Royal Prize|Skyheort, Talen'sul

[Kender Bard]

Cloak looked around Talen'sul from within her autumn cloak. She thought New Morilanta was cooler than Old Morilanta, but this place was downright cold. She couldn't wait to get back home.

Tugging her cowl down, she heaved a sigh. "We should stop in Skyheort to rest and resupply," she told Calan. "And we could all do with a stretch of our legs."

[tuo]

Calan grimaced at the cold as well but showed no other outward sign. "Agreed. It would be a good way to get some preliminary information and learn more to help blend into Maelstrom properly once we arrive."

Deodan gave a sigh of relief. "Finally..getting sick of walking."

[Kender Bard]

Fausta grinned as well, even though she'd been the one allowed to ride in the goods-laden cart this time. Bogged down by their worldly goods, they hadn't made great time, but there was no real deadline to reach so why bother going faster? Still, she knew they could both fit in the cart if only Calan wasn't such a hardass about making them work for everything.

She hopped down to walk alongside him.

They reached the gates, stopped only momentarily to be questioned about their cart of goods.

"We're road merchants, my family and I," Cloak replied with a charming smile for the guards. "We were hoping to make one more pass in the north before we had to flee to the warm south for the winter."

The guard smiled at her. "Well you'll want to be quick then. We've already gotten some light snowfall a few times and it's still early autumn yet. Looks like it's going to be another heavy snow winter for us here. And one that sneaks in fast, too. I'd hate to hear you folks got stuck on the road. Blizzards can be killer up here."

"Oh bless you, you sweet man," Cloak laughed merrily. "Your concern warms my heart! But my husband and I are old hands at it and the children, well, they'll learn to live with it too."

"You folks have a nice day, now," the guard told them, touching the lifted visor of his helm and waving them through.

"She's good," Fausta whispered to Deodan softly. So was she, but she had to admit that Cloak was the master of them all at conversing with people.

[tuo]

Deodan gave a shallow nod. "Yeah, the guard didn't even check out stuff." He said in a low tone.

Calan gave a grateful nod to the guard. "Thank you sir." He said pleasantly and cracks the reins to have the horses move forward.

[Kender Bard]

Cloak waited until they were past the guard before leaning in under the pretense of cuddling her husband and sighed into Calan's ear, "Thank the Forces that to all Narutans we Contrastans sound all alike." She'd been working on trying to pick up another accent, but it was hard and she hadn't had much time or experience to practice, so she was just putting a great deal of faith that people would assume they were Anarlinan. She didn't wear the dress of one, but she'd modified some of their clothing so they wouldn't look distinctly Morilantan either.

As usual, Skyheort was busy and bustling with people. They had to go at a crawl pace to get the cart anywhere.

Fausta grew very bored with keeping pace with it all. She squirmed past people to walk up near the front and glanced up at Calan and Cloak. "Can Deo and I go ahead?"

"Of course dear!" Cloak enthused. Ever since they'd left home she'd been keeping up the persona of loving wife and mother, save when they were on the road with no one else about or camping at night. "Do pick up a little of the local gossip for me? And maybe a sweetmeat or two if you see one that catches your fancy." She reached into her coin purse and handed Fausta a handful of coppers. "You tell your brother to keep a close eye on you too. Your father and I will go look for somewhere we can keep the cart."

Fausta accepted the coins with a chipper smile and nodded. Get information. Sweet-talk anyone who might prove especially knowledgeable. Do not split up. She walked back to Deodan and took his hand, repeating what Cloak had said. "Come on, Deo, let's see what we can find out."

Cloak watched the two slip away into the crowds. "We'll meet them in the market once we find where to put this thing. A stable I suppose. We'll have the children take turns looking out for our wares."

[tuo]

Deodan nodded with a grin. "all right sis, someone's gotta keep you out of trouble anyways." He said as he slipped more into his role, following after her.

Calan watched them leave and took hold of Cloak's hand, supposedly for appearances. "That sounds good dear. In the meantime, how about we take in the sights and find a pleasant location to eat?:

[Kender Bard]

"Aye, that sounds good," Cloak agreed. After they found a stable willing to host their worldly goods in addition to their horses, Cloak led the way on a meandering walk until finding an eatery that looked as though it would be the preference of 'their' class they were posing and slipped inside.

Once seated, Cloak waited until a serving wench came over by then and flashed the young girl a charming smile. "What a charming little place! We're new to Talen'sul and weren't certain where to go, but I like to think I made the right choice in coming here."

"Aye you did," the serving girl replied, smiling. Cloak allowed Calan to place both their orders, but caught the girl's attention before she could head off. "Do you mind telling some road weary travelers of any important news here in Skyheort?"

The girl scratched her head for a moment, then perked up. "The royal family is visiting. That's fairly big news."

[tuo]

Calan's eyes widened slightly at that news. "Really? Do they visit here often?" Calan's mind begins to race at this information, if the entire royal family was visiting here then they could finish this job far sooner then planned. "Just the king and queen?" He asked, probing for some more information.

[Kender Bard]

"I assume the royals brought their little ones," the girl remarked. "I mean, the little prince is still just a baby. Can't imagine Their Majesties would leave him behind. But no, they don't visit often." She made a face and lowered her voice. "It's a shame, is what it is. The Brightmores live in Maelstrom but we're part of the kingdom too, you know. Anyway it was a sudden visit. Just heard about it recently."

[tuo]

Calan had to resist the urge to grin as he hears the girl's answer. "Thank you miss. I think I'll be having the house special. What would you like dear?" He asks Cloak while directing a smile to her.

[Kender Bard]

"The same," Cloak replied and watched as the girl left. "Fortunate." She murmured to Calan. "I wonder if they hold any court or audience or similar here. If so, I simply must go and see it. I trust you'll join me? We'll have to exclude our dear daughter of course. Poor thing."

No reason to risk the queen glimpsing Fausta and actually recognizing her.

[tuo]

Calan nodded. "True, though I suppose we always could give her a small allowance to her and her brother for watching the stock for us." He said with an amused smirk.

[Kender Bard]

Cloak just smiled. Halfway through their meal, which Cloak thoroughly enjoyed after a number of cold camps on the trip over, they were interrupted by their 'children.'

They had been located by simple virtue of Fausta locating the stable that held their cart and inquiring as to where her parents might be. It was a little harder to find the right eatery, but she did after a while. "Father, father!" she gushed, darting inside and going to Calan's side, bending over to place an enthusiastic kiss on his cheek. "I have the most wondrous news!"

"Well don't keep us in suspense, my sweetheart!" Cloak exclaimed, pushing away her plate. "What is it?"

"I met the princess of Caelium," she announced, puffing up with pride, her eyes bright.

[tuo]

Deodan nodded. "It's true, she really did!" He said in an excited tone.

Calan raised an eyebrow and gestured for the children to sit down. "That's wonderful, I trust you were polite to her?"

[Kender Bard]

"Very polite," Fausta told him, pulling up a chair to the table. "I gave her my own scarf because she seemed so sad. I wonder why..."

"Keep to the topic dear," Cloak reminded her gently.

"Ah yes," Fausta said with a small shake of her head. "I persuaded her to come by the wagon tomorrow so we could fit her for a dress." She looked sheepish. "I may have promised a free silk gown for her."