Punished

I was worked to the bone for the next nine or ten days, training in the morning and helping with the chores in the afternoon. 

I accepted my fate with some stoicism. After all, I had disobeyed my parents, who were simply trying to do what was best for me. I had to remember that, to them, I was a young child. They didn't know about my past life, and how I saw things through the eyes of a mature adult. Okay, a mature adult looking through the eyes of a young child, if we're being pedantic.

Freia was angry with me at first. In private she scolded me for, literally, taking off on her, scaring her witless. In hindsight, I could see her point of view, and I apologised profusely, even grovelling on the floor and promising to kiss her feet (which wasn't something I was usually into, but hey,) until she eventually just laughed and told me to stand up and be a man.

After that she was friendlier, probably more friendly than she had ever been actually, and even sneaked me some of Lissa's cake every now and then. I was grateful for both her cheer and the food, and resolved to be nicer to her, maybe even stop trying to peer in at her when she was in the bath. Nah, some things are too good to miss.

The first break in my new routine was when Rath and Lissa, along with Hungerford and Freia, took me to the signing ceremony for the new treaty between our village and the goblin settlement. It seemed that negotiations had been intense, but had, overall, gone well. 

There was now a mutual defence pact between both, with joint patrols to try and counter the ever growing migration of monsters from the north, and new trade deals were being set up on a daily basis. 

The ceremony was held on neutral ground, rather oddly, in almost the same spot that Gisel and I had first met. It was about halfway I guess, and the ground there was a little more open, thanks to me flattening most of the trees practicing my magic!

There had even been a small stage constructed. It was rather crude, but was solid enough, and easily held the mayor, the goblin chief and their aids, one of which was Lissa, as a representative of the temple and Blessed Mother. I stood to one side, with Rath holding my hand, next to Hungerford and Freia.

As with all these sorts of things, it was a fairly boring affair, with speeches from the various important people, followed, finally, by a document signing and exchange. There was loud applause and cheers though, once it was done, which showed the support from both sides for the deal. I was rather pleased, things generally didn't work out this well.

There was one last thing. The 'hostage' exchange. It was phrased more politely of course, as a cultural ambassador role, but we all knew what it really was.

Still, it was the thing I was most pleased about. I had, somehow, managed to facilitate Gisel's wish to visit the human lands. I just hoped it would work out as well as she thought it would. The village probably wouldn't be a problem, but the feelings at the academy may be another issue. After all, that had been set up almost exclusively to fight demons.

And so, when we headed back home, Gisel was with us. Even though she put up a brave front, I could tell she was nervous, so I tried my best to distract her, keeping up a running commentary of the sights, such as they were, on the way. I think she appreciated it.

As for Lissa, Rath, Freia and Hungerford, I was not really sure of their true feelings, but I could guess that Lissa would be kind and welcoming, that was just her nature, and Rath would be more guarded, but still polite. Hungerford was impossible to read, but I doubted he would be anything but proper.

Freia turned out to be an unexpected ally though. She was unabashedly curious about the goblin culture and way of life, and peppered Gisel with questions, some of which were not very appropriate I thought, although Gisel didn't seem to mind, and was quite forthcoming with her answers. 

When Gisel first had a glimpse of our house, she gasped.

"It's so large!" she said, in beast talk. "Are all man-crea… human houses so?"

"No, we are lucky," Rath replied, in the same tongue. "This is larger than most."

I raised an eyebrow, it shouldn't have surprised me she could speak the language, but for some reason it did.

"It's so beautiful," Gisel added, switching to human, as she took in the front garden, and the flowers. "Oh, you have some starbells!" She squatted, to take a sniff of some bright yellow flowers that were planted along the fence.

"Hungerford maintains the garden," Lissa said. 

Gisel stood up and gave Hungerford a slight bow. "You do a wonderful job sir," she said.

Wow, I thought. Someone has been taking lessons in diplomacy!

"It's a hobby, I am glad you appreciate them," Hungerford replied.

We went on, and I was allowed to give Gisel a tour of the house, although Freia also tagged along, including the room that Lissa and Rath had allocated her.

"This is for… me?" Gisel looked wide eyed at the spacious room. It had a decent sized bed against one wall, a dressing table and chair, a wardrobe and bookcase, which was empty. 

"Of course," Freia said. "Is it acceptable?"

"It's larger than my fathers' tent," she replied, walking over to the bed and prodding it. "So soft. I'm likely to sink into it."

"I think it will be all right," I said. 

She just looked at me, with those big amber eyes of hers. "Thank you."

"I'm glad to be able to help. "I gave her a small bow.

"Come on you two," Freia said, spoiling the mood. "Dinner will be served soon. Gisel, leave your things here, you can unpack later. You should leave your knives here too. Lissa doesn't like weapons at the dinner table."

"Oh, yes." 

We waited until Gisel had placed her knives carefully on the dressing table, a process that took a few minutes, she was a walking armoury, and then headed to the dining room where the adults were waiting.

"Welcome Gisel," Lissa said. She gestured at the seat next to mind. "Please sit."

"Thank you." 

I was a little afraid that Gisel would grab food and start to stuff her face, I had seen that was pretty much the goblin way the few times I had visited the village, but this didn't happen. She waited until Lissa had said a prayer to the Blessed Mother, although I noted she didn't join in, and then used the chopsticks and spoon provided, albeit a little awkwardly, to eat.

"Gisel, I saw your knives. How good are you?" Freia said, after a short period of mastication.

"My master has trained me since I could stand. I am good, better with the throwing knives, but he said I show promise in close knife work too. With my size I use a style called…" Here she said a word in her own language that I hadn't learned.

"That would equate to our Sly style," Hungerford said, nodding. "Makes sense. I would like to see you in action if that is acceptable."

"Of course!" Gisel smiled happily at the thought of getting to use her knives.

"Changing the subject slightly," Rath said. "Do you have any other clothes?"

"I have another tunic," she replied.

"We will need to go into the village then, and buy you some more attire." Rath looked at Lissa, who nodded. "If you are to come with us to the academy, you will need to present yourself in a more suitable outfit."

"This is not suitable?" Gisel looked down at what she was wearing, which consisted of a rather worn top with sleeves torn short, and breeches that came down just below her knees, which had several holes in. She was wearing some sandals today, but I had seen her barefoot as often as not.

"The academy can be a stuffy place," Lissa interjected. "You need to look the part. There are many there who come from wealthy families." She paused a second, before carrying on. "I am afraid that there are some who are rather… arrogant. They will look down on you given any opportunity. Sorry, I wasn't going to bring this up just yet."

"It is okay," Gisel said, using my English word again. "My advisor has spoken to me of this. I am prepared to face it. I am also prepared to defend myself." She bared her teeth.

"I would expect nothing less." Rath nodded. "However, please try not to get into a fight unless you have to."

Gisel poked at the meat on her plate before answering. 

"I shall try not to kill anyone needlessly," she finally said.