Nothing every happened in the small, backward city of Jertown AKA Jerktown Iowa. Beryn Summers trudged through the thick snow to open the one and only book store the tiny town had. Her blood red hair spilled down her back and twinkled with the snow flakes caught in the silken tresses. She fumbled for her keys, emerald green eyes snapping with frustration. "God dammit...one more thing irritates me today and I will explode and blow this whole damned town into bits!" She finally got the door open and hurried to turn on the heat and the lights.
She had done this five days a week for three years and it made her feel old at the tender age of twenty-one. She started a pot of water for tea and set out her 'Do I look like I care?' cup with a spicy chai tea bag in it waiting to be covered and caressed by the soon to be ready hot water. She took off her coat and boots, revealing a lush figure that turned heads...and always the wrong ones. The long sleeves of her winter shirt hid the marks on her arms and wrists and her jeans hid lovely legs that had more than once saved her by being strong and swift. She turned on the till and looked out at the snowy town through the main window. "Another day in Jerktown...where jerks are born and seem to thrive." Her thoughts made her frown and turned her bright eyes dull. A long copper painted nail tapped out a tune once she hooked her MP3 player to the external speakers and a hard driving rock tune began playing. "Music to soothe the savage red-head." she thought wryly
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The sun was warm across Mikeal's face and chest as he turned onto his back, the bed sheets getting even more tangled with his long legs. For a few minutes he just lay there, eyes closed and trying to remember the name of the woman lying next to him. He rolled his eyes beneath closed lids, his head cotton thick from the drinking that had gone on the night before. It wasn't often that Mikael drank, almost never since he'd taken on more responsibility in his home. Which was why he finally gave up trying to remember the woman's name and decided it was time to leave. With a soft grunt at the pain that lanced through his head, Mikael opened his eyes cautiously, silently cursing the brightness of the sun that filtered through the large clear glass windows.
Carefully, so as not to waken the resting blond that seemed content to remain snoring at his side, Mikael pushed himself first into a sitting position and then up onto his feet. The room seemed to spin a little and biting back another curse, Mikael squeezed his eyes shut tight then scrubbed a hand over his face. He probably looked a right sight, but at that moment in time, he couldn't really bring himself to care.
Searching out and finding his clothes, he dressed quickly, only stumbling once or twice in his hurry. Finally dressed, he looked down at the nameless woman as she turned onto her back, a soft moan escaping lips that were turned up in a smile.
With a cocky grin, he mockingly blew her a kiss before picking up his sword and dagger then making his way out of the room. It was with with some surprise that he came face to face with his two younger brothers, Raoul and Zaneth. He blinked at them slowly, taking in their grim expressions. "Father wishes to speak to us," Raoul told him, the grimness in his voice outdoing the grimness of his expression. "All three of us."
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Beryn sorted books and dusted while she sang to the songs playing loudly behind her. She knew when the people would start filtering in and she had a good two hours to be alone and sing while she sorted the shop out from the day before. She paused to pretend a candle was a microphone "And I've been down, been down on my knees!" She danced the candle back to it's antique holder that looked like a giant fist and went back to putting books away. "Okay, I have an empty spot here...better see if some jackass left a book in the back room again." She brushed the dust from her green shirt and headed towards the seldom used back room.
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The ride back had been made in silence. Well, he'd been silent, though he couldn't have said the same about his brothers. Riding their mounts three abreast, they'd talked non stop throughout the entire journey.
He'd kept his head down and answered with grunts or 'mmm's when asked a question. Otherwise, he'd tried to simply concentrate on keeping his head from exploding with it's constant beating and the contents of his stomach right where it should be, in his stomach. Now, he was stood in front of his father, Raoul on his right and Zaneth on his left. Each were waiting as patiently as they were able, keeping quiet and knowing from the way their father paced in front of them that it wouldn't be good news that he had for them.
"Of all the times to decide to go out hunting skirts!"
Mikael winced as his father's words echoed inside of his skull, their volume making his pounding head hurt all the more.
"We are on the verge of war, and you thought you would go out, drinking and chasing whores!" bellowed Basilius.
"I didn't think they were whores," muttered Mikael quietly, though obviously not quiet enough.
"You didn't think at all!" Basilius had come to a stop in his pacing to stand directly in front of Mikael, matching height for height. "If you had, you wouldn't have gone off alone and you certainly wouldn't have been drinking. Not when each of us need to stay alert. The time for peace is over and war is on our very doorstep."
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The back room of the shop was dimly lit and a great place for lazy people to leave things they didn't want to put back on a shelf. No one ever stayed inside it for long, the lighting was too dim to read by and some swore it was haunted. Beyrn didn't believe in ghosts, fairies or good men. They were all myths and she was too jaded and cynical to think fairy tales existed or came true. She swore as she gathered up not one, not two, but SIX books piled on the table just inside the door.
"Lazy good for nothing piles of shit! Can't even put a book back on a shelf!" She angrily put them all back and cranked the music up a notch. "I bleed for you, I plead for you...now I lay me down and die for you!" She sang as she moved to dust another filled to overflowing shelf.
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"Father.." began Mikael warily, only for Raoul to rudely cut in.
"Father, how do we know that war has been declared?"
At Raoul's question, Mikael watched his father's shoulders slump a little. It was that which made him suddenly take a proper look at his father. Still a handsome man even at almost fifty years of age, there seemed to be a tiredness about him that Mikael had never seen before.
"The messengers we sent out came back to us just before dawn," admitted Basilius with reluctance. "They'd been skinned alive and disemboweled. The only way we could tell who they were was due to the fact that they had been left with their faces."
At that Mikael had to swallow hard as he tasted bile at the back of his throat. "What do you need us to do?" he asked, his voice quiet and hard.
Their father straightened and faced them with obvious decision, royalty in his every movement, as was expected of the King of Cathia.
"There will be a meeting with the Council of Elders in the Great Hall after the morning's meal," Basilius told his sons. "Your brothers will help you sober up."
That was how Mikael soon found himself sitting in one of the horses troughs, soaked to the bone with cold water and glaring up at his two brothers while they roared with laughter. He'd never admit it, but at least he was definitely more sober.
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Soon it was time to turn off the tunes and get ready for the trickle of people that would be coming in. She tucked her player into her backpack and shrugged it on. She had her life in the pack and never left it laying around. In it was her money, keys, music, brush, hair ties, lotion, lip balm, her brand new ultra small laptop and other odds and ends of things she felt she needed on a daily basis. She sat down in the tall padded chair behind the counter and prepared to be at least civil to the people who would be coming in. And damn her luck if it wasn't Mrs. Pettigrew...the town know it all and expert gossiping busy-body. "Fuck me running." She thought to herself even as she smiled. "Good morning Mrs. Pettigrew."
The tall, skinny as a credit card run over by a giant steamroller woman sniffed disdainfully and chirped out in her high pitched voice that sounded like someone was stepping on an off key song bird. "No it is not a good morning Beryn, it is a dreadful one, with the snow and the winds. And have you been avoiding the knives lately? Or have you harmed yourself again?"
Beryn's smile became more of a grimace. "I'm fine ma'am, really. What book are you looking for now?" She fought to be nice "You old smelly wanna be English bitch!" Her thoughts included seeing the rude woman frozen head first in the local lake.
A sniff and a she chirped; "I seek a book of poetry by Browning and I will search for it myself. Wouldn't want your grubby fingers all over it...now would I?"
"Of course not ma'am...call if you need help" She mentally banged her head on the wall "Or if you need me to strangle you!"
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As far as Mikael was concerned, the Council had gone mad, completely senile in their age. After arguing all morning and well into the afternoon, it had finally been decided that Mikael, Raoul and Zaneth would ride out. Their task seemed easy enough. Search for and bring back the legendary Riddius jewel. A thing told to have more magic than even the oldest Mage could hope to hold in a lifetime. It hadn't taken long for the brothers to realise this was their only chance to stop the oncoming war, if not then at least to win it.
However, the argument between the three brothers had lasted into the early evening, when the dusk was just settling beyond the city walls.
None of them wanted the other to go, yet each had wanted to go alone.
In the end, they came to the decision that they would all go. Zaneth was the stronger tracker out of the three of them while Raoul was the strongest in the magics. Mikael was the stronger at fighting though each one held some measure of the other's skills. So it was with horses burdened with food and sleeping rolls and weapons that the brothers rode out of the city gates. if they were lucky, they'd reach the far side of the Keeper's forest before it became too dark to travel.
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It was closing time at last and Beryn was walking the shop and making sure all the lights in the back area were out. She sighed as she spotted books on the far table in the back room and trudged in to get them. One book was odd looking, it was leather bound and covered in symbols. She picked it up, startled when it seemed to weigh nothing. It looked as if it would weigh as much as Mrs. Lawson's extra wide ass. "Weird...really fucking....WHOA!" She gasped as she felt herself falling and falling. "HOLY CRAP!!"
She watched as times, places and people flashed past her at a dizzying speed. She saw her own past and paled as she watched herself slit her wrists. Then she landed with a grunt onto thick green glass and rolled to a stop on her back, with something very hard digging into her past her coat. She stared up at a lavender coloured bird who flew off in fear at the sight of a Human under his tree. She sat up, clutching the book. "Where in the name of every horror writer I've ever read am I?" She turned, spotted a large, deep purple stone and absently added it and the book to her pack before getting up and looking around. "I am either dead, or I knocked my head against something really damned hard!" She tried her phone and found it was getting no signal. She scowled and sat on a boulder and tried her laptop and got nothing there either. "Everyplace has the 'Net! Where the hell is this?!!"
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Although the night had been relatively quiet, they hadn't managed to make it out of the forest. In the end, they'd tethered their horses and had quickly set up camp, banking the small fire before Mikael and Zaneth had gone to hunt while Raoul had stayed behind and guarded their possessions. With the morning came the realisation that they were on a tight schedule. They had almost ten days to find the missing jewel and bring it back. If their travels took them more than five days, they knew they had run out of time.
It was while they were discussing which direction to head for once they'd left the forest that Zaneth had hissed a low 'Quiet!' at them.
"What is it?" demanded Mikael in a harsh whisper. "What's wrong?"
After a moment of silence and searching the trees, Zaneth looked back to his brothers. "There's something here, in the forest," he told them quietly, silently dismounting and drawing his sword. "Something has frightened the birds. In this direction."
Biting off a curse as he watched his youngest brother heading off into the deeper parts of the trees, Mikael quickly dismounted and unsheathed his own blade.
"Stay with the horses," he ordered Raoul as he headed off after Zaneth. "If we loose them we'll never finish this cursed quest."
Easily catching up with Zaneth, he crouched down low behind dense foliage. "Over there," muttered Zaneth quietly, nodding with his head towards a small clearing of rocks and grass. Raising an eyebrow, Mikael looked to where he'd been directed.
Beryn was cold, scared and as pissed off as a wet cat. She had found some odd looking fruit that turned out to be safe to eat and had managed to even pee without getting it on her boots. Now she was trudging through the darkness with her little flashlight and spitting out some -very- colourful metaphors. "God damn pig sucking, mutherfucking go straight to hell SHIT!! If this is a cosmic joke I AM NOT FUCKING LAUGHING!!" She kicked a rock and sent it flying like a missile.
Mikael never saw the rock coming until it was too late. It bounced off his forehead, cutting him open above the right eye. With vicious swearing and sudden anger, he left their hiding place to storm towards the strange girl whose mouth seemed no cleaner than his own.
"By all the Gods what do you think you're doing?!" he demanded, his voice sending up more frightened birds.
"What my brother means," Zaneth asked more calmly if a little breathlessly, "Is what are you doing out here alone? These woods aren't safe to be wondering around in."
She glared at Mikael "If I had MEANT to hit you it would have caved your fucking SKULL in! And I don't even fucking know where I am much less about how safe it might or might not be!" She shifted her backpack and looked them over. "What are you three dressed up for? A Renn Faire or something?"
Not yet sheathing their swords, the brothers looked at each other.
Recognising the look in Zaneth's eyes, he glared at his soft hearted brother. "She is not coming with us!" he growled, glancing at the girl and looking her up and down with a scowl.
"Mikael, she's alone and lost. We can't leave her to fend for herself in these woods!" argued Zaneth.
"Seems to me she can fend for herself just fine," snapped Mikael, wiping at the blood that was trickling down the side of his face. At the wounded look his brother gave him, Mikael leaned in closer. "Make sure she keeps up,"
With the growled order, Mikael stormed back to where Raoul was waiting. Zaneth turned to the red head and gave her an apologetic shrug of his shoulders. "You're welcome to travel with us to the next town,"
"Thanks...and well...shit." She stomped over to Mikael and without a word took out her med kit and cleaned up his wound and placed a bandage over it. "There, now you won't bleed to death" She moved away and sat by the fire, taking out her player she put in the ear buds and cranked up the volume. She couldn't know that everything she had was foreign to them. They had nothing like electric lights or batteries and they certainly didn't have the dark, Gothic music she listened to.
"Great...trapped with renn faire rejects...just my rotten ass luck."
She seemed to close in on herself a little as her thoughts got darker "And I'm cold, scared and I wanna go fucking HOME!" She refused to cry, she hadn't cried since she had slit her wrists and lay in the tub watching her life drain away.
He was not brooding. Definitely not brooding. Catching the look Raoul gave him told Mikael that he wasn't fooling anyone. Clenching his jaw and trying hard not to grind his teeth, Mikael rose and moved quietly over to where the girl sat, food and his own blanket in his hands. Not waiting to be acknowledged, he dropped the blanket in front of her at her feet before bending to carefully place the cloth bundle of dried meat, cheese and bread besides it.
Moving away he glared at his brothers. "First watch is mine. We rest for a half hour then we move on." Having given the order, he left the small group to patrol.
She watched him leave and then looked to the elder brothers. "I'm not home anymore...am I?" She pulled out her ear buds and turned it off.
When they stared at her things she scowled. "What? It's just an MP3 player and a laptop computer." She wrapped up in the blanket and nibbled on the food. "I want pizza...and a soda." She thought as she ate the hard dried meat.
Raoul rolled his eyes before standing up. "I'll go after him," he told Zaneth, glancing once again at the girl and her strange possessions.
"Try not to frighten her too much."
"I couldn't frighten anything if I tried!" Zaneth called back to his brother, only to hear laughter from him. In a fit of annoyance, her stuck his tongue out at his brother's retreating back. It was then that he remembered their guest and he coughed, muttering her an apology as heat stung his cheeks.
"If I may ask you, m'lady," he questioned gently, looking at her with curiosity. "Where are you from? You must've travelled quite far as I've never seen those things before." He motioned to what she had called an MP3 player and a laptop.
She stared at him and in the back of her head felt a trickle of real fear. "My name is Beryn Summers and I'm from Jertown Iowa, USA. And now you...where am I and what year is this?" She clutched her pack closer, realizing with growing horror that it was her only link to the home she might never see again.
"I'm sorry," he told her gently with a small shake of his head. "I've never heard of USA. My brothers and I have travelled very far between us and we've never come across such a place."Year? Well, it's the summer of the Lochloh, 1174. As for where we are. We're in the Keepers Forest, named so because not many who go in, come out again. We're just on the edge of the Cathia." He held out a leather flask of water. It didn't look like much, but it did the job of containing liquid for their journey. "What is that thing?" he asked curiously, nodding at the MP3 player. "That thing that you had in your ears."
She took a sip of the brackish water and after handing the flask back took out the tiny player. "It's called an MP3 player, it plays music.
*She helped him insert the ear buds and turned the sound way down before starting up a song called 'I bleed for you' "I'm in another place...and time. Earth had to have place named Cathia. No...it must be a dream, I'm really out cold on the floor of the shop. Hey, since it's a dream I might as well go along with it, hell I could write a book about it when I wake up!" Her thoughts cheered her a little as she watched for the strange dream man's reaction to the dark, brooding music.
He started a little when he heard music playing. He looked from her, to the small device that was hers, then back up to stare at her with wide eyes. Taking the tiny buds from his ears, he looked down at them before handing them back to her. "Music! I could hear music from those small things," he told her,
before looking at her warily. "I look at you, Lady Summers, and I know that you can't possibly be from near these parts. Your magical music proves it. But... how did you get here? You couldn't have walked so far, you don't have dust from travelling covering you. Mikael will want to talk to you, I should think."
She put the player away and gave him a too bright smile. "That's okay...this isn't real anyway, it's just a dream and I'll laugh my ass off when I wake up from it." She tucked away the food she had left and curled up on the ground, her pack becoming a pillow. "Nice touch though...the heat from the fire I mean. Looks almost real...even crackles like a real fire would."
"You talk so strangely." he told her, giving the fire a prob with a larger stick to keep the flames up. "This is no dream, Lady Summers. We've travelled for over a day before we found you. Or rather, you found us." He couldn't help but chuckle a little at that, though he made sure that it was quiet enough that his brothers wouldn't hear. "I am sorry to tell you, but there is no more real life than this one, the one we lead here and now." Laying down on the ground near her but not too close to her, Zaneth clasped his hands behind his head and looked up at the grey clouds. "We shall have to go soon." He looked over in her direction. "You can ride my horse. You can ride, can't you?"
"I talk strange? Well I guess to a dream person I would. And yeah, I come from a rural town, I can ride. So what's up with the hothead? Bee fly up his ass or something?" She sat up and got her brush out and began brushing out her waist length hair. "I better braid this up if I'm going to be riding." She snickered. "Oh this will make a great book!!" Her thoughts shifted when she began digging for a scrunchy. "And when I wake up I'll need a beer to get rid of the headache I'll have."
Zaneth looked at her strangely for a moment. "Hothead?" he asked, before he realised what she meant and coughed out a laugh. "You mean Mikael. Yes, he does have a temper on him at the moment. But I swear to you, he is not normally like that. At least, he never used to be." He shook his head before giving her a solemn look. "My brother came back from battle only twelve days ago. He went with eight men, but came back alone. Wounded and fighting a fever. For a short time, we thought we would loose him, but he is too hard headed. He won't tell us what happened, only that if was his fault. Father was furious. Not because of the loss of men, but because Mikael refuses to talk of it."
She put away her brush and tossed the long braid over her shoulder and looked at him. "He's angry, he lost men, he feels guilty and instead of talking it out, he's being a stubborn putz and holding it all it. He feels he doesn't deserve sympathy because they dies under his watch." She shrugged. "Yeah, I read a few books on psychology."
Zaneth shook his head with a bemused smile. "You are a strange one, if you do not mind my saying so," he told her. "For all his anger and brooding, Mikael does feel for those that are in his care. It is why he is so on edge. The fact that we have all come out. Mikael is the eldest, then there is Raoul and I, the youngest. If we die, there is no one else to carry on the family line. It will die out with our father." He looked over to her. "Have you escaped?" he asked suddenly. "Is that why you are alone? Have you run away from a cruel Master? I only ask because I have not noticed any marks on you." He pointed to the left side of his neck where three black ink marks stood out against his lightly tanned skin. "They show place of birth by number and status by colour." He explained.
That made her laugh harshly. "You wanna see marks?" She took off her coat and pulled up her long sleeves. Laid bare were the slash marks from her suicide attempt and the marks left by Gavin. She then turned and raised her shirt up and let him see her back, and the marks left from lit cigarettes. She got back into her coat. "I have no master and where I come from tattoos are for decoration, not to mark our place in the pecking order."
He felt almost sick at the scars she showed him that marred her otherwise smooth skin. "I am sorry, m'lady, I did not mean to upset you," he told her quietly, sincerely. "Perhaps you have family then? Loved ones who may be searching for you? Once events have calmed down, I am sure our father would offer you all the help he can. We have the finest horses that can travel for many miles before they get tired. We could give you safe passage home."
She made a rude noise. "Don't you get it? This is a dream! See?" She waved her hand over the fire only to yelp and jerk it back. "Holy fucking crap...that hurt...but you're not supposed to feel pain in dreams! Then this...and I'm...well fuck me running." She stuck her hand against the cool grass and began to laugh almost hysterically. "Well I guess this solves my problems doesn't it? I wanted out and damned if I didn't get as out as a person could ever get!" She shook her head. "Well I guess this means I have no one here, I'm really and truly all alone."
Mikael had almost thundered his way through the bushes and back to the camp at the sound of a pained cry, but for some reason he paused and listened to the girl talking to Zaneth. nothing she said made sense to him. The way she talked, the way she was dressed. Something in her tone though made him catch his breath a little. The unfamiliar ache he felt in his chest for her was uncomfortable and unwanted. Having heard enough, he pushed through the bushes to walk over to his youngest brother. With a hard shove against his leg using the side of his boot, he scowled down at Zaneth. "You were supposed to be keeping an eye out, not exchanging stories with the girl. Get up. We move out as soon as Raoul is back."
"Hey, back off! He was looking out and talking isn't a crime asshole! So leave the guy alone!" She glared at him angrily despite a weird tingle going up her spine. "Oh fucking great, attracted to another asshole." Her thoughts were hard and angry. "NO! I will not be a punching bag again!! So fuck you sideways Mr weirdo time warp guy!!" She clamped down on the erring thoughts savagely.
Mikael's eyes narrowed as he looked down at her. It seemed her temper matched her hair. That was good, if she was to survive these lands. So say that he was surprised that dared to talk to him as she did would have been a lie. What did surprise him though, was the vehemence with which she defended Zaneth, who he knew was quite capable of doing that himself. He admired that to a degree. Feeling the corners of his mouth trying to twitch upwards, he deepened his scowl. "Once we leave these lands," he told her in warning, "We will be recognised by our markings. As you have none, you need to control that temper of yours and that mouth. You have our protection, but there is only so much we can do in lands not our own." Though it was a warning, there was no anger in his eyes.
She smirked. "Any of you know how to tattoo? Put that noble mark on me somewhere and make up a mark to go with my last name, which is Summers. Then I'm just another little sheep among the flock. And I can handle anything this freaky place throws at me." She refused to let this weird man see her fear, she would die before appearing weak before any man for that matter.
Mikael stared at her for a long while, thinking that perhaps she'd gone a little mad. When he heard Raoul crashing clumsily through the bushes, he turned away from her and walked over to his horse.
"Of all the stupid, unreasonable things to grow in a forest," groused Raoul good naturally. "It would have to be trees." He paused as he came into camp. Looking around, he could almost feel the tension that simmered in the air. "Did I miss something?"
Mikael pulled himself up effortlessly and settled himself into his horses saddle, before looking at Raoul with dark humour. "She wants us to give her a birthing mark," he told Raoul, his deadpan expression ruined only by the laughter in his eyes.
Raoul looked horrified at the idea. "Only the King's physician can do that!"
She rolled her eyes "Oh for the love of Pete!! Do any of you -ever- think for yourselves? Of course not...that would be asking too much." She got up and looked at Zaneth. "We sharing a horse? I won't have you walking, it's not fair." She then looked to Mikael "So how do we explain me 'O' I know it all even if I am a putz'...hmmm?"
Zaneth could only nod at her question, astounded at the way she spoke to Mikael and worried how his brother would react. Shaking his head a little, he untethered his horse and held it steady for her.
Raoul stamped out the small fire carefully, though he was unable to fully hide the hurt from his eyes. In silence he climbed up onto his own horse, watching his older brother.
Mikael wanted nothing more than to jump down from his mount, throw her over his knee and give her the thrashing she seemed to deserve. He couldn't have done it though, it went against everything he was, heart and mind. Catching Zaneth's reproachful look though, he simply tightened his grip on the reins and took a few deep breaths before answering.
"You have travelled very far from your home and are new to these lands. You are of noble birth, borne in the very far reaches of the world. You have no mark yet because that is where you are heading before you offered to help us on our journey. In return we offered you safe passage and an audience not only with the King's physician, but also the King himself." he paused to look her over. "You will need new garments more befitting a noble woman. That we can see to once we get to the next town. That is the explanation that we use. At such short notice, Lady Summers, it is all that we can do for the time being."
She winced when she saw the look on Raoul's face. She got on the horse and held out a hand for Zaneth. "Hey Raoul, sorry if I hurt your feelings. I get mouthy when I'm tired and in a strange world. Forgive me?" She gave him a fleeting smile. "Great, a sensitive one...oh bloody joy. What the hell have I gotten into?!" She sighed and shook off the every darkening thoughts. "Good idea...guess you guys can think outside the box. Sorry I got mouthy." She paused "Am I going to have to wear a dress?" She looked almost terrified at the thought.
Raoul gave her a small smile and shrugged his shoulders, as if it explained everything. "There is nothing to forgive, Lady Summers," he told her. "It is understandable that you would be upset so far from home." "No, you will not be wearing a gown while we travel. Should anything go wrong we can not waste time for you to lift it up and run.
It is pants and boots for the time being." Mikael told her, frowning slightly at the feeling of disappointment.
She took a deep breath of relief at the knowledge she wouldn't have to wear a dress. The last time she had one on, Gavin had raped her brutally and she had not worn one since.
Taking her hand, Zaneth hauled himself up behind her, carefully reaching around her to take hold of the horses reins. "He can be a bit of a hothead sometimes," he told Beryn softly, talking of Mikael as well as his horse. "But he means well and good." He paused for a moment before speaking again.
"What is a putz?"
That made her giggle. "It means someone who is obnoxious or foolish."
She took the reins from him. "I can handle the reins and everything else. Now, which way are we headed and what are you guys looking for?"
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