Astrid pushed the door. Locked. She shook it. "Muti! If you don't answer, then I'm going to break my way in!"
She pounded the door. And again. As she turned to go get her hammer to smash her way through the thick wooden door, the door opened the slightest amount. She turned back to speak with Muti, hoping to make sure that the Barbarian Rogue wasn't poisoned or something like that.
In retrospect, Astrid should have expected the reaction she got. She stretched her arm out to the door to push it further and was thanked with a quick grab. As she let out a short cry of surprise, Muti yanked on her wrist, pulled her through the door, and threw her to the ground. Once the Barbarian was sitting on Astrid's chest, she leaned down with her knife. It was alarming that Astrid somehow was already finding this old hat. It'd been less than a day!
Their eyes met, Muti's a challenge, Astrid's glimmering with a fiercely controlled temper that was dangerously near its breaking point again.
"Why are you here?" Muti demanded.
"I brought a peace offering and an invitation." Astrid tried to hold up the sausage roll, but between her panicked pounding on the door and Muti throwing her to the ground, it'd seen better days. Even so, Muti looked at it with interest.
"You are offering me a place to sit at your table?"
"To eat food and talk."
"While having my mutalia at your table?" Muti insisted.
"If I knew what that was I could tell you." Astrid shrugged while pushing Muti back. The Barbarian resisted and Astrid sighed. "Yes, you ambushed me, you win. Can I stand up now?"
Muti smiled thinly and stood up. Astrid brushed herself off as she mirrored the movement.
"It is… protection, I would call it, protection you give to those who are visiting."
"I guess guestright is the word you're looking for. Yeah, I'll offer you guestright if you come down."
Muti smiled more widely as she stretched her hand out for the sausage roll. "Then I accept your gift."
"Sure." Astrid passed it over, and Muti ripped into it as if she hadn't eaten all day. In fact, Astrid hadn't seen her eat at lunch when they returned to town or at breakfast when she'd gotten in, so how was she feeding herself? That wasn't the question right now, though, because there were more pressing things to deal with, and Astrid was scraping the bottom of the barrel for any lasting patience.
"Why didn't you answer the door?" Astrid asked.
"I did not know who would come to visit me at this time, I did not want to open myself to ambush as you did."
Astrid rubbed her face. Then, with a sigh, she said, "Great. Is there any way that I can communicate to you that it's me in the future? I don't want to impose, but I might need to poke my head in here in the next couple of days as we coordinate delving and so on."
"Why would you need to poke your head into my room to speak with me?" Muti asked, avoiding the subject at hand.
"It's just a saying meaning I might need to talk to you. Nothing more than that."
"Very well. If that is all, then you can call out to me." Muti dismissed as she walked past Astrid into the hall.
"That didn't work this time, though."
"It may not work in the future, either."
"Then what should—forget it. I'll just knock and if I don't hear anything I'll hope you're not dead."
"You were concerned for my life?" Muti asked, turning back to Astrid with a genuinely amazed look on her face.
"I didn't know if you were sick from the bite or if there was anything that you needed help with."
"And you were not hopeful to prey upon my weakness." Muti stated with a flat, disbelieving tone.
"What would I gain from your death?" Astrid demanded, her last scrap of ability to deal with this silliness gone. "I would lose a party member, I would get sent to jail for murder, I'd lose everything I've worked for, it doesn't make a damned lick of sense! Duchess bless me with the ability to understand you, because you're insane!"
"Nothing in your country makes sense!" Muti retorted with a sweeping gesture of her hands. "You trust words over actions and prioritize money over strength! The rich can make commands of those who could slaughter dozens and hundreds of them simply because of meaningless metal worth less than what you wear into battle! Mere talks conclude decisions that impact the entire country without a single drop of blood spilled to prove sincerity, when every person who engages in the conversation has every intent to lie and cheat and steal every moment the opportunity presents itself! And you call my distrust of your lands strange?"
"It's society!" Astrid protested, though she understood the ideas Muti was saying. "There's an order, and the money helps to ensure that those who don't create goods and services that are immediately valuable to others are able to provide for themselves."
"So the weak get to dictate the efforts of the strong? It is upside down, all of it." Muti shook her head vigorously but she turned to Astrid. "I do not understand your country. I do not like it either. You and your people are not where I want to be, to be subject to. However, it is the life I lead and I will cease my complaints. Now, do you wish to guide me to your table that we may eat? I am famished."
Astrid sighed. "Fine. Let me know if there's anything that you want and I'll get it for you."
"That is a part of the guestright, is it not?" Muti asked, her face confused. "You provide for your guests. That is what a guest receives."
"... Yup." Astrid ground out. "Sounds good. There will be a limit on meat for tonight, though, since we haven't gone on a true delve yet."
"That… is acceptable." Muti nodded deep enough it almost seemed like a bow. "I thank you for your… hospitality?"
"Seems like the right word." Astrid replied.
"Then I thank you for your hospitality."
"And I thank you for the help you've given already on our delve. I'm looking forward to working with you in the longer term." Astrid said as she led the way down the stairs. As she appeared, cheers went up. As Muti did, people went silent. Astrid knew the feeling all too well, and she raised her voice, "She deserves a free drink too. Drink well!"
The cheers returned, though more muted than before. There wasn't anything else she could do but to move forward so Astrid brought Muti to the bar to order her food, and as her triple order with a single serving of meat was given, Astrid felt her stomach clench. She was absolutely going into the red for tonight. Part of that was her own misunderstanding of what Muti expected from her invitation, but she was just…
No. It was a night for celebration, and tomorrow she would be able to delve to her heart's content. Astrid ordered her own meal and walked to the side to find a table to sit at.
"Do you know where Skandr would be right now?" Astrid asked as they both sat.
"No. He drinks three times every week, in the morning of our break days. On the other days, he collects his pay and retreats, much like today. I do not often see him outside of our scheduled times." Muti didn't look at Astrid, instead waiting excitedly for the food to arrive.
"So does he live here?"
"I do not believe so."
"Do you know why?" Astrid fought the urge to allow her head to thump against the table in frustration.
"No. His matters are his own." Muti's face lit up as she watched one of the waiters, burdened with four massive bowls of stew and two tankards, approach the table. When he set the bowls down, two before each woman, he nodded as he put the beer down.
"This is on your tab, correct?" He asked Astrid.
"Yes. Have a good night."
He didn't speak as he walked away and Astrid picked up her spoon, surprised Muti hadn't yet as well. As she took her first bite, she almost asked, "What's wrong?" but was interrupted by Muti taking her bowl from in front of her and beginning to tuck in.
"There's something I'm missing here," Astrid said, her confusion managing to tamp down the rage, "because if you decided to steal from me…
As Astrid's voice trailed off, Muti's head fell for a moment. Then, she shook her head. "You do not understand mutalia. Of course you do not.
"You have promised me safety at your table, that you will protect me at risk of your life while I dine within your dominion."
"I… suppose I have." Astrid answered. "I suspect mutalia is more important than I'd thought before. But I've promised to work by that."
"So you, as the… what is the word? Bah! You are in charge, yes? You must ensure that my food is safe! I only eat once it is safe!"
"Does that mean… that I just checked it for poison?" Astrid clarified.
"Yes." Muti nodded as she tucked back into the food. She groaned in satisfaction as she tore into the single fist-sized hunk of meat that'd been soaking in one of the bowls. "I am happy!"
Astrid decided that a happy Barbarian made for a happy party as she took the other bowl that'd been in front of her, made sure Muti was watching, and took a bite out of it. Then she pushed it forward and took Muti's bowls in exchange. The soup was good, though not nearly as hearty as the stuff Stark had made. The lack of meat throughout the bowl was disappointing, and Astrid noted that this chunk of meat was a bit smaller than the one in "her" bowl. A coincidence?
Pushing the thought aside, Astrid tucked into the meal, noting that the beer wasn't anywhere near strong enough to inhibit her thinking. It was a deep red instead of a brown, and Astrid looked at the foamy liquid, sipping to see how the taste might differ from the usual stuff. It was maybe a little sweeter? She couldn't say. Typically, Astrid stuck to water.
"It's from the Dungeon." A voice interrupted her thoughts from behind. Markus stood there, a couple small scratches on his cheeks. Muti stopped eating, sitting up straight for some reason."The hops, they're harvested around the Dungeon entrance. That's part of why the beer's so cheap around here. Plus the red never caught on outside of the immediate surroundings."
"Oh." Astrid nodded. "Thanks for the information. And how was your day?"
"Did a little delving in the afternoon with a party that needed an extra on the second floor as they get used to it. Nothing much, but caught a little shrapnel from a blocked stone." Markus nodded, both to Astrid and Muti. "Glad to see you're getting along better than this morning!"
"We are." Astrid answered the joke seriously, Markus waved as he turned to walk away.
"Thanks for the drink."
"Next time it should be you."
"Maybe."
Then he walked off and Muti loosened up again and returned to eating. Astrid, now most of the way through her first bowl, figured since she was in deep with Muti and learning how to deal with her, she should ask some questions.
"To make sure I'm a good host, how should I act while you are my mutalia?"
"You should introduce me to anyone who speaks with you. Show we are… known to each other. Not allies. If you wish to share that we were bound today, then you can do so. If any expresses a desire to hurt me, you must hear their reasons. If they are reasonable, then you may allow a fight. If the reasons are not sufficient, it is your duty to fight for my honor. If I fall to harm under your care, I am permitted to seek restitution in the way that best suits my interests."
"And what determines that something is or isn't a reasonable justification for the fight?"
"Your honor." She replied. "It is because I have faith in your honor that I have accepted your offer."
"I appreciate it." Astrid nodded. "Enjoy your food."
Muti just nodded as she tore into the second bowl of soup. Before long it was gone and she'd pounded the tankard of beer as well. Astrid ate at a slightly more reasonable pace, though she found herself completed with the meal as well.
"On our delving tomorrow," Astrid said as she gestured for one of the waiters to bring another drink for Muti, "I think we should change our approach a little."
"In what way, leader?" Muti asked, becoming much more serious as she nursed her second beer.
"You should still scout as you did today, but instead of having the separation we had today, I'd prefer that we all get closer. There's always going to be a chance that one of the gnolls are away, and I would prefer to have harder fights and guarantee that we don't need to return for avoidable damage."
"I avoid detection! And I was not wounded!" Muti retorted, though lacking heat.
"Those are true, but I want to be sure that there aren't any wounds or injuries in the future. If there's an unexpected fourth gnoll, then it would take too long for Skandr and I to react from so far away. It's better to present a unified front against the enemy in the event that something happens. If you get injured, then Skandr and I will be inconvenienced."
Astrid also didn't want to watch one of her party members die once again, but that was beside the point, at least, so far as Muti herself was concerned. As such, she tried to focus on what her limited understanding of her new party member meant Muti would need to hear.
Fortunately, it seemed to work as Muti pursed her lips. Then, after a moment, she nodded, her veritable mane of hair bouncing as she did so.
"We will approach as one, though I will go around to ambush one."
"Sounds good. You're great at that." Astrid reassured her.
"And what will Skandr do?" Muti asked. "It may be that he should change his approach as well?"
There was something in her tone that seemed to say that Astrid was being tested. Astrid sighed and sat back a little in her chair, grateful to have been lucky enough to sit in a chair instead of a bench.
"For this different way of attack, I think it might be better for him to buff you instead of me." Astrid though. "Or maybe just boost both of us and relegate himself more to that opening support and maybe getting one hit in during the fight. It's hard to say, because we're looking to minimize the chances for accidents. What do you think, my bound companion?"
"We are not bound companions." Muti corrected. "We may yet become such, but victory before death and blood before affection."
"I hope we can trust each other enough to become that." Astrid said. Despite the hate she'd always felt towards Barbarians, because of what people thought she was as well as the few stories she'd heard from her papa, Astrid felt a kinship with Muti, the forgotten, outcast girl.
"Perhaps we can." Muti nodded. "Now, I believe that buffing both of us will be the correct course of action. Skandr is quicker than he lets on. If he is kept from using his Skill on himself, he will do other things and focus on his efficiency instead."
Astrid and Muti continued speaking for several hours, each nursing another drink as they talked about plans for the first and second levels of the Dungeon, hopes for their next watershed, and plans for evolution to Iron. By the end of the night, Astrid smiled widely and reached out to give Muti a hug. She declined, but she did speak. "Thank you. For welcoming me. For everything. I am no longer your… under your guestright. I will be ready to delve tomorrow."
In her naivete, Astrid somehow didn't expect the kick that Muti sent her way as soon as they both stood from the table. It took her in the hip, just hard enough to push her back. The little contests, the fights for "superiority"... would she ever get accustomed to them? In the end, she just decided to shake her head, walk down the hall to her room, and make sure to lock the door behind her before falling into bed. Tomorrow, there was no ceiling in how many gnolls they were allowed to kill. Astrid planned to see how far she could push that.
She slept with a satisfied grin on her face.