The majestic donkey galloped like a dignified mare, HeeeeeHawwww! Its refined bray pierced the ears. The brat looked down at Cain, glancing back and forth between him and the girls.
Hop, he quickly got down and approached them, “Maladies. Can I help you anyway?” The kid asked in a slick and smooth voice, putting a hand behind him and one on his chest, slightly bowing ahead.
The kid completely ignored Cain’s existence. He didn’t take that nicely. “You brat!” Cain growled, slightly annoyed at the act.
“Rowan!” A loud voice called out in anger, “Didn’t I tell you to keep an eye on the cows? They got into James’s farm!”
Rowan turned back in fear, looking for the cows, they were really on James’s farm, and the old man wasn’t lying.
“Sorry maladies, just need to take care of some urgent business that endangers the lives of people!” Rowan quickly got back on his donkey, HeeHaww! Galloping with the winds.
Cain and the girls just stared with confused looks, why did he come even come to them?
An old man with a slightly bent back and pure white hair approached them with a smile, his toothless face caved in as he grinned without opening his mouth.
“You look like an old man, even older than me from a distance!” The old man commented on Cain’s white hair, compared to his. “Want something from us?”
Cain smiled back even after he noticed something scary. The old man kept his hands behind him, tightly holding a knife. Cain better clears any misunderstanding before it gets too complicated.
“Just passing by and wanted to buy some food and get directions, Ourals, know which direction it is?” Cain smoothly asked as the girls stood behind him.
The old man looked at him suspiciously, glancing at the sword at Cain’s waist. “Sorry but we have nothing to sell, Ourals is behind the forest and will take some time, and you better start moving immediately if you wanted to reach it before night!” The old man was trying to send them away, he couldn’t trust them even a bit.
“Excuse me, can you look at this?” Alice took what looked like a pendant from her pocket and handed it to the old man.
The old man had a bad vision so he took it close to his eye to see the details. Just a second later, the blood drained from his face, dropping the knife that was behind him.
“Triple the tax this year and that kid over there is arrested for disrespecting me and my envoys!” Alice snatched the pendant back, smiling at the terrified old man.
“Aw!” Cain chopped her head, “Don’t scare him like that, what if he got hurt?” Cain was right, the old man might have gotten a heart attack.
“Sorry, that was a joke, I have no intention of pursuing those charges.” Alice looked at the frozen old man.
That pendant belongs to the lord’s family, she saw her brother use it many times when he was going to do inspections and collect taxes. It wasn’t a common thing for the lord family to do such a job, they only did it when they were suspicious of the tax collector.
It didn’t matter if this was in her father’s region or not, no commoner would dare speak up to a lord’s direct family.
“Lord William’s daughter, sorry for my insolence earlier. We just didn’t expect you to visit our humble village.” The old man apologized, feeling a sense of relief seeing Alice’s smile.
“Let me introduce myself again, my name is Alice Forberg, Youngest daughter of William Forberg, the City Lord of Forberg! Today I am passing by your village accompanied with my …”
“Envoys” Cain interrupted her before she could say something stupid and start weird rumors.
“…Ahem, as he said, with my envoys. We came to buy some supplies and ask for directions.” She said after hearing Cain’s warning. She was about to say husband and his wives.
“As you wish, please follow me!” The old man quietly led them to a house that was in the distance, “This is my home, please relax until I return!” The old quickly left them in the waiting room as he headed out.
Cain looked at Alice with a questioning face, “Didn’t know you carried that around.” If he knew he could have abused its power all the time.
Thud! Selena quickly rested her hand on Cain’s lap to take a nap, Cain gently brushed her hair with his fingers. “We will spend our night in the tower, all we need is supplies and information.” Cain made it clear he didn’t want to spend the night in the village.
“Why not?” Sofia asked, not understanding what Cain was thinking about. Why not just accept the villagers’ hospitality?
Cain had a short answer, His tower was more comfortable than anything this village could provide, and he could also erect it in a secluded place where they won’t be disturbed at night.
Following Selena’s example, Sofia leaned her head on Cain’s other hip and closed her eyes. Feeling jealous Alice didn’t have a place to cling to him so she made do with his knees.
“Just wait until the night, the old man might return at any time!” Cain helped the three of them stand.
After a few minutes, the old man returned with a young woman at hand. “This is my daughter Dary, she is better than me at counting so she will handle all the complicated stuff. Please excuse me then.” The old man quickly got out, he seems to still have work to be done at the barn.
His daughter was left there shaking, fear was clear on her face. Her hand sweated buckets as she got more and more nervous.
“Don’t worry, we aren’t hearing for regular inspection so you can relax!” Alice said, quickly adding another sentence. “If you disrespected, ignored, offended, disobeyed, annoyed him, I will have you severely punished!” Alice pointed at Cain, warning the woman to not mess around with him.
The woman only glanced at him in confusion, she didn’t understand why he was more important than the lord’s daughter. But if she said so they will be it. She gently bowed down, “I’m at your command, my lord!” She expected him to somehow relate to Alice’s father.
Cain quickly made his orders from food to information, Dary quietly answered every question thrown at her. It will take some time for them to gather everything they need so Cain ordered Dary to leave them alone, He had some important things to discuss.
Dray bowed slightly to Alice before leaving.
“What did you want to talk about?” Sofia asked, burying her face in Cain’s hips again. Cain gently stroked her as he did to Selena, making her feel at ease.
They discussed their coming plans, how much food they ordered and how should they travel. Cain was inclined to make the trip as quickly as possible, Dolrig must be worried sick.
Alice inspected Cain to find a place to sit next to him, she quickly rushed to his side as they rested.
“It’s nice having three girls all cling at you at once!” Cain said as his hand rested on top of Sofia’s head. Felt the three soft things stuck to him.
Quickly, it was time as their things were ready. Cain grabbed the box and turned toward Dary. “Lead us to an unused plot of land, I like to build our shelter there!” Cain asked in a relaxed tone.
“But my lord, you can rest in our home,” Dary replied, quickly feeling the sharp gaze at her side.
“First one, next time I’m going to get serious!” Alice threatened her, in her eyes, Dary’s speaking back to Cain easily set her off.
After being guided to a nice spot, Cain asked Dory to back down as flicked his fingers [Lisworth’s Tower] the tower got erected instantly, jump scarring Dary to the bone. Her eyes widened as she took the majestic scenery to heart.
“We’re going to rest until tomorrow, please don’t disturb us in the meantime!” Cain told Dary who quickly left after that.
Cain and the girls entered the tower to spend the night.