Croix

As they neared the town of Croix, Kallid rode with Mr. Price and Mr. Todd at the front of the coach, his bow still in hand with his relatively small arrows restocked in a quiver beside him. Since the attack, everyone was awake and alert. Mr. Bross and Miss Coyle rode their own horses ahead of the carriage, but no further attempts were made. Still, Kallid forbade the kids from even poking their heads out sternly.

The town was small, even by the rural standards they had become accustomed to. Little more than a village really, with no defenses nor manned gate. The sun was setting as they entered the main part of town, but the arrival of a royal coach attracted plenty of attention - as did the kobold riding with the men.

Finally they came to a halt outside a large building with a huge open doorway. Mr. Bross and Miss Coyle dismounted and Miss Coyle went off to speak to someone within the building.

"End of the line, Mr. Kallid," said Mr. Bross, walking back and stretching. "Help him down, Mr. Todd would you?"

Once on the ground, Kallid looked around. "Is it okay for the kids to get out?" he asked Mr. Bross.

"As okay as it's ever going to be. Best the townsfolk see you-all before it comes on full night anyway. Shouldn't be a problem. Kobolds are mostly legendary around here - at least that's what Miss Coyle says. She grew up near here. But with kingsmen escorting you, I think they'll get the picture you're okay. Frankly, the kids are cute too. Hard to be terrorized by your little ones."

"Okay," Kallid said, a little hesitantly as he surveyed the curious onlookers. He waved halfheartedly to them, but if there was any softening of their looks, the dimming light didn't show it.

"Alright Miss Tribi. Time to bring them out. Kids, these people have never seen our kind before. Keep that in mind. To them we probably look like little monsters."

Miss Tribi stepped out first, bringing a murmur through the crowd - though calling them a 'crowd' was pushing it.

"Look! She must be his wife!"

"Think they have wives?"

"Oh, look, she's wearing people's clothes too!"

Kallid ignored the crowd and reached in to set Kalindra onto the ground, but Miss Tribi was having none of it. She stepped right up to the nearest townspeople, who backed away a little.

"Of course I'm wearing 'people clothes' you idiots! I'm a people!"

Someone in the back said what they all were thinking, "She talks too!?!"

"Dammit, of course I talk. We all talk. I suppose you've never seen kobolds before?"

"Well, actually..." the nearest woman began.

"Well you have now. So forget all the foolishness you've obviously been told about us. We might not look much like you, but we are like you anyway. We're on an errand for the King, in fact, but we're not here to lord it over you. We just want to stay the night and we'll be gone again. Is that alright?"

Before the crowd could reply, two women came pushing through the crowd. The older came first, dressed in what was probably the finest outfit she had, and bent down to Miss Tribi.

"Please forgive us, Ma'am. I am Tabitha, the Mayor of Croix. I'm sorry I wasn't here to welcome you before. We knew you were coming, but we weren't sure when and I was... indisposed."

"Taking a bath, I reckon," said a voice from behind, which she ignored.

"Ah. Well... thank you... Miss Tabitha?" Miss Tribi said, extending her hand.

The mayor of Croix looked uncertain as to what to do with the hand, obviously not quite certain of the rank of the kobold standing in front of her. She decided to err on the side of caution though, and kneeled and kissed the hand.

"Oh my!" Miss Tribi exclaimed. "Oh, no. Sorry - I was just going to shake your hand, Mayor! No, sorry... I'm kind of just the Nanny here."

"Nanny?" Miss Tabitha said, rising again.

The Mayor, along with the townsfolk, turned to look back to the carriage where Kallid was helping Grace out while Kalindra stood wide-eyed, her doll clutched close to her face.

A collective "Aww" went through the crowd. No matter the racist tendencies of a backwater town like Croix, it was apparent that a child - any child - clutching a doll was a universal icebreaker. At the appearance of Grace, the same response echoed through the street again.

But behind Miss Tribi, a small argument was going on.

"Dad! I don't need help!"

"But it might look better..."

However, his son was having nothing to do with Kallid's attempts to introduce the winged kobold to the townsfolk. He leaped over his father, spreading his wings wide and flew down beside Miss Tribi. The sight of the winged, dark kobold caused more than a few shrieks and the crowd backed off instantly, though the Mayor and her assistant stood their ground.

"What's wrong?" Night asked as he landed.

"Night, I'd like to introduce you to the Mayor of Croix. This is Miss Tabitha. Now, what did I teach you?"

Night's attention shifted back from the others back to Miss Tribi and the Mayor. "Oh! Um..."

At that, he bowed deeply. "Pleased to meet you Miss... Mayor?"

At that, the mayor's face turned rapidly from apprehension to sincere affection. "Oh! Well," she said with a little curtsey, "Pleased to meet you..."

"Night," Kallid said, coming up with the girls. "His name is Night. And this is Grace, and this is Kalindra."

Both girls did their best to execute their own curtsies, as Miss Tribi had taught them as well. That set the Mayor's assistant to giggling, but a stern look from the mayor shut her up.

"Well! If that wasn't a sight to see!" said an anonymous voice from the crowd, now regaining their courage and curiosity.

"'E's got wings!" said another voice. "By my mother's beard, 'e's got wings!"

Of course, the children's behavior couldn't be withstrained for long. Night nodded happily, stepping out from behind the Mayor spreading his wings wide. "Sure do! I can fly too! A little. Wanna see?"

Another gasp came when the people saw his wings open again, but Night just flapped them a little, showing off. Kallid thought about admonishing his son, but when he saw that a group of the locals were just curious, he decided that perhaps letting them just mingle a bit might be just as well.

Some time later, after the novelty had worn off, they were all ushered into the Mayor's house - a sturdy affair, if no palace, just off the main road. The Mayor put on what was obviously a fairly lavish feast for a rural community. Afterwards, Miss Tribi really took over as the spokesperson for the kobolds as she told stories of her own life. Kallid was relieved to not have to do so himself, but as the night wore on he insisted on retiring early. Surprisingly it was Kalindra who protested most, having found a friend in the form of a local kid who had her own dolls that the two of them were playing with.

The Mayor herself led them to their room, apologizing for having only the one room for the kobolds - but she had extra small beds brought in and Kallid assured her that all was fine. When finally the five were left alone, Kallid sighed deeply.

"Well, that went extraordinarily well, don't you think Mr. Kallid?" Miss Tribi said while tucking Grace into her little bed.

"Oh yes. Very well," he began before Kalindra spoke up.

"Can we stay here Papa? I made a friend. Her name is Sala. I called her Salad."

"But don't you want to see Mommy? We have to keep going to see Mommy again."

Kalindra looked at her doll, as if ashamed. "Oh. Yeah. I guess."

Kallid felt his heart sink, but he wouldn't let it show to his children and he finished tucking in Night before climbing up to the big bed in the center and tugging down the blanket.

"Dammit," he said angrily to Miss Tribi as she tugged on the other side. "Why do they insist on doing this to the blankets? It's like they don't want us to go to sleep!"

"Oh, I'm sure it's just a custom," she replied.

"Stupid custom," he spat back, unexpectedly bitter, as he finally managed to pull the blanket out from under the mattress. He then took his clothes off and began to climb into bed, just noticing Miss Tribi's wide eyes after he had gotten most of the way under.

He looked back at his clothes on the floor, then looked under the blanket at himself, then back to Miss Tribi.

"Oops." he said with an embarrassed smile.

"Um..." she stammered. "There's no other bed. Would it be okay if I sleep with you? I'll just stay on top, and use one of the extra blankets."

"That'll be fine. I'm sorry Miss Tribi. I was distracted."

"I know Mr. Kallid. I know," she said as she disrobed partially behind the spare blanket before climbing on top of the bed herself.

They lay there in silence, hearing the others murmuring down the hall in their rooms and the occasional footsteps on the wooden floorboards walking past the door. The children's breathing turned deeper and into childlike snores.

"They're forgetting her," Kallid whispered to the darkness, his voice cracking.

"They can't help it Mr. Kallid," Miss Tribi whispered beside him. "They're just children."

"I know... It already feels like years since I saw her last," Kallid began to sob.

He felt Miss Tribi's arms take him in, and he let himself be pulled into her embrace, wrapping his arms around her as his body shook in silent weeping.

"I'm forgetting her," he said, looking up from her ample chest.

"You need to grieve too, you know," she said, stroking his back.

"I don't want to forget her, Miss Tribi! I don't!"

"You won't forget her Mr. Kallid. You'll never forget her. Don't beat yourself up over it."

He felt her gentle touch on his back, and let himself wallow in self-pity for a few minutes, buried in her soft chest.

"Thank you, Miss Tribi," he whispered quietly later. "Oh look, I've gotten you all wet."

He felt more than heard her chuckle above him. "It's okay Mr. Kallid."

"We... probably shouldn't be this close," he said a little later.

"Probably not. But you need a hug, Mr. Kallid. A long hug. I'll leave you alone, I promise. But tonight why don't you stay here with me. I think she would be okay with it, as long as I leave you alone."

Kallid nodded and stayed where he was, indulging in the feeling of being held. He needed to be strong, he knew. For Kreet, for the kids. But he wasn't that strong, and he needed this time to be weak. She wasn't Kreet. She was too big, for one thing. Too motherly. And she didn't smell like Kreet. Not that she smelled bad in any way - just different. But she was soft and comforting, and he really did need to be held. He accepted her embrace and fell to sleep between her breasts eventually, listening to her breathing.

Yet even so, it was another realization that allowed him to relax and sleep in this female kobold's arms peacefully. He realized that - as much as he liked and appreciated Miss Tribi, he discovered that in fact he was not sexually attracted to her. And that relieved him greatly of any worries he had about her. As her first real experience with a male kobold, he could understand her interest in his body. And she might well mistake that interest for... other passions. But she had so far withstrained herself from going too far, and he appreciated that. Yet up until just now, something had been worrying him. He had been worried that his animal nature might take advantage of that when he was most vulnerable and cause him to do something he might regret.

Laying against her now, he was at peace with it at last. As un-Kreetlike as her body was, it was still certainly desirable. He'd had friends who would certainly have loved to indulge themselves in her voluptuousness. Hell, so would he have - before he'd met Kreet. But as he drifted off, he no longer worried about his own self-control, and that was a revelation that brought him almost as much comfort as her simple touch. He could do this.

As for Miss Tribi herself, she wasn't so confident in herself. She was holding a naked male kobold in her arms, upon her breasts. Blankets be damned, but he was warm. She was nothing if not true to her word, but she also couldn't deny her thoughts. Long after he'd obviously gone to sleep, she still found herself peeking down his back where the blanket rose around his tail, glancing at his butt.

But she knew he needed this too. It may have been instinctual. It may have been in one of the books she'd read. But he was hurting now, not so much at the loss of his wife, but at the loss of her memory. One day, perhaps. If they couldn't find Kreet, one day he might give up the search. And the children would need a mother. And Kallid would need a mate. She would be happy to be that person.

"Patience, Tribi. Patience. He is not yours to take, and neither are the little ones. You are a good person. Remember that! She's not dead and he's not yours. And no, not even one little squeeze of those cute little cheeks. You're supposed to be the civilized one, remember?"

She had almost managed to get to sleep herself when the door opened, deep in the night.