Undead King

Chapter 5

"You were looking for me?" She asks taking another bite.

"Yeah, I need another pot. I lost the last one dealing with that stupid clerk." I reply vaguely gesturing in the direction I just came from.

She disappears without a word and I hear shuffling and clanking from above. A few seconds later she appears holding another pot over the ledge. "I'll give this to you on one condition."

"What's the condition?" I ask hesitantly.

"You tell me who you really are. No son of a guard would have handled the situation like that." She says cautiously.

"What do you mean?" I'm beginning to think I should just avoid this town for a few months.

"When the guards grabbed you, instead of telling them who your dad was, you lied to their faces."

"You were watching the entire time? How? I saw you run the other way." I ask shocked.

"Answer my questions and I'll answer yours. You first."

I'm starting to question just how badly I need that pot. After a few seconds of internal debate I decide to try another lie. "Fine you caught me, I'm not the son of a guard. My parents are farmers, and I really should be getting back to them. So if you could just drop that pot I'll be on my way." I stretch out my hand hoping she'd believe me.

"You're lying." She says in a clipped tone. "You get one more chance to tell me the truth before I leave with all of the pots."

"Its the truth! I swear." I yell feigning panic it my voice.

"You must really think I'm stupid." She says pulling the pot back out of sight..

"Why won't you believe me?" I start fake crying.

"Oh stuff it. You just got a man killed without batting an eye, and as for the lie its blatantly obvious. First of all every farmer around here wears thick shirts and heavy duty boots to combat the weather and mud. You on the other hand are only wearing a medium jacket and your boots don't look nearly as sturdy. Secondly, your still in the city and like I said earlier every farmer left well before dusk fell.  You now have 30 seconds." She yells down at me.

This was supposed to be a quick trip into the city followed by a hasty retreat out. How had things managed to get this bad? "Fine! My god you're annoying!" I scream back at her. "I'm just a lone wanderer, alright. Now can I please have that pot?" I ask one last time with an out stretched hand.

She doesn't budge, instead just says "If that's the truth, than why should I help a criminal who managed to sneak in past the guards?"

"Because I'm not a criminal?" I ask while lowering my still outstretched hand. "Listen it's the truth, I wander about scavenging old buildings and selling trinkets. If I was a bandit or marauder I'd just rob a farm on the city outskirts for food and supplies rather than risk coming into town and trying to buy them."

Still looking skeptical she says "True, although robbing a farm is easier said than done. You seem smart enough to know all farms plenty of alarms and carefully trained dogs. Not to mention most farmers are armed to the teeth considering they spend most of their times outside city walls."

Ready to give up I decide to try one last time. "They might be heavily guarded but so is the city, and if I can sneak into the city what makes you think I can't sneak onto a farm. Dogs can be easily taken out with a crossbow. As for farmers, I could just have one or two people hang back with a rifle to take them out as soon as they appear."

"Case and point. Who else but a rogue could come up with a strategy like that so quickly?" She just says with a smug smile.

Screw this, I'm just going to find another general store tomorrow and get a pot there. Although I can't just let her get the last word with such a smug look on her face. "Oh I don't know, perhaps a thief? Enjoy your questionably obtained jerky. I'm just going to buy a pot from some other store tomorrow." I state while starting to walk away. After a few steps I hear a loud clank behind me. Turning around I see the pot, now slightly dented, on the ground close to where I was standing. Glancing back up I notice the girl is gone; seems she decided  to believe me after all. After picking up the pot and quickly putting it in my pack I decide to find the comfiest pile of trash I can to sleep in for the night. I find a reasonably secluded and surprisingly soft pile a few alleys over. Laying down and using my pack as a pillow I think about everything that happened today and slowly drift off to slumber land. My final thoughts about the girl and just how annoying humans can be.