The Forest Heart

Pearl and the Boars Part 1

Adam sighed in the crisp morning air disappointed as he climbed the stairs back to the kingdom. He hadn't realized Rosila was Hank's girl. It would be such a shame to kill something so pretty before he had his fun.

Unfortunately, she didn't seem like the type to jump at the chance of getting to know him better. Such a pity. Adam wandered through the early morning market, wondering how on earth any of them survived selling worthless junk. Who the hell wanted to buy horse shit?

"Makes a great fertilizer for farming. It's very popular in the springtime especially." Someone grumbled at his scowling face, making Adam glance down. He frowned at the group of dwarfs' standing beside him. They wore the colors of Salvino and proudly displayed the golden boars on their red tunics.

"Your highness. We are the band of Boars." The leader told him cautiously as they bowed their heads.

"Yes, I have heard of you mercenaries. What is it you want?" Adam asked them as they glanced at each other.

"The lad by the name of Kale sent us. Hired us to deliver a letter." The leader told him as one of his men passed him the sealed envelope. "I'll admit it's less exciting than what we are used to, but the money's good." He grumbled as he passed Adam the letter.

Adam took it with a frown. He waved for them to follow as he left the so-called fertilizer behind. It had Kale's seal in the wax making Adam eagerly rip the letter open and read through it.

Adam,

Birds are no longer safe while I dwell in Salvino. Your brother is monitoring them closely. It looks like the hounds succeeding in their task and have secured Golder for us for the time being. However, I feel we should move on quickly. The boars might prove useful to you as you bide your time to marry the princess. They are good at their jobs and have, so far, never failed a mission. Though they are not nearly as savage as the hounds making them more versatile. Gathering information, finding missing persons and so on. I will meet you in the ashen waste land.

As always, Your friend,

Kale

Adam frowned as he read it over. Kale didn't praise people often, so these men were probably better than Kale suggested. The real question was could they be useful to him in the long run.

"So, you have delivered the letter. What now?" Adam asked as the Boars sighed.

"Our mission is complete, unless you have a task for us, we will be going home where the work is good." The leader grunted as his men nodded behind him. Adam nodded as he glanced around the market. What use did he have for them? He paused when he noticed a young girl wandering through the markets quickly. He smiled when he recognized Rosila.

Her long brown curls bounced as she hurried through the market. Adam watched her for a moment tapping the letter on his fingers. He had wanted to spend more time with the girl, but he wasn't sure if he would get the chance. He cast the boars a quick glance, deciding it would be the perfect test.

"That girl there, in the blue shawl. I want you to see what you can find out about her. I'm worried her father might be a traitor to the queen of Trayson and might have to be dealt with. I want to see how far that corruption goes, and if I need to worry about the whole family or just him." Adam told the boars as they all watched her disappear into the crowd.

The shortest dwarf among them, barely reached three feet tall. He clicked his tongue and an ugly red hound stirred beside him as he assigned it a target. The two of them disappeared into the crowd as Adam watched his shiny bald head vanish among the browns and greens of Trayson.