A Title Restored

Junit was a lovely, homely town. Small, quaint, everything a little human dominated village needed to be. Of course, it wasn't only humans that stayed there; fey of every sort enjoyed a night or two in the peaceful town before moving on. A few select ones were even brave enough to settle and stay. There was a satyr who enjoyed his own company, a pair of sylphs who always flit about helping those that needed, and even a killmoulis who lived with the blacksmith. More often than not, the village was mostly made up of humans. While the place could boast good manners and a good time, it wasn't the most keen on being more than respectful to those that thought themselves higher than others. This kept all of the vampires living in Stonetia out and most of the dragons away too.

So on one sunny morning many townsfolk looked to the sky as a fast moving cloud passed low over the town. With the sun framing it, it appeared black from underneath. The few that managed to catch a glimpse of it as it set to landing a short way out of town, would be able to see the proud form of a green dragon. A few people may have seemed impressed but many just continued about their conversations and business as if nothing had changed. Anyone who had wanted to meet the knight, a few of the children mostly, were able to run closer to the edge of town where the dragon had landed. They weren't left waiting long when a tall, muscular man in green scale armour walked out of the forest, not bothering to let his chin fall to acknowledge anyone lower than his considerable eye level.

He walked right by the onlookers and towards the town square. When the man finally spotted someone he deemed worthy of his attention, he marched over. "Good morning, fine sir," he said, speaking rather highly to a well dressed man who was puffing on a pipe as he stood next to a market stand selling fine fabrics. "Tell me. I am looking for a young woman who hopefully lives here. She is about eighteen, very pale skin, likely black hair." His description could have honestly been any of a dozen women except for one very big problem.

"I would not know. I do not live 'ere," the man said with a decent accent. He shrugged to the knight, not seeming to care in the least that he couldn't help the man, and then turned to continue his shopping.

A little boy jumped up at the knight's side. The poor boy was barely tall enough to reach the man's hip. To make himself seen, he bounced like a rabbit next to the large man. "I know a girl like that, sir!" he claimed excitedly. "The farmers' girl! She's gotta booth just 'round the corner, sir!" It was clear that this child was excited to help, regardless of if the knight saw him.

It wasn't for lack of trying that the knight searched for an option, any option, that wasn't the jackrabbit at his side. His search of the small market area showed that none who had heard him or were of substantial status that he would relate himself to, were willing or able to help him. With a defeated sigh the man looked down at the child next to him and said, "Show me," simply. There was no niceties reserved for the young human but regardless, the excited being was off to lead the knight to where he believed the girl to be.

*******

A horse galloped quickly, it's rider standing joyously in the stirrups as they neared the house. An auburn coat with more blonde hair waving in the wind as the hooves clapped beneath the combined weight. The girl astride did indeed have black hair. She also had fine curves and a fair complexion to match no others. As her steed came near the stone wall surrounding the living quarters of the farm house, she jumped off without waiting for the horse to slow. She took a step to gain her balance back but was able to run into the warm house without too much of a pause.

"Sarah Hyne, you're going to break your neck one of these days!" a stern female voice rang as soon as the door clicked closed behind the young girl. The house wasn't a large one, dirt floor, thatched ceilings, but it did have separate sleeping areas which was a treat in its own right.

"Yes, mom. I will," Sarah sighed, placating her mom for a moment as she walked over and kissed her mother's cheek. While Sarah was tall and willowy, her mother had much more generous curves than Sarah had ever been able to gain. Her mother was also a bit shorter than her already, Sarah only eighteen years old.

"And if she doesn't, she'll learn," a male's voice entered from the far side of the room, bringing water in from the rain barrel at the front of the house to boil. It was her father, happy to give Sarah a little bit of a break. He always thought his "wife" too hard on her.

The mother shook her head. "Well it's just as well. She's late again! The market is going to be open and people are going to try and find their eggs and bread elsewhere. Mrs. Miggins makes a fantastic-" she started complaining.

"Mrs. Miggins' scones can be fed to the-" Sarah started before both her parents cut in to chastise her.

"Sarah!"

The young girl laughed gently. "I know. I know. I'm going," she said, gathering the loaves of bread in her arms and taking the eggs she had collected earlier this morning from the table.

"And stop bothering that Charles in the morning. He has chores to do too. And we don't pay him to play nice with you," the father scolded his daughter lightly.

Sarah's only reaction was to smirk as she pushed the door open and walked back out into the morning air.

"And don't forget a hat!" Sarah's mother called. But the door clicked before the thought was acknowledged.

The man sighed and shook his head. "Looks like there might be some coverage today. I'll get the aloe ready just in case," he said shaking his head with a small smirk. The look was shared by his fake wife. If only the girl really knew the reason she burned so easily in the sun.

Sarah rode aboard Misty's back more carefully this time as she came into town. Trying to balance a few dozen eggs would do that to you. She made it to market only a small time late with no broken eggs and the loaves of bread still as puffy as if they had just come out of the oven. The table she often used had a small cover for herself in the form of a parasol nailed into the top of the table, but other than that was a simple wood table with a cloth laid out on top to house the goods. The eggs were stored in a basket and the loaves of bread sat openly next to it. On rainy days, Sarah would store the loaves below the table in a wooden box to keep them from getting wet.

Today was thankfully not one of those days. A warm spring morning and the market was already alive with customers. Well, as alive as a market in a small town got on any normal day. As it was midweek, Sarah had to make one delivery to an old lady who lived nearby. The townsfolk were honest here and so she was able to take the woman's loaf and leave the table, the rest of the bread and eggs sitting in wait for her return.

She hadn't made it ten paces from her booth when around a corner came little Johnny Horner dragging along an irritated looking knight. It was a comical sight, the stern, serious man following a hopping, excited little boy. She couldn't help but laugh and then looked confused as Johnny pointed to her.

"There! There she is. Eighteen, pale skin, black hair!" he listed off the qualifications. The knight looked to where the boy was pointing and his eyes grew a little wider. There she was. The woman he had been searching for. He hadn't had a whole lot of information to go on and had already been to six cities searching. But this was her. It had to be.

Sarah laughed and shook her head at Johnny. "Johnny. That could be Evelyn too," she pointed out as she went to walk by them. But then something shocking happened.

The knight kneeled immediately in front of the girl, almost knocking Johnny over as he ignored the little boy. Then the oversized man drew his sword and laid it at her feet. "Princess Alexa," he announced loudly. "You have my sword. It is yours til I die."