Before I get to Kellan and everything else, there is the matter of the first night to discuss.

 

I stopped mining when the others did, then followed their examples of putting my ore in a wheelbarrow. I pushed my load of ore out of the mine with some difficulty – I still was not strong, so it was slow going, and none of the others seemed inclined to help. Which was fine – I didn’t want to be seen as someone who couldn’t do things on her own. Clearly this world already had low enough opinions of women’s abilities. Needless to say, I was the last one out.

 

The other miners brought their loads to Grognar, who weighed and sorted their hauls and gave them corresponding amounts of coin. This was exciting – my first time actually getting paid for mining! But when I got to him, he shook his head.

 

“You’ll need to smelt that before I’ll buy it from you.”

 

“But you paid the others for just ore!”

 

“I know them, so I know they won’t cheat me. For all I know, you’ve got a pile of stone under a layer of ore.”

 

“I wouldn’t…”

 

“Besides, they’ve all paid their monthly processing fee, so others will do the smelting for them. If you fork over fifty gold, I’ll let you do the same.”

 

He was lying. I didn’t know how I could tell, but the lie was as palpable to me as if he had verbally said, “This isn’t true”. Of course, that information didn’t help.

 

“You know I don’t have that kind of cash.”

 

He shrugged. “Then I suggest you hurry up.”

 

With no recourse, I lugged my load to the smelter, but that shit takes forever. By the time I was done, I had thirty bars of iron and no one to sell them to, because Grognar had quit for the day. I mumbled curses under my breath as I stored the bars behind the smelter and went to the inn. Then was promptly kicked back out because I had no money. Jesus, this place.

 

Then, the moment a guard saw me, he hurried over and demanded why I was out after curfew, which was another new little twist for which I was unprepared. As before, I gave him a blink and my trademarked response: “Uhhhhhhhhh…”™

 

Also as before, this did nothing to help the situation. But, after casting a glance over my bikini-clad body, he eased off.

 

“Oh, never mind. My apologies – you are, of course, allowed out after curfew. I’ll just need to see your whoring license.”

 

“My what?!”

 

“You’re whoring license. You are a whore, ain’tcha?”

 

“No.”

 

The original angry look came back. “Well, then get off the streets! If yer not indoors by the next bell, you’ll get to spend the night in prison.”

 

That sent a chill down my spine – the last time I had been arrested had led to some very bad things. I squeaked out, “But…”

 

“And why are you dressed like a whore if you ain’t one? Trying to get raped? Divines, these stupid women…” This last as he turned and walked away, leaving me shaking in my heels in a combination of fear, anger, and very heavy annoyance.

 

I stood there for a time trying to decide on a course of action. The innkeeper wouldn’t even let me sit in there without money, so staying overnight was clearly not an option. I thought about Lysha, but I was pretty sure that relationship had been strained past the point of borrowing her floor for the night.

 

Finally, with no recourse, I headed back to the mine, found a nice little corner, and, using some burlap sacks as a mattress and my dress as a blanket, completely failed to sleep through the night. Part of that was because of all-too-recent memories, part because rocky floors are very uncomfortable, part because I kept thinking about the entire mess, and part because of the man who tried to rape me.

 

Okay, most of it was because of that guy.

 

I had finally got to the point where my eyes seemed ready to stay shut and my mind was doing that thing where it follows a winding path of thoughts which begin to spread out into what will either turn into a dream or make you realize you’re finally about to fall asleep, which alerts the rest of your brain and wakes it back up again, so you have to start all over.

 

At least, I hope that happens to other people as well.

 

Anyway, the next thing I knew, I had been grabbed. A smelly hand covered my mouth while the other grabbed a tit and squeezed. Fortunately, that left my hands free – I scrabbled them around as his tit hand began to make it way southward until I found a fist-sized rock, then slammed the rock as hard as I could into his head.

 

He yelled out as his body shifted away and his hands lifted, which gave me enough room and purchase to scramble out from under him and, more important, take the step and a half to the spot where I had placed my bag and pickaxe.

 

He howled and charged and the pickaxe met his skull halfway to me. His body dropped like the load of shit he was and thudded onto my impromptu bed. I spent the next couple hours or so dragging his ass to the nearest vertical shaft then dropped him in head-first, hoping his skull would be crushed enough for whoever eventually found him to assume he had just drunkenly stumbled over the edge to his death.

 

Then, since sleep was clearly not in the works for me that night, I got back to mining.

 

The next morning found me wheeling twenty-two bars of iron to that asshole Grognar, who looked at first surprised then annoyed, then started giving me bullshit about how I had to wait until the end of the day. To say I was irritable would be akin to saying Alduin was a mosquito.

 

I interrupted his diatribe with, “What is your problem?”

 

He paused. “Excuse me?”

 

“Hell no, I won’t excuse you. You already lied last night about these needing to be smelted instead of just buying my ore, now you’re giving me even more lies. Quit your bullshit and just give me what I’m owed.”

 

He started to puff up. “Now look…”

 

“No, you look. What is it? Because of how I’m dressed? How does that make my ore any different than anyone else’s?”

 

“I didn’t say…”

 

“Or are you just offended about ore that has been mined by a woman, as if that somehow magically makes it worse or something?”

 

“No, it’s…”

 

“All I want is to be able to fucking EAT, you mother fucker! Give me my goddamn money!”

 

Frustration was threatening to bring tears to my eyes but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me burst into them, since it would likely only feed his careening misogyny.

 

His response was not what I expected. Instead of growing angry, a huge smile broke across his face and he began to laugh. What I had failed to notice in all this was that I had garnered another audience (well, technically the same audience as before plus a couple stray guards), and I jumped when two dozen-ish men also started laughing behind me. My anger was quickly overwhelmed by confusion.

 

“Not even twelve hours! I think that’s a new record!” Grognar looked at the miners. “Who won?”

 

One of the men raised his hand and the others laughed and slapped him on the back and a bag of coins was tossed his way as I slowly realized what the fuck was going on. I looked around the group with narrow eyes.

 

“You motherfuckers.”

 

That just engendered more laughs and I got some slaps on the back myself as they began to shuffle into the mine. Grognar was still chuckling when he handed over my payment, and I…well, what can you do when you’re the new guy (and I sure felt like “one of the guys”) getting hazed? I took the money and laughed along and then went and got a hot meal.

 

It’s just too bad all the other shit, like the curfew and licenses, weren’t hazing as well.

 

 

Don't feed the bastards. Feed yourself instead.

 

 

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