This week is another excerpt from “The Brave Little Thrall,” a Heartsbane Saga short story that I’m still not done editing because life. It’s a retelling of the fairy tale “The Brave Little Tailor.” It’s a more obscure story than other fairy tales, so here’s the basic plot: a tailor kills seven flies with one strike (“seven in one blow”) and brags about it, but “forgets” to mention he killed flies so everyone assumes he’s a fierce warrior even though he’s a scrawny little tailor. He goes on adventures using trickery and eventually tricks his way into his own kingdom.
I’m continuing from last week’s excerpt. Our hero Fahim has just managed to interpret some old runes that no one else could. In this scene, he’s telling some of his colleagues about his discovery again. Khasir is his main rival at the university.
* * * * * * *
“Most scholars take years to uncover such knowledge,” another man said, “and you were able to decode seven runes at once?”
“Yes,” Fahim said, “once I realized their resemblance to the Fustites—”
“Such accomplishments must be celebrated,” Khasir interrupted, stroking his mustache as a smile Fahim didn’t like the looks of played at the edges of his mouth. “You’ve accomplished quite a feat.”
“Yes, well, anyone could of—”
“Yes, but it wasn’t anyone,” Khasir interrupted again, “it was you.”
“Yes, I suppose—”
“And you could do it again, if the opportunity presented itself?”
“Probably, but—”
“Then here is your chance!”
* * * * * * *
And here’s the rest of that scene:
Khasir pushed Fahim through a doorway, into a dark room. As he waited for his eyes to adjust to the low light, the first thing he noticed was the smell: stale, sour sweat of many unwashed bodies. The next thing was the sounds: low moans, frightened chatter in a language he thought might be that spoken by one of the tribes beyond the mountains. Finally, he could discern bodies: lots and lots of bodies, pressed close to each other, their ankles connected by dull chains. Slaves.
He quickly spun around to confront Khasir. “What’s the meaning of this?”
Khasir didn’t answer. Instead he walked farther into the room, over to a low table where several pale-skinned men with yellow beards and half-shaved heads reclined on a dirty rug.
“We’re sending you on an adventure, Fahim Al Rasheed,” he said.
* * * * * * *
About “The Brave Little Thrall:”
Fahim Al Rasheed has spent his life studying foreign cultures, but he never thought he’d actually have the chance to visit them. When his journey of a lifetime leaves him and a young barbarian king marooned in a hostile country, he’ll have to rely on more than book learning to make it back home alive.
* * * * * * *
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Hmm, I sense a trap being laid.
My father was a college professor. He believed that education was the key to success and reading was the key to education. He provided my brother and me with numerous books, including huge volumes of folklore and fairy tales from around the world. To be honest, the Brave Little Tailor is a story that I had forgotten about. I enjoyed the reminder and your new take on the story.
Uh oh, this adventure doesn’t sound too promising at all! Enjoyed the snippet though, good details…
Never has “sending you on an adventure” sounded more ominous.
Love his humility when he clearly is an expert. Makes him so likeable and accessible.
And if you fail to decode the text, you’ll end up in chains, too?
Uh oh. This does not sound to promising. More like an ultimatum.