Chapter 36
Aghavni’s terms of negotiation
The next morning Annika and the others awoke to a howl of excitement. Ohan came bursting into the barn, upsetting the sheep.
“She really expects me to do this?” he sputtered in exasperation. “What is she thinking? How could she…when am I going to have time for that?”
Annika sat up to see what all the fuss was about while Finn and Justinian walked over to the opening in the floor where the top of the ladder rested. Ohan only needed to stand on the third rung to reach them. In one humongous green hand, he held a few neatly written pages.
“Would you just look at this? It’s completely unreasonable!” Ohan exclaimed. “I didn’t think she would really do it!” Finn took the list from the troll and skimmed though each handwritten page. The smile on his lips grew wider the more he read.
“Oh, she drew up one hell of a contract,” Finn laughed. “Are you still prepared to sign it in blood?”
“What does it say?” Runa yawned as Zaven pulled a piece of hay out of her tangled hair. Now that everyone was awake, Finn cleared his throat and read just a few selections from the list in his deep voice.
“No shoes in the house. Well, that’s reasonable enough,” he commented before continuing.
“Boys will be in bed by half past eight. Boys will have quiet time from dinner until bedtime. You must fix the chairs and restock the woodpile within one week of signing this contract, and the woodpile shall never be less than halfway stocked; you must also repair the garden fence, and build those cold frames and the greenhouse I’ve wanted by the beginning of spring following the signing of this contract. There will be no use of weaponry larger than a dagger inside the house. The boys will be assigned chores based on their age and ability. The boys will complete chores when asked and must not have excuses made for them by their father. The boys will not be rewarded for completion of chores. The boys must do something extra special for any possibility of a reward. Discipline will be enforced by both parents and not just Mother. If Ohan’s chores are not complete by dinner time, there will be no dinner for him. If the boys’ chores are not completed by dinner time, there will be no dinner for them or for Ohan.”
“Can you believe these terms?” Ohan asked, but most of the travelers could only try their best not to laugh. They were all thinking Aghavni had been extraordinarily lenient.
“Ah, here’s the clincher…she saved it for the very end,” Finn went on with a renewed grin. “You must allow for a romantic evening for the two of us once a month. This will be away from the children and away from the sheep. Outings to livestock shows and selling the wool at market do not count towards this outing. I agree to be responsible for finding someone to tend to the children on said outings. If you agree to these terms by signing this contract along with at least ten witnesses, you may seek retribution from the Pazachi.”
There were quite a few snickers and laughs that were disguised as coughs, and as Ohan pouted, making his teeth jut even more from his bottom jaw.
“There is no way I will be able to get all of these things done,” he complained. “I want nothing more than to join you, and she won’t let me!”
“Ohan, my friend,” Justinian said cheerfully, “she will let you. Don’t you see? Her terms are not unreasonable. What would be unreasonable is for someone as capable as yourself to not sign this contract. Don’t you know how vital someone of your strength and skill would be to our party?”
“Well of course I know,” Ohan defended. “I’m Ohan the Green.”
“You know, if you signed this contract and really impressed her, she would let you leave with us in a heartbeat,” Yuri encouraged him. “All she wants is some help around the house and with the boys. She doesn’t want you to be unhappy Ohan; she wants everyone to be happy, including herself.”
“Yes, I see what you mean,” he pondered, but he wasn’t quite convinced. “She wants those chairs fixed in a week though, and I’ll never get it done if I have to tend to the sheep and implement all these new rules right away.”
“Well, if you say it can’t be done then I expect it can’t,” said Finn. He handed the contract back to Ohan while shaking his curls in disappointment. “And to think I was going to offer my carpentry expertise to help you with those chairs.”
“You would do that for me?” Ohan asked with a hopeful smile. “Say, if you helped me out a little, certainly I could go with you!”
“We would need to talk it over,” Finn said, glancing at his friends and siblings. “Let’s discuss this with your wife over breakfast. Chivanni makes incredible omelets, so that might help her to be more receptive.” Ohan grinned with rekindled hope and climbed off the ladder, whistling to himself as he left the barn.
“Finn, what a remarkable strategy!” Justinian exclaimed after he was gone. “There was nothing in that contract that said he couldn’t have a little help.” His pale blue eyes lit up even brighter with enthusiasm at having a troll warrior join their party.
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Zaven asked, but he was thinking over the idea with the same enthusiasm as everyone else. “We’ve made good time so far, we could spare a few days.”
“We could totally do it,” Annika piped up. “Maybe he could take his wife on a romantic weekend getaway, and we could have that house sparkling clean when they returned.”
“I don’t know about sparkling, but anything we did would certainly be an improvement,” agreed Hilda.
“It’s going to be a lot of work,” Sariel said, but length of the to-do list didn’t faze her. Instead her eyes were shining at the thought of having Ohan the Green on their side. “But it would be worth it. Did you see the size of his biceps? We would only need a few days to get his tasks completed if all of us pitched in.” There was an air of excitement as everyone talked about what could be done within just a few days, swapping a few household chores for an eleven-foot tall axe-wielding troll.
“There are plenty of dead trees in the forest around the house. We could thin them out and have the woodpile stocked quickly enough, and those chairs can be mended easily,” Finn said.
“Perhaps we can even teach those boys a few manners,” Hilda suggested, and Runa nodded in agreement.
“You really want to be around those troll boys on purpose? They could break you little samodivi in half,” Talvi said in disbelief.
“I’d like to see them try,” Sariel grinned.
“I’m sure I could straighten them out a bit,” Justinian boomed with a laugh.
“Does anyone else think this is a waste of time besides me?” Talvi asked. “It’s not our responsibility to clean up after trolls. They’re so…ugh!” He shivered a little in disgust, to imaging living closely with the seven boys.
“If you can’t handle a family of trolls, what makes you think you can handle the Pazachi?” Nikola asked him innocently. Talvi gave him a long hard stare, but said nothing. Nikola had made an excellent point.
“We could really use Ohan’s help,” Finn persisted, trying to convince his brother of their plan. “If we run into trouble, he could easily take on two or three times more opponents than any of us can. Strategically, he would be such an asset. Furthermore, no one’s asking you to babysit. You can help me restock the woodpile and mend the chairs.”
“I just think we’re getting in way over our heads. You saw the size of that list. We came here with a specific mission to carry out, and now we’re getting sidetracked with training baboons whilst Ohan and Aghavni waltz away on a romantic holiday. I can’t believe we’re even speaking about this! Our first priority is to find the Pazachi and hope that they’re the ones truly responsible for the broken portals so we can fix them and send Annika back home where she belongs.”
“Why are you suddenly in such a hurry to see her leave?” Chivanni asked with a frown.
“She’s the one who’s in such a hurry to leave,” he replied, then turned to Annika. “Isn’t that right? Or would you rather drop eve
rything and halt our progress so everyone can play house for the next week or more?”
“Honestly, I don’t see how a few more days is going to make a big difference in the grand scheme of things,” she admitted. “And I think Finn’s got the right idea with trying to get Ohan to join us. You guys said at the meeting that the Pazachi don’t negotiate, so I’d feel a lot safer if he was around. Plus, Aghavni could use all the help she can get. She looks like she’s ready to pop.”
“Fine then, do whatever you want,” he scoffed. Then he turned to his brother. “I’ll help restock the woodpile, but I want nothing to do with those blasted demons. I can barely tolerate the larvae at home as it is, let alone seven troll children. This is your project, not mine.”
“Sometimes you’re such a selfish toad!” Dardis cried from her place beside Annika. “What happened to the sweet birthday boy I danced with? You’ve been an unbearable brat ever since we left! Your tantrums are worse now than when you were a baby. Perhaps you would be more comfortable sleeping in the cradle with Sedem tonight!” she spit out angrily.
“Perhaps you would be more comfortable sleeping in the manure pile with the flies, you little insect!” he snapped back at her. She looked as though he’d slapped her in the face, and she burst into tears, buzzing out of the barn through the slightly ajar window. Chivanni was aghast.
“How dare you speak to her like that? What is wrong with you?” he demanded, but he didn’t bother waiting for an answer. Instead, he chased after his dear friend, whose cries had followed her out the window. Talvi looked around at everyone’s shocked faces. The room was silent. Even the sheep below them seemed afraid to make a sound.
“That was a horrendous thing to say to her,” Finn reprimanded, completely abhorred at his brother’s behavior. “I think you should leave, and don’t come back until you’ve apologized.” Too proud to admit that he’d crossed the boundaries of Dardis’ friendship, Talvi stood up and slung his bow over his shoulder.
“Well then,” he said coolly as he began climbing down the ladder, “it may be some time before I come back.” He climbed down the ladder and left the barn, slamming the door behind him. Annika felt ashamed for his behavior, since he apparently did not. From what thoughts she was able to pick up on, it seemed that he had called Dardis the worst known name for a fairy.
“Is he always so moody?” Justinian asked while Sariel braided his long hair. For the first time since he’d joined the group, his typical jolly humor was gone. “Someone needs to straighten him out. The last thing we need when we find the Pazachi is an unpredictable liability like him.”
“Volatile people do reckless things,” Nikola said with a frown of concern. “I only hope he gets over it by the time we reach the Pazachi, or we’re all going to wind up dead.”