Murder and Romance (And Saving A Life Too)

Its hot. Unbearably so. I am sweating but that doesn't bring me any relief. I see the flames in front of me climb higher and higher. I look for a way to escape but none are in my line of sight. Something else emerges from the smoke and ash. A demon, ginormous and red stands before me laughing. I see his blood stained lips and him raising his goblet to add a fresh coat. I see that its human blood. He looks into my eyes and I know I am his next glass.
 
I woke up to Sam calling Neolani and me to check on Borris. He is not doing well. His veins appear to be greenish and a large dark bruise is growing on his side. Sam attempted to use a healing spell but it didn't accomplish anything. I tried putting a little bit of the fountain water on his forehead but I mistakenly gave him a small burn. Ugh he stunk to high heaven. Neolani pulled out a block of incense of dragon's lavender. It mostly smelled like the sweet flower but had an almost rusty tinge to it. Whatever was in it worked. Just in case though, I stuffed some fresh smelling grass in my nose.
 
We determined heading to Greenhorn would be the best chance at getting Borris help in time. We ran for a majority of our journey. When we arrived at this town, a legion of goblin tents surrounded the outskirts. They recognized us and saw Borris's state. They took him from us without a word. I assumed they were taking him to a healer. The rest of the party and I headed into town to find somewhere to rest. Before we could make it to the tavern, we heard shouting from the other direction. Turning around there was a woman with several guards men. She looked like a mess.
 
She has clearly been crying and hasn't gotten any sleep. She wobbles on her feet and points at Sam. "That's the one who did it. He's the man who killed my husband!" Sam protested and we defended him. There's no way Sam could've done that. He was with me the whole time. The guards arrested Sam on the spot. Neolani was extremely upset. She and the woman argued. The woman began to cry even harder and demanded for her to go away. I felt suspicious about the encounter. I interrupted the argument and introduced myself. I offered this poor woman my services as a bard for her husband's funeral.
 
Her name was Tracy and something was clearly off. I went to her house with her. Neolani allowed her raven to sit on my shoulder as I entered. I believe she could see everything that happened through it. Entering the house I immediately saw the giant blood stain in her kitchen. Shakily, she recounted the murder. She said a man entered their house last night and killed her husband Draden. I asked if he had any enemies in town but Tracy insisted he was a humble butcher. He was well liked and loved his village. I couldn't get a read on Tracy. She seemed distraught but the bad feeling in my stomach stayed. In my head just as I was deciding she was innocent, Neolani messaged me. "Why is she smiling?" Tracy had been covering the lower half of her face during our conversation. Could she be responsible?
 
I had only one option to get to the bottom of this. I'm not proud of it but if it got a result I would be happy. I have always viewed romance as something like a tool. Like resin for a bow string or a grinder for an axe. I turned up my charm to eleven and asked Tracy if she felt something between us. To my surprise she did. I'm not interested in her but I feel almost proud of myself. She takes my hand and says, "Come with me." I was terrified about where this might lead to next. Maybe the raven should leave? Tracy opened the door and to my relief I see that her comforter is soaked in blood. "What happened?" "I did it. I can't stand being in this town anymore. We have the money and I just desperately want to leave. Can we run away together?" I agree and gather the comforter and murder weapon. I lie and say we have to hide the evidence.
 
I message Neolani and have her prepare by the door. I take Tracey by the arm and lead her outside. We grappled her and dragged her to the jail. I was able to provide evidence to get Sam out of jail. They asked her why she did this but she didn't provide any more information. I asked her if she still liked me and she wasn't sure. This probably isn't my proudest moment but I know I am the best thing that could've happened to her. I leaned forward and kissed her but this seemed to cause more distress. I don't understand, I've kissed people like two or three times before. It couldn't have been that bad right?
 
With Sam freed, we went to the goblin camp to find Borris. They were going to attempt to heal him. We took a long rest while we waited.
 
Its hot. Unbearably so. I am sweating but that doesn't bring me any relief. I see the flames in front of me climb higher and higher. I look for a way to escape but none are in my line of sight. Something else emerges from the smoke and ash. A demon, ginormous and red reaches for me. I try to escape but my hands are bound. I know I am next.
 
Borris was doing worse in the morning. We traveled with Markus, a man the others seemed to know, to the stables. After a lot of debate, we got three horses and an ox for Neolani. Sam is surprisingly generous. He gave me a dog! I love dogs. This is the biggest one I have ever seen but I adore him. His name is Fenris but I am going to call him Fin for short. As we mount our horses, Neolani asks me what I am going to name my horse. It takes me only a moment to think of the name. "Tracy, named after that horse faced bitch!" We galloped to Greenhorn. Our hope was that we would find a healer of some kind for Borris. The journey was long and exhausting. Fin needs a lot of training. At one point I was dragged around and thought for sure I was going to disappear into the wilds with him.
 
The town we arrived has a better infrastructure than the previous one. The guards stop us and let up know the prince is here. Maybe I'll get a chance to make a better impression at some point? Gods bless the Moradins! I got a flash of home when a healer from their country arrived to assist Borris. They took us to a temple-like structure to heal him. We decided to find somewhere to rest because we were exhausted. At this inn they required us to give our party name. We settled on the Cursed Crusaders for now. We heard Borris is going to live. We now just have to wait for him to get up.
 
I hope it takes him awhile. I'm exhausted.