Chapter Text
Things in Neverwinter were good. They were great, in fact. With Forge imprisoned, Sofia imprisoned and Edgin and Holga joining the ranks of the free men (and women), things were pretty amazing, even.
Well, except for the fact, that they had gotten stuck in the city, instead of returning back to Targos. Ed could at times not help but wonder why. Because he missed his home and he was rather certain that, if they just were honest with themselves, Holga and Kira would agree.
Sitting at the tavern, he sighed, as he stared into his mug of ale. He barely registered anything that was going on around him.
Technically speaking, things were kinda looking up. He was making an honest living. No as a Harper, dear Gods, but as a bard, who at times even got to play at the castle. The upsides of being a freaking hero and all of that.
They were living in a nice apartment, too. Probably nicer, than that old house in Targos. Though, of course, there were other things that never sat quite right with him.
“Excuse me!” Just barely Edgin was aware of what happened but two yards away from him, where Ceran – Holga’s new boyfriend – was trying to get to the bar. Ed wasn’t entirely certain, what had happened, but two rather burly guys were in poor little Ceran’s way, one of them human, the other half-orc by the looks of it.
“Watch it, Half-Squat,” the human grumbled.
“Watch, what?” Ceran replied. “Your pompous ass?”
“What the frick is your problem, Hin?” Now the half-orc turned around.
Ceran was a halfling. Of course. Just the way Holga liked her man. His skin was rather dark, though he was a scribe at the court of Neverwinter. In fact his entire family had worked for the Lord of Neverwinter for nine generations now, as he never got tired of pointing out. What was it with Holga not only falling for halflings all the time, but those horrible goody-two-shoes? Ed didn’t get it.
However, Ceran had an attitude as well. Now he put his arms akimbo and tried to stare down the half-orc. “Excuse me, I am trying to get to the bar.” He nodded over his shoulder to Holga. “My girlfriend is thirsty.”
The human laughed at this. “That is your girlfriend?”
It was so clearly his tone, that got Holga to put down her half eaten baked potato and come over to them. “You got a problem with that?”
A rather cocky grin was her reply. “Oh, please, as if a Hin could satisfy a woman like you.” He touched Holga’s cheek. “Give me a night and I can show you, what a real man can do for you.”
Edgin sighed, looking back to his ale. “He shouldn’t have said that,” he muttered.
Of course, he was right. He did not even have to watch, as a moment later he heard a crack and a very pained scream, as Holga had no doubt broken the offender’s wrist.
“What the hells, woman,” the human whined, as the half-orc now growled.
“What did you do that for?”
Holga growled right back at him. A side-glance told Ed, that their noses were almost touching.
“Honey,” Ceran tried, tucking on Holga’s west. “Let it be. There is no need for further…”
A voice come from beside Edgin. “Dad?”
Either, Holga did not hear Ceran, or she did not want to hear him. Either way, she answered the question: “First, because nobody talks about my boyfriend like this. He is perfectly capable of satisfying my every need.”
At this point Ceran would probably have given a lot for any sort of invisibility spell.
“Second, though, I do not appreciate being touched like that.” She shot the still whining human a side glance.
The half-orc was either very stupid, or very brave, as he grinned at her. “My brother is right, though. You probably only act this way, because you haven’t been…”
He did not get any further with his sentence, as Holga’s fist hit him right against the nose.
Now it was the human barkeep, a rather pale looking guy, who tried to intervene. “Please. If you want to beat each other up, do it outside.”
Holga scoffed. “I think we are already done here. Just gimme another beer and…” She was wrong.
A fist hit her stomach, cutting her sentence short as she groaned.
“Honey!” Ceran’s voice was considerably higher pitched than usual.
Edgin just shook his head, sighed, and stared into his ale.
“Dad?”
“You fricking son of a sea hag,” Holga growled. There were two punches, both accentuated by cracks and groans.
Some other people were paying attention now as well. Someone had gotten up, though Edgin did not pay enough attention to really take in the person.
“My lady, you should calm down. Don’t take those men to heart.”
Things were great in Neverwinter. Or rather they should be. After all, they had saved the entire city now a good half year ago. And they were having a good life. Definitely better than prison and technically speaking it should be considered a good thing, that they were making an honest living. Even though being just a bard was kinda boring… But it was safe. It could keep them all safe. Safe and easy money. A good thing.
“Don’t you dare to touch me!”
“Please, I did not mean it.”
Another punch. Another crack.
“Dad.” The voice was now a lot more urgent.
“Stop making such a commotion!” This voice was deep and sounded rather dangerous. Though Ed was not really worried, given all the other things that he had seen Holga beat up before.
“You darn poxy!”
Now a glass bottle broke and there was another scream.
“Dad!”
Admittedly, Edgin was not entirely happy with their living situation either. Given the fact, that they were living together with Ceran. But the housing market in Neverwinter was harsh and since Ceran had been working for the court of Neverwinter for now nine generations – no, wait. It was his family that had been doing that, but whatever… Yeah, point was, that he had a nice big apartment in the city and was happy to have Holga and Kira there.
Meanwhile Ed and Ceran… Well…
“Edgin,” that was now Ceran’s voice, as the halfling went over to him. “You should do something!”
“You really should, dad!” Kira agreed, as she was sitting by his side, drinking her apple juice.
Looking over to Holga again, Ed had to admit that the situation had already gotten a little out of hand. As Holga was somehow now fighting the two offenders from before, another rather buff lady, a burly thing with a lot of hairs (tabaxi, maybe?) and something that Ed was rather certain had to be a half-troll or something.
Now she was swinging a chair over her head, hitting the hairy thing with it over the head. But that thing did not go down that easily. Instead, it hissed. (Definitely tabaxi, then.)
“What am I supposed to do about it?” Edgin just asked. “Let Holga have her fun.”
“Holga got herself banned from four taverns already!” Kira insisted.
Ed shrugged. “We will find another one.”
“You are missing the point, Edgin.” Ceran gave him a stern look. “Have you even thought how this makes us look.”
“You mean, how it makes you look,” Ed muttered.
Because that was the entire thing that annoyed him so much about this hin. He was all obsessed with his family legacy as scribes and what not on the court and how it made him look. For frick’s sake, other folks were happy that they could name their grandparents. So, who cared what some codgers nine generations ago had done?
“Dad. You really should do something about it,” Kira said. She gave him that look. That stern look, he knew too well from her mother. When she would wrinkle her nose ever so slightly, as her brows narrowed.
The half-orc had gotten out a saber, while the barkeep was now screaming.
“Please! You guys! Not in here! Not…” He got ignored.
Holga, however, dodged the attacks with ease, grabbing the half-orc’s wrist as well. It took a bit more effort, but this one got broken, too.
Ed cringed over the sound.
In the end, he knew Holga for long enough. He knew her temper. And he knew that once she was having her fun, there was nothing much that could stop her. So, really…
He diverted his attention back to his ale, drank a deep gulp and sighed once more.
“Dad!”
“She is having fun, Kira,” he muttered. “You know her as good as I do.”
“Well, she shouldn’t have fun like his!”
“Edgin,” Ceran said. “You have to intervene.”
“How the hells am I supposed to intervene?” Edgin asked. Because he was absolutely not gonna fight any of those guys – or Holga, for that matter.
“Do a bard thing!”
Now Ed rubbed the bridge of his nose. “My dear Ceran, there is no ‘bard thing’ that I can…”
“Dad,” Kira interrupted him, as even more people got up, “please.” Her expression had shifted from narrowed brows to doe eyes.
Darn it. That she had gotten from him. He was rather sure of it. The talent of knowing right what she needed to do. And he was absolutely weak against it. He just could not bare it, looking at those pleading dark eyes.
“You are unfair,” he muttered and sighed one last time. Then he got up his mug, emptied it, before climbing onto the bar.
Of course, he had his lute with him. After all, you’d never know, when you might need a lute, right? He strung a court.
“My lady’s and gent’s and everyone in between,” he started his sing-sang, making everyone just pause in their movement for a moment, as they turned to him. “I ask the lot of you. Those from here and those from far, have you heard the story of Xenk Yendar?”
He was not entirely certain, why he was starting with this. It was the first thing that had come to mind, but admittedly it had been a little something he had been working on for a while. Because the stupid straight-shooter was interesting enough for a song, Ed assumed. Folks loved to tell stories about the guy, how he had saved these or that guy, had vanquished all sorts of evils and… Eh, lots of pretty awesome stuff.
“What are you doing, Ed?” Holga murmured. A question that Edgin did kinda agree with. But now that he had captured everyone’s attention, he had to continue like this, right?
Xenk Yandar is a man of unordinary will,
Courageous and strong he fights.
His story, however, is so much stranger, still,
Of how a thay took the paladin’s rites.
Admittedly, his entire thing was half made up. Not that it would do any harm. But he had heard more than enough stories about that man during those last six months. And oh, how many of them were heroic. And of course, there was the stuff that the man had told them during their rather short trip to the Underdark.
Folks were staring at Ed right now. And technically speaking he should bask in it. He was a bard after all. Somehow, though, he felt rather awkward about it.
The time was just a hundred years ago,
In the land of Thay, you fear,
When Szass Tam decided to overthrow,
The zulkins once held dear.
He really was not happy with how the song was right now. Because it was still kinda missing something and he did not know what. He had the story he wanted to tell – but a story along did not a bardic song make.
Young Xenk was just ten years old,
When Tam released the Death,
Upon the people of Thaymount, called,
For the sun’s highest crest.
On this fateful day young Xenk lost,
All that he had ever known.
But from that one immeasurable loss,
A true hero now was sown.
“Just get down here, Ed,” Holga now muttered, standing by the bar to his feet.
“No, my dear. First we get out of here,” Ceran replied and took her hand.
“But…” Looking at her partner, she quickly realized, that he was serious, though, and for once was reasonable enough to give in.
Ed just gestures at Kira to follow. The truth was, that he did not really have a proper end to the song yet, either. It just kinda petered out after six verses. Which was not the kind of epic ballad this was supposed to be. So, yeah. Why the hells had he started with this song of all the songs he knew? (Because he was an idiot, that’s why.)
As he escaped the darkness’s claws that day,
Death had his spirit marked.
But in the world young Xenk found his way,
As new courage had been sparked.
In the never-ending light of faith,
He swore the binding oath,
To serve the folk for all his days,
And protect with all his force.
And with a couple more cords, he finally stopped playing.
For a moment, silence followed, as the folks just kept staring at him. In the end it was the hairy thing, that was probably a tabaxi, who growled: “What kinda song was that?”
Ed tried his best and most charming grin. “A not yet finished one. An exclusive preview, so to speak.” He got a couple of coins out of his purse, as he climbed down from the bar, almost slipping on the ground. “But it is always nice to have a captivated audience.” Quickly, he put down those coin onto the bar, winking at the barkeep. “Keep the change. For the repairs.” And before the barkeep or the rather surprised audience could react, he slipped out of the tavern door.
Outside he shouldered his lute again, before giving another sigh. Gods, why was he sighing so much as of late? He was not the melancholic type! Take every day and make the best out of it, because that was the only good way to live your life.
Maybe it was the change in weather, as winter was near. Yeah. That might be it. The weather. Nothing more.
It did not take him long to find the others in an alleyway. Holga was bowing down to Ceran, who was wiping away some blood wrong her nose and lips.
“I am telling you, I am fine,” she muttered.
“You might be fine. But you keep getting into trouble.”
“I would not call a bar fight ‘trouble’, dear.”
Kira was the first to notice him. Her eyes lighting up in relief. “Dad!”
Now Holga turned her head as well. “What was that supposed to be?”
“What?”
“That song?”
“Eh, just something I have been working on for a while.”
He did not like that little grin on Holga’s face, as she eyed him now. “I thought you did not like that guy.”
“A bard does not have to like someone to make a song about them,” Ed replied. “He is a pretty famous hero. So it stands to reason, folks would love songs about him.”
Kira sighed, as she was eyeing him, too. “I wish I had gotten to meet him.”
“Don’t worry, bug,” Holga said. “We will definitely take you along on our next epic quest.”
Epic quest, eh? Ed looked up to the sky, where only now the moon was rising. It was still early, though it should probably be time for them to take Kira home.
Epic quest… Yeah, as something like that would happen again. After all, they were not thieves anymore. And he wasn’t a Harper either. Right now, he was just a common bard, who happened to be a hero and got to play in the court from time to time. Which was a good thing, he reminded himself. Because it was safe and made somewhat good money right now. It was a good way to raise Kira. They could even send her to a proper school, maybe the Academy. He should be happy. He should be. It was just that an epic quest, a real adventure… That sounded like something he would like once again.