Unhappily Ever After: A Collection of Feary Tales

Tales of Gold

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I said that I was not going to release this until Saturday BUT today is hubby and mine's 19th Anniversary. I also didn't edit this so read at your own peril. 

Tales of Gold

The smokey scent of tobacco lingered heavily in the air mingling with the overpowering combination of cheap perfume and alcohol. A young dwarf hobbled around tables and puddles of spilled ale to delivery tankards to demanding customers. Mocked and ridiculed, he endured the insults and abuse in exchange for food and a place to sleep.

This had been his lot ever since his mother failed in her attempt to be rid of him before his birth. Instead, permanent damage was done and he was forced to live unwanted and despised. The inn keeper who ran the pub let him stay, not out of pity or some notion of Christian duty, because people paid to watch the dwarf dance for their entertainment. It was demeaning work but it was the only life he knew.

There was one bright spot in his otherwise bleak life. Sally McFall was a prostitute who always smiled kindly at the disfigured man. A few times, she even gave him sweet candies. His favorite being black licorice. No one, not even the woman who gave birth to him, ever treated him in such a decent fashion. His heart was completely devoted to Ms. Sally and for the first time he fell in love.

The men who came through were not always kind and the dwarf always checked up on Sally. More than once he helped bandage her wounds. This life was tough on anyone and women usually aged faster in this profession as the light was drained from their eyes.

On this night, it was particularly muggy and the packed pub filled with drunken patrons did not ease the heat from the air. The temperatures rose as did tempers. The inn keeper offered the prostitutes' "services" at half price hoping to keep the damage to his bar at a minimum.

The rowdy men snatched up women and disappeared into rooms above the bar. Yells coming from the upstairs caught everyone's attention and the inn keeper shouted for the doctor, who was sitting at the bar, to come quickly. Dread filled the dwarf when he saw the old doctor enter the third door at the top of the stairs. It was Ms. Sally's room.

He tried to go up but was immediately shooed back down with the threat of being tossed out if he didn't get back to work. All evening he waited anxiously while continuing to serve drinks.

"What's all that?" A stranger sitting at a corner table asked. It was hard to judge the man's exact height since he was sitting but he seemed to be over 6 feet tall. His face was strong and rather handsome. It was odd to see that he had all of his teeth and that they gleamed in the candle light. Despite the warmth of the room, the man did not remove his gloves as he ate his meat pie.

"One of the prostitutes were in need of a doctor." The young dwarf said.

"A friend of yours?"

He snorted, "I don't have friends. I'm trash that doesn't deserve to live. But Ms. Sally was always nice to me. She's a good girl but just had a hard life." He defended not wanting the stranger to judge her too harshly based on her profession.

The man nodded and pulled out several gold coins.

"Hey, hey!" he whispered yelled. "Don't flash coin like that around here. You'll end up dead on the street before you can hit the pavement."

The stranger nodded before reaching into the pouch again and pulling out two regular coins to cover his meal. "Meet me in the alley behind the pub. I have something for you."

Curiosity won over caution. It was rare that anyone ever spoke to him as the stranger had and the fact that he carried gold coin meant that he was far richer than the dwarf could ever dream of being. The man stood waiting near the well that serviced the pub.