Unfortunately, Daphne only had the chance to get one look, not nearly enough to confirm what she thought she saw. When she blinked, the figure was gone and the carriage had driven too far off.
"Is there sothing wrong, Daphne?" Atticus asked, noticing her unrest.
"I... I thought I saw Maisie," she said, her voice barely above a murmur. "Can we stop the carriage? I want to go and search for her. I’m sure she’s here!"
Daphne’s voice grew stronger at the end as if the very thought of Maisie’s presence gave her strength.
Jonah and Atticus exchanged wordless glances before Atticus finally replied.
"You must be imagining things. How can she make the long trip to Frostholm? She doesn’t have a carriage or an escort," he pointed out. "If anything, the chances of her being ripped apart by monsters are higher than her surviving. We’re not stopping."
"Atticus!" Jonah hissed, quickly shaking his head. "Don’t say it like that!"
Why had he let his friend talk? Oh right, because Jonah assud that he would know what to say to comfort his wife. His mistake.
Daphne’s face fell, her shoulders slumping in defeat. Her lips wobbled at the thought. Atticus had a point; the thornhounds would have made quick work of Maisie. But still...
anwhile, Atticus hurriedly shot Jonah a panicked glance. Jonah could only sign. He also didn’t want to destroy Daphne’s fragile hopes, but won that looked like Maisie were a di a dozen.
"Daphne, we’ll definitely try our best to find Maisie," Jonah promised, "But there’s also a chance that you might have just mistaken another girl for her in this light. A lot of young girls in Vramid have brown hair and wear their hair the sa way. It’s also not safe for you to search now when it’s getting dark."
Daphne nodded in miserable resignation, and they spent the rest of the trip in awkward silence as the carriage rolled up to their destination.
"We’re here," Atticus said, and together, they filed out of the carriage door and stared at their housing for the night.
The Pleasant Inn was a simple two-story building made of a combination of stone and wood, with lanterns hung in front to guide weary travelers. There were stables further down from the inn, and Daphne could see several children running around in the courtyard, playing tag.
Daphne smiled at their antics, then she shivered as the cold wind buffeted them. She hadn’t realized how much colder it was outside at night, far from the castle walls. Hopefully, this place was warr than it looked.
"Welco, welco!" The innkeeper rushed out to greet them, frantically bowing to them. The lantern she held in her hands bobbed with every movent, and Daphne was half-afraid she would drop it and set her own inn on fire. "Your High―"
"Not in public," Atticus warned, with narrowed eyes.
"Yes, my apologies, my lord," the innkeeper corrected herself, before turning her eyes to Daphne. "It’s an honor to et you and your lovely wife! We prepared our best rooms for you and your party, along with a hot bath and dinner."
"Thank you," Daphne said gratefully, looking forward to resting.
"Please, follow ," the innkeeper said, and they followed her inside.
"Didn’t you two say it might be hard to find suitable lodging?" Daphne asked, whispering to Jonah.
"He’s the king," Jonah replied, equally as hushed. "We sent a ssenger ahead and the innkeeper happily cleared out the required rooms for us."
The innkeeper gave them a quick tour of the place, where the dining hall was, where they could call for servants if they needed help, and where the nearest pub was if they fancied a drink. Then she handed them and then handed them the keys to their rooms.
To Daphne’s surprise, she and Atticus were given one key to share, while Jonah shared another room with all of his n.
"Excuse , does this an I’m sharing a room with my husband?"
Her face flushed at the very thought of them sharing such an intimate space together, sleeping side by side, huddled under the sa blanket...
The innkeeper blinked, looking between the both of them in confusion. Atticus’s face looked like it could be carved out of stone, while Daphne’s face was redder than a tomato. Jonah could only facepalm because this was definitely Atticus’s fault.
"Would you like a separate room?" the innkeeper asked cautiously, as though she could not comprehend why a husband and wife would not want to share a room. "The initial request was for two rooms only. Our rooms are full at the mont, but I could kick out so of our guests to accommodate you."
After all, a noble’s comfort would always take precedence over a commoner’s. What more Vramid’s royalty?
Daphne hurriedly shook her head, aghast at the very thought. "There’s no need. We’ll share! Thank you for your help!"
Surely there would be more than one bed in the room since it was ant for two people. Maybe the beds would be big, and she wouldn’t need to worry about accidentally touching Atticus in her sleep and embarrassing herself further.
All her hopes were dashed the mont she entered the room. The room was small, with a tiny dresser shoved into the corner and a rickety wardrobe ant for clothes, along with a bathroom at the corner.
But there was only one bed, with two pillows.
And it wasn’t big.
In fact, it looked more like a bed for a single person.
"This looks... cozy," Daphne said as the innkeeper left them to their own devices. Her palms were sweating at the very thought of sharing such a small bed with Atticus in her nightclothes.
"I know this isn’t what you’re used to," Atticus said, a little shafacedly. "But this is the best this town has to offer. Most rooms don’t even have their own bathrooms and they have to sleep on bed rolls instead. If sharing a bed with makes you uncomfortable, I could get a bedroll and sleep on the floor."
"No!" Daphne exclaid.
Atticus stared at her, surprised by her vehence. She gathered herself.
"This is fine," she said more calmly. "After all, we are husband and wife. If we were to sleep in separate beds, what would the innkeeper think?"
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