The road leading to the city grew wide as they approached the gate. I wonder why?

She looked up at the walls. They were at least twice as high as the walls of Endertown and made from far larger blocks of stone. At least a few of them had been replaced over the years, and she wondered how in the world normal people could have moved them, let alone hoisted them into the air.

Carts filled with people passed them heading to the frontier. Anna looked at the smiling faces of men, women and children as she walked by.

I hope they’ll find whatever they’re looking for.

The gate was absolutely massive, unlike the one at Endertown which had been a portcullis. This one was a huge set of iron doors. It was so big she was certain that a ship could have sailed through it, if it had been on a river that is.

There wasn’t a line to enter the city from this gate, and they walked right up to the guards. The men were wearing plate armor with their visors up. Large polearms were leaning on their shoulders. They had bored looks on their faces and barely looked at the party after Voekeer flashed his guild badge to them. The guards just waved them in, ignoring the party as soon as they passed.

Once inside the gate, she was hit with the smell of horse manure and other awful things. The party walked to the side of the road. The center was filled with carts and wagons, and the edges were where pedestrians were supposed to walk, not that it stopped people from walking with the carts that is.

So many people!

The streets were utterly full as they headed to the guild hall. It wasn’t just humans like the settlements on the frontier either. There were elves, dwarves, and beast folk of all kinds.

The people in the street didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the party, with the exception of a few glances her way. Anna had so many questions but decided to wait until they reached the guild hall to ask them.

“What district is this?” Anna asked.

“This isn’t a district. This part of this city is just homes and a few shops where people get bread and other things they need on a day to day basis,” Voekeer replied.

She nodded. She hadn’t asked much about the city since that night at the carriage stop and was regretting it now. Somehow there were more people the closer they got to the guild hall.

“We’re in the Merchant’s district now,” Voekeer said.

“Oh,” Anna replied. She looked around and noticed that there were more shops than homes.

All along the streets there were small stalls. Some were just blankets with goods set on them. Most of the people at these stalls didn’t look like merchants. They were just normal people selling this and that.

Oh, I need to come back and pick! She smiled at an old woman who was stilling jars of jam decided that she really needed to come back and see her.

They made their way to the guild hall, pushing past the crowds of people trying to get a deal from the merchants, and failing miserably at it.

Wow!

The guild hall came into view, and it looked like the result of an inn and a fortress mating. It was three stories tall and made from solid stone blocks with huge bonze doors.

They walked up to the doors, and Voekeer pushed them open seemingly without effort.

Nice balance.

She was hit with the smell of sweat, stale ale and piss when they walked through the doors.

“Holy shit. Is that you kid?” a deep voice asked.

Anna looked towards the source of the voice and found a huge bull man leaning back in a chair. There were a few other beast people at the table with him. A lean cat woman was eating what looked like chunks of raw meat with an iron dagger. A wolf man sat next to her. He was drinking from a mug and had a large chunk of cooked meat with potatoes next to him.

That’s a heavy breakfast.

“Don’t call me kid, Rufus. I’m twenty!” Voekeer replied.

The bull man and his companions burst into laughter.

“Sure thing kid. Anyway, didn’t you only have three people with you when you left?” Rufus asked.

“Yes. We met them on the frontier. They want to join up,” Voekeer replied.

“Leave it to an elf man to get himself surrounded by women,” the cat woman said.

Voekeer turned red. Elaine looked at him and then back at the cat woman.

“Yeah, no,” Elaine replied.

This caused the trio to laugh even harder, and poor Voekeer looked like a freshly ripened tomato.

“What about you, sweety? You want that elf cock like all of the other human girls do?” the cat woman asked.

Anna just shrugged. “No. If I had to pick, I’d take Thokri. His is way bigger,” Anna replied.

The other adventurers fell about the place. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to see Voekeer’s face. He didn’t look all that happy.

“That’s enough. Let’s go turn in our contract,” he said, his eye twitching. He spun around and stormed over to the counter. The rest of them followed.

Thokri put his arm around her shoulder. “Glad you liked it, lass,” he said.

“I was just telling the truth,” Anna replied.

“Some things are better left unsaid child,” Barika said.

The rest of her friends looked like they were trying to contain their mirth at all costs.

Oops, he’s going to be mad at me now. It happened all of the time, so she just had to apologize later.

Voekeer knocked on the counter. A few moments later, an enormous man walked out.

What is he?

His skin was a grayish green color, and he towered over the party, looking as if he had eaten a whole herd of cattle.

She’d never seen someone so fat before, but it looked like he was supposed to be that way by the tree trunks he had for legs and his barrel sized arms.

“’Bout time you lot got back,” he said.

“Easy, lad. We ran into some rough weather and had to wait it out in a cave,” Thokri replied.

The huge man just grunted. “Boss wants those two signed up now. Got their paperwork all ready, and their fees are waived,” the huge man said.

He turned around and pulled two papers and badges from a shelf behind him. After placing them on the counter with hands far too big for the task, he set a sparkling quill and ink well next to them.

Anna walked over and looked at the papers. It was just a contract saying she’d be a member of the guild, follow the rules, and the guild would look out for her. She took the quill, dipped it in the inkwell, and signed at the bottom of the paper that had her name on it. After that, she picked up the badge with her name on it and put it in her pouch.

The huge man nodded. Elaine was reading hers carefully. Anna had as well, but all she needed was a glance, so it looked like she hadn’t been so cautious. Elaine grinned, and then signed the paper herself. She picked up her guild badge and stuffed it in her bag.

“Welcome to the guild. If any of these jokers give you troubles, let me know. I’ll eat them for you,” the huge man said.

“Easy Bruno. You’ll scare the girls,” Rufus said.

“Keep it up, and I’ll be having a steak,” the huge man replied.

“You can have a tube steak right now,” Rufus said.

Bruno grinned and waved the bull man over.

“I don’t think you’ll have that club of yours for long if you stick it in his mouth, lad,” Thokri said.

Rufus shrugged.

“Uh, what are you?” Anna asked, looking at Bruno.

The huge man looked down at her and smirked. “I’m an ogre,” Bruno replied.

“Oh,” Anna said. What the fuck is an ogre? She decided not to ask. She’d find out later.

“Could you let the guild master know we’re here? She wanted to see us,” Voekeer said.

“Can’t. She left town a few days ago with the archmage and the iron fangs. Something about a prophecy or something,” Bruno replied.

“You happen to hear anything about this prophecy?” Barika asked.

Bruno shrugged. “Same old human stuff. You know, end of the world and such,” Bruno replied.

“I’ll ask when I visit the temple,” Barika said. Bruno shrugged again.

Thokri took off his pack and fished out the strong box. He put it on the counter and opened it.

After he passed out the full rounds, he pushed it to Bruno who just closed it.

“Boss said she doesn’t care what you spent as long as them two joined,” he said.

“Should have got another bottle of wine,” Elaine said.

“I know, right,” Lyreen replied.

Bruno stamped the contract and put it on the shelf behind him. He took a fat sack of coins and set it on the counter. “Here’s your pay. Don’t spend it all on whores, alright,” he said.

“Why would I have to pay for sex?” Anna asked.

Bruno looked at her for a moment and then burst out laughing. “Guess you are what humans like, skinny,” Bruno replied.

Anna looked up at the ogre for a moment then shrugged. Can’t be pretty to everyone I guess.

“Got any open rooms? We need a few until we can find a place out in town,” Voekeer asked.

“Sure thing. You need five or six?” Bruno asked, looking at Voekeer and then Lyreen.

“Five,” Lyreen replied.

“WOOOOOO, LITTLE VOEKY’S GROWING UP!” Rufus shouted. The laughs of the other adventurers could be heard filling the room.

Lyreen spun around. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” she screamed.

“Oh, feisty!” Rufus replied.

Lyreen flushed red and shook with anger. She flipped Rufus a rude gesture and turned away from him.

“Oh, come on. Don’t be that way,” Rufus said.

Elaine’s tattoos glowed with power. She turned to face the bull man. She smiled a wicked smile at him. “Tell me, are you fond of your eyes? Or can I have them?” she asked, slowly walking over.

The room went quiet. Even Bruno looked nervous.

When she got to the table, the three adventurers sitting there looked up at her. The raw meat on the cat woman’s plate started to twitch. The cat woman screamed and fell out of her chair. Elaine picked up one of the twitching chunks of meat and ate it.

Rufus’s mouth hung open. Elaine winked at him and then walked back to the party.

Rufus and his companions ran out of the guild hall at full speed as soon as Elaine was on the other side of the room.

Her tattoos went dark, and she held her stomach. “Please tell me you have something for food poisoning?” Elaine asked.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Sure do,” Anna replied. She fished some herbs she’d picked the day before out of her pouch and handed them to Elaine. “Make them into a tea,” Anna said.

Elaine nodded. They walked over to a table and sat down. A beast woman walked out to take their orders.

Elaine got some hot water to make tea, and the rest of them ordered ale, except for Lyreen. She ordered some fruit juice.

“Child, I understand what you were trying to do, but please, for the love of the goddess, don’t eat undead flesh again. Even if you are the one that animated it,” Barika said.

“Yeah, I really didn’t think that through,” Elaine replied.

“Should have fed it to her,” Thokri said, pointing his thumb at Anna.

“Ewww, no,” Anna said.

“It’s not like you’d get sick or anything,” Lyreen said.

“I’m not putting wiggling meat in my mouth,” Anna replied.

Her friends smirked and then burst into laughter.

What’s with them? It took her a moment to realize what she’d said. “Fuck,” she said and put her head in her hands.

Thokri patted her on the back. “Happens to the best of us,” he said.

“I know,” Anna whined. This caused more laughter.

“We’ll put our things away. Then we can head out,” Voekeer said.

“Is there a necromancer’s guild in this city?” Elaine asked.

“No child,” Barika replied.

Elaine sighed in relief. “Good. I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with them after getting my license from the crown,” she said.

“Not many guilds out here on the border,” Voekeer said.

“Why is that?” Anna asked.

“No real need. Most people out here are just laymen in whatever trade they have,” Barika replied.

Anna nodded they had explained trades and guilds to her before. She didn’t really have any interest in them, other than the adventurer’s guild that is.

They drank their drinks. Elaine looked much better after the tea.

They got keys from Bruno. The rooms only cost a few coppers a week.

Must be a guild thing. After Anna dropped her things off in her surprisingly nice room, she locked the door and went back to the main room to wait for her friends. The elves were the last ones to return, and they were giggling as they walked back.

“Can you two wait for five minutes?” Elaine asked.

“What?” Lyreen asked.

Elaine rolled her eyes and just walked to the door. The rest of them followed her outside. They stopped a few feet in front of the guild hall.

“So, where to first?” Elaine asked.

“I promised someone a cupcake, so let’s get that first,” Lyreen replied.

“YES!” Anna said. The others chuckled.

“Well, let’s go. We don’t want her eating anyone on the way,” Elaine said.

“I’m not the one who likes to stick wiggling meat in my mouth,” Anna replied.

Elaine shrugged. “No one has ever complained about it before,” she said.

Anna just rolled her eyes causing Elaine to laugh again.

As they walked through the city, she frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Lyreen asked.

“Why are there so many different kinds of people here, but only humans on the frontier?” Anna asked.

“It’s the law. Humans don’t want other races to take over, so they don’t let them settle new lands,” Thokri replied.

“Really? What about the mithril mine we told the bat people about?” Anna asked.

“That’s different. Humans don’t see us living in a mine as taking anything from them,” Thokri said.

“What difference does it make what race you are?” Anna asked.

Thokri spat. “It shouldn’t, but it does,” he replied.

“Is this a human thing again?” Anna asked.

“No, child, it isn’t. Elves don’t let humans onto their lands without permission,” Barika replied.

“Is that true?” Anna asked the others. They just nodded. “What about me?” Anna asked.

“You’re close enough to human to pass for one of them, so you shouldn’t have any problems in human lands,” Voekeer replied.

“I’d say the elves would as well, but I just don’t know for sure,” Lyreen replied.

“I’d hate to be anyone that told her no,” Elaine said.

“I wouldn’t hurt anyone. At least not unless they deserved it,” Anna replied. Her friends grew quiet for a moment.

“Don’t worry, lass. You’ll always have a place with us dwarves,” Thokri said, causing Anna to smile.

“Well, anyway, we are adventurers, so it’s not like we have to be worried about getting turned away from anywhere,” Lyreen said.

“Aye,” Thokri replied.

They found a stall filled with baked goods, and each of them got a cupcake. Anna ate hers in a few bites. It was good. It was a cupcake after all, but it wasn’t as good as Mabel’s.

She missed Fishport sometimes, and the sweets that could be had there were one of the many reasons.

With the most important task completed, they made their way to the center of the market district. According to the others, that’s where most of the merchants set up stalls in the city. It was also where most of the shops were as well.

There are so many on the streets leading there.

It was hard to believe that people needed so much stuff, but they must because the merchants wouldn’t be here if people didn’t buy from them.

The stalls were usually set up in front of the merchants’ home or workshop. From her experience, most craftspeople sold their own goods. She’d heard about merchants who simply bought things from one place and moved them to other places to sell for a higher price, but she hasn’t met one.

At least I don’t think I have.

She was broken out of her musing when they stepped into the market district’s center.

She’d expected a large number of merchants and a big crowd, but nothing like this. The streets teemed with people, and she was surprised that you could even walk down the street with the number of merchants’ stalls and blankets that were around.

The merchants were yelling at the passersby, trying to get them to come and look at their goods, and the crowds all seemed to be talking at the same time, either with the merchants or each other, causing a cacophony of sound. It was a little disorienting for someone used to the wild places in the world, and it took her a few moments to get her bearings once more.

They made their way through the crowd of people deeper into the market. The stalls got bigger and more elaborate the closer they got to the center of the market.

She noticed a few large tents with a line of people outside and moved to investigate.

Thokri pulled her back. “You don’t want to go there, lass,” he said.

“What is it?” Anna asked.

“Slave traders,” Thokri replied.

“Really? Why are they in a tent?” Anna asked.

“Not much of a market this close to the frontier. They don’t allow slaves out there either, so they just cater to the nobles and wealthy merchants in the city,” Voekeer said.

She looked back to the tent and at the line. “That’s a lot of nobles,” Anna said.

“Those aren’t the nobles. They are just servants that they send to buy on their behalf,” Elaine replied.

“Oh,” Anna said.

They walked away from the tent. She took a glance back and wondered if she could help the people inside.

I’d have to kill a lot of people to do that.

She sighed. She wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do or not. She let it go for now and looked around the market as they walked. There were so many interesting things to look at.

Oh! I want one! She darted off to a stall that was filled with little mirrors that had handles attached to them.

Her friends followed after. There wasn’t much of a crowd around the stall, and she was able to squeeze to the front without much of a problem.

The merchant smiled at her as soon as he noticed her looking. “Such a pretty lady deserves my finest mirror,” he said. He took a silver mirror from behind the stall and handed it to her.

She held it up to her face and looked at the reflection. It’s clearer than even the mirror at Ender’s house!

Elaine walked up next to her. The necromancer’s presence dispersed the crowd. The merchant got a sour look on his face but didn’t say anything when he realized that she was with Anna.

“Can I take a look?” Elaine asked. Anna handed her the mirror. Elaine examined it closely. After a moment, she nodded with approval. “Not a bad mirror. Tell me, how much do you want for it?” Elaine asked.

“Two gold,” he replied.

“How about one gold and twenty silver?” Elaine asked.

The merchant shook his head no. “I couldn’t possibly let it go for less than one gold and forty silver,” he replied.

“One gold and twenty five silver,” Elaine said.

He rubbed his chin. “One gold thirty silver,” he replied.

“Done,” Elaine said. She handed him the coins and then gave Anna the mirror.

“Happy birthday,” Elaine said. Anna hugged her.

“Oh, thank you!” she replied. She tucked the mirror into her belt, and they kept walking. She looked around as they went.

Voekeer stopped at a stall selling swords. He started to eye a long sword. “What do you think of this one?” he asked Thokri, holding the weapon out for the dwarf.

Thokri took the sword and examined it closely. He tapped the blade a few times and checked for sharpness finally licking it to see what it was made from.

“Not bad. Would make a good backup,” Thokri said.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Voekeer replied.

The two men started to talk about swords. Anna walked over to the stall. She needed a few utility knives, and the merchant happened to be selling them along with weapons. She picked through them, testing each one, and selecting a few that she deemed of high enough quality for the price, not that they were expensive by any means. She paid for them and stuffed them into the large pouch at the rear of her belt.

Voekeer ended up buying the sword, and they set back off into the market.

The next stall they stopped at was a place that sold creepy spell components.

Bet Elaine needs this stuff.

Much to Anna’s surprise, it was Lyreen who started to pick through the dried lizards and jars filled with eyes. Elaine smirked at her.

“I only use human parts,” Elaine replied.

“Oh,” Anna said.

Lyreen picked around for a while before buying a pouch of dried lizards, the jar of eyes, and some crystal dust.

They walked off from the stall with Anna wondering what in the world the elf mage was going to do with the strange things.

Thokri stopped at a place selling pipes and dried herbs for smoking. He bought a long-stemmed pipe and a few pouches of pungent smelling herbs. Voekeer eyed the stuff but a look from Lyreen caused him to step back.

Thokri filled his new pipe and then struck a match and started to puff on it. The smoke that came out of it was sweet smelling but caused Lyreen to cough when it drifted to her.

“You shouldn’t do that in public,” Lyreen said, waving her hand in front of her face. Thokri grinned and then let out a huge puff of smoke. Lyreen glared at him for a moment and then took a step away.

Thokri and Anna ended up walking behind the rest of the party while he smoked. It didn’t bother her, and she liked to talk to the dwarf anyway, so it worked out.

“So, what is that stuff anyway?” Anna asked.

“Sparkle weed,” Thokri replied.

“Isn’t that stuff supposed to make you drunk?” Anna asked.

“Not drunk, lass. It makes you high,” Thokri replied.

“It doesn’t work on dwarves, does it?” Anna asked.

“Not very well. It’s like drinking ale for us,” Thokri replied.

“So why buy it?” Anna asked.

“I like the taste,” Thokri replied.

Anna nodded. There wasn’t anything else to say. If he liked it, he liked it. She tried a puff and decided that she did not, in fact, like it and handed it back to a laughing dwarf.

Must have made a face again.

A few minutes later she found a teenage girl selling rings. Now, normally, she didn’t care for jewelry, but these were sparkling with magic, so she went to check them out.

“Oh, spell rings,” Lyreen said.

“What do they do?” Anna asked.

“If you push mana into them, they will cast whatever spell they are enchanted with. Mages look down on them. They see them as a shortcut,” Lyreen replied.

The poor girl looked stricken at Lyreen’s words.

Anna crouched down to get a closer look at the rings on the blanket.

“What spells do you have?” she asked.

The girl brightened up. “Oh, all kinds. What are you looking for?” she asked.

Anna thought back, and the only time she’d wished she could use magic was when Thokri had been poisoned in the cave.

“Got anything that can cure poison?” Anna asked.

“This one can,” the girl said, pointing at one of the rings.

Anna picked it up. “What about light spells, or one to start a campfire?” Anna asked.

“That one for light, and that one for fire,” the girl replied. There were more than a dozen different kinds of rings.

“How much are these?” Anna asked.

“Ten coppers each,” the girl replied.

“I’ll take one of each spell. Uh, do you have any smaller ones?” Anna asked.

The girl looked at Anna’s hands. “I do,” she replied. She opened a small leather case that had dozens of rings in it and started to pull out the smallest ones.

Anna ended up buying twelve of them from the girl.

“If you ever want anything special, come and find me. I make custom rings too,” the girl said.

“Okay. What’s your name?” Anna asked.

“Emily, what’s yours?” the girl replied.

“Anna,” Anna said.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Emily replied.

“It was nice to meet you too,” Anna said.

They walked away. “Uh, how do I use these things anyway?” Anna asked. Lyreen just shook her head.

“Probably should have asked that before you bought them,” she replied. Anna shrugged.

“Just push mana into them like a focus crystal. Most of the time, they cast the spell from your palm, so don’t point your hand at your face or anything. Not that it would matter to you,” Lyreen said.

“Thanks,” Anna replied.

“You lot want to come with me to the dwarven hall?” Thokri asked.

“Yes,” Anna replied quickly.

The others hesitated for a moment but agreed.

What’s with them?

They left the center of the market heading in a new direction.

This part of the district was filled with craftsmen’s shops and taverns.

That seems right for dwarves.

The dwarven hall was just a huge tavern with drunken dwarves punching each other in front of the door. Thokri shoved them out of the way and walked into the building. The rest of them followed behind him quickly.

The inside of the tavern/dwarven hall was surprisingly well lit. When she looked around, she noticed that there were humans, elves, and beastmen sitting at the tables and figured that the dwarves must have kept the place brightly lit for them.

They found a small table near the fireplace and sat down. A dwarven woman carrying a tray with mugs on it came over to see them.

She was a few inches shorter than Anna but thickly built with both muscles and the curves you’d expect a woman to have. The hair that Thokri had said dwarf women were covered in was nothing more than colorless fuzz. This woman had black curly hair and dark eyes. She was wearing pants and a shirt like Thokri had on.

Strange thing for a barmaid to be wearing.

The barmaid put the ales in front of them. “You lot want some food?” she asked.

“Aye,” Thokri said. Before the rest of them could answer the barmaid was off.

“Uh, what are we going to be eating?” Lyreen asked.

Thokri shrugged and took a sip of the ale. A smile came to his face as soon as he tasted it. “Ah, the good stuff,” he said.

Anna took a sip of the amber-colored liquid. It was good ale. Some of the best she’d ever had. It was terribly strong as well. She didn’t think it was a good idea for the elves to drink it, but they were grown people, so it was their choice.

Barika was the next to take a drink. She smiled and nodded. “The dwarves always have the best ale,” Barika said.

“Aye,” Thokri replied.

Elaine took a drink next. She just nodded. Next were the elves. They seemed to enjoy it as well.

The woman returned with bowls full of fried mushrooms. After she set the bowls down in front of each of them, she walked away.

Anna picked up one of the mushrooms and popped it into her mouth. She’d only had mushrooms in soups before, and the texture of the fried ones was interesting. The flavor was amazing. It had been fried in pork fat.

Maybe bacon grease? Oh, I hope they have bacon. I love bacon!

If that wasn’t enough, there were maybe a dozen different spices and a generous amount of salt added to it as well.

“Mmmmm,” she said.

Lyreen ate one. She had a different reaction though. Her face turned bright red the moment she chewed and spat it out. She snatched up the ale and downed it. Once she put the mug down, she started to fan her mouth with her hand. “Spicy,” she said nearly coughing.

Thokri ate one and shrugged.

“What’s spicy mean?” Anna asked. The others looked at her for a moment.

“Some foods make your mouth feel like it’s burning, child,” Barika replied.

“Oh,” Anna said, not sure what burning felt like.

Elaine tried one next. She turned a little red, but nowhere near as bad as Lyreen. Elaine ate another one. “They are hot, but still good,” she said.

Barika ate one. It didn’t seem to have any effect on her.

“You should have eaten the food in my home village if you think this is hot,” she said.

“Where are you from lass?” Thokri asked.

“West of the empire in the kingdom of Alakkad,” she replied.

Thokri nodded. “Been there once years ago,” he said.

Barika looked surprised. “What were you doing out there?” she asked.

“Dwarves trade with everyone, lass. We ran a caravan out there for Ivory,” he replied.

Barika nodded. “I can see that,” she said.

“There are walruses in your homeland?” Anna asked. As far as she’d heard, ivory came from walruses. At least, that’s what all the sailors told her.

“No lass, there are some big animals call elephants that have it as well,” Thokri said.

“Have you ever seen one?” Anna asked.

“Aye. They’re big and grey with a long nose and big tusks like an orc,” he replied.

Anna nodded. She wanted to see one now.

The barmaid came back with some roast meat and bread. She left it on the table. Thokri tossed her a few coins. She winked at him and walked away. He was grinning.

“Good to be around dwarves again,” he said.

“Especially the women dwarves,” Anna replied.

“Aye,” he said.

The meat wasn’t spiced the same as the mushrooms, and Lyreen was able to eat it. Voekeer ate the mushrooms, though he didn’t look like he liked them that much.

Must be a man thing again.

Once they were all finished, an older dwarf came over and sat with them.

“Good to see you back,” he said.

“Good to be back,” Thokri replied.

“Anything the clan should know about?” the dwarf asked.

“Aye,” Thokri said. He downed his ale and stood up. “Gather round lads. I’ve got a tale to tell,” he said. The dwarves got up and started to crowd around. “Alright lads. Let me tell you how I met the fairest monster in the world,” he said, putting his hand on Anna’s shoulder.