prefer to work an honest way though and I try my best only to take from those who can spare it,” Fredrick forced himself to stop talking, why did he tell them so much?

Madeline smiled, “there now, that wasn't so hard, was it? Come, break bread with us, we will see if we can think of something for you to do for a bit of honest work. Turning, Madeline walked back the way the ladies had come from. “Dinner is a hearty beef stew and hard bread with cheese. I hope you're hungry.

The smith eyed Fredrick with what could have been pity and clapped him on the back. “Sounds like you have had a hard life, I won't pry farther than my wife has already. I don't know about work but we will at least feed you and put you up in the horse shed for the night.”

Fredrick had a grand time eating with the smithing family, laughter rang out as he regaled them with a few of his adventures over the years like the time a bear had stolen his supplies. He had tricked the bear out of its cave with a fish stuck in a beehive full of honey and the bear had gotten its head stuck inside. The bear eventually hit its head on a tree branch and broke the hive open, the tail of the fish sticking out of its mouth and the honey made its fur stick out at odd angles that made the bear look crazed. Fredrick felt at ease but also on edge around these people, he couldn't figure out why. When he was escorted to the horse shed later that night, he bid Theron a good night but tossed and turned for over an hour before getting to his feet. He decided to take a walk in the night air, to try to clear his mind.

The night was warm, typical for the late summer season. Fredrick walked towards the water barrel at the side of the house until he caught a few words on the breeze. “-shouldn't have interfered-” He froze at the words and turned towards an open window. He could see Theron and Madeline in their bedroom, having a heated argument as they prepared themselves for slumber. Fredrick snuck under the window to eavesdrop.

“Oh, pish-posh, Theron. You could use a hand around the forge for a few days. You will offer him a trial run to start, test his skills at a lower rate of pay. You know the boy is honest, my magic never fails,” Madeline was saying.

Magic? Fredrick's jaw dropped in shock. That was why he felt compelled to tell his life story to strangers. Launching himself from the hiding spot as quietly as he could, he ran for the stable and ran into someone. They struggled a bit to untangle themselves, Fredrick brushed himself off when he noticed golden-brown hair in the pale moonlight.

Raelyn stepped back from Fredrick and crossed her arms. “What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?” she hissed in a hushed whisper.

“I could ask you the same thing!” Fredrick retorted. “I was out for a walk, I heard things I likely shouldn't have, and now you're going to work more magic against me, right?”

A look of surprise crossed Raelyn's face. “No! I was going to visit...a friend.”

Fredrick raised an eyebrow. “A friend? At this hour?”

Raelyn looked nervous but shook her head. “Let's go, I will show you.” She brushed past Fredrick moving quickly towards the horse shed but took a sharp turn towards the run-down barn and ducked inside. Fredrick quickly followed, his curiosity getting the better of him. He spotted Raelyn approaching a large owl sitting on a fallen branch in the moonlight from a large hole in the roof in the center of the barn. Raelyn picked up a bowl next to the branch and extended it towards the animal, the bird started to eat whatever she was offering him. “His wing was injured when I found him. I have been nursing this barn owl back to health for the last two weeks, he is almost fully healed. A few more days at most.”

Fredrick carefully came closer, watching the white heart-faced creature pull its head out of the bowl with a mouse stuck in its beak. The bird cocked its head back as it swallowed the mouse whole. Fredrick reached out and stroked the bird's soft feathers, the owl turned its head to him as it spread its wings and shrieked at him before flying off into the night. The pair stared through the hole in the roof for a long moment before looking at each other. “I guess he is feeling better?” Fredrick said with a shrug. “I need to know, I heard your parents arguing about magic and my potential employment. What is the story behind that?”

Raelyn sighed, wringing her hands she started to pace around the barn. “I don't know if you can tell, but we are kind of short on money. My father had an apprentice, but he had to let him go. The work has started to come back again, rumors of war are stirring and the Duke's men have just placed a very large order for weapons and armor. Father was given a partial payment for supplies for the order, but he was given a week to produce a thousand sharp and durable swords for Duke Edmund. His men are set to return in three days and my father has only produced a quarter of the swords. He needs the help but we don't have the funds to pay anyone unless this order goes through. So, my mother seeing an opportunity used her piercing eye truth spell on you to see if you were trustworthy and skilled enough to help us at all.” Turning to face him, her voice became

like steel. “Desperate as we might be, no one is going to force you to help us. That little spell Mother did force you to tell the truth, nothing more.”

Fredrick thought about it for a long moment before turning to walk for the door. “I had better get some rest if I am going to help your father smith over seven hundred weapons in three days,” he said with a wave. “Goodnight!”

The next morning, Fredrick washed himself up in the small stream that ran next to the barn and met with Theron at the shed just as the sun rose over the horizon. “Good morning, Fredrick, Theron greeted him. With a heavy sigh, Theron sank onto a sawn log and folded his hands together in front of him. After a long moment of gathering his thoughts, he looked up a Fredrick. “I ain't gonna lie to you, we are having some financial difficulties. We have gotten a really large order from Duke Edmond for a large number of swords that is due at noon in a few days, but I am not able to fill the order myself. I am willing to pay you for the work you do if we get that order filled, at a rate that is fair to the quality of the work you do. Does that sound fair?”

“I have a counter proposal for you, good sir,” Fredrick began. “I will help you to fulfill this order for nothing more than your company and a dry place to lay my head until it is done. Once it is done you can deem that I did worthy enough work then we can discuss rates of pay and all that.”

The smith and his helper set about working the metal and by the end of the Theron had a new respect for the lad. Fredrick had the skill set of a journeyman smith himself and was a huge help around the forge. He poured the molten metal into the molds with practiced precision and after they had cooled he used the grinding wheel to sharpen them without supervision. “I don't know how, but he is better than my old apprentice,” Theron told his wife that night. Through their hard work, the order was filled the night before they were due.

Theron and Fredrick were at the forge cleaning and discussing the business of Fredrick's continued servitude when the Duke's men came. The captain of the guard personally inspected the goods, shook Theron's hand with a solemn nod, and had his men load the swords into the wagon. “It looks like there will be a war, after all, we will need more weapons and armor too. His Grace has included payment for this to sustain his armies through the fighting.” Handing Theron a sizable sack of coins, the captain turned to leave. “That will be doubled if an order of two thousand swords, five hundred maces, one thousand spears, and five thousand breastplates can be amassed in one month.” Pausing, he turned back. “The breastplates are more of a shell, we will find leather workers who can finish the fittings. We will need half of those in two weeks, a cart will be sent for it.” With that, he mounted his horse and lead his company to their next destination.

Theron shook his head in disbelief. “This order sounds impossible, there isn't a way!”

Fredrick looked at Theron, a thoughtful expression on his face. “There is a way, if I may be so bold. You have seen how useful I can be, teach me how to shape the metal and we can have this forge running non-stop in a few days. In the meantime, we can make the armor and the spears, the easiest of the lot to make. If I were to practice shaping the metal after dinner each night, I am sure I will pick it up within a week. I need to retrieve my belongings from my camp, however, since I am going to be sleeping in your shed.”

With a plan in mind and little choice in the matter, Theron set about fulfilling as much of the order as he could while Fredrick went to retrieve his camp. There wasn't much of value to the camp, but it made him feel better to have it close in case he needed to quickly flee for any reason. Once he got back to the smith's house and stored his camp safely inside the barn, he returned to the forge and set to work to get the order filled quickly.

Madeline and Raelyn would visit twice daily, once to bring them a mid-day meal and once to announce dinner. Maybe it was the fumes from the forge, but Fredrick could swear he saw Raelyn smiling at him a few times. Fredrick worked hard to learn how to shape the metal and as he predicted he could work the metal well after a week. One early morning, three hours before dawn, he trudged towards the shed to sleep when he noticed Raelyn by the barn. She beckoned for him to follow and ducked inside. Curious, he followed.

She stood in the center of the barn, waiting patiently. As he drew closer, she sighed and said, “I tried to fight it, this feeling. But I can't any longer.” Fredrick stopped and was about to ask what she was talking about when she rushed forward and kissed him, deeply and passionately. He kissed her back and for what seemed like an eternity they embraced and gave themselves to the attraction they tried for so long to ignore. Raelyn pushed him away, “if we are going to pursue this, we will need to hide our courtship from my parents for the time being. They have enough to worry about for the moment without jumping ahead to our union.” The way she looked at Fredrick reminded him of Madeline's piercing gaze. “Promise me.”

Fredrick took her hands in his, kissed them gently while staring into her bright blue eyes. “I promise. I won't breathe a word of this to your parents.”

Over the next year, Fredrick had to balance working the forge and finding time to spend with Raelyn. The orders from the Duke's men continued to pour in, the war didn't seem to have an end in sight. The time he spent with Raelyn was too short and the time he spent in the forge his mind was on her.

“You're in love, aren't you?” Theron grinned at him one day. Fredrick felt his face burn in embarrassment and started to sputter a response but the smith cut him off with a laugh. “Don't try to deny it, I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but the two of you can't be any more obvious. Raelyn has a dreamy look in her eye most of the time and you focus on the work even more than normal if that is possible.

At that moment, Raelyn and Madeline crossed the threshold into the forge, Raelyn was bright red and Madeline wore a sharp smile that matched Theron's. “Can you spare Fredrick, dear? I believe Raelyn has a very important question for him.”

“Sure! I believe we are ahead of schedule as usual,” Theron said with a wink.

Madeline pushed her daughter forward and Raelyn looked awkwardly at the floor to Fredrick's left. “I, um, that is, I wanted to ask you if you would like to go on a...picnic...with me..” she stammered.

Looking over Raelyn's shoulder at her parents, Madeline and Theron were both nodding and motioning for him to accept with their hands. “Sounds good, yeah,” Fredrick managed, before taking Raelyn by the hand and leading her outside. “Let's go to the pond, alright?”

Once at the pond, the couple spread out a blanket and the food in awkward silence. “S-sorry about my parents, I guess they figured it out a long time ago and got tired of seeing us trying to hide it,” Raelyn blushed again.

“Don't worry about it, it might be easier now. After all, we won't have to hide our feelings anymore or sacrifice sleep to see each other. Maybe it's for the best,” Fredrick flashed her the bravest smile he could muster, then leaned in to kiss her. “It will be okay, it seems that your parents have given us their blessing after all.”

A few days later, riders came through the town to alert them that enemy stragglers might be in the area. “We ambushed a platoon of scouts four leagues from here, we presume they came in search of information and supplies. We gave them a swift death but three escaped. Keep an eye out for strangers and detain anyone who comes here for the next week or so,” the captain of the guard announced in a general assembly as his men loaded their carts with more supplies from Theron's forge. That night, Fredrick lay in his makeshift bed of straw in the shed as always when he noticed the night had become silent. The insects had stopped their nightly song, Fredrick sat up to listen better. He heard a distinct snap of a twig and grabbed a dagger he had made for his protection after the news of the enemy's presence. Sneaking out into the yard as quietly as possible, he spotted a man wearing the armor of the enemy empire approaching the house.

Fredrick felt he had little choice, he only had a dagger but he had to alert someone. Standing up, he walked towards the stranger until he was within earshot of the house. “Who are you and what do you want,” he yelled, hoping it was loud enough to disturb someone inside the house.

The stranger spun around on his heel and froze at the sight of Fredrick. “YOU!” he bellowed, a mixture of fear and hatred accompanying the word. The man pulled his hood down to reveal his face, a face that looked like an older and scarred version of Fredrick's. Unsheathing his sword, the man lunged with the point of his blade aimed for the young man's heart.

Fredrick managed to dodge at the last moment as Theron, Madeline, and Raelyn burst from the house, armed with weapons to subdue the intruder. “Who are you and what do you want?” Madeline shrieked at the stranger. “How do you know Fredrick?”

The man convulsed as if hit by a shock wave, then straightened up to face Madeline. “My name is Conrad, I am this boy's father!” he spat as if the words disgust him. “When he was but a young boy, I had slain his mother for her devilry. Now I mean to kill him for his!” Conrad once more gripped his sword and lunged at Fredrick, this time swinging his sword madly so a simple dodge wouldn't work.

In a burst of feathers, Fredrick launched himself to the nearest tree branches and looked down in time to see Raelyn smash a vase against Conrad's head, knocking him to the ground. Theron dropped a heavy foot on the moaning man's chest to keep him down after picking up the fallen sword.

Raelyn scanned the trees and spotted Fredrick as a barn owl watching them, he spread his wings to fly away, but her voice stopped him. “Please my love, don't leave me! I wouldn't care if you turned into a hairy warthog, just please don't leave me!” Fredrick lowered his wings for a moment and looked at Raelyn. He nodded at her, then took flight towards the barn. Landing upon the branch, he swayed a little as he turned back into a human. Raelyn and her parents followed him, dragging the half-conscious Conrad in with them. Throwing his prisoner against the barn wall, Theron barked “now, we have questions and you had better answer them. Why are you trying to kill Fredrick? Just because he can turn himself into a bird?”

Conrad coughed, “not just a bird. His mother could turn into anything she looked at, except for people. She confessed to it all to me the night I killed her. She told me he was showing signs of being one of her kind too, that he would randomly turn without warning. I didn't let her finish, I ended her evil. This boy must have woken up, saw what I had done, and jumped out the window when I moved towards him. I spent some time looking for him, to finish what I started, but the war broke out and I was drafted. I saw it as an opportunity to expand my search and I found him, finally. End him quickly, his devilry is a threat to all!”

Raelyn stared at Conrad for a long moment before grabbing the dagger that Fredrick managed to hang onto and plunging it into Conrad's chest. “No one is killing my love, not even your cowardice will come close to being half the man Fredrick is,” she growled at him before putting her full weight behind the blade.

A few days later, the captain of the guard came and inquired about the death. The details of magic and the bloodlines were left out and the body was loaded up on the wagon to be disposed of. Fredrick sighed, he no longer had to run from his past. He had found his place in the world, a good woman who loves him and in the Spring, they would wed. News spread that the war had ended just before the Autumn harvest. Theron and Fredrick used the money they had earned from supplying the war efforts to rebuild the farm and a second house for the young couple to live in. The forge never again burned as often as it did that year, but the success of the smithy and the farm combination allowed them to live out their days and raise the next generation in a comfortable life.