The old man returned a short time later and the two kobolds joined him on the walk back to the house, where they found Sigmundurr and Eilistraee sitting on the porch bench, swinging and talking quietly.

"Aye, all packed and ready to go so soon?" Sir Bart said as they approached, noticing the packs laid out beside the pair.

"I'm afraid we must," Eilistraee said, rising from the bench. "These three still have a good way to travel before they reach the nearest village tavern.

"Well, it's been a pleasure having you stay with me. Here, don't leave just yet. I have a little something for you," he said and scurried in the house to get something.

"I don't think it's been an hour, Sig," Kreet said, unable to keep from giving him a little ribbing.

The big man leaned back on the bench, a smile coming over his face and closing his eyes as if in remembrance. "Turns out I've not got quite the stamina I thought I did."

"Enough of that. What's done is done. Water under the bridge," Eilistraee said, and Kreet could swear she saw the goddess blush. "Now that's unexpected!" she thought.

"Here you go," the old man said as he bustled back out with three little packets. "One for each of you. My best leaves."

"Oh, we can't take from you!" Kreet said. "We should be paying you!"

"Nonsense. This isn't payment. It's advertisement!"

"What's that?" Kallid asked, but still admiring Sigmundurr.

"I want you to share this tea with anyone else you meet. If you look inside, you'll see I've put them inside little bags, and I wrote my name on each and every one of them! Then if somebody likes it enough, he'll come find me and buy more!"

"Oh! I see!" Kallid said sincerely. "Do you sell a lot of tea?"

"Not a lot. Not yet," said Sir Bart, and patted the kobold's head. "But I hope to, with your help! I'm growing my biggest crop out back now, but I need customers. So you just share that tea with anyone who might want it, and who knows?"

"So," Eilistraee interrupted as the others donned their packs, "The old knight becomes a merchant?"

He just shrugged. "About time I do something with this stuff. Besides, my daughter in law deserves something for all the help she does me, and I've not got much to give her when I'm gone. She's a real pain in the ass sometimes, but she cares..."

Suddenly the old man drifted off for a moment, his eyes growing shiny. "She does care," he concluded.

"Well, we're ready to go," Sigmundurr said. "Good luck old man, and thanks for the hospitality."

"The pleasure was all mine. A good trip to you all!"

And with that, they all began back towards the road.

"Nice man," Kallid said as he once again struggled to keep pace.

"Very nice," Kreet agreed.

They turned back onto the road and started the last leg of their trip to the village. An hour later, Sigmundurr stopped unexpectedly.

"What is it, Sig?" Kreet asked.

"She's gone." he said, a clearly sad note in his voice.

"Who?" Kalled asked, catching up.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"Eilistraee," Sigmundurr said, looking back at the way they'd come.

Suddenly Kreet's eyes went wide. Eilistraee! How had she forgotten the goddess so soon? By the look on Kallid's face, he was going through the same thoughts.

"Don't feel bad, Kreet. I'd forgotten her too for a moment. But only for a moment. I think she did that on purpose, so she could leave without a long goodbye."

"Probably," Kreet agreed.

Sigmundurr looked up at the moon and smiled. Had he seen something there? But instantly he turned back to Kallid.

"Look, little man, I've not gotten any real exercise for days and I'm getting flabby. My legs are great but I need to carry more than this little pack. Would you mind riding on my shoulders for a while?"

Kallid's look brightened considerably and in a moment he was happily riding astride Sigmundurr's shoulders. Kreet couldn't deny that they were making better time too.

"So... what was it like?" Kallid was asking Sigmundurr. "I mean, an actual goddess!"

"Oh, it was like nothing you could imagine, little man. She was as light as a feather and as solid as a rock when you wanted her to be! But... it's not all it's cracked up to be."

"No? I would have thought..." Kallid started, but Kreet shot him a look.

"What?" Kallid asked her.

"I'm married to you for one day... Pregnant with your damn babies no less, and you're already asking about other girls!?!"

"But, Kreet... A goddess."

"Hmpf. Seems to me you should be more interested in scales than in dark skin and hair anyway."

"Kreet, don't be like that! Aren't you even curious?"

"Not in the least," she lied, and convincingly so.

"Five minutes at best," Sigmundurr said, interrupting the two.

"What?"

"Kallid, it lasted 5 minutes and I was done. Kaput. Finished."

"Is... Is that supposed to be short?"

"Yes Kallid. I used to be able to go for hours on end! Why? Is that not..."

Kreet saw her chance and she took it. "5 minutes would be like a love marathon."

Kalled looked hurt, but didn't argue. "Yeah..." he admitted. "I don't last very long. Still, that must have been some 5 minutes?"

"Best 5 minutes of my life," Sigmundurr said wistfully and his gaze strayed to the moon yet again. "Miss you already Eil!"

"Sorry Kallid," Kreet said. "I'm sorry. I was being hurtful. I shouldn't do that."

"Hurtful? How?"

"About the whole... you know. Lovemaking thing. You're fine. Best I ever had, I can honestly say. And I expect that's probably about normal for us anyway."

"You say that because I'm the only one you've ever had."

"Doesn't make it less true!"

Kallid considered this as he bounced down the road atop Sigmundurr's shoulders. "I guess you're right!" he decided.

"Say," Sigmundurr said. "Aren't there any kobold gods or goddesses? I never thought about it before, but all the major races have their own.

"There's Kurtulmak," Kreet said, now on familiar ground. She's studied a lot about gods and goddesses at the monastery. It wasn't just a class or two, it was a whole school of study!

"Kurtlemak?" Kallid asked.

"There, see? Exactly. We don't really go in for god worship much. Now I could talk about dragon worship. That's a thing. But gods... we tend to just try to stay out of their way mostly."

"I see," Sigmundurr said. "Too bad. You should get yourself a nice female kobold goddess."

"Got one!" Kallid replied and Kreet eyed him, trying her best not to smile.

"Flattery. You're going to have to do better than that, Kallid," she said, not letting go of the meager scrap of jealousy she still retained.

They continued down the trail until the lights of a small town were seen in the distance. Kreet estimated it should be around midnight, so the tavern should be just getting boisterous about now.

"That must be the place," Kallid said.

Sigmundurr replied, looking up at his rider, "Yup. The old man says it's 'Tula'."

"'Tula'? Never heard of it," Kreet said, looking up at the man beside her. "You?"

He shook his head. "Never. But we should be able to get our bearings once there. Somebody's got to have been to a bigger city I've heard of!" "Which reminds me... Kallid, how's your vision doing? It's not going to be dark inside there in the morning."

"Oh, I think I'm ready for it. I went out this morning in full daylight to pee and it was okay in the shade. Well, with my sunglasses on at least."

Kreet nodded. "I'm getting used to it again too. I think we'll do okay Sig. I don't really even need my sunglasses anymore except in full daylight, and I've always needed it for that."

"Well good. But a word of warning. These people aren't going to be used to kobolds strolling in out of the dark. Stay close to me until we can see what we're dealing with, okay?"

Both the kobolds agreed as they passed into the village proper.