Gabrielle couldn’t have imagined the number of flowers in the parks they visited that day. Daisies, roses, lilacs and more, petals of all colours and shapes, every single one raised with the utmost care and now presented in wide fields for people to see, smell and even touch if they were quick enough to avoid the guards’ gaze. She probably didn’t even know there were that many colours and scents in the world!
It was a little overwhelming, but in a good way! The enjoyable, mystifying way. Gabi would constantly pull on Lucrece’s arm to trot around each flower field, trying to see every little detail.
“I’ve never seen these many flowers in one place…!” The redhead would stop her restless movement for a moment to smell the lavenders. “Gwynedd felt so colourless compared to this… Has the world always been this colourful?”
Lucrece would simply smile and nod, a bit amused to see the witch so hyperstimulated and curious. She really felt like a sort of puppy sometimes, with that naive and energetic attitude the girl had when she decided to show a little personality.
“It’s easy to forget but, yeah. There are places like these in the world, hidden far between each other.” The lancer shrugged. “Again, if the world was any fair, every town would be like this.”
“Why aren’t they though? Why can’t every place have gardens and stuff?” Gabi’s eyes glimmered with a bit of sadness. “People would be happier if they had gardens to spend time in!”
“Economic inevitability.” Luci explained with her eye closed. “ For some families to have a lot of money, a lot of people have to have very little money. That’s just how stuff works.”
“That doesn’t sound fair at all!”
“It’s because it isn’t. But don’t start saying that out loud or people will think you are a rebel or something.” Lucrece looked around for a moment, making sure no guards were eavesdropping. “Nobles don’t like when people complain.”
“Why not?”
“Because of angry mobs and stuff. When people complain they get mad, and they start breaking things.”
Now that Gabi was familiar with, she remembered seeing people in Gwynedd rioting and complaining about the nobles’ lack of care for the city. At the time she couldn’t understand why, they were all alive and eating after all, but now that she saw how people actually got to live in other places? The idea was starting to form in her mind…
She was starting to understand the concept of disparity.
And with the idea of disparity, another sudden question came to the girl’s mind, particularly staring at the lancer’s head.
“Luci. When I needed to cover myself, you bandaged me. I appreciate it.”
“Huh? Where did this come from?” Lucrece smiled. “It was nothing.”
“But I can’t help but wonder… why didn’t you offer me your hat? It would had been easier.”
“Oh, that’s easy! This hat is mine, silly!” Luci’s smile didn’t falter for a single second. “I don’t just lend it to people, you know? It’s my lucky feather!”
That sounded completely logical to Gabrielle, and yet this new line of questioning had brought a strange need, a sudden craving for that fancy leather hat. It looked great on Lucrece after all, so Gabrielle wanted to see how it would suit her.
“Lend me your hat.”
“No.”
The response was categorical and immediate. Gabrielle pouted.
“Please?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it is my hat, end of discussion!” Now Lucrece pouted as well, crossing her arms. “You just want it because you can’t have it.”
“Correct.”
“Well, ain’t that sad for you, pal!” The lancer smirked, mockingly. “Tell you what! If you behave and train well on our way to Caen, I’ll let you wear it for a bit, how does that sound?”
“Good.” Gabi didn’t plan on slacking about anyways, so this only felt like a win to her.
“Perfect, then! Until then, leave my hat alone.”
That much the girl couldn’t promise, Gabrielle still gave the hat a few glances as they made their way back from the beautiful parks and back to the streets of Rennos. After all, the Sun was already setting and soon it would be time to fulfill their promise to the tavern owner. But even with duty so close to them, the redhead would not forget their promise.
She promised to herself that she would wear that hat eventually, one way or the other.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The tavern’s warehouse was right behind the main building, a wooden shack made specifically to keep barrels, boxes and kegs away from prying hands and curious eyes. It was separated from the tavern itself by a small backyard where clothes and covers were hanged to dry, and it showed obvious signs of abuse in each of its walls: scratches and bites a bit too big to belong to mere vermin.
The side that looked worse was the one facing the streets, so clearly there was a problem coming from there, and the barman wanted it dealt with as soon as possible. As he locked the doors like every other day, he explained the task to the two girls.
“Well ladies, the deal is quite simple really. Would do it myself if I still had the strength to lift my sword, but the years have taken a toll on me really.” The man was very quick to excuse himself from the matter. “In the middle of the night, those little bastards will come again to try and enter my warehouse. I usually come out to shoo them out with a broom but, Saints above those buggers are violent.”
Lucrece crossed her arms.
“So you want us to wait here for them to come, and then dispose of them. Right?”
“Exactly! Very sharp, ma’am.” With a smile, the barman continued. “I want them all dead and then thrown down the sewers, to send the rest of those bastards a message. Understood?”
“Not hard to understand at all.” Gabrielle shrugged. “We will do it quickly.”
“I knew I could count on you two girlies~! You are welcome to come back inside the tavern to sleep when the work is done. I trust you.”
Lucrece narrowed her eye as the man simply left them to their own devices, for this level of confidence was a little strange for this kind of work. Was the man truly expecting them to return inside the tavern and not try to take anything while he slept? There had to be a trap to that statement…
Night was slowly setting on Rennos, and as the first stars showed their bright faces on the dark sky, activity finally started to die down. Of course, there were some places where one could spend the whole night partying like crazy, but the Steady Mare was not one of them. Clocks still were not a luxury available to most people, so the tavern closed as soon as the Sun set.
Perched on either side of the warehouse’s door, both girls were now easy prey for boredom and sleepiness.
“How long do you think they will take to appear…?” Gabi asked while covering her mouth, yawning loudly.
“Bah, with our luck? Probably a looong while.” Luci was still quite unhappy with the job. “Seriously, I know it’s an easy job. But we are not exterminators you know, Gabi?”
“Experience is good for training.”
“You ain’t gonna learn much from killing rats, woman. I just hope we don’t get worse at stuff for doing this.”
Time passed very slowly, until darkness was all around them and only the Moon provided solace from the pitch-blackness of it all. Everything was still and quiet… except for two ladies, still forced to keep themselves awake and vigilant, staring into the distance.
“How did you learn so much?” Gabrielle asked, all of a sudden.
“Hmmm? What do you mean?” Lucrece woke up from her stupor and shook her head, trying to keep awake.
“You knew what this city was, you know a lot about money, you just… know things.”
“Bah, I don’t know much more than other people!”
“You even know how to read.”
“...Okay, fine. Before all went to shite, my father had me studying with the boys at the local church.” Lucrece admitted begrudgingly. “He wanted me to know how to do things, and the nobles owed him a favor, and it wasn’t nice.”
“What? Why not? I wish I knew how to read!”
“Women don’t study, Gabi. The boys liked to pick on me for it, those daft bastards…”
“People picked on me for being dumb, and they picked on you for being smart… I feel people are just mean.”
“They didn’t pick on me for that exactly, but… yeah there are assholes everywhere.”
Both women sighed, feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders for a moment, when suddenly something moved in the corner of Gabrielle’s eyes. She immediately turned, chasing that shadow in the night around the warehouse until her sword could reach it. It was a very small animal, a fat yet otherwise completely normal vermin. It squeaked, screeched and ran just the same as any other rat, and it died just the same when Gabi sliced its back with her blade.
“Got one!” She celebrated, stopping when the critter’s body laid dead and festering right in the middle of the street. “I wonder if that was… oh….”
Her eyes opened even wider, her hands trembled until she squeezed the blade on her hand. In front of her, crawling from one of the manholes on the street, she saw the biggest vermin she had ever laid eyes upon. The beast was at least the size of a dog, fat and covered in thin and disgusting gray hair.
Its beady red eyes were locked on Gabrielle… and it looked hungry.
Gabrielle couldn’t have imagined the number of flowers in the parks they visited that day. Daisies, roses, lilacs and more, petals of all colours and shapes, every single one raised with the utmost care and now presented in wide fields for people to see, smell and even touch if they were quick enough to avoid the guards’ gaze. She probably didn’t even know there were that many colours and scents in the world!
It was a little overwhelming, but in a good way! The enjoyable, mystifying way. Gabi would constantly pull on Lucrece’s arm to trot around each flower field, trying to see every little detail.
“I’ve never seen these many flowers in one place…!” The redhead would stop her restless movement for a moment to smell the lavenders. “Gwynedd felt so colourless compared to this… Has the world always been this colourful?”
Lucrece would simply smile and nod, a bit amused to see the witch so hyperstimulated and curious. She really felt like a sort of puppy sometimes, with that naive and energetic attitude the girl had when she decided to show a little personality.
“It’s easy to forget but, yeah. There are places like these in the world, hidden far between each other.” The lancer shrugged. “Again, if the world was any fair, every town would be like this.”
“Why aren’t they though? Why can’t every place have gardens and stuff?” Gabi’s eyes glimmered with a bit of sadness. “People would be happier if they had gardens to spend time in!”
“Economic inevitability.” Luci explained with her eye closed. “ For some families to have a lot of money, a lot of people have to have very little money. That’s just how stuff works.”
“That doesn’t sound fair at all!”
“It’s because it isn’t. But don’t start saying that out loud or people will think you are a rebel or something.” Lucrece looked around for a moment, making sure no guards were eavesdropping. “Nobles don’t like when people complain.”
“Why not?”
“Because of angry mobs and stuff. When people complain they get mad, and they start breaking things.”
Now that Gabi was familiar with, she remembered seeing people in Gwynedd rioting and complaining about the nobles’ lack of care for the city. At the time she couldn’t understand why, they were all alive and eating after all, but now that she saw how people actually got to live in other places? The idea was starting to form in her mind…
She was starting to understand the concept of disparity.
And with the idea of disparity, another sudden question came to the girl’s mind, particularly staring at the lancer’s head.
“Luci. When I needed to cover myself, you bandaged me. I appreciate it.”
“Huh? Where did this come from?” Lucrece smiled. “It was nothing.”
“But I can’t help but wonder… why didn’t you offer me your hat? It would had been easier.”
“Oh, that’s easy! This hat is mine, silly!” Luci’s smile didn’t falter for a single second. “I don’t just lend it to people, you know? It’s my lucky feather!”
That sounded completely logical to Gabrielle, and yet this new line of questioning had brought a strange need, a sudden craving for that fancy leather hat. It looked great on Lucrece after all, so Gabrielle wanted to see how it would suit her.
“Lend me your hat.”
“No.”
The response was categorical and immediate. Gabrielle pouted.
“Please?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it is my hat, end of discussion!” Now Lucrece pouted as well, crossing her arms. “You just want it because you can’t have it.”
“Correct.”
“Well, ain’t that sad for you, pal!” The lancer smirked, mockingly. “Tell you what! If you behave and train well on our way to Caen, I’ll let you wear it for a bit, how does that sound?”
“Good.” Gabi didn’t plan on slacking about anyways, so this only felt like a win to her.
“Perfect, then! Until then, leave my hat alone.”
That much the girl couldn’t promise, Gabrielle still gave the hat a few glances as they made their way back from the beautiful parks and back to the streets of Rennos. After all, the Sun was already setting and soon it would be time to fulfill their promise to the tavern owner. But even with duty so close to them, the redhead would not forget their promise.
She promised to herself that she would wear that hat eventually, one way or the other.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The tavern’s warehouse was right behind the main building, a wooden shack made specifically to keep barrels, boxes and kegs away from prying hands and curious eyes. It was separated from the tavern itself by a small backyard where clothes and covers were hanged to dry, and it showed obvious signs of abuse in each of its walls: scratches and bites a bit too big to belong to mere vermin.
The side that looked worse was the one facing the streets, so clearly there was a problem coming from there, and the barman wanted it dealt with as soon as possible. As he locked the doors like every other day, he explained the task to the two girls.
“Well ladies, the deal is quite simple really. Would do it myself if I still had the strength to lift my sword, but the years have taken a toll on me really.” The man was very quick to excuse himself from the matter. “In the middle of the night, those little bastards will come again to try and enter my warehouse. I usually come out to shoo them out with a broom but, Saints above those buggers are violent.”
Lucrece crossed her arms.
“So you want us to wait here for them to come, and then dispose of them. Right?”
“Exactly! Very sharp, ma’am.” With a smile, the barman continued. “I want them all dead and then thrown down the sewers, to send the rest of those bastards a message. Understood?”
“Not hard to understand at all.” Gabrielle shrugged. “We will do it quickly.”
“I knew I could count on you two girlies~! You are welcome to come back inside the tavern to sleep when the work is done. I trust you.”
Lucrece narrowed her eye as the man simply left them to their own devices, for this level of confidence was a little strange for this kind of work. Was the man truly expecting them to return inside the tavern and not try to take anything while he slept? There had to be a trap to that statement…
Night was slowly setting on Rennos, and as the first stars showed their bright faces on the dark sky, activity finally started to die down. Of course, there were some places where one could spend the whole night partying like crazy, but the Steady Mare was not one of them. Clocks still were not a luxury available to most people, so the tavern closed as soon as the Sun set.
Perched on either side of the warehouse’s door, both girls were now easy prey for boredom and sleepiness.
“How long do you think they will take to appear…?” Gabi asked while covering her mouth, yawning loudly.
“Bah, with our luck? Probably a looong while.” Luci was still quite unhappy with the job. “Seriously, I know it’s an easy job. But we are not exterminators you know, Gabi?”
“Experience is good for training.”
“You ain’t gonna learn much from killing rats, woman. I just hope we don’t get worse at stuff for doing this.”
Time passed very slowly, until darkness was all around them and only the Moon provided solace from the pitch-blackness of it all. Everything was still and quiet… except for two ladies, still forced to keep themselves awake and vigilant, staring into the distance.
“How did you learn so much?” Gabrielle asked, all of a sudden.
“Hmmm? What do you mean?” Lucrece woke up from her stupor and shook her head, trying to keep awake.
“You knew what this city was, you know a lot about money, you just… know things.”
“Bah, I don’t know much more than other people!”
“You even know how to read.”
“...Okay, fine. Before all went to shite, my father had me studying with the boys at the local church.” Lucrece admitted begrudgingly. “He wanted me to know how to do things, and the nobles owed him a favor, and it wasn’t nice.”
“What? Why not? I wish I knew how to read!”
“Women don’t study, Gabi. The boys liked to pick on me for it, those daft bastards…”
“People picked on me for being dumb, and they picked on you for being smart… I feel people are just mean.”
“They didn’t pick on me for that exactly, but… yeah there are assholes everywhere.”
Both women sighed, feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders for a moment, when suddenly something moved in the corner of Gabrielle’s eyes. She immediately turned, chasing that shadow in the night around the warehouse until her sword could reach it. It was a very small animal, a fat yet otherwise completely normal vermin. It squeaked, screeched and ran just the same as any other rat, and it died just the same when Gabi sliced its back with her blade.
“Got one!” She celebrated, stopping when the critter’s body laid dead and festering right in the middle of the street. “I wonder if that was… oh….”
Her eyes opened even wider, her hands trembled until she squeezed the blade on her hand. In front of her, crawling from one of the manholes on the street, she saw the biggest vermin she had ever laid eyes upon. The beast was at least the size of a dog, fat and covered in thin and disgusting gray hair.
Its beady red eyes were locked on Gabrielle… and it looked hungry.
