The
Frustration of Being Good
An
Eighth Caustrian Tale
Part
4
"Y'know, Lady Daina didn't seem
nearly as pleased as I thought she would be when we left," said Marcus as
they walked through the woods of the new world Daina had made for them.
"Why should she?" asked Naomi
gruffly.
"Well, she's getting rid of you
for a while, right?" Marcus grinned. Naomi grumbled unintelligibly at him
and he chuckled. "C'mon, Naomi, this is your vacation, so to speak. Smile,
for Pete's sake!"
"I don't know Pete and I don't
feel like smiling," she snapped. "I mean, I'm saddled with you,
right?"
"I think you have that a little
backwards," said Marcus, politely aggravating. "I believe I am the one saddled with you. I mean, what fun's that gonna be,
babysitting a middle aged sprite?"
Naomi whirled on him angrily.
"You're gonna be..." she began, but then stopped. Fun, she thought. Oh, I'll give him fun, alright. More fun than he can handle.
"You're gonna be having as much fun as I am, kiddo," she said, chummily
putting a hand around his shoulders. "Y'ever been in an actual tavern
after dark?"
"No," replied Marcus,
suddenly wary.
"Aw, you'll love it, then! They
never close the place down! Half naked men and women all over the place!"
Marcus' eyes grew wide as she spoke.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yeah!" she replied back.
"And enough free flowing alcohol to lay a grown man up for at least a
week!" And a 17-year-old human brat
up for a full season!, she thought, grinning inwardly. "We'll find the
nearest town and party at the inn!"
"Yeah, but we don't have any
money," said Marcus, the dream visibly shattering on his face. "We
don't even know where we are yet."
"No problem," said Naomi,
undaunted. "When we find a road, we follow it to a town. We check around
town for an inn, then we offer to clean the inn up in exchange for room and
board. We do well enough, we might even get a little money at it." Clean up!, Naomi thought to herself. And while he actually does his share of
manual labor, I'll just see what I can't lift from the rest of the inn guests.
"I could handle that," nodded
Marcus. "Hey, this trip might not be so bad after all!"
"My sentiments exactly,
kiddo," agreed Naomi, flashing her best disarming cover smile.
By the time Naomi and Marcus reached
the nearest town, they were surprised to find themselves heading into a major
city.
"It's a little bigger than I'd
pictured it," said Naomi, as they walked up the main street. Big city means Theives Guild registration,
thought Naomi quickly. Might also mean
it'll be harder to trace any minor thefts, especially by some nonexistent fairy
creature.
"Bad thing?" asked Marcus.
"No, good thing. The bigger the
city, the more taverns and inns we got to choose from!" she replied
reassuringly. Yessss!, she rejoiced
mentally.
The two wandered from inn to inn until
they finally came upon one called The Fickle Frog.
"I really don't feel right about
saying we're poor, starving homeless gypsies," Marcus frowned before they
went in.
"Why not?" Naomi asked
turning on him. "We're not lying. I mean, do we have any money?"
"No," Marcus replied.
"Do we have anyplace to
stay?"
"No."
"And aren't you getting kinda
hungry right now?" Naomi asked condescendingly. Marcus shrugged
agreeably. "Well, then, what's the
problem with a kind old innkeeper or bar tender giving us a little shelter and
food while we give him what we have to offer in the way of manual labor?"
Marcus paused. "I guess you're
right."
"'Course I am," she smiled
winningly. "Now let's quit standing out here and sucker, I mean, help this
next guy."