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Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa just let out a grumble at the idea. "Someone punches my arm like that handshake and I'll punch them in the face... That hurt a lot more than a sword wound." He continued rolling the wrist and doing his best to nurse the now sore joint.

It did not take long for them to reach the center of the village where there was a well and a small stone circle inlayed into the ground filled with water. There were divets leading out to the various farmland, and where these took off from the circle they had small semi-circle wooden blocks next to them that could be flicked down to prevent water from escaping. Seemed this was where a majority of laundry was washed, it also probably doubled as a place to wash small children safely.

More than a few households had gathered around, the villager leading them hopped up onto the well and spoke up. "These two are looking for a place to stay for the day after their journey. Anyone willing to give them hospitality for the day?"

A few of the villagers began to talk among themselves and then a burly man in a blacksmith's apron stepped up. "I can take care of them. Besides, the forge is the only real place with spare hay." Other villagers nodded in agreement. That hadn't taken long and Tousa just kind of blinked at the expediency of the decision that had been made.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa stepped up with her and he then went wide eyed at offering to help as compensation. She was joking right? The blacksmith looked between the two for a moment and then a slow grin spread across his face.

"I was just going to let you stay but since you two are offering to work, I've got more than enough to do around the work space. Been needing to cast plenty of iron lately. Stock has been getting low. Hope you two can handle the heat." The man stated motioning with a hand for the two of them to follow.

The rest of the villagers had gone back to what they were doing, though the children followed them at a safe distance. They were new and exciting in a sleepy little place like this. They whispered among themselves, trying to figure out what their story was. Some guessed mercenaries, others guessed one of them was a member of royalty from a far away land. Others guessed even further that one of them was a dragon in disguise and the other was their ancient traveling companion. Theories flew and giggles could be heard more clearly the wilder the tales between themselves got.

Tousa leaned over to Anja. "Why did you offer for us to work? We don't exactly have time for that you know." He whispered over to her, eyeing the surrounding countryside that villagers were now going out to tend to.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa snarled at Anja as she asked if he was afraid to do actual work. "Because leading a large portion of the army is not actual work." He stated as low as he could. However she had a point. They probably wouldn't believe them at best. At worst they would be thought of us as spies or some other form of pre-infiltration unit depending on how militaristic these people were.

"And it's not an army. It's a single unit. If they bring three we won't be able to fight that you know, even if I wanted to. And that's working under the assumption that they are indeed hostile and not being genuine."

The blacksmith glanced back. "What're you two whispering about back there?" He stated with a laugh. "Wondering if you two will have privacy together tonight? If you are, don't worry... I'm a heavy sleeper, you can do pretty much anything and I won't hear you."

Prince Tousa of Darinest

"The name is Zolfka. Just Zolfka." The man stated, looking at the interaction and chuckling, taking the hand and shaking it. "As the name might suggest, I'm not from this country. I'm... A traveled man so I know how it is with adventurer's like yourself."

Tousa on the other hand clearly struggled when she wrapped an arm around him, as if trying to escape. This blacksmith didn't know what she was else he wouldn't find the idea so humorous. The kiss to his cheek just drained the color from his face in horror.

The blacksmith couldn't help but laugh as he looked to Anja. "It seems your travelling companion doesn't take to kindly to such things." The man leaned in close to pretend whisper. "Is he shy?"

"I am not shy!" Tousa yelled loudly, now blushing furiously at the fact that he was being made fun of.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa just stared at Anja at this point mortified. They were going with the merchant idea now!? They were supposed to use that for the cities and major towns. Not now. He hadn't thought of a name yet!

"I... My name is Reiss. I to no longer have a last name since my family revoked it from me." He murmured, glancing away, still blushing furiously and not wanting the attention to be on him anymore. That and being called 'honey' by this woman was infuriating. Why did she have to pick that to call him? Why couldn't she just have asked normally?

Zolfka gave a nod and motioned to a building just on the outskirts of town. "Well, merchants and lovers, welcome to the temporary inn and primarily blacksmith's workshop. Where I now call home."

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa looked between the two and then offered his horse over to Anja. "If you could be so kind, dear." He stated with a punctuation on the word and giving her a dirty look. "I'll be helping our caretaker with the iron he needs pouring."

Zolfka gave an appreciative nod. "Wood to be made into coal for my furnace is being chopped and we're getting some metal bars made. This is going to be a good day indeed. This way Reiss."

The large blacksmith didn't even stop to check to see if he was being followed, the lean to on the far side of the building was where he was headed and a shoulder was being rolled as the man tried to work out the morning kinks he still had in his person.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa glared daggers at her back as she stated that word again. They were going to talk about that later. He wasn't going to masquerade as a Lycan's lover. The thought made his stomach churn and roll inside of him. "So, how much heat will we be dealing with?" He asked.

The man glanced back and raised an eyebrow. "You're going to want to lose your shirt my friend and even then you're probably going to get a bit sweaty from the work. Luckily you can go to the village center to get water if you need it. A bit of a genius engineering by one of my old friends."

That was an interesting thing to say, but it didn't much phase Tousa as he stripped out of his shirt, the soft looking skin showing the hardened muscle of a soldier underneath. "Must have come from a military family Reiss." Zolfka stated.

"Ah... Yes, years of practice with the spear." He stated back, moving to duck inside with Zolfka, the lean to making the interior looking deceptively small. Zolfka was already getting the smelter ready, loading in coal to get ready to burn. "Strange weapon for a noble house. Many prefer the sword."

"I was allowed to choose, and not many warriors know how to go against someone who knows how to use a spear other than a formation so it gives an advantage there." Tousa replied, looking to see what he could do.