I got a much needed rest, considering the circumstances. The lady's husband kept lurking around, upsetting my detection spells. He had a family to protect so I understood. It gave me time to think about a lot of things. Apparently it has been more than a week since my death. That lapse of time is something I can't make sense of. No way I passed out for more than a week. And how did I make it to Verde? Mother took over as queen so that's good news because I can easily take it back by her standing up when I come back, or forcibly ejecting her because it's the same squad. With how things are going I doubt she will resist much. They say she tried to rally the south to attack Mittelreich. She probably found out that they had a hand in what happened but I doubt she cared enough to go to war for it so it could be Mittelreich showed their hand and she tried to gather the kingdoms together to defend the south and was betrayed. Verde saw an opportunity and liberated herself. Others will soon follow so I can't waste more time. Verde shares the longest border with the Demon forest in Drakoria and Yeorin been in Verde means I'm probably very close to the demon forest.
"Good morning," the lady greeted cheerfully, entering the room with a basket of laundry. "Did you sleep well?"
"More or less" I said, sitting up.
She laughed softly. "Gerard is a little paranoid" she said, "you will get a little use to it with time"
She placed the basket on a shaky table, turned off the lamp, and opened the window.
She collected clothes from the basket and came to me. "Change into this so I can wash the ones you are wearing they are too dirty." She handed me the cheap cloths "Also this will help speed up the healing"
I collected the vial. Its contents are blackened, not that I would have drank it if it was pleasing to the eye. There's no way I am drinking something from a stranger, and I think she noticed the same and was offended by it.
"It's fine" I said, dropping the cloths in the bed and standing up, wincing at the pain. "I plan on leaving this morning. Where is your husband?"
"He went into the village," she said picking up her basket. She ignored the vial and cloths she gave me, probably hoping I change my mind. "He went to share the supplies for the month. He should be back soon"
"Is he the village leader?" I asked.
She laughed softly again. "He should be, like his father was" she said, "but he refuses"
"Then why is he sharing supplies?"
"Because no one else would" she smiled absentmindedly, almost in thought then came back to herself. "That's why he was so disappointed when Verde fell" she went on, "He had applied for the King's judge position. The money would have been a huge difference for the village"
"How far is the nearest town?"
"Two days" she replied, "but we now buy from the King's farm. Just a few hours away."
I wanted to ask something else but we heard the man come into the house. She left the room and I saw the man walking past.
"Gerald" I called.
He halted out of view but came back into view. "What?" he answered rudely.
"I need to get to the King's farm"
He furrowed his brow, clearly puzzled. "Then go" he said and made to move.
"I need you to take me there"
He looked at me to see if I was serious then shook his head and muttered under his breath, "nobles" as he started to walk away again.
"50 silver coins" I said and I heard him return.
"What?"
It was low and curious.
"50 silver coins to take me to the King's farm now "
And still the motherfucker was still giving it a thought. He was conflicted, staring at me. I could hear the gears in his head turning and I was growing impatient. Killing him and taking the horse was a hassle since I can't ride a horse but it wasn't entirely out of the question, just enough to keep me patient.
"We will take it!" the wife chimed in from nowhere.
I breathe out a sigh of relief.
"W-What?" the man stuttered, facing his wife. "No way I'm leaving you and Nura alone."
"We will be fine," she touched her husband's arm. "We will go into the village, to Ferns', and come back by nightfall, by then you would be back. We can't afford to lose this opportunity, it will take care of things for more than a year"
"Ahli you can't tell me you believe this nonsense" he said, "what noble gives you a bronze out of the goodness of his heart let alone a gold coin. What if he is wrong?"
"What if he is right?" she said, "we are falling apart, Gerard. We need this"
They stare at each other silently for a moment before he breathed out and faced me. "We leave in 20 minutes" he said. The wife smiled. "And so you know," he added. "If I suspect foul play I'm putting a blade right through your heart"
And he left. I smiled. Threatening a noble. Quite bold.
Before 20 minutes we were already off. I held tightly into him shamelessly as we sped through the forest. We sped past so many destructions until we reached one that I couldn't ignore. I told him to stop and he surprisingly did without question.
We stood on a cliff and stared over a vast expanse of charred earth that stretched out before us. Blackened stumps of trees dotted the landscape and blackened ruins where buildings once stood. It wasn't recent which means the land was already barren.
"Demons?" I asked.
"Dragons" he corrected.
Dragons? It didn't seem improbable.
"Grandfather was but a boy that night." he went on, "He said the fires rained from the sky and burnt so brightly it looked like day time. The cries, the smell of roasted flesh...whole regions fell that night."
Few moments of silence followed, then I asked, "Why did the druids attack?"
"A very stupid king" was all he said then wheeled the horse around and we started traveling again.
We arrived before noon. High walls, two wooden watchtowers, each with a slightly overhanging roof, flank a solid wooden gate, all surrounded by mega trees. They built themselves a little community. I wonder how the druids feel about that.
"This is as far as I can go" Gerard said, reining the horse to a stop.
"What? Why?" We are still several walks away and I didn't like the thought of walking that far.
"It is the king's farm village, you can't just come and go as you please" he said
"It's fine, go forward" I replied.
"Listen--"
"I said it's fine" I interjected. "You've traveled all this way and you are going to give up your pay few minutes to the end?"
He grumbled but kicked the horse to move forward.
"Halt!" a voice boomed from one of the watchtowers when we got close. Gerard pulled to a desperate stop, cursing under his breath.
The gate opened and a young man came out with spear in hand but without the caution of one who expect danger.
"What business--" The words died in his throat as I came down. His eyes went wide, grip on the spear weakening. He knew what his eyes were seeing but his mind was finding it difficult to accept it. He staggered back, almost tripping over his own feet.
"It's the king!" a voice shouted from the towers. "The king is alive!"
I walked past the stunned boy. The gates were opening, more people were now on the watch towers and hoardings raising fists and blades to the air in loud jubilations. I walked through the gates to even more people gathered. It was like an entire town and they all went down on one knees, heads down and proclaimed with seemingly enthusiasm, "Long live the king!".
It warmed my heart and I smiled, but then caught myself. Don't get carried away it's not love, they need you. Like a remora to shark. I don't hate it, matter of fact, I like it that way. It's simpler, it's easier, and I don't have to worry about getting bit...soon as I remove the other sharks in the river.