It took them a few days to reach a town. They had to make a full birch of the village that had hysterically tried to kill them both. Malik still hesitated a bit before they entered the town. Primrose noticed his discomfort but chose to ignore it. A woman carrying a large, broad sword and a white-haired man with a hood attracted a lot of attention. Primrose kept her back straight and her head high, but she still felt awkward without her armor. "We'll be needing a map and provisions," she said, still trying to take command of the situation. "What about some horses or bedding," whined Malik. "The ground is soft enough for us, and we don't have enough money to buy a horse," Primrose said honestly, tired of conversing with him.
"But my body hurt. I'm covered in bruises, and my feet are blistering," Malik said, stomping his foot childishly, then wincing his pain when one of the blisters popped.
"They'll callous up," Primrose said, then she caught eyes with an elderly woman selling jams and called her over to her.
"Good day, ma'am, may I interest you in Green Meadows' finest jams and jellies. Two jars for 10 coppers or three jars for 13," she said quickly, shoving two jars into Primrose's hands and having another one ready.
Primrose was just going to ask for some directions but seemed a little flustered by the woman's pushy sales tactics. The royal family provided a rose knights necessities, so Primrose had never had to bargain or deal with the sort of salesperson who would take these sorts of liberties. This jam woman seemed to sense Primrose's naivete and got ready to pressure her into buying a big order when Malik grabbed the jars out of her hands.
He opened it up and took a small taste," Wow, you're right. I have never tasted a jam like this in all my travels." he said, edging closer to the old woman with a charming smile.
A flush spread across the woman's face," Um, thank you, sir. I've been making this jam my whole life. A family recipe, you know." she said, flustered.
"How cute, a family-centered girl. Now as much as I would love to buy your wears, but it's my policy to never buy from the first vendor I see when I first enter a town," he said sadly, handing the jars back to the salesgirl, but he kept his eyes on hers. It gave an impression like the parting caused him pain.
The woman giggled nervously; it was really odd to see a woman of her advanced age giggling like a schoolgirl," I'm far from a girl, you charmer."
"Not in my eyes," he said, kissing her hand gently. The attention bought the elderly woman to a frenzy, so Malik could pump her general information. He was able to find out where the best food, shelter, and supplies were while keeping her in that giggling mood.
Thanks to that kind granny's direction, Primrose and Malik headed off towards the town market. The woman had said that all the taverns and inns were around the marketplace. As soon as they were out of the woman's eyesight. Malik started spitting and rubbing his tongue on his shirt. Primrose snorted, "What did you get a nasty taste in your mouth from kissing that woman's ass?" she said.
"Ugh, no, that was heavenly compared to that jam if you can even call it that. " Malik said, continuing to spit," It was sour and bitter and somehow, ugh, yeasty."
Primrose couldn't help but laugh at Malik's dour face, then she got a bit thoughtful," I thought wizards couldn't lie." Malik stared at her. She had a much gentler laugh than he would have thought. He found himself wanting to hear it again.
"Years of practice. I'm an outstanding actor. I might not be able to tell lies, but using noncommittal sentences, asking the right questions, and using the right inflection can convey a false meaning. Give me a few hours I can have this whole town thinking I'm a traveling prince and you're my guard without saying a single lie." Malik said with pride, obviously thinking that his theatrical skills would win him some brownie points with Primrose. He was wrong.
"So you're a veteran con-man." Primrose said with disgust before shaking her head," It doesn't matter. You will not be tricking these townspeople when I'm here. We have plenty of money for now, and I plan on looking up the local mercenary guild to see if we can find some honest work to help us on our journey."
At the mention of the mercenary guild, Malik visibly paled," You don't think this place has a mercenary guild, do you?" he asked.
Primrose looked around the town and pointed to a post absently," I've seen a couple of street posts bearing the insignia, they'll likely be under the guild's protection," she said," Ah, finally the marketplace." She walked briskly into the market with Malik following close behind her, tugging his hood farther down.
Primrose was a bit overwhelmed at first by the persistent peddlers, but her natural threatening aura kept the seedier characters away. Malik didn't jump in to help her again. He was so quiet that Primrose started to get worried.
"How about we stay in town tonight and head out in the morning?" she asked lightly after they finished their shopping.
"Weren't we just going to go head though town and camp in the nearby forest," Malik said too quickly.
Primrose stared at him strangely," Well yeah, but I managed to buy our supplies relatively cheaply...haven't you been complaining about sleeping on the ground nonstop for days." she said suspiciously of his sudden change.
"We should be conserving our money," he said, then he looked at the setting sun," you know we should get going now so we can set up camp."
Primrose didn't move," Are you hiding something? You have not helped set up camp once or given any thought to when or where we set up camp."
"Might as well start now," Malik said with a nervous laugh acutely aware of the eyes that were turning towards them.
"You have been acting weird all day. You were so happy that we found a town, but you got quiet and strange as soon as we walked in. Are you ill?" she asked, oblivious to the eyes on them but genuinely concerned for him. He was starting to remind her of an old general that she used to work under, Red Boscobel. Boscobel led his men in an unusually long battle against marauders during the hottest part of summer. They won the battle, but after Boscobel turned red in the face and started saying strange things. Before anyone could diagnose him with heatstroke, he started clucking like a chicken and threw himself in full armor into a lake. He drowned before anyone could get to him. Since Primrose was the best swimmer in the squadron, so she was tasked with the retrieval. She did not want a repeat of that event.
"It's no big deal, let's go," Malik said, trying to pull her along.
Primrose whipped her hand away from him," Don't pull me." she said, grabbing him and pulling his hood down to see if he was red in the face.
"Stop!" he shouted, and now everyone stared. One man from a fruit stand ran off.
Primrose was relieved that he didn't seem red but got upset by his rude words," What is wrong with you? If you have not been touched by the heat, then you have definitely gone mad." she yelled
Malik didn't answer her; he paled as he saw three men running at them. It was the fruit seller and two huge men.
"Malik of Annapuna!" One of the men shouted, pulling out his sword.
Primrose pulled hers out in response, but Malik laid a hand on her to stay her hand," Who are you fine, gentlemen?" he asked. Primrose stared at him in amazement. She had underestimated his acting prowess; he seemed completely calm and composed.
The largest man stepped up," I'm Stephen Archer of the Blood Dagger mercenary guild and your pretty little face has been the posted on the top of the job board for mouths."
"Ah, I see. Are you sure I'm the right guy? Malik is a common name." Malik asked.
The smaller man pulled out a piece of parchment and looked at it, then at Malik, then the paper," It's definitely him boss. He has white hair just like it says." he said.
Stephen smiled," At the price Lady Calypso is offering, I'm willing to risk it, Richard. So are you going to come along the easy way or the hard way?" He asked, walking towards them.
Primrose got into position, but Malik stopped her," Trust me, I've been in this situation before," he whispered into her ear. Primrose looked back and forth at him, and then at the men, her doubt was evident on her face." Please trust me. If you listen to me, we can get out of this."
Primrose re-sheathed her sword and put her arms up.
"Your girlfriend is pretty smart to let's go," Stephen said, and Primrose glared at him.
They led them out of the town into a nearby forest. Stephen was in the woods outside of town and," Shouldn't you be leading us to the mercenary guildhall?" Primrose asked. The Rose empire occasionally hired out mercenaries to deal with wanted criminals. Usually, the criminal is jailed in the guildhall until the contractor returns and pays the reward.
"Yeah yeah, I could bring you in and have you housed in our jail, but your little friend has a nasty habit of getting out jail cells, So I brought you out here to make sure he can't."
Malik laughed nervously," How do you plan on doing that, Stephen?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm going to break both of your arms and your legs," he said
"Hey, that's going against mercenary code. You'll lose your license!" Malik said.
Stephen laughed, "Yeah, I'm not that concern. You see, Lady Calypso ordered her warrant in person, and we had a long, lovely conversation together. She had a lot of things she wanted me to do to you. A. Lot. Of. Fun. Things, and once I'm done with you, she has promised me great things." he said, licking his lips.
"What makes you think that I'll allow that to happen?" Primrose said
Richard grabbed Malik from behind and held a knife to his throat," What about this bitch?" he asked. The fruit seller started to look uncomfortable, this was clearly not what he expected to happen, and he started slowly back away from the group.
"Where do you think you're going Silon; the party is just about to start?" Stephen asked, pulling out his sword and pointed at him.
The fruit seller, Silon, stopped and smiled awkwardly," No, nothing, Stephen. Just um giving you some room for your um fun." he said nervously.
Richard laughed at his discomfort but quickly stopped when Stephen lifted a hand," Oh, no, no, no. You're going to help us, right?" In a friendly tone, Stephen said, but he's dead eyes made it evident to everyone that Silon did not have a choice.
Silon smiled," Of course, can't wait to get started, Stephen." he said, nodding vigorously
"Good," Stephen said before turning his focus back to Malik.
Primrose gritted her teeth, and she kept her hand hovering over her sword, but she didn't move.
She made eye contact with Malik, wondering what they should do. Malik had a very calm look on his face and smiled before quickly stomping on Richard's foot and twisted out of his grasp.
"Ha! I've slept with plenty of girls with a stronger hold than that," he said
Primrose smiled and pulled out her sword and got ready for battle. Stephen snorted at her and pulled out his sword.
"RUN!" Malik shouted to Primrose before taking off into the woods.
"Damn it!" Primrose cursed him quickly, sheaved her sword, and ran after him.
Even though Malik was always lagging behind as they hiked over the woods, he now ran like a jackrabbit.
"Stop running, Malik!" Primrose shouted.
"Yeah, listen to your woman, and we won't gut you." one of their pursuers said back.
Primrose glared back at him and threw one of their dried cheese blocks at him, hitting the fruit seller/snitch right in the face and making him crash into the ground. The other two men jumped over their "comrade" and continued after them.
"Nice one, Prim," Malik said.
"You fucking bitch!" the leader one said.
"Malik, stop running right now!" Primrose yelled.
"Are you out of your mind?!" he yelled back
"Just trust me. Please." Primrose said.
Malik looked behind him at the two furious men running after them, "You actually want to stop?" he asked one more time.
"Yes!" Primrose said.
Malik kept running for a minute, groaned, stopped, and turned to face her. Primrose stopped as well and turned to meet the two men.
They stopped and looked at them," Ah, finally decided to give up. Come along quickly, and we promise to not hurt you guys," Stephen said, getting a sadistic grin before adding," too much."
Primrose pulled out her sword, "Let us go, or I'll be forced to use lethal force."
Both men laughed hardily," Well, aren't you cute. Maybe after we chain up that wildly little wizard. We'll sell you to a brothel. I hear they like feisty ones." the smaller one said.
Primrose's grip tighten on her blade, her eyes narrowed, and she pointed to the side," Malik stand over there and don't move." she said in a commanding tone that made Malik's spine tingle. It held such a ring of authority that he wordlessly walked over to the wall and sat down.
Once she saw him sit down, Primrose lunged at the two men. Stephen quickly leaped to the side, but his companion foolishly tried to pull out his own sword, and his arm was slashed by Primrose. He screamed and fell to the ground clutching his arm. Primrose didn't waste a moment on his but quickly pivoted to the left, trying to hit the leader. He anticipated this and easily met her blade with his own.
"Well, Well, Well, how interesting the little leech found himself a decent guard dog," he said between gritted teeth.
Primrose quickly realized she couldn't overpower him, she faded and went into a full guard," You're still free to leave us alone. No hard feelings." she said.
"Some hard feelings over here," Malik said from the behind the tree.
"Not helping!" Primrose snapped, and Stephen decided to take advantage of her distraction and lunged at her. Primrose ducked under his arms and tries to stab him in the side.
Stephen sidestepped and almost tripped," Richard, get your lazy ass up!" he shouted as he and Primrose circled each other, meeting swords over and over. Richard, who had been clutching his arms, lumbered to his feet and walked dizzily towards them before failed to the floor and hitting his head hard against a tree.
Malik laughed," I don't think your friends is going to be much help."
Stephen looked over at his fallen friend. In that split second, Primrose kicked him in the stomach knocking him off-center. She raised her sword and plunged it into his chest. Blood flowed out of his mouth, and he stared in shock at her as he fell to the ground.
Malik stood up and just stared open mouth at her, "You...you have some skills."
Primrose smiled as she wiped the blood off her sword and reshaped her blade, "Some skills? That's rich coming from the guy who hid behind a tree during battle." she joked.
Primrose walked over to Richard and nudged him with her foot," He's out cold." she said, pulling a blanket and some bandages out of their bags.
"What are you doing? Are you going to strangle him with bandages? That's a little hardcore," he asked.
Primrose rolled her eyes at him but quickly fixed up his arm and covered Stephen's body up with a blanket. "We need to move now. I have no idea how long he's going to be out, and if he gets to town, we might have a search party after us." she said, starting down the road.
"Then undo the bandages and hope he bleeds out," Malik said, spitting in the two men's direction.
"I can't just leave me him bleeding on the floor. It would go against a knight's code of conduct to kill someone who isn't a threat." Primrose said.
"Well, you're not really a knight anymore." Malik said, rolling his eyes, then instantly quelled under her answering glare," But you know what, it is really commendable that you keep true the essence of knightly behavior even in the face of your exile."
Primrose rolled her eyes," We need to get going now." she said.
They walked for hours till it was the middle of the night before Primrose asked the question that weighed heavily on her mind, "Who's Lady Calypso?" she asked.
Malik stiffened then visibly forced himself to relax," You know, just a crazy ex. I've managed to rack up a couple of those in my life." he said lightly
"A crazy ex who put a warrant out for you with a big enough reward to make a duke's daughter jealous," Primrose said.
"So she's a rich, crazy ex. It doesn't really concern you. " Malik said curtly oblivious, wanting the conversation to end. Primrose was confused. Malik never took anything seriously.
"Oh, of course, the fact that you're wanted by this crazy "ex" girlfriend is definitely not my concern. Next time armed mercenaries capture us I'll let them do whatever weird shit they wants with your body before I step in." Primrose said, snorting.
"They usually don't do that! I was expecting to be brought to the hall and maybe flirt a barmaid or someone else to let us out." he said quickly, then he got a dark look in his eyes and added quietly," really, she corrupts anyone. She touches."
"Okay, seriously, I need to more about this woman. If she's as dangerous as she seems, I need to know how to fight against her."
"YOU DON'T!" he shouted, making Primrose take a step back.
"Hey, I'm just concern about you! If I knew there was a problem first, I could have taken precautions like not pulling your hood down in a crowded marketplace. I know that we're not friends, but you could trust me enough to not leave me in the dark! We were in serious danger back there." Primrose shouted.
Malik scoffed," You took down three guys by yourself. You weren't in any danger." he said, brushing away her fears.
"There was a knife against your throat," Primrose shouted, and tears ran down her face," There was no way for me to get to you, and if he had been just a little quicker-" she finished brokenly.
"Primrose..." shocked by her burst of emotion, Malik reached out but quickly pulled his hand back," I-I'm not that helpless, you know. I've gotten myself out worst situations than that with my eyes closed."
Primrose wiped her eyes and took a deep breath," I guess I care about you more than I thought," she said with a small laugh before quickly adding," in a purely friendly way. You make for a genial companion."
"I'm sorry for not being more honest with you. From now on, I will try to be open and warn you in advance, but I won't-can't talk to you about Calypso. Please try to understand, but I really just can't." he said. It was the look in his eyes that convinced her to not try further. His eyes were always filled with irrelevance or humor, but now there were just empty, hollow. She thought about how he never pried into her past and how much that silent consideration meant to her.
"If you do not wish to talk about, I understand, but next time we're somewhere you have enemies, just tell me, so I don't cause a scene in the middle of town," she said, giving him a small smile.
Malik laughed a little," Yeah, why were you acting like that?" he asked.
"I thought you had heatstroke!" she said and told him about Red Rose Boscobel and how worried she got when he stopped talking.
"So if I got this right. You missed my playful banter so much that you thought I was seriously ill," Malik said.
Primrose punched him in his arm," Quite you. I won't concern myself with your health again," she said.
"Come on, Prim, I didn't mean it like that," Malik said playfully," You can nurse me anytime."
Primrose groaned, then reached into her pocket and threw a jar wrapped in bandages at him," That reminds me I made you a poultice for your feet. You can nurse yourself; I would give it to you later, but I want us to keep going till morning to ensure that men can't follow us. You can apply it before we get going again." she said.
"You... You made this for me?" he asked, looking confused at the bottle of brownish mash.
Primrose kept her eyes straight ahead," We passed some medicinal plants a few days ago, so I whipped it up. You do know how to apply a poultice, right?" she said briskly.
"Y-yeah, I've applied a few in my day," he said, quickly putting the plant matter on his feet and wrapping them in the bandages.
"Oh, no busty lasses rubbing it in for you." Primrose joked.
Malik laughed," Ha, I wish by the time I need tending to those girls are long gone."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Ah, well, you know once their boyfriends/husbands/brother/father finds me, they don't stand by me. Usually how it goes I'm in a bloody heap, and they're crying on his shoulder about how I seduced them or some similar excuse for their own behavior. I've had to learn how to fix myself up pretty well over the years." he said, slipping his shoes back on.
"Why wouldn't you just blast them away with your powers. The court wizard could summon a forty-foot-high wall of fire." Primrose asked.
"Must be a happiness wizard, right?" Malik asked, and Primrose nodded," knew it, their power is always more explosive. It's a little-known fact that the wizard powers differ based on which emotion they draw strength from. Happiness and anger have a lot of explosion and fire magics, sadness is mind control and emotional manipulation, and Lust wizards have illusions and escape type magic."
"Illusions and escape?" Primrose asked.
"Yeah, like how I teleported us the night," Malik said.
"Why don't you just teleport before you get your ass kicked," Primrose said.
"I need to concentrate to use my magic, and usually in these situations, I'm caught in the act, so to speak. Take the day we met, the townsmen beat the shit out of me, so I was too weak to do anything," he said.
Primrose sucked in through her teeth," Sounds harsh." she said
"Yeah...well, its dangerous job breaking young girls' hearts," he said.
"Young girls... That grandma in town looked like she was second away to run into the sunset with you." Primrose joked.
"Hmm, too bad I can only pine for you." Malik flirted, making a kissy face at her.
Primrose snorted, "Not a chance." she said.
Malik stood up, took a couple of tentative steps, and gave Primrose a thumb up," Might as well start calling you doctor Prim!"