"That's enough Royce," sighed the cleric Dianna.

"I'm just trying to raise everyone's spirits," he pouted, hefting his lyre.

"I'm exhausted, and the injured need quiet to rest. Could you see if Francis or Clarence need some encouragement?" she asked, giving him a tired smile.

"Oh, that's a good idea!" he said, cheering up and hurrying off.

"You only told him that, because you knew that was where the soup pot was," said Bob, chuckling softly.

The entire store had been converted over to make room for the injured to be able to rest out of the snowstorm that had started up in the last hour. Vivian and Trudy were busy handing out bandages and blankets that Martha and her workforce of women had been making.

"That's very kind of you," said Dianna, taking another bandage from Bob.

"Don't worry, I'll remember who owes me what," he joked.

"Robert?" called Hector, stepping into the store and looking around. He brushed the snow off of himself by the door, so as not to get it onto any of the adventurers and guards who were laying on the floor.

"I'm here, dad," Bob called softly, waving at him from the stairs where he had just sat down for a moment.

"I heard about the fighting, but your aunt kept me from being able to rush over and check on you. Are you alright?"

He looked Bob up and down, as if checking for any wounds.

"Leo and Zach kept me safe, though you're going to have to pay them extra. Zach got hurt and had to have a cleric heal him."

"How? Did orcs actually make it into the city?" he asked, looking around and spying both Leo and Zach not too far away. Other than the blood on Zach's clothing, you couldn't tell he had been almost dead.

Spying the tired look from Dianna, Bob took his dad's arm and guided him outside to the soup kitchen through the side door. Leo and Zach followed. They stood in the back of the kitchen, behind Liam, watching the kids help serve soup to everyone who had helped. There were a few people who were trying to get soup, that had just magically showed up after the battle, but the kids weren't having any of it. Bob was pretty proud of them.

"The orcs rushed the gate, before anyone could raise the alarm. The only reason they were stopped before they got further than my shop, was because I had so many adventurers right here."

"I'll mention that to the City Lord, when he returns," his father said thoughtfully.

"When he returns?" asked Bob.

"Oh, you probably hadn't heard. It was a secret, but the City Lord has been gone for the past two months fighting orcs and checking on a supposed dragon that had been spotted in the nearby mountains. He's the only one authorized by the king, to be able to raise an army in this area. His son-in-law, Clark's son, Tristan, was supposed to be in charge while he was gone, but we both know that wasn't what happened. I imagine when the City Lord returns, there's going to be a lot of fires going on."

"Do you know when he's supposed to return?" asked Bob excitedly.

"I think he was supposed to return briefly today or tomorrow, but with the snow storm that just blew in, it will probably be tomorrow. Then, I'm not sure if he will stay until after the king is here, or not. I kind of think he will, but I'm not privy to his schedule."

"Bob?" called a voice.

He looked over to see the tiefling woman show up, looking around at everyone curiously.

"Oh, h.e.l.lo. I'm not ready for another delivery just yet," said Bob, confused to see her.

"That's alright. I heard there was fighting over near here, and just wanted to check and make sure that you were alright," she said, tugging on the hood of her cloak, to keep it covering her horns.

"Who's this?" asked Hector.

"My name is Asparagus," she said carefully.

"What?" cried Bob, surprised. "Your parents were evil!"

She hung her head and said, "I know."

Bob choked. He hadn't meant it like that, but he didn't want to give her secret away, so he said, "I'm sorry, do you have a nickname?"

"Sure, I have lots of them. Which one do you want to use?"

"What's one that I can yell across the room?" asked Bob carefully.

She thought long and hard on that, chewing on her lip. "How about Cookie?"

"That's a nice nickname," said Hector.

"Thanks! It's like an STD, you only get them from your friends."

Hector's face went blank, as Leo and Zach broke out laughing. Bob rushed to comfort her as her face fell.

"I did it again, didn't I?" she asked miserably.

"It's okay, I understand what you meant," he said, trying to console her.

"What exactly do you mean?" asked Hector carefully.

"I'm cursed to make stupid comments," she muttered.

"She can't help it," added Bob.

"I would see a cleric about getting that curse removed," said his father, thoughtfully.

"I don't have the money for it. I was told true love, or some c.r.a.p like that, would remove it, but so far, nothing."

"Well, good luck with that," he said, turning to Bob.

"I was wanting to see you about some items I have in my stores. I purchased them, with the intention of selling to n.o.bles, but the items have become damaged to such an extent that no n.o.ble would be interested. If you could sell them, at a discount of course, I wouldn't lose all of the money I have wrapped up in them."

Bob nodded. "I don't mind seeing what they are. Do you want me to come by tomorrow?"

"Yes, I think that would be best. I'll meet up with you at the house, and we can travel together from there."

"Alright," said Bob as Hector nodded to Cookie, and left.

"I don't think he liked me," she moaned.

"It's alright. Not everyone will like you the first time they meet you. Even I have people who don't like me," said Bob.

"I suppose that's true," she said, turning to look out over all of the adventurers who were lounging around after the battle. All of the bodies of the dead orcs and the killed guards and adventurers had been carted off already.

"Perfect after such a battle, delicious soup! Bob's a wonderful person, not like those orc nincomp.o.o.ps! If those orcs come back, we'll show them the weapons of our troops!"

Some of the men started trying to sing along, laughing as they got Royce's lyric's wrong.

"Was there something you wanted?" asked Bob after several moments of silence.

She jumped, as if he had startled her out of a thought, and turned to him quickly enough for her hood to fall down, exposing her horns. Leo saw them and immediately drew his sword, pointing it at her throat. She startled again and raised her hands in surrender.

"She's not a threat!" cried Bob quickly, as Zach grabbed his arm and dragged him away from her.

Other adventurers around them looked up, as if to see whether they needed to act.

"She's a tiefling!" growled Leo.

"Yes, and not a bad guy!" growled Bob right back. "She's going to work in my kitchens once they're upgraded."

"She is?" asked Leo in surprise, lowering his sword.

"I am?" she asked in surprise, lowering her hands. "I mean, I am! And I'm going to be devilishly good at it, too!"

Bob laughed at the look on Leo's face as he looked back and forth at them. "You can't threaten everyone who walks up to me, just based on the way they look. I'm a merchant. I'm bound to have a lot of different customers."

"You would sell to a blood-thirsty fiend?" asked Zach incredulously.

"If he paid enough," said Bob dead-pan.

Leo put up his sword, and the adventurers went back to their bowls of soup.

"Bob?" asked Sam.

"Yes?" he said, turning to him.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I wanted to know if it would be okay to start putting the beds upstairs? I think they've moved enough of the wounded out of the way, I can get them up the stairs. We also have the wall separating the two areas taken down. Did you want a section separated out for your personal bedroom?"

"You're not interrupting anything very important. If it won't upset Dianna, I don't mind getting the beds installed upstairs. And if you could get me a bedroom before nightfall, that would be excellent. I hope the orcs attacking didn't upset your timetable too bad."

"Nah, I sent a couple of adventurers out after my men when they ran off, and they fetched them back. I'll get them back to work. We might even start on the foundation for the dining hall tonight before it gets too dark."

"The snow won't stop you?" asked Bob, noting drifts were starting to form.

"Nah, it just motivates my men to keep moving."

As he turned to leave, Cookie smiled at him, "I appreciate the job, and just wanted to thank you. Do you want me to come start tomorrow? I can help Liam here in the soup kitchen until you have the proper kitchen built?"

"That would be great. Thanks!"

"Hey, Bob?" asked one of the adventurers from before, Lucas. His red beard was longer than before, and Giles was right behind him.

"Hey! How are you guys doing?" asked Bob.

"We got back just in time to find out we missed all the fun," complained Giles. His black beard looked singed in a couple of places.

"Some of the guys were wondering if we could pitch out tents here, next to the soup kitchen? The snow is starting to pile up, and none of us want to travel clear across town to stay at the overpriced inn near the eastern gate."

Bob thought about it, and sighed. "I have some guys who are going to start working on a foundation for a dining hall over there. As long as none of you are upset about staying out of their way, and possibly moving, I don't mind."

"Alright! Thanks!" said Lucas.

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"Did you hear? Bob's building a dining hall! Won't that be great?!"