Chapter Twenty

Author's note: With this chapter, everywhere this novel is posted is even, so we will transition to two chapters every Saturday.

One week after the incident with the low-rank demon, Lusya and Ariya arrived at the next stop on their journey. Lusya had mapped out much of their route ahead of time, though there was some room for flexibility in her plan. Even so, she doubted her intended path would survive the whole way unchanged. At some point, she expected that something would derail them. For now, however, they had arrived where Lusya had planned to after Clearwood.

It was another small village known as Wildbloom. It was comparable in size to Clearwood and no more well-known or important. However, it was more active than Clearwood had been when they had first arrived, as was to be expected.

In many ways, it was what Lusya had expected to see there. It was not bustling—there were not enough people for bustle—but a few villagers walked or loitered about, some alone and some with friends or family. When they spoke, it was not in the same quiet, fearful voices as the inhabitants of Clearwood.

If any snow had fallen here recently, it had melted and dried up by now. The dirt of the path and the grass to the sides showed no hint of moisture. Even as they headed north, Lusya expected to see less winter weather. Though the temperature still hung around what most would consider cold, spring was well underway now and it would be months before autumn came, passed, and ushered in winter’s chill again.

Several of the villagers stared as Lusya and Ariya passed. Their gazes were curious, but not hostile. Travelers were likely not an everyday sight, let alone one who she was sure they assumed to be a reltus. Relti were a rare sight in this region, and Lusya intended to avoid any areas where they were not. They were most likely to realize she was not one. If nothing else, prolonged interaction may have revealed that she was not as old as her appearance would suggest for a reltus. Telling them she was half-human may have deflected suspicion, but she preferred to avoid drawing it in the first place. It would not be possible to avoid those regions in their entirety. She could not reach her destination without passing relatively near relti-dominated lands. But she would do her best.

“Are we stopping here?” Ariya asked. Her voice was tinged with fatigue and, though her actual pace had not faltered, her gait had turned heavy and plodding.

Lusya nodded. “We are. As usual, we will stay the night and depart in the morning. I will see if I can get your dress repaired before we go to sleep as well.”

“Okay.”

The child’s tone was noticeably less chipper than it had often been in the past. She also did not express the excitement and curiosity she had when arriving in new locations prior. Despite seeming to bounce back after the demon encounter, she had been that way for several days now.

It was not an unwelcome change of pace and the child had grown more obedient as well, but it was somewhat concerning. Her Malice had almost returned to its baseline since that day. It had stopped and stayed at a larger quantity than before, but by a very small margin. Ariya was still the purest mortal Lusya had ever encountered by a significant degree.

Still, the possibility remained that this change in mood could precipitate further growth. Perhaps more concerning was that Lusya was not sure. This mood and its cause were a mystery to her, as were any methods to undo it. The child did not seem upset. She displayed no traditional signs of sadness or anger. It seemed more that she had entered a state of perpetual fatigue, despite getting ample sleep each night and multiple breaks throughout the day.

Indeed, asking the the child if anything was wrong had gotten the response, “I’m just a little tired.” Prodding for further details had not been helpful. Ariya herself did not seem to know the reason behind her lack of energy.

Perhaps sleeping in an inn would make a difference? The child was more accustomed to indoor environments and sleeping in beds, though Lusya would have thought Ariya would have acclimated to camping by now.

There was little for Lusya to do but find out.

She stopped and turned to a man as he passed. “Excuse me, where is this town’s inn?”

There was little doubt they had one. Lusya had made an effort to ascertain all their stops would have lodging. While limited resources had meant her efforts had not been successful, most settlements of this size seemed to have an inn. Even if not many people passed through while traveling, it was often enough to be worth keeping one around. To fill in the gaps, it also acted as a tavern for the locals, a fact Lusya had ascertained in Clearwood and had even been the case in the much larger Gavamir.

The man stopped and looked at her with a blank expression, like he hadn’t heard her, but then it seemed to click. “Oh, it’s just down there.” He pointed in the direction she had been walking. “Turn right at that first road and it’s right there. Can’t miss it.”

“Thank you,” Lusya said.

He nodded and continued on his way. Lusya had learned in Riverglade not to trust humans’ word on how noticeable a building was. However, in this case the inn did stand out well enough. It was broader and taller than all the buildings around it, with a raised wooden deck in front, shaded by an overhang. The sign posted out front was not as pristine as the one in Clearwood, but it was large and still legible. Unlike that inn, this one had a plain, straightforward name: the Wildbloom Inn.

Lusya walked into the establishment. At the moment, there did not appear to be any other customers. A human woman stood behind the bar counter. She was older, but not enough to be called elderly. Her hair seemed to be graying, but was still mostly brown, and while her face was dotted with lines and wrinkles, they were small and subtle. She was leaned forward, the quill clutched in her hand making gentle scratching sounds as she made notes in some kind of journal or ledger. When the door clicked shut, she looked up at Lusya, then at Ariya, set her quill down into its ink well, and smiled.

“Welcome,” she said with the barest hint of an accent Lusya could not quite identify. “Seeing as I don’t know your faces, I’m guessing you're travelers, here to spend the night?”

Lusya nodded. “That is correct.”

“And I assume you want to eat my food too?” the innkeeper asked.

“That would be ideal.”

“One silver for the night, then,” the innkeeper said. “Assuming you’re willing to share a room, that is.”

“We are,” Lusya replied. There was little reason not to. The child was small and Lusya was neither tall nor especially broad, for the most part. They had no problems fitting into a single bed.

“One silver it is. Doesn’t really matter if it’s a kolar or not, I’m not going to sweat the small differences in value.”

That was an acceptable price, so Lusya produced a coin and slid it across the counter to the innkeeper.

“Thank you,” the innkeeper said as she pocketed the kolar. “If you’re hungry, go ahead and have a seat and I’ll whip up some lunch.”

Ariya was staring into the counter, eyes unfocused, swaying slightly on her feet. She gave a languid blink and turned as she seemed to realize she was being addressed.

“Oh, um, yeah,” she said. “I’m hungry.”

“Then let us select a table.”

“What can I get you two?” the innkeeper asked.

“Whatever you recommend is fine,” Lusya said. She had noticed a board with options written on it propped up against the counter, but nothing in particular had caught her eye and she was not a picky eater.

The innkeeper smiled. “Coming right up.”

Rather than return to her writing or begin preparing food, however, the innkeeper watched Lusya and Ariya walk to their table with unusual vigilance. Only when they were seated did she retreat through a door behind the counter, into what Lusya assumed to be the kitchen.

Ariya’s eyes started to close as they waited and her head slowly lurched forward. Just when it seemed she was about to lose consciousness, her head snapped back up, her eyes open as wide as they could go.

“Are you tired, child?” Lusya asked.

With a long, drawn-out yawn, Ariya nodded. “I guess so.”

“Do you feel unwell otherwise?”

The child shook her head. “I keep telling you I’m fine.”

And yet the child remained fatigued for no apparent reason. She was getting sufficient sleep and rest. Little was asked of her during their journeys. Lusya did just about any task that needed doing, from cooking to setting up the tent at night. So, what could be the cause? An illness, perhaps? It may have been worth investigating if this village had a healer or apothecary of some sort. If nothing else, Lusya knew there were herbs and medicines that could directly target fatigue. She could have inquired if the inn had tea or coffee as well. She had never seen much need to try them, but both beverages were said to offer enough of an energy boost that some mortals became dependent on them. That was not a long-term solution, however. Even if she could have bought the ingredients, she did not know how to prepare them nor did she have cups to drink them from.

Ariya continued to nod off. She came just short of falling asleep another three times before the innkeeper came out with two steaming plates of some kind of meat and potato dish slathered in a dark sauce, along with a basket of bread.

“There you go, you two,” she said. “It’s all hot and fresh, so be careful with it. Any drinks?”

“If you have clean water, a carafe and two glasses will be sufficient,” Lusya said.

“I want juice,” Ariya said in a quiet whine.

Lusya cocked her head. “I do not think there is any juice at this time of year.”

“Afraid not,” the innkeeper said. “I’ve heard they’ve got ways of keeping it from going bad in some of the big cities, but I doubt I could afford it even if I knew what it was.”

“Milk?” Ariya asked.

The innkeeper nodded. “That we have.”

“That’s fine, then.”

The innkeeper smiled, nodded, and looked to Lusya. “Still water for you?”

“If it is clean enough to drink,” Lusya replied. She did not get sick easily, but drinking dirty water was still…unpleasant.

“It sure is,” the innkeeper said. “I’m not much one for drink myself, so I make sure to keep plenty of drinking water around.” She chuckled and shook her head. “That was a little confusing, wasn’t it? Anyway, I’ll be back with those in a jiffy.”

Indeed, using drink as a synonym for alcohol was confusing in this context. Lusya was not sure what a jiffy was either, but as long as it was quick, it didn’t much matter. And sure enough, the innkeeper returned with the drinks in less than two minutes.

“Enjoy, you two,” she said.

With that done, she returned to what she had been working on before. Lusya noticed the innkeeper glancing up and looking at her and Ariya every so often as they ate. The woman’s expression was upset, somehow, but Lusya could not discern any finer details on what she might be thinking.

It was possible the innkeeper was merely annoyed at having to serve customers during what seemed to be a lull in business. Whatever the case, the woman was not a threat, nor did she seem upset enough to try to be. As such, Lusya judged the woman’s displeasure as unimportant and focused on her meal and on Ariya.

Ariya still looked tired, with her eyes half-lidded and languid, deliberate movements, but at least she no longer seemed on the verge of collapsing. The meal seemed to have given her a small burst of energy. Her movements may have been slow, but she ate at a good, steady pace until she had all but cleaned her plate.

The food was quite good, Lusya would admit. It was above-average in quality for an inn like this, with the potatoes well-seasoned and the meat juicy and tender. That made little difference to her, but she would not object to better food.

“Have you finished?” she asked.

Ariya nodded and yawned again. She seemed to be trying to say something as well, but whatever it was, it was unintelligible.

Lusya stood. “Then we will go to our room and get you settled before I take care of my business.”

“You two are in the first room on the right at the top of the stairs,” the innkeeper said. She finished writing something in her book and looked up with a grin.

“We will retire there for the moment” Lusya said. “Thank you for the meal.”

The innkeeper nodded and returned to her work.

Lusya led Ariya up the stairs and into their room. It was about what one would expect from a rural inn. There was a single bed on one wall, big enough to fit one adult comfortably and two if they squeezed in tight. For Lusya and Ariya, it would be enough. The beds at these establishments tended to be somewhat hard, but they were more comfortable than sleeping on the ground. On the other wall was a drawer and a table with one chair to sit at. The room was so small that, between the furniture, there was only enough room to walk single file across.

Aside from the furniture, there wasn’t anything in the way of decorations. The floor consisted of bare wooden boards that creaked beneath their feet and the walls a blank, off-white plaster. There was a square window at the far end, positioned at eye level for Lusya and about the same height as her head, but it offered a view only of a small handful of buildings nearby, which themselves were nothing impressive to look at. They were squat, wooden buildings like one could find in any number of villages.

It was a room made for its function, pure and simple. That suited Lusya just fine.

“Will you be going to sleep right away?” she asked.

Ariya nodded and flopped down onto the bed without further prompting. She curled up and was asleep less than five minutes later. With the child settled, Lusya grabbed the damaged dress and returned to the dining room. She approached the innkeeper and held up the garment.

“Is there a tailor in this village?” Lusya asked. “I would like to get this repaired.”

The innkeeper ran her eyes over the dress and gasped. “That’s a big tear. What happened?”

Lusya had stopped to rinse out the blood stains in the dress at a stream, as well as the urine on Ariya’s undergarments. That had taken quite some time, though that had not been surprising. Lusya was familiar with how stubborn blood could be and urine being the same had not been a shock. She had also taken the opportunity to do their other laundry as well. She was rather accustomed to washing clothes in the wilderness, so it had not been a terrible inconvenience.

However, she had not done anything for the tear in the dress, so it remained large and obvious. Its location also made it unlikely it had torn through ordinary wear or usage, so the innkeeper’s reaction was not surprising.

“A minor injury,” Lusya said. “It has healed now. Is there a tailor?”

The innkeeper’s lips drew into a thin line, and she made an odd humming sound. Then, with a sigh, she nodded. “There is, his name’s Yven. Not sure if he’ll be able get to it before you mean to leave tomorrow, but you should at least be able to go ask him.”

“I cannot imagine he is terribly busy,” Lusya said.

The innkeeper shrugged. “We might not have many people around here, but someone always needs something fixed or made, and, unless they want to make a trip out of it, Yven’s their only option. I think he caught the eye of some noblewoman who passed through a couple months back too. Keeps going on about some secret project.”

“That seems to defeat the purpose,” Lusya replied.

The innkeeper laughed and shook her head. “It sure does. If you think you can convince him of that, be my guest. Plenty of us have tried and failed already, but maybe fifty is your lucky number.”

She ripped off small bit of paper from one of the pages of her book and started jotting something down. “Anyway, here’s the directions to get there from here. Doesn’t hurt to ask. For a simple fix like that, he might be willing to bump you up in the line, so to speak, if you explain things to him. No promises, though.”

"I see. I will do what I can,” Lusya said. “While we are on the topic, is there anyone who treats illnesses?”

The innkeeper looked up from her writing with a blank look, as if she hadn’t heard the question, but answered soon after. “Brenimir at the general store knows his herbs, but that’s about it. You won’t find any doctors here.” Her eyes narrowed. “Is one of you sick?”

“I believe the child might be,” Lusya replied.

“What makes you say that?” the innkeeper asked.

Lusya cocked her head and blinked two times. “I cannot see anything wrong with her and I have been making sure she receives sufficient rest, hydration, and nutrition, yet she has been lethargic lately.”

The innkeeper let out a sigh. “Is that all? You’ve never taken care of a child before, have you?”

“I have not,” Lusya said.

“How long have you two been traveling together?”

“Just under a month,” Lusya replied.

The innkeeper nodded with another humming sound. “And have you ever taken a rest?”

Lusya tilted her head, just a bit. “As I just said, I have ensured she receives sufficient rest. We take a break during the day for lunch and stop in time for her to get approximately ten hours of sleep.”

The innkeeper sighed and shook her head. “That’s not what I meant, darling. Have you had a day where you weren’t traveling?”

“We have not,” Lusya said. Gavamir had been the closest, when they had spent the bulk of the day in one place, but that had still involved plenty of moving around the city and making arrangements for further travel.

“And what does she do during your travels?” the innkeeper asked.

“She walks. During rests, she sits and eats. Occasionally she will chase an insect or small animal. We also sometimes engage in conversation or reading.”

When they had been with the caravan, Ariya had played with the other children, but it had been close to two weeks since then.

The innkeeper pursed her lips and nodded several times. “Do you think maybe she just needs a break? A real one?”

Lusya blinked twice. “What constitutes a ‘real break?’”

“Not traveling for a little while,” the innkeeper said. “A chance to stay put and relax, maybe do something fun.”

That sounded like an unnecessary delay in their journey. “Why would something like that be needed?”

“Anyone needs some time to slow down and not worry,” the innkeeper replied. “Children are no different. Their attention wanders and they can’t take the pressure as well as an adult. Even a single day can make a big difference.”

“I see,” Lusya said. One day might have been acceptable. “I will take that under consideration.”

The innkeeper smiled, nodded, and held out the paper she had been writing on. Lusya took it.

“Thank you,” Lusya said. “Your advice is appreciated as well.”

“Don’t give it a second thought,” the innkeeper said. “You learn a thing or two raising six of them. It’d be a shame not to pass that knowledge on when I can.”

Lusya read the instructions off the paper and nodded. “I suppose it would.”