Meddling in Foreign Affairs

Chapter 17: Yael's House

Byulat poked Rowell a few times to see if he was actually passed out this time. It appeared that he was not faking anything, and was really unconscious. He looked up at Aya, silently asking if she would be able to manage carrying another bag. She nodded, and grabbed Rowell's' backpack, obviously struggling under the weight of it. He felt bad for asking her to carry something so heavy, but he could think of no other way to transport it down the hill. He threw Rowell's unconscious body over his shoulder and started making his way down the hill.

Aya was out of breath almost immediately, which made sense because Rowell's gear most likely weighed half as much as she did. "I think we should ask around in the town to see if anyone knows of this Yael person," Byulat said in an effort to distract her. It was not a successful effort, and Aya just nodded as they continued on in silence.

The sun was starting to set as they entered the village, and Byulat was relieved that they had made it. He was not sure how much further Aya would have been able to carry Rowell's things. She already seemed to be on the verge of collapse. The village itself was very unimpressive. There was a village square and a market, and probably more people than most small villages, but all of the buildings were made of wood. But not living wood, like Maiorsem had been. Byulat could respect Maiorsem for the elves' ability to use nature to their advantage, but everything here was made out of dead and dry wood.

As soon as they saw people on the street, Byulat noticed that they were avoiding him. He did not blame them, for he was carrying a person over his shoulder and would have done the same in their position. When they arrived at the center of the town, Byulat asked Aya to set down Rowell's backpack and start looking around for someone who knew Yael or could help them in any way. Byulat stayed with Rowell after laying him on the ground just inside of a small alley, and enjoyed watching the people. They seemed nice enough, for humans anyways. Aya was running around in the evening market crowd talking to anyone who would listen.

As Byulat watched, he saw a small human girl that looked to be about 25 years old approach Aya. The elf kneeled down to talk to the child, before a lady who appeared to be her mother approached. The mother looked to be only a few years past 100, like Rowell was. After exchanging a few words with Aya, the three of them started walking towards Byulat and Rowell.

"Mom, look, a dwarf! I got to see an elf and a dwarf today!" the girl exclaimed when she noticed Byulat.

"Yes, Mara, isn't that nice." The woman focused on Byulat. "Your elven friend mentioned that you were looking for Yael, but neither of you look sick. I know that her reputation for hospitality is common knowledge, but please do not bother her unless you actually need something. She already has enough to deal with."

"Byulat isn't the one who's hurt, it's Dismas. He mumbled the name Yael right before passing out while we were walking here." Aya was obviously lying to cover up her ability to read minds. She was terrible at lying. Luckily the woman did not seem to care and had all of her attention on Rowell.

"Dizzy?" She kneeled next to his body and turned his face towards her. "You ugly idiot, what have you gotten yourself into?" she said under her breath.

"You know the thief?" Byulat asked.

"Of course I know him! This is the town he was born and raised in! But we can talk about all of this later, for now we need to get him home." The woman motioned for Byulat to pick Rowell up again. Byulat looked around the town again with fresh eyes now that he knew it was where his friend had lived. It looked like it was a respectable town, and Byulat wondered what had inspired Rowell to turn to a life of thievery instead of becoming a logger.

"This is where Dismas is from? This is so cool!" Aya was visibly excited.

"Yeah, it's so cool that the only time he visits in almost five years is when he needs mother's help." The woman rolled her eyes and stood up, grabbing Mara's hand. "My name is Esther, by the way. You should follow me, mother will be able to help him." She walked away and Byulat and Aya picked up their things and followed quickly after.