My arms shot up into the air. My body was covered with sweat. Rolling over, I found that I was still sore. The bruises on my arms were purple and angry. What could I have been dreaming about?
I stumbled my way to the door. I hadn’t closed the shutters last night, but the sun hadn’t risen yet, so it was pitch dark in my room. With a muffled curse, I hit my shin on the corner of the bed. I stumbled over, falling to my knees.
Damn, yesterday had really done a number on me. I wasn’t the most coordinated person, but normally I could at least walk unassisted.
I sat there, breathing heavily. I’d never been such a mess in my life.
I got back up, and made my way to the door. This time, thankfully, I avoided any more untimely collisions.
Pushing open the door, I made my way down the stairs. Dim candlelight lit my way. The common room was emptier than last time. Rydain was sitting down on a bench, shuffling his cards, last night's disquiet seemingly forgotten. I thought about speaking to him, but I was too tired.
I pushed my way out to the courtyard. Working my way towards the well, I drew up a bucket of water, dousing myself. Using my hands, I started trying to scrape some of the dried blood off of my skin. It stuck on, but I was determined. After what must have been ten minutes of scrubbing, it was all off. My clothes, on the other hand, were probably ruined.
I went back into the inn. I found Davinda behind the counter, and asked if I could get a new set of clothes. Mutely, she walked into the back of the inn, and soon returned, with a simple beige woven shirt, and pants. I grabbed them, thanked her, and returned to my room to change.
As I walked back down, Rydain was gone, but the older man was sitting at a table. I sat down on the opposite side of the room. I was soon presented with a plate. This time, it seemed to be some sort of fish and bread. It was good, but I missed Earth food. It was so bland in this place. It made sense. People went to war for spices in Medieval times. They probably had spices and flavors, but I doubt I would ever find any on anything but the most expensive of food.
Finishing my meal, I returned my plate to Davinda, before setting off to Tom’s Bakery. The sun was just starting to peek out over the horizon when I stepped out onto the road. Despite the early hour, there was a surprising number of people out and about. Turns out people really did rise much earlier without having artificial light to keep them up later.
As I wound my way through the cobbled streets, I saw a familiar figure duck into a back alley. She was cloaked, but it was undoubtedly the blonde girl from the inn. I debated whether I should move on or not, but ultimately, if she was involved in some sort of criminal activity, Davinda deserved to know. She was keeping the woman under her roof, after all, and it wouldn’t be right to knowingly let trouble brew when I could potentially do something about it.
Crouching behind a crate, I saw her approach a large man covered in scars, with a dagger at his hip. He loomed over her. I strained my ears to try and make out what they were saying.
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“I’m telling, they’ll be here soon. If you’re not prepared for them, it will end badly for you. This is your last warning. You need to start preparing”.
Upon hearing that, the man smirked. His hand hung down, near his dagger. I hoped I wasn’t about to witness a murder.
“You think that you can come and tell us what we can and can’t do? Your boss doesn’t have any power here. You’re playing a dangerous game, girly. Other’s of our line of work won’t take so kindly to your intrusions”.
Hearing this, the woman made a noise of frustration, before turning around and starting to pace. Seemingly satisfied, she got his message, the man turned and strode off, a confident swagger in his step. The woman continued to pace about, and mutter to herself.
I really hoped she would be on her way. My legs were starting to cramp up, and I had to get to Tom’s relatively soon.
My wish would soon be granted, however, I wish it hadn’t been. The woman turned, and proceeded to exit the alley the same way she had come in. Which, of course, was a problem for me, because that’s where my ass happened to be hiding.
I drew back into the corner, hoping that she wouldn’t notice me. What are the chances that a seemingly paranoid individual who freely associated with criminal elements would be cautious enough to notice me hiding right as she exited a clandestine meeting?
As she approached my hiding place, I felt my heart start to hammer in my chest, and sweat beaded up on my palms.
As she passed by me, I breathed out a sigh of relief. Perhaps I really would get away with my snooping. I briefly shut my eyes, trying to calm down.
That was when I felt a hand grab my shirt, dragging me to my feet. Opening my eyes, I saw the woman, one hand in her cloak, the other hauling me to my feet, with a furious expression on her face.
Suddenly, I saw a silver flash, and felt cold metal pressing against my throat. I went to scream, but a firm hand pressed against my mouth, silencing me. My heart felt like it was going to pound through my ribs. Was this how I was finally going to die? After everything that had happened, falling through a magic mega portal to another world, meeting a seemingly impossibly strong knight, getting taken in by strangers, I would be killed for hearing next to nothing in a failed back alley meeting.
To my surprise, the woman didn’t immediately draw the knife across my throat. Instead, with a baleful glare, leaned in closer.
“Don’t you ever tell anyone what you’ve seen here today. If you do, I’ll drive this knife through your heart. Got it?”
I waited for her to bring the knife back from my throat (so I didn’t kill myself) before frantically nodding. She looked into my eyes, seemingly satisfied with what she saw, before quickly sheathing her knife in one smooth motion, turning and walked out the alley.
I collapsed down the wall, dumbstruck. Some unusual and terrifying things had happened to me before, but this was the first time I had even felt genuine fear from another person. When I felt like I was going to fall to my death, despite it being through a super mystery hole, that had felt cold and impersonal. There was no reasoning or emotion behind that, just simple fact. When people hit the ground at great enough speed, they died. That’s it. With this, she had decided that my life was worth less than the fact that she decided to meet with someone. The sheer dis-regard for human worth was staggering to me, and another reminded of just how different life was here.
I stayed there, in that alley, for longer than I would like to admit, before picking myself up and trudging on my way to Tom’s.