“11th of Gratus
We’ve been on the road for two days now. I’ve barely talked to anyone besides Karzan. I feel awful. I know I did something wrong but now it feels more like they see me as nothing more than a nuisance. I know I’ve been annoying but I was just excited to finally be free! To see the world! And now I’ve ended up back at square one. Alone again. But I dare not say or do anything, they seem to tolerate me for now. If I act out will they leave me at the next town? At least I have Karzan’s books to keep me company. Maybe I’ll just sleep in today, it’s not like they trust me to do anything.”
- Aryana’s Diary Entry
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“...And that’s how you can tell what berries are edible! Though personally I prefer throwing all of it into a pot to make a jam or just to cook it down. It’s always safer that way when it comes to wild foods.” Aryana bobbed knowingly.
Umbrella looking plants, thorny plants, shiny plants, were all not safe to randomly eat. This was combined at last with the bunch of other random information about foraging and life in the wilderness that was now lodged inside Sophie’s head. Her companion had recovered remarkably quickly once she realized she wasn’t being abandoned or left behind, their moment of heated confrontation creating a small air of awkwardness between them but did little to hinder the peppiness that Aryana regained. At first they were quiet, but the excitedness soon returned when they had passed the rendezvous, finding signs of caravan movement but no more goblins.
Sophie could tell however, that the girl was still feeling uneasy underneath the cheerful veneer.Though she herself felt much the same traveling without any armed escorts, she chose to encourage the girl to share facts about her time in the wilderness. She wondered just what the former tribal had learned and hopefully relieved some of the tension. To her pleasant surprise, there was a dizzying array of facts and tidbits that Aryana freely shared, perhaps just happy that they were on speaking terms once again. Even if, in Sophie’s eyes, they hadn’t been not on speaking terms.
She did feel a modicum of guilt, knowing that her own quiet contemplations about Melton had led to their brief estrangement. It wasn’t her intention of course, but she still felt like an idiot all the same. Though I guess I still don’t really know what she sees as heroic in me. So many died because of me and Markus… Goddess help me, I still feel his entrails in my hands, his heart as I squeezed it, and the screams of the dead and dying. Goddess above please, help me forget, forget all of it. She sighed bitterly and allowed her shoulders to sag.
They were just past what should be the edge of the marshlands and were now inside the foothills of High Wall. A dense line of lush green trees obscured her view of the lands below and only a thin line of sunlight could cut through the gap between the trees. Yet, it was peaceful, serene even, only the bird song and occasional demented screeching of some animals disturbing their journey. The trees themselves swayed languidly in the wind, the subtle hints of a breeze be it mountain or ocean, growing stronger the further one they went. Arteria…I wonder what it’s gonna be like? I know Eva really talked it up back then but…by the saints, that feels like a lifetime ago.
It was only after a small bump in the road, that she felt the weight behind her increase. Taurox’s warhorse neighed with annoyance at the state of the road. On some levels she empathised with it, the road wasn’t decrepit or destroyed, but, if asked if she would hike using it, her answer would also be a resounding no. Tingling uncomfortably from the prolonged contact, she finally turned to look behind her to find why the girl had squished up to her.
To her surprise, the redhead was gently dozing off, somehow having fallen asleep mid ride and collapsing atop Sophie’s back. Sophie had half her mind set on shaking the girl off, but upon observing her peaceful almost childlike smile on her face as she rested, Sophie thought better of it. Yet, she realized a potential problem. Aryana was now at an increased risk of falling off the horse. Against her better judgment, Sophie tugged for the warhorse to halt
The creature neighed in annoyance once more but acquiesced after they scooted slightly off the road in a break in the gap between the trees. Carefully, Sophie extracted herself off the mount, taking great pains to not make sudden movements and awaken the sleeping girl. Aryana slowly slumped over the saddle before Sophie tried to move her off as well. Sophie carefully slid the girl off to one side, only to realize that she wasn’t the most proficient at carrying humans. Her eyes turned into saucers as she felt the world slow down, her foot losing its balance, the girl tumbling down soon after.
She felt her back smack into the back of a tree, her eyes clenched shut as she winced in pain. Only for the full weight of Aryana’s still slumbering form collapsed onto her. She almost yelped out loud but barely held it back, a mixture of fear, confusion, anger, curiosity and concern all floating around within her. But, to her increasing shock, she could see Aryana’s chest still rising and falling with every breath, the girl having slept through her fall off the horse. Sophie just stared at the sight incredulously until her pain subsided and she finally understood the situation.
She looked up to gaze at the sight beyond the trees, the ugly sickly dark green marshlands below ruining what could’ve been a scenic few. At least it's plenty far away that most critters won’t crawl up here, I hope. Sickly looking pools of darkened coagulated water, sat surrounding the equally sickly looking trees and grass of the area. Just beyond the depressing sight was the outline of a bridge stretching over parts of the swamp about a day’s journey away by horse, without accounting for the terrain. That must be the merchant’s road, why would anyone ever choose to go through this swamp is beyond me.
With a sigh, she turned her attention back to her two charges, the warhorse having sensed the break and moved to chew some grass on the roadside. Aryana continued to peacefully snooze away, and Sophie wondered if she should rouse the girl the same way she used to rouse Eva, only to feel a yawn fast approaching the longer she stared at the girl. Crap.
They had ridden hard yesterday, gaining tremendous distance from where they had left Taurox. Today had been much the same, though they settled for a nice trot instead, seeing no threats nearby. She supposed they did sleep only a handful of hours, both the adrenaline and fear having kept them going for the most part. Letting out an exasperated groan, she readjusted her position under the tree, making sure Aryana could rest comfortably on her, whilst she tried to find whatever comfort she could from the stiff tree trunk. Awkwardly threading her hands under Aryana’s arms to secure the girl to herself, she finally relaxed her muscles and closed her eyes, basking in the sun’s warmth. Slowly but surely, she too drifted off to sleep.
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Sweet floral notes intertwined with a woody vanilla tingled Sophie’s nose awake. Her nose then, finally roused her brain to the foreign scent and her eyes shot open. Her world was filled with a mess of hair and head, her mouth opening to breathe only to quickly feel a mouthful of hair and immediately splutter in a vain attempt to spit it back out. Taking stock of the situation she found Aryana had not just relaxed completely in her sleep, she had gotten so comfortable that she splayed herself completely over Sophie, her head smothering Sophie’s own.
“Urk.” Sophie grunted as she extracted herself from the sleepy mess.
Her chest ached fiercely and she rubbed her now very sensitive nose in order to nurse it back to normal. Stretching out her limbs, her stiff back gave a satisfying if slightly concerning crack that alerted the warhorse to her return to consciousness. It gave Sophie a brief snigger of dismissiveness, perhaps wondering why the new riders were so easily tired compared to the minotaur. Sophie groaned back and hustled over, rummaging through one of its saddle bags to pull out some horse feed that Taurox specifically instructed her to feed the horse whenever they prepared to set out. Satisfied, the mount turned to the food and left Sophie alone with the still sleeping lump sprawled under the tree.
Though she intended to simply shake her until she awakened, when Sophie caught sight of the setting sun illuminating the dark boggy marshlands before with a sickly orange, she decided on more direct means. Mischievousness crept into her as she watched Aryana’s peaceful sleeping form, and slowly but surely she crept back over and hovered above the girl’s head. She took in the sight of the pale girl, certainly paler than most Carradorians she’d ever met. Aryana sported a series of freckles across her face, her little nose stood haughtily against her rounded face, her almond shaped eyes flickering under her eyelids, likely a good dream judging by the smile on her face. Seeing her chance, Sophie performed the necessary ritual of awakening the girl, the same that she often did to Eva whenever the noble refused to stir from bed.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
It started with one quick tap on the nose, then two, three and a few dozen more as she tried to tap the girl awake. It was around halfway when her plan started working, the girl’s face scrunching up as her still slumbering form directed her arms to swat at the mysterious fly buzzing over her.
Her mischief came to an ignoble end when the girl’s hands suddenly clamped themselves around her fingers and held her in place.
“Gweh!” Aryana woke up with a start, her drowsy eyes still flickering slowly open.
A moment passed by when the girl looked curiously at the finger booping her nose. Her eyes traced it back to Sophie, who for her part maintained the most neutral expression she could hold.
“Gah!” Aryana scrambled back in shock, “Ow!” Proceeding to immediately smack into the tree.
At that Sophie couldn’t help but let out a small giggle and put on a wry grin, looking down upon the confused girl and gesturing to the mount. “Awake yet? Enjoy your little nap?”
“Huh? Ack! Ahhh…my head…I’m awake.” Aryana murmured, “Were you just…did you just poke my nose?”
“C’mon then, we’ve still got a ways to go. That is… if you’re up and able.” Sophie clapped, making sure to avoid mentioning the accusation.
“Uhh, huh? Yeah…yeah I’m up. Did you really just-”
“Let’s try and make it to the third waypoint.” Sophie interrupted, giving Aryana a small smile before turning towards the horse.
“Hey…hey! Wait for me! How long was I…you can’t just-” Aryana yelped.
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“...and that’s how I always used to wake her up.” Sophie sighed wistfully, her eyes turned up towards the thin slits of moonlight cutting through the trees.
“That’s…”
“Childish, I know. But, I just found it funny, I mean…it was all that mattered back then.” Sophie’s voice dropped into a somber whisper, “Whether or not we could have fun…or go on some stupid adventure or another. World traveling explorers…”
“...adorable…”
“I mean if only we knew what we know now. I’d bet neither of…huh? Adorable?”
“The way you two acted, back then. I mean…uhh if it’s not inappropriate for me to point it out.” Aryana quickly back tracked, clearly fearful of a stern rebuke.
Seeing how the redhead shrunk back into her shell hurt a little, Sophie knew that she wasn’t the most calm as of late, but it still hurt.
“It’s fine.” She murmured her reply.
“Sorry. Truth is…umm…well it's just I’m a little jealous.” Aryana admitted.
“Jealous?”
“You know, of how close you two sound like. I just think back to when I was a kid and mother…” Aryana trailed off, the redhead leaning back and sighing.
“Aryana?”
“It’s nothing. Was just thinking out loud is all.”
“You good?” Sophie asked.
There was a pause, the redhead looking away and refusing to meet her gaze.
“Aryana?”
“Meh.”
Sophie winced slightly at how quickly the girl replied, her soft tone hiding some painful memories. A tone Sophie had grown a little too familiar with lately.
“I’m here if you need anything.” Sophie replied instinctively only to pause, wondering if they would continue traveling together after Arteria.
“Will you though?” Aryana bit back, perhaps sharing some concerns that mirrored Sophie’s own.
“What do you mean?”
“Will you really be around? If I need something?”
“Worried you’d be abandoned?”
“...maybe…” The girl let out a soft whisper.
“Well…don’t. I’m the flame warden or something right? I’ll be here to keep you safe, err flame haired child of the north.” Sophie tried to inject some jovialness into the dour mood that slowly descended only to suddenly feel a firm tug on her shoulders.
“Don’t.” Ayana growled.
“Eh?”
“Please don’t ever call me that again.”
“Huh? Flame haired?”
“Yes. Please don’t.”
“Ah…sorry.”
“The scowling girl calls me the redhead or the ginger, but never flame haired. I…I’d rather not have to think about the tribe at all…or their stupid prophecy.” Aryana grunted.
“Right…don’t worry I won’t. What about me though? If you’re not the flame…prophecy…err…I mean then I probably shouldn’t be the flame warden though.” Sophie awkwardly replied.
“Does it matter?”
“I guess not. But having some titles could be nice, makes it easier for people to understand who you are.”
“Really? I’ve found being labeled to be rather unpleasant.” Aryana complained.
“That’s…understandable.” Sophie agreed, though she could tell the girl was only getting more depressed as they went on and wracked her head for a way to lift her spirits.
Demented screams sounding like something between a crow and a lion echoed from deeper inside the forest. The Screeching Apes, I think I read about them somewhere, we ought to be a bit more careful taking this path. She gave the warhorse a soft pat that it promptly ignored, but she still tried her best to increase its gait even by just a little.
“Do you have any?” Aryana’s queried, a slightly lighter timbre in her voice as curiosity took hold.
“Eh?”
“Titles, labels, what do people call you?”
“Err…that’s…” Sophie scratched her head. Now that we're talking about it, the staff at the estate never really called me anything nice. Half blood bastard, knife ears, wretch, not exactly a good set of names. Sophie gave her ears a gentle caress, her mouth pursing whilst her own eyes dipped into a frown. We've been so busy lately I haven't even thought of what it would be like in Arteria, shit. I'll probably need to buy a cloak, always hated how the city folk would stare at my ears.
“Sophie?” Aryana queried.
“Mmm…ah?!” Sophie snapped out of her thoughts, quickly wiping away the frown that had formed.
“You went quiet.”
“Umm…my bad, I was…lost in my thoughts. Anyways, what were we talking about again?”
“What people called you…”
“Right! What people called me...”
“I-I can see you're a little uncomfortable. It's...it's okay if you want to keep it to yourself.”
“Heh, that’s fine, I don’t...mind. I've been called my fair share of less than stellar labels. As for titles…I got it! You can also call me the Lily Knight!” She tapped her chest softly, like she had just rediscovered something brilliant.
“The…lily knight?” Aryana hummed before letting out a small noise.
Sophie winced a little as images of the ordeal flashed in her mind, but shaking it off she tried to lift up the mood once again.“Mmhmm. A…Le...Lil…ahem, a lady knighted me in the castle.”
“A lady…knighted you? Castle? You mean back in Melisgrad! Wait…does that mean…”
“She didn’t make it.”
“Ah.” Aryana's face dropped.
“It’s fine. I think she would’ve wanted me to move on anyways. We…did what we needed to do.” Sophie said as she rubbed her left arm, the ethereal sensation still tingling her skin. “So…I guess I could be your lily knight instead of flame warden. Though I suppose the duties stay the same, protecting you and keeping you upright on your journey.” Sophie announced theatrically, puffing up her chest slightly.
At this Aryana paused and gave Sophie an odd look, before finally giggling slightly. Sophie found herself breathing a sigh of relief, having successfully recovered the girl’s faltering mood.
“Eheheh. That… that sounds good to me.” Aryana smiled nervously, her hand holding onto her braid “I'm… still sorry about your friend though.”
“Not exactly a friend, just…” An ally and a tool, perhaps, but she still spared me, I suppose that’s all I could’ve asked for. Goddess that’s dark. She shook her head and offered a small smile of her own instead. “But, enough about that, we have a long journey ahead. So... feel free to let me know if you need to get some rest. We should hopefully be over the next set of hills just before the next afternoon.” She tutted and received a nod in return. Satisfied, the two dropped into a no longer tense silence as they busied themselves with their own thoughts. Yet, Sophie felt a shiver run down her spine despite the more pleasant mood, we’re so close to Arteria and Eva now… but why do I feel so nervous?