"You'll do too," Frauk told another man. "Go put your gear on the wagon."

Shouldering his pack, Jherek turned and walked back to the caravan master. The man stopped, watching as Jherek came closer.

"I've shipped with a captain who knew manners and who knew men, and had no dealings at all with someone like you, so maybe I'm out of place here," the young sailor said in a hard voice that could be clearly heard, "but I want you to know something. I've fought sharks and I've fought pirates. I've even fought sahuagin. I've fought in the day and in the night, on a ship's deck, on land, and in the sea. My face is marked up right now because I've been in a fight, but that was a fight I won. If you speak to me with such disrespect like that again, you're going to find out firsthand how well I fight."

Without another word, Jherek turned and walked away. His pulse was pounding in his head and he knew he should have been feeling guilty about his behavior, but he didn't. He'd stood up for himself and it felt good. He even thought Malorrie would have understood.

"Hey, boy."

Slowly, Jherek turned back to face the caravan master, thinking maybe the man intended to fight him after all.

The caravan master stood looking back at him.

"Aye, sir," Jherek answered.

"You still want that job?"

"Aye, sir."

"Then go put your gear up on that wagon. I'm hiring fighters today."

For a moment, Jherek stood frozen, not realizing for sure what the man had said. Then he nodded and said, "Aye, sir." He crossed to the wagon and tossed his bedroll and pack into the back.

Baldur's Gate was a long way off overland, but at least he was headed in the right direction. He tried not to think of what may lie ahead of him, taking comfort in this small victory.