[Yes, Meeting A Minstrel.]

Nothing else disturbs your flight for the next day except stopping to get food and water and for sleep.

Kashik purchases two elderly oxen in a small village at the edge of the vast wood where you mated that evening, using your human guises to avoid causing a panic, but that farmer will have a tale to tell in years to come, as he stealthily trailed you till you thought you were well away and then ran off screaming when you turned into dragons to eat. That meal was naturally somewhat rushed...

You bedded down for the night in the ruins of an abandoned abbey a few miles further on, (once dedicated to the Celestial Lovers if the carvings were any indication,) and thought you saw a group of orcs leave by the back gate in the middle of the night. You paid them no mind as long as they left you alone, which they were wise enough to do.

The next morning you took to the air again, until you came upon a smaller wood and in it a hunting lodge. You stopped to bargain for some carcasses and vegetables trading six patches of your shed skins for three whole Free-Deer's worth of meat and bone and a hearty stockpot of potato, carrot, and onion stew for each of you. The stew could really have done with some salt, but after what happened the previous evening you weren't going to complain.

Around ten bells that morning you hit the river "Lotus", known for its many water lilies, which you would be following up to its headwaters in the Smoking Mountains. There you stopped to drink your fill and ended up catching a smallish koi by accident when it swam to close to your guzzling mouth and got sucked in. After nearly **** on the damned thing you found your gnashing teeth had killed it, so you fileted it, cooked it, and had a brief snack.

At noon that day, you stop to rest for a while in a campsite along the river bank where the road passes close. There you meet a traveling minstrel.

"Hail and well met my good Dame Bard, what news have you of this country?" Kashik asks of the clearly footsore fellow traveler.

"I am neither Dame nor Bard, Sir Dragon, merely a wandering minstrel, but come and sit with me a spell and I shall tell you what I know of my nation," she says

You both sit, and listen.

The Minstrel speaks at some length of her homeland where you found yourselves, Nalsoka: mostly of how civil war is abroad in the countryside, with twin brother and sister both claiming the throne, and each backed by one of the neighboring nations, Narvon in her case and Jexal in his. For three years since Good King Vattel's ****, the fighting has raged, and she is one of very few who remain that backs neither side.

"Who do you back then?" You ask and she sighs.

"Both their claims are legitimate, Princess Georgette is the firstborn, Prince Ajax the first son, and their father never chose between them, even as he lay dying. I think the stroke that killed him had the most to do with that though, King Vattel could neither speak nor write at the last, the poor man, though rumors say he kept trying till the very end. Ours is a young nation, the issue of weather firstborn or first son inherits has not been settled as all three of our previous kings were both, and we've never had twins before either. A king or queen can only be made if the gods approve, and obviously they have not chosen a side either, otherwise, there should be clear signs and portents, or one of them should already be victorious. Both are legitimate, both have the Mandate of Heaven, at least for now. When that later part changes, (for the first will not, save by Princess Georgette's ****, which would then make her brother Prince Ajax the firstborn that lives,) THEN I side with whoever The Gods have chosen."

"How do you know she was first born? They are twins, are they not?" You ask, and the minstrel scoffs.

"Phaugh, that old lie. There's those that say she was born second, but everyone knows that's not true, their mother took a full six hours to deliver Prince Ajax, and the king had every mage in the capitol send word as far as they could that Princess Georgette was delivered safe but they must pray to Yuki that Queen Maud would survive birthing Prince Ajax. She did, of course, and there are three more heirs yet alive, though they are all far away now and want no part of this civil war. Oh, how Queen Maud the Kindly would have wept at the **** her twins are wreaking on the land she loved so much. Better they should have divided the country between them or joined half of Nalsoka to each of their backers as a principality than pit sister against brother and husbands against wives as they have." The minstrel says.

You suddenly remember your courtesy. "Beg your pardon, we've not introduced ourselves, my name is Lengetthasha, and this is my mate Rashnakkashik, what's yours?" You ask.

"I go by many names in various towns and cities, for it's not safe to be a neutral observer in these times, but as you've trusted me with parts of your true names, I'll do the same: you may call me Velma," Velma tells you.

Kashik pipes up now. "Please tell us what you know of the two claimants, Velma, I am headed to a Dragon Hold and wish to know if I must speak against one or both there," he explains.

"I don't know much, good Sir Dragon, not for sure. There's too many lies and rumors you see, hard to sort truth from fiction." Velma begins.

"Some say Princess Georgette condones undead among her army, other say Prince Ajax hires rapists by preference. There are those who have told me they saw Princess Georgette cook and eat a baby with their own eyes, while one woman insisted to me that she was carrying Prince Ajax bastard. She was pregnant gods know, but I heard from others that very night that she was a woman of loose morals and negotiable affections, and the Prince hadn't been in the area for a year. I've also heard that Princess Georgette will keep no man on her personal guard, (to protect her virtue,) and that Prince Ajax has a dragon on his council in disguise. Moreover, I've heard this dragon is female and he will marry her at the high temple in the capitol when he retakes it from his sister, in full sight of the suns and the populous. Contrarywise I've heard this counselor is no dragon, but rather a succubus, and that they already rut together every night. As you can see, the rumors fly hot and heavy, I've heard more outlandish things still, but I'll not waste your time with those," She continues.

"There are only two things I know for sure that I've not already told you. First, Jexal is a realm of mages and priests, where your magical prowess decides your place in society and naught else. Second, Narvon is a realm even younger than our own, but it has powerful mines and forges that give the prince's army ample weapons and gear, while its peeks are home to griffins that the prince's knights ride into battle, countering the Jexalian Sky Ships. Without those griffins, the prince would have lost the war long ago. I am much-affeared that whoever wins the war our kingdom has lost, for these outside services and mercenaries cannot have come cheap." Velma finishes.

"Thank you for that, madam Minstrel, " Kashik says and tosses her a 'Half-Glider', the half size gold coin minted at his parents Dragon Hold. You dig into your pack as well and gently hand her two 'fiftieth-bars' of goblin-silver out of your tiny store of cash assets. "I thank you as well, Velma, I know it's not much, but almost all my hoard is tied up in items for my own use." You explain sadly.

Velma smiles and laughs a touch. "Heh-heh, not much madam dragon? I can have a place in any inn or hostelry in the kingdom for the night with breakfast come morning, even if they've already got a minstrel, for each of these. It's a fine reward merely for spreading the news as is my calling." She says, and you smile.

"I'm glad." You say, and though you wish you'd known how much they were worth here, you're not saying anything untrue. This kingdom must be **** for hard currency if one fiftieth-bar of Goblin-Silver will buy both a room and breakfast. Goblin-Silver is not known for being of consistent quality, though of course, your pieces are coin-quality: you minted them yourself.

"In any case its time the two of you were on your way methinks, and me as well, safe travels to you, Thasha and Rashnak, I hope we will meet again someday and that I shall have happier tidings for you then," Velma says, then hefts her pack and violin case and walks away, whistling the tune of a song you don't recognize.

"She's right, we should be going," Kashik says, interrupting your in-drawn breath to berate the woman for being so familiar with you, and you look at him, then reluctantly, nod, and move to the tow-path next to the river to get a running start for flying.