We went to the southeastern part of town, seemed to be a community of short people; dwarves. The ginger knocked on one of the doors. A little lady that was as wide as she was tall opened.

“Welcome home Bò! Oh, you’ve brought some friends!” her smile was very wholesome.

“Yes mom, we’re going on a journey to get this young lady’s sister back,” Bò the ginger told her.

“How wonderful. I’m glad she has such strong men to protect her,” Bò’s little mother said.

Traditional.

“You’ve got it all wrong mom, she escaped from Haraldstown on her own,” Bò chuckled.

“Yea, I can take care of myself pretty well I’d say,” I said.

“Oo an independent woman I see, perhaps you wouldn’t want to help me in the kitchen then?” Bò’s mother asked.

“I could chop some vegetables,” I tapped my nails against the sheathed Kodachi I had slid into the back of my corset.

“Come along then, we’re making beef stew.”

She turned to Grimmington: “Could you light the fire, dear?” She seemed to not be aware of, or didn’t care about Grimmington’s title as the king of Sandfort.

Bò’s mother led us both into the kitchen. The house gave me cozy vibes with its warm lighting and natural stone architecture. She had already filled a large pot with water that hung over the fireplace.

Grimmington took the knife he had on his belt, and cut into the sides of one of the blocks of wood. The pieces curled, but were still attached to the original block. After that, he took a match from the matchbox. The curls burned almost instantly, making their way to the larger block. He put it underneath the pot along with other blocks of wood, watched it burn, then left the room.

I was busy cutting carrots with my Kodachi. Much like the straw man, the blade effortlessly slid through the carrots.

“Where’s the mister, if you don’t mind me asking?” I was curious as to why nobody had mentioned Bò’s father.

Bò’s mother stopped peeling the potato she was holding: “Tòmaz was his name, best fighter Sandfort had ever seen. Back then, our territory spanned from the Great Lake to the mountains of Chisanaki. The fool went mammoth hunting around White Peak. I had told him not to go, but he snuck out with his buddies late at night. We didn’t even get to say farewell.”

I saw how hard she tried to keep her composure, so I decided not to ask anymore questions.

When I had finished cutting all the carrots and onions, I joined the others outside. Luckily the ground and buildings had gotten hot enough during the day that we could have dinner under the moonlight without it getting chilly.

“Since Leah is new here, maybe we should share a little about ourselves,” Emily said as she was gulping down the stew.

“Sure, but let’s make it interesting. Two truths and a lie,” Mike replied. “I’ll start, but you, Emily, can’t answer.”

He raised a finger: “My favorite food is pig’s brain.”

Disgusting.

He raised an additional finger: “I have had a crush on my sister.”

Ew.

“She’s adopted by the way,” he quickly added.

Mike raised his third finger: “I’ve never kissed a girl.”

Sad.

“So, which one is the lie?” Mike asked.

“The first one,” we all said in unison.

“Wh- what? No! You really believe I get no action?” Mike blushed. “I had my fair share of women.”

“You had a girlfriend for a week in elementary school, that doesn’t count,” Emily laughed.

“I sure hope you were in elementary school at the time,” Grimmington poked Mike with his elbow.

“Fuuck you,” Mike said with a tad of sarcasm. “Your turn, Leah.”

I thought for a while. There were some things I wanted to get off my chest so they would never come up again. I held out one of my fingers: “My father was murdered before my eyes.” Their smiles faded.

Two: “I was drugged and raped in Haraldstown.” I was given a look of pity.

Three: “And I have killed more people than I can count.” Then concern.

Everyone stared at me.

“O dear..” the Bò’s mother broke the silence.

“Well that’s fucking depressing,” Grimmington sighed.

“Please say you’re lying about the rape,” Mike pleaded.

“Yes, I am. The first guy who tried, I killed. The second one drugged me, but your attack came just in before he had time to do anything,” I replied. “Can’t say the same for the twins I was with.”

“You sure you don’t need therapy or something..?” Mike wondered. No amount of talking could heal my wounds, what difference would it have made?

“I’ll manage, but thanks for the offer,” I faked a smile.

“So, uh, how are you guys planning on getting to Banana island?” Grimmington changed the subject.

“Don’t know, horses to the shore, then a boat probably,” Mike said.

“You could always use that,” Grimmington nodded towards the sky. An airship had obscured the moon above us.

“Another one?” I asked.

“It usually runs the trade route between Sandfort and Port Shoreline, but it’s going to be stationed for a whole two weeks here.”

“What’s the catch?”

“No catch, as with everything else, if it’s not being used why wouldn’t you be able to?” Grimmington seemed very keen on sharing.

“And it won’t explode?” I wanted to make sure.

“Not unless we want it to,” he winked.

We had all emptied our bowls.

“Shall we head out?” Grimmington got up, everyone followed. We stood out on the street while Bò hugged his mother.

“Goodbye, love, have a safe trip, come home soon,” his mother told him.

She then turned to me: “Keep my boy safe, will you?”

“I’ll try.”

“My poor heart cannot handle any more loss, promise you’ll bring him back in one piece,” she was on the verge of crying.

“Yea.. I promise,” I assured her. Quite the responsibility to put on a thirteen year old.

She waved at us until we were out of sight.