The path quickly opens wider, and the muddy road becomes cobbled, stones neatly placed in rows that make the jostling cart ride a bit more bearable.
Woodsmoke is in the air along with scents of spiced meats and warm bread. I’m supposed to keep my head down, but it’s hard when I see dark brown buildings rising on either side of me, windows giving glimpses of people inside. Even with the trees still looming all around and the clouds overhead, the village is almost bright.
“Back from the keep, are you?” A woman with a cane hobbles out to greet us.
Lenka stops the horses. “Just come for a few supplies.”
“Glad to have you back so soon.” The woman looks up, and I realize quickly that she has only one eye, and it’s in the center of her forehead.
I clench my teeth together to stop from making any sort of sound.
“Found a straggler on the road,” Lenka clambers down from the cart.
“You picking up stragglers these days?” The one-eyed woman peers at me closely. She wears a bright shawl on her slightly hunched shoulders, and her dark hair is wrapped up in a high bun that seems to accentuate the eye even more.
It’s nearly impossible to look away, but I must. What would a real DrudgeGolem do in this situation?
The woman laughs, the sound surprising. “Oh, a straggler indeed.” She leans back, and I feel like I can breathe again.
“Don’t go starting trouble, Ilna.” Lenka chides and offers her hand to me. I take it, and she helps me down from the cart.
Something flits around my head, and I swipe at it.
“Don’t!” Lenka grabs my wrist, stilling my hand.
A high-pitched ringing puts my teeth on edge, and Ilna cackles again, her eye focused on my hat. “You’ve done it now, straggler. Popped a pixie, you have.”
“You’re fine.” Lenka speaks to my hat. “If you seek recompense, you’ll have to spend to King Vander of the DragonLands. I have no boon for you.”
The ringing grows louder, and I’m desperate to cover my ears. But I dare not move, not when Lenka, for all appearances, seems to be arguing with a pixie who’s perched on my hat.
“Have you forgotten the scales?” Lenka cuts in.
The ringing stops.
“Continue to try me, young one, and mayhap King Vander will return for what he gave.”
King? She’s called Vander ‘sire’ before, but she’s never referred to him as a king. A glowing orb flits past my face, then shoots high into the sky and disappears amongst the dark tree limbs. The ground shakes, and I wonder if the pixie has gone to get reinforcements.
“What was that?” I try to keep my voice low and gruff. This only makes Ilna more amused, her smile growing and revealing a row of sharp, pointed teeth.
“Ugh, pixies.” Lenka lets go of my wrist. “They try to trick unwary travelers, buzzing about so that you strike one of them. Then, under Oblivion law, they’re allowed to demand recompense. It’s nothing more than a fairy grift.”
The shaking grows worse, a sign over one of the buildings up ahead squeaking as it swings back and forth.
“Come in before the giants arrive. If they’ve been drinking again, we’re in for a terrible time.” Ilna stops up onto a narrow porch at the front of a two-story cottage. Vines grow and twine around the front door, and the upper level has a large window in the shape of a crescent moon.
Lenka leads the horses and cart to the side of the house, then follows Ilna inside.
I go too, though I stop and look around once more. Smoke pours from chimneys, several more cottages along this road. Interspersed between them are what I assume are businesses. They have signs, some of them with illustrations. The one closest has an image of rib bones. A butcher, perhaps?
“Come, come,” Lenka calls.
The cottage is warm, the air tinged with something that smells like sage. Books line the entirety of one wall, a small kitchen with a low burning hearth lies to the left, and in the center of the downstairs is a cauldron. Around it are shelves full of bottles, some of them emitting strange light or swirling in an uncanny fashion.
“A witch,” the words pop from my mouth, unbidden.
“Your mortal is observant,” Ilna quips.
