Alphande'

Night had fallen and with it came relief as it would be more difficult for anyone to have seen us.

“Where are we going, you still haven’t told me as yet?” I asked Gareth. I was still getting accustomed to his new or rather correct name. I wanted to be anywhere but close to him right now, but I had no choice. I was blind and in a strange city, circumstances that were unfavourable to me. As much as I hated to admit it, I was better off with him at the moment.

“We are here.” he whispered as he pulled me along. There was a slight tap on a door followed by movements on the inside.

“Who be at my house at this hour?” asked the female voice.

“It’s Gareth.”

“Gareth?” she whispered, this followed by sliding of multiple bolts. The door creaked open. “By the witch’s tail it is you.” she said surprised. “And who this with you?” she said probably after seeing me.

“A friend, may we come in?”

“Definitely, if yah allow me to pass a comb through yah hair. Your head be quite gnarly lookin. I want no gnarly man my house.” she said.

He chuckled softly, “But of course if we have enough time.” I was then led into the house and the door closed behind us.

“Make yourselves comfortable as you can. Anything to warm thy stomachs? I have broth over the fire.”

“That would be appreciated, thank you.” As up until know I hadn’t realised how hungry I was and my stomach growled louder at the mention of food.

“This one sounds refined and foreign. Looks a bit tossed about, but is very pretty. You were never one to walk around with your mounts, so this one is special I can tell. Your taste in women have improved Gareth, I approve.”

“It has, no offence to you.” he said.

His mounts? I blushed as I realised what this woman thought I was. I felt a slight flash of anger towards the woman which surprised me as I realised he meant that he had also slept with her.

“None taken, I knew what I was. I have made my peace with that and be a new woman. Now eat up and tell me what is the problem? In these warsome times, I know it is no accident that brings you here this evevin.”

I took a small sip of the broth. It was a bit too salty for my taste but my stomach appreciated the warmth. I listened quietly as I couldn’t help to wonder who this woman was that Gareth was so familiar with.

“These snarls just be falling out. It like you be sheddin.”

“The hair isn’t mine but that is a story for another time.” I shifted uncomfortably as I knew that they belonged to Evander. Probably the only thing left of him on this earth. We need a way to get into the palace.”

“Why not walk through the front door as you used to?”

“It is not that easy anymore.” he laughed humourlessly. “The king and I are on different sides of the bench these days.”

“I heard murmurings of that, but I thought it not possible.”

“I doubt your murmurings are ever wrong. I don’t know why you would stop believing them now.”

“That is true. You want to be sneaky about the entrance I suppose?” she said contemplatively.

“That would be ideal.”

“Well the king is hosting a grand feast in two days to welcome the lizard kings as well as the one from Rá Leat. The chop house and kitchen will be mighty cluttered and it would be hard to detect any new faces lurking about the palace.”

“That is brilliant. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I don’t do this for the usual client, but you are something special Gareth so I won’t charge you this time, anything else requires the usual payment.”

“Thank you Glenda.”

“It was no run in my hem, and there you are looking decent again. Don’t ever do that to your corn silk hair ever again. Feel it miss and tell me if you agree.”

“I couldn’t…” I started to protest.

“Come on you can. You don’t have to be proper around me.” she said taking my hand resting it on Gareth’s head. Slowly and reluctantly I raked my fingers through his hair. I could feel his intense gaze upon me as I did it. For some reason I became nervous so I quickly dropped my hand back to my side.

“Felt good yes?”

“Yes,” I conceded softly and looked away. It was indeed like corn silk.

“We must be going now, but thank you Glenda.” said Gareth.

“You could stay the night.” she offered and I hoped that he would say yes as I was extremely tired.

“No, I would not want to impose myself upon you and it is dangerous to stay in one place too long.” I moaned internally but got up regardless.

“Thank you for the broth.” I said.

“You’re are welcome. She be mannersable too. This is definitely a good one, don’t mess this up Gareth or you would be a dunderheaded fool.”

“Glenda,” he said and I could feel the smile in his voice. He took me by the shoulder and led me out.

When we are a few paces away from the closed door I stopped. “Why couldn’t we have stayed the night?”

“If we did we would wind up dead and Asher would have the fourth gem by then.” he said as he pulled me along.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Glenda was once,” he paused, “a woman in service of the king and his subjects.”

“You mean she was a whore.” I said bluntly.

“Yes and a very good one too. But as I discovered she had a knack for gathering information and so I used her in other ways. Three assassinations attempts on the king’s life she had discovered and countless other ploys. She had honed her craft well over the last couple of months and has been handsomely paid for her services.”

“So she is on Asher’s payroll?”

“Not then, she was on mine. But with my absence I would assume that she had to make ends meet some other way.”

“So why did we come to her then?”

“She gave us a way to go in undetected.”

“Through the kitchen? You just said you couldn’t trust her?”

“I know that’s why we will go in through the dungeons. She will have informed the king’s men of our coming and they will be searching for us there leaving other access points empty.”

A smile crept on my face. “I don’t think much of you Gareth, but I must say you are quite brilliant when it comes to scheming, probably better at it than Evander. At least you are using it for good this time.”

“I am happy that you approve princess.”

“But that that doesn’t solve one problem.”

“Which is?”

“Where are we going to sleep tonight?”

“Stay hidden back here.” he said leaning me up against a wall.

“Where are you going?”

“To get you a room.”

“If you are thinking of ratting me out and giving me a night in the king’s prison I would make you regret it.” I warned.

“A bit more trust please. I am simply going to be selling the horse. It is a good breed and I’ll remove the shoes so that it is not traced back to the king.”

“Your actions in the past hardly recommend trust, but against my better judgment it seems I will have to do just that.”

“Well that is a start.” he said as if amused by my tirade. “I will be back in a moment.

He was gone for more than a moment and I couldn’t help to wonder if something had gone wrong. I slid down to the ground and sat as my feet had gotten weary from standing.

“I see you may not need the room after all as the ground seem quite to your liking.” I lifted my head off my knees. The air was heavy with moisture and I could feel the lightening of the sky around me. It was almost dawn.

“You made me sleep here overnight.” I accused and then stood up.

“Trading is a bit more fickle than I had expected especially with the smiths. Added to that I was spotted by some men when I was heading here. I had to lead them away from you, so my night wasn’t exactly rosy either.”

“You didn’t have to kill them did you?”

“I did what I had to.” was his curt reply. “Do you still wish to go to the inn or do we go straight for the dungeon?” he said sounding more irritated with me than I’d heard before.

“To the inn.”

“Fine,” he said and he led us away.

The scent of smoke coming from the oil lamps clung to the air around us. “A room for my wife and myself.” he said to the inn-keeper as he roped his arms around my waist. I squirmed slightly at his familiarity but it was necessary I suppose.

“You a young soldier ain’t you to be in the barracks?” asked the innkeeper.

“That I should be, but I was given a break to marry. What good to be fighting a war in which I may die, without knowin a woman first. If I do make it back alive all I would have to come back to was her and she be the only reason I fightin. If we don’t fight for our love, what else do we fight for?”

“True words soldier.” said the innkeeper. “Nothing in this world to fight for cept love.” Gareth placed the coins on the table and I heard as the keeper handed him the keys. “Well enjoy the time here. You is in the room on the top floor the only one there so you won’t be lost. Save it for my special clients but I reckon I won’t be getting any of those kinds around here soon enough.”

“You are very kind.” said Gareth.

We climbed the stairs slowly and he pushed the key into the lock and swung the door open. “This is nice.” he said as he led me in and closed the door. “You take the bed and I will sleep on the chair.” he said sounding grumpy again. I think the lack of sleep really messed with his mood.

“It is ok, you should take the bed since I have already slept. You have had a hard night and you deserve good rest.”

“Are you sure?” his voice became unusually tender.

“I am sure. Just lead me to the chair and to the bed so I can wake you if needs be.” he did that just that and I memorized the number of steps I took in each direction and then over to the chair.

“The bed is big enough for both of us.” he seemed to be joking.

“I have shared a bed with a male before and my body doesn’t recommend it.”

“I am not like Bastian at all. I would never hurt you the way he did.” he said as he touched my shoulder softly.

“I still have the burn and I am not afraid to use it.” I said as I rolled my shoulder from under his hold.

He chuckled amused. “I will never force you to do what you don’t want. But one day maybe you will have a change of heart.”

“When pigs fly.” I retorted.

“I could arrange that. I could beg a young hog from the innkeeper and toss it through the window. We can watch to see how high it will soar.”

“So you have a sense of humour.” I said as I couldn’t help but to laugh. The emotion felt odd as I couldn’t tell the last time I’d actually done so.

“Who knew?” he added jovially.

“Go to bed Gareth.”

“So you won’t be joining me then?”

“When pigs fly.” I laughed.