Priscilla woke up feeling well-rested and ready for an adventure when the sun’s rays hit her face. She took a quick bath before she had to spend the next few weeks being sweaty on the road. Asha kept up a steady chatter as Priscilla got ready and went over one final check of her pack and outfit, as if sensing that it may have to be quiet while they traveled.

“Are you sure about leaving this behind?” Asha asked, referencing the parasol the artifact had become quite taken with, saying it loved the color and the way the lace looked in the light. Priscilla was secretly pleased with Asha already having opinions on fashion because it meant Priscilla would have someone else to bounce ideas off when inspiration struck. Admittedly, Asha wouldn’t be able to help much with designing clothes, but just having someone to talk through the process had always been helpful to Priscilla.

“I’m sure,” Priscilla said, “I wouldn’t have anywhere to use it, I’ll be riding a horse for the most part and I’ll need my hands for the reins.”

“I’m sure you could maintain your balance exceptionally with one hand,” Asha said so seriously it made Priscilla laugh again.

“Quit it,” Priscilla said teasingly, “or else you’ll give me a big head.”

“Your head is the perfect size, master!”

Priscilla just chuckled and shook her perfectly sized head. Asha was so straightforward with its affection for her that sarcasm tended to be an alien concept for it. Maybe that’d get better with more exposure to Priscilla, but she didn’t mind Asha’s nature at all. There was something naïve and innocent to Asha that Priscilla wanted to preserve for as long as she could.

“You ready?” Priscilla asked Asha as she hefted her pack over her shoulders and settled the compass and whistle around her neck. Asha was in the form of a sturdy pair of riding gloves for the journey.

“I’m ready, master,” Asha said. “I’ll be so quiet that you’ll think I’m just an ordinary glove.”

“I could never mistake you for anything ordinary,” Priscilla said and enjoyed how pleased that made Asha.

But that was enough bantering with her artifact, Priscilla had an adventure to begin. She was dressed in a pair of comfortable gray trousers, a sky blue blouse, and the only pair of riding boots she could find, deciding to not don the leather armor just yet, as to not give anyone the hint that her trip was anything other than what it seemed – a sudden, capricious decision.

She had just closed the door behind her and was rounding the corner to the stairs when Priscilla saw the mother walking towards her with purpose, holding something covered in dark cloth. Priscilla seriously debated pretending she didn’t see the woman but debated a tad too long, and the mother was in front of her, the woman’s heels clicking loudly against the ground as she came to a stop.

“Priscilla, I understand that you’re leaving early today,” the mother said.

“Yeah, so?” Priscilla said, crossing her arms as she gave the woman a look telling her to get on with it and to stop stating the obvious.

“I wanted to give you something before you left,” the mother said, pulling off the cloth to reveal a dagger snug in its scabbard and a belt of sorts. The scabbard was made of a dark leather that had the same sun motif the money pouch had, though it was much darker and was only visible because Priscilla was looking for it.

The mother held out the dagger and Priscilla frowned at her.

“Why pretend to care now?” Priscilla asked, suspicious of what was happening.

The mother caught her breath and held it before letting it slowly out.

“When a woman travels the roads,” she began slowly, ignoring Priscilla’s very reasonable question, “she ought to have some means to defend herself. I had given Illnyea one on her first trip and it was only fair that I give you one in turn. I have… made mistakes, but I do not think you to be a fool to reject a weapon freely given.”

For a moment, Priscilla wanted to smack the dagger out of the mother’s hands and spit on the offering, but she reigned in her temper by telling herself that a dagger could come in handy because it meant that Asha’s capabilities could remain hidden. She took it and the belt roughly from the mother’s hands.

“I assume this is for the dagger to go on?” Priscilla asked as she wrapped the belt around her waist.

“You would be correct,” the mother said. “If you would like my help…”

“No, I’m good,” Priscilla said as she tied it off. She had enough experience cosplaying fantasy characters that she knew her way around a good amount of gear. Priscilla found where the dagger was meant to go and secured it to her side.

When she looked up, the mother was staring at her with an odd expression on her face, a cross between surprise and regret.

“Was there anything else you needed or am I free to go?” Priscilla asked, uncomfortable with the mother’s emotions and attention. The mother was acting hot and cold and Priscilla would much prefer the woman to remain as uncaring as she had been the whole time. For her to change when the original was gone felt… blasphemous almost, because the person that the mother should have changed for was no longer here to see that change.

The care the mother was showing may have been everything the original may have wanted, but Priscilla hated the hypocrisy, hated the concern because it felt like the mother was only changing because Priscilla wasn’t desperate for her love and approval anymore.

“The horse and guard will be waiting in the courtyard for you,” the mother finally said, crossing her hands in front of her, gold eyes trying to bore into Priscilla’s.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Alright,” Priscilla said and turned to go.

“Priscilla–” the mother called out and Priscilla rolled her eyes and didn’t slow down. She didn’t have time to waste on giving the mother any amount of her emotional bandwidth or brain power, and frankly Priscilla was impressed she hadn’t cussed the woman out. She itched to get on the road and leave this mansion behind her.

Priscilla’s previous good mood was gone and she felt Asha’s concern through the bond. At the bottom of the stairs, Priscilla paused to take a few deep breaths in to calm herself and reach a neutral emotional state, even if she couldn't capture the happy energy she had left her room with.

She didn’t spot Hans on her way out, which was a shame, but Priscilla did find a small container of food next to the entrance way, with a note saying, “For your trip. May it be peaceful and help you achieve your goals – Hans”

It smelled heavenly as she carefully placed it into her pack and Priscilla told herself that had to try and bring back a souvenir for him to thank him for all the help he’d given her these past few days. He seemed like the type of guy that might appreciate a little knick-knack to put on his shelf, or maybe a nice book of poetry?

Lost in thoughts on what to get Hans, Priscilla didn’t register just who was standing next to the two horses until she was only ten feet away. Her step faltered when her mind caught up to what she was seeing.

He was tall, with broad shoulders and bronze skin that spoke both of his ancestry and the time he spent outside. He was dressed in a full set of light armor and was in the midst of securing his pack to his horse, a shield stretched across his back and a sword by his side. Though his hair was cropped short, she could still see the dark hair shine a midnight blue when the sun caught it perfectly. He looked up when he heard her footsteps come to a halt.

His black eyes were slightly widened as he stared back at her before cooling significantly.

The mother said that she would handle picking the guard to accompany Priscilla, and it seemed she really wanted to fuck Priscilla over.

Sulaiman Halsteed, Illnyea’s close friend from childhood and her right-hand man as they traveled the world, was someone who had never liked the original Priscilla because of the bad relationship between her and Illnyea. And now, Priscilla had to travel with Sulaiman for the next few weeks in close quarters with only each other for company. She had had some preliminary thoughts on how to deal with his hostility, but all of them hinged on using Illnyea to bridge the gap between them and keep Sulaiman in line.

“Fuck me,” Priscilla whispered to herself before putting on her game face and striding forward with a confidence she didn’t really feel.

She liked Sulaiman, don’t get her wrong. She found his upright nature to be admirable and thought he provided a nice dose of realism for the party that was filled with people who had more optimism than sense. His growth of character was engaging and heartfelt as he reconciled his heritage with the type of person he wanted to be, and he had stolen the hearts of many fans. He was a real softie once you got into his good graces, but a total menace to their enemies.

Priscilla was usually in that enemy category in the story, but hopefully that wasn’t quite the case at the moment.

“Sulaiman,” Priscilla said once she was close, nodding her head at him. His eyes grew colder and inwardly, she sighed deeply. Sulaiman probably had a very reasonable grudge against the original for being a bitch to Illnyea, but it still didn’t mean that Priscilla didn’t want to shake him. She reminded herself that Sulaiman was only nineteen and she was older and theoretically wiser, so she should be the bigger person.

She ignored his gaze as she secured her pack to the horse and mounted it in a surprisingly smooth motion, considering that she hadn’t ridden a horse in a year or so. Maybe it was a combination of her experience and the body’s muscle memory.

Priscilla raised an arched eyebrow at Sulaiman when he didn’t move. “Aren’t you going to get on your horse? Or do you plan to show off your athleticism and run after me on foot?”

She couldn’t treat him as softly or gently as she had treated Illnyea. Illnyea, as much as she loved her, was naive and accepted Priscilla’s words without much questioning. Sulaiman would not be nearly as easy to convince that Priscilla had changed for good, his suspicious nature probably rationalizing any strangeness as just a trick to let his guard down.

Sulaiman stared at her for a moment more before getting onto his own horse with a frown.

“Where are we going?” he asked, his voice as deep as she imagined it would be.

“You’ll find out when we get there,” Priscilla said evasively because she wasn’t sure if their destination fell under knowledge she should not know or not. She didn’t think it did because she did find Kavil’s village on a map, but she didn’t want to take a chance she’d cough up blood. It’d be just her luck that Hans would come outside and see it happen and insist she delay her departure.

Sulaiman’s eyes stayed focused on the road ahead of them as they left the grounds.

“How long will the trip be?”

“It’ll take a week to get there,” Priscilla said, guiding her horse to start heading towards the east, as according to the compass around her neck, “and we’ll stay a day before we come back.”

She felt his glare at the back of her head like a physical weight and couldn’t help her snort. “Don’t give me that look, I’m not the one who chose you to accompany me. You can thank the mighty Mister and Missus Thornewood for that, I just asked for a guard.”

Priscilla glanced back at him to see his face school itself into cool disinterest, though she could see the spark of displeasure in the way he tightened his grip on the reins.

“I see.”

They traveled in silence for a few minutes as they navigated the traffic in the city. It wasn’t until they had passed through the east entrance of the city that Sulaiman spoke again.

“Are you really not going to tell me where we’re going?” Sulaiman asked, sounding as if he was speaking through gritted teeth. Priscilla let her horse slow down so that she didn’t have to strain her neck quite as much to look at him.

“Yup,” she said, popping the p as annoyingly as she could. “But just remember that I don’t want to travel with you either, so let’s just focus on surviving the next two weeks together without killing each other, alright?”

A muscle in Sulaiman’s cheek flexed as he stiffly nodded.

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” Priscilla said, noting how he jerked to look at her as she swore. She gave him a mocking little smile and waggled her fingers at him before looking forward once more.

This was going to be a long week, and while part of Priscilla was selfishly glad that she was able to travel with one of her favorite characters, the other, more reasonable part, was focused on the fact that Sulaiman wasn’t the type to simply allow himself to be stashed at an inn while she went off to start a fight. Explaining the situation to him without being able to say anything was going to be a bitch to deal with, but luckily, that was a problem for Future Priscilla, and right now, she could just sit back and take in the scenery.