“Should I tell you about the fish dishes available?” the young man asked.
Blanc shook his head, rubbing the rain from his brow. “Just bring us four of your best.”
“Very well,” the man nodded. “Anything to drink?”
“Not tonight,” Blanc replied with a stifled yawn. “We’ve been walking for days. All we need is food and sleep.”
“As you wish,” the man said, giving a courteous nod. “If you change your mind, just wave down.”
He turned to leave, but Blanc’s voice stopped him mid-step.
“Oh, and if this rain doesn’t ease up by morning,” Blanc added, “We’ll be staying another night.”
The man glanced back with a knowing smile. “Good to know,” he said before disappearing toward the kitchen.
Although conversations still happened, it got quieter after Blanc, Velakia, Lendros, and Tahreni ca down. Not silent, just… restrained. Controlled.
Even their eyes were more in check.
It wasn’t as obvious as before, but Blanc could feel their sudden stares that vanished when he looked their way. So he focused further, the Marks on his body sharpening his hearing at his request, listening in on all conversations around or above them.
Even back in the room earlier, his focus had never left the sounds below, boots on floorboards, windows opening regardless of the storm outside, and whispers.
'What are they doing?', 'Are they going down soon?', 'It's raining like crazy,’ ’Should we listen in?’
No whisper escaped his ears. And neither did now, while they waited for the food.
“Should I ask?” a woman giggled, “What if he refuses ?”
“Go for the one next to him,” another replied, “That man looks good as well.”
“Where do you think he gets all that strength from?” an older man asked.
“Our Lord surely must have sent one of his own, I’m telling you, this is a test from his Lordship,” another replied.
A third one chuckled, “You and your conspiracies. Don’t you get tired of them?”
“Call it whatever the fuck you want, I say it as I see it,” the second one replied.
“Go to a healer, check your eyes before you go blind,” the third one continued, “Look at him, he's barely an adult. Our Lord would at least send a respectable warrior, not a… child.”
“Should we do it tonight?” a guy asked, sitting near a woman, his hand on top of hers.
“You and your sharp tongue,” the woman chuckled lightly, nervous by the cracks in her voice, perhaps even drunk, “But we have ti, another day at least, no? Why rush?”
“Because-”
I do not need to listen in on such conversations, Blanc thought, disappointed in himself as he cald down his hearing slightly.
Luckily, it was just in ti, as four plates of food ca their way.
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Small roasted potatoes, freshly caught fish, cooked whole with herbs and spices added inside.
Wonderfully cooked, especially for an inn.
Though Blanc knew he could do it better as they ate.
With the al done, Blanc and his companions walked back towards their room.
The bed creaked as Blanc lay down on top of it, groaning heavily.
“I’m tired,” he sighed, closing his eyes for a mont.
Velakia sat on the bed next to him, “You’re not the only one, but tell , how is this helping us in any way? At least if we continued walking, we would have made so progress.”
“That’s how far your trust goes, then?” Blanc asked, opening his eyes lightly.
“Trust this, trust that,” she clicked her tongue, “But you do not trust enough to tell what you are planning.”
“If that is what you think, so be it,” Blanc sighed, turning to the side, his back towards her, “Wake up by dinner.”
“Why?” Velakia wondered.
“Because that’s when we leave,” Blanc replied casually, “Well, after we eat, of course.”
“Leave? After you did all that?” Velakia chuckled, baffled.
“It’s because I did all that, we will be able to leave,” Blanc said, clearing his throat, “Ignore whatever sounds co from below us or from outside the door, and try to get so sleep. Once we leave, we move quickly.”
“Care to explain?” Velakia asked.
“Nope.”
By the ti Velakia could even argue against the outright refusal, Blanc was already asleep.
She cursed in two languages, cald down, cursed so more, lay down in her own bed, told Tahreni and Lendros to rest as well, and closed her eyes.
Sleep haunted her, but her mind kept it at bay.
mories past, nightmares past, and the frustrations of today all ca to her. She tossed, turned, her bed creaking with every movent, annoying her even further.
What was once a princess of an entire Kingdom stood on a shabby bed, haunted by a man and frustrated by another. One that hurt her, one that she couldn’t trust because of the other, despite this one asking her to do so.
Blanc didn’t hurt her, but he didn’t act like he cared either.
He fed her and her people when she didn’t have food, he listened to her when nobody was listening, and he seed like he cared enough for them to see them get ho. But she couldn’t trust him.
She tried.
But that was the extent of her grace, or whatever remained of that as well. She felt like a shell of a princess, a shell of a woman, a shell of a human. There was nothing else to it.
But as luck would have it, she managed to fall asleep for a few hours.
“Velakia,” the voice of a man reached her sleep, “Wake up.”
“Mmm,” she murmured, a frown on her face as she tried to cling to the sleep she managed to get.
“Co on, you forgot to wake as well,” the man said, “We need to go down quickly.”
She opened her eyes lightly, her vision blurry, unable to see properly in the dark as she had just woken up.
“Co on,” the man continued, placing a hand on her shoulder.
The touch felt familiar. Who was he? It was too dark, frustrating her.
She blinked, and as her vision adjusted, the face of the man whom she considered the love of her life appeared on the man in front of her. Her heartbeat jumped, panic ensued, and sweat began forming.
Was he there to hurt her again? But he was dead, hanged by the castle walls. Was he there to haunt her life as well? Weren’t her dreams enough? Wasn’t the harm he had done to her enough already?
She felt like screaming, but her throat dried up, closing itself in fear.
“Velakia?” the man asked, “Are you okay?”
Why was the man who was about to hurt her asking her if she was okay? Of course, she wasn’t.
Please, leave alone, she wanted to scream.
But she couldn’t.
Wait, what were Tahreni and Lendros doing? They were her protectors. Why weren’t they protecting her?
Traitors.
Hang them. Hang all of them.
She closed her eyes tightly, hoping not to feel the pain.
“Velakia!” Blanc spoke, raising his voice, “What’s gotten into you? Hey, Lendros, Tahreni,” the man said out loud.
At that, two pairs of feet rushed next to the man. Finally. They will stop him. They weren’t traitors after all.
She opened her eyes lightly, wanting to see the carnage that was probably happening in front of her. But all she saw were three worried faces.
But one stood out from the rest.
Not the face of soone who wanted to hurt her.
“Blanc,” she muttered, sharply exhaling as her heart slowly cald down, rejoicing to see his face instead, “Thank the Vita.”
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