9
The Holy City
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A sigh of relief escaped him.
He couldn’t stop himself, and he didn’t really care to do so. He let his body slump down onto the ground, uncaring of the dirt and grime that now marked his trousers. There had been much consternation amongst the others over the past number of weeks, and in all honesty, he couldn’t find it within himself to blame them.
These people were scared, hungry, tired, and all too afraid for their future. And despite the impervious facade he tried to keep up, Lewis knew that he was no different. The alderman had died, and so that had left him in charge—A responsibility he didn’t want, and had never asked for. He accepted it, nonetheless, as the rest of them seemed to trust his judgement.
A large number of the other remaining townsfolk had split off shortly afterwards. Not because of any animosity, but rather because of differing goals. Some wanted to go to Feoh or Geofu, while others wanted to venture to other towns in the northlands, regardless of the looming danger. And a handful of reckless idiots, whose hearts burned with all the ambition and determination of youth, turned right around and went back north, in some foolish crusade to reclaim their lost home.
Even so, all the remaining lives at stake weighed heavily on his shoulders.
Marge had given birth not even a full week beforehand, and Hugo, her damn fool of a husband, hadn’t returned from his hunt. No one knew whether he was alive or dead. Lewis had to admit, the man’s chances were far from good.
Martina’s aunt, Amelie, had still not woken from her sleep. Robert had somehow managed to break both of his arms, and Cedrick had gotten a nasty cut on his leg just that morning, nearly bleeding out before Lewis had wrapped him up.
It had just been misfortune, after misfortune, after godsdamn misfortune for the past month.
But it was over. He raised his waterskin high into the air, as if toasting the sight before him. The massive walls, the tidy houses, the paved roads, and at the very center of it all was the keep, sitting like a crown atop a pillow.
The invincible city-fortress of Ur. It was all here, just as it had always been. At long last, they had finally made it.
“It sure is a sight, isn’t it?” a young woman’s voice spoke up.
Lewis grunted a vague affirmation as she sat herself down next to him, propping her spear against her shoulder. She let out a long, tired sigh, long blonde hair partially covering her face as she gazed out at the city.
“It’s a lot smaller than I thought it’d be,” he admitted.
“Yeah?” She turned her head to glance at him, a faint smile on her face. Her green eyes crinkled, and her freckles stood out. The dark bags under her eyes, from lack of sleep, were the only blemish on her visage. “I thought you’d been here before, when you were younger.”
“I had,” he said with a nod. “But… Like you said, I was younger, back then. Things always seem bigger when you’re young. Everything’s epic.”
“...Epic,” she laughed. “Just like your stories, eh, pawpaw?”
“Just like my stories,” he repeated, letting out a small chuckle of his own. “As I recall, you were the one who wanted to come here the most, in the first place. Said you wanted to see the big fortresses for yourself. And now that we’re finally here…” He shrugged. “You hardly look as excited anymore.”
“I am excited!” Diana insisted. “I really am! It’s just… I guess it’s a lot to take in. It’s bigger than I imagined it. And now that we’re here… I dunno. It just feels like, ‘Now what?’”
He tilted his head towards her, cocking an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” she said. “You know everything about Ur—You grew up here. I was just curious, is all. Now that we’re here, what happens? We hardly have any money between all of us. We’ve all still got to find a place to stay, and something to do. I mean, it’s not gonna be as easy as walking up to the nearest guard, and asking where refugees ought to go, is it? ”
“No. Gods know, it won’t be that easy,” Lewis admitted. “But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, so to speak. I’ll think of something, sunshine. Don’t you worry.” He tried to sound reassuring, channeling a confidence he didn’t feel in the slightest.
“I know you will,” Diana said. She leaned in closer, resting her head on his shoulder. After a moment’s hesitation, he reached a hand up and slowly began to stroke her hair. “I believe you, pop. You’ve gotten us this far. I just…” He felt her shrug as she paused, seemingly gathering her thoughts. “I’m just scared, I suppose.”
“Ah…” He said with a nod, piecing together what exactly was bothering her. “So, Pepin’s made his choice, then.”
“...Yeah.”
Lewis grunted again, in acknowledgement. “I worry about him too, you know. But there’s not much we can do to stop him. So, you shouldn’t worry yourself about it.”
“He’s my brother,” she said firmly, pulling away and meeting his eyes with a glare. “It’s my job to look after him.”
“And you have.” Lewis didn’t bat an eye at her outburst. “But Pep’s always been a wilful little shit, and now he’s a grown man, besides. If he wants to go off, join the army, then godspeed and good luck to him.” He took her hand in his, giving it a soft squeeze. “We can’t save everyone, you know. Not Pepin, not the others—And certainly not the world. All you can do is the best you can. And from what I’ve seen, sunshine, your best is more than enough.”
He smiled then, and a faint smile graced her lips as well. Lewis gave her hand one last squeeze before standing up. “Come on, then. No point in sitting around here, all gloomy-like. If we make tracks now, maybe we can get everyone inside the city ‘fore nightfall.”
Diana nodded, and stood up beside him. “Right. Let’s get going then.”
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No matter how many times we crossed swords, it always felt new to me.
Every strike, every parry, every dodge, every moment, they all felt like the most important action of my life.
I slid into Eisenport, the ‘iron door,’ as I batted away a high strike. I followed up with a thrust to her torso, which she easily parried. Continuing the motion, I brought my sword around and cut at her thigh. Once more, she parried.
I began to feel the weight and exhaustion on my arms. But I couldn’t let my momentum stop.
Don’t tense up, her words resonated in my mind. Let your actions flow.
I let out a breath, blowing a damp lock of hair out of my eyes, and ignored the burning pain on my biceps. I circled to the left, moving around her steady stance. She kept her sword in a forward guard, Ochs, waiting for me to make a move.
So I did.
Zornhut, the ‘wrath guard,’ followed by a horizontal hew to parry her incoming strike.
Eisenport again, as I stabbed at her exposed side. But she merely pivoted on her foot, avoiding the attack, and swung for my head.
Our swords became a blur, clanging against each other, as I tried my best to find an opening in my opponent’s defenses. But even so, every movement of her sword repelled mine. Every attack was matched, every push met with unyielding resistance.
She was amazing.
No matter how hard I tried, or how much I improved, I still felt like an unskilled child in comparison to Claudia Levantine.
But somehow, almost paradoxically, that overwhelming disparity was comforting. It made me want to do better, to strive further, to move beyond the limit of my ability.
The two of us clashed, again and again, until the noise just became a great ringing in my ears.
Despite the stinging sweat in my eyes, and my burning lungs and aching everything, I realized that I was smiling. I felt a wide grin spread across my face as my mind raced to remember one of her lessons; Everything has a weakness. Everything has a flaw—Find it.
I stepped back, disengaging and putting some distance between the two of us. Slowly, I began to circle around her again, making sure to keep my left side facing her, to put her in an awkward position.
Find it. Find it. Find it.
She knew what I was doing, of course. I could see it from the almost invisible flicker in her eyes. In a heartbeat, that impregnable defense solidified into something immovable, something I could never hope to break through.
So I’d have to create my own opening.
Left foot forward in a crouch, right foot behind. Lean forward, back straight. The tip of my sword pointed directly towards the ground as I entered Alber, the fool’s guard, and practically invited her to exploit my lowered defense.
Again, she immediately knew what I was doing. After all, she was the one who’d taught me this in the first place, so this was just a bad move on my end, from top to bottom.
Hah, I guess that’s the reason it’s called the fool’s guard.
Still, I dashed forward, forcing her to react.
Her right hand tightened, and in that moment, I knew exactly where she would strike.
Lady Claudia’s sword flew, her blade becoming a white glint in the air.
“Gotcha,” I whispered, my shoulder drooping as I prepared to dodge, bringing up my sword.
Except, her eyes didn’t follow my body’s direction. She didn’t try to aim for my shoulder. Or my hip. Or my head.
The victorious whisper became a gasp as her sword soared down to deflect mine.
I felt a buzzing vibration run up along the flat of my blade. The force of the blow ran all the way up my arms, into my shoulders, and spread all throughout my body.
And then, with a flat, toneless, and completely anticlimactic clink, my training sword snapped in two.
The dull blade fell to the ground, bouncing off my boot. I gaped at it for a moment, before turning my attention back to Lady Claudia.
“Third one this month,” I said, heaving a sigh even as I tried to catch my breath. I unclasped my helmet, and wiped at my sweaty forehead.
Her lips quirked up into a small smile as she removed her own helmet. Even through that intense spar, she’d barely even broken a sweat. “Well, I suppose you’ll just have to go easier on it, next time,” she said, repeating the usual refrain whenever I broke a new blade.
I’d have tried to come up with some sort of witty reply for that, but right now, I was just too tired to really think of anything. So with a brief nod, I accepted her words at face value.
After a moment, Lady Claudia smiled again. “Regardless, you did well, Ansel,” she said, even after I’d just made an absolute butchery of her family’s swordsmanship style. “Taking advantage of your left-handedness really threw me off. I’m glad you finally took that to heart.”
“Well, it was just a gut instinct,” I replied honestly with a shrug. “I just remembered what you told me, and sorta hoped for the best.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “And here I was thinking you’d be a humble squire.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, feigning offense. “You saying I’m full of myself?” It was hard to keep the grin off my face.
“Maybe a little,” she replied, a glint in her eyes.
We lapsed into a comfortable silence, before she finally nodded to herself, and spoke up again. “That’ll do for today, I think.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Really? Already? But it’s only…” I glanced up at the sky, and realized that it was already near dusk. “Oh. Wow, uh, I guess I lost track of time, huh?”
She chuckled again. “Apparently so. Go ahead and get something to eat, then go rest. We’ll resume tomorrow.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said as I bowed, then turned around and began to leave.
“Oh, and Ansel,” Lady Claudia added, “you might want to get something for Fritz, as well. You know how he gets when he’s hungry.
I shuddered, feeling a very real chill run up my spine. “Y-yeah, I, uh, I’ll do that. Thanks for reminding me.”
With that, I very briskly made my way over to the estate’s main house. Gods, I hoped he’d gone hunting while I was gone, or something.
The walk across the courtyard, through the stables, and into the kitchens was kind of roundabout, but I wasn’t about to blunder through the foyer while covered in sweat and tracking dirt all over the place. The staff did their best to keep the place spotless, and I didn’t want to make any extra work for them.
I was hit with a wave of warmth as I entered, along with the rich smell of roasting meat, herbs, fresh bread, and various other deliciously enticing scents.
Most of the servants milled about, tending to their duties. A pair of young girls trimmed the fat off of boiled meats, three boys my age chopped vegetables, an older man grinded grain in a large stone bowl, and many others went about various tasks I didn’t observe too closely. A few glanced my way, giving me nods and waves as I walked by. I knew a good number of them by name, and they all knew me by sight, so there was no real need for formalities. It felt like being part of a small village within the estate, where everybody knew everybody, and all worked together to keep it running along.
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It was nice. Comforting, familiar. And yet, for some reason, I couldn’t help but feel some strange sense of… of longing, I guess.
“Oi, young man!” a jovial voice called out, drawing me out of that train of thought.
Turning my head, I spotted a short woman with graying brown hair, a pudgy figure, and a round face. She hurried over to me, a wide smile on her face.
“Hi, Frau Madeline,” I greeted back, returning the smile.
Madeline Atkins was one of the head cooks, a position that she’d earned through years of dedication, hard work, and talent. At least, that’s the impression I’ve always had. She was easy going and pleasant to all her staff, without fail, but also able to keep order in her domain, when need be. She gave me a once over as she approached, seemingly noticing all the grime on me for the first time.
“Looking a bit worn ‘round the edges there, luv. Rough day?” she asked, her cheery demeanor never faltering.
“Something like that. I was just training with Lady Claudia, and... Well, it went as it usually does.”
She laughed, reaching up to give me a pat on the cheek. “I’m sure you’ll match up to her one day. Ach, but enough of that sour talk.” With that, she walked around a worktop, beckoning me to follow. “Now, what can I getcha, Ansel? Some nice beef, maybe? We’ve got a lovely roast prepared, I can slice you up some.”
Almost as if in response, my stomach let out a very audible growl, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten since… Gods, at least since breakfast, I think?
Frau Madeline let out a laugh. “I’ll take that as a yes, then.” She then grabbed a knife, and began going to work on the meal.
I couldn’t help but flush as I chuckled along and added, “And, uh, d’you think you could throw in a bit extra? You know, for Fritz? I haven’t been home since this morning, so… Well, you know.”
Almost as if she’d anticipated it, she set aside a smaller portion of leftovers.
“Thanks again, Frau Madeline, ma’am. You’re a lifesaver.”
She waved me off with another laugh. “Think nothing of it, m’luv. Now, off with you. I’d hurry home before it gets cold if I were you.”
I thanked her once more, and with that precious haul in hand, began making my way back.
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The house I’d been given within the Levantine estate was a relatively modest place, all things considered. It was a two-story home, with the kitchen, dining room, and lounge combined into a single large space on the ground floor. There was a living quarter on the second floor, where I also kept most of my belongings. It even had a washroom, with a bathtub and actual running water, among other amenities.
But, in truth it felt… strange, having a place like this all to myself.
I guess I’d gotten used to being quartered in barracks, surrounded by other soldiers. If not for Fritz, I probably would have just bunked with the household’s guard.
It wasn’t all that big—the house I’d grown up in with my family was noticeably larger—but it was definitely more than enough for me.
And once again, I felt a pang of something, as I pushed open the door. I entered the house slowly, trying my best to be as silent as I possibly could.
I probably shouldn’t have bothered.
Fritz lied spread out on the table, his tail slightly swaying back and forth across it like a duster. He raised his head, and his green eyes glared hatefully at me. Though, he didn’t immediately leap up and try to murder me. So, uh, small blessings, I guess.
I made sure to meet his gaze and blink slowly and deliberately. He didn’t blink back, but instead let out a long, low hiss as his fur began to bristle, his claws beginning to slide out of his paws.
I held his gaze for a moment longer as I deposited my peace offering on the table in front of him.
His eyes flickered downward to the bowl, then back up to me. Finally, he took one sniff at the supper, let out an approving ‘mrow,’ and went back to basking in the fading sunlight that filtered through the window.
He wasn’t exactly what anyone would call “friendly.” In fact, I’m pretty sure that concept isn’t even in his vocabulary. Fritz was as belligerent as the day was long, and he’d be the first to let everyone know about it, too.
When I’d first moved into this house, the groundskeeper had made it very clear to me that Fritz was in charge here. No ifs, ands, or buts. That little gray cat had lived in the place for as long as anyone could remember, and likely would still be here long after everyone else was gone. I was under no delusions that I was anything more than an unwanted tenant at his house. But at the very least, after ten months together, Fritz tolerated my existence. That was a victory if I’d ever seen one.
“Good kitty,” I praised him, as I stepped around the table, took a seat, and began unbuckling my armor. I’d probably need to get it properly cleaned again, one of these days.
For now, though, I was hungry. I set my broken sword and blade down on a worktop, grabbed my own bowl, and tucked in.
The roast beef was tender, the side of potatoes soft and creamy, the black bread soft on the inside and slightly crunchy on the outside. The beans, well, they were beans. I’d never really been much of a fan of them. Still, they weren’t half-bad with the bread.
Fritz, as was his just due, ate roughly twice his weight in meat and licked the bowl absolutely clean, then hopped upstairs.
I followed him up soon after, shrugging off the rest of my training gear. My gaze wandered over to the end table next to the bed, where a wooden figurine of a short, somewhat misshapen horse sat. I’d actually planned for it to be a deer, but I guess I got a bit carried away.
A small part of me wanted to break out a knife, grab another length of wood, and while away the hours. But I was too tired to indulge in the hobby, and not feeling particularly creative, besides. I’d likely just end up whittling the wood into a vague, shapeless blob.
Casually, Fritz swiped his claws at my boots as he passed by me, as if demanding, “Get out of my way.”
“Sorry, boss,” I said with a chuckle, as I let myself collapse onto my bed. Sleep came quickly.
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In the morning, I bathed—Running water! That still blew me away!—and changed into a fresh set of clothes before heading out again to the main house. Breakfast that day was a relatively simple affair of eggs, sausage, and potatoes.
I ate my fill, before heading upstairs, and standing at attention outside Lady Claudia’s office.
She arrived a few minutes after I did, dressed in a formal blue outfit, which somewhat resembled my old army uniform. Though, naturally, hers was much lavish than mine ever was, as befitted her status. As always, her brown hair was pulled back into a bun.
“Good morning, Your Excellency,” I greeted with a bow.
“And to you, Ansel,” she responded, nodding slightly.
With that, she stepped past me, unlocked the door, and gestured for me to enter.
The room felt almost like a testament to her martial life.There were several maps up on one wall, featuring the surrounding area, the kingdom of Geofu, and the entirety of Eostia. Several locations were marked with blue ink, likely indicating the fortresses, or outposts, or some other sort of strategic locations. Bookshelves lined the two of the remaining walls, while the third was occupied by an ornamental suit of armor, and a plaque from which two swords and a shield hung.
Towards the center of the room, there was a large, oaken desk, with various more books resting on it, and chairs on either side of it. One for Lady Claudia herself, and the others for any guests.
And just at the corner of the room, there was a smaller desk. That one was for me.
“Right, then,” Lady Claudia said, “let’s get started.”
My tenure as her squire wasn’t just about fighting and battles. In many ways, it was also about learning how to be a proper knight. Chivalry, heroism, justice, honor; those were tenets that knights were meant to uphold. Not just for oneself, but for the sake of everyone within the Alliance. That, Lady Claudia had told me, was just as important as knowing how to use the sword or lance.
“First things first,” she began, opening one of the desk’s drawers and pulling out a small stack of letters. “I have a number of forms that require my review and signature; Contracts, petitions, security reports, that sort of thing. I’ll need you to help me go through them.”
She handed that stack to me. I grabbed it, almost hesitantly, and licked my dry lips. It wasn’t that I found it intimidating, or anything, it’s just that… Well, it was kind of intimidating. Slowly, I began to read aloud. “S… Estre… Strength-en-ing of trade… roots?” I trailed off with a sigh, and glanced up at her.
“Don’t worry,” Lady Claudia said, giving me a small smile and a nod, nudging me on. “As always, I’ll go over everything with you. Just take your time.”
I nodded back and started again. “Strengthening… of trade roo—No, routes. Of trade routes to, through, north… north-ern areas. A...berr-ant warbands become-ing ink… crease… increasing-ly hostile. Re-view gar...i-son in area, and dee… dee-ter-mein?”
“Determine,” she corrected.
“Determine fee… Um… Fee… feasibility! Determine feasibility of es-ta-blish-ing another one in the future. Right. This is a security report, from, uh, last month, I think,” I said to Lady Claudia.
Again, she nodded. “Go on.”
I continued through the rest of the page, then moved on to the next one. It went on like this for some time, as we slowly worked our way through that stack of paper. Hours passed as I struggled to keep up, but I began getting into a decent pace as I went along.
Part of my responsibilities as Lady Claudia’s squire included helping her in less thrilling matters. Such as desk work. Given that I still wasn’t very good at reading, it was pretty challenging. If nothing else, though, it was good practice. Which, I suppose, is why she made me do it in the first place. And so, we worked together through petitions, trade deeds, and other legalistic documents I couldn’t quite wrap my head around.
I let out a sigh of relief as we finished with that stack.
“Tired, huh?”
“Yeah, a little,” I admitted.
“I understand the feeling,” Lady Claudia said. “It may not be the most glamorous job, but it’s an important one. If we didn’t go over every detail, something could slip through the cracks, and any number of problems could arise as a result. I myself was lucky enough to have a mentor who taught me that. I’m just passing the lesson on to you, Ansel.”
I nodded back to her, then leant back in my chair.
Just then, a knock came from the door. At Lady Claudia’s bidding of “Come in,” a servant stepped through.
“Pardon my interruption, Your Excellency,” she said, “but you have a visitor.”
Almost immediately after she spoke those words, someone else walked into the room.
He was an older man, tall and still surprisingly muscular for his age. His face was stern and serious, and his balding light brown hair was faded almost entirely into gray. He was dressed in fine clothing; a long, buttoned overcoat of light red, and dark pants with a lighter colored shirt underneath. A sword hung at his side.
Lady Claudia and I both leapt to our feet, nearly simultaneously, when we saw him.
“Father!” she exclaimed, surprise evident in her voice as she stepped forward towards him. “I wasn’t expecting you! What are you doing here?”
When his gaze passed over me, I added, “Good day, you lordship!” and bowed. In fact, I bowed so hard, and so low, I nearly wound up slamming my head on the desk.
That man, general Grave Levantine, was Lady Claudia’s father-in-law, and the father of her husband, Klaus. He was a renowned war hero, the veteran of hundreds of battles, and once, the former Knight-Commander of the Seven Shields. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say he was a living legend—Anyone who’d been on the battlefield knew his name quite well.
“Claudia,” he said by way of greeting, his voice a deep baritone. “And Eschenwald,” he added with a slight nod at my direction.
I could almost feel myself unconsciously straighten my posture.
He turned his attention back to Lady Claudia. “I apologize for arriving unannounced like this, but my purpose here is something of an emergency.”
Those words immediately put Lady Claudia on edge. She stood at attention, meeting the general’s eyes with a schooled expression. “Is something wrong?”
He nodded, his face darkening slightly. “Very much so. In fact, I’m certain that if not from me, you’d have heard these news soon enough.”
A shiver ran up my spine, as a growing uneasiness settled in my stomach.
“However…” he trailed off, casting a meaningful look in my direction, then turning back to her. “It may be best if we discuss this in private.
She hesitated for a moment, looking as if she wanted to refuse, before finally relenting with a nod. “Very well,” she said. “Ansel, that'll do for today. You’re excused.”
I’ll admit, I definitely was curious, and part of me very much wanted to be filled in, but I also wasn’t going to challenge either of them on that implicit order. So I nodded, and began making my way to the door.
“Actually, one moment,” she called after me. “If you would, there’s something I’d like you to do for me.” Pulling open a drawer from her desk, she searched for a moment, before withdrawing a letter. Handing it to me, she said, “Would you please deliver this to Captain Arvis, at the eastern gate? I understand it’s something of a long walk, but I’d appreciate it if you could.”
“It’s no problem at all, ma’am,” I responded, as I accepted the letter. Once again, I bowed, bid them both farewell, and exited.
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The walk to the eastern gate didn’t really take all that much time. Really, it was a twenty minute affair at most, give or take, and by the time I’d delivered the letter, midday was barely just starting. And since I effectively had the day off, and nothing else in particular to do… Well, I just sort of picked a direction and started walking. No real destination in mind. I just wanted to see the city a bit more.
Though, officially, she was the Lord Protector of Ken, Lady Claudia’s duties as Knight-Commander of both the Dawn Templars and the Alliance pretty much required her to be in Geofu. Besides that, the Levantine family already had an estate here, which effectively became their main residence.
And while Ken was nominally the center of military might, Geofu was the heart and soul of the Seven Shields. And, gods, it really was enormous. As I made my way through the city’s streets, I found myself growing more and more impressed with each step. The architecture was grand and beautiful, from the carved white stone facades, to the painted roofs. The streets were straight and well-aligned, and there was a tangible air of serenity and calm all around.
As a country kid back in the Südland, I’d only rarely catch glimpses of dwarven tradesfolk, and “Elf,” was nothing more than a strange word one would hear thrown around in stories. But here in the Holy City, dwarves and halflings were plentiful. And elves—High, Light, and Wood elves alike—were common sights.
As I walked around, taking in the sheer diversity of it all, it was hard not to get a bit overwhelmed. But, that is, the good kind of overwhelmed. I’d heard about Geofu from others—travelers, merchants, soldiers—but I never really dreamt I’d get to see it for myself. The entire city had such an otherworldly atmosphere that I found myself transfixed by everything I saw. Even after these ten months, I still couldn’t quite believe that I was here. I wasn’t sure if I ever would.
...And yet, for some reason, my thoughts wandered back to General Grave, and his ominous words.
‘An emergency.’ Something that he felt the need to travel all the way here, just to personally relay. From what I knew of him, he wasn’t an alarmist by any means. If he honestly believed it was urgent enough to come all the way here from Ken, then it really must——
Abruptly, I was pulled from my thoughts when I bumped into someone. Luckily, whoever I’d walked into managed to keep their footing and remain standing. I, however, stumbled all the way back, landing on my rear.
“Oh, goodness!” A light, feminine voice exclaimed, “I’m so sorry!”
“No, it’s alright,” I replied, shaking my head. “I shouldda looked where I was…” I trailed off as I looked at the hand that was offered to me, and at the girl who extended it.
She was cute.
There were no two ways about it. Her long, straight hair was a shimmering pink, tied back into a long plait, and her eyes were bright blue. She was short; petite even, and her skin was fair and pale. She was dressed in a long, sleeveless white dress with blue embroidery, which came about midway between her knees and ankles. Her feet were covered by leather boots, which came up to her knees as well.
I have no idea why, but some primeval part of my mind began shouting out to me; It wanted nothing less than to lift her up, carry her off to a castle somewhere, and keep her safe and protected forever.
“Are… Are you alright?” the girl asked, snapping me out of… whatever that was. I realized then that I’d been sitting there open-mouthed, just staring at her. Maybe that, too, was the good kind of overwhelmed. I had no idea. All I did know was that I was suddenly feeling very, very self-conscious.
“Oh, uh, yeah! Yeah, I’m fine,” I stammered, before accepting her hand and letting her help me back up. “I’m okay,” I finished lamely with a cough.
Her hand felt soft, warm, and tiny compared to my own, which was roughened with calluses. I let go of it before I could make another awkward faux pas.
“Thank goodness,” she said, smiling. “I didn’t hurt you, did I? You looked like you were in pain for a second. I’m very sorry if I did!”
I shook my head. “No, no! I just sorta startled myself, that’s all! Probably should have paid attention to where I was going.” I gave her a sheepish grin, in an attempt to save some of my rapidly vanishing dignity.
Thankfully, she just let out a soft, small laugh in response. “Well, I suppose we both should have done that. Neither of us is paying much attention today, it would seem.”
“Hey, y’know, it’s a lot of things to take in all at once. I mean, this city is a whole lot bigger than the town where I grew up, so, uh, it’s only natural that… um…” I stopped, as I realized I was about to start rambling again. After a moment’s pause, I added on, “I’m, uh, my name is Ansel, by the way. Ansel Eschenwald. It’s nice to meet you, miss.”
She curtsied in response. “Well, it’s my pleasure to meet you, Herr Ansel,” she replied. “I…” she trailed off for a moment and looked me over, as if considering something. Then, she smiled once again, and finished, “My name is Penelope Bianchi.”