The sky was now darkening into evening and the three girls sat outside, huddled by a cooking fire Alexandria had set up. Nearby, the two children, Sian and Valerie play-fought with large sticks, giggling endlessly as they chased each other around the now empty market square. 'Don't wander too far!' Alexandria called after them as she walked out of the back of the caravan holding a large cauldron of ingredients she had prepared inside. Charli helped her mount a tall metal stand to hang it over the fire. 'There we go. Can you girls watch the pot while I go chase up my little rascals?' The girls all agreed simultaneously and watched her jog into the night calling after both children.
Alexandria had left out some wine for them to help themselves. Charli hardly touched it, she didn't like it much. Mai and Kathy on the other hand, may have just had a little too much. 'So then I fall into you two and see the guards right behind me and think, oh crap what do i do now. And then you guys brought me here and thats my story.' Mai laughed hazily.
'You nearly squashed me flat.' Kathy gave her a hard slap on the arm.
'I wouldn't of done that, I'm a lady.' Charli sat quietly observing the tomfoolery before her.
'No I meant why were you running in the first place?' She said rather impatiently.
'Oh that.' Kathy said with a tone of disgust. She shook herself into seriousness for a second, where she seemed almost sober, almost. 'Well, you see my family is a little eccentric when it comes to, well, just about everything. However, they've always accepted my choices, even when they thought they were a little strange.'
'How strange?' Charli interrupted.
'Well I once got offered a doll but instead I wanted a toy alchemy set and then I set the lunchroom on fire.'
'Wow'
'Now can you save the questions until the end, you're distracting me.'
'Oh sorry'
'Right, so yesterday they tell me that they found me a suitor and naturally I was just stood there thinking, what! The guy was really weird and I've heard rumours about his family, but that's not the reason I didn't want to marry him.'
'Was he abusive?' Charli questioned.
'Did he do weird things or did he just look weird?' Mai asked almost simultaneously.
'Was he a warlock?'
'A spirit?'
'Don't tell me he was a faery.'
'No, no, no, no and why would you even think that?' Kathy looked at Charli for that last part and so did Mai who gave her a puzzled look.
'He could've been a faery.' She muttered defensively.
'Didn't I say no more questions?'
'Oh yea, sorry' Charli and Mai said in chorus.
'Anyway, it wasn't anything like that.' Kathy was struggling to pull words out of the air. 'It was more that he was a he.' The level of awkwardness shot up at that point and suddenly even Mai was sober.
'Oh.'
'Alright then.'
'I don't want you to get the wrong idea.' Kathy tried to smooth over the freshness of the conversation.
'Oh no, don't worry.'
'No no. Go on.' Mai took another sip of her last cup of wine.
'Oh right, yes, well, obviously my parents didn't take that too well and they basically told me never to speak of it again and I think it sort of sealed my engagement rather than break it.'
