Chapter 3 - Heiterburg

Before we continued on, Alistair turned to me and glanced down at the Federhunds.
 “It might be best if we leave them here.”
 I knew he was right, but beyond simply being sad to leave them behind, I was worried that telling them to stay just wouldn’t work. Eeny huffed at me, wondering why we weren’t moving.
 “Give me a moment...I’ll try to get them to stay.”
 I called all three of them and moved back a bit into the trees. From the shop, I ordered three large metal bowls and three cans of the most premium dog food I could find. The three Hunds got incredibly excited, even Meeny.
 “Ok...I’m going to give this to you, and then I need you to stay here. Understand? Stay.”
 ‘Food!’
 ‘Give food!’
 ‘Food, food!’
 Well...at least they’d be distracted. I filled the bowls and they descended as if they’d been starving to death.
 I felt a pang of guilt as I watched them...but it’d only be for a bit. Maybe I’d be able to secure some good camping gear so I could be out here with them.
 “I’ll be back soon..”
 They didn’t seem to notice that I was walking away, and when I met up with Alistair, I indicated that we should get going.
 “Let’s go, while they’re distracted.”
 We hustled the rest of the way into the village. Alistair tried to make conversation, but I wasn't very responsive, as I kept checking behind me to see if the Federhunds were following and feeling guilty.
 When we reached the main collection of buildings that comprised the most concentrated part of town, the dirt road abruptly ended and became cobbled stone. The buildings were decently spaced apart and generally two-stories tall, with wooden walls and thatched roofs. There were people milling around or going about their daily errands, occasionally glancing at us with curiosity. Overall, it reminded me of a renaissance fair.
 Alistair led me to the center of town, where merchants had set up booths around a simple central fountain. He pointed at the only three-story building. “That building is Heiterburg’s administrative office. It is where the mayor works, as well as the guild representatives, including the adventurer’s guild.”
 He led me in. The first floor was one big, open room for the most part, with staircases leading up to the second and third floors to either end of the room. The floor space itself was mostly empty, consisting of just a large, simple rug and a few wooden tables and chairs set near the walls. Though it was empty now, it was obvious that this was meant to be a space that could hold a large number of people.
 At the far end of the room were a series of desks reminiscent of a bank’s set up, each with a sign hanging above with a symbol, and someone sitting behind the desk itself.
 Alistair led the way to the desk with a sign consisting of a crossed sword and bow. The woman behind the desk smiled politely, her clothing simple but obviously high quality.
 “Hello again, Alistair, finished with the job already?”
 “Well, in regards to that...I need to speak with Kalen.”
 The woman frowned, glancing past him to me, then back. “Is it worse than we originally thought?”
 “No, but there has been a small development.”
 She nodded, excused herself, and then left through a door behind her desk. The others working were doing their best to appear as if they weren’t eavesdropping, but were also doing a very poor job of it in the quiet atmosphere.
 “Kalen is the adventurers guild representative here. He’ll be able to communicate the situation to the mayor,” Alistair explained.
 I nodded, watching as someone walked in and up to the desk to our right, the sign overhead bearing a symbol I didn’t recognize. They spoke quietly to the assistant and a number of coppery coins were exchanged. Did that symbol represent the money here, then? As I was pondering that thought, the woman from before returned..
 “He’ll receive you in the second room.”
 Alistair nodded, then motioned for me to follow. I did so, as we went up the stairs to the second floor, then down the rightmost hallway. We passed a few unmarked doors, then one marked with the same sword and bow symbol I now knew represented the adventurers guild. Alistair knocked on the second of these marked doors, and a gruff voice told us to enter.
 Inside a simple, but comfortable reception room sat an older man. He was bald, but sported a bushy salt and pepper mustache. His eyes were a dark brown, and there were deep crows feet at the corners.
 “Alright Alistair, introduce me to this young lady and then tell me what the issue with the job is, and how she relates to it.”
 “This is Adele Becker. She was traveling form her homeland when her and her companions were attacked by bandits.”
 Kalen stared at me with a steely gaze, taking in every possible detail and cataloging them. Would he catch me in the lie? I swallowed and resisted the urge to look down, and held his gaze. Finally, he looked away and gestured to the chairs across from him. Alistair waited for me to sit before sitting himself.
 “And just what does that have to do with hunting down Federhunds in the area?”
 “Miss Adele has tamed three of them... But she isn’t a witch!” he quickly amended as Kalen’s hand went to his hip. He stopped moving for a weapon, but didn’t move his hand from where it could easily continue the smooth motion needed to take me out.
 “You do good work Alistair, so I’ll give you a chance to explain.”
 “She showed me that Federhunds respond well to food and affection, and tells that keeping beasts as ‘pets’ is common in her homeland.”
 Kalen gave Alistair a look akin to pity, and I realized that I was in big trouble...he wasn’t going to buy my story so easily.
 “And just where is this ‘homeland’, exactly?”
 “East...far east.”
 I was panicking, unable to give details, casting about for something, anything to help...and then I spotted my salvation. A map, hung up on the far wall. I stood, ensuring I did so slowly enough that I wasn’t seen as threatening, and approached it. Alistair had mentioned ‘Traevolon’...I found it on the map and was deeply relieved to see that the country so-named had an ocean on its eastern border. I tapped the right edge of the map. “Past where this map ends. A place called America.”
 Kalen put a hand up to his chin in thought. His suspicion was still so obvious.
 “Sir...I don’t know how to prove to you that I’m not what you call a witch. I can only swear, as I told Alistair, that I will shoulder the responsibility for the Federhunds.”
 “And I swear on my family name that I will take all responsibility for Miss Adele,” Alistair stated with unwavering conviction, which seemed to startle Kalen.
 “On...your family name? Alistair-”
 Alistair’s expression hardened. “I know exactly what I am invoking, Kalen.”
 Kalen moved to pinch the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh.
 “You find yourself in a very lucky position, Miss Becker. Very well...so you have tamed the Federhunds. Will you be taking them with you back home?”
 I looked down and swallowed, and the sorrow in my voice wasn't the least bit forced.
 “I...can't return home. Not anymore.”
 When I looked up, Alistair seemed to have gone misty eyed, and Kalen looked a mixture of guilty and troubled.
 “She will need somewhere to stay, get back on her feet. Perhaps Heiterburg will accept her.”
 “The people will see her as a witch – EVEN if she isn’t, Alistair,” Kalen quickly amended, as my companion jumped to correct the representative.
 “Um,” I held up my hand, asking to speak, “I understand that my being here might be a problem, I can move along, find someplace else…”
 Kalen went quiet, then let out another long sigh. “It will be a moot point anyway if the mayor doesn’t approve. Wait here, I’ll go speak to him.”
 He stood and left the room, leaving Alistair and I in silence.
 “Thank you, Alistair. You didn’t have to do that for me.”
 He shook his head. “I swore I would assist you. I would not speak false and swear what I do not mean.”
 “Still, thank you. It sounds like you...took on a big risk by going to bat for me.”
 He looked away, shifting in discomfort in his seat. “I am unsure of the exact meaning of that expression...but it was a risk worth taking.”
 We waited in silence for about ten minutes before the door opened again. Kalen entered, followed by a shorter, portly man. He was better dressed than Kalen, and I presumed correctly that this was the mayor.
 “This is Mayor Basen Casselof. Your honor, this is Adele Becker, the foreigner.”
 We stood, and the mayor gestured for us to sit down, taking his own seat where Kalen had been previously. Kalen stood a bit off to the side.
 “Miss Becker, Kalen assures me that you have a controversial solution to our beast problem. No need to confirm...I am willing to take his and our good Alistair’s word in this regard. It would be quite a boon to not have to rely on adventurers.”
 Kalen let out an annoyed grunting sound, and Mayor Basen chuckled.
 “Come now, Kalen, you know very well how much we have been struggling after last years’ poor harvest and the new control stones nearly draining the remains of our coffers. Had we not such a good samaritan as Alistair to accept what little pay we could offer, we wouldn’t have any solution to the beast problems at all!”
 He seemed to grow more serious, though kept what I recognized as a politician’s smile.
 “So, in light of that...I am willing to allow you residence in this town, so long as your method of ‘taming’ beasts does not prove destructive. And I will even offer you housing and a bit of land, if you can clear it of the ghosts.”
 “Gh-ghosts…?”
 “There is an old cottage a bit north of town, used to belong to a retired adventurer before he passed. The townsfolk believe it to be haunted. I tend to agree, as not even Panzernage dare to nest there. People refuse to go near it, and it is in dire need of repairs. If you can clear it, keep your Federhunds under control, and swear to assist Heiterburg with any beast-related troubles...then it is yours. What do you say, Miss Becker?”
 I felt a bit lost, given how quickly he spoke, but at least got the jist of it all. I stayed out of trouble, assisted the town for no or little pay when needed, and my appearing to be a ‘witch’ would be overlooked by the officials of Heiterburg. It honestly sounded a lot like working my old job...but would I fare any better anywhere else? If my perception of the situation I was in was correct, then I was being given a very lucky break.
 “I’ll do my best.”
 “Excellent! I imagine you’ll want to get started right away.”
 Mayor Basen stood, shook my hand, and moved to leave, pausing just before he stepped out the door.
 “Ah, and Miss Becker...if you do end up being a danger for our lovely town, I have given Kalen permission to take care of the issue as he sees fit. Understood?”
 No veiling, no roundabout prose. If I did prove to be a witch, I would be cut down.