Chapter 15
The next thing I knew was a gentle rocking motion underneath me. The scent of hay tickled my nostrils, and flickering sunlight stabbed my eyes. My eyelids felt incredibly heavy, but I managed to pry them open.
The world was a blur for a few seconds before all came into focus.
That all included fields in front of me, and a long road ahead of me.
I sat perpendicular in the saddle with my side against Cassian’s chest and my legs pressed against his left leg.
One of his arms was draped around my back, and the other stretched across my lap, and both held onto the reins.
He stared straight ahead as I shifted, and didn’t turn his attention away when he spoke. “How are you feeling?”
I stretched my neck and winced. “Like a vampire got a hold of me.” That’s when I noticed the horizon. The sun was setting. My time was almost up. I sat up and looked down at myself before I whipped my head up to my fellow rider. “Did it work?”
He smiled down at me. “Completely.”
My heart settled into a rhythm that didn’t involve the tango, but I still clutched my hand over it. “Thank God…” I paused and looked over my position. A faint blush accented my cheeks, and I squirmed in my seat. “I think I can sit up on my own.”
There was a twinkle in his bright blue eyes. “You would like to sit with your legs stretched out?”
My face drooped, and I hunkered down in my seat. “On second thought, I’m perfectly comfortable.” A thought struck me, and my eyes flickered up to him. “That is, if you don’t mind.”
“I’m quite comfortable, and the view has been very pleasurable.”
My faint blush became a raging forest fire. I turned my face away and looked out over Niveus’s head. Something afar caught my attention, and I sat up to get a better look. “What’s that?”
“The village of Fenovilla.”
A strange disappointment filled my being, but I brushed it aside. “Are we already at the inn? How long have I been out?”
“This village doesn’t have an inn, but we should be able to find a place to sleep for the night.
Our route has taken us off the main road, but we should reach my friends in two days.
” I sank into my seat and let out a sigh.
He lifted a teasing eyebrow. “You sound very relieved about that information.”
I sat up and cleared my throat. “Well, I’m just relieved I can sleep in a bed, at least for a night. Your saddle is very nice, but my butt doesn’t agree with my admiration, and it’d like to have a bit of a rest on something soft.”
“The bed is likely to have straw underneath you,” Cassian warned me with a gentle smile. “But we’re sure to have good food from my people.”
The reminder of his kingdom brought to mind a question. “And I need to avoid calling you by your title, right?”
“Yes.”
“What about Cassian? Will they know you if I call you that, or is that a nickname?”
“It’s my real name, but it’s used so little that I doubt very many of my subjects are aware of it. Besides that, the name is not uncommon. Many people have admired the family name for decades and have named their children after my ancestors.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “So you’re not the first Cassian?”
“I am the fourth king to bear the name.”
“That sounds like a heavy name.”
He chuckled. “My predecessors weren’t always the best of kings.”
I cocked my head to one side to study him. “That’s not something a king usually says about his dead family members.”
“A lineage as long as mine has had enough time to make mistakes.”
His words caused a memory to resurface within me. “Your kingdom is really old, right? Five hundred?”
“Four.”
I snorted. “I guess that’s plenty of time for anyone to make a mistake. So if you’re not the king, what’s the story we’re going to give everyone? That I’m your wife?”
His eyebrows shot up, and a sly smile curled onto his lips. “What an interesting suggestion. I had thought to introduce us as cousins.”
My face drooped. “Oh. I-I guess your idea would be easier to pull off.”
“But not quite as entertaining, and it would be less strain on my purse.”
I looked around him at the tiny packets on the back of the saddle. “How much is your purse holding?”
“Enough for a few meals, and a few other things. Secundus managed most of the coins, and I didn’t think to ask for more before we parted.”
My stomach grumbled at the mention of food. Apparently, all my bodily functions had already returned to normal. I clapped my hand over my stomach, but the cat was out of the bag.
Cassian smiled down at me. “While there may not be an inn, there’s a tavern in almost every village. If my memory serves me, Fenovilla has a fine pub where we can find a stout drink and a warm meal.”
A chill breeze blew over us from the fields, and I wrapped my arms around myself. I glanced at the darkening horizon and shivered. “That does sound really good right now.” Something caught my attention, but not from afar. It was from below.
I pointed at two distinct, narrow depressions in the road, set six feet apart. The ruts were some four inches deep. “It looks like something runs through here pretty often.”
“Those wheel tracks are the main coach. It runs from the capital to all the outlying areas and back, at least in this direction.”
We rode down the winding way until we reached the outskirts of the village.
Fenovilla was a quaint hamlet of a few dozen houses and shops.
Nearly all the homes had chickens roaming the yards, and a few had pens for hoofed animals.
The shops were the typical medieval venue.
There was a blacksmith, a tannery, and even a quaint little tailor with a sign over the small door that showed a needle threading its way along a road.
People bustled about, trading coins and goods for what they didn’t have.
Our entrance caught the attention of many of the locals, some of whom skittered to the sidelines of the road and gawked at us.
Others gave us not-too-hospitable glares.
Cassian, for his part, returned all their stares with a smile and a bow of his head.
A crowd of children followed at a safe distance, gawking at both me and Cassian’s majestic horse with its fine saddle and bridle.
I did the same from my awkward position, but I shrank into the saddle at every look because I was receiving a lot of them. I couldn’t blame them. My futuristic and filthy clothes stuck out from any crowd.
“We’ll head to the tailor’s shop first,” Cassian told me as Niveus veered in that direction without any more hint than his master’s words.
The horse stopped near the door, and Cassian slid down before offering his outstretched arms to me. I uneasily slipped off the saddle, and he caught me with deft hands.
“You seem to have practice catching people,” I mused as he set me on my feet.
“Some of the ladies of my court sit side saddle during hunts, and need some help getting down.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Not nethral hunts?”
“No, the more mundane type,” he assured me as he led us toward the door.
“And do they really need help getting down?” I wondered as we reached the entrance.
Cassian grasped the handle and grinned at me. “I did have this odd suspicion they wished for my help for ulterior motives. Now, let us see about your clothes.”
He opened the door and stepped aside to let me lead. I reluctantly stepped into the tiny shop, and he followed, closing the door behind us.
The interior of the shop was as tiny as its front.
The whole room was about ten feet square and cluttered with baskets overflowing with spare bits of cloth, yarn, knitting needles, thread, and various bottles of dyes.
The air smelled of cloth and flowers, and the floorboards creaked with the weariness of age and heavy use.
A stove sat in the center of the place, and a soft, warm glow came from its belly, filling the shop with heat that scared away the chill in my bones.
A sizeable corner was occupied by a group of ten older women seated in a circle and facing each other.
A huge quilt lay between them, and their gnarled hands worked quickly with their needles to make the cloth even larger.
They chatted away, but their talk ceased at our coming.
They lifted their heads from their work and cast their curious eyes at us.
“Hello there!” a shout came from the rear, where a middle-aged woman sat in a well-used and very plush chair.
The furniture had a high back, and thick arms and feet. The wood had been intricately carved with vines, tree branches, and small animals, but many years and use had worn the flora and fauna to muddied shapes.
Like the other women, she, too, held a needle, and a long dress was draped over her lap. Her fingers were stained with ink and dye of all colors, and they continued their work even as she focused her attention on us.
“What can I do for you lovely two?” she asked us as she gave me a look over. “Perhaps give your missus a set of good clothes? Those don’t look fit to go for a walk, much less travel around these rough roads.”
“They wouldn’t be rough if the king would send some men to fix those damn holes,” one of the other women snapped.
Another bobbed her head. “Yes, indeed. Ralph nearly lost a wheel off his cart the other day when he went rolling over Briar Hill delivering the milk. He struck a hole so deep that it spilled five gallons and spooked the mule.”
I nudged my elbow into Cassian’s ribs and gave him a pointed look. He smiled back at me. “That does sound like quite an easy fix, doesn’t it? Perhaps the king will hear about your gentle scolding and order a crew to come out to repair the roads.”
The first woman scoffed. “Not likely. You just don’t hear anyone from the capital these days.”
“There was that pretty lady who drove through a fortnight ago,” another of the women reminded her.
Her lady friend wrinkled her nose. “Yes, and what a brat she was! Complaining about the food at the pub, and my youngest doing his finest work for her, too! And then her just driving off and not bothering to leave a tip, to boot!”
“Were you both wanting something, or just the lady?” the tailoress interrupted.
“Just the lady,” Cassian told her as he set his hand on the lower part of my back. “My wife is dissatisfied with the clothes she purchased from a foreign lad, and would like something more akin to the people of the dragon realm.”
I had questions about what he said, but the woman just bobbed her head.
“Of course, of course. We do have some of the finest fashions in all the kingdoms, even in these outlying parts.” She stepped aside and gestured to a small box.
“If the pretty lady would stand on here, we’ll see what suits you. ”