A strange stranger

”Well if that’s the case then please let me know how exactly you are planning to do that. Are you perhaps thinking of bringing Miss Hibiscus back to her family on your own to get their reward?” he said, clearly joking about it, since it would be extremely unwise of her to do such a thing and risk being arrested because of her non-human heritage.

He then saw her looking towards something in the distance and only then noticing the huge orc. He sure looked fearsome, but then again so does all orcs, so there was no way telling whether or not he was hostile or just taking a walk through the woods.

Artem followed Winifred as she started walking once again, though he wasn’t thrilled about getting closer to the orc. He had encountered a few of these on past journeys, but none of them had been very civilised or friendly for that matter.

"Greetings, my friends. May I please be the first to welcome you to the grand capital of our Kingdom of Dalen." Turning to gesture with his left hand towards the stout walls, he smiled again before continuing, "Now, would it be safe to assume that this is your first time in the city?". This wasn’t quite what Artem had expected, not that the orc seemed to have any immediate plans of attacking them. He stopped the horse calmly and looked up at him (even though Artem was a little taller than an average human) “Thanks, but no. This actually isn’t our first time in the city” he answered for the both of them, though he in fact had no idea if Winifred had been here before or not.