Listening thoughtfully to Cole's line of reasoning, Kryschenn had to admit that there was a real possibility that turning herself in would solve nothing. Although she was fairly certain the Princess and Lord Tolan had believed her when the old Wizard had questioned her, that did not change the fact that the populace of Yarfell wanted 'justice.' Cole was right, they probably wouldn't stop once they had her. She'd surrendered once before, and yet the order was still given to round up and imprison all Outworlders in Yarfell. And the possibility of execustion... well, that had certainly been the least favorite possibility of her plan.Maybe there was a better way. Would the Yarfellians show leniency to her if they knew she was fighting for their freedom? Maybe. Probably more than if she just surrendered. It was worth a shot- but they would have to go to Macula to meet up with the others. Macula, where there were still soldiers and bounty hunters looking for her. But if two groups of Outworlders had gotten in and out of the town already, maybe they could sneak past the guards too. Besides, she realized, glancing at Cole's bandaged hand, he'd promised to tell her what that mark was all about once they reached a safe haven in Macula.
"Okay, maybe your way is worth a shot," she agreed as Cole stretched the stiffness out of his muscles. "Wow, you look like you hurt. Are you sure you're in any shape to ride? I wish there were some willows around here, willow bark has aspirin in it." Looking around, she could not find any example of the tree she was hoping for. "Darn. Well, maybe we can buy some willow bark tea in Macula. Along with a new blouse," she added, looking down at what was left of her underblouse, the remaining part which had not been made into a torch in the catacombs.
Taking the horse's reins, she patted its nose gently. It seemed calm enough, though it had been very startled by the attack on its rider. "All right, we'll give it a shot and try to get to this inn without being caught. But I don't think we should pretend to be performers. I mean what if they ask us to perform? The only thing I can really do well is play my bagpipes." For a moment, she thought wistfully of the beautiful, perfect-toned set of pipes that she had been given upon her arrival in the Realm. They were probably lying somewhere neglected on a shelf, 'evidence' in the murder of Lady Reskya, which she emphatically had nothing to do with. They were probably all crusted with blood by now... it would take her forever to get the bloodstains out of the etching in the silver ferrules! If she ever got them back to play them, that is, which at the moment was far too risky. "That would give my identity away faster than anything! I'm sure there aren't a lot of pipers around here, and even fewer lady pipers, except, of course, for the fugitive Outworld piper they're looking for!" She wondered if she had any other theatrical talent that would convince the Maculans she was a performer. She knew a little about acting, but certainly had no monologues memorized. What else? "I can dance a little bit," she finally said, leaping into the first few steps of the Highland Fling, "but the styles of dance I know are very clearly un-Realmish. I think it would give us away too quickly."
Considering a moment longer, she asked, "You said there were bounty hunters in Macula? That's scary, that implies there's a bounty on my head! But my point is, what if we posed as bounty hunters ourselves? We could say we just heard about those crazy Outworlders and came into town to find out how much of a bounty we could get for them. How about that for a disguise?"
