They walked out of the southern gate early in the morning heading for the coast.
“Would you stop staring at me?” Elaine asked.
“You aren’t wearing black!” Lyreen replied.
“Yeah, and we’re heading south in the middle of summer. I don’t feel like dying from the heat,” Elaine said.
“But you always wear black!” Lyreen replied.
“Yeah, and I decided not to this time. You got a problem with that?” Elaine asked.
“Uh, no, I just wasn’t expecting you to wear something so, so, yellow, that’s all,” Lyreen replied.
“What’s wrong with yellow?” Anna asked.
“Nothing, it’s just Elaine’s usually all black robes and graveyards, so seeing her in a cute yellow dress is just weird,” Lyreen replied.
“She has a jar filled with people’s eyes in her pack if that makes you feel better,” Anna said.
Lyreen glanced at Elaine’s pack and shuddered.
“No, no, it doesn’t,” she replied.
They continued walking for a few more hours until the sun was high in the sky. She noticed a shimmering on the road and realized it must be hot. She turned to look at the others to find they were all drenched in sweat.
“Should we stop for a break?” Anna asked.
“We will when we find some shade, child,” Barika replied.
“Want me to summon some tentacles?” Anna asked.
Barika shook her head no.
“We’re still too close to the city,” she said.
“Oh, right,” Anna replied.
They were surrounded by vast fields of crops separated by thin strips of uncultivated soil. There wasn’t anything in the way of shade anywhere near them, though she did see a huge tree off in the distance.
“There’s shade about half an hour away. Is that okay?” Anna asked.
“It’ll have to be, child,” Barika replied.
The others sped up when she mentioned the tree, and they reached it sooner than she’d guessed. They walked down a small path that led to the huge tree. The area around the tree had been cleared, and small benches had been built. There was a small statue of a featureless person wearing a cloak. He had a walking staff in one hand and a lantern in the other.
Oh, it’s a shrine to the traveling god.
Each member of the party placed a single copper into the small bowl at the foot of the statue. That was all the god ever asked for, just one copper if you could spare it, though they would bless you even if you couldn’t. She looked at the blank face for a moment. No one was sure what gender the god was or how old they appeared or really anything about them.
I guess that makes sense though. The traveler could be anyone.
They went to sit on the benches to rest and drink before getting back on the road. It was cooler in the shade of the tree, though it could also be because they were at the shrine. She leaned back and looked up through the branches at the flecks of sunlight that managed to make it through the dense foliage.
She looked back at her friends after a while and found they were all drinking from their canteens. She took her canteen from her belt and took a drink. The water was warm and had a slightly burnt taste, most likely from the pitch that lined the inside of the canteen.
The others can’t taste it, but at least they believed me about it, unlike the stripes on the flowers. No one believes me about those.
She took another drink of the tepid water and looked out at the fields surrounding the tree.
That’s a lot of peas. Looks like they are almost ready to harvest too. That means the inns around here are going to be serving pea soup a lot in the next few weeks. I like pea soup, but Lyreen hates it, so she’s going to whine. I hate it when she does that. Oh, I know, I can start passing her some of my smoked sausage when we’re walking, so she’s not hungry when we stop for dinner. She won’t gripe then! You know what? It’s lunchtime anyway. Might as well eat now.
She opened her pack and took out a sack filled with different kinds of smoked meat. Her friends noticed what she was holding and moved closer.
“Did you bring any of the sausage?” Lyreen asked.
Anna smirked at the elf and then pulled out one of said sausages and handed it to Lyreen who snatched it out of her hand and stuffed it in her mouth. The rest of the party started to smirk, causing Lyreen to turn red.
“Stop looking at me like that, you fucking assholes!” Lyreen said before turning away.
Everyone started to laugh, and Lyreen’s blush spread all the way to the tips of her ears, though she didn’t stop eating the sausage. She held out the sack and let the others pick what they wanted before taking a sausage for herself. Lyreen smirked at her as she ate. Anna just winked at her friend, causing the elf to blush again.
She’s so easy.
“These are even better than the last batch. Where did you find them, child?” Barika asked.
“One of the meat stalls in the beast man part of the market,” Anna replied.
“I’ve never been there before. What’s it like?” Voekeer asked.
“Well, they have a lot of different kinds of food for sale, mostly stuff that only beast men eat. Oh, and they have tailors that make clothing for beast men and inns that have special rooms that fit the really big or really small beast people. You know, that kind of thing,” Anna replied.
Voekeer frowned and looked off to the side.
“Did I say something weird?” Anna asked.
“What? No, it’s just I never thought about where one of those huge bullmen would sleep if they were on the road before, that’s all,” Voekeer replied.
Now the rest of her friends all sort of looked around at each other. She guessed that none of them had really thought about it before. Barika stood up and stretched. Once she finished, she reached down and picked up her pack, throwing it over her shoulder.
“We should be on our way,” she said.
The rest of the party got up without a word, putting their packs on and preparing to leave the shade. She stuffed the food back in her pack and closed it back up before standing up and putting her own pack on. Once she finished, they walked back down the path to the road and back into the blazing sun.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
They continued their journey south. They reached the first inn late in the evening. She noticed several wagons parked next to the inn. Unlike her wagon, they weren’t covered, though they did have tarps over whatever goods they were hauling.
The wagons were being watched by a few bored young men who were also there to take care of the horses in the stables. She doubted they would be doing either in a few hours, most likely playing dice or trying to get one of the barmaids to meet them in the loft. One of the young men noticed she was looking and grinned at her. She pretended not to see him and turned her head back to the inn.
They went in the front door and found that the inn was full of wagon men who were clearly having a good time. Luckily there were still a few open tables, so they sat at one, and a very young barmaid with bright green eyes and frizzy brown hair scurried over.
She’s way too young to be working as a barmaid. Oh, wait, that’s probably why the innkeeper’s sending her our way ‘cause a table full of women and non-humans aren’t going to do anything weird to her.
The girl just looked at each of them with big eyes. It was clear she wasn’t used to dealing with such an odd group.
“Yes, child,” Barika said.
“Wha, ah, what can I do for you tonight?” the girl squeaked.
“Rooms for the night, child. Five of them, and meals with ale for each of us,” Barika replied.
The girl nodded and bolted away.
“She reminds me of Beth,” Anna said.
“Beth is a grown woman now,” Barika replied.
“I know. It’s just whenever I try to imagine what she looks like now, I just can’t,” Anna said.
“I look like my mother, at least what she used to look like, so try and imagine what her mother looked like when she was young,” Elaine replied.
Anna stared at the necromancer for a few minutes before shaking her head.
“No, still can’t do it,” she said.
“It was worth a shot,” Elaine replied.
“You’ll see her again soon, child. Then you won’t have to guess,” Barika said.
“I know,” Anna replied.
The girl came back carrying a tray with their drinks and food on it. She set the tray on the table.
“Okay, Mr. Arnold said that I need to get twenty-two copper from you. That’s five for each room, and another two for the extra person,” she said.
They each paid the girl. Anna handed her a silver along with the five copper for her room. The girl stared at the coin for a moment before looking back at Anna.
“It’s for you,” Anna said.
The girl squealed and wrapped her arms around Anna’s head, pulling her into a tight hug. She then dashed off, heading straight for another one of the barmaids. The woman had the same eyes and frizzy hair as the girl and was clearly related. The woman hugged the girl but then spun her around and pointed at the table where she’d left the tray with drinks and food still on it. The girl’s eyes went wide again, and she zipped back over.
“I’m sorry!” she said.
She started to unload the tray, placing mugs of ale and bowls filled with thick stew in front of each of them. The moment she finished, she darted off with the now empty tray and rushed back to place it on the end of the bar. She showed the innkeeper the coin and started to chatter away at the man like children tended to do when excited about something.
Anna turned her attention to the stew. It was thick and filled with large chunks of meat and vegetables. She used the spoon sticking out of the bowl to break one of the chunks of meat up to a more manageable size. She scooped up the now smaller piece of meat and ate it.
Well, it’s not bad. I mean, I definitely wouldn’t call it good, but it’s not bad.
She started to eat the stew without paying too much attention to the way it tasted. She took a sip of the ale and wasn’t surprised by the poor taste.
“Horse,” she said.
Thokri took a drink of the ale and made a face. He set it back down and gave the mug a disgusted look before going back to eating the stew. She finished hers and pushed the bowl away, taking another drink from the awful ale. The girl zipped back over and picked up her bowl.
“Do you want another one?” she asked.
“No, thanks. I’m full,” Anna replied.
“Okay, let me know if you change your mind!” the girl said.
She rushed off with the bowl, heading back to the bar where the innkeeper ruffled her hair before sending her to the back room. Her friends finished their bowls of stew one by one, each one refusing a second, with the exception of Rose who always had seconds. After refilling her mug a few times, the girl disappeared, replaced by an older woman.
Must be getting late, and they don’t want her around the drunks.
Anna tossed another silver coin on the table and stood up.
“It’s late. I’m heading up,” she said.
As she walked to the stairs, the older barmaid walked to the table took her mug, along with the silver, and walked away, grinning when she noticed that Anna was watching. Anna grinned back, remembering her time as a barmaid before walking up the stairs.
She went into her room and tossed her pack next to the bed before stripping off her clothing and flopping on the bed face down on the rough straw mattress. She rolled over and looked up at the ceiling for a few moments before falling sound asleep.
A woman screamed loudly. Anna jumped out of her bed. She snatched her dress from where she had tossed it and pulled it on, grabbing her belt and putting it on as she ran out of her room. She’d discovered in the last few years that there was rarely a problem that wasn’t made worse by her nudity, so she’d gotten in the habit of getting dressed before rushing off.
Other guests were pouring out of their rooms as she bolted down the stairs. A few of the barmaids, along with the innkeeper, were surrounding the little barmaid’s older family member. She was sitting on her folded legs crying into her hands. One of the other barmaids was hugging her, and she was crying too.
“What’s wrong?” Anna asked.
“I’m afraid that little Jess is dead, murdered,” the innkeeper replied.
Who’s little Jess?
She looked down at the crying woman for a moment, then realized who Jess must be.
No! Not the little barmaid!
“Who? Why?” she asked, looking back at the innkeeper.
The innkeeper took a ragged breath.
“It was Erick. She was showing everyone that coin you gave her, and when she showed him, he tried to take it. She wouldn’t give it to him, so he started to beat her. By the time Billy pulled him off, she was already dead,” he replied as he started to cry.
“Where’s the prick at now?” a man asked in a cold voice.
She turned around to see that a large group of wagon men were standing behind her. It was clear by the looks on their faces they had heard what had happened to the little barmaid.
“Billy has him in the barn,” the innkeeper replied.
The wagon men started towards the door. The innkeeper took a step towards them, holding out his hand.
“We’ll take care of it. Just stay here with the women,” the man with the cold voice said.
The innkeeper’s arm fell, and he just stood there with a look on his face she’d never seen before. She looked at him for a moment before deciding to follow the wagon men outside.
I’d rather be around pissed off people than crying ones.
The crowd of men headed to the barn. None of them were talking, but all of them were still clearly enraged. They stormed into the barn where the two stable hands were sitting. One of them had his hands tied behind his back, and the other was sitting in a chair next to him. Both men had looks of utter despair on their faces.
The man in the chair jumped up and rushed to stand between the tied-up man and the wagon men.
“He didn’t mean it! It was an accident!” he said.
One of the wagon men punched him in the guts, causing him to sink to the ground with the wind knocked out of him.
“HE DIDN’T DO NOTHING YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!” the tied-up man shouted.
The wagon men started to beat the tied-up man, viciously kicking him. He fell on his side and tried to curl up in a ball but wasn’t able to fend off the blows because his hands were tied behind his back.
After savagely beating him until he was limp on the ground, the wagon men yanked him to his feet and started to drag him out of the barn. One of the men grabbed a rope that had been hanging from a hook and tossed it over a beam in the barn.
“Oh, gods, no! I didn’t mean to hurt her! You got to believe me!” he said.
Wait, they’re going to kill him! Should I stop them? He killed the little barmaid, but do they have to kill him? I don’t know what to do! I don’t know what to do! Where are my friends? I need my friends!
She spun around and spotted them in a crowd of people standing near the barn door. She rushed over to them.
“Easy, lass,” Thokri said, putting his hand on her shoulders.
She heard the sound of a rope suddenly going taut. She turned to see the tied-up man being pulled into the air by his neck. He started to thrash around, kicking his feet as he was strangled by the rope.
The man who had been in the chair got up and rushed for the men pulling the tied-up man into the air. He was caught by several of the other wagon men who were standing around watching the hanging. They started to beat him. Unlike the tied-up man, he fought back, slamming his fists into several of the men before they could shove him to the ground. Several of the men held him down while one of the men punched him in the face.
“ENOUGH!” the man with the cold voice shouted.
The men let him go. He didn’t get back up. Instead, he just laid there and started to cry.
“Aunty don’t have no one else. Don’t take Erick from her. He didn’t mean it. He didn’t,” the man said.
A stench wafted past her. She looked up at the hanging man to see that he was limp now with a dark stain spreading across his pants. The cold-voiced man nodded at the men holding the rope, and they tied it to one of the posts normally used to tie up horses before walking away.
She watched the dead man sway back and forth for a few moments before Thokri pulled on her shoulder, leading her away from the grisly scene.