Mel awoke the next day to birds singing above her head. They had slept in the forest on the road to Stonehearth and it had been one of the few times Melissa had slept on the ground. Her body ached when she rolled over onto her back and leaves had gotten stuck in her hair. The cold had crept in during the night through the damp early spring air.
Mel sat up and brushed away the leaves with her hands. Then bringing up her red cloak from the ground and shaking it clean. Marcus was already up, tending to the fire. He had the last shift to watch the fire. He met her gaze, and they shared a smile.
A loud rumble seemed to come from close by, and Mel’s eyes widened. Marcus let out a small chuckle and looked down at her belly. Mel realized it was her stomach protesting and a blush spread over her cheeks.
Marcus handed her a piece of bread from his backpack and Mel sat down next to the fire. She took a couple of bites from the hardened edge of the bread. It was at least three days old and Mel longed for them to arrive in Stonehearth. She wanted to taste bread that was fresh out of the oven again, with a splatter of butter and maybe a couple of apple slices too.
“We'll have to leave soon,” Marcus said. “As soon as those two wake up.”
He pointed with a small stick in his hand to Bo and John, who were sleeping close together. Their cloaks wrapped around them, snoring. Mel’s smile broadened when she saw them. As if they had heard, Bo stirred in his sleep, knocking John in the face with his hand.
John woke up startled, staring down at Bo and an angry grin spread across his face. He shoved Bo’s side and rolled him over, waking Bo up.
“Hey, what did you do that for?” Bo said, rubbing his eyes.
“You were the one who hit me,” John said.
“No, I didn’t,” Bo said.
Marcus stood up with a wide grin on his face and both John and Bo turned to regard them by the fire.
“Okay, you two,” Marcus said. “Time to walk.”
John jerked his backpack from the ground and stared sourly at Bo before walking away toward Stonehearth. Marcus put out the fire with some water from his bottle and Mel stuffed the last piece of her bread into her mouth before leaving with John. Bo was the last one up and he scrambled to gather all his belongings and catch up with the others.
“Hey, wait for me,” he said, running after them.
Marcus handed John a piece of bread and they ate while walking. There was a day's journey by foot left to Stonehearth, and Mel wondered what it would be like to arrive at the city when darkness fell. She worried they wouldn’t let her in or have some sort of stupid rule about foreigners. But nothing like that had ever been mentioned from either Leigh, the ferryman, or her uncle Joe.
Mel wanted to fit in when they arrived. She didn’t want anyone to recognize they were from the dragon cult. Not that she was ashamed of where she came from or of the dragons. She was more scared to be treated differently, like she had been back home. In Windbrook, everyone knew she had a great destiny. Her mother had made sure of it.
She had gone around spreading gossip and rumors about Mel. How she would grow up and become the new leader of the cult or take over the world. None of that was true. They all knew that now. But Mel had always been treated like it was true. Like she was something precious, someone who was meant to be protected and awed.
Even Marcus felt that way about her. He had changed his entire life direction to come with her on this trip and stay by her side. Because she was someone with an important destiny. Not because she was Mel. That was something that bugged her more than she liked to admit.
Marcus was one of her best friends and she wanted to feel happy he had come with her. But somehow she just felt guilty every time she looked at him now. Knowing that if it wasn’t for her stupid destiny, he could be safe at home living the life he had always wanted. The life everyone wanted except for Mel.
Only a couple of minutes into their trip, they heard a rumble coming from behind them on the road. It sounded like it was fast approaching them. Mel and Marcus shared a worried glance, and he led Mel over to the side by John and Bo. Together, the four of them stood silently, watching the road for what was about to happen.
A horse emerged around the corner, and behind it a fancy-looking carriage rolled along the path. There was a man seated high on a stool with a crop in his hands and the reins to the horse. He regarded them calmly as he passed and didn’t say a word.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Mel stood gaping at the vehicle, watching the slim black lines of the carriage. There was a window on the side and a small green curtain covered half of the glass. Through the uncovered section of the window, Mel saw a woman’s face in profile.
She had long blonde hair that hung in loose waves around her face. A small nose with full lips and eyes that were focused on something or someone sitting right in front of her. She was smiling, a faint smile, and then the carriage passed and Mel couldn’t see anything more.
“Did you see that?” Bo said. “She was beautiful.”
“Yeah,” Mel said. “She was.”
“She must be rich,” John said. “Riding in a fancy carriage like that. We don’t have those in Windbrook. I’ve never even seen one before.”
“Me neither,” Mel said.
“Oh, well,” Marcus said. “Let’s get going. We still need to make it to Stonehearth, and I don’t expect her to come back and pick us up.”
“I wish she would,” Bo said.
Mel looked at him, and he had a dreamy expression on his face. Mel didn’t know if it was because of the beautiful woman, the luxury carriage, or of the idea of not having to walk a single more step today. But she knew she wouldn’t have minded taking that carriage on the last stretch to Stonehearth.
#
The sun was on the horizon, and night was falling. Mel was tired and wanted nothing more than a hot meal and a bed right now. They approached the stone walls leading into the city, and Mel looked up at the tall structure. It was massive, and she wondered how long it must have taken to build such a thing, all in stone.
The road leading up was crowded with people and guards, but none seemed to stop them or want to ask questions about what they were doing here. They just walked inside the city, with no one even giving them so much as a glance. Mel felt strange about this, like she almost couldn’t believe she was allowed to be walking here.
At any moment now, she expected a guard in a green uniform to come walking up to her and ask her to leave. But they didn’t. A few stared at her, but mostly just at John and Bo. Mel figured it was their red clothing, giving them away as a part of the dragon cult. She couldn’t wait to throw off her cloak and emerge tomorrow morning as a new person into the city. But for today, she was going to stick with her warmer clothing, whether or not it was blood red.
They made their way through bustling market stalls and people carrying bags of grain and buckets of water. At the edge of town, close to the gate where they had arrived, the Stoneway Inn was located. So far on their travels, they had followed Mr. Wickett’s agenda to the tee. He had booked the ferry ride and made sure it would leave when they arrived. He had made reservations at the Stoneway Inn for them to sleep and he had given them enough money to not have to worry about such things.
But after this night, things would be different. Not by a lot, but by a little. Bo and John would return home and Marcus and Mel would get a day by themselves to stroll around Stonehearth before the next leg of their journey began.
Inside the Stoneway Inn, there was a crowd like Mel had never seen before. Usually, the Windbrook Inn could get busy around the travel seasons, fall and spring, with merchants and seasonal workers. But this was something completely different. Not only were all the tables taken, but people were actually sitting by the bar or standing by the wall with a glass in their hand.
John waded through the crowd and the others followed him as best as they could. When he came up to the counter, he opened his mouth to speak to the bartender, but she just waved him off.
“A room for four tonight and tomorrow a room for only two. Am I right?” she said.
“Yeah,” John said. “That’s right. How did you know?”
She looked him up and down and then stopped around his chest area, staring at the silver dragon attached to his uniform. She had dark brown hair that was tied up into a bun and a white apron attached to her body.
“It’s hard to miss you’re from Windbrook,” she said. “We don’t get many people from there. So I remembered your reservation by heart. I’ve actually been looking forward to having you. To see what all the fuss is about, you know.”
“Okay…” John said. “So, do we pay now or later?”
“You can pay for both nights tomorrow morning,” she said. “We’re busy right now. I will show you to your room and then I need to get back.”
She walked out from behind the bar and they followed her up some stairs in the back of the Inn. She opened a door, and they made it out onto a walkway. They crossed over what seemed to be the backyard to the Inn, where a young man was getting water from the well outside. The bartender opened the next door and there a quiet corridor met them, far away from the bustling bar.
She turned to regard them, pointing at the door closest to the entrance from the walkway.
“Here is the room,” she said. “There aren’t much more than four beds and a washbasin with some water that has been brought up for you. If you need a full bath or something to eat, you come down to the bar and talk to me. Oh, and I’m Penelope. Nice to meet you.”
She turned and exited the door out to the walkway again. She really must have been in a hurry, since she didn’t even care to listen to their names or take their money. Melissa shared a glance with Marcus and shrugged. This differed from Windbrook, but it was alright.
They entered the room they rented, and it was just like Penelope had described, four beds and a wash basin by a window. Nothing more, nothing less. Mel hiked off her backpack and put it on the floor next to a bed.
They were all pretty tired by now, and Mel had since long forgotten about wanting a hot meal. Now, all she wanted was to rest in her bed. Bo and John laid down and soon they were both snoring like dogs. Mel put her head on the pillow and sleep found her immediately.