"I'll ask you one last time," said the man, cladded in dark brown, leather armor as he pointed his sword at the young, elvish boy. "Where is she?" With his free hand, he pointed to the black and white photo that his companion was holding up. The boy shook his head while he raised his hands in surrender.
"I've never seen this woman before in my life. Please, I don't know anything about her!" The boy begged. The man holding the picture sighed as he faced his companion.
"Let him go, Lemar," said the man, "He doesn't have any information on her." The other man shook his head while he continued to point his sword at the boy.
"Of course he knows something!" Said the man as he kept his eyes on the boy, "Moria seems to constantly attract elves everywhere she goes. If anyone knows where she is, it's an elf."
The boy gulped, "Please, sir! I don't know anything about this Moria Wischtara lady."
"You're lying!" Yelled Lemar as he lifted his sword and was about to slash the boy in half.
"Stop!" Said the elderly elvish woman, sitting in a rocking chair across the room from them.
Lemar stopped himself as all three of them turned to her.
"Show me that picture." Said the woman
"Why?" Asked Lemar, raising an eyebrow.
The woman shrugged, "I might know something about this lady you're seeking."
"Alright then," he looked at his companion, "Kreed, show her the photo."
The other man walked over to the old woman and handed her the picture.
"Please be careful," Kreed said softly, "It's an old photo and we only have one copy."
The woman held onto the picture gently and observed the lady in the image. The lady was wearing what seemed to be a school uniform and had long, dark blonde hair that was tied back into a ponytail. The woman paid close attention to the lady's face as Lemar put his sword down and took a few steps towards the woman.
"So have you seen her around anywhere?" Asked Lemar, impatiently. The woman looked up at him and nodded.
"Yes, but I'm not sure if it's a lady you should be looking for." Said the old woman.
"Huh?" Said Kreed, clearly confused.
"Excuse me?" Lemar tightened his grip around his handle. As he got closer, Kreed put his hand in front of him, trying to block Lemar from getting too close to the elderly woman.
"What do you mean?" Asked Kreed, still using a soft tone.
"This face," the woman began, "I recognize this face, except it wasn't on a lady."
"So you saw a man who looked like her?" Asked Kreed.
The woman nodded, "Yes, he recently bought a quilt from me."
Kreed then looked over at Lemar, "Do you think that could be her?"
"Well," Lemar sighed as his facial expression went from furious to disappointed, "She already dresses and acts like a man so it wouldn't be unusual for her to disguise herself as one."
Kreed then looked back at the woman, "Can you tell us anything else about her? Or him."
"I sell at the local market and see him there at least once a week so I'm pretty sure he lives in this town. He usually comes to the market with two women, one of whom is the daughter of a local noble."
"Daughter of a noble?" Lemar smiled, "At least she isn't spending time with filthy peasants."
"What about the other woman?" Asked Kreed.
"Judging by her attire, the other one seems to be a slave." Said the old woman.
*A slave?* Thought Lemar, *But human slavery is illegal. Unless …*
"So this 'man' comes to the market at least once a week with a noble girl and her servant?" Kreed repeated back to her.
The woman nodded, "Yes, the man also works for the noble family. I think he's Madam Ferdim's bodyguard."
"Madam Ferdim?" Asked Kreed, raising an eyebrow.
"She's the daughter of the noble family that I've been talking about. They're the Ferdims." The woman clarified.
"Oh." Said Kreed as he looked down, feeling a little embarrassed.
"So does this 'man' have a name?" Asked Lemar, sounding impatient again.
"Saphrin," said the woman, "Saphrin DiMero."
"She's going by her uncle's sir name?" Asked Lemar, sounding shocked.
"Uncle?" The woman seemed confused, "I've heard that Radulo DiMero is his father."
Lemar rolled his eyes, "She knew she could never be as great as him so she decided to pretend to be General DiMero's son. How sad." He chuckled.
"You said they're a local noble family, correct? If so, do you happen to know where they live?"
"I know they live in this town but I don't know their exact address."
Lemar's smile turned into a grimace, "Then what's the point in telling us any of this if you don't know where she is?" He began to lift his sword in frustration before Kreed stopped him. He faced Lemar and put his hand on his shoulder.
"The point is," Kreed began, "We have a lead now on Moria's location. All we have to do next is ask around to see where the Ferdims live."
Lemar put his sword down and sighed as he ran his fingers through his shoulder length, greasy, unkempt hair. "I guess you're right. We are now one step closer to bringing my future bride back home." He said with a big grin.
The next day, the two men went to the market in search of the lass. Both of them wore dark colored cloaks to hide their identities. Kreed wore a blue cloak with a leather top and black trousers with matching knee high boots. Lemar wore a grey cloak with the same top as Kreed, brown trousers and black, ankle length boots. In addition to his attire, Lemar wore a brown scarf around his face, covering his nose and mouth, while he kept his hood up. As they walked through the outdoor marketplace, Lemar skimmed the dense, busy crowd for the lass.
"There she is!" Said Lemar as he caught a glimpse of Saphrin in the distance, wearing her casual attire and browsing one of the food stands with Caspery. Saphrin was dressed in a pale blue, button down shirt with a dark blue tie, charcoal colored trousers, a matching vest, and black, knee high boots with laces. Saphrin's attire emphasized her masculine physique. Meanwhile, Caspery wore her faded, brown dress with a dull, beige apron and her matching headscarf. Caspery's attire made it obvious that her social status was below that of a peasant. Despite the marketplace being very crowded and loud, the man had no trouble spotting them.
*She must be the slave girl.* Thought Lemar.
"How do you know that's Moria?" Asked Kreed, looking at various different belt buckles, clearly uninterested in Lemar's finding.
"Oh please!" Lemar scoffed as he turned to face his companion, "I've been studying her for years since we met. I know how she talks, how she walks, how she carries herself, how she fights, how she likes her steak. For me, spotting her in a crowded area like this is a piece of cake."
"That's great." Kreed sighed, still browsing the buckles.
Lemar then shifted his gaze back to the lass. "My beloved Moria," he frowned, "What has happened to you?" He said as he focused on her new, muscular build and short hair. "My beautiful, fair maiden now looks like a man." His voice began to break as he clutched his scarf.
Kreed looked over at him and sighed, "That's sad. Can we finally leave?"
"Leave?!" Said Lemar as he quickly turned to face his companion, "Why would we leave now? We've come so far."
Kreed finally faced him. "Lemar," said the dark haired man, "You've been obsessing over her since secondary school and now that we've finally found her, you are no longer attracted to her looks."
"What? You think this is about appearances? Do you think that a gentleman such as myself would only care for looks? Do you think that an honorable man, such as myself, would spend all his time and resources to find the love of his life just to give up simply because she has changed her appearance?"
"Oh lord," sighed Kreed, "Then why were you getting so upset over the fact that she looks different now?"
"I won her fair and square!" Lemar stomped his foot in anger, "Therefore, it's my duty to keep my future wife from looking like a brute." He then looked down and sighed, "Seeing that she has changed her form makes me feel like I have failed as a man."
Kreed just rolled his eyes at Lemar as he placed his hands on the stand behind him and leaned against it.
"Besides," the blonde man pulled his scarf down a bit before he continued, "According to Dr. Freud, this is just a part of every woman's life."
"Huh?" Said Kreed, "What do you mean?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Well," Lemar fixed his scarf, "Dr. Sigmound Freud says a woman will go through a phase in her life where she starts to experience high levels of anxiety after realizing that she does not have a penis. Moria clearly has a chronic case of penis envy since she is dressing and behaving like her opposite sex. It would be selfish of me to leave her in this condition. Once we are reunited, I will take her to my aunt's specialist so that she can receive treatment."
"What happens next?" Asked Kreed with his arms crossed.
"Afterwards," Lemar smiled as his eyes began to shimmer, "We shall wed and she will finally become mine!"
"That's not what I meant," said Kreed, "After she returns, will your father leave my family alone?"
"Huh?" Lemar snapped back into reality as he looked at Kreed, "Oh, of course he will!"
"So he won't take my father's home, his land, his animals, or any of his possessions?" Asked Kreed, sternly.
Lemar shook his head, "No, he won't."
"What about my father's debt?"
"His debt to my father will be paid off once your mission is complete."
"Alright," Kreed nodded, "Now what?"
Lemar looked over at the two women and narrowed his eyes as Saphrin wrapped her arm around Caspery's waist before they shared a kiss. *How dare she steal my future bride from me!* Thought Lemar as he clenched his fists, *Moria is far out of that slave girl's league. How could she have wooed my maiden with a status as low as hers?*
"Um… Lemar?" Asked Kreed, staring at him in confusion, "Do you have a plan or not?"
Lemar looked over at Kreed, "Oh, yes! Now, we just need to figure out how to get Moria to comply with us." He glanced over at the two women for a moment before facing his companion again, "And I have just the plan." He grinned.