Cid saw Jeanne and Silvius return to the inn, a smile on his face as he saw both in good spirits, and Silvius not sporting a black eye. “Nice to see you both back,” Benkin said, lifting his flagon to the two.

“Needed some air,” Jeanne taking her seat and grabbed a drink from Hypatia.

“Well,” said Cid, “Now we can start brainstorming where to start first with the Kolvilles and getting this sarcophagus.”

“First, we need to figure out who the Kolville’s are working for,” said Gabriel. “Since he’s the one who probably has the sarcophagus.”

“Hypatia and I can start seeing about that,” said Silvius. “Get a good bearing of where his lands are and what type of resistance we’ll be looking at.”

“Good,” said Cid, “what else do we have?”

“I could check in with a few of our old contacts,” said Kveldulf, “put on airs that we’re planning to throw our lot in with either side.”

“All right, I like it. Anyone else?”

“Once we know where the Kolville’s new patron is, it might be wise to maybe get ourselves into the city and do some old-fashioned espionage,” said Maeryn.

“Not a terrible idea, but I think we should be a little cautious if we do that.”

“I can take along,” said Gabriel. “It’s not the first time I’ve done such things in the past.”

“My only concern is we’ll be going into an unknown situation, no contacts to fall back on, and in a society which seems to be less than kind to outsiders.”

“Hell, even never left my town until after I needed to find a fast escape,” Jeanne said.

“I have a few tricks up my sleeve that can be help. At the very least it’ll hide my particular features when we’re in big crowds.”

Cid, Kveldulf and Jeanne noticed two people standing near them. A young man and young woman, the man gripping his hat tightly in his hands as the young woman looked back and forth between the man and The Wolves. “Can we help you?” Jeanne asked them slowly.

“Are you Lady Marais?” the young woman asked with anticipation.

“I’m Jeanne Marais, why?” Jeanne replied. Cid saw the others move their hands to their weapons slowly, his own already gripping the hilt of his sword.

“We’ve just heard so much about you, how you slew one of the Kolvilles,” said the young woman.”

“Or how you wrestled a bear into submission with your own hands,” said the young man.

“Or how you slew a dreaded witch of the wilds through an intricate game of wits,” said the young woman.

Jeanne looked at them with growing confusion and concern. “Oh this is … not what I expected.”

“You’re the reason why the Kolvilles scampered off like rats and away from here.”

“Well, I think it had more to do with the town then me,” Jeanne said.

“But you were the first. You showed them what happens when they go too far.”

“I appreciate the compliments,” said Jeanne, “but I think much of what’s been said has been embellished.”

“I think we may need to speak with an actual witch of the woods to clear up whatever misunderstanding that caused,” said Leonidas.

“We didn’t mean to bother you or your friends,” said the young woman, “but … we’ve heard so much about you, and to have you here in our village is almost impossible to believe.”

“This was my home,” Jeanne said. “And it was not through nostalgia or some other means of longing that brought me back.”

“Well, still, it was an honor to meet you in person,” the young woman said.

“I don’t if that’s the term I’d use,” Jeanne said, “But I’ll take it.”

“Don’t be modest, young Jeanne,” said one of the patrons, “they’ve been singing songs to your name almost since the day you left.”

“Come again?” Jeanne asked.

“I know there’s that one called the Lay of Marais,” said another patron.

“I have a lay about me?” she asked, rubbing the back of her neck.

“That would be nice to hear,” Silvius said.

“I could jot it down in the company annals,” said Hypatia.

“You do that and I’ll rip your throat out,” said Jeanne.

“Overruled,” Cid said with a soft chuckle. “We can always enjoy a nice tune to our bravest and maddest whenever we need a nice lift to our spirits.”

“I wouldn’t mind hearing a bar or two,” said Leonidas.

“I will bury you where no one will ever find you,” Jeanne said to him.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“And I know why you won’t do that.”

“I have a question,” Jeanne asked the crowd, who were all now looking at The Wolves attentively, “Given everything that could’ve gone wrong. Why all this? Why the songs, the praise, the hero-worship? Hell, half of you used to give me the dirtiest of glares when I used to live here. And the other acted like I was some plague in human form.”

Some of the villagers looked away while others winced at her words.

“I think we may want to curtail the rhetoric, Jeanne,” Kveldulf said to her.

“No, I want to know. I find it a little odd how when I actually lived here, I was a pariah, and now I am the talk of the town. So if you’re able to speak of me with such reverence and awe when I’m not here, then you can say it to my face.”

The villagers were quite, some tapping their flagons and looking uncomfortable in the palpable silence. “I guess the first reason was, well, you did what we were afraid to,” said a farmer.

“You put down the Kolville cur like the dog he was and we when you left, we knew it was either going to be worse from whatever the lord would bring or we would have to take on the job ourselves,” said the blacksmith.

“In more than a few ways, you forced us to put action behind our words or be silent with taking the abuse,” said the farmer.

“I guess we forgot how you were seen beforehand, what with the songs, the tales and everything else. I guess it’s not much of an apology if you’re not here to actually here to receive it.”

Jeanne waved it off, pinching the bridge of her nose as she lifted up her hand to the crowd. “It’s nothing, I … it’s nothing.” She sat back down.

“You all right?” Kveldulf asked.

“I’m fine, just another reason why I’m not stay here when this is all said and done,” she said taking a long swig of her mead. “That was something I never liked about places like this. Always touting the closeness, the family within a family mentality, all that slop. Never saw any of that when I was here. Mostly gossiping, bickering, and looking at each other with utter disdain, if not outright contempt.”

“It’s not all bad,” said Hypatia. “My mother’s family hails from a small town and its rather quaint. Picturesque even.”

“No offense meant, Hy, but I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“I mean … that just means another trip home for me, so I’m not particularly bothered by that.”

“I wouldn’t mind a trip into the country,” said Leonidas.

“And you could bring Selene with you,” Silvius added.

“Oh, she would love it out there,” Hypatia replied.

“Let’s focus on getting out of this in one piece, then we can consider how we will be celebrating our victories,” Cid said to the rest of them.

Hypatia turned back to Jeanne. “I’m already planning this for the four of us.”

Jeanne turned to Leonidas who was nodding positively to the idea.

“In any case,” said Cid, leaning forward over the table. “We still need to plan for how we’re going to be getting to the Kolvilles one by one.”

“And trying to keep our presence down to a minimum,” followed Leonidas.

“I’m surprised we haven’t gotten any troubles since we arrived here,” said Benkin. “What with Jeanne and our vampire friend.”

“Given Jeanne’s past with the Kolvilles, she’s definitely more of a local hero than anything else,” said Leonidas.

“Still coming to terms with that one,” Jeanne followed.

A voice called out from behind Cid and Kveldulf. “We had a couple vamps living here for a couple of harvests,” the villager called out.

“And no one had an issue?” Gabriel asked.

“Oh, we had issues, no doubt about that. But they kept to themselves, didn’t cause any trouble. Hell, they even caught a few wolves on my land ready to make meals out of chickens.”

“What happened to them?” Gabriel followed. “Is there a way we can talk to them.”

The villagers turned to the group with uncomfortable expressions on their faces.

“The Kolvilles happened,” the villager replied taking a long sip from his ale. “One night, much like this one, everyone was doing their own thing. Most of us were in here, enjoying the night with a few drinks and some warm food, when someone burst through the entrance and said the Bucsa farm was on fire. The road up there was clogged with fallen timbers and other debris, and by the time we got there, was much of a farm left to save.”

“And the family there?” Cid asked.

“Had stakes in their hearts, their heads severed and burned on makeshift pyres,” the villager replied. “It … it was a hard thing to see.”

“I thought the Kolvilles don’t come around these parts anymore?” said Benkin. “After the price put on their heads and all that.”

“They usually don’t. Though sometimes they like to pay the town a visit to remind us they’re still around. That they can just as easily make our lives as hard as they want, should fortune come their way. And the vamps –”

“Vampyres,” Gabriel said sternly. The villagers looked her at with confusion. “We prefer to be called Vampyres.”

“The vampyres,” the villager said, “they were more than likely targeted because the Kolvilles aren’t big on their presence in this part of the kingdom. On top of that, their new friend, Robert Bellem, the lord of Inderawuda, seems to have it in worse for the night-kin than the Kolvilles do.”

“Bellem,” Jeanne said, cocking up an eyebrow, “I thought he was still a landless lord.”

“Was a landless lord,” the villager corrected, “Empress Adelize restored much of his lands and status when he swore fealty to her.”

“Who’s this Lord Bellem?” Maeryn asked.

“He’s one of the most prominent noblemen in the whole of the kingdom,” Gabriel replied. “And one of the most brutal.”

“Brutal is almost an understatement,” the villager replied. ‘The man has more dungeons dedicated to the harshest punishments for the slightest infractions.”

“He had a reputation before I left these lands,” Jeanne said.

“Aye” said the villager, “and when he was given back his lands his cruelty has been given a renewed sense of purpose.”

“So much for turning a new leaf,” said Silvius.

“You really think a man like that would have the want to be better?” Benkin asked.

“No,” Silvius admitted. “But one would hope such events would inspire him to reconsider what got him there.”

“I think the first mistake was considering the man’s ability for self-reflection,” said Jeanne.

“Something tells me we’re going to be dealing with man every step of the way for this operation,” said Cid. “And if he has money and resources that means he can be a major threat to our work if he learns we’re here.”

“We’re assuming he doesn’t know we are here,” said Hypatia.

“Good point,” said Cid, “probably best we figure this is a known fact to him and act accordingly.”

“Best to use alternative names before we arrive there so we don’t give ourselves away too much before we arrive to where ever this city is.”

“It should be about a few days ride from here,” said Jeanne.

“Going back on what was said before, I’m thinking we send a couple of our people in,” said Kveldulf. “See what exactly what the situation is before we have the whole troop march into what could be an accidental trap.”

“Sort of like a thief prancing their way into the middle of the barracks of the city’s guards all by accident,” said Maeryn.

“Precisely,” Kveldulf said, gesturing towards her with his knife.

“All right then,” said Cid, “Ben, Gabriel, Kel, I want you three to head to Inderawuda, get a lay of the land, and we’ll join you in three weeks’ time.”

“Isn’t that a bit long?” Gabriel asked.

“I think two weeks should the trick for what we’re doing,” said Kveldulf.

“You might be right,” said Cid, taking a bite from a small piece of roasted chicken.

“What should the rest of us be doing?” Silvius asked.

“Well, you and Hy have your orders, Ben, you ingratiate yourself with the guards here, see what you can drum up. Doc, help Sil and Hy with their work, see if you can spot any odd activities might be coming from the good lord of Inderawuda. And Jeanne, I want you with me.”

“Why?” Jeanne asked.

“Because you’re the one best versed in these lands and their culture, and I have a few questions I need answered.”