The streets of Vealt were made of dirt just like back in Duskhovel, yet they still had a cleaner appearance than our backwater town. For one, the dirt was packed tighter and bereft of tufts of grass or fallen leaves. Where my boots would displace and shake sand around as I walked back in Duskhovel, both those boots and even the wheels of wagons would hardly leave a lasting print here in Vealt, but you didn’t necessarily need to walk on it everywhere to begin with. While they didn’t have the decorative walkways that more illustrious cities might contain, they did have sidewalks lining the main roads alongside the varying businesses we walked by as we explored what was for me a spectacle and for her a novelty. I’ll admit the firm almost elastic quality of the surface made my steps light enough to keep pace with Karen as she almost danced more than walked down the road.

  “I wonder if we might be behaving a bit to joyfully. Our time here is extending the irregular situation in our territories, but I haven’t been on a true vacation in years, and it’s demanded by us of the government to begin with, so I may as well let myself relax. I do fell bad for Ralph, however.”

  The other scrubbers had been helping with shifts at Duskhovel, which was somewhat standard for what was an irregular situation to begin with, notwithstanding that they would need to make sure not to take hours away from the locals, but we were not assisting with Vealt during our stay. The only exception to this was Thomas who was already beginning his tenure in his new territory before temporarily leaving for Monderlow. In Colonel Ray’s words we were asked to take this last week to reset before the work that would need to be done in the capital. It was the first I had heard of us needing to do any “work.” What could it possibly entail? In the first place, the capital of Monderlow already had more Scrubbers than other territories.

  “He seemed like the tough sort even if it really is unfair, but that’s nothing you need to feel any guilt over. We both know you can use the break, we all could. And once we get it, we’ll be back in fighting spirit and ready to settle this hogwash in the capital and head back to give Ralph his own vacation.”

  Ralph Ludal was the third scrubber that lived in Duskhovel. He, like Raechel had been, was one of the old guard, a seventy one year old senior. I had hardly seen him since we had returned to Duskhovel, since we had no overlapping shifts. The only time had been during Bennie’s funeral where he had sadly nodded to me and said it was a shame. While he had a saggy face under his short white hair and wide nose and had walked with a hobble, I considered him a tough old goat. During the emergency in the front lines, he had to stay behind and cover all of the cleaning in Duskhovel on his own and now, thanks to our mysterious summons, he would need to continue to do so. It was a testament to how much we overcompensated our coverage that one man could keep a single town safe for an extended period of time, but it would mean he would have to be working every night.

  “You’re right. Not to mention that without the colonel watching our every move, I may just be able to unwind for the first time since…well.”

  The premise that Colonel Ray was guarding me personally collapsed as soon as we set off for Vealt. I had suspected as much from the beginning, but his purpose was likely less protection and more ensuring we all went to the capital. It was slightly more worrying then I had first assumed since I realized that my theory that we wouldn’t be targeted by the scholar anytime soon was shakier than I first believed.

  I was assuming he would eventually make a similar attack like he had on the front lines. Somewhere big with an equal impact, it did make me slightly paranoid over our trip to the capital, but the more I thought about it the more I convinced myself he wouldn’t do the same thing twice. These concerns filled my mind. Didn’t he want to slowly spread our exposure in a controlled manner? Then it might not be as unlikely for him to start in random small towns to create temporary outbreaks as I thought. But would that really be enough for his purpose? A single town would be easy enough to respond to before things really built up. Maybe a chain of towns? Or could he manage to keep news of the outbreak under wraps if the town was small enough? Still, I didn’t miss Ray’s protection that much, I trusted Mr. Trael’s opinion on his dependability. Maybe it would do to hire…oh for goodness sake.

  I thought all that to myself as my internal pondering was interrupted by a finger pressed to my forehead. One that had been unleashed at the tail end of the most dazzling pirouette, but one that would have been better served on a stage than a noonday city sidewalk.

  “Why don’t we start by finding somewhere warm to sit down and get you out of your head.”

  I was perplexed by how she didn’t feel embarrassed putting on such a performance in public.

  “Thank you, I think that’s precisely what I need.”

  I took her hand in mine less to display how reassured I was and more to keep her from doing anything else weird with them, but they had the same effect regardless. We walked for a while longer before we found the appropriate location. A warm and slightly sweet scent of freshly baked bread mixed with the subtle fruit scent from pastries wafted out of a nearby window. A red bordered, slightly pale white wooden sign hung above the entrance with a blue cursive “Loonmallow’s Bakery” written with a rounded chiseled and painted imprint. When we opened the door a light bell chimed, and a short blond woman with a light green dress and a blue floppy hat that sagged to the left side of her head curtsied to us.

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  “Welcome to Loonmallow, have a seat and we’ll be right with you.”

  This delivery of service was probably normal, but I was expecting something more in line with a gruff greeting from Charlie whenever he noticed us. Her outfit reminded me of some fairy tale I couldn’t quite place, but I was certain it was one that had a dark ending in its original telling before slowly evolving into something more hopeful.

  “I’m a fan myself, I’m almost a mind to ask if she knows where I could get a similar outfit.”

  “You do favor bright colors, but what would you think if I asked the same thing?”

  “I’d applaud your sensible taste.”

  I thought I would look like a tall gnome, but maybe that is what I needed to fully embrace the frivolous character I was portraying. After a short wait the woman from before arrived.

  “And what can I get for you both?”

  It was such a mundane question and yet the way she asked it hinted at the character of the tale I couldn’t remember.

  “I’ll have the tart pie.”

  Certainly, it wasn’t something I couldn’t have found in Duskhovel if I actually searched, but I had never taken the time to examine my own local bakeries farther than the loafs I could get from street vendors, so it may as well have been a local delicacy.

  “I’ll have the chive bagel and the mallow tea.”

  Oh, that’s right, it was the story of a girl that grew up in a forest far away from civilization. When she stumbled upon a city after leaving her home, she was so grateful for their company she began granting favors with the magic the fae had blessed her with.

  As we waited for our food a young couple walked down from a spiral staircase that was located behind the front desk. They lightly blushed as they showed each other a quick public display of affection before the woman waved and left the bakery. I assumed that meant that the man must have been a resident here, most likely the son of the bakeries owner and the woman must be his betrothed to so openly flaunt their relationship in his parent’s place of business. Detached I wondered how that must feel despite being in the midst of my own rose tinted phased relationship.

  “So, it looks like everything’s going great with miss Dulcy, eh lad?

  A gruff older man with shaggy red hair and sideburns, wearing a full bodied white buttoned outfit with an apron, and a poofy almost cake shaped white hat slapped him on the shoulder with a congratulatory air. Despite his dad’s enthusiasm and the glow he had about him a moment before, his face slightly darkened at the words. A look of worry crossed the green eyes under the hair that was red just like his father’s.

  “I would like to think so, but I can’t help but thinking that somethings off. Whenever we’re together lately I get this feeling that she’s hiding something from me.”

  They weren’t exactly shouting at the top of their lungs, but I still wondered if they should have been having this conversation out where everyone could hear them. I looked around and realized no one present seemed particularly bothered. Maybe a family that keeps their home in their public store front is just that open around their locals.

  “Don’t be letting an itch like that get to you lad. Before you know it you’ll start painting her image with your doubts and at that point they may as well be true as far as your relationship is concerned. We all know Danni’s character around here and so do you. I’m sure that whatever you feel she’s keeping from you are just her own worries.”

  “But…”

  “People can tell when you’re looking at them with paranoid eyes my boy.”

  Our food arrived, but it was soured by the stray arrows of truth I was being impaled with by a stranger. There is a certain heaviness that settles over you when someone close by is speaking about a topic that hits too close to home. You wonder whether the one beside you might pick up on it and discern your own thoughts. I managed to keep my agitated face placid, but surprisingly it wasn’t me who reacted to his words.

  It was a subtle thing, but I felt like for the first time I saw Karen’s ever present smile flinch into a frown before returning to form.

  I had no way of knowing what about that conversation made her feel exposed, but if it turned out she was keeping secrets of her own it didn’t matter. I already wasn’t looking at her heart, so it wasn’t right for me to judge what was inside it. Assuming she would worry I sensed the disturbance I held her hand under the table and squeezed it tightly. In it I sent her my comfort but not my trust. It wasn’t because I had any doubts towards her, it was because she didn’t need something as worthless as trust from someone without faith.

  We finished the desserts with lite conversation and left after paying our bill. As we walked away, I remembered the two endings of the fairy tale. Eventually the city folk became paranoid at the purpose behind the girls favors. They believed they were laced with curses that would come back to haunt them after lifting them up. In the original the girl was burned to death as a dark witch. Certainly, a morality tale meant to demonstrate that people would never value free assistance given in earnest. In the second version a local prince sees through the fog of distrust and rescues her from the city folk.

  So, in both versions she had to face the paranoia of the masses for her innocent giving nature. Poor girl.

  “I’m a fan but…I was always scared of the original version.”

  I hadn't been paying attention to what she had said before these words, but I figured that she must have been referring to the fairy tale the outfit we discussed earlier was based on.

  “It’s just another collective nightmare of humanity. That isn’t something we should ever need to fear, is it?”

  We continued down the street without me giving her words the consideration they deserved.