The trip to the village took a week longer than expected. There was a terrible storm on the way there, and they had to seek shelter in a rocky outcropping for days. The wind let up, but it kept raining, so when they got to the village, they were soaked. Entering the inn, Anna noticed that it was much larger than the one in Fishport. Looking to the left and right, she saw two fireplaces facing each other from opposite sides of the inn. There were many more tables and a longer bar. Half the tables had groups sitting at them. The barmaids were rushing about in the usual fashion. They were dressed oddly. They had low cut shirts with half bodices worn tightly and pushing up their breasts causing them to nearly spill out. The skirts were just below the knee, but they were cut in such a way that they seemed to fly up regularly.

The Innkeeper was a handsome man somewhere in his thirties, and besides him, she saw a few large rough looking men seated around the inn. They didn’t look like they were eating or drinking, and the barmaids were ignoring them. The party sat at a table near the fireplace on the right. Voekeer returned after talking with the bartender. “He told me that the storm could last a few more days, so we will wait it out here maybe a week after to let the road dry out some,” he said. A barmaid walked over, and putting her hands on the table, she leaned in. Her shirt drooped enough for Anna to see her breasts. They were of modest size with small pink nipples that poked out as if she were cold. She shifted her arms, pressing her breasts together and making them appear to have more size than they did.

She arched her back slightly, pushing her butt into the air and wiggled it back and forth just a little. Anna was trying to figure out what she was doing when she noticed that Lyreen had started to turn red, not with embarrassment, but with anger. Puzzled, she looked at Voekeer who seemed to be the target of her ire. He seemed flustered by the barmaid who was looking directly at him with a slight smile on her face. “Can I get you anything?” she asked, and he coughed lightly. “Drinks for me and my companions, and food for all of us as well,” he said. “Anything else?” she asked, blinking at him slowly. “No, that’s all,” he replied quickly. She walked away, swaying her hips in an exaggerated fashion.

“Why was she shaking her butt?” Anna asked. The question broke the tension, and Thorki let out a belly laugh. “If that wasn’t the definition of a coy smile, I don’t know what is, and to answer your question, that girl wanted to take poor Voekeer to bed and have her way with him,” Barika said. “You mean sex, right?” Anna said. Hearing this, Thorki lost the ability to breath because he was laughing so hard. Anna had to hold him in his chair. Barika let out a soft chuckle. The normally unflappable Voekeer put his head on the table and covered the top of his head with his hands, groaning softly.

She returned with the food and drink, placing it on the table and lingering near Voekeer before leaving while looking back and smiling at him again. He did his best to ignore the woman. “Well, if you want to take her to bed, I won’t stop you,” Lyreen said. Anna thought this was very nice of her. It looked like Voekeer was interested after all. “You know I wouldn’t do that,” he said. This confused her, since it looked like he wanted too. “Sure you wouldn’t,” she replied, and then stormed off upstairs. Voekeer ran after her, and Thokri whistled. “You can say that again,” Barika said.

“I don’t understand this at all,” Anna said, confused. “Lover’s spat. Lyreen is the jealous type,” Barika said. “So, it wasn’t ok for him to have sex with that barmaid?” Anna asked. “No. She was saying that as an accusation, not permission. By the way she is acting, I think poor Voekeer may be the first lover she has ever taken,” Barika said. Thokri had drank Voekeer’s ale, ignored Lyreen’s water, and was working on both bowls of stew by this point. The barmaid walked over and looked disappointed that Voekeer had left. She went to Thokri and leaned over the same way as before, wiggling her butt in the air and smiling at him coyly. “Can I do anything for you?” she asked hopefully. He let out a room shaking belch in response, and the woman looked shocked and scurried away. “That’s how you get rid of a flirty barmaid,” he said proudly. Barika just shook her head.

“Barika, what is sex anyway?” Anna asked. “I’m going to need another drink for this,” Barika said. They all got another drink, not that it did anything for Anna. Barika described the act in detail, Thokri giving a helpful male perspective. Anna laid on her bed that night. The inn had enough space for them to have their own rooms, although Lyreen and Voekeer may be regretting their decision of sharing one by the sound of it. Thinking of what she had learned from Barika and Thokri today, she decided that it wasn’t for her. She awoke the next morning. Another dreamless night. She hadn’t had a dream since the burrows. She was beginning to worry that she would never have one again. The thought frightened her, she didn’t know what she’d do without her dream friends.

She got dressed and left her room. Entering the common space, she noticed that Voekeer was at the bar already drinking and Lyreen was sitting at a table alone. Barika and Thokri were seated together, so she walked over to them. “Are they still fighting?” she asked. “Looks like,” Barika said. Anna looked out of one of the windows. The inn had glass panes; she couldn’t imagine how much that must have cost. It was still raining and it didn’t seem like it would let up anytime soon. She sighed. Being stuck inside with two grumpy elves seemed like a bad way to spend the next few days.

She couldn’t think of anything to do, so she started to sing the only song she knew. It was the dreamer’s song. It felt different now, deeper, like part of her was flowing into the alien words. She lost track of time while singing, throwing herself into it completely. When she was finished, she looked around to find everyone in the room watching her, their eyes wet with tears. “That was beautiful,” Lyreen said. she was holding Voekeer, leaning on him. The words seemed to bring everyone out of the trance, and they slowly got back to work. “Lass, I didn’t know you could sing. You got to do that more often, maybe a more cheerful tune though,” he said. She smiled at him, though she didn’t know any other songs. “Do you know what it means yet?” Barika asked. “No, not yet. I hope I will someday,” she answered. “That’s a shame. It’s such a wonderful song, even if it is a sad one.” Barika replied. “Are you still fighting?” Anna asked, looking at the elves.

“No, I may have been too hard on him,” Lyreen said, patting Voekeer’s chest lightly. “Lass, that one only has eyes for you. I mean we have been traveling with her,” he pointed at Anna, “for weeks now, and he never made a move,” he finished. Lyreen smiled. “I know. It’s just hard, that’s all. Dating, sex, all of it,” she replied. “I don’t think it’s for me anyway,” Anna said. “Why is that?” Lyreen asked. “Well, Barika told me how it works last night, and well, I think I’d break anyone I was with. I don’t think that would be much fun,” Anna said. “Aye lass, that would be a problem,” Thokri said. Lyreen’s face went pale. “That sounds horrible,” she said. “I don’t think anyone would survive doing that. Even if he lived, it would take weeks to recover even after healing. It’s not worth a few hours of pleasure,” Barika said. “Hours?” Lyreen asked. She sounded confused. “Yes,” Barika replied, grinning. She winked at the elves. “Might want to keep your fingers and face away from her as well,” Barika said. Thokri chuckled, and the elves looked confused by the statement. They were blushing. “Why?” Anna asked. “Not you child. Everyone else though,” Barika replied. Anna still didn’t get it, but decided this was another thing she didn’t really want to know.

Boredom overtook the group, and soon Thokri had produced some dice for a game. He taught her the rules and they are all started to play. She figured out how to make the dice roll to whatever numbers she wanted early on, but she still lost on purpose sometimes so that the others would keep playing with her. She made sure to win enough not to lose any of her coin. Once the inn started to fill up, they went upstairs, not wanting a repeat of last night. They all ended up heading to Lyreen and Voekeer’s room, it being the largest of the three. Food was brought to them, and they ate in relative silence. “Looks like the storm will break soon. It didn’t last as long as the Innkeeper thought,” Voekeer said. “As nice as the room is, I don’t think this place is suitable for relaxing,” Barika said, and the elves nodded in agreement. “If we don’t stay here, then where will we go?” Anna asked. Voekeer got his map and looked at it. “Well, we could head to Endertown. It’s the biggest city on the frontier,” he said.

“Oh, that sounds fun.” Anna thought. “Add two weeks to get to the next ruins if we did,” Lyreen said. “Right. We have other things of interest to us.” Voekeer said. Anna was angry. She didn’t know why, but she was just furious all of the sudden. “The last thing of interest ended up with you all unconscious on the floor and me with my hand in a pool of molten rock. Before that, I was tearing Goblins apart while you ran away, and let’s not forget about the bandits. The two arrows that bounced off me would have killed one of you. Then there was the dire wolf that would have eaten all of you in your sleep,” she said, fuming. She really wanted to go to a city. “So many people. Some of them would have to be nice,” she thought before she looked at her companions. She had been too distracted while speaking to pay attention to them.

They all looked shocked and a little nervous. She got a confused look on her face, and this changed the mood, and they all relaxed. “Anna, do you want to go to the city?” Voekeer asked. “Yes,” she said with a huff, still angry for some reason. “I’m going to get some more food,” she said, and left. She went to the common room and found an empty table to sit at. “Why do I feel this way?” she thought, a barmaid coming over. “What can I get you?” she asked. Her demeanor was totally different than the other barmaid. “It’s because I’m a woman,” Anna thought. “A drink and food,” she said, flipping the woman a coin. “And some conversation,” she added. The women looked at the coin, smiled, then nodded and rushed off, returning soon after with Anna’s order.

She brought an extra drink and sat down at the table, and they both began drinking. “Do you like it here?” Anna asked. “Oh yes. It’s waaay easier than the farm I grew up on,” she said. Anna got a sour look, thinking of the farmstead. “Yeah, that’s how I felt. All you do is work, work, work and get told what to do, when to do it, and who to do it with. I ran away as soon as I could. That was about two years ago,” she continued, pausing to take a drink. “I worked at the bakery at first, still do in the morning. They don’t let young girls work here,” she finished. “They have a bakery here?” Anna asked, excited. “Yes,” she answered, confused by Anna’s sudden excitement.

“Do you make cupcakes?” Anna said, moving closer to the woman. “Oh, yes, and they are sooo good,” the woman responded, understanding now. “Well, I know what I’m doing tomorrow!” Anna thought. They talked for a while longer, mostly comparing their time as barmaids. The woman seemed surprised by how much Anna had made in tips. Sometime later, Anna said goodbye and went to her room, falling asleep quickly. Something grabbed her by the waist, tossing her in the air. Before she landed, she was tossed again. Looking down, “They are back!” she thought, and giggled with glee at the tentacles as the eyes twinkled at her. She was so happy to have her friends back.