On the Safe Side

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Taking the bowl from her hands, Talhad nodded. He wasn't expecting something like that from Celeste, but seeing as she seemed to accept the new rules of her life, maybe it was bad of him to be surprised by this. After all, she did come here with him and except for a small disagreement, the journey went well so far. The man looked at the bowl and felt his stomach squeeze itself a little. He should probably leave the rest of the meal to Celeste, but the girl was right - he was hungry. Instead of gobbling down the goulash, Talhad ate it slowly, swallowing every tiny bit. "Avari, then. It's a good name. We should rest today and leave the town tomorrow - unless I find some work here, we need more money. You should sleep, Avari, but before that-" Talhad licked the spoon and placed the bowl on the nightstand, standing up. The fireplace was dirty, and hasn't been used for ages, but someone kept bringing small logs into the room. The knight took one and placed it on the floor near Celeste. The wood was old, and quite soft. "Take the dagger and try to pierce it as much as you can." All he wanted to see was how weak - or strong - Celeste really was.
 
Celeste watched him quietly. She felt stupid now for gobbling her food when he ate it so calmly."................you want me to stab a piece of wood? Okay....simple enough." She stood up and pulled out the dagger she'd been given. She took in a breath and drove the dagger deep into the small log. It went so deep that the entire blade was in the wood. All you could see now was the handle. "........um................is that deep enough?"
 
The man raised his eyebrows, tapping his knee nervously. The wood was old, soft and didn't pose much of an obstacle for a dagger as good as one of his own - Talhad knew better than to let any weapon lose its sharpness, especially with his spear in such a bad state. He looked at his main weapon and sighed, taking it from its place against the wall. The bindings were almost off. It really needed care from someone who knew how to repair and change everything there was to repair and change. There were no blacksmiths in this town, at least not the kind Talhad would feel good about leaving his weapon with. He tried to pull everything together and after doing so, he looked up at Celeste, nodding. "Good. Now, do it again, and tilt your wrist a little. Try to feel the weight of the weapon, don't simply push it into the log as if you're trying to beat it with the blade, C-" Talhad furrowed his eyebrows. "Avari. Just a few times, and then you can sleep. I'll wake you up before tomorrow's morning, and be ready for some more walking."
 
Celeste did as told as though she were already used to doing it. Her only real friends growing up were her stuffed lion and her brother. Being younger, her brother was usually in charge of what they did....which usually involved this sort of thing.
 
Talhad nodded, seeing Celeste wasn't as weak and new to the task given to her as he thought her to be. Not really wanting to know how it happened, Talhad took the dagger out of the log after another set of attacks and put it back with the rest of his weapons. "This isn't so bad. I'm impressed, Avari. Now.. We should rest, I'll wake you up tomorrow." He stood up from the bed and offered it to Celeste, but not entirely. After closing the door and making sure there was something in front of them that would make some noise if someone was to come in, the knight moved back. Laying down on the side of the bed, Talhad tried to take as little space as possible. Hopefuly she wasn't going to make a fuss out of that, too. He didn't speak to the girl, but didn't sleep either. Looking at the moon that shone through the window, the man planned day after day of their journey.
 
Celeste didn't like that she'd be sharing a bed with a man. ".....a lady should not a share a bed with any man other than her husband........" she said quietly as she lay on the bed, facing away from Talhad. ".....thank you.....for the......goulash...you called it?"
 
Talhad was too tired to simply let that one whimper go. She wasn't going to do anything about the fact that they had to share the bed - not to mention the word "share" was used here very vaguely - so why couldn't she simply keep her mouth shut? Growling quietly under his breath, the man pushed his body even more to the edge of the bed. He wanted to scold her by saying that this is barely similar to what "sharing the bed with a husband" means, but the man pressed his lips together and decided not to give that kind of comment. "I am sorry, Avari, but we need to make do. And you're welcome." He yawned a little, his fingers touching the weapon laying on the ground next to the bed. He wanted to sleep, but first, he wanted to make sure the princess was asleep. He still wasn't sure whether she was going to follow him all the wya to her uncle's, or whether she would get some weird ideas and try to run away.
 
"....I know.....but mother would be furious.....so it's okay" she let out a tiny giggle. Even the little princess had a rebellious side. She closed her eyes and yawned softly, slowing her breath gradually. She was an expert at feigning sleep. She could fool even her brother.
 
Talhad managed to keep his eyes open until he heard Celeste's bretahing slow down and become more rhytmical. It didn't take her long, but Talhad tried to lay down, awake, for around half an hour before giving in to tiredness. Letting out a quiet sigh, the man closed his eyes and soon enough, he was fast asleep. Even though the knight knew he shouldn't sleep so freely, his body and the exhaustion took over easily. Without him noticing, the sleep came and caused Talhad to drift off so badly, he didn't even react to the sounds of a fight downstairs. Normally he would be up in no time. No, this time he slept and dreamed of his past, though he didn't have nightmares at all.
 
Celeste listened to Talhad's breathing. When she was certain that he was asleep, she carefully sat up and tip-toed out of the room. She had even taken off her shoes to avoid waking him, putting them back on once she was out of the room. She went downstairs, curious as to what commoners did with their time
 
The inn was currently having a prime time of its existence. It was filled with all kinds of people - men drinking for the sake of having a drink, men drinking because of problems, and so on. The women were either the waitresses - one could call them that if being bery kind - or courtesans - again, one could call them that if being very kind. No one paid attention to Celeste, though some people gave her some short looks before going back to whatever they were doing before. There was singing, drinking, groping, everything with an unhealthy dose of swearing and screaming. But one man was talking with the innkeeper and when the latter saw Celeste, he immediately pointed his finger at her. The man he was talking to moved his head and stared at the girl for the moment, but did nothing at all.
 
Celeste noticed the man staring. She wasn't sure how to react to this, but tried to make it look as if she hadn't noticed, trying to move toward the exit. She hoped to see other aspects of the commoners' world other than drinking and partying. The last thing she wanted to see were easy women giving themselves to men for a few bits of money.
 
The man kept looking at Celeste, though he did try to make it almost invisible. He bit his lip nervously. As the princess moved towards the exit, Farin - because that was the man's name - stood next to the counter. It was hard to tell whether she was the princess or not - barely anyone saw Celeste back when the kingdom still existed - and now the man had to guess. But from what the innkeeper told him, about a grown male and a girl appearing this evening at his door, Farin had no choice but to take his chance. He looked around, but Talhad was nowhere to be seen. Finally, after putting a coin on the counter for the innkeeper, the man turned around and walked to Celeste. He even followed her outside, but kept his distance.
 
Celeste noticed the man following. She couldn't hide the look of nervousness as she tried to lose him, turning down every alley way she saw and walking faster. It wasn't normal for men to follow people, right? If she was questioned about trying to get away, she could easily say that she was afraid he was a stalker. Even if it was the norm here, she can always pretend to be from another country...it would explain he way of talking. She was multilingual, naturally, so she could even speak frantically in a different language to confirm it.
 
People paid little to no attention to the girl and the man following her - they had their own businesses to take care of. Farin picked up the pace, trying not to lose the princess, and cursed under his breath. He didn't want to scare her - still hoping it was her after all - but he had no idea on how to approach her. The only hope he had was that she was going to recognize him as one of the guards from the castle. After following her for a little while, Farin bit his lip and raised his head a little, taking his hood off and revealing his face. "Princess?" he asked in a quiet voice, though loud enough for the girl before him to hear. "Princess Celeste?" He stopped walking, deciding not to intimidate her any more. If she was going to escape, he would have to run after her. He kneeled slowly on the ground and kept his blue eyes on Celeste's little frame. Slowly, trying not to scare her, he pulled his cloak a little and revealed a small coat of arms, the one he knew she had to recognize as it belonged to her father.
 
Celeste stopped when she heard what he said. She kept her distance, but looked at him. He looked somewhat familiar. She saw him pull at his cloak, showing the coat of arms.
She took a moment to catch her breath, quietly grateful for not having the corset anymore, "......who are you?" She didn't bother to hide her identity.
 
Farin licked his lips. It was her! Not believing his luck, the man didn't move an inch not to scare Celeste. He let his face lit up with joy. "Farin, my lady. Farin Ganst?" he tried, hoping she would know the name, though knowing she probably had no idea who he was in the end. Taking the coat of arms off of his cloak and placing it on his hand, Farin reached out to the girl. If she was going to believe him, that was the way to do it. "I was one of your father's guards, my lady. We didn't-" he lowered his voice. "-couldn't find anyone of the royal family on the battlefield, so we ran away. Some of us wanted to go back, but before we could do so, we stumbled upon your brother." Farin nodded slowly. "He is wounded, weak, but alive. There is a camp not so far away from here, I was told to bring some medication." He reached into his bag and took out a few herbs and a pile of bandages as to confirm his words. Finally, he hesitated. "How did you escape, princess Celeste? Are you alone?"
 
"....h.....he's alive?" Celeste covered her mouth with her hand, his question not even registering in her mind. He brother was alive. Wounded, but alive. It was all she could do to keep herself from crying, "....thank you.....for telling me that............where is this camp?" she straightened up. She didn't care if Talhad was pissed, if there was a chance of seeing her brother, she was taking it.
 
Farin blinked, but nodded at the same time. "Yes - he is going to need time to recover, my lady, but he is alive." It was all so easy Farin started to worry. She couldn't be trying to fool him, she was just a child.. Still, he needed more information. They needed more information. Standing up, the man took a few steps closer. "I can take you there, my lady. Your brother will be pleased to know you're alive. He- we didn't think.." Farin shook his head. "But I still need to know, how did you get here, princess? We thought they killed everyone, if we knew you were alive, we would search for you.." The guard shook his head again, his face distorted with pain.
 
"..........m-my mother, the queen, had me go with a knight while everyone was distracted during the fighting........." That was all she really knew about how she had gotten away. Other than watching her mother fall as they ran away. She knew she had to go back and tell Talhad about all this.
 
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