Where to now?

 “Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow,” Clair groaned as she hobbled with the twins. Seeing the night lights from the town in the distance, the three had gotten off of the horse. A good smack had it running on to the town as the three shuffled back into the woods along the road to re-evaluate.

Clair stood bowlegged, awkwardly squatting behind a bush, her crotch sore from the hasty and rough horse back ride away from the unexpected danger. “Who was that? I want answers!” she demanded frantically, brow furrowed with anger and fear as she kept looking out of the tree line, as if the twenty or so minutes of panicked galloping could be crossed in almost the same amount of time jogging.

“It was the man, the one from before,” Measles spoke up, appearing just as upset and scared by the attack. “When he came before, he was... I don't know, helpful. At least to us being there. The dragon let him go as he pleased. He taught us how to plant, cook; the things we didn't learn before you.”

Mumps nodded quickly. “Yes, miss Clair; he said he was a royal servant... or guard? Something like that,” he shook his head, failing to recall the exact title used so many years ago. “Like we told you, he only showed up a couple times. We never heard his name until today; Dravis,” he slowly said it to himself. “On my honour, miss Clair, we never knew that that would happen. I never expected to ever see him again-”

“Me neither!” Measles interjected.

“-and certainly not chasing after us!” Mumps finished. He took a second to breathe. “So... we got away from the dragon, and now we have... him,” he sighed, exasperated.

“Well, we still have the plan,” Clair reassured. “Get to the capital. It should be far enough that we won't be followed by him,” she said, focusing every ounce of her attention away from the obvious question.

“Do you think he'd go that far though? I mean, why is he chasing you, Clair?” Measles spoke up, drawing Clair's attention back to the issue she was trying to ignore.

“I don't know!” she grumbled incredulously, huffing through her nose like an upset young child. “If any of us would know, it would be you two. And a whole lot of help you've been!” she snapped at them.

The twins stiffened, heads and ears slowly drooping down.

“Wait, no! I-I'm sorry,” Clair hastily apologized, biting her lip as she realized what she had just said. “I... didn't mean that. Honestly, the both of you saved me there. If it wasn't for you, well, then I would likely have the misfortune of knowing what this Dravis wants with me.” She gave a forced chuckle, trying to lift the mood. The two looked back up and she knelt, a hand affectionately placed on each of their shoulders. “...I can't do this without you guys, I mean that,” she whispered before pulling back. “Now... what should we do? We could wait out the night here, in case he comes by, or try to hid in town. We still have some of the food that Charlotte gave us, but it won't last us forever. And this... candy, too?” she questioned, pulling a smaller bag out of the larger one. “They're like the orange drops you made before, Mumps, but they seem way too hard. I was going to toss them but wasn't sure if you could, I don't know, warm them up to soften them or something?”

Measles and Mumps peeked into the bag, Mumps because he was asked and Measles because she was simply curious and liked the prospect of candy, even if it was almost hopelessly stale. “Um, miss Clair?” Mumps said slowly as his eyes widened. “Those are coins!”

“Oh... can I eat them though?”

“What!? No you can't eat coins, Clair!” Measles raised her voice before quickly lowering again, hastily scanning beyond the trees. “They're money.”

“What's 'money'?” Clair asked blankly. “Why would she give us something we can't eat?”

“No, no, miss Clair; it's something we can use to acquire things.”

“...how?”

“Well...” Mumps trailed off, realizing that they had never explained the concept of currency to Clair, and it would be a serious potential hindrance if that remained the case. “...If I have something you want, what do you do?” he prodded, hoping to make this straightforward.

“...Ask you for it?” Clair answered in confusion. “What does this have to do with money?”

“Ok, um, say, for example, I had some food, and you wanted it, and I wanted something, could you not give me the money instead?” he asked, trying to be more direct.

“I suppose. But then what are you going to do with the money? Use it to trade for.... ooooh,” she nodded as it suddenly clicked. “That seems like so much more work though,” she shook her head.

“Well, with the three of us, it was simple,” Measles elaborated. “But have hundreds of humans all together trying to trade things around... I remember it got pretty messy even between nobles,” she shuddered.

“Ugh, hundreds,” Clair groaned. “Can't there maybe be less people?”

“Um, miss Clair?” Mumps looked at her in confusion. “You do realize that there are thousands upon thousands of people living in the capital, right?”

Clair stared at him blankly, blinking twice as her head twitched nervously. “...You mean... like ten hundred, and a bunch of those, of people?” she awkwardly rephrased, her mind short circuiting at the notion of such a population, much less all in one place. “Finding Regidor is going to be harder than I thought,” she eventually bemoaned as the reality of the world hit her harshly.

“Well, to be fair, we kinda lucked out with Charlotte,” Measles chuckled. “She knew of him. Actually knew him, it seemed, so I'm sure once we get to the capital we'll be able to find him. And personally, I recommend we take a caravan,” she smiled.

“Wait, caravans are real!?” Clair quickly asked, eyes lighting up. “Like big waggons with horses like in your stories?”

“Um, yes? What made you think otherwise?” Measles nervously chuckled, confused at Clair's surprise.

“...maybe because you told the most outlandish tales of grand adventure and treasure hunts that you were clearly making up on the spot,” Mumps answered dryly, casting a weary look to his sister. “I always told you they were to over the top, and clearly that's the case if miss Clair believed that even caravans were fictional,” he sighed as Clair laughed awkwardly.

“Oh, yeah, I guess that's fair. Oops,” Measles laughed as if she had been told a funny joke. “But wait! Some of my stories had treasure! Money, gems, the like.”

“I just thought you meant the diamonds and gems and other shiny things,” Clair chuckled. “I figured it fit your story that heroes you talked about liked shiny things,” she said with a wink.

“Hey!” Measles laughed at the implication. She reached for the food bag, starting to pull some of the breads out. “Very funny, but you liked my stories.”

“Oh yes, the one about the giant squirrel that travelled the world for the biggest tree was definitely one of my favourites,” Clair reminisced, smiling like a young child, though her eyes held a smirking twinkle.

“And yet she finished it completely differently every single time,” Mumps groaned, rolling his eyes. “It was insufferable! I-mmph!” He was suddenly cut off as a bread roll was roughly shoved in his mouth by his sister's hand.

“You must be hungry from earlier. Eat up, both of you,” Measles told them as she dug into the dried meat. Mumps pulled out the roll, struggling momentarily to chew the large bite it left behind, but gave no complaint when his mouth was finally free, instead just eating normally. Clair nodded, rifling through the bag for a bit of everything to balance out the nighttime dinner.

“Now, eat quietly,” Measles continued, an edge of caution in her voice as she glanced toward the road. “We don't know if Dravis will pass by but I agree we should wait out the night here. I'll take first watch if you two want to rest,” she offered as Clair nodded. “And then tomorrow, we'll head into town.”

§

The night passed by quickly, quietly, uneventfully. The three took turns sleeping and watching, not they ever saw Dravis pass by. Eventually the sun began to rise, red light poking at them through the trees, casting long shadows over the road they had run off of.

Clair, who was taking the final watch, shook the two awake. “Guys, it's morning. Wake up,” she beckoned them back to the waking world. She stood up as the two goblins groaned, stretching as they slowly sat up from the leaves and dirt they nested in. Clair cautiously headed to the road, crushing the low bush branches underneath. Looking back and forth, she saw no sign of anyone, just an empty road to the north, and the tops of buildings peaking over the hill to the south.

Mumps then Measles quickly joined her, wordlessly taking their place on either side of her.

“Well, if we don't see him now, miss Clair, I assume it's safe to go into town?”

“Hmm, I'm not sure,” Measles spoke on, contrasting her apparent conviction of the previous night. “I mean, we don't know for sure. What if he's waiting for us?”

“We'll go on,” Clair said, steeling her nerves. “If he's in town, we'll deal with it. But we're low on food and we can't afford to do anything else,” she slowly reasoned, not liking their options either way. She stepped out, taking the first stride into the open. “Come on, it shouldn't be too far of a walk. Then we can get some food and see about transport in town,” she called back as she kept walking forward, knowing that the two just needed the push. She pulled out the food bag and took out the last items remaining. She handed the bun to Mumps who had quickly appeared beside while waving the dried meat on the other side. A sound of pebbles being scattered and kicked up followed behind them before two little hands quickly claimed their prize.

“So... I wonder what the town will look like?” Clair mused with a chuckle as the goblins laughed, soon resuming their previous debate from the day prior.

§

“Just... drag me the rest of the way... miss Clair,” Mumps groaned as they walked on, previously lifted spirits severely dampened as they had walked for nearly an hour. His sister, the only one allowed outside to farm, was much more accustomed to this endurance, while Clair was simply at the age where she had no problem walking for an hour or two, though even she was starting to slow.

The first hill, hinting that the town was just around the corner, was a liar. As soon as they crested it, it gave way to another hill, and then another. The building they thought close must have been at least three stories, all three of them concluded internally, not willing to speak the revelation aloud.

Clair estimated that they had likely gotten off about halfway, further than she would have wanted. What would have been less than an hour of horse riding between the tavern and town was a couple hours of walking, which explained why there were so many horses tied there that night. I really hope that whoever's horse we took got it back, she thought with a twinge of guilt, certain that she had just incurred a debt that would be impossible to properly repay.

“Come on, it's got to be close!” Measles shouted, trying to cheer them up. She ran ahead, momentarily reaching the top of the hill. “Guys, we're here!”

“Really?” both Clair and Mumps asked, a little bit of hope left. They picked up the pace, getting to the top, though Mumps took a moment longer, panting the hardest.

“WELCOME TO BEDELFER” the sign at the bottom of the hill read in bit, prominent letters. The three let out a collective sigh of relief that they had made it, including Measles, who was grinning from ear to ear.

“Well, Clair, shall we?” she asked with a smirk.

“Of course!” she beamed, excited, though still apprehensive. She took a step, then stopped, then took a second.

“Go on... without me...” Mumps said with slow, deep, winded breaths from the run up the hill. “I'll just ... be a secoAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!” he suddenly began to scream as Measles grabbed his hand and pulled him down the steady incline, not too steep but not something one would call flat either. Mumps' legs scrambled in a frantic flurry as he struggled not to fall, nearly somersaulting twice on the way down. Clair jogged after them, laughing as the two screamed for very different reasons, though she couldn't hope to keep up. She reached the bottom a moment after they did, Measles jumping up and down, riding the adrenaline high, while Mumps was clearly pale, eyes looking as if they had just witnessed his entire life flash before them.

“You could've killed me!” he yelled, voice shaky and trembling.

“Oh, you were fine!” his sister replied, clapping him on the back.

“I could have fallen!”

“Then you'd have gotten down faster,” she laughed, refusing to take criticism for her antics.

Clair couldn't help but laugh at the argument, Mumps seeming more offset and shaken than angry, and Measles just... enjoying him being beside her. It had been a rough few days, but she was glad that they had pulled through. “Come on, Mumps; you're fine, see?” she joined in, picking a side, chuckling as Mumps gasped at her. “I mean, that was a bit much, but-”

“Oi! What's all the ruckus!?” A sudden demand surprised them as they all turned, stiffening. A stranger on horseback loomed over them, peering down with beady eyes. His face was shaded from the rising sun by a wide brimmed hat, though the lower half was obscured by an elaborate moustache and bead, such that it was unclear if his mouth was open or closed if he wasn't moving it so much.

“Oi! I asked you young'ens a question! I don't recognize you, girly, or you two green ears. What's got you shouting at this hour of the mornin'!?” he demanded, spittle flicking off of his lips, not that it made it far.

“I-um-I-” Clair stuttered, panicking as an adult loomed over her like never before. Her mouth hung open as she took a nervous step back, not sure what to say.

“They tried to kil-” Mumps spoke up, not thinking, mind still frantic. He was quickly cut off by Measles' hand over his mouth, muting him into an indignant grumble.

“N-nothing, just ran down the hill,” she laughed nervously. “We're from up North, just passing through, on our way to the capital.” Her explanation was quick as she kicked Clair in the leg, not hard, but enough to break through.

“Uh, yes!” Clair quickly tacked on, a bit too loudly before lowering her voice. “We're looking for some food, and a...” she hesitated, trying to suppress the excitement of the very thought of the next word, “...caravan?”

Measles just rolled her eyes at Clair's enthusiasm as Mumps pulled her hand away from his mouth, now silently stewing.

“Aye, I see,” the man nodded slowly. “Well, it's a bit of a journey, but fortunately there's a caravan of merchants in town, heading westward tomorrow. You can see if they'll let you tag along later,” he answered, clicking his tongue for his ride to turn back to town.

Clair nearly squealed, her only saving grace being that the man was no longer watching. She raised her eyebrows at Measles in a “See!? So exciting!” gesture that Measles only chuckled at.

“Come on,” the man ordered, the words intentful yet inviting, despite his generally abrasive tone. The lightest flick of the reins had the horse huff and start walking forward, whether the others were following or not. The three quickly fell into step, taking up stride on either side of the horse and rider. “Name's Monty, by the way. I'm the sheriff and mayor here in town. You might have given some late sleepers a bit of a start with the yelling, though I apologize for the rough welcome.” He tipped his hat respectfully while glancing between the three on each side.

“Oh, not at all, sir,” Mumps returned the gesture with a quick, polite nod. “You see, my sister here-”

“Was just excited to arrive!” Measles quickly spoke up over him, glaring annoyed at him for not being over it already. He sighed and shook his head, visibly letting it go.

“Heh, well, I'll show you where you can get some grub,” Monty chuckled the way only a younger sibling would at seeing the back and forth. “And, I realize I forgot to say it earlier: Welcome to Bedelfer.”