Gruff Tolls by Kevin L. O'Brien
the back of his cephalothorax.
The three women came into view from behind his abdomen and walked around to stand in front of him. The one named Medb stepped away from the other two, a Zoog sitting on her left shoulder and the bird on her right. She had dressed, but she still held her spear. He figured he could break the ropes given effort and time, but he knew he couldn't free himself before she drove that spear into his brain.
"Why didn't you kill me? Or were you waiting until I awakened?"
"We are not such fools as to destroy the usefulness of this pass. As long as you live, you will keep this way open and safe. We have no desire to change that."
"Then why tie me down? You had won; you could have crossed the bridge and gotten away."
"Where I come from, when one warrior defeats, but does not kill, another in single combat, he becomes her property, to be used as she see fits."
"I would make a very poor slave. I will not serve you, and I will kill you if I can, or you would kill me."
"Slavery is one option, but there are others. In this case, I believe the best course of action would be to ransom you."
"Again, you would profit little. This is the off season for travelers. You are the first I have seen in a month. I have no coin or other valuables to pay your ransom."
She smiled, a cold and enigmatic expression. "There are many forms of payment, wealth being only one. I am sure we can come to a mutually satisfactory agreement. If you agree to pay our ransom, we will set you free, and I will have no further claim on you."
Though suspicious, he realized he had no choice. "What sort of ransom would you demand?"
Mephitis stepped forward. "Some of my potions and medications require components distilled from spider venom. I would ask that you provide me with all I require."
He didn't respond. It wasn't an unreasonable request, but he wanted to know what else they would demand before he made his decision. "Go on."
Morgiana stepped forward. "I have a client who has offered to pay a rich sum for an intact carapace of a spider's head, face, and back, and the better the quality, the more he'll pay. I would require that you either provide a carapace, or tell me where I can find one."
That request he could easily fulfill. A year before he had killed and eaten a young spider that tried to take over his bridge. The exoskeleton lay in his garbage heap, still intact.
However, he sensed a pattern, similar to that when he demanded payment of his toll. "And what do you demand?" He shifted his attention to Medb.
"That you accept as your toll for all of us, our yaks, and our goods, one silver tahler."
That would be a greater hardship than if they had asked for his weight in gold, and he felt certain she knew it. Though he had no fear of starving, that would be little better than him waving a toll altogether. It would also be a profound embarrassment. It was bad enough being beaten by a prey animal; to be given a token payment added insult to injury. "Why bother paying me anything at all?"
"Respect."
That floored him; he would never have expected her to say that. "I do not understand."
"You were a formidable opponent. I underestimated you, and you nearly caught me. Had my companions been slower, I would have become your dinner."
He waved his pedipalps, the only appendages he could move. It served as the equivalent of a human shrug. "You prey have a saying: if you had bread, you could make a ham sandwich, if you had the ham."
She laughed. "Point taken. I will have to remember that one. Nonetheless, I can still honor a worthy fighter even as I hold him for ransom."
"You make for strange prey, Mayv Hair-rayn."
She gave him a short bow. "It has been said of me, though not quite in that way."
"Only for the sake of completeness, what would you do if I refuse to pay your ransom?"
"We will depart and leave you as you are. Though it would be interesting to see if you could get free before another traveler, or something else, came along."
He pounded the ground with his pedipalps and made a low whistle, the equivalent of drumming fingers and a sigh of frustrated resignation. "You have a singular method of persuasion. Very well, I shall pay your ransom."
She jammed the butt of the spear into the earth so that it would stand upright and pulled her dirk. But she hesitated before approaching him. "I have your word?"
"My what?"
"Your word of honor, that you will pay the ransom and not attack us once free."
Her statement caught him off guard again. She is a strange one! Spiders had what humans called honor, though it wouldn't stop them from eating each other if one could catch another unawares or helpless. But no spider would ever extend any courtesy to prey, any more than a human would give his word to a cow, and he doubted any other human would expect he would. Ideally he should try to catch and subdue them once she freed him; any other spider would. But perhaps his six decades of life, and more or less constant interaction with humans, had given him a unique perspective. Having agreed to their terms, the thought of attacking them had not even entered his mind. It seemed...dishonest, somehow. Like eating a traveler after he had paid his toll. Just as he understood the counter-productivity of such treachery, he comprehended the negative consequences that would result if he broke the agreement. Besides, he was not certain he could subdue her a second time, and he doubted she would hold back her full strength again.
"Yes, you have my word."
Smiling, she saluted with the dirk and proceeded to cut him free.
First he filled two bottles for the apothecary, nearly exhausting his venom sacks, but he didn't worry; they would refill in a day. Then he showed the thief the exoskeleton, and she and Medb cut loose the front and back of the cephalothorax, along with the pedipalps, the chelicerae, and the fangs. He even helped them secure it to the back of one of the yaks with his silk. Finally, Medb paid him the tahler, placing it inside a silk basket attached to one of the spires. But he noticed that first she waited until her companions had crossed over the chasm.
She started towards the bridge.
"Have a safe journey." He said that to everyone who paid. He had learned that humans considered it polite, and he hoped they would return to use his bridge again, and pay more tolls. Repeat business was very important to his enterprise.
She stopped and looked back at him, an enigmatic smile on her face. "What is your name?"
"We have no names."
She turned around to face him. "Then I shall give you a name: Cuideog, for in the tongue of my father's people it means 'spider'. Perhaps not the most imaginative choice, but to those whom I claim as my people, the spider was held in reverence as the master craftsman of the natural world. Any artisan worth his salt aspired to be likened to a spider."
For a third time she took him unawares and he could not think of an appropriate reply.
"And now I must depart. Until we meet again, Master Builder of Spiders, may your webs never be empty and all your prey fine fat yaks." She bowed low, then turned and briskly walked towards the bridge, but as she stepped foot upon its deck she faded and disappeared, as if she had never been there.
Yes, a very strange person. And still, someone who could command respect from enemies as well as friends. Despite the double humiliation she had inflicted upon him, he had no desire for personal revenge. That didn't mean he wouldn't take her as prey if he could catch her by surprise or when she was vulnerable, but he wouldn't go out of his way to kill her just for the sake of his own pride. She had made too strong an impression on him for that.
Cuideog...Cuideog. He had a problem getting his mind around the unfamiliar pronunciation. Spiders didn't need names; they identified themselves by sight, and by the rhythm of their movement picked up as vibrations through web or ground. But an identifying label did not seem out of line. In fact, such felt more valuable to him than the coin she had given him.
He strolled over to the basket and fished out the tahler with the clawed foot of his right-front leg. He would a
ccept his new name as the toll for their crossing, which meant he didn't need the coin anymore. But he didn't want to discard it. He'd keep it, as a memento, to remind him of her, and of the need to be more circumspect with future travelers.
He just needed to find a good place to hang it up.
Glossary and Pronunciation Guide
Ach (ahck)--an exclamatory word similar to "Oh"
Conaed (CON-ayd)--bright fire; Zoog companion of Medb hErenn
Cuideog (KWI-juhg)--spider
Medb hErenn (MAYV HAIR-rayn)--Maeve of Ireland
Mephitis (meh-FEE-tis)--noxious one; an apothecary in the town of Ulthar
Morgiana (MOHR-gay-na)--precious stone; a master thief
Setim (SHEH-teem)--blow; a thaumaturgical spell that strikes a target with a physical blow
Tahler (TAH-lehr)--a coin containing one ounce of silver; the basic currency of the Dreamlands
Teehar'owan (tee-HAR-oh-won)--The Sorrowful One; bird companion of Medb
+++
For more information on Medb hErenn, see the official site [https://www.medbherenn.com/].
Back to TOC
+++
About the Author
Kevin L. O'Brien was born with a pen in his hand.
Well, not quite, but he has been writing for as long as he can remember, at least since First Grade. Writing has always been his first, true love, but it hasn't always been his career. He worked for 15 years as a biomedical researcher, then for 3 years as a web designer. However, after 30 years of trying to be published in print with little success, he has decided to try his hand at self-publishing. Most of his works will be sold as ebooks through various online retailers, but he also plans to make some available for free exclusively on Goodreads.
He writes primarily speculative fiction--fantasy, science fiction, horror, and their sub-genres--but he also likes to try his hand at thrillers, suspense, mystery, and even westerns. However, his stories tend to have a fantasy element, no matter how subtle.
Most of his stories involve the following three main characters:
Medb hErenn [https://www.medbherenn.com/]--One-time queen of Ireland, she is over 3500 years old. A warrior and a sorceress, she cannot be harmed by any weapon made by the hand of man.
Eile and Sunny, Team Girl [https://www.teamgirlforever.com/]--They are two adorable, vivacious, fun-loving young women whose motto is ONWARD TO ADVENTURE!!! Yet trouble follows them like a love-sick puppy wherever they go.
Sir Differel Van Helsing [https://www.sir-differel.com/]--The descendent of Abraham Van Helsing and King Arthur, she heads the Caerleon Order, the premier monster-hunting organization of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. She commands Dracula, the most powerful vampire extant, and the greatsword Caliburn, better known as Excalibur.
He also writes a series of sword & sorcery stories set in an alternative universe known as the Lands of the Dreams of Men.
Kevin lives in Denver with his family and 4 cats.
For more information, see the Songs of the Seanchai [https://www.seanchaisongs.com/].
Back to TOC
+++
Discover other titles by Kevin L. O'Brien:
A fidus Aranea, Barbarians R Us, The Christmas Vampires, Dark Vengeance, Disposable Commodities, Do Unto Others, Far-Sight, Feline Savior, Gourmand Hag, Gratuitous Crossover, Immanuel, The Lions of Inganok, Man Friday, Masie's Mind, No Torrent Like Greed, Oak Do Hate, Post-Traumatic Redemption, Pride and Fall, Sacrificial Offering, Shenanigans
Enjoy these other titles at fine ebook retailers everywhere.
Available on Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/story/list/20075368
Adventurer's Honeymoon, The Beast of Exmoor, A Deliberation of Morality, Desperate Acts, The Denver Walker, The Golden Mushroom, Jigsaw Dragon, The Peril Gem, Rhapsody in Orange, Steel
The three women came into view from behind his abdomen and walked around to stand in front of him. The one named Medb stepped away from the other two, a Zoog sitting on her left shoulder and the bird on her right. She had dressed, but she still held her spear. He figured he could break the ropes given effort and time, but he knew he couldn't free himself before she drove that spear into his brain.
"Why didn't you kill me? Or were you waiting until I awakened?"
"We are not such fools as to destroy the usefulness of this pass. As long as you live, you will keep this way open and safe. We have no desire to change that."
"Then why tie me down? You had won; you could have crossed the bridge and gotten away."
"Where I come from, when one warrior defeats, but does not kill, another in single combat, he becomes her property, to be used as she see fits."
"I would make a very poor slave. I will not serve you, and I will kill you if I can, or you would kill me."
"Slavery is one option, but there are others. In this case, I believe the best course of action would be to ransom you."
"Again, you would profit little. This is the off season for travelers. You are the first I have seen in a month. I have no coin or other valuables to pay your ransom."
She smiled, a cold and enigmatic expression. "There are many forms of payment, wealth being only one. I am sure we can come to a mutually satisfactory agreement. If you agree to pay our ransom, we will set you free, and I will have no further claim on you."
Though suspicious, he realized he had no choice. "What sort of ransom would you demand?"
Mephitis stepped forward. "Some of my potions and medications require components distilled from spider venom. I would ask that you provide me with all I require."
He didn't respond. It wasn't an unreasonable request, but he wanted to know what else they would demand before he made his decision. "Go on."
Morgiana stepped forward. "I have a client who has offered to pay a rich sum for an intact carapace of a spider's head, face, and back, and the better the quality, the more he'll pay. I would require that you either provide a carapace, or tell me where I can find one."
That request he could easily fulfill. A year before he had killed and eaten a young spider that tried to take over his bridge. The exoskeleton lay in his garbage heap, still intact.
However, he sensed a pattern, similar to that when he demanded payment of his toll. "And what do you demand?" He shifted his attention to Medb.
"That you accept as your toll for all of us, our yaks, and our goods, one silver tahler."
That would be a greater hardship than if they had asked for his weight in gold, and he felt certain she knew it. Though he had no fear of starving, that would be little better than him waving a toll altogether. It would also be a profound embarrassment. It was bad enough being beaten by a prey animal; to be given a token payment added insult to injury. "Why bother paying me anything at all?"
"Respect."
That floored him; he would never have expected her to say that. "I do not understand."
"You were a formidable opponent. I underestimated you, and you nearly caught me. Had my companions been slower, I would have become your dinner."
He waved his pedipalps, the only appendages he could move. It served as the equivalent of a human shrug. "You prey have a saying: if you had bread, you could make a ham sandwich, if you had the ham."
She laughed. "Point taken. I will have to remember that one. Nonetheless, I can still honor a worthy fighter even as I hold him for ransom."
"You make for strange prey, Mayv Hair-rayn."
She gave him a short bow. "It has been said of me, though not quite in that way."
"Only for the sake of completeness, what would you do if I refuse to pay your ransom?"
"We will depart and leave you as you are. Though it would be interesting to see if you could get free before another traveler, or something else, came along."
He pounded the ground with his pedipalps and made a low whistle, the equivalent of drumming fingers and a sigh of frustrated resignation. "You have a singular method of persuasion. Very well, I shall pay your ransom."
She jammed the butt of the spear into the earth so that it would stand upright and pulled her dirk. But she hesitated before approaching him. "I have your word?"
"My what?"
"Your word of honor, that you will pay the ransom and not attack us once free."
Her statement caught him off guard again. She is a strange one! Spiders had what humans called honor, though it wouldn't stop them from eating each other if one could catch another unawares or helpless. But no spider would ever extend any courtesy to prey, any more than a human would give his word to a cow, and he doubted any other human would expect he would. Ideally he should try to catch and subdue them once she freed him; any other spider would. But perhaps his six decades of life, and more or less constant interaction with humans, had given him a unique perspective. Having agreed to their terms, the thought of attacking them had not even entered his mind. It seemed...dishonest, somehow. Like eating a traveler after he had paid his toll. Just as he understood the counter-productivity of such treachery, he comprehended the negative consequences that would result if he broke the agreement. Besides, he was not certain he could subdue her a second time, and he doubted she would hold back her full strength again.
"Yes, you have my word."
Smiling, she saluted with the dirk and proceeded to cut him free.
First he filled two bottles for the apothecary, nearly exhausting his venom sacks, but he didn't worry; they would refill in a day. Then he showed the thief the exoskeleton, and she and Medb cut loose the front and back of the cephalothorax, along with the pedipalps, the chelicerae, and the fangs. He even helped them secure it to the back of one of the yaks with his silk. Finally, Medb paid him the tahler, placing it inside a silk basket attached to one of the spires. But he noticed that first she waited until her companions had crossed over the chasm.
She started towards the bridge.
"Have a safe journey." He said that to everyone who paid. He had learned that humans considered it polite, and he hoped they would return to use his bridge again, and pay more tolls. Repeat business was very important to his enterprise.
She stopped and looked back at him, an enigmatic smile on her face. "What is your name?"
"We have no names."
She turned around to face him. "Then I shall give you a name: Cuideog, for in the tongue of my father's people it means 'spider'. Perhaps not the most imaginative choice, but to those whom I claim as my people, the spider was held in reverence as the master craftsman of the natural world. Any artisan worth his salt aspired to be likened to a spider."
For a third time she took him unawares and he could not think of an appropriate reply.
"And now I must depart. Until we meet again, Master Builder of Spiders, may your webs never be empty and all your prey fine fat yaks." She bowed low, then turned and briskly walked towards the bridge, but as she stepped foot upon its deck she faded and disappeared, as if she had never been there.
Yes, a very strange person. And still, someone who could command respect from enemies as well as friends. Despite the double humiliation she had inflicted upon him, he had no desire for personal revenge. That didn't mean he wouldn't take her as prey if he could catch her by surprise or when she was vulnerable, but he wouldn't go out of his way to kill her just for the sake of his own pride. She had made too strong an impression on him for that.
Cuideog...Cuideog. He had a problem getting his mind around the unfamiliar pronunciation. Spiders didn't need names; they identified themselves by sight, and by the rhythm of their movement picked up as vibrations through web or ground. But an identifying label did not seem out of line. In fact, such felt more valuable to him than the coin she had given him.
He strolled over to the basket and fished out the tahler with the clawed foot of his right-front leg. He would a
He just needed to find a good place to hang it up.
Glossary and Pronunciation Guide
Ach (ahck)--an exclamatory word similar to "Oh"
Conaed (CON-ayd)--bright fire; Zoog companion of Medb hErenn
Cuideog (KWI-juhg)--spider
Medb hErenn (MAYV HAIR-rayn)--Maeve of Ireland
Mephitis (meh-FEE-tis)--noxious one; an apothecary in the town of Ulthar
Morgiana (MOHR-gay-na)--precious stone; a master thief
Setim (SHEH-teem)--blow; a thaumaturgical spell that strikes a target with a physical blow
Tahler (TAH-lehr)--a coin containing one ounce of silver; the basic currency of the Dreamlands
Teehar'owan (tee-HAR-oh-won)--The Sorrowful One; bird companion of Medb
+++
For more information on Medb hErenn, see the official site [https://www.medbherenn.com/].
Back to TOC
+++
About the Author
Kevin L. O'Brien was born with a pen in his hand.
Well, not quite, but he has been writing for as long as he can remember, at least since First Grade. Writing has always been his first, true love, but it hasn't always been his career. He worked for 15 years as a biomedical researcher, then for 3 years as a web designer. However, after 30 years of trying to be published in print with little success, he has decided to try his hand at self-publishing. Most of his works will be sold as ebooks through various online retailers, but he also plans to make some available for free exclusively on Goodreads.
He writes primarily speculative fiction--fantasy, science fiction, horror, and their sub-genres--but he also likes to try his hand at thrillers, suspense, mystery, and even westerns. However, his stories tend to have a fantasy element, no matter how subtle.
Most of his stories involve the following three main characters:
Medb hErenn [https://www.medbherenn.com/]--One-time queen of Ireland, she is over 3500 years old. A warrior and a sorceress, she cannot be harmed by any weapon made by the hand of man.
Eile and Sunny, Team Girl [https://www.teamgirlforever.com/]--They are two adorable, vivacious, fun-loving young women whose motto is ONWARD TO ADVENTURE!!! Yet trouble follows them like a love-sick puppy wherever they go.
Sir Differel Van Helsing [https://www.sir-differel.com/]--The descendent of Abraham Van Helsing and King Arthur, she heads the Caerleon Order, the premier monster-hunting organization of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. She commands Dracula, the most powerful vampire extant, and the greatsword Caliburn, better known as Excalibur.
He also writes a series of sword & sorcery stories set in an alternative universe known as the Lands of the Dreams of Men.
Kevin lives in Denver with his family and 4 cats.
For more information, see the Songs of the Seanchai [https://www.seanchaisongs.com/].
Back to TOC
+++
Discover other titles by Kevin L. O'Brien:
A fidus Aranea, Barbarians R Us, The Christmas Vampires, Dark Vengeance, Disposable Commodities, Do Unto Others, Far-Sight, Feline Savior, Gourmand Hag, Gratuitous Crossover, Immanuel, The Lions of Inganok, Man Friday, Masie's Mind, No Torrent Like Greed, Oak Do Hate, Post-Traumatic Redemption, Pride and Fall, Sacrificial Offering, Shenanigans
Enjoy these other titles at fine ebook retailers everywhere.
Available on Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/story/list/20075368
Adventurer's Honeymoon, The Beast of Exmoor, A Deliberation of Morality, Desperate Acts, The Denver Walker, The Golden Mushroom, Jigsaw Dragon, The Peril Gem, Rhapsody in Orange, Steel