Adrest split from the others and walked up to Rose, greeting her quietly before asking, “Is there anyone using the communal bath right now? And if not, could we rent it out for an hour or so? We need to get this girl cleaned up, but she probably wouldn’t do well with any strangers right now.”
Thinking about it for a second, Rose answered while matching her voice to Adrest’s own low tone. “It’s been empty for a few hours now, so don’t worry about it and take as long as you like. Would you all like a light late dinner? I can make something in the back while you're all getting cleaned up.”
With a big grin Adrest replied, “That would be amazing, thanks for always taking such great care of us Rose!”
happy at the compliment, Rose answered, "Don’t worry about it, I love having you and Alissa here, plus there’s no way my conscience would let me say no to such a poor girl, she looks absolutely exhausted.”
Adrest sat at the bar as Alissa had gone to the bath, and sipped on his honey mead alone, enjoying the silence since Rose had gone in the back to the kitchen. He reflected on today and his time in the town. While he was happy for all the new ingredients and enjoyed the sightseeing and shopping with Alissa, Adrest was still looking forward to heading back to their hidden home far away from trouble and unpleasant people.
Just as Adrest could smell their dinner wafting from the back, he was greeted by a flushed Alissa with her hair still damp, dressed in some light pink silk pajamas she had bought at Leaves of the World Tree. Holding Alissa’s hand was a half-awake albino rabbit girl with her bright red eyes barely visible. Her hair was now pure snow white instead of a dirty grey. She was wearing an extra of Alissa’s button up tops, hers a dark red. The bottom of which came down to below her knees and while they had been unable to get her shoes, at least she now had a pair of thick wool socks to serve as some kind of barrier between her feet and the ground and to keep warm.
Alissa guided the girl to a seat at a table near the bar, sitting down to the side of her. Adrest moved himself and a second mug that he ordered earlier to the table. She sipped on the new alcohol curiously before her eyes lit up at the subtle sweetness and her lips curled up in delight.
Interrupting the near perfect silence, their new rabbit said in a near inaudible voice “He-hello, my name is Isabelle, ni-nice to meet you, master.”
Adrest took a second to understand what she had said as she had been so quiet. Parsing it out, he smiled and tried to look as friendly as possible.
“Nice to meet you Isabelle. And don’t call me master, my name is Adrest. Are you hungry?”
Isabelle looked up in surprise at the man in front of her, who was acting as nice as the purple haired sister Alissa said he would. She gave him a small smile “Nice to meet you, Big brother Ady.”
Adrest nearly choked on his mead when he heard his new nickname, and Alissa broke out in laughter. Isabelle, not understanding what was funny, hesitantly asked “Did I say something wrong, Big sister Ali?”
It was Adrest’s turn to laugh and Alissa to blush at the new nickname. Knowing both of them were in the same boat Adrest accepted his new name and asked Isabelle some easy questions to get the girl to open up about herself a little. they learned her favorite color was green, and she loved reading, but hadn't been able to in years. She started tearing up a little at that question so it was a good thing when the door to the kitchen opened.
Rose came over to the table holding a large platter with one hand and set it in the center of the table. She gently introduced herself to Isabelle before going behind the bar filling a cup with fruit juice. Isabelle took a sip and her eyes opened wide while she let out a soft squeal saying, “Thank you!” to Rose who was feeling refreshed after seeing Isabelle’s cute reaction.
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As Rose refilled drinks and went back to clean the kitchen, the trio dug into dinner of beef stew with generous portions of tender meat, a variety of perfectly cooked vegetables in the rich brown sauce and a nice dense pieces of brown bread to dip. It was a warm, hearty, and filling meal for a cool autumn night. Adrest and Alissa chose not to say anything when they noticed Isabelle eating quickly with tears in the corners of her eyes.
Soon the meal was done and Adrest carried the platter of empty dishes to Rose, thanking her once again for everything before the ladies headed upstairs and he went to bathe before going to bed.
Feeling refreshed and also a little drowsy from the warm water, Adrest opened the door to the dim, candle lit room where Isabelle was sleeping peacefully on Alissa’s bed, while she was sitting at the table looking into the flickering candle with a distant expression.
She looked deep in thought as Adrest took a seat across from her.
"What has you so distracted?"
“It’s Isabelle. She has a marking on her stomach, just above her navel. It’s a large blue spider lily.”
“Oh? That’s weird, but is it really something to get so worked up over?” Adrest asked in confusion.
“Unfortunately, yes. Major gods each have a symbol representing them, and this is the mark of the Goddess of Life, Nina. This mark appearing on her means Isabelle is essentially a saintess of the Goddess of life, and uou know what kind of power a God's blessing has. Isabelle is especially valuable because Spirit Rabbits are already known to be lucky, and the blessing will amplify it manifold. Whoever gets a hold of her will be guaranteed an easy life."
The gravity of Isabelle's situation settled in for Adrest, but he had soon questioned one part of the story.
"Well if she's so lucky, why was she a slave?"
Alissa got sad at the question, "She's had a rough life. Her parents died when she was young, and when she moved in with her aunt and uncle, the entire family was unlucky. their businesses failed, got sick more often, and after a few years kept her as arms length, basically ignoring her. She was out in the forest a few miles away from her home passing time since no one wanted to be near her after rumors spread about what happened to her family, when a band of illegal slave traders found and stole her away a year or so ago. I guess it was too much even for a Goddess because according to Isabelle, the mark only appeared a few days ago."
Nodding along and feeling even worse for the poor girl sleeping across the room Adrest asked “So there’s a chance no one else saw it?”
“I think it appeared after they inspected her for the auction. If they had seen and researched it, there’s not a chance they would have sold Isabelle off.”
Adrest relaxed his shoulders, agreeing with the logic. “So, what now? I guess she doesn’t want to go back to her hometown, did she want to go to a church? I’d bet they’d be thrilled to take care of her.”
Alissa shrugged whispering “I don’t know, I didn’t want to push her too far, and she was about to cry explaining how she got here already.”
“That’s true, she’s still just a kid after all, let’s just keep her comfortable for now.” Adrest said. Internally wondering how he wound up with an impromptu little sister in just a week of visiting his first bit of civilization, but also knowing he would do the same thing over again without hesitation.
Alissa cleared her throat, drawing Adrest's attention back to her and noticing the slight blush on her face as she started saying, “Well, Isabelle is exhausted, and I want her to have a bed to herself for the night. Cou-could I sleep with you again tonight?”
By the end of the question, she was near inaudible, and her face was as red as could be with the orange candlelight highlighting it. Heart beating fast at the sight, Adrest cleared his throat slightly before answering “Yea-yeah no problem.” With a blush and small awkward smile.
There was a slight tension in the silence that followed, before Adrest sighed and said, “We should get to sleep, tomorrow’s going to be busy.” Still blushing, Alissa nodded and Adrest blew out the candle and made his way to the far side of his bed before getting in.
The pair lay back-to-back under the single blanket and in the quiet dark where the only noise was the quiet ticking of his pocket watch on the stand next to his head. While lying there, focusing on his own heartbeat to fall asleep, he heard Alissa whisper “Goodnight Adrest.”
“Goodnight Alissa.” He similarly whispered back and before he knew it, he was sound asleep.