The Bizarre Adventures of a Half-Elf

Changling

**AN: This is the third and final(?) piece in my collaboration with the wonderful RyanneBlackman! Head on over to her page and give her a follow! Make sure to vote and comment below! Next chapter will bring the coming of a very fateful House War....

The rest of the group paid for their purchases, and then waved goodbye to Beau before heading towards Lord Cornello's awning. The servants quickly ushered the group of them inside, and Lord Cornello smiled brightly at them. "Ah! The town heroes! I would be honored to have so many of young, talented people sign up to fight for my House!"

"You may have a couple more ready to sign, as well," Charlotte said, scrawling her name across a ledger.

"Excellent, excellent! And who might you be again? I remember your face..." He leaned forward and squinted at the Half-Elf.

"Charlotte Lit-, ahem, just Charlotte."

"Well 'just Charlotte', remind me to thank you when the House War is won."

"You got it," she winked at him, before grabbing for her bag of honey cakes. However, it was promptly nicked from under her. She looked up to see Timoré rifling through the paper sack to pull out one of the individually wrapped confections. She placed her hands on her hips, "Hey! What's the big idea?"

"Consider it an advanced payment for the strife you put me through on a daily basis," he said, unwrapping the honey cake and taking a bite, before dropping the bag back down on the table in front of her.

"Oh, are those honey cakes?" Lord Cornello sniffed from his chair. "I haven't had honey cakes in years."

One of the servants from beside him spoke up, "My lord, your wife begs that-"

"Oh pish-posh, my wife is not here. Surely my health will remain stable after one treat." He looked up at Charlotte. "You don't mind?"

The rogue stifled a sigh, before saying, "No, not at all. Please do have one."

She then watched as the old lord grabbed not one, not two, but three honey cakes. "Thank you all for your service! The battles should begin shortly!"

Charlotte quickly grabbed her bag before any more could be stolen, and then hurried back to the Charming Dragon. Her work was almost done, and not many of her honey cakes had made it home, but she was happy to be back in her room, even if it was only briefly. Opening her storage chest, she slipped away the remaining pastries for later consumption, only to pause when she heard the rattling of a key from the hallway as someone unlocked the door to the room next to hers.

She tilted her head to the side-- that room had been empty for some time. Biting her lip in thought, Charlotte grabbed a glass from the desk before gently placing it against the wall. She took a small breath, pushing away any guilty thought, before bending to listen.

"We are sorry we are late. We purchased some blue tea and ginger root for you on the way back," came Cka'a's voice.

"No, no. That money is for things you want to purchase. Don't spend what little money you have on me." Sounded a voice Charlotte didn't recognize. The softer of the two voices was the unmistakable rasp of Cka'a's fibrous vocal chords, but the other sounded far gruffer.

"What 'we want' is for you to drink this," The Spriggan said, "The ginger will help with that headache of yours, and we know blue tea is your favorite. We will get everything ready, you keep resting."

"It's really bad this time, Cka'a. My head feels like it's splitting open. I want to massage it, but these claws are so damn sharp. I'm sorry to ask this of you, but can you help me?"