When the first rays of the morning’s light touched her face, Anna opened her eyes and sat up. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and reached down, picking up her shoes and putting them on before standing up and walking over to the table where she put on her dress and belt. After she was dressed, she went to her pack and unstrapped Ted, sliding the strap of the baldric over her shoulder, allowing him to come to rest at her hip.
“Remember, no talking,” Anna said.
“Yes, master,” Ted replied.
She walked out of her room and turned to lock the door with the large iron key that had been provided by the innkeeper. Once it was locked, she walked over to Arthur’s room and knocked on the door. After a few moments, the door cracked open and a sleepy-looking prince blinked at her.
“Get dressed and meet me downstairs. We need to get to the market early to get the best meat,” Anna said.
Arthur grunted and closed the door. She shrugged and walked away, heading down the stairs where she stood by the front door.
I’ll give him ten minutes.
The main room was empty save for a few of the serving women who were sitting at one of the tables chatting. She made sure not to make eye contact with any of them, unwilling to be dragged into their discussion. She studied the wall for a few minutes until she heard a door open and close upstairs. Prince Arthur walked down the stairs wearing his usual clothing and looking far more regal than a man staying in a cheap inn has any right to.
“Why are you armed?” he asked.
“Ted got lonely, so I’m bringing him with me,” Anna replied.
“I see. Well, we should be going,” Arthur said.
“Yeah,” Anna replied.
She opened the door and walked out into the crisp morning air. They set out for the marketplace, passing a few people as they walked.
“I’d like to know more about you,” Arthur said.
“What do you want to know?” Anna replied.
“Well, where are you from?” Arthur asked.
“A little fishing village called Fishport. It’s at the mouth of the great river that marks the border of Therondale’s frontier,” Anna replied.
“You’re a long way from home,” he said.
“Yeah,” Anna replied.
“Do you have any family, brothers or sisters?” he asked.
She shook her head no.
“I’m an orphan. I was abandoned as a baby,” Anna replied.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said.
“It’s fine. Anyway, what about you?” Anna asked.
“Well, I have an older brother and a younger brother as well as a younger sister,” Arthur replied.
“What are they like?” Anna asked.
“Well, my older brother is the stern type, though that’s to be expected being the crown prince. My younger brother is a bit frivolous, but he’s still a teenager, so I’m sure he’ll grow out of it, and my little sister is a sweet girl but a little spoiled,” he replied.
“That’s normal for the youngest. At least, that’s what Elaine told me,” Anna said.
“Lady Elaine has siblings?” Arthur asked.
“Oh, yeah. She’s got seven of them,” Anna replied.
“Goodness, that’s quite a family,” he said.
“Yeah, her parents love each other very much and very often,” Anna replied.
Arthur laughed.
“It sounds like it,” he said.
They chatted as they made their way into the market. Arthur told her about his family, his home, and his kingdom. She told him of her crazy adventures and her dear friends. By the time they reached the meat vendor, they were both in a fit of laughter.
“You seriously handed Miss Lyreen a troll’s parts?!” Arthur asked.
“Yep, and she took them and stared at them while I went over to check on Thokri,” Anna replied.
“I had no idea adventuring could be so colorful,” Arthur said.
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“It can be, though most of the time, we are just traveling from one contract to another,” Anna replied.
“Yes, well, it still sounds exciting,” Arthur said.
“Like I said, it can be,” Anna replied.
She walked up to the meat vendor and started to pick out various sausages and jerky, paying the vendor for a small portion of each.
“What are you doing?” Arthur asked.
“Tasting them. That’s how you find the best ones,” Anna replied.
She broke one of the sausages in half and handed a portion to the prince. They both took a bite and chewed.
“This is quite good,” he said.
“Yeah, but it’s got too much fennel in it, so Lyreen won’t eat it,” Anna replied.
“You know your party well, don’t you?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Anna replied.
She gobbled down the rest of the sausage and then selected another from the pile. She snapped this one in half as well and sniffed it.
“It’s spicy,” she said.
He nodded and took the chunk. Taking a bite, his face turned bright red, and he started to cough. She patted him on the back.
“I told you it was spicy,” she said.
“What was in that?!” he asked.
“Dwarven spices. Got some kick, don’t they?” the meat vendor replied.
Arthur coughed a few more times, trying to catch his breath.
“Do dwarves really eat that kind of thing?” he asked.
Anna took a bite of the sausage and chewed it slowly before swallowing it.
“Actually, this is kind of mild compared to most dwarven food,” she replied.
“Remind me never to eat dwarven food,” Arthur said.
“Sure,” Anna replied.
She ate the rest of her half of the spicy sausage.
“You gonna finish that?” she asked.
Arthur shook his head and handed her the rest of the sausage. She wolfed it down and then picked up another from the pile of samples and broke it in half.
“No thanks. I fear I’ve lost my sense of taste,” Arthur replied.
“Oh yeah, I heard that can happen. You should be fine in a few minutes,” Anna said.
“Do you have anything to drink?” Arthur asked.
“No, sir, I don’t,” the meat vendor replied.
“We’ll get something after here,” Anna said.
Arthur nodded. He was sweating profusely, and his face was still flushed red.
He must be from one of those places that don’t have spicy food at all.
She quickly nibbled each of the sausages and types of jerky she’d bought to try out before picking out the ones she knew her friends would like most and bought a few sack fulls of each. Once she paid, she slung the sacks over her shoulder, and they set off, looking for something to quench the fire in Arthur’s mouth.
“Would you like some help with those?” Arthur asked.
“Na, I’m fine,” Anna replied.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yeah, this is nothing for me,” Anna replied.
“Alright. Well, if you change your mind, let me know,” he said.
“Sure,” Anna replied.
They searched the market for a few minutes before finding a dairy merchant.
“Looks like they still have plenty of milk,” she said.
“Thank the gods!” Arthur replied.
They bought two of the smallest jars of milk they had available and started to drink from them.
Nice and sweet, and it’s still warm from the cow.
Arthur finished the milk quickly and handed the jar back to the dairy merchant.
“Better?” she asked.
“Much, thank you,” he replied.
“I wish you would have told me you didn’t like spicy food,” Anna said.
“I like spicy food. I just don’t like that amount of spice,” Arthur replied.
“Guess we’ll have to try different spicy food, so I know what you like,” Anna said.
“That’s not necessary, but thank you anyway,” he replied.
“Suit yourself,” Anna said.
She drank the rest of the milk, handed her jar back to the merchant, and they walked away from the stall.
“I still can’t believe you ate that thing like it was a piece of plain bread,” he said.
“It’s not that surprising. Barika and Thokri could have done the same no problem,” Anna replied.
“I can see Thokri being a dwarf as he is, but Sister Barika being able to eat something like that’s a bit surprising,” Arthur asked.
“She’s from the western part of the empire originally, and humans eat food almost as spicy as the dwarves out there,” Anna replied.
“Ah, well, that makes sense. I had heard the food in that part of the empire was heavily spiced,” he said.
“I think the lizard men have spicy food too, but I’ve never tried any. They’re kind of jerks,” Anna replied.
“I’ve never met one, so I couldn’t say,” Arthur replied.
“That’s not surprising. They don’t like the cold, and your kingdom is pretty far north,” Anna said.
Arthur nodded, and they walked around the market for a few hours, looking at all of the things for sale before returning to the inn. The others were already back and waiting for them at a table.
“Did you two have a nice date?” Lyreen asked.
“We weren’t on a date. Were we?” Anna asked.
She turned to look at Arthur who was bright red.
“It wasn’t a date! I just wanted to go to the market with her!” he replied.
“See, it wasn’t a date,” Anna said.
“Uh huh, sure it wasn’t. Now go and put that stuff away so we can get going,” Lyreen replied.
“Okay, I’ll be right back,” Anna said.
She walked away from the table and up to her room where she dropped the sacks of meat next to her pack.
“Hey Ted, do you think that was a date?” she asked.
“I don’t know what a date is, master,” Ted replied.
“It’s when a couple goes out to spend time together,” Anna said.
“Are you and the prince a couple?” Ted asked.
“No, at least, I don’t think so,” Anna replied.
“Then it wasn’t a date,” Ted said.
“That’s what I thought. Thanks, Ted,” Anna replied.
“Anything for you, master,” Ted said.
She went back down the stairs and walked over to the table her friends were seated at. Everyone seemed to be smirking at Arthur who was even redder than he’d been after eating the sausage.
“What’s with you?” she asked.
“Nothing!” he replied.
“Okay, well, are you all ready to go?” Anna asked.
The others looked at each other before getting up.
“Yeah, I think so,” Voekeer replied.
“Well, let’s go then,” Anna said.
They walked out of the inn and headed for the bakery that Anna and Lyreen had found the day before. The streets were crowded at this time of day, and there were dozens of carts and wagons making their way through the town. She watched them as they went by idly, wondering what they might be hauling and where they were going.
“HEY, BOSS! THAT WOMAN HAS PURPLE EYES!!!” a man shouted.
She looked over and froze when she saw one of the men who’d stormed into the inn a week before pointing right at her.
“GET HER!” the wagon master shouted.
Several horsemen wheeled around and started to push through the crowd. She glanced around at her friends.
Oh, fuck! They won’t be able to get away!
She grabbed Ted’s hilt and yanked him out of his sheath. The sound of adamantine scraping against iron caused people nearby to panic and rush away. She held her sword out in front of her. The black blade seemed to drink the light from the air around it.
“Are you going to stab them, master?” Ted asked.
“You’re damned right we are!” she replied.