“I’m sorry. That was my fault.”
Me and Vanessa are sitting in front of a fire near the entrance to the dungeon where we had set up camp. We made it back only a couple of minutes ago and stumbled around for a time finding sticks with the torches before lighting a real fire.
“How? There’s no way you could have known what was going to happen there. Those tunnels are dangerous, and we knew that when we went in.”
Vanessa was sitting to my side with her hands around her knees.
“I know. But I also failed in every way as a party member. I didn’t know they were in that part of the tunnel, but I knew about the spiders. I thought that with all of those skeletons we would be fine on the first floor without much hassle. Nests of that size are really rare but you still should have known. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not a big problem. We got out, didn’t we? We can just learn from that the next time right?
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s not dwell on it. We can talk more in the morning but for now, let’s just go to sleep. We’re diving again tomorrow yeah?”
“Right. Let’s get a night’s rest. I’ll fill you in with more info in the morning. “
At least as she walked away to her bag I can see she is a little less down. I really don’t hold a grudge for things like that. She couldn’t have known where the spiders were going to be or how many of them there were. And from her reaction, I think she disliked the encounter even more than I did.
++++++++++++++++
In the morning I wake up feeling better than I thought I would. I was worrying on the way over that it would be just about as uncomfortable as sleeping in the dirt, but thankfully between the fire and the sleeping bag, I can get up without much discomfort or fuss. I find Vanessa crouching by the fire and making coffee.
Coffee! I’m surprised they have it here as well. I’m not a big fan of the taste but the caffeine on the other hand is something I can appreciate in the early hours. I was never much of a morning person in my past life so that stuff can be seriously helpful.
“Want a cup?”
“Of course, thanks for making it.”
“No problem. I want to make up for all the trouble I’ve caused. One thing at a time if necessary.”
One thing we talked about that night at her house was the etiquette of this world. One of them was particularly important to us. The return of debts.
In everyday life, you wouldn’t notice much difference but the bigger the debt the more seriously people took it. This went doubly so if you are a person of high position in society. If you were a noble known for not paying back what others did for you, whether that be monetarily or otherwise, you would be shunned by high society.
Life debts are the ultimate form of this. There are tales of kings falling from their horses in battle and being saved by a peasant soldier. In a show of thanks, the king would often pile titles and riches onto the man who saved his life. Bringing him from poverty to an influential member of the upper class in a matter of days in an attempt to pay back the debt owed.
For normal people, however, this would often result in voluntary servitude. There are exceptions, of course, based on family or other things. And often the person offered this form of repayment would simply refuse.
I immediately tried to do the same to Vanessa but she refused my refusal and laughed it off saying that she would have left me for dead a long time ago if she thought wasn’t a good man.
The point is, she already feels like she owes me and now she almost got me killed. I don’t agree. If I hadn’t had her with me to help along the way I probably would have died sooner or later out in the woods. On top of that, she got me out of those grim robes and now I have good food to eat and a friend to talk to. I’m happier this morning than I was any time in this world before I met her.
I’m smiling now as I take the coffee and lean against a tree nearby to drink it.
“What’s that about.” “I don’t have the slightest clue what you mean.” “Come on, wipe that smile off your face or tell me what it’s about.” “You seem down. I really don’t care about what happened yesterday. I promise. Be happier. I’m happy today. I’m finally getting my life here together. And it’s thanks to you. So keep your head up ok?”
A small relieved and amused look plays over her face for a second and I beam my smile even harder.
Todays gonna be a great day.
