It was nearly midnight by the time Gideon and Surelin returned to the inn. The same clerk who’d been part of the hubbub earlier was still on duty at the front desk, and he watched the pair warily as they climbed the stairway to the second floor. Gideon noticed his attention but was too exhausted to care.

Surelin entered the room ahead of him, and sat down on the left-hand couch still wearing her ruck. An exhausted sigh exploded from her as she slipped her shoulders out from under the straps.

Gideon watched her as he dropped his own ruck on the opposite couch, and made a connection.

“That first time you walked into the room,” he said. “When you dumped the sack on the floor. I thought you were just trying to piss me off, but that’s not it, is it? You dropped the sack because you couldn’t hold it anymore.”

A mix of anger and embarrassment spread across her face. “Sorry I’m not a musclebound giant like you!”

Gideon blinked. “No, uh…I’m just surprised. I guess a princess wouldn’t normally do that kind of thing. Carry something heavy.”

She stood up and stormed past him towards the bathroom.

“I’m taking a bath.”

He shrugged and bent over his ruck, unbuckling the top flap. He wanted a drink before bed.

“Alright. You do that.”

Surelin paused after grabbing the bathroom's doorhandle. A look of concern spread across her face as she turned back towards Gideon.

He pulled the whiskey bottle out from his ruck, and looked up when he felt her eyes on him.

“What? What’s wrong?”

She blinked rapidly.

“It’s nothing...” she muttered as she stepped inside.

The bathroom door’s lock clicked into place.

What was that about?

He shook his head, and set the bottle down on the couch. She could be very difficult to understand at times.

A feeling of relief washed over him as he loosened the buckle keeping his claymore strapped to his back. Next he loosened the knots keeping his armor tied down, and dropped it all on the couch next to his ruck. Freed from all his gear, he dug through his ruck and pulled out one of his new shirts, along with a pair of shorts, and for the first time in over a year he began to change into a brand new set of clothing.

The sound of the bath running prompted Gideon to get on with it. He grabbed his claymore, and the whiskey, then walked over and sat down on the bed. After getting comfortable he pulled the whetstone out of his pocket and set it down on the bed next to him. Finally, he pulled his claymore out of its sheath and carefully set the blade against the whetstone.

It had been an extremely long day, perhaps one of the longest days of his life, but as he settled the blade in the proper position he finally started to relax. After taking a quick swig from the bottle, he set to work. The whiskey had a powerful, oaky flavor, and he smiled as it warmed his insides all the way down to his stomach.

He zoned out as he began to rub the edge of the blade back and forth against the whetstone.

What is it about Surelin that's got me helping her all of a sudden? I’ve never given anyone else the kind of help I gave her today. I’ve ignored plenty of other people with greater need than her.

He paused to take another drink.

Loso is very far away, and the road isn’t easy. The Lake Men are crawling all over it. It feels like I committed myself to a hard journey on a whim. To a journey I’m not really going to get anything out of.

He flipped the blade over. Surelin’s angry face during her lecture in Abraham’s house appeared in his mind’s eye.

I care about what she thinks of me, he realized. Why?

A different memory came to him, this time of Surelin sitting across from him on the couch, her arms and legs crossed as she stared out the window. The traces of sadness he saw in her eyes when she mentioned how her parents died.

We both lost parents at around the same time, but I only lost one. She lost both.

He shook his head. That wasn’t it, or at least, not entirely.

The memory of Surelin’s defiant face in the temple district came to him then, followed by the memory of her running up and telling him she’d like to go to Loso after all.

She’s brave. I really like that. I wish I was more like her.

From there his mind wandered in random directions as he resumed the sharpening, and he was still lost in thought when Surelin stepped out of the bathroom. Her hair looked a bit wet, and she glanced at him as she walked over to the couch. She sat down next to her ruck, avoiding his gaze.

“You done?” Gideon asked.

She nodded.

He sheathed his claymore and stood up. “My turn for a bath, then.”

As his hand closed around the doorknob, she called out to him.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Gideon.”

He let go of it and turned to her, frowning.

“Can I trust you?”

Realization set in. Oh. That’s what was on her mind.

“Yes, you can,” he said. “But you shouldn’t have to rely only on my word.”

She watched as he walked over to his ruck and began to dig through it. After a few seconds he found what he was looking for: Dance’s folding buck knife.

He pulled it out of its holster and unfolded it. Surelin’s eyes widened as he offered her the knife and its holster.

“Here. You can have this.”

She glanced between the knife and his face. “Um...I don’t know how to use it.”

“It’s easier than it looks. Use the sharp parts on the bad guys.”

Her fingers closed around it with hesitation, and she studied it in her hand with wide-eyed curiosity.

“Good? Alright then.”

He half expected her to stop him once again, but she said nothing as he entered the bathroom. He ran the water, stripping out of his clothing as the tub filled up. Once it was full, he stepped into it gingerly and sat down. The hot water made him feel almost giddy, and he washed himself with a smile, enjoying the feeling of getting clean that he’d been robbed of a few hours earlier.

There was no reason to rush, so he took his time. Even after his fingers began to prune he felt reluctant to get out. The last complete bath he’d taken had been nearly a year ago, several months before the siege in Forelia. In the meantime he’d only been able to take an occasional shower, when he’d been able to bathe at all. A decent bath was rare in his line of work.

A loud yawn escaped from him as he dried off. The hot water had felt amazing, but it hadn’t done much to counteract his exhaustion. When he was dry, he got dressed and stepped out of the bathroom. Surelin was preparing to get into the bed—the covers were already thrown back.

“Oh hell no!” he immediately shouted. “You are not sleeping in my bed! Don’t you dare get in there! Get-”

“What?! No! Where am I supposed to sleep, then?”

He pointed at her with alarm. “You can sleep on the damn floor as far as I care, now back up!”

His mouth gaped with shock as she dove into the bed and threw the covers over herself.

Her fingers gripped the blankets tightly. “How can you be like that?! A man should be noble and make sacrifices for a lady, necessary sacrifices!”

“This is my fucking room! I paid for that piece of shit bed, and I’m going to use it! I earned it! Now get the fuck up!”

“No I won’t!” she whined. “Don’t you have any shame?! You’re going to make me sleep on the floor even after you made me carry your money?”

It shut him up. He stared at her as he tried to think up a new avenue of attack, and Surelin stared back defiantly.

“I haven’t slept in a real bed in nine months,” he said. “During that entire time I’ve either slept on a shitty cot or literally on the fucking ground. And just in case you forgot, I risked my life for the money that paid for that bed. I’m going to sleep in it.”

She was totally unmoved.

A frustrated growl left him, then his eyes narrowed.

“I’m sleeping in that bed even if you’re in it.”

It was her turn for her mouth to gape with shock. She looked down at the covers with deep frustration before she violently flung them off and jumped out of the bed.

“Fine! Take the stupid bed then, you churlish bed-hog! You nasty, vulgar bully! You’re an awful person!”

She stomped over to the couch and dropped onto it. Gideon watched as she crossed her arms and craned her head away from him.

His face scrunched up from the mental pain. Fuck. I have to let her have the bed.

“...Alright, nevermind. You can have it.”

Anger was etched on her face as she turned to look him.

He gave her a dismissive wave. “I’ll just…sleep on the couch. Fucking…”

A defeated sigh left him as he walked over to the bed.

“I’m taking a blanket. And some pillows.”

She watched as he gathered up the bedding and dumped it onto the floor by the couch.

“Thank you.”

Gideon clicked his tongue with disappointment as he moved all his gear off the couch. Surelin got back to her feet and returned to the bed.

He watched with chagrin as she got in it, then walked between the wall mounted lamps and blew them out. Darkness filled the room, illuminated only by faint moonlight streaming through the blinds.

“Get some sleep. We have to wake up at the crack of dawn if we want to find a caravan before they all leave.”

He heard the covers rustling. “You don’t know which one we’re going to take?”

“Nope. No idea, but we’ve got enough money to buy seats on any caravan.”

“...I see.”

Gideon walked back to the couch and laid down, pulling the blanket over himself. The couch was not nearly as uncomfortable as he expected it to be: it was, after all, a fancy couch in a high-class inn. Still, it wasn’t long enough for him to stretch his legs out. He laid on his side, with his knees bent.

The darkness of the room seemed to be drawing him in. His eyes traveled along the mural on the ceiling, illuminated faintly by the moonlight, and he began to notice how quiet the inn was. It was normal when staying at an inn to hear noises from the nearby rooms; people walking around, talking late into the night, that sort of thing. The absence of that ambience was troubling, somehow.

He certainly felt tired enough for sleep, but it didn’t come. The day’s events bounced around in his head, refusing to relax.

“Gideon? Are you still awake?”

A frown appeared on his face. He debated with himself for a few seconds over whether to reply.

“Yeah.”

Nervousness tinged her voice when she spoke again.

“Why are you helping me?”

He blinked. It was a reasonable question, one he'd just asked himself, but he didn’t know how to explain it in a way that would fully assuage her.

“I’ve got my own reasons for it.”

Her silence said it all.

“You don’t have to worry. You’re not obligated to me. I’m not expecting anything from you.”

“...I need to know. Please, explain it to me.”

He shook his head. I barely understand it myself.

“Look, you’ve had a very rough couple of months. I just…thought you could use some help.”

More silence.

“It’s not that much trouble for me. Honestly.”

He heard quiet sniffling. It went on for a few minutes. Eventually, she spoke up again.

“Why did you fight that man in the arena? Everyone else ran away.”

He rolled his eyes. Enough with the hard questions, already.

“I didn’t want to run away like them, is all.”

He could practically hear her absorbing his statement.

“Weren’t you scared?”

The memory of the Easterner flashed across his mind. The way he turned to Gideon when everyone else fled. The fear that clutched at his heart when they locked eyes.

“Yes. I was scared.”

The covers rustled for a moment, then stopped. He waited, but her voice didn’t come out of the darkness.

Gideon finally drifted off to sleep.