The “town” was a motley collection of shacks and solar farms. A wide, curving river, or the Reim, as the locals called it, snaked through the town, and rather than bridging it there were ferries that transported the inhabitants of the town up and down the river.

According to Kaius the town had no name.

Odd, Aria thought. Sigil had mentioned to her once before that some towns in the deep countryside simply didn’t require a name, as it never got visitors.

It was a bit past afternoon when Aria and her companions arrived at the edge of the crude river town.

The trek to the town was arduous, but Sigil had been right, the new clothes did indeed make the journey more doable. A bland, tan coloured, knee-length skirt and a wool tunic. Underneath she wore a white cotton shirt and leggings to keep out the worst of the cold Yularian nights.

It was by far the most unfashionable thing Aria had ever worn.

“How does it fit?” Sigil asked.

“Perfectly,” she admitted, looking down at her new hiking boots. “It’s certainly more comfortable than the dress.”

Aria couldn’t help but feel bad. Although it wasn't like she had outright lied to her new companions, she wasn’t ready to tell them the full truth either. They had saved her from Tusk, but for all she knew they could turn out to be even worse. If they found out her identity as the daughter of the prime of Arai, they could quite literally ransom her for the price of a small city.

She would have to be careful. Conceal her identity, adopt the persona of a ditzy, spoiled brat of a local noble, which really wasn’t that far off from the truth.

Upon seeing the town’s walls, cobbled stone and only waist-high, she frowned. “What exactly is this supposed to keep out?”

"The local wildlife, scavengers, vermin," Sigil listed. "I doubt it was built for protection against other humans in mind."

"But why out of stone? Surely they aren't as backwards to lack the capacity for forging alloys."

Sigil shrugged. “The people of Yularia live simple lives, and their cities reflect that. It wasn’t even too long ago when the monarchy first allowed off world merchants to land. So far, attempts at modernization have been. . . negligible.”

What was even more surprising was that only a single sentry had been posted at the iron gate set into the stone wall. The sentry was a young man hardly older than Aria in a wool tunic similar to hers.

He regarded them with a mixed expression, but did not move to stop them.

“You’re back,” he said to Kaius. “And with friends.”

Kaius nodded. “Aye, any rooms to rent? Somewhere clean and quiet.”

The sentry’s brow knitted in consternation, and furrowed even deeper as he stared at the pistols strapped to Kaius’s hip. “So you’re staying the night?”

Kaius nodded. “Wouldn’t want to be caught out with those bandits you mentioned.”

The sentry leaned forward. “A brutal lot they are,” he said softly. “I lost a lot of good friends to those monsters. I’ll be honest, the local elders don’t want you staying, but I figure you’re decent enough people. There’s an old shack up in the hill just beyond the townhouse. You can get rooms there. A little warning though, the proprietress is a strange one.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“I’m no stranger to strangeness,” Kaius said, grinning lightly. “I appreciate it, friend.”

Did he just smile? Aria thought with mild bewilderment. And here I thought he lacked any facial muscles to do so.

The sentry nodded and bid them farewell.

As they continued through the town, a group of small children began trailing them. Sigil turned and smiled at them. She beckoned for them with a wave of her hand. The children stared at her with nervous faces, no doubt in part to the intimidating figure of a tall, scowling Kaius.

“Shoo,” Sigil said, ribbing Kaius with a light nudge. “Go work on getting us those rooms. I'll drop by the local magistrate.”

Kaius gave her an annoyed look before stalking off.

The children waited patiently until Sigil reached into her coin purse for a single bronze credit chip. “Some pocket change for anyone who can lead me to the magistrate,” she said with a gentle smile. “Double if you’re quick about it.”

Sigil picked out a young girl from the group of suddenly excitable children and then they were on their way to the magistrate. Aria noticed the look of disapproval in the eyes of several passing villagers. If it wasn’t clear enough from the attitude of the sentry, It was obvious now that strangers weren’t particularly welcome in their town.

“Why the magistrate?” Aria asked, watching their young guide prance on ahead.

“He could be in possession of a star map,” Sigil said. “Get an idea on where your system is.”

Aria wasn’t exactly sure what a star map was, but the name alone was fairly self explanatory of what its functions entailed.

“Why are you doing all this for me?” Aria inquired softly. Just what is your angle? “I don’t know you two very well but the both of you have done so much for me, a stranger.”

Sigil stared at her with an amused expression. “A girl like you wouldn’t make it a day alone. You need someone like me if you ever want to reunite with your family.”

“I’m aware,” Aria muttered. “But there has to be something in it for you.”

Sigil turned and looked aria in the eye, a flash of an indescribable emotion crossed her face.

“Look, kid,” Sigil said. “I get where you’re coming from, but I’m not helping you out of expectation for a reward. I owe a debt to someone, but I can’t repay it anymore. So now I help others, as he once helped me. Satisfied?”

Aria looked down at the ground, falling quiet. “Sorry. I’ll stop trying to pry so much.”

Sigil sighed. “No, It’s not that you did anything wrong, it’s just a touchy subject for me. Why don’t we drop it and focus on more important matters? There’ll be a time for questions later.”

They continued on toward the magistrates dwelling in an awkward prolonged silence. It was a drab, single-story building with a wooden fence and gate. It wasn’t much to look at but it was still a step above the other shacks. A young man with tan skin in a fine leather jerkin greeted them at the door, he eyed them suspiciously.

“Strangers,” he snapped. “I thought I told the idiot by the gate to turn your kind away.”

Sigil sent their young guide away with two bronze chips before turning back to the young man. “We need to talk to the magistrate.”

“We need to talk to the magistrate,” he mimicked derisively, before slamming the door in their faces.

Aria took a deep breath. She stepped forward and banged furiously on the door. “At least let us talk to him, we need his help.”

“Go away,” came his gruff voice.

Sigil placed a hand on Aria’s shoulder. “We can come back tomorrow,” she said gently. “Let’s not antagonize them too much.”

“But. . .”

“Sometimes the best move is just to step back for a bit,” Sigil said. “They already distrust us, we don’t need to give them a reason to hate us.”

“I understand,” Aria said. “But what if they don’t listen to us tomorrow? Then what?”

“It’s always the what-ifs with you,” Sigil sighed. “We’ll deal with it tomorrow. For now, let’s go and see if Kaius had any luck with the rooms.”