[Arden]

My inert mind sluggishly rose from its state and of unconsciousness, I tried moving my head and hit a hard wall of what seemed-like stone.

I opened my dilated eyes to a tenebrous side street of which I could see a faint glow illuminating the end of the alley.

I shakily got to my feet, racking my mind for what happened.

All I could remember was being pushed by an unknown person and hitting the carriage.

And seeing the most breathtaking blue eyes that I had ever seen. They were shaped like almonds with a slight tint along with small lines of darker blue slowly weaving themselves toward the center like a haggard drunk finding their way home.

Shaking my head, I opened my satchel which was still luckily hanging loosely around my neck.

The inside was riddled with darkness and I couldn’t distinguish anything except for the leather sides of the bag.

Groping around, my fingers closed around a single coin, which when brought to the light, was silver. I fumbled with the bag, unable to find the rest of my coin.

My hand struck an irregularity in the smoothness of the bag and seized a thin piece of rolled up paper.

I hastily unfurled at to see writing written in a flowing script,

The King decided to have mercy on you.

I was thrown off balance, why would the King involve himself with a disowned Noble; and have mercy on him as well.

My steps slowed as I pondered the thought before pushing it to the back of my mind.

The twilight sky seemingly beckoned me towards sleep and the Office would be closed by now.

The street led to a series of inns and stores. I stumbled into the nearest inn and aroused the somnolent clerk.

She looked at me with an expression of sympathy and gave me a room key with a large 3 emblazoned on it.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

I was incapable of expressing my gratitude due to my drowsy state and drunkenly entered my room.

Not even bothering to change I stumbled into a few objects before crashing into the bed, entering an intoxicated slumber.

[Andromeda]

“So Ameda, did anything interesting happen while I was gone?” Raph asked as we exited the dining room, our once-hungry stomachs satisfied.

“Not much,” I responded.

Raph raised an eyebrow before continuing,

“Well, a little birdie told me that a bystander crashed with the carriage.” He looked at me, waiting for me to respond.

I sighed in defeat before reluctantly saying,

“Ok, maybe there was a thing that happened.”

Raph shook his head, causing his crimson braids to bounce around, crossing his arms he questioned,

“What have I told you not telling me about things like this? You could’ve been seriously hurt!”

Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. “That window was made out of Tier 5 steel, it would take a person who had at least a Major or maybe even Complete understanding of a Strength teaching to crack it.”

“But what if that man was an assassin?” Raph asked.

“If he was I’d probably be either dead or fatally wounded by now. After all, who would send such a mediocre assassin?”

I had another reason why I knew it wasn’t an assassin. The look in the man’s eyes as he hit the window was not that of anger or determination. No, it was of confusion and he harbored no malicious intent.

I just hoped that the forgery of Father’s signature was enough to give the man some reprieve.

[Arden]

For once, I did not wake up with a headache but with an unexpected calm serenity. That however, could not be said for the state of the room. Chairs were askew, tables overturned and a vase dangerously close to the edge of a windowsill.

I slowly stretched my arms and got out of bed, my legs feeling rejuvenated. I carefully picked up the vase and put it somewhere safer and got to the task of cleaning up the room.

Half an hour later, the room could be considered presentable and a half hour after that perhaps even identical to the way it looked when he arrived.

The only thing slightly wrong was the cabinet in the corner which was slightly angled. No matter how hard I could push, it wouldn’t budge.

I now knew just how weak I was, even an unawakened man could probably move that cabinet, but I, who was an awakened, couldn’t even move it.

I realized I needed to start working out, after all my small frame was not befitting that of a dungeoneer.

Pushing that thought into my ‘to do’ list I opened the door and headed for the reception. I signed out and just before I left I asked,

“Hey, who was the girl who was at the reception desk at night?” The man at the desk looked at me lazily before replying,

“That’s Laura.”

“Tell her the man at night says thanks.” I said

With that I opened the door and headed for the Dungeon Office.