The next morning, Izulen found himself put to work in the fields with the rest of the hold's youth. His protests that he had to save his hands for his craft fell on the deaf ears of Master Ederis, a gruff old farmer who shared his Lord Holder's disliking of harpers.
"You don't look as if you've put in a single honest day's work in your life, boy," the man spat. "You harpers are a soft, spoiled lot."
So Izulen found himself working alongside the rest of the hold's population his age. Tiron and Ranna spent more time flirting than they did working, Aizra and Halani preferred talking and critiqing outfits to work, and Jheron, Balir, and Serro spent their time trying to annoy Master Ederis. Nita, Izulen noticed worridley, attacked her task with more than healthy vigor.
"You, get your eyes off my girl," someone snarled from behind Izulen. A tall, black haired young man swaggered up next to him and glared at him. "Nita's mine."
"I don't believe we've met," Izulen said, extending a hand. "Merry meet. I'm Izulen."
"It's not a merry meet, and I don't shake hands with harpers," the man scoffed. "I'm Charis."
"Charis, what did we tell you about opening that big cut under your mouth?" Ranna asked, glaring up at Charis with a ferocity that would have made most men quail.
"Stuff it canine," Charis told her and strutted over to Nita. He slipped his arms around her waist and shot a deadly look Izulen's way.
"Charis, not right now, I'm working," Nita told him, patiently unwrapping his arms.
"Mmm, but you're so hot when you work," Charis purred, pulling her into a tighter embrace.
"Stop!" Nita snapped at him, slipping out of his arms and moving to a new patch of ground.
Tiron started towards Charis but Ranna held him back. "She can handle him," she assured him, though Izulen could hear a note of worry in her voice.
Sure enough, Charis followed. "When I want you, it doesn't matter what you're doing," he growled, grabbing her wrist roughly and pulling her to him. "Don't ever tell me to stop. Come on, we're going to have some fun."
"Charis, NO!" Nita told him, trying to keep from yelling though she was worried by her boyfriend's behavior. "Get your hands off of me!"
Hand at his belt knife, Izulen strode over to the pair before anyone could stop him. "You heard her," he said evenly, whirling Charis to face him, "she said no."
"Look Harper, if you don't want trouble, stay out of this," Charis snarled, never letting go of Nita's arm.
The two would have fought then and there had Ederis not shown up, brandishing his shovel at the two. "Charis! Izulen! What in Faranth's name is going on here?"
"Nothing," Izulen said slowly, his gaze locked with Charis'. "Nita was just having some trouble. But it's all taken care of now."
"All taken care of," Charis repeated.
Ederis looked at all three suspiciously but, either not caring or finding nothing wrong, grunted and let them alone with a barked command to get back to work.
"C'mon Char, let's get back to work," a brown haired boy Izulen hadn't seen before told him. "There'll be time for dealing with the Harper later."
Charis nodded slowly. "Back to work then," he said and left, his friend following him.
"Charis and his group are bad ones to have after you," Tiron said, still bristling from what could have been a fight.
"I noticed," Izulen replied grimly.
There were a few more moments of awkward silence among the group before Aizra and Halani started babbling again work resumed. Izulen commited himself to his task with the same vigor as Nita had before, trying not to think about what had just happened.
Nita noticed his mood and slowly worked her way over until she was next to him. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
Izulen stopped attacking the ground and looked up. "For what?"
"For getting you in trouble with Charis," she replied. "But also... thank you."
"You're welcome and don't worry about getting me in trouble with Charis," Izulen told her. "I'll deal with him."
"Still..." Nita shrugged and offered him a small smile. "No one really seems to want to protect me from him. Tiron's just always looking for a fight. Everyone else just figures I can take care of myself."
Izulen smiled. "Well I'll always be around to take a few punches whenever you need me."
Nita smiled. "I'll try not to," she promised.
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