Chapter 67

As I was looking into Morrigan's beautiful red eyes a loud growl came from the other side of the room. It was so loud all of us stopped in our tracks and looked over in confusion. Torien stood there, likely more embarrassed than I had ever seen her before.

She gingerly looked away. "Sorry, I think I'm hungry..."

Morrigan burst out laughing and the atmosphere was totally gone in an instant. Part of me was a little bit sad to see it go but truthfully, it might have been rather awkward to continue making out in front of Torien like this. There was also the sexual aspect of our relationship and I doubt Morrigan wants Torien to just be hanging out while that was happening. I didn't really know what to do about that yet. I probably couldn't put it off forever though. It already felt like too long since the last time I've 'fed' so to speak. Maybe things would iron out more once the twins had their proper 'servants' gear and the twins could have a bit more autonomy.

I quickly pushed those thoughts away and laughed in response to Torien's comment. "Yeah, it's getting to be about that time." Despite the quick change of atmosphere everyone seemed quite jovial. There had been an underlying tension building between me and the twins that was only apparent now that it was gone.

"So," I continued. "What does everyone want to do about dinner? Should we go get some food downstairs or go somewhere else to eat?" I asked.

"You mean like a food stand or something?" Morrigan asked.

That was odd, I haven't seen any food stalls around. "Do they have something like that around here? I haven't seen any."

Torien set the towel she had been drying her hair with aside. "There's an open air market on the other side of town. I don't think we've had any reason to go down that way together yet."

Bella leaned forward enthusiastically. "Oooh! That sounds neat! Can we check it out? I haven't been to a market since I was a kid."

Her smile was infectious. "That sounds good to me, does that sound good to you two? I don't think I've been to something like that before."

"Sounds good to me! The food stalls are usually pretty good for the price. Torien and I would sometimes buy something small to share when we had a bit of spare money over our quota." Morrigan already seemed to be licking her lips.

"Is that okay with you Mimi? It doesn't seem fair to make you stay quiet all the time."

She smiled. "I don't mind! I like to watch all of the people we go by."

"Alright, it's settled then."

The five of us headed out from our inn less than five minutes later. Bella and I had convinced Morrigan to walk between the two of us holding hands, much to her own embarrassment. I was a little worried that Torien would get defensive or weird but she seemed to enjoy watching her sister squirm between the two of us. Like that we made our way across town in good spirits. In an odd way Torien looked rather relaxed.

I smelled the market long before we reached it. There was a large road though the center of town made for carriages but now that the sun was down people walked and mingled in the street. There was two rows of food stalls on either side of the road and behind them were people selling all kinds of different wares. There were textiles, vegetables and fruits, pins, brooches, and even weapons on the many different stands. Everything was lit up in the warm orange glow of the hanging lanterns spread all over the market. Despite the time of night, the entire area was well lit and eagle-eyed guards patrolled the area giving it the air of safety.

I looked at Morrigan. "So, is there anything in particular you recommend?"

Her face lit up and she let go of my hand to point at a stall about halfway along the row of stands. "That stand is the one we always went to! Lets start there."

I nodded and let her lead the way. Behind the food stand was a large middle-aged man. He looked muscular but not in a bodybuilder kind of way, he looked more like a construction worker or something. Despite his look, he skillfully turned and flipped the kabobs on the large grill in front of him. He looked a bit sweaty over the hot grill but it didn't look like it bothered him.

When his eyes looked over at Morrigan and Torien, he smiled a big smile that touched his eyes. "Ey! Torien! I've never seen you out at this time of night! Are you about to leave on a job? You don't look dressed for it," he said with a laugh.

"Don't be silly old man, do I look like I'm in any state to wander around in the dark?" she replied with humor.

"Mr. Domm! This is Lilith, our new mistress! We partied up last week and after our last mission she was able to buy us!"

I could clearly see Morrigan's words make his smile falter. His friendly smile turned into a business one as his eyes met mine. "This true young lady? I hope you treat them well, they're good little girls."

To my surprise Torien put her hand on my shoulder and spoke up before I could say anything. "Lilith is a good person, she never once treated us as mere slaves and even commissioned servant's clothes for us immediately following the purchase, just so she could treat us closer to equals in public. I'd trust her with my life."

I was seriously caught off guard at Torien's declaration and Mr. Domm was too. His warm smile returned and I think his eyes even looked a bit watery for a moment before he turned away and back to his grill.

He pulled four kabobs from the grill and held them out to us. "Here then, have these on the house. To celebrate a new start. I wish the four of you luck."

I took the kabobs and smiled back at him. "Thanks Mr. Domm. You seem like a good person too."

A few other customers came up and he diverted his attention away from us so we decided to back off and stay out of his way. There were a few tables scattered around the stalls, similar in construction to the wooden picnic tables I was familiar with from my own world. The kabob was really good, two of them were grilled meat with some kind of pepper I didn't recognize and the other two were a mixture of different vegetables. I realized after the fact that he probably intentionally gave us the mixture since two of us looked like herbivore beastkin.

I handed the two with meat to the twins and the other to Bella before digging in. It was really tasty, they were seasoned with a mixture of salt and something else that gave it a savory-spicy taste. I snuck a piece under the table to give to Mimi who took it without hesitation. I smiled, happy to include her despite the situation. It didn't take long to finish our kabobs but I didn't think it hadn't been enough for the everyone.

"Hey, are you two still hungry? A kabob by itself probably isn't too filling, do you want something else to go with it?"

The two of them looked sheepish but nodded in reply.

I smiled. "You two don't need to worry too much about it, you two need to eat your fill. We're going to be running around taking on quests, you can't do that on an empty stomach. What do you want next?"

Inspiration struck Torien and she sat up in realization. "Lilith! I know what I want to use that favor on!"

"Favor?" Morrigan asked in confusion.

"There's this stall I've always wanted to try but it's a little expensive... Would that be okay to use the favor on?" Torien asked.

I laughed. "Sure, sounds good to me."

Torien led us to a small stall off in the corner, away from the hotter grills of the other food stalls and clear of any other customers. A large cow beastfolk woman with huge breasts stood behind a table with four large wooden boxes behind her. The sign said ice cream. I thought it was a little funny that a cow woman would be selling a dairy product but it was probably rude to think that way.

"You sure this is okay?" Torien asked one last time.

"No problem." I said with a smile.

She smiled back and the four of us walked up to the cow beastfolk's table.

"Can we have four ice creams please?"

The woman smiled gently, "Sure, that'll be 20 silver."

Torien visibly flinched but I just smiled and pulled out my coin pouch before counting 20 silver to hand her.

The woman quickly recounted the silver I laid in front of her before turning away and opening one of the boxes. My eyes rose when I realized the boxes behind her were basically standing freezers, cold mist came out of the box as she pulled out four wooden bowls, slightly smaller than a pint each from the box.

She set them down in front of us and I peeked down at the ice cream. It looked slightly tinted blue and looked a bit runnier than I was normally used to but I licked my lips in response to a far away memory.

"I was worried that the price would scare you off after seeing her flinch like that," she said to me.

I laughed. "Well, it's not cheap and I don't think these two are used to asking for things yet so it's understandable. But Torien here earned it fair and square." I put my hand on Torien's shoulder and she smiled.

"I'll give you a silver back if you return the bowls when you're done."

"We'll be sure to bring them back!" Morrigan quickly interjected.

The four of us sat down at another table and tried the ice cream. The cream was really thick despite how runny it looked from the outside. It was flavored with some kind of subtle berry flavor that paired well with the creamy dairy flavor. It was overall much less sweet than ice cream I was used to though. Not surprising really.

I looked up at the three girls and each one of them looked like they were in heaven. They were slowly eating, savoring each bite. I smiled, realizing that this was likely the first time any of them had ever eaten ice cream before. I decided to slow down and really savor the flavors as well. The table was completely silent until all four of us finished, the three girls even made a point to drink everything that had melted into their bowls. It was easily worth the price to see how pleased each of them looked.

Torien set her bowl down and sighed. "That was sooooo good. I don't think I've ever had anything that tasted that good before." Morrigan nodded her head in agreement.

Bella nodded. "It was really good." I could tell Bella enjoyed it but didn't seem nearly as enthusiastic as the two cats. I knew it was rude to compare them to animals all the time but it was hard not to when they did things like this.

Morrigan started collecting the bowls from everyone. "I'm surprised you just rolled with it though. A lot of people are turned off by things made with cowkin breastmilk."

My jaw dropped. Breastmilk? It was almost more shocking how casually she said it.

Morrigan finally met my gaze and then froze in realization. "Wait... you didn't know?" she asked.

All three of them looked at me in shock. Clearly I was the only one who hadn't known. And then all three of them realized why at the same time.

I cleared my throat. Maybe it wasn't that weird. "While it would have been nice to know that beforehand, it still tasted good."

Both Torien and Morrigan sighed in relief. Torien scratched her ear and looked embarrassed. "Sorry, the fact you might not have known... slipped my mind. I probably should have said something."

I licked my lips and shrugged. "Eh, it's fine. It just wasn't something I expected I guess... It did taste good, so it was probably better that I didn't know till after."

I followed Morrigan back to the woman when she went to return the bowls. She smiled at Morrigan when she came up. "How did you like the ice cream dear?"

Morrigan smiled wide. "It was soooo good. Probably the best thing I've ever eaten."

"Oh that's great to hear! I always love when cat beastfolk try my ice cream, the batch I gave you came from my own milk!"

I sputtered and glanced down at her large breasts. It was one thing to know, and another to know.

Morrigan smiled in amusement. "Lilith here didn't know where the cream came from until after she ate it."

The cow woman looked shocked. "Oh dear, really? I hope the realization didn't bother you."

I schooled my expression. "No no, it's fine. I was a little shocked but it did taste good so...."

"Well that's good to hear. I'm glad you young ones are a bit more open minded than some others in these parts."

She handed Morrigan the four silver who promptly handed the silver back to me. I pocketed it and quickly walked back to the rest of our group. I hadn't thought about it before but I really hoped my ears didn't get as red as Bella's normally did.