We walked across the stone bridge in single file with the village elder leading the way, myself in the middle, and Kalistra at the rear.

The villagers were mesmerized by the sight of the fearsome alpha male wolf being lifted by such a short, tiny, and fragile looking cat girl. They presumed that she was my servant because so far, she had spoken on my behalf and carried baggage on my behalf. This fueled speculation amongst the villagers that I was either an official of the kingdom or the church on a secret mission, or I was a nobleman traveling with his faithful servant.

As Torth approached the barricade of residents, they quickly made a wide path for the three of us to pass through. Once Kalistra carried the carcass past them, the spell lifted and the residents began to return to their homes. Those who had the coin went to the sole tavern in the village instead of returning home.

The village elder took us down a winding road with a continuous row of cobblestone houses on either side. The street suddenly ended and right across was a large stand-alone building. Next to it on the left side was a stable. Wagons, carts, and carriages were parked to the right side of the building. The building was comprised of a mix of wood and stone and stood two stories tall. Music and laughter could be heard from the interior of the building. Above the double doors entrance was a sign in gold letters against a light brown background that read, "The Golden Goose." To the left of these words was an illustration of a goose's head and neck. The old man opened the left door and held it open for us to enter. Once we did, he entered behind us and closed the door.

When we stepped inside the tavern, I saw a spacious common room with tables to the left and right side. Directly across from the doors was a staircase. The bar table started on the left side under the staircase and extended rightward. There were a dozen stools in front of the bar and every seat was already occupied by patrons, mostly men but also some women. All were dressed as commoners. At the left end of the room was a fireplace. At the right end was an elevated stand and there sat a musician playing the lute.

The musician noticed us at the door and immediately stopped playing his instrument. The man was dressed in a rather flamboyant green tunic with gold trimmings, black leggings, yellow shorts, and dark brown shoes. He wore a light tan hat with a gray-and-white feather sticking out on top. He looked to be around my age or so despite his small, ridiculous looking patch of hair on his chin. With a finger that visibly trembled, he asked in a loud voice, "Is that alive?"

The patrons turned their heads toward us. Eyes widened and gasps permeated the room as the commoners stared at the carcass of the wolf.

Village elder Torth stepped in front of us and held up his hands. "Rejoice, my friends! The nemesis of our peaceful village is no more!" he announced to the room. The old man turned and stepped to the side so that his people could get an unobstructed view of me. "This man is our savior. He bravely slew the vicious alpha male wolf and the rest of the evil wolf pack singlehandedly." Torth quickly looked at the caption above my head and continued. "Please show your appreciation to Lord Lawrence Eugene Mulligan, a True Friend of Burnhamm Village." He gave me a warm hug and patted my back as if I was a dear old friend of his.

The patrons roared in approval and cheered me. They clinked their beer mugs and drank heartily from their mugs.

The lutist quickly stood up. "Please come to the stage and tell us how you accomplished this perilous feat! I shall endeavor to write a song and sing it in my travels across the kingdom!" He waved his hand, beckoning me to take the stage.

Kalistra looked at me and gave a slight shook of her head. "My master was wounded during his fight with the wolf pack. While I have treated his injuries, Lord Mulligan will need his rest and therefore, must decline," she announced on my behalf.

I was thankful that the cat girl managed to get me out of the impromptu storytelling. Unfortunately, I wasn't a natural speaker; my "C+" in my Public Speaking course back in college was proof of that. For me to speak in front of these people without any preparation whatsoever was a difficult task at best.

The patrons started groaning in disappointment.

I turned toward the elder. "Where's the tavern master?" I asked him.

"Right here," a voice said from behind me.

When I turned around, I saw a short man wearing a tight fitting and sleeveless white shirt which allowed the man to show off his humongous, muscular arms. While his scalp was bald, he wore a long beard with many braids. It was obvious that this man was a dwarf.

"My name is Sene and I bid you welcome to The Golden Goose, true friend." The tavern master bowed his head deeply. Once the courtesy was observed, his face turned serious. "How may I serve you, milord?"

"We need two rooms for the night, dinner for two, and some travel rations to last a week," I replied.

The cat girl interrupted me. "One room will be fine. I'll sleep on the floor." She gave me a hard stare.

My brows were raised but I agreed to her silent order. I pointed a finger at the body of the wolf, which Kalistra was still shouldering. "Would you have any interest in this?" I asked the tavern master.

Sene stroked his beard for a few moments and then nodded. "Sure, why not? Since you declined to tell your story, this carcass will have to do it for you. I'll give you ten silver pieces for it," he offered.

I kept up my poker face despite the insulting offer. "I would rather barter for the room, meals, and rations," I counteroffered.

"Pardon my Lord, but are you certain you wish to sleep in the same room with that thing? Animals usually stay in the stable," the tavern master said while pointing at Kalistra.

My eyes lit up with anger at his prejudice toward her. "Kalistra is a dear friend who has saved my life on a number of occasions. She is not just an 'animal' or a 'thing.' If you cannot find a guest room upstairs for us, then I will spend the night in the stable with her."

The dwarf stared back at me, unwilling to yield despite the unwanted attention we were attracting from the patrons.

"Sene, Lord Mulligan is a true friend. Please grant his request. It's only for tonight," village elder Torth implored.

The dwarf stared at the old man for a long moment and finally relented. "Fine," the tavern master spat out. "I'll have a servant boy show you to your room," he said and stomped away from us.

When Sene was gone, the old man quickly spoke up. "I apologize for his rudeness, milord, but Sene used to be part of an adventuring party until they ran into a pack of werewolves. He was the only survivor of that encounter and thereafter, he decided to retire. The previous owner of The Golden Goose was looking to sell and Sene decided to purchase this tavern with his savings," Torth explained.

I gave the elder a quizzical look. Why would the dwarf have a problem with a cat girl when his issue was with werewolves? "But Kalistra is a cat girl," I pointed out the obvious.

Torth gave me an apologetic smile. "Sene lumped all the animal people together with the werewolves. I have tried to point out the difference, too, but dwarves can be very stubborn sometimes. I had hoped that the passage of time running this business will soften the blow. But I guess Sene is still very bitter about the loss of his friends."

A young boy suddenly appeared next to the elder. "Pardon milord, but I'm here to show you to your rooms?" The boy was a pre-teen, with a thin build, dark brown hair that was unkempt.

"Where do you want the wolf?" I asked.

"I can take it," another boy offered.

I turned toward the sound of the voice. It belonged to another young boy. However, he was very short and already started developing a thick build. Furthermore, he was started to grow a beard despite his apparent youth. "Are you sure you can carry it?" I asked skeptically.

"It'll be fine, Master," Kalistra intervened and handed off the heavy carcass.

To my amazement, the new lad was able to accept the heavy weight of the carcass and put it on his shoulders. With a deep nod to me, the boy walked pass the bar table and through an opening.

"That's a strong boy," I marveled. "What do you feed him?"

The cat girl failed to stifle a giggle at my expense.

Torth coughed politely into his closed fist. "Copene is a dwarf. He's a blood relation to Sene," the village elder explained politely. "Now please follow Kitel to your room. He is very discreet and reliable. Don't hesitate to ask him for assistance." He bowed deeply and walked toward the bar.

"This way please, milord," Kitel said and headed toward the staircase.

As I passed by several tables to reach the stairs, patrons at the tables would lift their mugs in my direction. I nodded politely as I continued to follow the young boy and climbed the stairs. I discovered that the second floor was a long hallway with many doors.

Kitel continued walking until we reached the end of the hallway. He took out his large ring of keys and searched until he found the right one. He unlocked the door. He took the lantern, which was lit, hanging from an alcove next to the door. He entered the guest room and set the lantern on a small table next to the bed.

The servant started to fish the key out of the key ring when Kalistra held up a paw. "We won't be leaving this room until tomorrow morning. There's no need for us to take the room key from you," she explained.

The boy nodded. "Will milord require anything else?"

"Sene agreed to give us two dinners and a week's worth of rations. Please come back when you have it," I reminded him.

"Yes, milord," Kitel bowed again. However, he remained standing near me and did not move at all.

I looked at him for a moment, wondering why the boy hadn't left yet when I was elbowed in the gut. "-1 Health." When I looked toward the obvious perpetrator, I saw the cat girl point at my waist pouch and then turned her paw face up and wiggled it. Ah! I suddenly realized what I forgot to do! Chagrined and embarrassed, I quickly fished out a copper piece and handed it to the servant boy.

Kitel took it eagerly and bowed deeply. He turned around and marched out of the guest room with big strides, closing the door gently behind him.

Kalistra sighed loudly and shook her head. "If I wasn't pretending to be your servant, I'll be punishing you by making you do sit ups right now," she remarked. "However, I won't because a servant could barge into the room at any moment."

"I'm sorry. It's been a long day today," I shrugged. In my defense, it truly was a long day. I was running errands in the morning and received another brand in the process (from Gaea), went through strenuous speed training with many partners at the dojo this afternoon, and practically fled Tregome because drows came back to town. Once we left, we were ambushed by bandits on the road and then fought off a wolf pack before we reached this village. At this point, I was physically and mentally drained. Oh, what I wouldn't give for a nice hot bath at the bath house with Amelica right now!

The cat girl stared at me as I was lost in thought and shook her head again. Kalistra wondered how someone so soft could ever hope to become the King of Merlin. A part of her began to have doubt as to whether she made the right decision in pledging her dojo's support for my pursuit of kingship. But then again, I DID have a divine blessing when she made the pledge, and this blessing eventually became the bridge to more divine markings from multiple gods. The gods have chosen him as "The One" and who was Kalistra to doubt their choice? And having made the pledge to support me in my pursuit of kingship, the cat girl was now Honor bound to train my body and mind in preparation for the crown.

A loud knock on the door interrupted our silent thoughts and we turned our heads in unison.

Kalistra recovered quicker than me and soon, she was at the door. She opened it and saw Kitel holding a tray of food. Behind him was the young dwarf holding a small satchel.

I looked at the dwarf's caption and read his name as "Copene." He handed me the satchel. I was surprised by how heavy it was despite its relatively small size.

Kitel walked into the room and slowly walked toward the table. He set the tray, which contained two bowls of soups and bread.

When the two boys waited silently, I quickly fished out four coppers from my waist pouch and split the coins evenly between them. I failed to notice how intently Copene was staring at my waist pouch, but Kalistra noticed and her tail swished back and forth.

The two boys bowed deeply to me and left the room.

I tossed the satchel on the bed, took a bowl, sat on the bed, and started eating. It was tomato soup with cubed beef. I tried the bread, but it was rock hard and I decided not to eat it.

My master ate her meal while sitting cross-legged on the ground. When we finished our meals, she took my bowl and placed it on the tray along with hers. She then took the tray and placed it in front of our door in the hallway. Kalistra closed the door and sat against the wall next to the door. "Please blow out the lantern. We need as much sleep as we can get. We'll be leaving at dawn," she said.

"Don't you want the bed?" I offered.

Kalistra's ears perked up and her eyes glowed. "Silly human, you need it more than me." With that, she closed her eyes.

I stared at her for a moment. It rubbed me the wrong way to sleep on a bed while a girl slept on the floor. On the other hand, Kalistra WAS my master and I had to respect her decision in this regard. Thus, I obeyed and blew out the lantern. I laid down on the lumpy, uncomfortable bed. "Can I ask something?"

"What?" she replied.

"Why did you pretend to be my servant in front of the villagers?" I asked.

"You're a nobleman. Anyone who reads the caption for your name will figure that out. Second, most humans barely tolerate animal people and they will not react well if they discover that you're my pupil," Kalistra explained.

"Do dwarves see animal people the same way as Sene?" I asked.

The cat girl paused as she considered Sene's attitude toward her. "We get along with nonhumans usually. The tavern master's situation was different. He was badly hurt mentally by the loss of his comrades to werewolves and he projected that anger and frustration onto animal people in general. I can only feel pity for his plight," she remarked. "No more questions. Sleep," she ordered.

"Yes, Master," I replied. However, my mind was plagued by questions and it took a long time for me to fall asleep.