Arthur’s first thought upon seeing the kitchen they marched him to was cozy. His second was how wonderful it smelled.
An iron wood stove occupied most of the room, and from the grate in the front wafted the scent of apples and spices. He struggled to pull his eyes away from it as he sat at the small kitchen table.
As he did, a woman walked into the room. She was about Richard’s age, with her blonde hair done up in a tight bun. Her blue summer dress looked well cared for, and she beamed with excitement as she saw them all.
"Richard! You’re home early. Did you decide what to do already?" Her tone was bubbly, and she moved over to kiss her husband on the cheek.
"Not quite love," Richard said. "We simply needed somewhere quiet to talk to Arthur here. You remember me mentioning him?"
"The one who owned the store?" At Arthur’s nod, she reached out to shake his hand. "I’m Lilly, it’s a pleasure."
"Arthur, owner of Apocalypse Assortments."
She continued to smile, though there was a slight narrowing of her eyes and a twitch to her lips. "And how can we help you? It’s not Riccardo’s business, is it?"
"No," Jeremy butted in. "He’s dead, apparently."
"It couldn’t have happened to a nicer man," Lilly said without pause. "What’s with the noise outside?"
Alice laughed. "Celebration lunch. It’ll be sudden, but I’m sure we’ll all have something to share."
Lilly nodded. "Pie should be ready by then. Do you need space, dear?"
"Not at all. Arthur, would you care to explain? Also, why were you with my son?"
"Johnathan? You met him?" Lilly looked confused as she leant against the counter.
"Yes. He and Wyatt attempted to ambush me, thinking I was Riccardo." Arthur said before adding hurriedly to the look of alarm on Lilly’s face. "No harm done, really. Everyone is fine."
"He did what?" Her eyes narrowed as she stood up. "Where is he now, dear?"
"With Wyatt and Penny," Alice said. "He’s being watched. Believe me, I’ve had Wyatt explain this already."
"I see. I apologise, Arthur. You were saying?"
"Right. Um. Right." He swallowed and did his best to form his words. "I’m here to ask if you would be interested in becoming a supplier for the store. We have little in the way of food, and I know you have potatoes at the very least."
"You want us to supply produce?" Jeremy asked as he stroked a hand through his beard.
"Or put together meals if you can." Arthur nodded to the stove. "We don’t really have the means. Most of my customers are probably getting sick of eating crocodile meat and little else."
Most were still happy to be getting regular solid meals, but he knew that wouldn’t last.
"What’s in it for us?" Jeremy asked. "Or are you planning on becoming the next Riccardo? We do what you say, or you hurt us."
Arthur shook his head as he tapped the table. "Not at all. I have a few things for trade, plus gold. If we make your deliveries a quest, it’ll make it easier to pay you for each one. Plus, if I’m provided with the ingredients, I can duplicate the things you need. Perhaps more pitchforks, or some other tool? I’m happy to listen to suggestions."
"That makes a nice change," Alice said, her tone filled with snark.
"I’m not, and I don’t want to be, Riccardo." Arthur’s voice was firm. "All I want is to run my store and help where I can."
"I think we could help each other," Lilly said as Alice nodded along. "It would depend on what you want and when you’d want to start. We have supplies, but we can’t make it all tomorrow, say."
"Whenever you can. You’ll need to send someone to visit the store, so I can set up the quest. We can set the prices then. What types of things can you make? We can keep anything you give us fresh as the first day, so no frets there."
Arthur sat back as he listened to Lilly and Alice talk about recipe specifics. As they did, Richard and Jeremy leant forwards as they gestured for Theobold to come closer.
"You said you wanted to help? What kind can you offer?" Jeremy asked.
"It depends on what you need."
"You saw the corpses, right?" Jeremy asked, and Richard shot him a worried look. "You know what Riccardo did for us?"
"Protection." Arthur nodded.
"Exactly. Without him? Things might get dangerous. He was a bastard, don’t get me wrong, but he helped. What can you do on that front?" Jeremy’s eyes moved to Theobold, who shook his head.
"The Knight-Captain has me stationed at the store."
"Would she send some people to help, though? If they’re getting attacked by pit fiends?" Arthur asked.
Theobold shrugged. "Maybe? We can ask, but I don’t speak for her."
"If you would, we’d be more than happy to set this route up." Richard shot a glance towards where the women sat. "Provided the cooks agree. We’d also want an escort. The woods aren’t always the safest place."
"I’ll see what I can do."
"Excellent." As he spoke, Richard leant over and shook his hand. His grip was solid, and he grinned. "Well then. It’ll be good to work with you. Lilly?"
His wife nodded as she and Alice looked over. "I think we can get some things for you soon. Does it matter who accepts the quest?"
"No, as long as they intend to be the ones turning it in."
"I’m sure we can find someone to send if you can make it safe. Now, I believe the pie is ready. "Should we see how they’re getting on outside?"
***
It wasn’t the pandemonium that he’d expected.
People had organized themselves into what appeared to be common groups. They sat on blankets or rugs, chatting and laughing. They had spread fruits and vegetables throughout on small wooden plates. He also saw the occasional hunk of unidentifiable meat.
When Arthur saw neither bread nor cheese, it made him realize he hadn’t seen or heard any farm animals. Before he could turn and ask Richard about it, a group spotted him and cheered. A sound that was soon picked up by the others.
Theobold pushed him forwards, and he drifted from group to group. They thanked him and shoved a plate and food at him when he moved by. Each tasted amazing, doubly so for the sheer novelty of being different.
Water filled several jugs, and people poured it into small wooden bowls. After some asking around, it turned out that Jeremy handled crafting those. Half of the barn out the back of his farm was some kind of woodworking area.
At one point, he caught sight of Johnathan being yelled at by his mother, while Wyatt and a girl he didn’t know looked on. Later, he saw a man, who had been taking sips from a flask, attempt to arm wrestle Theobold.
It didn’t go well for the man, but he laughed uproariously, even as he rubbed his arm.
"Can I take some of this back?" Arthur asked Lilly as the party wound down.
"Hmm? Oh. Of course." She waved him off. "Take what you can carry. I’m sure we have a sack or something around here."
"Thank you. I’m sure the people back home will love it. It’s excellent." He smiled as he helped her clean up. Once they put the blankets away, he packed up the food, wishing he had access to the shopkeeper's bag. He’d seen it mentioned, but neither Pydes nor anyone else had brought it up.
It might be time to change that.
"Thank you again for this. Is there anything else I can do to help?" Arthur asked Lilly as she stood next to her husband.
"No, I think that’s it. Rich?"
"That will do nicely," Richard said.
Arthur was about ready to go when Theobold spoke up.
"Actually, sir, I was wondering. The corpse you were examining earlier. May we take it with us?"
"The corpse?" Richard asked, clearly confused by the question.
"Yes sir. Evidence. It would be helpful to have a local go along to speak of the severity of the threat, as well."
"Johnathan would be happy to help," Lilly said, her voice raised so as not to be missed.
Richard nodded. "He would. We’ll stick the corpse in one of the old barrels. Too cracked to hold anything useful anymore. Should make it easier to transport. "Are you fine with a minor delay?"
"Sure," Arthur said, turning back to help Lilly take the rest of the blankets inside.
Less than fifteen minutes later, Jonathan sat in the back with him and stayed silent. Arthur didn’t mind, he was busy watching the sides of the road. After the ambush, he didn’t plan to relax until he could see the sun again.
To his relief, the trip back into the city went smoothly.
"Are we stopping by the store first?" Theobold asked, not sounding like he’d felt the effort he was putting in.
Arthur looked at the sky before he sighed. "We better. At least to tell them where we’re going. If we need to, do you think we can stay the night at the compound?"
"I’m sure they’ll have somewhere," Theobold said with a hint of excitement in his voice as they picked up speed.
***
They made what he intended as a quick pit stop at the store to tell Nyssa and the others where they would be, as well as to drop off the food. However, the customers catching sight of the new items forced Arthur to change his plans.
"Free samples!" He called out as the crowd pressed in. "Fresh from the farms. Take your pick."
People cheered, some grabbing extras to take into the sewers. In less than ten minutes, almost all of it was gone. Thankfully, he’d been smart enough to hide some early. There was no way he wasn’t making sure his staff got some.
With a smile, he watched as Augustus, Nyssa, and Dr. Theobold sat on the floor and ate.
"Are you going to be okay if we duck out again? We need to visit the knights and see if we can’t send them back to the farms."
"Sure," Nyssa saluted, an apple in hand. "We can hold down the fort. Are you coming back tonight?"
"Depends on what happens," Arthur shrugged. "Alright, we left Johnathan alone too long. We’ll be back. Stay safe."
Not long after, they were back on the road. Theobold moved quickly through the streets, easily avoiding any potholes or rubble piles that may be in his way. His skill at dodging didn’t surprise Arthur. If anyone was used to navigating this section of the city, it would be a knight.
Soon enough, they were pulling up outside the walls of the compound. Theobold used a bike chain to lock the front wheel to one of the few intact lampposts. Once that was complete, he single-handedly grabbed the barrel and placed it on his shoulder.
Even Johnathan stopped smirking long enough to look impressed.
Two guards watched them from the top of the wall, spears clutched tightly in their hands.
"What’s your business here?" One of them yelled down.
"We need to speak with the Knight-Captain," Arthur yelled back. "There’s been trouble she should know about."
The two guards looked at each other before looking at Theobold. He could tell even from this point that they looked nervous.
"Cause no trouble. You know where the office is?"
"I do!"
At that, they moved around, and the portcullis opened. Arthur immediately recognized that something was wrong. When he walked through with The Explorer, everyone was busy but still cheerful. They stopped to chat with his guide at points or cracked jokes with one another.
Now there was nothing of the sort.
People were outright glaring at Theobold as he passed. No children were unaccompanied, and each adult looked worn out and tired. He could hear raised voices in the distance, and more knights patrolled the streets.
Jonathan looked afraid as they moved further in. The teen stayed close to Theobold, which Arthur wasn’t sure was the wisest choice. People spoke in harsh whispers, but none low enough that he couldn’t make out the world.
"Freak."
"Mutant."
"Should be banned."
None of it seemed to affect his employee, but that didn’t stop Arthur from noticing. However, he knew it wouldn’t be good to try anything. Not with how nervous the knights walking by already looked. Thus, they made their way to the museum in a storm of muttered insults and hateful glances.
As they walked, Arthur simply hoped that whatever problem Alyssa was having wasn’t too major. Otherwise, it looked like his supply line plan had stalled before it even began.194Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdehdlhaphN
