The day after Liza’s party arrival at Kelna, another group showed up in the village – a mounted guardsman wearing an eyepatch and a family of three. The residents watched them approach from afar and murmured among themselves, their faces colored with anxiety.

“Look, isn’t that one of the earl’s men?”

“Hey, don’t point! We don’t want to draw their attention!”

“You’re right… Look! That gal! Isn’t that Evany?”

“You’re pointing again! Stop that!”

“Ok, ok, but isn’t that her?”

“Hum… yep, looks like her.”

“Wasn’t her husband someone that worked for the earl? Do you think he came looking for the fugitives?”

“Could be, but why did she come along them? Just to visit?”

“Hey, maybe he could help us out of this sticky situation on the account of being married to Evany and all! We just need to tell him about the fugitives and he can say to the earl he found them on the wild. This way our whole village won’t be sentenced for treason.”

“Don’t you dare! The elder made her decision! Look, I’m scared too man, but the elder is right, we can’t repay goodwill with malice. The Gods are watching us from above.”

As the villagers whispered to one another, Jimmy gave the newcomers a worried glance and dashed away to warn the elder. He knew there wasn’t much point in standing there in a daze, waiting for the worst to happen. In no time at all he was banging on the elder’s door.

“Granny Isa, granny Isa, quick! Some people have come! One of them is dressed as guard!”

“What? One of the earl’s men? Good of you to let me know Jimmy, now off you go and don’t worry, granny has everything under control.”

Jimmy felt reassured after hearing the elder’s confident statement. To him she was never wrong. She could tell if someone was going to be ill before they got sick. If she said it would rain in the afternoon you could be damn sure it would, no matter how clear the sky was in the morning. It was understood by everyone that the elder knew best.

After the boy was gone, Isadora turned to her guests that were sitting around the room. Eliot and Boro (or the kids, as she came to call them on her mind) were feasting on a pie she’d made earlier. Ben (the quiet one) was fidgeting nervously and Liza (the leader) was gazing at nowhere, lost in thought.

“My, I believed it would take a long time for someone, if anyone, to show up… guess I was wrong,” said Isadora.

“We did tell you someone could show up. Even so, that was fast! Can you help us?”

“Don’t you worry. Go hide over there, I’ll make the bad man go away.”

Isadora pointed to a side room and went outside to receive the strangers. Liza hurried to a nearby window and moved the shutters, leaving them ajar. This way she could watch what was going on without exposing herself. She grabbed her bow and prepared to act if anything went awry.

The elder stood in front of the house, waiting. Soon, four people arrived before her, with most of the other villagers following them from a distance. Turns out this wasn’t a group of complete strangers, as she knew most of them. Evany, one of their own, Carl, her husband, and Tom, their little boy.

“Elder! It’s so good to see you! Why is every…”

“My, if it isn’t Evany, Carl and little Tom! It’s nice of you to visit us.”

Evany was about to ask why everyone was acting so strange when Isadora cut her off. Her tone was warm, but her eyes were not. Evany quickly recognized her infamous stare. It meant you were in deep trouble and better keep your mouth shut and your head down. Years of deep-rooted training from her youth ensured she did just that.

“And who’s the noble sir that’s accompanying you? What brings him to our rural hamlet?”

“My name is Bret and I’m here on official business. The earl is looking for fugitives that escaped Starfall recently. Have any travelers or adventurers passed by the village on the last few days?”

“Why, but yes! Two days ago, a young woman and two men came to the village, looking for a place to rest. We let them sleep in a barn and in the very next morning they were gone, without saying goodbye or a word of thanks if you can imagine! Are you saying they were outlaws?”

Liza was startled when Isadora began her tale and almost let loose an arrow from her hiding spot. She wasn’t the only one surprised, as the villagers’ expressions first froze and then relaxed. This change in the mood went unnoticed by Bret whose eyes were gleaming with excitement by the news. He didn’t doubt her words for a second, as she was the very picture of a forthcoming citizen helping the authorities. The fact that this was exactly what he wanted to hear also helped.

“Yes, they must be the ones! Quick, where did they go?”

“We didn’t see them leaving, but if they are on the run from Starfall like you said they’ll probably keep going east, trying to put as much distance from the city as possible.”

“Hahaha, splendid! It’s a shame you quit Carl, because when I bring them back I’ll be handsomely rewarded! Perhaps I’ll be made squad leader or even captain!”

“Good luck with that, from what I remember they weren’t that easy to deal with,” replied Carl.

“This time I’m fully equipped to get revenge! I bought a little something that could bring down a bear and I’ll be doing the ambushing for once! Still, I need to catch up to them first, later pal!”

Without waiting for a response, Bret turned his horse around and spurred him onwards. People quickly made way for him and shortly after he was galloping out of Kelna with haste. Everyone relaxed visibly with his departure. Carl took that as natural because that was how most folks reacted to people in official positions – nervous when you’re around, glad when you’re gone. Only Evany who grew up in Kelna noticed that something was wrong.

“My, who would’ve thought that those people were outlaws! They seemed awful nice and polite for criminals. But what about you three? Here to visit your folks Evany? I’m sure they’ll be happy to have you around. I don’t see them in the crowd, they’re probably still working the fields. Have you seen them already?”

Realizing his wife was rather reticent, Carl took the initiative to answer the elder’s questions and inform her of their decision. They needed her approval for settling in, but that shouldn’t be difficult since Evany was born in Kelna and her parents still lived in the village.

“We haven’t seen them yet, elder. We’ve come this time not to visit, but to stay. I’ve quit my job as a guard in the city and we’re hoping to start anew. There were some close calls recently at work and I couldn’t stand the thought of having Evany fend for herself or of my little boy growing up without his da.”

Isadora couldn’t help herself from nodding approvingly and chuckle at how she (and everyone else) had gotten it wrong. She’d been adamant against their union – village girls being infatuated by strangers wasn’t something new, but marrying after knowing each other for four days?

Yet, marry they did. They moved away, but Carl always brought her back to visit from time to time and did good by her. She wasn’t the only one moved by his words however. Watching from her hiding spot, Liza unconsciously clenched her fists and looked at the family of three with a mix of respect and envy.

“That sounds terrible! You’re more than welcome to stay. Hubert and Rose will be delighted to have their daughter and grandson around and we could always use more able-bodied man in this village.”

“Thanks, elder.”

The crowd dispersed and Isadora returned to her house where her guests were waiting. Seeing the old lady come in and remembering her act, Liza gave her a wry smile.

“You’d me scared there for a moment,” said Liza.

“Hahaha, did I now? It was better to give him what he wanted, this way he’ll be out of your hair for some time. When he returns you’ll be staying at the cabin in the woods and he’ll be none the wiser.”

“Sounds good to me, but what about the other one? I recognize him from Starfall.”

“Oh, you’ve crossed paths? Were you the cause for his closed calls lately?”

“Maybe… will that be a problem?”

“He looks fine and dandy to me, so no. If anything, I should be thanking you instead since he’s going to be part of our hamlet from now on. Don’t worry though, in the next few days I’ll have Jimmy show you the cabin in an opportune time. You guys won’t have to bump heads around the village.”

-

The following morning, Carl and his wife were having breakfast with her parents in awkward silence. He felt the atmosphere on the room was strange, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.

“Dear, why don’t you go for a walk and look for a nice place for our future house?” asked Evany.

Carl thought it was weird but didn’t argue back. In fact, he was looking for an excuse to get out of the house and away from that uncomfortable ambiance. Now that an opportunity presented itself he wasn’t going to complain.

He’d barely distanced himself from the house when he thought he might as well go talk to the elder and make his monetary contribution to the village already¹. For that though, he would’ve to go back to the house and get his money, something he wasn’t very keen on doing at moment.

[What to do, what to do… Perhaps I should sneak into our room from the window… What’s going on though, Evany and her parents are acting so strange today.]

Done with his pondering, Carl decided to return and sneak into the house. He walked back, making sure he stood out of the window’s line of sight and glued his back to the wall when he got near the house. He began circling the building, trying to reach his room, feeling somewhat silly in his endeavour. Carl was about to open the window after finally arriving outside his room when he heard Evany and her parents arguing.

“Tell me what’s going on! Everyone is acting strange since we got here yesterday! Stop dodging my questions mom, dad!”

“Ev, just let it go, everything is fine,” said Rose.

“I won’t! I’ll be living here again, remember? Are we not welcomed? Did something bad happen? Should we have stayed away?”

“No, it’s nothing to do with you, child. Ok, fine. Just don’t tell your husband what we’re about to say, understood?” said Hubert, finally giving up.

Hubert then explained everything to Evany. This shocked both her and Carl, who was unintentionally eavesdropping. The fugitives that the earl was looking for, the ones Bret went chasing after yesterday, were hiding in Kelna all along! Turns out these outlaws were friends of a long-time benefactor of the village and they’d brought a sizable contribution of medicine with them.

Carl didn’t have long to consider this news, as he was pulled back to reality by the shouts now coming from the center of the village. He got to his feet and dashed towards the direction of the commotion. Arriving at the village square, he saw a horse and his rider collapsed on the ground. Both were riddled with wounds and perforated by a few arrows. Alarmed, Carl rushed to the man while shouting.

“Bret, by the gods, what happened?!”

“Ban… bandits…” was all Bret could say before passing out.

-

¹ It was common for villages and other places with low population in Flanac to pool their resources together and buy the things needed for the community as a whole. The residents kept very little money for themselves, giving most of it to the elder to manage.