Chapter 61 part 1

Nick sighed as he sat down. Learning the local language was getting rather painful. Not so much that he couldn't learn it or that it hurt to learn it, but it was painfully slow to learn. Maybe Emily had an easier time with languages, but Nick wouldn't count himself among those.

What little he'd been able to learn had let him know that the girl who had shown up recently, that was pregnant, was carrying his child. Which wasn't that big of a deal for him, but then there was the problem where he learned that he was expected to take care of the child. Not just as essentially a 'stay-at-home dad' kind of thing, but rather from breastfeeding to everything else.

Unless the mother wanted to be involved in the child's life, apparently this world didn't see a need for the mother to be involved in the raising of children. Which felt so twisted that he couldn't help but feel like he was in a Twilight Zone episode. Though, on the other hand, he had a feeling that there still might be a way out of this for him.

After all, there was no chance that he was going to suddenly start lactating. That's just not something men did on Earth.

Not that he said anything. He wasn't planning on saying anything, since he didn't see a reason to let them know that he'd started to understand some of what they said. Maybe down the road when the child was born he might say something, but it wasn't like he'd be hiding anything from them. Especially since he knew that pretty much every movement of his was noticed. He wasn't sure how, just that it was.

Besides, he'd just finished cleaning up the floor of another hallway, with him being left the largest portion and he hadn't a clue as to what would happen if he had to start taking care of a child. As he had a feeling this world didn't know anything about paternity leave. Let alone any kind of time off.

Even for weekends.

Nick looked up from where he sat when he heard the door open from further inside the suite and the young woman came out. Though, she looked as annoyed to see Nick as he felt with the whole situation.

She said something to him that he couldn't understand, but it certainly didn't sound flattering.

"And I hope you've had a good day too," Nick replied in English with a smirk. Mostly because he knew that the young woman wouldn't react unless he had the smirk. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like messing with this girl was the best use of his time here. Although, he couldn't say that he did do his best to at least speak kind words. Even though he did his best to make sure that she misunderstood nearly everything he said.

Eddra came out at about that time and looked rather annoyed.

For some reason, Nick had started taking a liking to Eddra, though he wasn't sure she shared the interest. He doubted that he'd be able to use his usual tricks to get with her, but he at least knew that she would be willing to put up with those if he did try. Even when he was confident that his success of doing so would be nearly nonexistent.

Eddra was also the main reason that he'd been able to start learning the language so well. It wasn't like he had expected her to be willing to help him, but she was patient and seemed to be immune to his negativity when he got in a bad mood.

He wasn't sure if there was any particular reason Eddra had been so willing to work with him or if maybe she felt she owed Emily, but he couldn't help but be grateful for it. Although, Eddra did learn a little more English as a result, which he couldn't say that he was that surprised about.

"You shouldn't tease," Eddra scolded. "She is mother of your child. Raising child alone, not easy."

Nick did his best to not roll his eyes. He wasn't that worried about it. All he knew was that this world had a way for him to deal with children. Once he was able to do so, without worrying about getting made a slave himself, he figured he could sell the children as slaves and wash his hands of them completely.

It wasn't his problem to deal with anyway. He'd learned quickly on Earth how to avoid taking responsibility, no matter what it was, so this was hardly a no brainer. It would be easier than seducing the girls had been back on Earth. Part of it helped that the culture was tied to people having sex, so that made it easier, but here it was almost too easy. With the guy being the one who was supposed to be the one taking care of the children.

"Maybe I wouldn't tease so much if she wasn't so demanding," Nick retorted. Which was true. It wasn't the primary reason behind his teasing, but it was an excellent excuse.

Eddra merely rolled her eyes, as if she was allowed to and he wasn't. "Only because she one of those who take a dim view of men, don't mean you have do same."

Nick felt a headache coming on. Not so much from what Eddra said or the fact that part of him worried that she might actually be right, but more because of how bad her English still was. It wasn't that terrible, but it was still bad.

A knock at the door to the suite of rooms made Nick groan. He really didn't have time to deal with anything more. Especially with how tired he was starting to get from everything he now had to do.

Aside from his usual 'cleaning' duties, he had to essentially wait hand and foot on the young woman he'd knocked up. Sometimes it wasn't that much, but lately she'd been demanding he rub her shoulders and other parts of her, like her ankles. Nothing that really was tiring in and of itself, but added together, it was rather tiring.

Eddra answered the door. Even though she was still nervous, she almost seemed to have fallen into the role of caretaker of these rooms, so while she was in them, she seemed to have gained a sense of self-confidence that kept her from being uneasy, even if it was the duchess herself who visited.

On the other side of the door was another young woman. This one was clearly older than the first, wearing the same kind of tunic as the first, and just as pregnant.

Nick could only groan softly in horror. He remembered sleeping with her as well. He couldn't say when it was, but he did remember what they did. Which meant, the fact that she was here could only mean that he'd knocked her up too. Though, given how many young women he'd slept with since being here, before Emily had saved him, he could only feel relief that it was these two. As if there were more, he'd have expected them to have shown up before this. Since this other young woman was towards the end of those he'd slept with while he was a slave.

Of course, he also hoped that it would only just be these two. That he won't find another knocking on the door a little after this.

"She say you father of her child," Eddra informed Nick, to which he nodded. He'd expected as much, but that didn't make it any better for him. Especially if this young woman turned out anything like the first one.

"How long do you think both of them will remain here?" Nick asked, feeling a little uneasy about the matter.

"Until birth," Eddra replied.

Nick wasn't sure if those were the words the first young woman was waiting for or if it was merely what got the ball rolling, but suddenly she went into labor and everything became a blur for Nick. Something that he hadn't been expecting, even though, he knew that it had to happen sometime, regardless of anything else that happened.

A midwife was called up, which made Nick wonder if there were any other actual similarities from his world. Though, he supposed it made sense, since even on this world, the women were the ones who gave birth. Though he wished that there was at least something else that would make it easier for him to understand things overall.

Then, before his eyes, a young baby girl came out and wrapped in a blanket before being placed in his arms. It felt like it took only minutes to accomplish, but as he glanced outside, he could see that the late afternoon sun had set long ago and was now replaced with a starry sky that only came out late at night.

When Nick was asked to give the girl a name, he was at a loss for words for a moment. He hadn't given up on his plans of selling the girl as a slave just yet, but at the same time, he felt that he should wait a little on that point. That if he waited, maybe he'd be able to get more for her. Though, after a few minutes, he decided to give her a name that was from Earth, and expressed so much of what he felt from the people of this world: Faye.

_

Embris was happy to enter Veloutra. She hadn't been there before, and yet somehow it felt like she was just about to return home.

It wasn't anything that she could put her finger on, but rather it was that there was something about the city that was different from the cities she'd been in in the south of the Forest of the Lost.

Even in the capital, which was different from any city she'd ever been in before, this one just seemed to be foreign enough to her to not be where she considered her home, but close enough that she felt like she was just about there.

The cargo of the wagons from that quarry was to be taken to the queen's palace, and Embris hoped that she'd be able to see what it looked like. She had overheard the merchant mention to the guard at the gate that the cargo was to be inspected to determine quality by someone who handled that. Even though the queen's palace wasn't the typical place for that sort of thing.

The reason wasn't stated, but Embris had a feeling that whatever it was, was because the cargo was otherwise intended to be delivered to the queen. That either the queen or someone involved in the sale didn't want to risk it getting stolen on the way from being inspected to where it would be delivered to the queen.

There was a chance that she was wrong, since she really had no idea about a lot of these things, but at the same time, she was confident in her assessment.

Besides, it did make it easier to be transporting an 'unknown cargo' rather than one whose value was well known to any bandits in the area that had even a glimmer of laziness in their bodies to go after a small caravan that held a large prize.

Yet, the farthest that Embris was allowed was to the gates of the palace, where the palace guard took over guarding the cargo. Which meant that Embris, and the others who weren't driving the wagons or the merchant, were left standing outside the gate. Watching the cargo disappear into the distance, still wondering what it was in the first place.

"You know, this is one of the worst jobs I've been on," Laurise remarked. "We get to transport a mystery cargo, but never get to know what the mystery about it was in the first place."

"At least the next time we go to that quarry we should be able to learn what it was," Embris remarked. "I mean, I'm sure the word'll be out where whatever that cargo came from will be, right?"

"Maybe, but that doesn't make it any easier to be this close to it and still not be allowed to know what it is," Laurise answered. "I mean, just think of it. You're told that there's something in there that'll change your life forever, but you're still not allowed to look. It could be simply a large amount of rainbow silver or even a large amount of aluthium. Either way, it'd be something that would let you have a completely different life than the one you have. And you're never allowed to know what it would have been."

Embris merely shrugged. She was the only one who had enough patience to deal with Laurise like that. The other mercenaries would either change the subject or just walk off to do their duties away from her. Yet, Embris listened. She wasn't sure why, but even when the subject wasn't something that she really cared to indulge in, Laurise seemed to be happy to let her own thoughts out.

"Embri' can I get some to eat?" Nymis asked, pulling Embris' attention away from Laurise.

Embris looked around and saw a small food stall across the plaza in front of the palace. It might be far, but Embris was confident that she'd be able to take action if someone tried something on her sister.

"Sure, go and get me and Rephis something too, okay?" Embris asked indicating which stall she was to go to, pulling out a few coins to hand to Nymis.

"Don't," Laurise warned. "Unless you're going to go with her, it's a bad idea."

Embris blinked. "Why? It's just over there. What'd be the problem?"

Laurise looked around, as if she expected to see something specific. "It might not be today, but on our way here, I saw that they were getting ready to do a 'cleaning' in this city."

Embris blinked. She'd heard of those. Where the guards in the cities would round up beggars to sell them as slaves. It was ostensibly a method to maintain public safety, but it wasn't uncommon to hear about someone who wasn't a beggar to get rounded up as well. As once in that situation, it's a little difficult to prove that you weren't a beggar and therefore shouldn't be sold as a slave.

Any child who is out by themselves when that happens typically also gets labeled a 'beggar' and sold, no matter what they were doing. Though, a few times even slaves get rounded up which creates more headaches for the city officials, since there are laws about selling another person's slaves. Though, that's typically less of an occurrence than someone who doesn't belong there getting rounded up in the 'cleaning.'

"Would it be fine if I went to get it?" Embris asked, part of her wondering if she was still technically on duty or not. As they weren't actually doing anything other than waiting for Nuem to get back. If the merchant had gotten an inn, Embris would have preferred to stay right there, but without an inn to go to, she worried that if she did anything other than what she'd been directed to, that she'd be 'derelict in her duty' as a guard for the caravan.

"Probably," Laurise remarked. "Just make it quick. We don't know how long it'll be before they're back. Your brother and sister can accompany you, which should make it safer for them, but keep in mind, unless you know a cleaning has just been done, keep an eye out. You've made it clear you don't want anything like that to happen to your brother or sister."

Embris nodded, not caring too much if she'd get in trouble. After all, the job hadn't included a trip to the capital, so she supposed she'd be given a little latitude. Especially since she was otherwise waiting for the merchant to come out of the royal palace when there wasn't anything else for her to do.

Not to mention the fact that they had tried to join the cargo into the palace but were refused entry and no other directions had been given. So technically they hadn't even been told to just wait. Which Embris hoped would hold out if it became necessary.

Besides, this was her first job as a mercenary, so she wasn't completely sure about the finer details about it in the first place. It at least felt like this was a case where she could go get something for her siblings to eat while they waited.

Though, she hoped that Nuem wouldn't return while she was in the middle of it, since that would require the merchant to wait and Embris was pretty sure that wouldn't look to good. Which was something she'd rather not have to deal with if she could help it.

As Embris led the way, she did her best to keep from trying to listen for the gates to the palace to open, signifying that Nuem and those with her might be getting ready to leave. Which would then mean that she better have either gotten the food or to hurry it up if she wanted to know which inn Nuem would be choosing for them to stay at.

Otherwise she'd have to either use her own money for an inn or hope to stumble on them after they were already inside an inn. Which, from what Embris had heard at the mercenary hall, wasn't likely to occur.

Though, even with her own worries, she couldn't help but let the Rephis and Nymis' excitement infect her as they got essentially a treat when they were waiting. Which Embris was happy to provide for them.

When she returned, she was pleased to see that the others were still waiting, though, Embris couldn't help but wonder if maybe she should have thought to get them something as well.

If only because she could tell that they were hungry and none of them knew if they'd have time to head over to the stall to get something themselves. Which Embris refused to feel guilty about.

If they had wanted her to get something for them, they could have at least asked. So, since they hadn't, Embris was confident that she was in the right to not have brought anything for them. Even though she wished she had anyway.