Free 01 - The Price of Talent by Peter Whittlesey

happy.
     
                  With that I set to cleaning up the room and making it more habitable. I ended up just stuffing all the old and empty storage materials in the hallway, figuring I would find a better place for them later. The hard part of the cleanup was chasing out the spiders. They were surprisingly indifferent to me waving my sword at them. My sword on the other hand had a few choice words to say about it being used in that manner. In the end I propped up the sword in the corner and found an old almanac to smash bugs with. That got the spiders’ attention, and they quickly vacated the area. Likely just hiding in another room, but I was willing to live with that. It went unspoken, but I think the spiders were aware of the boundary lines to our détente.
     
                  Upon reviewing my now clean… well clean-ish room, I became aware of my lack of furnishings. I also became aware of the fact that the bed lacked pillows or blankets. Not sure where to turn for this, having not seen any around when I got rid of the old boxes and barrels, I ventured out and into the main hall. Seated around the tables were various members of the gang. Some I recognized, one woman I did not. But I did notice Sapphire over by the kitchen area putting together a sandwich.
     
                  “Uhm… uh… Sapphire?” I stammered out.
     
                  “Yes kid?” She said without looking at me.
     
                  “Where do I get pillows and blankets?” I asked.
     
                  “There’s a storage closet right over there. It’s got some wool blankets and pillow cases in it. We don’t have any goose down or any of that crap you may be used to. But you can stuff a pillow case with some straw. I suggest putting a layer of wool between it and your pillow case. In fact, use two pillow cases, it keeps the straw from poking you at night.”
     
                  “Uh… Thanks!” I said.
     
                  “Just let me eat my sandwich in peace and you will have thanked me enough.” She said.
     
                  Not sure how to take that remark, I went and grabbed the stuff I needed from the closet. Then I went back to my room and tried to make the best of things. It took me some time, but I got the pillow to a point where I could actually put my head on it and be comfortable. But considering that I had first been expecting to sleep in a tent on the cold ground outdoors, I figured I had no right to complain.
     
                  Wandering back out to the common room I saw that everyone was tucking in to some food. I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do, but I was also very hungry.
     
                  “Anyone mind if I eat something?” I asked.
     
                  “Grab some food and chow down kid.” Said Sapphire. “You’re staying here, so it would be rude for us to starve you.”
     
                  “Uhm… Thanks!” I said lamely.
     
                  Fortunately, there was plenty of food left on the counter in the kitchen area. I grabbed a small loaf of bread, some dried meat and cheese and a little butter to make myself a sandwich. Then I grabbed a mug, ladled myself some fresh water from the clean water barrel and sat down at the unoccupied end of one of the two parallel tables. Ross then came over and sat down across from me.
     
                  “Hey Tyr, you said earlier that you lived on your parents’ farm right?”
     
                  With the echoes of my sword’s warning in my ear I managed to say: “Uh, yeah. I helped my dad out doing chores around the farm. Why?”
     
                  “Well, as Sapphire no doubt told you, we all chip in around here. And since you have some experience with it, we figured the easiest thing to start you on tomorrow would be helping Moira with the