Barley in May

The family ate quietly but contentedly by candlelight as the sun began to sink low. I poked at the food calmly, trying to hide my delight at having something of quality to eat. Seemed they had duck – maybe Donnie or Thag had hunted it? The meal was simple and gamy, but it may as well have been a 5-star meal.

“Great as always May,” Donnie said simply. His tone didn’t betray much emotion despite being a compliment.

“Oh, Anna did most of the work,” I replied. Speaking was still strange I found – my voice higher and softer simultaneously. “Wanted to see what she could do on her own.”

“Hmph. In that case, good work girl,” Donnie grunted, giving Anna a nod. She gave a gentle smile and nod back, seemingly proud.

_‘She’s certainly friendlier than her father, but somehow even more quiet,’ _I thought to myself.

The mood then grew more grim as Donnie began to explain what happened in the morning. The “cursed” lad was dead in the barn – nothing they could do. I nodded along for my own part, letting Donnie do the talking. I looked at the two kids and scanned their reactions. Anna seemed sad, but only as sad as someone who never really me the dead party could be. Thag for his part seemed… disappointed?

“So, Thag and I will be heading into Barley tomorrow with the body to see about it getting disposed of properly, lest that curse spread out to someone else.” His expression perked up a bit at that. I could only guess how bored he was with his day to the day on the barn. ‘Any little novelty to keep him going I guess.’

“Actually dear,” I interjected, trying my best to sound natural, “I was thinking, what if I went with him to town?”

He raised an eyebrow but grunted in a way that suggested I was to keep talking.

“It wouldn’t be safe to leave just us girls here alone. And there’s tasks we can’t do without you. I’ll go with our son to town – you can stay here with Anna. Just smarter that way. Besides, I have some tasks I need to so out in town.”

I was brainstorming things that ‘May’ might need to do in Barley. Maybe get some fabrics for winter? Spices? I didn’t need to though. Donnie mulled it over for a second and agreed. It seemed that despite his surly appearance, he trusted what his wife had to say and didn’t need to second guess it. ‘How sweet, and how lucky for me.’

I awoke bleary eyed the next morning, trying my best to straighten May’s hair atop my head in the mirror. I had dressed simply: the typical peasant off-white blouse with a dark skirt. I could feel an early morning breeze across my legs as I stepped outside, but I assured myself it would all be worthwhile soon.

‘Once I’m in Barley, I can change my luck, one way or another.’

The family thankfully wasn’t too sentimental. A few words of departure were all they needed after breakfast, and soon Thag and I left with my former corpse in a wagon with a mule to pull it, wrapped up in a thick canvas sheet. I had a handful of coins as well, to help along the illusion that I had some sort of errands to attend too.

We’d traveled for about an hour once my son broke the silence with small talk. “So, ma, what was the guy like?”

“…Who?”

“Y’know, the corpse. You talked to him right?”

“Oh. Uh, not long. He was…” I wasn’t sure how to characterize myself. “Scared, mostly. Basically at ****’s door, poor thing. Nothing we could do though, it was too late for him.” I played along, keeping in character the best I could with my limited knowledge.

“Not much like a demon then, huh?” I could sense it again, disappointment.

“No, I guess not.”

“Hmm. Well, once we get rid of him, you said there were some errands you had to do, right? What were they?”

“Oh, uh. Need to get some fabrics and such. For when it turns cold. Don’t want you all catching cold.”

“Mm. Alright. I know it might not take long, but, how would you feel about dragging it out a bit?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we have some money right? What if we stayed a night longer in town. I’d like to visit some acquaintances. Can get boring at home. Please?”

I looked him up and down. I supposed I believed him; didn’t know him well enough to say otherwise. “Sure, how about it son. You can go have fun once we drop him off and I’ll take my time.” I realized I didn’t actually care about his motivations much, and this would be a great opportunity to have some time on my own to become familiar with the town and maybe try more daring activities.

Barley’s guards thankfully seemed familiar with the family. We made small-talk a bit as they looked through our cart.

“Oh!” I interjected. “You don’t want to look there. Poor soul – young beggar came by but the hunger got him before we could help. We were hoping to get him a proper burial with the church.”

Thankfully, May seemed to have a good reputation. This meant I did too now. The guards didn’t question my story. This meant they didn’t unwrap the body either – they let us right in.

“The priest will surely help you out, but he’s a bit busy I suspect. We gotta visitor from outta town – they call her an ‘exciser.’ She’s searching for some witch or warlock I suppose, and so the church here is receiving her.”

“Hmm, well alright. I’m sure we won’t be long, just need to explain what happened and they can take it at their leisure,” I replied, and soon Thag and I were in the town.

‘An Exciser huh? Don’t suppose they hunt demons…’

“Never thought you were the one to lie, ma,” Thag suddenly interjected with a curious grin.

“It wasn’t a lie. Everything I said was true,” I replied shortly. “I’d just rather not panic them with the details. They could raise a stink and slow us down. The priest will look at it with a clearer head.”

Thag went quiet, seemingly accepting that explanation.

‘This could be useful,’ I thought to myself. ‘If this Exciser is some church representative looking for me, then we can show her my corpse and let that trail go cold.’

But, I did wonder idly, was it safe to enter a church? I certainly felt human while wrapped up in May’s body but was I really? Frankly, I wasn’t sure if holy sites or symbols really would do much to me when I was still a Cambion, but I doubted my current circumstance was much holier. _‘I could delegate this to my delightful son, and let it all pass without my presence,’ _I considered. Surely this was the reason people had kids in the first place. Thag maybe didn’t have the same story in mind that I wanted to tell, but that didn’t matter right? He would show the priest the dead ‘demon’, the priest would surely inform the Exciser, and I could be safely incognito to explore the town on my own.

‘And I can maybe leave May and her delightful son behind.’