Priscilla wiped the shock from her face, mind racing to come up with a plan in the little time they had. Kavil seemed torn between comforting Ulric and preparing for their uninvited guests.

  “Come here Kavil,” Priscilla said, extending a hand to Kavil, “and Ulric, turn around and focus on the horses.”

  Ulric did as instructed, spinning on his heel to lean over the horse. Kavil took Priscilla’s hand and she pulled him in close, wrapping an arm around his waist. Sulaiman stepped into the corner that would be hidden when the door opened, but far enough away he wouldn’t be hit.

  “Follow my lead,” Priscilla whispered as Kavil’s eyes went wide from the sudden proximity of their faces. There was armor in the way, but they both wore more flexible defenses that allowed Priscilla to still feel Kavil’s heat as she pressed his body against hers, locking him in place with her other arm.

  “Vivi, baby,” Priscilla said, affecting an affectionately stern tone as she raised her voice as much as she dared as she drew out the word ‘baby.’ “I know you think that this town’s tale is romantic, but it’s absolutely eerie in person. Couldn’t you have picked a better place for our anniversary getaway?”

  Halfway into her speech, the door opened quietly and two men strode through, fixing their gaze on the obvious target Priscilla made of herself while she complained to her ‘lover.’ Priscilla kept her focus on Kavil, though she observed them in her peripherals. One of the men was blonde with tanned skin and deep smile lines, and the other had strawberry blonde hair and a severe frown on his face as he crossed his arms. Both looked to be in their mid-to-late thirties, and neither seemed to have the same wane and pale face the rest of the town had.

  “We wanted to get away from your parents,” Kavil said, laughing just a tad nervously, “so we didn’t have much of a choice. Plus, I like when our vacation spots have history.”

  Priscilla sighed, long-suffering, and then looked up like she just noticed the men.

  “Are you two voyeurs?” Priscilla asked, disdain in her tone as she pulled Kavil closer like she wanted to protect him from their gazes. “Sorry, but you’ll have to pay for that, only our guard gets to watch for free.”

  Both men looked disgusted by the implication, and behind them Sulaiman glowered, likely picking up the fact he was the only candidate for the guard Priscilla was talking about, but he didn’t say anything.

  The blonde man made a gesture to the angrier one to calm down before stepping forward with a gregarious smile.

  “It sounds like you two are visitors to our humble town,” the blonde said, eyes crinkling in a way that likely was supposed to make his smile seem more genuine. But all it did was set off alarm bells in Priscilla’s head that this man was a liar and a practiced one at that. “We haven’t had many young lovers make the trek to visit us in some years. Allow me to welcome you, as I am the mayor of this village, Fylkir Harrison.”

  Priscilla sniffed derisively. “Well, Mayor Harrison, we had certainly hoped for the town to be more lively. It’s the end of summer and yet you all act like it’s the middle of winter with your boarded up windows – where’s the flowers, where’s the life? You ought to be holding a harvest festival at the very least if you’re so insistent summer has ended. This is hardly the vacation destination I was envisioning.”

  Acting as a petty, snobby rich noble girl wasn’t that hard, not when she had been around enough people who acted like that in her first life. Priscilla just had to give into her worst tendencies and do one simple thing.

  Be an unapologetic bitch.

  All the mean thoughts that crossed her mind just needed to be spoken rather than stay tucked inside so Priscilla could pretend she was civilized. Her tone had a baseline of contempt and superiority to it, like the villagers were beneath her notice, like they should be apologizing for their existence being a minor inconvenience. Priscilla made sure to look at the mayor like he was a pesky bug that had been buzzing too loudly and she was contemplating smacking it out of the sky any minute now.

  Fylkir’s practiced smile twitched.

  “You have my deepest apologies for the lacking hospitality.”

  “Scylla, don’t be so mean,” Kavil chided, jumping in before the suspicious mayor could say anything else. Kavil gave the two men an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Scylla’s tastes run, um… expensive. I’ve been trying to teach her that not all of Kavendash’s territories prosper as fruitfully as her city does, but…”

  Kavil’s expression turned into one that said, ‘but you see how well that’s gone.’

  He was playing the good cop to her bitchy cop with just a little prompting, making himself the more reasonable one of the duo. Kavil may not be as practiced with acting, but he was putting on a believable performance so far and that was all she could ask for.

  Priscilla sighed and rolled her eyes, tilting her forehead forward so it leaned against Kavil’s soft, coily hair.

  “The things I put up with for you,” Priscilla muttered. “You’re lucky you’re so cute, Vivi.”

  Kavil patted her arm comfortingly, turning so their foreheads touched and they could stare into one another’s eyes. “And I’m thankful for you choosing me every day, Scylla.”

  Priscilla smiled, pretending to be lost in Kavil’s eyes.

  There was a long, awkward moment where the villagers just stared at them, not quite sure what to do at their blatant display of affection with little regard to anyone else in the room with them.

  But Kavil pulled away as if remembering himself, turning to the mayor.

  “Where would the nearest inn be?” Kavil asked. “The stablemaster has tended to our horses wonderfully, so we just need a place to sleep.”

  Ulric had been doing his best to fade into the background and stiffened when the still unnamed man fixed a glare in his direction. Fylkir glanced at Ulric as well, his gaze more assessing than aggressive.

  “How long will you be staying?” Fylkir asked, directing his question towards Priscilla and Kavil, though his eyes remained on Ulric.

  “They paid for a week, sir,” Ulric said timidly. Ulric had returned to trying to make himself seem smaller, body hunched in on itself.

  These were the men that didn’t want Ulric talking to outsiders then, the ones that made Ulric nearly tear his hair out in fear. Neither man looked especially threatening, but factoring in that Fylkir was the mayor of a town that willingly sent sacrifices to a cannibal… Well, a picture was being painted and it wasn’t pretty.

  The angry man’s expression turned more contemplative and there was a dangerous gleam in his eyes as he examined Ulric.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  The mayor clapped his hand. “Well, in that case, please allow me to personally escort you to the best inn in town. Right this way, please.”

  Fylkir’s smile was wide and empty of true warmth as he opened the door, clearly wanting them to leave as soon as possible. The angry man moved to the side like he planned to stay behind, but Priscilla didn’t want to leave Ulric alone with a man that looked at him like he was prey.

  “You there,” Priscilla said in an imperious tone, pointing at the angry man. He seemed surprised to be addressed. “Make yourself useful and help our guard carry our luggage.”

  That drew a furious expression onto the man’s face but before he could speak, Sulaiman stepped forward, dropping a firm hand onto the man’s shoulder that made him stiffen. The mayor’s eyes widened as well, as he hadn’t even noticed Sulaiman lurking behind them.

  “That sounds like a lovely idea, milady,” Sulaiman said, tone low and dangerous. “I always appreciate the help.”

  For a moment, the strawberry blonde man did nothing, turning his glare to Sulaiman. But Sulaiman grabbed him not so gently by the arm and dragged him to where their packs had been stacked. Sulaiman roughly shoved Priscilla’s pack into the man’s arms, where he staggered under the sudden weight, and Sulaiman slung the other two over his shoulder.

  “We’re ready when you are, milady,” Sulaiman said, meeting Priscilla’s eyes.

  “Then let’s go,” Priscilla said, detangling herself from Kavil just to slot his hand possessively into the crook of her arm. “I look forward to seeing what constitutes as the ‘best’ inn in a place like this.”

  Fylkir’s eyes closed for a brief moment like he was trying to keep his composure as he said, “I hope we don’t disappoint.”

  Priscilla gave him a pitying, contemptuous smile that suggested even their best would be found wanting.

  As they walked through the town and once again saw the state of it, Priscilla stage-whispered, “Vivi, we can still turn back and find somewhere better to stay.”

  “Shh,” Kavil said, giving Priscilla a mild look of disapproval. “I’ve made my decision and you can’t change it, no matter how many times you flutter your eyes at me.”

  Priscilla gave a very put upon sigh but kept quiet for the rest of the admittedly short walk. The mayor led them to the largest building in the town (not that that was saying much) and gave another practiced smile to Priscilla as he held the door open.

  It was certainly the dingiest inn Priscilla had entered since coming to this world and she didn’t even have to fake the dismay at staying there, giving Kavil another pleading look. But Kavil played his part well, shaking his head at her unspoken question.

  So they walked up to the innkeeper, who glanced nervously between the mayor and Priscilla’s party before putting on a smile that seemed so brittle that if Priscilla said ‘boo!’ the innkeeper might fold.

  “Will, will you need two rooms this evening?” the innkeeper asked, pulling out a dusty book. “We can make sure they’re both right next to each other, it’s no hassle."

  “One room is plenty for us,” Priscilla said. “We’re all quite… close.”

  Priscilla leered at Sulaiman for a moment, letting her gaze do all the talking as Kavil tittered on her arm.

  The mayor and innkeeper both looked disgusted, but Priscilla dropped a gold piece on the counter like it was nothing and strolled upstairs to the room she paid for. Considering the prices at the stables, that would be more than enough unless they wanted to extort her.

  The angry strawberry blonde man put down the pack outside the door roughly and stalked back downstairs. Priscilla dragged it into the room and Sulaiman shut the door behind them, holding up a hand for them to wait.

  Sulaiman stood by the door, cocking his ear to listen. After half a minute he said, “All clear.”

  Priscilla motioned for them all to huddle together away from the door so they weren’t overheard.

  “All in favor of getting the fuck outta here as soon we can, say aye.”

  “Aye,” they all said in unison.

  “I’d like to talk with Ulric before we leave,” Kavil said, “and see if he can tell us anymore about this starving one figure.”

  Sulaiman fixed a hard gaze onto Priscilla. “Do you have any insights, Priscilla?”

  It was at that moment Priscilla realized that Sulaiman likely saw her ‘oh shit’ expression when the name was mentioned. Priscilla carefully considered how to best impart the information but saw no way to do it without coughing blood.

  Priscilla positioned Asha near her mouth as she began to speak.

  “My best guess based on the name alone is that we’re dealing with cannibals.”

  Kavil gasped in horror as Sulaiman closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, so both missed Priscilla’s brief cough she tried to disguise as clearing her throat while blood splattered against her waiting glove. Asha was clearly unhappy that Priscilla coughed blood, but the artifact also pushed a feeling of reluctant understanding into their bond.

  “So Illnyea is not only traveling in a swamp that’s filled with monsters,” Sulaiman said slowly, “but also cannibals?”

  Priscilla ran her tongue over her teeth to make sure no blood lingered before saying, “I might be wrong, but yeah.”

  Sulaiman went completely still for a long moment, pressing his fingers more firmly against his brows before saying, “Fuck.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Priscilla said, nervously tapping her fingers against her thighs.

  “We really need to talk with Ulric then,” Kavil said, “to see if your guess is right, Priscilla. It, it could be something else.”

  Kavil’s voice didn’t hold much hope but it was a valiant effort.

  “Alright,” Priscilla said. “What’s the plan then? To be completely fucking honest, I don’t trust any of these villagers to not poison the food they serve us and rob us blind before tossing us into the fens as sacrifices.”

  “That's unfortunately a good point,” Sulaiman said, opening his eyes and crossing his arms, his pointer finger tapping his bicep as he thought. “Based on that Ulric fellow’s reactions, I wouldn’t be surprised if the one you made carry our bags went back to rough him up.”

  Kavil’s eyes widened in outrage. “We have to go rescue him!”

  Priscilla and Sulaiman shook their heads in near unison.

  “If we interrupt whatever’s going on now,” Priscilla said as gently as she could, “it’d likely just made things worse – for him and us. That mayor downstairs might decide we’re more trouble than we’re worth, and if he gets the town riled up, I don’t think we’d survive a mob that’s willing to sacrifice their own people to cannibals.”

  It hit Priscilla then that’s why there were so many boarded up houses. The disturbingly high amount considering how small the town was begged the question of how long Aidais’ Lament had been offering up their people as sacrifice – and how such a thing had gone entirely unmentioned in the narrative.

  With an inward grimace, Priscilla remembered that Illnyea wasn’t supposed to interact with the Heinlein Fens at all, and tragedies that occurred before the story’s beginning were unlikely to be mentioned as there were as many as there were grains of sand.

  Originally, Illnyea’s party was meant to encounter The Starving One in the slums of the Ascor Empire’s capital after Illnyea had been tasked with tracking down the culprit behind murdering a noble and eating their heart. The Starving One had used her charisma like a blunt weapon, ruling the slums through a combination of fear and allure to convince them they had to literally eat the rich.

  That was how The Starving One operated (and no, the woman didn’t have a proper name, as she was obsessed with the title that the cult leader had given her since the woman was a certified fanatical freak) along with her two servants, Wolf and Crow.

  The Starving One escaped from Illnyea by literally biting a chunk out of her and then using Illnyea’s own talent for earth magic to dig a tunnel out of the walls.

  That was the scariest about The Starving One – whatever she ate, she was able to use whatever power or quirk of biology instantly.

  And she was always hungry for more.

  “How do we talk with Ulric, then?” Kavil asked, looking unhappy. His voice drew Priscilla out of her own mind and she gave the question serious thought.

  Her mind was blanking, with only one plan that was coming to mind, one that Priscilla hesitated to even say because of how absurd it was.

  But fortune favored the bold, so Priscilla put on her bravest face.

  “I think I have an idea,” Priscilla said, glancing between them, “but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”