Strong arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the ground.

“What’s got into you, lass?” Thokri asked.

“Put me down!” Anna replied.

Voekeer rushed over and grabbed her sword arm.

“Drop it!” he said.

“I’m not dropping Ted!” Anna replied.

“Then give him to me!” Voekeer said.

“No, I have to stop them!” Anna replied.

“Ya can’t hack ‘em apart in the streets, lass!” Thokri said.

“But they’re going to hurt you all!” Anna replied.

“Calm down, child. No one’s going to hurt us,” Barika said.

“But at the inn, they…” Anna replied.

“It’s going to be fine, child,” Barika said.

Anna looked at her for a moment before she relaxed. Voekeer took Ted from her, and Thokri set her back on the ground.

“Sorry,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it, lass,” Thokri replied.

She turned back to the wagon men and found them glaring daggers at her. Prince Arthur and his knights were standing in front of them.

“Tell me what you want with her and be quick about it!” Arthur said.

“Get out of my way, boy!” the caravan master replied.

“That’s not going to happen!” Arthur said.

“MOVE DAMMIT!!!” the caravan master shouted.

He spurred his horse forward, and the knights drew their swords. Suddenly a shrill whistle pierced the air, causing everyone to turn. A troop of town guards armed with spears rushed over and surrounded them.

“What in the name of the gods is going on here?!” the lead guard asked

He stepped over to Arthur and the wagon men.

“Sheath those swords,” he said.

The knights looked at Arthur. He nodded, and they sheathed their swords.

“Now then, what’s all this about?” the lead guard asked.

“A few of my boys went missing, and that woman knows what happened!” the caravan master replied.

“No, I don’t!” Anna said.

“Liar! Tell me what happened now!” the caravan master replied.

“Enough! Either move along, or I’m taking you all in!” the lead guard said.

Arthur and his men looked at the party for a moment before they all started to walk away.

“I’M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!” the caravan master shouted.

He turned his horse to come after her, but the town guards surrounded him and his men, pointing their spears at them menacingly.

“TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BOYS, YOU BITCH!” the caravan master shouted.

Anna flipped him a rude gesture and slapped herself on the rear as they walked away.

The man started to swear and shout at her, threatening to do all kinds of awful things. He got so aggressive that the guards ended up pulling him off his horse and arresting him. He kept shouting as they dragged him away. With their leader gone, the rest of the caravan guards didn’t seem to want to pursue her and went back to their wagons.

“Uh, can I have Ted back now?” Anna asked.

“Here you go,” Voekeer replied.

She took Ted from Voekeer and looked at the glossy black blade for a moment before returning him to his sheath.

“Thanks for stopping me you two,” Anna said.

Thokri patted her on the shoulder.

“Yer welcome, lass,” he said.

“Yeah, I mean, I did say I’d look out for you,” Voekeer added.

She smiled at both of them.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Would you mind telling us why you got so upset?” Elaine asked.

“Those men attacked that woman back at the inn, and then their friends beat up the innkeeper, even after he told them what he knew cause they didn’t like what he said, and then they tracked me down and started a brawl in the first inn, and when Arthur broke it up, one of them tried to stab him in the back! So, when they found me again and started after me, I thought they might hurt one of you, and I can’t let that happen!” Anna replied.

“Whoa there, calm down, it’s alright,” Elaine replied.

Anna took a breath and nodded.

“Child, I appreciate that you were willing to defend us, but I would prefer if you didn’t resort to killing unless absolutely necessary,” Barika said.

“Okay,” Anna replied.

“Now then, I believe we have some sweet bread to get,” Barika said.

“Yeah,” Anna replied.

Barika put her arm around Anna, and they made their way to the bakery.

What’s wrong with me? I could have handled that in so many better ways than yanking Ted out and waving him around. I mean, even using my tentacles to grab them would have been better. Barika’s right. I was going to kill them without giving it a second thought.

They arrived at the bakery and went inside. The smell of freshly baked bread filled the air. People crowded around the back counter. The baker was passing out baked goods, smiling as he did. They got in line and waited for their turn.

“We should probably do something about those men,” Lyreen said.

“Bah! We won’t see those lads again,” Thokri replied.

“You don’t know that for sure! I mean, we’ve already bumped into them three times since we left the capital!” Lyreen said.

“That’s cause we’re walking. After we start riding, we’ll leave them in our dust,” Thokri replied.

“Oh, right. Well, I suppose we just need to avoid them for the rest of the time we’re here then,” Lyreen said.

“That shouldn’t be hard. The caravan master’s probably in a lot of trouble for fighting the guards,” Anna added.

“Pricks like that usually weasel their way out of trouble, so I wouldn’t count on him being locked up for very long,” Elaine replied.

“You know, while they were arresting him, he said something about working for the Drusus imperial trading company,” Anna said.

Thokri frowned and scratched his beard.

“I’ve heard of those lads. They’re an old company with a lot of coin and connections,” he replied.

“Do we have to worry about them?” Voekeer asked.

“Aye, that lad’s a caravan master, and you don’t get that job without connections,” Thokri replied.

“So, what should we do?” Voekeer asked.

“Tell the guild when we get to the city,” Thokri replied.

“You’re right. It’s probably best if we let them deal with this,” Voekeer said.

“I still want to know what the point of all of this is. I mean, why go after her this hard? All he has to connect her to those missing men is the word of an innkeeper he beat the shit out of,” Elaine added.

“I doubt he’s even thinking about that at this point. I’m betting he’s the kind of man who has to be in control wherever he goes, and the fact that three of his men went missing on the first night, he took it as a challenge to his authority, and the one person who might know what really happened to them keep slipping through his fingers,” Barika replied.

“Do you think if I went and talked to him, it would help?” Anna asked.

“No, child. At this point, all he wants to do is get back at you for hurting his pride,” Barika replied.

“That’s a stupid reason for wanting to get back at someone,” Anna said.

“It is, child, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s true,” Barika replied.

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Miss Anna. Mister Thokri is right. There’s no way a caravan will catch up to us on horseback,” Sir Buford said.

She sighed.

“I know,” she replied.

They walked up to the counter a few moments later, and everyone picked out whatever treat they wanted before they paid and left the bakery.

“So, when are we supposed to pick up the saddles anyway?” she asked.

“Tomorrow morning,” Voekeer replied.

“That’s the same time I’m supposed to get my clothes,” Anna said.

“I’ll grab yours,” Thokri replied.

“Thanks,” Anna said.

“Would you mind picking mine up? There’s no way I’m letting her walk alone after this,” Lyreen added.

“Sure,” Voekeer replied.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Anna said.

“Sure, I do,” Lyreen replied.

“Seriously, nothing can happen to me. I’ll be fine on my own,” Anna said.

“I’m going with you, so get over it,” Lyreen replied.

“Fine,” Anna said.

With nothing else planned, they made their way to the market and started to wander around, browsing the many stalls.

After walking for a few minutes, Lyreen’s eyes went wide, and she rushed over to a merchant selling jewelry, pulling Voekeer along with her. The rest of the group walked over as well, and everyone started to look at the bauble on display.

“Is there anything that catches your eye, Miss Anna?” Arthur asked.

“That hairpin is cute,” Anna replied.

She pointed at a silver hairpin that had an iridescent shell affixed to the end.

It’s like my hair, or well, what my hair used to look like. Damn, now I miss my colorful hair…

She sighed and looked away, examining the rest of the jewelry on display. Arthur reached over, picked up the hairpin, and held it out.

“How much for this one?” he asked.

“That one is one gold sir,” the merchant replied.

Arthur took a gold coin from his coin pouch and then handed it to the man. He put his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him before reaching behind her head, gathering up her hair, and using the hairpin to hold it in place. Once her hair was secured with the pin, he pulled his hands away and then smiled at her.

“There, it looks perfect,” he said.

“Thanks!” Anna replied.

She turned to the others and found her friends, along with Arthur’s companions, leering at them.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Voekeer replied.

She rolled her eyes at them before turning back to Arthur and smiling brightly.

After a moment, she looked away and went back to examining the jewelry. After a few minutes, they walked away from the stall and went back to walking around the market.

After a few hours, they went back to the inn for the night. The main room was busy, but there were a few of the large tables still open, so they took one and sat down. One of the serving women walked over once they had settled in.

“Are you ready for dinner?” she asked.

“We are,” Voekeer replied.

“We have roast duck with bread or stew,” she said.

“I’ll have the duck,” Voekeer replied.

“I’d like that as well,” Arthur added.

“Oh, me too!” Anna said.

The server smiled at her and then looked around the table.

“So, I’m guessing the rest of you want the duck as well?” she asked.

The others ordered the roast duck as well, which didn’t surprise her in the least, and the server walked away from the table.

“I haven’t had roast duck since we left home,” Issac said.

“It isn’t something you normally find at roadside inns, so that’s not surprising,” Voekeer replied.

“I suppose it’s back to stew after tonight,” Issac said.

“Stew isn’t so bad,” Anna replied.

“Yes, I know, but it does get old after a while,” Issac said.

“Well, we should be in the city of light in a couple of weeks. I’m sure there’ll be all kinds of good things to eat there,” Anna replied.

“Fair enough. You know, eating all that bland stew on the way will probably make the food there taste all the better,” Issac said.

“It will,” Anna replied.