CHAPTER 15
Sarah went to go eat breakfast and sat at the counter. Farric said friendly, "Hello, my friend Ashar."
Sarah said, "Good morning, Farric. Can you please help me with something in my room if you can make the time after breakfast?"
Farric smiled at her and said, "Of course, Ashar." He got her usual and Sarah gave him the money.
After breakfast, she took Farric up to the room, and she told him, These seven bags are yours. It totals 290 gold. But in silver and coppers. I want to help you, my friend. No strings attached, just because I like you very much and call you my friend Farric." Farric was in shock. Few people come by every day and drop almost 300 gold in your lap because you make a friend with no payment in return.
Farric said, "I don't know what to say, Ashar."
Sarah said, "I'll help you carry it to your room." He grabbed four bags, and Sarah grabbed three. They went to his room and dropped it off on his bed. Sarah went back to her room to get her baggage. She turned around and Farric had her in a lip lock, kissing the life out of her.
When she caught her breath, she said, "Wow, that's one hell of a kiss you have there, Farric. I'm glad I met you." She smiled up at him.
Farric said seriously, "I overheard some people talking, Ashar. They are hunting down a green eyed dark haired fae woman for the High King, for some reason. Bounty hunters have been sent out all over the Underground. I want you to be careful. I don't know or care if it is you, he's after. You're my friend. Be safe."
Sarah kissed him on the lips and told him, "I will, thank you, sweet Farric. Can I ask who the High King is related to?"
Farric said, shrugging his shoulders, "He's the father of the Goblin King." Sarah smiled and nodded. He smiled at her fondly, pulling her cowl over her face.
She grabbed all her gear and Farric opened the door for her to go out of the inn to the stable and saddle Shadow. She sat down her bags, saddled Shadow and packed him up. Sarah fed him an apple cut up before leaving.
Sarah rode for a while to the town of Earrach (spring) and there were three fae men on horseback riding her way so that they passed on the road, going in opposite directions. She was getting nervous about it.
As the first fae man in all black leather went by and the second man's hand shot out fast as lightning pulled her cowl hood down and the third man grabbed Shadow's bridle. Shadow was not happy and was pulling away, but the third man had a good hold.
The second fae was in all brown leather and said all cocky, "Well, look here. We found the prize. The High King will pay us handsomely for her."
The third fae said, "After we all get a taste of her first."
The fae in black leather brought his horse around and was up against her other side. He said, "Yes, she is a pretty morsel."
Sarah said, "I bet I got a better idea? I 'wish' all of you would turn into naked human females being sold to the centaurs." The three screamed and disappeared.
Sarah dismounted and collected all their clothes and stuff off the horses and tied each horse behind the other and loaded some things on the horse behind her.
Sarah arrived in Earrach in the dark after sunset. She went straight to the blacksmith. The blacksmith was a human man about in his forties with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. He was in a leather apron, white shirt, and brown leather pants.
He asked her, "Whatcha ya got there?" Sarah said she found these horses abandoned by her campsite, and nobody claimed them all night in the late morning.
The blacksmith asked, "How much ye want fer em'?"
Sarah said, "Whatever you think is fair, I'm just glad they will be taken care of." The blacksmith looked them over and said he would give her thirty six gold for all three horses and tack. She put in for two nights, boarding her horse and went to the inn.
The innkeeper was a human male with black hair, brown eyes. He was dressed in a white poet's shirt laced up and a brown wool vest with black pants. She got a room for two nights and dropped off her bags, locked up and ate dinner and had wine.
Sarah locked the door and hung a scarf over the keyhole. She sat on the bed after hanging up her cloak and belt on a couple of pegs in the wall. She took the four big bags and sorted them out.
Seems the three fae men were stealing and robbing people for a long time. The leather clothing was nice. She wished all the leather clothing and boots to be cleaned completely and all of their clothes and both pairs of boots in her size. She liked the green waistcoat, but she had the better black one already. There were black and brown leather jerkins, black and brown leather waistcoats. Sarah also liked the leather pants, two browns, one black, with a linen and two cotton shirts, and three sets of boots. She folded up the clothes to pack in her stuff. The black boots were very nice, even the brown boots were nice lace up boots.
There were cut loose precious gemstones, tons of precious stone jewelry and pearl jewelry, pocket watches, 4466 gold, 1651 silver, and 47 coppers. Sarah dumped all the gold coins, the silver coins and the copper coins into her ring. She was going to a city next, and she could sell the jewelry there. She separated the expensive looking from the medium and lower price ranges. Sarah took several pieces for herself to put in her jewelry box. She put the rest in separate leather bags. Sarah saved three items she knew were magical, but not knowing what they did was the issue. She would just hang on to them until someone reliable could tell her.
There was a large oval locket with inlaid onyx and mother of pearl roses on it. When she opened it, there was a 32 inch black hole in it. Sarah dropped a coin in it and it disappeared. She turned it upside down and coins came flying out of it, all in gold, except one copper, and many cut gemstones of all kinds. It was endless. Sarah wondered how much was in there. Sarah thought, 'Did the robbers know how much there was inside the locket? I figured, by the amount pouring out, they must have just thought it was a regular locket. It is perfect to conceal my gemstones from the treasure I accumulated.'
It astonished Sarah at the amount of gold inside the locket. She wondered, 'What poor wealthy person owned it before and fell victim to those bastards? God rest his or her soul.'
She started counting through the night. There was 15,744 gold in it. Sarah had at least two large bags of cut stones that she just dumped back into the locket. Combining with her other cut and uncut gemstones, that also went into the locket. She had dumped 18,300 gold, 1650 silver, and 50 coppers into the ring. She didn't need money at all. The locket was on a long gold chain that hung between her breasts over her breastbone with her chain with the tiny key to her ring. She wished the design to be a mother of pearl barn owl with its wings spread against a silver moon with the black onyx as the background. It looked beautiful.
—--50 days
Two days later, Sarah woke up in the morning and did her morning routine. She got dressed in all black leather. She wore a jerkin with the cotton shirt and a pair of leggings under the pants, all with the black wool lined leather waistcoat. Sarah wore the black boots that look like pirate boots folded over at the top and a silver buckle on the front. She ate her breakfast and saddled Shadow. Now that all the money and gemstones were concealed in the locket, the weight was off the horse's back. She was glad the money would help her and maybe a few more people as she traveled.
Sarah was headed to the city of Cacwn (bumblebee). It was three days away. She halted Shadow. She took off her gloves and dismounted. Sarah put her hand under the bridle while touching the horse. She put her finger on the crystal and said, "East." She blinked, and she was somewhere else. Sarah mounted up and rode east with her compass. She shot a duck along the way with a bullet. She dressed it and hung it from the saddle to drain.
When evening came, Sarah found a three sided rock formation that would block the wind on three sides. She cleaned it out of debris and set up her tent with her extra blankets to make it comfortable. She made an easy rock pit. Sarah was dragging up the wood for the fire, and the kittens mewed.
Sarah said, "I know. I'm hurrying as fast as I can." She dropped the wood and put the kittens in their litter box inside the tent. They both went to the bathroom and Sarah made them food to eat and water to drink. She wished for a big bucket of water that never freezes and stays full and clean. She filled her pots up and started a fire, making a spit for the duck. Sarah was burning up her wood quickly and wished for logs to be set to the side of the fire against the wall of rock sticking out. A forest surrounded them, and it made it dark.
Sarah saw two people were walking their horses towards her through the woods. She pulled her gun forward in her pocket, took her food off the fire and pulled her bow, aiming for them. When they got close enough, she said in her low voice, "Halt right there! What's your business?" They both put their hands up.
The one to the left said, "We just wanted to share your fire. We have been traveling all day." They stepped forward, and they were two fae. Sarah was on high alert. Elves ok, humans, not really. But fae no way.
Sarah said menacingly, "You are fae and you can make your own fire. So, what's your business?" She mumbled, while doing a hand gesture, "I 'wish' these two fae's hands were tied behind their backs." The two men started yelling.
One said. "Why did you do that?"
The other fae said, "What's going on?"
Sarah mumbled with hand gestures to make it look dramatic, "I 'wish' both of them to sit on the ground on the opposite from me by the fire." They both walked over to the fire and plopped down.
Sarah said, "Now, what's your business? I'll force it out of you next." They stayed silent. Sarah rolled her eyes. Mumbled with gestures, a wish for them to tell her the truth about why they were there, and approached her.
Sarah said, "Now tell me why you are here and approach me." They struggled to stay silent.
The one on the left said, "W… We wanted t… to know if y…you were human or not."
Sarah asked, "Why is that?"
The second fae on the right said, "If y…you had gr…green eyes and da…dark hair, fae woman, we would take you to the High King. If you were ju…just a human… we would se…sell you."
Sarah chuckled and said, "What do you know? You idiots win the prize. I am fae, with green eyes, dark hair and a woman. What you don't realize is I know your bounty hunters and working both sides at selling humans and working for the king. I'll make this easy, so you understand." She turned her duck. It smelled great with rosemary, salt, pepper, thyme, and honey. The vegetable barley mixture was cooking at a boil, so was her tea. She stirred them. Sarah said, "Instead of you going away with nothing. I'll really send you away with less than nothing."
The one fae asked, "What do you mean, and why do you have wish magic?"
Sarah chuckled and said, "Well, you see, the High King is looking for the Champion of the Labyrinth and that's me, and I have wish magic for winning." They gasped.
She continued, "As far as what I mean is, I'm going to wish in a few minutes, that you both to be naked human females and introduce you to your centaur lovers." They both screamed and begged about to cry. Sarah's kittens ran out of the tent, mewing in a panic.
Sarah scooped them up and cuddled them, saying, "It's ok, Magus and Merlin. Mama is here and protecting you." She got them to purr and put them in the pouch around her neck.
The fae men looked at her and the one on the left said, "Do not do this. I am begging you." The other was just crying.
Sarah said, "What do you think happened to the lives you destroyed over and over and over again? You think humans are lower life forms, so you choose not to care. Why should I care about your lives? I'd say they're worthless."
Sarah took her food off the fire, and she cut up a breast piece of the duck on her little cutting board and dumped it into her barley and stirred it in. She poured her tea and put a little honey in it.
She sipped her tea and said, "I'm going to eat and you two are ruining my appetite just by looking at you so." The men started begging, "I 'wish' that the magic be ripped from these two fae men, turn them both onto naked human women and send them to the centaurs for selling." They both screamed as females, and then they vanished, leaving nothing but clothes and stuff behind.