Celeste didn’t leave her shack for the next couple of days, choosing to just lay on her cot and maybe walk around in the shed a bit. Opal sent her a care package which included food and a bound book with blank paper. Tired of doing nothing, Celeste decided to start writing down possible plans. She found that writing at night helped her sleep. The only bad thing was that she'd fall asleep on the plans and wake up with ink smudged on her arm or hand. Then she’d have to rewrite anything that she wrote. Most of the time she could tell what it was, but once and a while, she couldn’t. Rusty had commented on the ink but didn't ask for details. She was just grateful she hadn’t gotten any on her clothes.

Though as far as her writing went, it went from plans of how to locate her brothers to what she would say to them when she found them. She also found herself writing about the events of the day or her worries about things. Her plans had turned into a diary of sorts. She never thought she’d be the type to keep a diary, but now she understood the appeal of it, especially since she didn’t have anyone to share her thoughts with besides Rusty and the goblin that helped her with laundry. But she wasn’t sure the goblin understood what she was talking about. She talked some with Opal, but she didn’t feel like she knew her well enough to pour her heart out to her.

The dwarf had been kind enough to give her some more clothes, one of which was a nightgown so she wouldn’t have to sleep in her clothes. It was a tad short with being fitted for dwarves, but the length wasn’t bad. Madame Bustier probably would say it was too short, but Celeste thought that a small strip of skin showing at her ankles no wider than her thumb was nothing to worry about. And maybe if her sewing skills improved, she could lengthen it a little bit or take our the hem. The other clothes fit better length was since they hadn’t been adjusted as much. At least when she did laundry, she was doing it for more than just Rusty.

The goblin helping her held up one of her new dresses, admiring it. Celeste did admit that it was a rather nice dress. She didn’t know when she would have an occasion to wear it. It was something one would wear to a wedding or other important event. The goblin hung it up after a bit.

“One of the dwarves gave that to me, on account that I don’t own any except for the travel dress that the elves gave me.” She explained as she tried to get another soot stain from one of Rusty’s things. “So, what’s your name? I’ve been working with you for a few days now and I still just know you as “the goblin that helps me with laundry.’”

The goblin said something and Celeste tilted her head. She still hadn’t been able to figure out how the language worked. There was a section on it in the goblin book, but she figured she should get past the section about the life cycle of a goblin before she got into their language. Once she saw that Celeste wasn’t getting it, the goblin went off into the bushes for a few moments before returning with a flower. She held it up.

“Your name is Flower?”

The goblin shook her head and held up the flower again, pointing to the bud with her free hand.

“It’s a buttercup flower…”

The goblin, who was now Buttercup, eagerly nodded and tossed the flower away. Buttercup didn’t seem like a very gobliny name, but maybe that was why she had chosen it. Celeste finished up with Rusty’s shirt and hung it up to dry. She picked up the now-empty laundry basket.

“We’ll just have to take these down before nightfall. Rusty says it’s going to rain tonight.” The sky didn’t look rainy, but it was springtime. Rain tended to come out of nowhere. “If you want to come up to the cabin, I’ll give you something to take home for a snack.”

Even though Buttercup was being punished, Celeste didn’t feel right sending her home empty-handed, so she usually left something from breakfast aside for her. Buttercup seemed grateful for whatever she gave her, even if it was just some bread. Maybe goblins like human food but lacked the supplies or means to make it themselves. Goblin homes didn’t sound very large, at least that was what she understood from the book.

Buttercup nodded and began to follow her. Even if they couldn’t converse, the goblin was good company. It made her feel a bit less lonely at the very least. As they neared the cabin, Buttercup’s ears twitched. Suddenly, she grabbed Celeste’s wrist and hauled her into the bushes. When she opened her mouth to ask questions, Buttercup put her hand over it and motioned her to be quiet. After a moment, she moved the bush aside a bit so they could see.

Two men were standing in front of Rusty’s door. They wore leather armor, but it was dyed black. They both had rapiers at their side and looked very similar. She would’ve sworn they were twins if one wasn’t shaped a bit differently than the other. When no one answered, they stepped back from the door.

“Do you think he’s not home?”

“According to the dwarves camping on his land, he should be home and so should his guest. If anything, he’s probably in his smithy. You go check there and I’ll see if I can find something by poking around.”

“Fine Tundar, but don’t blame me if he finds you and tried to take your head off with his hammer for sneaking around his property.”

The two men split up, with one going off toward the smithy and the other one walking around the property. Celeste moved to get out of the bush now that the way was clear, but Buttercup grabbed her arm and shook her head. She sat back down. What had the goblin so concerned about those men? If the dwarves had talked to them, then they probably didn’t present much danger to Rusty. Though they were being sneaky…

After a few moments, Tundar reappeared from walking around the cabin. He stood in front of the bush, though Celeste couldn’t tell if he was looking toward it or not. He whistled a familiar tune for a little bit before he stuck his hand in the bush. Buttercup jumped in front of Celeste so that his hand touched her instead of landing on Celeste’s head. The goblin was then yanked from the bush while protesting.

“Ah, I thought something was sneaking around. You must be a river goblin, as small as you are. The goblins that work for us are larger, though you smell about as bad as they do despite being smaller. What are you doing lurking around here?”

Buttercup offered an explanation that made Tundar laugh. Celeste wished she understood what she said.

“Stealing socks? That sounds about right for a pup your age. Say, have you seen a young woman around here who acts a bit strange and is probably wearing elven clothes?” She heard Buttercup grunt in response. “You haven’t? Maybe she’s inside and not answering the door. At least it seems like she has common sense.”

She saw him drop Buttercup and then nudge her with his shoe. The goblin protested with a hiss. “Now get going and do whatever it is a goblin does somewhere else.”

Buttercup dashed off. Celeste hoped she wasn’t going very far and would eventually come back. She didn’t want to sit in a bush the whole time. Tundar began whistling again as he paced in front of the bush.

The other stranger soon came back and she could see Rusty’s boots following him. By the way the blacksmith was walking, it was clear he was annoyed. She didn’t blame him. It seemed like people loved to interrupt his work, and smithing wasn’t always something you could stop and then pick up later, especially if the metal was hot and needed to be shaped.

“Just because I don’t answer the front door doesn’t give you the right to go poking around my property, Tundar.”

“I didn’t go in your cabin or the storage shed, just took a quick circuit outside. Did you know you have goblins lurking around?”

“They’re my neighbors. Don’t worry, they’re harmless.”

“Except for your socks.”

“Pretty much. Now, what was so important that two Inquisitors had to stop by and interrupt me? At least Seraque didn’t go wandering around looking for trouble.”

Inquisitors? That had been the group that directly reported to the nobles. They were technically part of the Guard, but they had their unique code and uniform. They were like spies but didn’t spy out other places. Celeste never met any, but Derrick hadn’t spoken fondly of them. Said they were nosey and didn’t believe in justice, just their pay and power. She thought they would’ve been disbanded after the war seeing that Feon wasn’t around anymore.

“There was an incident here a while back involving a Renewer and a case of mistaken identity. We’re just here to do a quick follow up.”

Rusty huffed a bit and came to a stop. “It’s simple. He came into my house uninvited, threatened my guests, nearly engaged in a duel with a Reviver on my property, then got all huffy when I refused to serve him and his so-called sword. What story did he spin you?”

“He said that he heard someone inside, so he thought he’d investigate, just in case.” Seraque began. His voice was reedy, unlike Tundar’s baritone voice. “That’s when he saw the elf and then the rest of the story lines up with yours. Though he said that the Reviver started it.”

“I don’t know about that part. I came in right before they started fighting. But like I said, he started it with my guests because he was being nosy. Any other questions?”

Tundar took over. “And these other guests, an elf and a young human woman…”

“The elf is back home, so you have to go to elven territory to talk to him. As for the human, I don’t keep track of her. She comes and goes as she pleases.”

“The dwarves said that they haven’t seen her leave.”

“But she doesn’t always go that way. I do have land behind my house after all. If she went around the back, no one would’ve seen her. And no, I don’t know when she’ll be back.” Celeste hoped that Rusty knew what he was doing by lying to them like that. She could never pull it off, but it seemed as though he had lots of practice with these particular two. “So why don’t you two leave and come back later? Maybe you can pester her then if she’s here.”

“There have been some very interesting rumors about her. Now, we know better than to trust those, but…” Tundar stepped closer to the bush. “Lord Davik would like them investigated at the very least. Peace of mind and all that. It’s not every day you hear rumors of a time traveler.”

So word had gotten around somehow, though she wouldn’t call herself a time traveler. There was no way of knowing what the rumor had become somewhere down the line. Did they know the details involving the time crystals or were they hoping that Rusty would reveal something? She saw the boots of the blacksmith begin to leave.

“You hear all kinds of rumors these days, Tundar. But like you said, most of them are baseless. Now leave me in peace so I can get back to work. I’m sure you gentlemen have something better to do than harass me.”

“Fine, we’ll leave and only because we don’t have time to just wait around here.” Tundar turned to go. “Since she’s not here, she’ll have to be summoned to answer questions. That won’t be nearly as pleasant.”

With that cryptic message, both of the Inquisitors left. Rusty let out a loud sigh. “You can come out of the bush now, Celeste. They’re gone.”

Celeste rose out of the bush and retrieved the basket. “How’d you know I was there?”

“There’s no other place to hide that’s not down by the river. And I saw Buttercup dash by the smithy in a big hurry. She’s usually not.” He brushed a leaf off her shoulder. “I suppose you have questions about who those two were.”

“I figured that the Inquisitors would be gone, seeing that everything else is.”

“Lord Davik absorbed them into his group, but they’re not the same as you remember them. They’re the visible spies and there’s not as many of them. When an incident happens outside the camp that involves a Renwer, they're the ones that investigate it. But better them than his actual spies. You don’t know when they’re around. That means he’s not taking this too seriously.”

Celeste nodded and followed him back to his smithy. She just needed to ask him a few questions before he got back to work.

“What did they mean by summons not being pleasant?”

“That? They just mean goblins come by and pick you up. They can be a tad rough and they smell, but they aren’t bad. I’d go with them if I were you. This is something best not prolonged. You know someone’s going to find out the truth eventually.” Rusty picked up his hammer. “But I wouldn’t worry too much about it. It’s not like they can do anything with that information.”

He made sure the forge was heated up before heating the metal. Then he began to shape it with his hammer. She chose to step out and go back to the cabin to put the laundry basket back in place. For some reason, she had the feeling that the Inquisitors had known she was hiding in the bush too. They were just coy about knowing that fact for some reason. Maybe the group hadn’t changed that much. They were just working for someone else. She was liking this Lord Davik less the more she heard about him.