“We should get some pickled eggs and ale to go along with this cabbage!” Anna said patting her belly.

“Aye, I could go for that,” Thokri replied.

“Are you trying to kill someone?” Voekeer asked.

“It’ll be fine,” Anna replied.

“The last time you two ate pickled eggs and drank ale, we got thrown out of a tavern. If you add cabbage, we might get chased out of town!” Voekeer said.

She chuckled at the memory. The two of them had gotten into a contest of who could fart the loudest, and a poor barmaid had gotten sick when she walked past their table. Needless to say, they were no longer welcome at that tavern.

“Alright, how about we find some meat on a stick?” she asked.

“Now that’s a good idea,” he replied.

She lifted her head up and sniffed the air like some kind of hound before nodding for her friends to follow her. The scent of roasting meat was coming from the south, so she led her friends farther down the road.

She discovered the source of the smell when she reached the center of town. There was a large open market filled with food stalls, most of which were serving roast meat of some kind. She paused for a moment to inhale deeply before setting off again, leading her friends past a dozen or so food stalls to the one that smelled the best.

There was a small crowd around the stall where the wonderful aroma had originated. They pushed through the crowd to the front of the stall. Behind the counter stood an old horse man. He was chopping a huge chunk of meat into pieces small enough to fit on the skewers while several batches of said skewers sizzled away on a blazing hot mesh covered grill. He paused his chopping, turned all the skewers, and then went back to cutting meat.

“Just a few more minutes, folks,” he said.

“Take your time, lad,” Thokri replied.

“Always do, dwarf, always do,” the horse man said.

When he finished chopping the meat, he quickly got it onto skewers and dropped them into a vat filled with a dark liquid. Once he finished that, he took the cooked batches off the grill and handed them out to the waiting customers.

“A copper for two sticks,” the horse man said once he finished.

“I’ll take four!” Anna replied.

“Put the coin in the jar then, and I’ll have it right out,” he said.

Anna and her friends dropped coins into the jar and stepped off to the side to wait for their food.

“Where’d you get that meat?” Anna asked.

“Family’s got a ranch out west. We raise cattle out there and sell most of them, but I keep a few choice cuts for myself,” he replied patting the meat.

“Is that why there are so many beast people here? Because you all have families with ranches?” Anna asked.

“Something like that,” the horse man replied.

He flipped the skewers, taking a moment to fan the grills to get the coals going again.

I think that’s the best answer I’m going to get in a day. Oh well. Those skewers smell so good! They were worth stopping for, and I bet that roast is going to taste good. I wonder what kind of sauce he dipped the meat on a stick in? It kind of smells like fish sauce but with more spices in it. I doubt he’ll tell me what it is. People who run food stalls never want to talk about their recipes. They always tell me it’s a secret. It’s not like I can’t just taste what’s in it anyway, so I don’t get why they have to be that way.

“STOP!!!” a man shouted.

A man ran past them at a sprint, shoving his way through the crowded street. Four armed men chased after him, shouting as they went.

Wait, they weren’t guards! They might kill him if they catch him!

She bolted after the men.

“WAIT!!!” Voekeer shouted.

“I’ll BE RIGHT BACK!” she replied.

She caught up to the armed men quickly and followed them down a side street and into an alley. They chased the man through the twisting alleys until his luck ran out, and he stopped at a dead end. He turned around and held his hands up, smiling in a casual way.

“You got me,” he said.

One of the men pulled a knife from his belt and held it out.

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“What are you going to do to him?” she asked.

The men turned and looked at her.

“Who the fuck are you?” the man with the knife asked.

“Anna,” she replied.

“Well, Anna, buzz off! This is none of your business!” he replied.

She folded her arms across her chest and shifted her hips to the side, giving the men a look.

“I will when you tell me what you’re going to do to him,” she said.

“I’m going to cut his fucking balls off, so buzz off unless you want to watch!” the man with the knife replied.

“What the fuck did he do to deserve that?” she asked.

“Nothing! Nothing at all! I didn’t do a single thing!” the cornered man replied.

“Nothing! You fucked my sister and then tried to skip town!” the man with the knife said.

“It doesn’t sound like he did anything wrong to me,” she said.

“But he stole her virtue!” the man with the knife replied.

“How is that any of your business?” Anna asked.

“I’m supposed to protect her!” the man with the knife replied.

“From what? Having sex? Look, the only thing you need to worry about is whether or not she was willing,” Anna said.

“Oh, she was very willing. One could have even described her as enthusiastic…” the cornered man replied.

Anna shot him a poisonous glare and uttered a dwarven curse so foul the Stone One himself grinned at her from his throne deep within the divine mountain. The cornered man took the hint and shut his mouth, looking away from her. She walked to the man with the knife and put her hand on his arm.

“Don’t do this. It’s not worth it, alright?” she said.

“She’s right, man. Old Robert will put us in the stocks and make us pay out the nose if you carve that prick up,” one of the other men said.

The man holding the knife tightened his grip on the blade for a moment before relaxing.

“FUCK!!! I need a fucking drink!” he said.

He yanked his arm away from her and shoved his knife back in its sheath before storming off. His friends scurried after him, leaving her with the cornered man alone in the alley.

“You really saved me there. I owe you one,” he said.

“You should probably get out of town,” Anna replied.

“Oh, I plan to, but first, let me buy you a drink,” he said.

“You don’t need to do that. The inn I’m staying at has free drinks with the meals,” Anna replied.

She started to walk out of the alley, and he walked with her.

“That sounds like a nice place,” he said.

“It is. The dinner smelled good, and the beds were huge!” she replied.

“I think I might join you,” he said.

“It’s three copper for a room and two more if you want the good food,” Anna replied.

“Quite a deal,” he said.

They walked out of the alley and back onto the main street where she headed back to the center of town. The man walked with her, though once they were out of the alley, he started to swagger along as if he hadn’t just been cornered like a rat.

As they walked, he wore a cocky smile and winked at women causing them to giggle and turn away shyly before glancing back to see if he was still watching them.

What’s with them?

When they reached the open space at the center of town, she looked around until she spotted Voekeer. She let out a whistle causing the elf to turn. She waved at him and then started to head in his direction.

“Who was that?” the man asked.

“One of my friends,” Anna replied.

“You are friends with an elf?” he asked.

“Yeah, you got a problem with that?” she asked.

“What? No, not at all. It’s just, I didn’t think elves made friends with anyone but other elves, that’s all,” he replied.

“They normally don’t,” Anna said.

She started to make her way through the crowd heading for her friends, and the man kept following her.

“Who’s that?” Voekeer asked when she reached him.

“This is the man that was getting chased,” Anna replied.

“What were they chasing him for?” Lyreen asked.

“There was a slight misunderstanding with a young lady as to the seriousness of our relationship,” the man replied.

“Her brother and his lads were going to cut his balls off for fucking her and running,” Anna added.

Her friends looked at him as if he were some sort of stinging insect for a moment.

“So, what’s he doing here?” Lyreen asked. Anna shrugged.

“Donno, he just followed me,” she replied.

“So, why did you follow her, lad?” Thokri asked.

“I wanted to return her to you all safely,” he replied.

“Don’t lie to us, boy,” Barika said.

She gave him a stern look, and his cockiness seemed to melt away.

“I can’t let those men catch me alone again!” he replied.

“So, you followed her around like a puppy, figuring they wouldn’t start anything. Is that right?” Elaine asked.

He just nodded.

“Well, I did save him. I guess I should make sure he stays safe. At least until he gets out of town,” Anna said.

“Up to you lass, but it’s get’n late. Might have to take the lad back to the inn with us,” Thokri replied.

“An excellent idea, sir dwarf! A good meal and a night’s sleep would be wondrous after a day like today,” the man replied.

“Bah! You talk too much, lad,” Thokri said.

“Hey, where are my meat on a sticks?” Anna asked.

“Rose ate them,” Voekeer replied.

“She did?!” Anna asked.

Rose grinned at her and patted her belly.

“But those were mine!” Anna said.

“We didn’t know when you were coming back, and they were getting cold, child,” Barika replied.

Anna huffed and walked off, heading back to the stall to get more. Voekeer grabbed her shoulder and spun her back around.

“I’m going to get more!” she said.

“You can get some tomorrow. It’s time to go back to the inn!” Voekeer replied.

“Fine!” Anna said.

They started to walk back to the inn with the man scurrying along behind them. Rose put her arm around Anna and gave her a squeeze. Anna looked over to see the woman was looking at her intently.

“I’m not mad at you. It’s just I really wanted to try them, that’s all,” Anna said.

Rose smiled at her again, gave her another squeeze, and then let go.

“You didn’t miss much,” Voekeer said.

“Really?” Anna asked.

“Yeah, they were about the same as the ones you get in Oldforge, maybe a little saltier, that’s all,” he replied.

“Hmm? I was sure that stuff they were soaking in was fish sauce. I wonder why it didn’t make them taste different?” she asked.

“Well, they didn’t taste like they had any fish sauce on them to me,” Voekeer replied.

“Bah! That lad didn’t let them soak long enough to get any real favor in them, and as hot as that grill was, he was just using it to put a crust on the meat, that’s all,” Thokri added.

“Like the steaks at the necromancer’s guild?” Anna asked.

“Aye,” Thokri replied.

“Except those were amazing,” Elaine said.

“Aye, for a bunch of spooky fucks, those lads know how to eat,” Thokri replied.

“You’ve eaten with necromancers?” the man asked, clearly shocked.

“Yeah, we do it all the time,” Anna replied.

“I see,” the man said.

She could see by the look on his face that he clearly hadn’t thought what tagging along with a group of strange adventurers would entail.

I doubt he thinks most things through if today was any indication.