Alister stared foggily at his cousin from the bed. He didn’t even react in a loud way, and nor did he throw things at her. He was just… tired. His grey eyes moved from her to the ceiling, thinking about Demerieth. As most dreams do, he was left with more of an ephemeral memory of what just happened than a concrete retelling of the conversation. But he remembered snippets. The academy, looking down, seeking books. Her kind words to him, and her firm tone. It hurt more than a wound to see her trapped, but it was comforting to see her mind at work. She was so much sharper than he was… she was right to call him the barbarian of the group. But now, he was a bookish scholar, a frail child. Hah. He seemed like a proper, typical mage now.
His eyes glanced over at his cousin again as Harriet moved back to her bed. She pulled out a bag and a piece of jerky to nibble on, not looking anywhere in particular, though she glanced at him occasionally.
“You woke me up,” Alister stated.
Harriet nodded, “Yup. I know. But the sun’s up. It just came up a little bit ago. I at least waited to get up until it was brighter and not so golden.”
“How kind…,” he groaned and sat up, rubbing his sore eyes, “I feel like I hardly slept. Can’t we sleep in until my father or a knight comes and gets us?”
She shrugged, swinging her feet as her tail curled around her leg, “I didn’t wanna just lay in bed and be bored. I can only lay down so long before I feel like I’m gonna go crazy… Sorry though. If the inn coulda had more rooms, or if Uncle Blas had split us, you coulda slept more. You’re a pretty grumpy person when you haven’t got enough.”
“Mm… it’s fine. You went to bed early. I’m the idiot for staying up,” he muttered, ruffling his messy hair with a yawn, “I don’t think I’m that grumpy though.”
“I mean, you’re a grumpy person in general. But you’ve gotten less grumpy after the capital stuff happened, so… I dunno. I still think you’re better when you’ve gotten lots of sleep,” Harriet said and hopped off the bed with a stick of jerky in her mouth. She grabbed a handful of clothes and looked at Alister like she was trying to decide whether or not to change in front of him, before muttering something about brothels, and turning to leave, “I’m gonna go get changed. Feel free to use the room. I’ll meet ya down for food. I wanna ask any travelers for stories before we leave if there’s any up and around.”
He waved lazily as she left, making a noise of agreement. Once the door shut he flopped back onto the bed sideways. He wanted to be done traveling already. This was exhausting. By the time they were done, between this trip and the previous one, he’d have spent a few months under a year of mostly traveling. Yes there were a number of stops, but he was so done with it. Settling into Rythwith would be a welcome reprieve. But for now… he had to be a good little lord in training. Like Demerieth expected of him, he’d make sure he’d make a good lord one day.
They were out the door by nine, Alister full of too much food again, Harriet trying to persuade one of the knights to let her ride on their horse and swap places, and Blas very carefully inking some documents between bumps in the road.
Harriet had made sure that Alister got a full plate of food with a hefty helping of meat, according to her mother’s orders. As good as the food was, it felt like it was far too much to eat. Each time he felt like he was full to bursting, but he didn’t want to say no. Especially this morning. He just had no energy for it, emotionally, to argue. Aside from trying to settle his stomach, Alister was mostly staring out the window of the carriage in silence as they rode. It was hot out today. By midday, it felt warm enough to sweat in minutes, and humid enough that clothes would stick. At some point, without a word or much of a thought, Alister made a spell to cool the cabin, the same he had used a while back to cool the train car.
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A few minutes after that, he recalled the others outside, and made Blas panic as he swung open the window and hung his upper body from it to cast the icy magic on the knights traveling with them.
Blas lifted him by his midsection and hefted him back inside moments after he was done with an exasperated expression and eye roll, “Alister. Must you? I could have just asked the driver to stop. If you fell, you’d have scared me half to death.”
“Sorry,” Alister muttered, looking up at him, then to Harriet who was giggling at his antics, “…I wasn’t thinking. I had forgotten to give them the same spell. Just… thought it would be faster.” He shook his head, “Apologies, father, I seem to be out of sorts today. Harriet woke me from a bizarre dream and I never quite put my head on right after that.”
Blas huffed lightly, leaning forward and touching his knee, “If anything, how considerate you’ve been is the odd behavior here. I appreciate how seriously you’re taking matters all of a sudden, but if something is on your mind, make sure to talk about it. When something eats at you inside, it often boils over at unpleasant or risky times. And you are loved. Never forget that, too. Not that I’m saying to be irresponsible again, of course! Just be yourself.”
He nodded, “Thank you, father. I’ll be fine. It’s nothing. A bit of being shocked straight has done me well, and I think my dreams simply… set it in place. I’ll talk to someone about it if it gets to be too bothersome, but I’m alright. Promise.”
“Alright if you say so. We have one more stop before we reach the-” Blas was interrupted, the carriage jostling and knights outside shouting about another eldritch beast.
“Duke! Remain in the carriage! We can handle this one ourselves,” a knight shouted from near the window.
Blas cursed and flung open the front curtain to look through the glass, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” The carriage had come to a stop, and it looked as though a handful of oozing black birds were swarming the knights. They were far smaller than the crow had been, no bigger than a hand each, and they were thankfully weak. The only annoyance was that they were hard to hit since they moved quickly.
Harriet and Alister looked at the Duke with anticipation, wanting to leap out the door to help, but he raised his hand with a sigh of frustration, “Trust the knights. The driver seems to be alright from the sounds of it, and they say they can handle this. Once we make it to the border I’ll request a set of medicine in case any of them get afflicted from the battle. I fear our involvement would just make things harder on them right now.”
“Why does this kind of thing keep happening, Uncle?” Harriet asked, voice soft as her ears twitched to the sounds of fighting, “Is there going to be a crisis?”
“I certainly hope not,” he answered, not moving his eyes from the window, “Duke Xalo fears we may be nearing another age of heroes… like he was in when he was young. But I for one just hope that this will pass. I do not wish for anyone I love to live in interesting times…”
Alister, for one, was just sick and tired of getting interrupted today.
The fact he was expected not to fight again was just the cherry on top of it all, he supposed. He hated feeling so useless. But staying put for now was useful itself if it made things go more smoothly.
It took less than ten minutes before a knight knocked and opened the door to the carriage, checking on the occupants with heavy breaths of exertion. Not long after that, they were moving again, everyone’s expressions dour and silence permeating the vehicle.