The Changeling Princess (29 page)

The Demon entered the house and placed twenty bags of coins on the table. When the Demon emptied one of the bags, the yellow coins were slightly larger than a quarter. Each coin had a large “O” stamped in the center. I knew at once they were made of gold.

“
Each bag has seventy-five coins,” the Demon said. “Payment for food is fifteen hundred oms.”

“
This is correct,” Drog said.

The Demon was wearing an evil grin as he picked up a bag of coins and placed it in his vest pocket.
“This is charge to deliver crops to Castle Town.”

“
That not right,” Zanza said angrily.

The Demon snarled.
“Is right if I say so. You want me tell Gorbra you complain about payment?”

Zanza lowered her head.
“No, we not complain.” The Demon was laughing as he walked out the door.

“
That Demon stole money from you,” I said.

“
They always steal,” said Drog. “If we not complain, they take two bags next time.”

“
Not all bags will have seventy-five coins,” said Zanza. “Demons always cheat us.”

I was enraged as I watched the Demon mount his horse to lead th
e caravan back to Castle Town.
You’re not going to get away with stealing that money
, I said to myself.

We said our goodbyes and left the house. As soon as we reached the road to Castle Town, Wade stopped and turned to me.
“The Rens were nice to us. I think we should be nice to them.”

Wade looked upward and the sky over the farmer
’s crops turned dark. I heard a small rumble of thunder and watched as the rain began falling gently to the ground. This was a light rain that would not damage the new crops. Drog and Zanza came running out of the house. They jumped up and down, throwing their arms in the air as they laughed. I was happy for both of them.

“
You should keep up the sprinkles for at least an hour,” I said.

“
I love the way you’ve picked up the language. An hour of sprinkles and the ground will be completely soaked.”

“
While you’re doing that, I’m going to catch up with the Demon that stole Drog’s money. I’ll be right back.”

I made myself invisible and flew toward the Demon. I got right in front of his horse
’s nose and flashed my face for a split second. The horse was startled and it bolted upright. The Demon was thrown off the horse and I was right beside him. I slid my hand into his vest pocket and grabbed the bag of coins. I hoped the Demon wouldn’t miss the coins until he reached Castle Town. I wanted him to think he’d lost the bag of coins when he fell off his horse.

I morphed into a Mist and drifted into the farmhouse. When I materialized, I realized I was holding two bags of coins. I counted seventy-five coins in the larger bag and fifty coins in the smaller bag. I stuck the smaller bag in my pocket and left the larger bag for Drog and Zanza.

“Did you have any luck getting Drog’s money back?” Wade asked when I returned.

“
Yes, I returned the stolen money to Drog and picked up an extra fifty coins in the process. Now I’m the one who’s the thief.”

“
I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.”

“
Don’t worry, I won’t.”

“
You must have morphed into a Mist when you returned to the farmhouse.”

“
How did you know that?”

“
Because you’re not wet.”

“
Remind me not to try to put anything over on you, Wade. You notice everything.”

CHAPTER 53

Entering Castle Town reminded me of the King Arthur movies I’d watched on television. The cobblestone streets were filled with shoppers and the merchants had their goods displayed openly on both sides of the road. It seemed strange that this planet was a thousand years in Earth’s past. I found Castle Town to be utterly fascinating.

“
I think we should buy some boots,” I said. “Our shoes look completely out of place.”

“
Good idea. I hope they’ll be comfortable.”

We finally came upon what looked like a cobbler
’s shop. I picked up a boot and examined it. “This is animal skin,” I said, “and very, very soft.”

An elderly man approached us wearing a smile. I sensed he was a Ren.
“Friend,” I said as I held up my left hand. Wade did the same.

“
Friend,” he replied with a smile. “You need boots?”

“
Yes, we both need boots.”

The man took out a long flat board with markings on the sides and ends. He had me place my foot on the board and measured the size of my foot.
“I have perfect boot for you. Very, very soft.”

I tried on the boots and walked around the shop.
“How much?”

The cobbler held up two fingers with the forefinger bent at the knuckle.
“One and one half ohms.”

Wades had his foot measured and the cobbler returned with another pair of boots.
“These are comfortable,” said Wade, “and the inside is lined with fur.”

I reached into my coin pouch and handed the cobbler three gold coins.
“This is correct?”

“
Correct,” he said as he held out his hand to receive the coins.

“
How do you make change for one half ohm?” I asked. The cobbler held out a coin that had been cut in half. “I guess that beats making two different coins,” I whispered to Wade.

We wondered down the street taking in the sights. I saw a sign posted on a sm
all tree advertising the games.

FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP FOR TORKS

GORBRA BIRTHDAY - HIGH SUN

TEN WINNERS - FIVE MALE - FIVE FEMALE

WINNERS GET 100 OHMS

PRICE TO WATCH - ONE HALF OHM

“Are we going to enter?” Wade asked.

“
I don’t think so. With our special abilities, it wouldn’t be fair.”

Wade shrugged his shoulders.
“You’re right, but I assume we’re going to watch.”

“
I think we should. I sense the crystal is inside the walls of the castle.”

“
Maybe we should morph into Mists and investigate.”

“
Not until we learn more about the culture.”

“
It’s a good thing there’s a contest taking place. We’d look completely out of place carrying our shields around.”

“
That’s a good point, Wade. Everyone will think we’re here to enter the games.”

“
Judging from how tall everyone is, you’d have to compete in the children’s division.”

“
You’ve been dying to tease me about my height ever since we got here.”

“
That’s not true. I’m getting you back for teasing me about the dragons eating the dead bodies.”

“
You’re right, I had it coming. I won’t tease you anymore.”

“
I don’t really mind. Besides, you wouldn’t be Janis if you didn’t tease me once in a while. That’s what kid sisters are for.”

“
Kid sister! Now you’ve gone too far.”

Wade was laughing as he picked up the pace and walked ahead of me. In all honesty, I couldn
’t get mad at Wade if I wanted to. He was really special to me.

We were walking around town when we came upon a vendor advertising Witches
’ Spells. The woman, who was wearing a black robe and a tall pointed hat, looked ridiculous.

“
We’ve got to check this place out,” said Wade.

We stopped and looked at the bottles containing the Witches
’ Spells. “This is love potion,” the Witch said as she picked up a bottle and gave Wade a whiff of it.

Smells like perfume
, I heard Wade say to himself.

Maybe she
’s one of your ancestors
, I joked.

Funny, funny.

The Witch picked up another bottle. “This spell makes people do your bidding. Price is only two ohms. Real bargain.”

Wade shook his head.
“I don’t think so.”

“
Don’t be in rush to make up mind. Maybe I drop price. I like to help people.”

I
’m going to be sick
, I heard Wade say.

“
Where you from?” she asked.

“
We’re from Charlotte,” Wade answered.

“
I never hear of Charlotte. Is far away?”

“
Yes,” Wade answered. “Many, many sunsets.”

“
How many sunsets?”

“
About a thousand,” Wade answered.

“
That impossible. You walk off edge of world.”

“
Are you saying that the world is flat?” Wade asked.

“
Of course, everyone know that. You think I am fool?”

I chimed in.
“Wade, where do you think the saying came from, ‘traveling to the four corners of the Earth.’”

“
That right,” said the Witch lady. “If world is round, everyone fall off.”

“
Thank you for showing me your spells,” Wade said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me out onto the street. “What’s with the ‘four corners’ line you came up with, Janis?”

“
That’s an old joke I heard someone say on television. I thought it fit the occasion. You should have seen the look on your face.”

“
You’re such a tease,” Janis.

“
Maybe now we know where the first Witches came from.”

Wade acted like he was going to smack me, so I took off running. When Wade caught up to me, he wrapped his arms around me and we laughed ourselves silly.

“You are really special to me, Janis,” he said as our laughter subsided.

“
You’re special to me, too, but let’s remember why we’re here. We’ve got a job to do.”

“
Yeah, I know. What do you say we find someplace to eat?”

“
You talked me into it, but I bet the food won’t be as good as Zanza’s.”

We walked down the street until we came to a place with a big sign out front that read
“EATS.” We walked in the front door and looked around. It looked like an old English Pub and it was extremely noisy. A large sign on the wall advertised the menu.

Two Ale -half Ohm

Ale with dragon ribs or breasts - berries taters and bread - One Ohm

The patrons were mostly Torks with a few scattered Rens. There were no Demons, so I figured they had their own eating places. We found an empty table and were greeted by a woman taking orders. I knew she was a Ren because of her friendly smile.

“What you have?” she asked.

“
I’ll have the dragon breasts with red berries,” I said.

“
I’ll have the same,” said Wade.

“
Fine, you pay two ohms.”

I handed over the coins and watched as the barmaid rushed toward the back of the pub.
“Looking at the clientele in this place, I don’t blame the barmaids for collecting in advance.”

“
Ale is beer, isn’t it?” Wade asked.

“
Yes, and it’s probably going to be quite strong.”

“
I hope the ale is cold.”

“
They probably have a basement to keep everything cool, but I doubt that it’ll be cold.”

I looked around the room and saw that many of the Torks had swords and shields. One woman who
’d had too much to drink jumped on the top of her table, waving her sword in the air. “What woman in room foolish enough to fight Alga,” she yelled.

No one answered, so she jumped off the table and challenged every woman in the room. When she got to our table, she looked at me with scorn.
“You have face of woman and body of child. Why you carry sword and shield?”

I could hear Wade
’s thoughts
. Don’t pay any attention to this overgrown loudmouth.

Don
’t worry, Wade, all she wants is a little attention.

I stood up and bowed to the woman.
“We are strangers who had traveled a great distance to Castle Town. It is an honor to be in the presence of a mighty warrior. I am looking forward to watching you in the games. I know you will be victorious.”

The woman
’s unpleasant expression turned to a smile. “Alga pleased you recognize champion when you see one.” Alga was still smiling as she turned and walked away.

“
That was smart,” said Wade. “You buttered her up by appealing to her arrogance.”

“
Alga likes to brag about herself, so I figured she’d be a sucker for sweet talk. Don’t look now, but the barmaid is headed our way with two huge beer mugs.”

“
Food almost ready,” she said as she placed the beer mugs on our table.

I looked at Wade.
“You go first.”

Wade took a sip and smiled.
“It’s pretty good, but it’d be a lot better if it were ice cold.”

I kept a straight face as I focused my cold energy beam on Wade
’s mug. Wade took another sip and smiled. “Wow! This is really good stuff. Let’s try not to get drunk.”

I chilled my mug and took a sip. I didn
’t like beer, but the ale wasn’t that bad. If I’d had a choice, I would have had a chocolate malt.

Wade was grinning as he tipped his mug to me.
“Do you realize that we’re not old enough to drink back in Charlotte?”

“
I hadn’t thought of it, but it is a funny thought. We were both giggling by the time we got half way through our mug of ale.”

The food arrived and we did our usual thing of making pigs out of ourselves. The food wasn
’t as good as Zanza had fixed, but it was still delicious. I couldn’t get over how tasty the strawberries were. Maybe it was the lack of chemicals is the soil? I only knew the strawberries on this world tasted like they were grown in heaven.

“
I’m stuffed,” Wade said as he sat back and patted his stomach.

“
Me, too, the food was really good. Do you think we should leave the barmaid a tip?”

“
Sure, why not. I wouldn’t leave it on the table though. Someone might steal it.”

“
That makes sense. I’ll hand it to the barmaid to play it safe.”

Wade and I were ready to leave, so I motioned to the barmaid.
“You want more?” she asked.

“
No, I just wanted to give you a tip.” I handed the barmaid an ohm.

“
This for me,” she said as she stared at the gold coin. “No one ever give Malda money before.”

Wade spoke up.
“Don’t the patrons of this bar tip you for good service?”

“
I never heard of ‘tip’ before.”

I closed Malda
’s hand over the gold coin. “Well now you have. This is our gift to you for being so nice to us.”

Malda looked like she
’d just won the lottery as she rushed back into the kitchen. Maybe word would get around and more people would take up tipping

We continued our walk down the cobblestone street to see where it would take us. We came to a turn in the road and spotted a large herd of cattle grazing in a far-off pasture. I was curious why there was no beef on the pub
’s menu. I stopped a Tork and questioned him.

“
Who are the cattle for? We just came from an eats place and they don’t serve beef.”

“
Beef cattle for Demons. You eat beef, Demons take you away. Never see again.”

I thanked the Tork and we continued on our way.
“I guess that means we’ll have to forget about steak on this planet.”

“
It appears that way. Let’s see what else we can discover before we turn in for the night.”

* * *

Some of the roadside attractions looked like carnival joints. The only difference was that you won gold coins instead of prizes. Like most carnival games, they didn’t have to cheat because the odds were heavily stacked against the player.