The sun seared the back of Ben and Spidena’s necks. Their feet were swollen and between each sweaty toe was gritty dirt and sand.

If travelers on foot passed by them, they didn’t even bother nodding, as the heat of the day roasted away any pretense of politeness.

They had run out of water shortly after lunch, and while the air was just starting to cool as the sun crept closer to the treetops, fresh sweat continued to drip down both Spidena and Ben’s faces.

Spidena had even wrestled her frizzing hair until she could tie it atop her head in a haphazard bun.

Ben thought it looked like an eagle's nest.

He didn’t say it outloud.

No matter how much he wanted to.

He was too thirsty.

Spidena had stopped countless times during the day to reapply the white cream she claimed would protect her from sunburns, but despite her best efforts, her skin had freckled spectacularly.

Even Filif hadn’t come to join them on the road. Most likely he had either forgotten they existed.

They had been hoping for a merchant or other long haul travelers to come by with water barrels and that they would allow them to refill their waterskins to save them having to abandon the road to track down a river.

Sadly, at that point in the journey, the forest on their right was practically all owned by Lord Earhav, and so that meant the forest on the left that Ben hadn’t studied as closely, was a mystery. Meaning more time would have to be spent wandering around hoping to find some water.

Ben knew Spidena was going to give him an earful the instant she had a sip of water about how he did not have a proper map to guide them or show where there would be a river or some other body of water. He was just about to admit defeat and retreat into the trees on the left of the road to hunt down said river, knowing full well that Spidena would complain about the waste of time, when lo and behold, the sound of hooves echoed up from the road behind them.

Ben stopped in his tracks and turned around at the same time as Spidena.

Both of their eyes widened and their ragged breaths quickened as they watched the sure shape of a caravan approaching them pulled by two horses.

“Thank bees,” Spidena wheezed.

“They still,” Ben paused and licked his lips and tried to stop from choking against his parched throat. “Might not give us water.”

“I will throw magic at them if they don’t.”

Ben opened his mouth to once more pointe out the fact that Spidena kept alleging she had tons of magic to spare, yet she couldn’t refill their waterskins, then decided there was no point.

The pair waited, both swaying a little in the heat, when at long last the chestnut mare and her white spackled companion pulled to a stop beside them.

The driver of the caravan was difficult to make out given that staring up at him played right into the blinding rays of the sun, and his caravan also happened to have a lip off the roof that provided him with shade.

That said, a booming voice called out.

“Why, hello! I saw you two stopping on the road and watching me come up! May I help you with anything?”

It was a friendly voice, and that was enough to prompt Spidena to step forward. “Sir, would you happen to have any… Any water?” She had had to pause to clear her throat.

“Goodness! Neither of you have water? Oh dear. Oh dear no, no.” The driver scrambled down from his seat with amazing speed. It was particularly impressive in fact, as once he was on the ground, both Ben and Spidena could see the true size of the man.

He stood at a magnificent six foot five inches, and weighed over three hundred pounds with a rounded middle, and thick strong arms that almost looked as though he could’ve pulled the caravan all on his own.

As he had flown to the back of his caravan, Ben and Spidena had no idea what his face looked like.

There was the high pitched squeak of hinges as the back door was opened, and then the caravan bounced as the man presumably stepped in. There were then a series of bumps and thumps from within the vehicle that had Ben and Spidena sharing an uncertain glance.

Ben turned and ventured down the side of the caravan that was painted red, with yellow borders and simple designs. The paint was a tad faded and chipped in a few places, but all in all seemed to be in good working order. He identified the tell tale hinges near the top of the caravan wall that revealed that it was a merchant caravan, though there was no sign hung or painted on the vehicle to indicate just what kind of merchant this fellow was.

There was a particularly loud ‘thud’, followed by a call from the merchant.

“If you two could come back here, my water barrel has a spout!”

All other thoughts left Ben’s head as he darted to the back with Spidena on his heels.

They were so engrossed with once again becoming hydrated, that they still hadn’t gotten a good look at their savior, until after his second refill, Ben wiped his chin with his coat sleeve and finally took stock of the man.

The merchant appeared to be in his late thirties, with gray touching the dark hair at his temples and in the small patch of beard on his chin that was overshadowed by his thick black mustache.

Brilliant blue eyes peered at Ben, and the merchant wore a warm smile that made his entire face all the more likable.

Which instantly made Ben wary.

Regardless of this, he wasn’t an ungrateful twit, and so he proceeded to thank the man.

“Oh, think nothing of it! Us travelers must stick together! Just do me a favor and be sure to pass along the kindness.” The man gave a good natured wink.

“You’re a merchant?” Ben continued conversationally as Spidena remembered to gasp for breath in between downing her third waterskin full of water.

“Why yes I am! My name is Paulav Sweeney, and I sell just about everything but the kitchen sink!” Paulav chuckled happily while rising just enough from his crouch to gesture at the packed caravan behind himself.

Ben squinted.

He wondered if the man knew he was carrying seven magical items in his caravan.

Spidena, apparently noticing the look on Ben’s face, leaned over to better see around Paulav.

“Sir, do you know–” she started to say before Wolf swooped down and landed on top of her snarled hair.

Ben instantly let out a loud snort and doubled over laughing, while Spidena turned very slowly to stare daggers at him.

“O-oh, my,” Paulav chortled a little. “Is that fine feathered creature yours?”

Ben couldn’t respond between laughs, so Spidena let out a sigh and rolled her eyes upward. “Yes, this is Wolf. He doesn’t have a mouse or anything in his beak, does he?”

Paulav couldn’t keep the laugh from his voice when he answered. “No, he doesn’t. You two are certainly traveling light, where is it that you are heading?”

“Kintel,” Spidena informed him conversationally right as Ben was straightening and wiping his eyes. Though when he heard her answer, he shot her a wary look, silently cautioning her on divulging too much information.

“Ah! What good fortune this is! I was starting to drive myself mad without company, and I happen to be going to a wedding a week’s trip away! It isn’t quite in Kintel, but it’ll shave off a few weeks of your journey compared to when you’re on foot. What do you say?” Paulav offered cheerily.

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Both Ben and Spidena exchanged another look.

“We… We don’t have much money…”

“Perfectly alright. I just ask that if you are getting your food supplies from hunting that you maybe share a little. I’m afraid given the length of my journey I had to pack mostly preserved meats, though I’m happy to share the vegetables I have! They don’t keep long either.”

“That should be fine… Thank you,” Spidena nodded and gave a polite smile.

Paulav slapped his thigh enthusiastically. “Wonderful! I didn’t catch either of your names by the way!”

“I’m Spidena, and this is… Er… This is…”

“Ben.” He held out his hand. Honestly, he knew there was no point in lying when Spidena was so awful doing it, and if they were going to be together with this man for another week, there was very little chance she wouldn’t slip up.

Probably she’d get annoyed at him for one reason or another. She’d put her hands on her hips and that sharp, strained voice of hers would instantly call out “Ben!” And then she’d realize she made a mistake, her green eyes would go round, but she wouldn’t ever admit that she’d been the one to be an idiot and made a mistake–

Paulav proceeded to carry on the discussion. “Lovely to meet you both! Now, you, young lady, are welcome to ride in the caravan with my wares. There is a small dinette in the back I spent last summer building inside with two chairs and a small table. I attached them to the floor and wall—a fine bit of handiwork if I do say so myself—you can rest in there to get out of the sun. Ben, good man, would you be alright if you kept me company up front?”

Snapped from his spiraling thoughts about Spidena, Ben was startled to realize he had been staring at her and… smiling? Smiling. Smiling as he thought about her.

Gods. None of that please.

He shifted the waterskin in his hands to stop himself from gripping it. “Uh, sure.”

“Fantastic! Mind giving me a hand and shifting this barrel back into place?” Paulav stood, and sent the carriage rocking.

Ben watched the massive shape of Paulav amble deeper into the caravan, presumably to make room for Ben to join him.

Though if Ben were being perfectly truthful, he doubted the man needed his help moving the barrel at all.

Still, he climbed into the caravan, only he was stopped by Spidena lifting her hand. “This guy… Is way too nice.”

Relieved that she had enough sense to come to the same conclusion as himself, Ben lowered his voice. “I know! He’s probably going to sell us something, or is drunk, or–”

“Everything alright?” Paulav called out to his new passengers.

“Oh, yes, sorry.” Ben resumed climbing into the caravan while gripping the lip of the barrel.

“Actually, I can move the barrel fine on my own. I just need you to hold these things up on the shelf while I do it, you see?” Paulav explained as Ben peered over his shoulder and found that, sure enough, there was a shelf so ladened with random nicknacks and bottles, that it was buckling dangerously, and with its bellied bottom, there was no way the barrel would slip under there easily. So Ben slipped his hands under the board and lifted the shelf as much as he could, while Paulav tossed the barrel back and under as easily as if it were empty.

“Fantastic! Now, shall we get on the road once more? Your lady there looks like she’s about to keel over so I’m sure she will enjoy the rest back here—sorry about the smell though. You see, I bought some pickled cow tongue and the jar cracked and spilled.”

While Ben hadn’t noticed it before, he most certainly did after it was mentioned.

“Was there dill in the brine?”

“What a keen sense of smell you have!” Paulav complimented sincerely while clomping down to the exit of the caravan. “Yes! There was dill in there. It’s quite tasty really. Most people get squeamish about eating cow tongue unless they are from one of the other kingdoms where it’s common in their dishes, or if they are witches or warlocks, then they don’t mind in the least!”

Startled at the casual mention of magic folk, Ben’s gaze swiveled to Spidena, who was ready and waiting to meet his stare in mutual surprise.

“Now then, my dear, you are more than welcome to get out of this heat! Take a seat! Oh, but please don’t go rummaging about too, too much. I don’t have anything organized back there and I have a few magical items that are harmless, but you never know what could happen, hm?” Paulav beamed at Spidena, and she stared dumbly up at him.

“Are you… Are you a warlock?” Spidena managed to ask despite the onslaught of chatter and good nature from the merchant.

Paulav belly laughed, it was loud enough that Ben was quite certain that a flock of birds were startled out of a nearby pine tree.

“Not at all! Though my friends who are getting married? One of the brides is a witch! Oh, I can’t wait to tell her about my trip up here! I don’t know how things have been for you two, but there is all kind of magical mayhem going on a little south of here. I heard there was a pack of werewolves spotted, two different gangs of thugs were charmed and poisoned by a witch, and I even heard…” Paurav leaned forward “That there is a new magical inn that just opened up that appears randomly all over the kingdom, and seebs like us can stay there! Wouldn’t that be wonderful? To finally get to see these magical creatures… And people are getting less afraid of them by the day, which I think is just so exciting!”

Ben and Spidena both looked as though they’d been slapped with a freshly caught trout.

Seeing their reactions, Paulav finally stopped talking. “Oh, I’m sorry. Like I said, I haven’t had anyone to talk to on this trip, and to be perfectly honest, I’m a little nervous about the wedding. You see… My ex will be at the wedding…” Paulav started to walk back toward the driver’s seat, and like ducklings following their mother, both Spidena and Ben followed him.

“He and I broke up two years ago, and, well… He used to be my business partner. We went everywhere together. Then one day he says he wants to marry a nice lady we met on one of our trips…” Paulav trailed off and looked down sadly as he reached into his deep red colored leather coat and procured a lovely silk handkerchief he used to wipe the beading sweat off his forehead. “Enough time has passed… I think it’s the unknown I’m nervous about, you know? I’m sure he’s happy, and that she is a kind person, I just don’t know how he will act, or how I’ll feel. Anyway! Far too much about me! Ben, up you go, and Spidena, my lady, I’m afraid I must insist you ride inside, you look like you’re about to faint.”

Ben swallowed and forced himself to look away from Paulav.

The man had a personality every bit as big as he was, and so he seemed rather like a giant, and it was more than a little dizzying.

However when his sights rested on Spidena, Ben noted the glassiness in her eyes, and instantly his thoughts started to hum back to life. “Go on. Get back there. Wolf, see if you can hunt some rabbits for us, yeah?”

The raven croaked and with a great beating of his black wings he took off to the sky, at last leaving Spidena’s snarled hairdo.

This seemed to snap Spidena out of her daze and so she nodded, and proceeded back into the caravan without any argument or comment.

Ben then set about climbing up beside Paulav, who took up most of the bench despite his best efforts to make himself smaller.

“I hope your wife is alright!” the merchant said worriedly. “Heat sickness is never a good time.”

“She’s not my wife.”

“Ah, apologies! Apologies! Hopefully the mention of a wedding didn’t put you in a tight spot. I know some ladies get a little ruffled when their sweethearts haven’t worked up the courage to ask yet,” Paulav mused aloud as he gave a gentle slap of the reins and set his horses back in motion.

“Paulav?” Ben felt the faint flicker of a headache start to appear against his temples.

“Mm?”

“If you ever do find that magical inn, I have a feeling you’re going to get along really well with the owner named Daffy.”