This wasn't Audrey's first one-night stand with a barmaid. Far from it. But there was something about Jess that was different, even before she had learned about her past as Traskol. A combination of childlike innocence and wonder, an ability to abandon herself completely to joy and pleasure, and under it all a kind of quiet wisdom that belied her youthful appearance. Holy crap, Audrey thought, am I falling in love? Is this what they mean by that?
Robin or no Robin, the inn had to be run, and Jess, with Audrey's enthusiastic but rather clueless help, was running through the morning routine.
"Uh, how did this happen?" Audrey began tentatively. "Was it like what happened to Mika? You came here and they just trapped and changed you?"
"Not exactly" Jess began. "The locals will tell you a bullshit story about how an angry dragon chased me--Traskol--here and burned down half the village and I was made into Jess as a punishment or something. They've been repeating that for so long they probably believe it themselves. In reality, one of the farmboy idiots around here was fooling around with fire magic he didn't understand with the usual calamitous results. I've dealt with angry dragons, and they don't stop at half a village."
"So what did happen?"
"To tell you the truth, this or something like it was what I was kind of expecting. Traskol, Traskol--I take it you never met him?"
"No. I always wished I had, though."
Jess gave a derisive snort. "Picture a barbarian as tall as a horse, with muscles to match. But not a musclebound lunk, either. Moves as quickly and as quietly--when he wanted to--as an elf. Handles his weapons as if they were part of his body. Scars all over the place, and a permanent mean expression on his face. Traskol scared people. He scared his enemies, he scared his adventuring companions--he really didn't have friends--and he scared his lovers. He, I, got very tired of it. It's really hard when you only interact with people who are afraid of you."
"You volunteered for this?" Audrey was having a hard time believing this. Scaring everyone sounded like a pretty good deal to her.
"Again, not exactly. I prayed to Alorna" Audrey knew that Alorna, goddess of love, was the archrival of Irthys, goddess of fear. "that she could somehow lift what I had come to think of us as a curse. One morning I woke up with the idea of coming to Lavenguard here, alone, and checking into this inn. When Robin pulled the rock on me, I could have easily broken his wrist and taken it before he could do anything--it wasn't the first time someone had tried to use magic on Traskol--but a voice in my head told me not to do anything. The next thing I knew I wasn't Traskol any more, I was Jess. He told me that I would now work for him and that I was expected to, quote, show hospitality, unquote. What a slime he was. Well, suddenly I wasn't feared, I was desired. Granted there are a lot of creeps, but they're not all creeps. Once I got used to my new body, I had enough muscle memory from being Traskol to protect myself, and there are one or two times I think the goddess helped me out as well. It turns out, of course, that having nobody afraid of you has its downside too, but I don't regret anything."
"Have you ever been in love?"
Jess gave a rueful laugh. "Once, a long time ago. But a girl doesn't give up all of her mysteries that quickly! Now tell me about this quest that you're on."