Pride Pt 03 Nowhere Else

Author's Note: If you haven't read Part 2, I advise starting there first before deciding if you want to continue.

Nowhere Else

----

Natalie returned to the castle in a daze, her mind but a spinning mess of cacophonous thoughts.

She nearly forgot to purchase some moon tea, a required item for the girl, one which would prevent the inevitable hellish spawn from developing within her belly. Natalie had never been more glad for the Santarian invention than this day, and consumed it quickly in hopes of easing her churning guts.

Natalie grimaced when she told the under butler of the castle that her family had left town early, disgusted of the unwitting truth of her original excuse for leave. She worked herself tirelessly that day and the next, a feeble attempt in keeping her mind off of new revelations. She cooked the meals for the castle, she cleaned where appropriate, she served the tables. Yet, her restless mind did not grant her the kindness of peaceful solitude. She found herself continuously thinking of Aleron.

Aleron

fucking

her. Natalie enthusiastically hopping back on the following morning.

No.

She cooked eagerly, she cleaned fervently, she served the lords of the castle with the shaken enthusiasm of a maid who had met her childhood hero and found him a monster.

Her pleas for him to destroy her.

No!

It took the girl almost three days to convince herself she wasn't in the wrong here. Would not another girl have done the same had it happened identically to them? Aleron had left

her, refusing

to take his honorable place at her mother's side. Natalie had thought her faceless father dead, just another loss in thousands. And Aleron must be a coward, as he did not return.

... But that couldn't be true, could it? She had thought him a knight, before, a true hero of the stories. Aleron retrieved the countess when none other could, including the two-hundred-strong house guard of Count Marco. She had seen his muscles, the way they spoke of brute strength when flexed under his leather armor. His weapons, both well-used and numerous, covering every part of his rough exterior.

And what were the chances of them being reunited as they had? Randomly bumping into each other in the halls of the castle?

Natalie somewhat successfully assured herself that the unnatural attraction towards him must have been displaced familial love, and not from a lustful origin. It let her sleep at night, at least. And she had finally persuaded herself after three days that she must talk to him, regardless of how embarrassing it would inevitably be.

The under butler caught her, unfortunately, as she made her way from the castle. Just three days after she had requested leave, Natalie was once again seen escaping castle grounds. He fired her, then and there, not allowing her to return to her room to gather her belongings and instead had another retrieve her meager possessions instead. It wasn't much; a small coin purse, a ribbon from her mother, a scarf. Most of what Natalie had owned were gifts of the estate. Such is life for a lowly peasant of Santaria.

Natalie made a hasty exit before the guards could be summoned to escort her away from the castle, tears welling in her eyes.

--

Natalie was sobbing as she made her way to the city that day, some vain hope on her mind that Aleron hadn't already left. She would have, if she was in his position. He had all the power in the world to do so, and had spoken at length of being that sort of adventurer. Sure, he mentioned he would winter in Heurbon, but those plans could easily have changed. Aleron hadn't attempted to contact her in the past few days, anyway. Just like her.

But Natalie didn't have many she could turn to in Heurbon; at least, no one that would take her in and expect nothing in return. Her mind fixated on the idea of Aleron's assistance instead; and, perhaps, of a chance at a half-normal life, rather than one as a poor servant of a castle.

Natalie was relieved when she the imposing man in front of the Grapevine, his armor and gear already equipped. Aleron was just in the process of packing his horse for travel. Natalie's heart fluttered as she realized she'd found him just in time.

"Aleron!"

The man turned towards the exclamation of his name in a familiar voice, holding an awkward smile.

Natalie stepped meekly towards him in her servants uniform, nothing but a tattered brown dress and ragged work boots. She had nothing else on her person but a coin pouch, only holding a couple coppers and a single silver Imperial. All that she had to her name.

She knew not what to say, now that she were here in front of him. Natalie had spent so long convincing herself that it was okay to approach Aleron again that she had forgotten to mentally play out the rest. A small, teary whimper was all she produced.

Aleron outstretched his arms, enveloping her in a fleeting embrace. His voice was hurried, yet pleasant to the girl's ears.

"Natalie. What's wrong? Are you okay?"

She nodded as the tears began to fall. She explained to him her recent firing from her job at the castle, all because she had wanted to see him again, to get an explanation from a man who had reappeared in her life at the wrong time. Tears and stunted breaths assisted Natalie in illustrating her dire predicament. She had nowhere else to turn but him. His face remained unreadable, his intentions unclear. Natalie needed answers.

"And where are you going, Aleron?"

"Uh. Santaria. There's been rumors of happenings in the capital, and I figured I could make some quick coin there. Take the cards that are dealt to you, huh?" he replied with a smile, trying to comfort her. He truthfully did not know how, as he had been suffering similarly in the past few days. Aleron was better at outwardly hiding such things.

"Can... can you take me with you? I have nowhere..." Natalie's words fell off as she spoke in a brittle, sad voice. Aleron frowned as he shook his head, not expecting this intrusion at all from the day, Yet an overriding part of him were glad she had returned. That part of him was already contemplating canceling his upcoming journey as he replied on instinct.

"I'm sorry, Natalie. It's going to be a dangerous journey, and I couldn't put you in harms way," Aleron said as warmly as he could.

The statement hadn't been a lie, necessarily. While Santaria was certainly well-patrolled along its primary road network, Aleron usually enjoyed taking the scenic, direct approaches over visiting every quaint town of the Duchy. It offered an adventurer a simpler outlook on the world, a calm between the storms of human settlement.

"Then

protect

me, Aleron!" Natalie exclaimed, her thin voice echoing down the cobblestones. "You owe me this! It's my only chance at a normal life," she pleaded with wide, teary eyes.

"Nothing about this is normal Nat-"

"So you'd abandon me! Again!"

"Natalie I didn't mea-"

"You're all I have left, Aleron! You're all the family I've got any more. Please..." she cried, dropping to her knees. "You missed

everything

," she sobbed, fists pounding the paved road in vain, "you missed my first words. My schooling. My first broken bone. My first broken

heart

! My life!"

He knelt beside her, genuinely sympathetic to her words. Aleron thought he knew how to make it up to her. He fished out his coin pouch with fifty-some golden Imperials in it, all he had left, and placed it in her hand. Aleron had thought it the most heartfelt gesture he'd ever granted another.

"Here. This will get you by for a couple months until I can-"

"I don't want your

coin,

Aleron," she huffed out between stunted breaths, forcing the pouch back into his hand.

Aleron sighed and dropped to both knees. They shared a moment of silence there, surrounded by dozens of staring, uncaring strangers. Aleron was all too aware of the scene playing out before them and decided that Natalie had the right of it.

"Can you fight?" he asked gruffly after a minute.

Natalie shook her head, still sobbing. Father never taught her how.

"Do you want to learn?"

Natalie nodded, thinking it would support her case. She wasn't sure what Aleron was thinking.

"Good, good. I can train you, I think. Let's, uh, get you out of the street and get you some new clothes, huh? Maybe a drink?" Aleron offered, rising to his feet and outstretching a hand. She looked up at him with wide eyes, but did not accept just yet.

"You can come with me to Santaria."

Natalie finally took his hand, Aleron's strength doing most of the lifting. They hugged tightly for a moment, a family reunited after two decades in all the wrong ways.

--

Aleron and Natalie conversed lightly as they traversed the busy town, the man guiding his horse down the cobblestone streets with gentle tugs at the reins in his hand. Natalie kept her eyes downcast for most of the walk, occasionally nodding when the man had asked her a simple question. Yet, a thousand questions raced through her

own

mind, and the girl had finally gained the courage to begin asking them after half an hour. After she had calmed.

She gazed at him as she spoke. "So how did you and momma meet, Aleron?"

He glanced to her in return, but turned his sight away shortly thereafter. Aleron ran a hand through his trimmed hair with an awkward smirk at the memory. He had no reason to lie to the girl any more, now that there was nothing to gain but much to lose.

"The Moons were headed east towards Tardia, after an uneventful season or two in the forests of the Vale. I guess there had been a mix-up in the commander's tent, and they had either gotten lost, or perhaps just lost our contract," Aleron said, reminded of the ineptitude of that band's leadership.

"Anyway, we stayed in Stonewall for a time. Just a couple of days, really. I saw Jeyne by the river one morning as I was on patrol with a couple of the guys, thumping away at a shirt on a washboard with a tremendous pile of unwashed clothing to the side of her." He smiled at the memory.

"So, obvious enough that was her profession. The way she was kneeling, leaning over towards the river..." Aleron nervously glanced at Natalie, who was staring intently and smiling at him. He blushed. "Well, let's just say she... got my attention," he added quickly, gulping down his words.

Natalie nodded, and kept silent for him to continue. She tilted her head to the side when he had not immediately done so.

"And?" she asked with raised brow.

Aleron shook his head. "Not much more of the tale I could share in present company, really. I went to her cottage that afternoon, pretending I wanted to hire her services for my wardrobe of two cotton shirts."

Aleron drew in a breath of air, letting it pop from his chapped lips a moment later. This was certainly an awkward conversation, and the man was now wishing he'd lied in the beginning. Did he know of a fairy tale to inject into his story?

"... and?" Natalie repeated with a pestering smile on her mouth.

"Jeyne saw through it pretty quick. But we..." Aleron placed a hand on his chin, wondering how to explain the night chastely.

"We shared a look, you know? That look that two strangers have where uh... where you realize the words that you're saying don't really matter, as if they're merely garnishing to the heat of the moment?"

Aleron glanced towards Natalie, realizing something similar had happened with her a couple of days ago. She giggled and brought a hand to her mouth when she realized why Aleron's brows appeared so panicked.

"I think I can relate, Aleron," she said through her laugh, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Yeah... yeah. Sure," he muttered, then cleared his throat awkwardly. He looked away from her, keeping his eyes planted on the path ahead.

"Anyway. Not much more to tell you, I'm afraid.

It

happened, I left the morning after, and we marched on two mornings later."

Natalie held her hands closely in front of her as she swayed through the street.

She

had grown up hearing a very different story from her mother, Jeyne. And this revision should have bothered her, but Natalie appreciated hearing the truth after so many years all the same. Aleron's next words were uttered reverently, as if he had committed the world's biggest sin.

"And I never did go back. But I swear, Natalie. I hadn't known, huh?"

"It's okay, Aleron," Natalie replied a moment later, looking forward as she brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "you needn't apologize."

But I will,

he thought. His mind had, too, been a cacophony of thoughts in combat the past few days. It had taken all his willpower to convince himself to visit the castle, to apologize to Natalie; right before his willpower had disappeared entirely at the castle gates, and he turned himself around. Thrice.

"Momma always spun a different tale when I was growing up. How my father was this

great

warrior," Natalie said with a flourish, raising an invisible sword to the sky, "and how they had fallen in love one night when she was in distress. Her reasons for said distress had changed over the years, mind you. When I was really young it was that she lost her prized earrings. When I gained my eighth year, the story changed where he saved her from a beast in the forest. My tenth, he saved her from a gang in town." Natalie let out a short, pitiful laugh at the memory.

"And that they were

truly

in love. But then he had to go one day with his army, to save some far-off land. I saw through it as I gained more years, of course. Yet it still made me happy that she at least tried, and I never did have the chance to question her fable."

Aleron shook his head. He so very much needed to apologize.

"I imagine she told you those things so you wouldn't make the same mistake that she did, Natalie," Aleron said instead. "That one should wait until they find someone worthy of their love."

A quick smirk appeared on Natalie's face, saving her from her impending dread spiral.

"Some good

that

did," Natalie retorted with a sly shrug. She noticed the obvious, sympathetic worry on the man's face.

"But if it makes you feel better, I'll let you make it up to me through gifts," Natalie said sweetly, hoping to cheer him. "Starting with those clothes you promised, I think."

--

Natalie was outfitted at a decent-enough tailor in the city for the path ahead. Aleron purchased the leather travel pants for her, quality boots, and a green long-sleeved and hooded tunic that fit her more like a short dress than a proper shirt. The hem of the tunic fell to her mid-thigh, and was trimmed with gold stitching. Aleron was pleased that the loose fitting hid most of her assets from plain sight, realizing he'd have one less distraction on the road.

"I look like a boy," Natalie said dejectedly, studying herself in the mirror with the tunic's hood up.

"Nonsense. You look fine," Aleron reassured her, nodding with a smile, "it looks good on you."

Natalie frowned, lifting the sides of the tunic as if in a half curtsy. It would have to do, Natalie thought. She noticed his gaze through the mirror, and was reminded of a previous night with the man.

"Don't stare at me, Aleron," Natalie chided him in a childish tone, blushing. Aleron smirked at her, then paid the tailor the five silvers for the new garb. Natalie promptly threw her servant's uniform away in the nearest trash heap she could find, content she wouldn't require it.

Their next stop was a smithy in the eastern market of the city, Aleron requesting a lightweight sword for Natalie. The rotund weapon smith handed him a short sword, almost dagger-like in appearance, and Aleron held it to the forge light to inspect it. He handed it back and shook his head, asking for something with a bit more reach and had been tempered several more times. Natalie tried to learn from the exchange of words, but the conversation went over her head. She instead leaned on a wooden post of the shop and crossed her arms as the men talked shop.

After three swords or ten Aleron finally approached her with one, pommel first.

"Natalie, hold this one. Feel its weight and let me know if it's good."

Natalie held the grip of the sword as Aleron let go, and held it up. It felt okay, she guessed. She gave it two lazy swings in an empty corner of the shop, wondering how she could tell if it was decent.

"Natalie, here," Aleron offered as he stepped behind her, holding her hand steady that was on the sword. His other hand pulled one of her thighs away from the other, telling her to part her legs another step. She looked down, her feet about a yard apart.

Next, he lifted her other hand to meet the first on the hilt of the sword. "Two hands when you're starting off," he tutored as his hands lifted to her shoulders and pushed down gently, guiding her to bend at the hip. He then pushed a knee softly against her butt, Natalie blushing as she realized that the now-inappropriate contact meant she should bend her knees instead.

"Now, raise the sword above your head, like this," he mimicked with an imaginary sword, "and strike downward like so," Aleron guided as he swung at air with air.

Natalie attempted to copy his movements, performing the action three times.

"Good enough," he nodded, "now, did it feel balanced in your hands? Does it feel as if it were an extension of your own arm?"

Natalie nodded with a shrug, unsure what a bad sword would feel like. "I suppose, Aleron." Aleron took the sword from her hands and turned towards the smith.

"Alright, how much?"

"Six silver Imperials."

"Six? I'd not pay more than half of that at any other smith, I say."

"My swords are no mere tools, good sir. You won't find any stronger steel in all of Heurbon, of this I assure you! Five Imperials!"

"Four, or I'm walking across the street."

The smith lifted a hand to his chin, pretending to contemplate the deal. "Agreed, sir."

Aleron walked over to a rack of sheaths, picking up an appropriately-sized one in red. "And two more for the skin," Aleron offered generously. The smith agreed, Natalie walking towards the rack as well.

"Wait, Aleron," she interrupted, picking up a green one of identical size, "this one matches my tunic," she explained with a smile. She saw Aleron roll his eyes before he put down the one in his hand and grabbed the green sheath instead. He shared a laugh with the fat blacksmith -- Natalie thinking it a

"Women, huh?"

sort of jest between men -- and Aleron paid the six silvers for the set.

With her new sword wrapped around her hip Natalie felt positively deadly, even if she had no idea how to use it. They made their way to Aleron's horse by the gates, the sun two hours from setting.

"What about a shield?" Natalie inquired, pointing at Aleron's steel kite on his back.

"The sword's the important part. A shield won't save you if your sword arm is incapable of dealing with the threat. And remember, two hands when you start," he stated matter-of-factly, as if it were common knowledge. Natalie nodded, trusting in his experience.

"We'll try to train each morning. It's been a long time, but I have some experience teaching others how to use a blade," he explained as he prepared his horse for the journey. Satisfied that everything was strapped in properly, he waved Natalie over.

"Shouldn't we start tomorrow, Aleron?"

Aleron shook his head. "The sooner you begin, the better. We will be five miles along before the sun sets today. Who knows what we'd miss in Santaria in five mile's time?"

"And you're sure the tent is big enough?"

Aleron nodded.

"Do we have enough food? I barely see any..."

"Yes, Natalie, we're fine, it's called hunting. Look, I've been doing this longer than you've been alive. When I say we're good, we're good, huh?" he reassured with hurried words, placing a hand on her shoulder. Natalie forced a smile for him and nodded, a hundred questions still on her mind.