The Sorceresses Journey

Radnor was up and ready before she realized it. He always woke up early he didn't know why he just always did. He waited a bit longer assuming she still needed some sleep. After a bit he threw on all his gear and went next door to her room and knocked on it "Leah get up we need to get moving now."
 
Leah opened her eyes as soon as she heard Radnor's voice on the other side of the door. She could see the sun seeping through the window and knew she was off to a bit of a late start. "Ill just be a minute or so" Leah shouted to Radnor as she hurried out of bed and threw her blue hooded cloak on. She brushed her teeth and then her hair and threw it in a ponytail before pulling her hood over her head and heading to the door to meet him.

She slowly opened the door, gave him a slight nod, and said, " Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Leah figured he would be able to tell she hadnt gotten much sleep by the bags under her eyes. She tried to appear as awake as possible, knowing she was still half asleep. Leah walked out of her room, closing the door behind her.
 
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Radnor only needed to take one look at her to tell that she hadn't slept a wink last night. Whether it had been because of the storm or because her mind was so focused on the mission he didn't know. All he did know was that they needed to get moving or they would be only further behind schedule. He said nothing about her appearance and instead just focused on answering her question "I slept well. thank you. I hate to be rude but if we don't get moving soon we're going to get even further behind schedule."
 
Leah, still a little sluggish replied, "That's good to hear. And yes, let's get going. The horses should be waiting for us right outside." Leah turned swiftly, getting a little dizzy as she did so. She then lead Radnor down the spiral stairwell and out the castle doors to the awaiting horses. The sunlight seemed to be getting dimmer with every day that the king and queen remained sick. Almost as if the land would lose light without its rulers. Leah then mounted her horse in one swift movement and waited for Radnor to mount his so they could embark on their mission.
 
Radnor followed Leah down to the courtyard without a word. When he saw the horses he slowly walked over to the one that was ready for him and gently rubbed his neck and spoke to him softly almost as if he was having a conversation with the horse. When he finished he slowly and carefully climbed up into the saddle and looked over at Leah "alright we have our horses. Now where is it we're going exactly? and why are we going there?"
 
Leah watched in awe as Radnor whispered to his horse. She had never seen anyone talk to a horse in such a way. It added to the already mysterious nature of Radnor. Trying to choose her words wisely as to not reveal too much, she answers his question by saying, "We are...going to the Elgrin Forest to...fetch something the king and queen have asked for." As Leah said that, she lightly tugged at her horse's reins to make her horse turn to the road so they could be on their way.
 
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Radnor frowned slightly at her carefully worded answer. Something was clearly up and he wanted to know what it was however he would wait until they were away from the castle wouldn't do to start a confrontation when he was surrounded by potential enemies
 
Leah, noticing Radnor's disapproval of her answer, decided she would have to inform him eventually of their purpose in the Elgrin Forest if she expected their mission to be sucessful. She however knew she would have to wait atleast until they were out of town because she couldnt risk the citizens or castle guards hearing of the illness. Leah knew that word travels a little too fast in the kingdom.

Leah tried to avoid going through the middle of the town in order to leave because she knew alot of the citizens. She knew they would never get out of town because everyone would try to talk to her. She decided Radnor and herself would take the outside route. It was a little more risky, but Leah felt safer than when she went by herself. Once on the outer lines of the kingdom, Leah thought it had been long enough and decided to ask Radnor about himself. Hesitantly, Leah asked, "How did you get that scar on your face?" While waiting for his reply, Leah began to come up with ways it could have happened. She thought maybe he was fighting off thieves or goblins? Afterall, that was pretty common around the kingdom.
 
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Radnor rode in silence the entire time and just followed her lead. He was hired to protect her and to get her to where she needed to go. It wasn't up to him how they got their or by what means. Only when her choices interfered with the terms of his employment would he speak up and tell her otherwise. So when they started to leave going through back roads to get out of the kingdom he did question her reasons as to why she wanted to do this but he followed in silence and didn't protest. When she asked about his scar he looked over at her and raised an eyebrow "you don't beat around the bush much do you?" He didn't have a problem with answering and he didn't ask his question in a snotty way or anything like that he just asked it like anyone would ask a question.
 
Leah, knowing that that question had been eating her alive ever since she first saw the scar, apologized by saying, "Sorry, I have what some might call a lack of filter on my mouth sometimes." She hoped Radnor didnt think bad of her for her question. Never the less, she let the question go. She looked ahead, instead of at him, and decided to focus on their mission instead of his background. Leah decised If he wanted to answer the question he would.
 
He watches her for a moment before he looks ahead and lets out a small sigh. "There are a lot of people like that out there so you shouldn't feel to bad about it. To answer your question though..it happened when I was a child..it's um...hard to talk about for me so..i'll give you the short version. Bandits attacked me and my family's home when I was a kid. They killed my parents I escaped but just barely..the scar came from when a bandit held a sword in my face to get my father to stop fighting..my mom was a mage she blasted the guy with a fire ball and he reared back the sword slicing my face..i'm lucky I didn't lose my eye"
 
Leah winced as she vividly imagined each detail occuring. "That sounds awful, I'm sorry. But indeed, you are very lucky." She looked ahead, feeling bad for asking that question.

As Leah realized how slow they were moving at this hot point in the day, Leah figured the horses might need to stop for a drink. She knew there was a river nearby they could stop at. She let Radnor know that they should stop there so the horses could get a drink. Surely his butt was hurting like hers was and taking a small break to stand on their own two feet would probably do the both of them some good.
 
Radnor glanced at her and gave a small sigh "yes the horses could use a drink." When they reached the stream he hopped down out of the saddle and let his horse wander off towards the stream to drink. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. He clearly didn't look sore at all. It would make sense that he wouldn't be since he traveled a lot so for him to be used to riding on a horse for a long while wouldn't be that hard to believe "i'm going to guess you don't go riding a lot do you?"
 
Leah, giving a small chuckle and a smile first, said, "No, not really. Im used to staying around the castle more often than not. I try to stay close to the king and queen incase they might need something." Leah then drifted into her thoughts and wondered about how things were goimg back at the castle. She hoped the king and queen were okay for the time being.

Leah, curious to find out more about him decided to ask about his life after the thieves ambushed his family. "How did you survive after your parents were murdered? Surely you were too young to work." Hoping again that she wasn't crossing any lines, Leah got quiet and waiting to watch his reaction.
 
He glances at her and sighs as he sits down underneath a tree and leans up against its trunk. He stared up at the sky for a while and closed his eyes before he looked back at her "I wandered for a while..stole when I was hungry and hid from the guards. Eventually a traveling swordsman took me in and raised me. He died shortly after that. A duel gone wrong was what the opponent said..but it was murder that was obvious. After that I found a mage to teach me magic since my mother was a mage I had a small aptitude for casting spells"
 
Leah admired his ability to talk about his hard times. "That sounds rough. Atleast there were people willing to guide you a little along the way. I don't know if I would have been able to handle being alone and having to live day by day like you did. " Leah sat down next to Radnor, crossed her legs and just stared up at the blue sky.
 
He leans his head back against the trunk and closes his eyes "I owed it to my parents to grow up strong like they would have wanted me to. I miss them every day..and every day I wonder if there was something that could have been done differently to save their lives..but that's in the past. Now I look towards the future"
 
"I'm sure there was probably nothing you could have done as such a young boy. You seem to be strong and independent. From what I can see, I'm sure they would be proud of who youve become." Leah began to feel like she has known Radnor all her life. She felt they were connecting at this moment. Leah could feel herself letting her guard down a little, yet she didnt seem to mind it at all. In fact, Leah kind of liked when they talked. She didn't get to talk to anyone on a daily basis other than the king and queen. Leah began to feel like the journey wouldnt be as bad as she originally thought. Radnor wasn't that bad.
 
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He sighs and shrugs "yeah probably not but still there is always that wish or desire to think that I could have done something. Hidden better or ran away quicker. If it hadn't been for me getting caught my parents probably could have fought the bandits off." He shakes his head and closes his eyes again "and thanks..I'm sure they would be too.."
 
Leah understood what he meant. She felt bad that Radnor had to witness the killing of his parents and had to pick himself up and keep going. She continued to look up at the sky with her eyes closed and enjoyed the breeze.

Leah dozed off for a few minutes, but was then interrupted by the abrupt sound of snapping leaves and twigs a few feet away. She jumped up quick in a panic and looked around. She didnt see anything, but wondered if Radnor had heard the noise too.
 
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