The Road
----
A warm breeze passed over the pair of travelers at their makeshift camp site, a roaring fire illuminating the whimsical night around them. They sat by the fire, eating and talking of the day's events until it was time for an early sleep. Natalie had argued against it, of course; as a citizen of Heurbon, one sleeps late in the night and wakes late in response. Aleron explained to her that you sleep when the sun does when you're out on the road, and they'd be departing at first light.
"First light?!" Natalie exclaimed with a hand on her hip. "You cannot be serious, Aleron. You're teasing me."
"I'm afraid not, dear. You'll get used to it, I promise."
Their tent had already been pitched, and Aleron
had
attempted to show Natalie the proper way to set it up in the soft dirt. The lesson had not gone as well as he'd planned, but figured there'd be plenty more opportunities to teach that particular lesson.
Aleron's tent was designed to give one person ample room to move, but would be a tight fit for two. This was on purpose, of course; he typically traveled alone, and did not see the need to purchase a large tent he'd only use a couple of times for the road to Santaria.
"Sure looks cozy in there," Natalie said with a frown through the flap of the tent.
"Don't need room to sleep, huh?" Aleron replied warmly, already in his under-clothes atop his bedroll. Natalie let out a short laugh as she slipped her fingers into her travel pants, pushing them down her legs.
"Uh, can you do that anywhere else besides right in front of me?"
"Oh hush, Aleron. It's not like you haven't seen it already," Natalie replied playfully. She made her way into the tent, carefully stepping over Aleron's legs before getting comfy in her own sleeping bag of furs.
"Speaking of. What do we do about that? How do we deal with the fact that we..." Natalie trailed off as she turned herself to face him, resting her head on her hands.
"We forget it happened. Pretty much all you can do, huh?"
She noticed Aleron's member stirring under his clothes without his consent, and giggled. "Going to be hard to forget
that
," she answered huskily as she glanced at his crotch.
Aleron pushed her shoulder playfully. "Don't be gross, Natalie."
"I'm just kidding, Aleron. Good night," Natalie sighed, rolling onto her back and willed herself to sleep after the short day's journey.
--
The pair traveled nearly twenty miles the next day, exhausting for Natalie on horseback -- especially after her first training session with the sword in the morning -- but a slow pace for Aleron. He explained that if he were traveling on his own he could make almost twice that distance when mounted on a horse.
Natalie apologized of weighing him down before Aleron realized his mistake, elucidating that he wasn't blaming her or disappointed with their rate of travel.
Aleron had hunted a deer for their meal that night, Natalie feeling sorry for the animal as he skinned it.
Their time by the fire that night was passing just as it had previously until a stranger arrived at their camp on horseback, traveling in the opposite direction. Aleron was surprised that the man was still traveling at night, but offered him a meal regardless.
"Greetings. Got plenty of fresh venison, if you're interested," Aleron offered warmly.
The stranger stepped closer to the fire. Aleron noticed that he was carrying an oddly-shaped block of wood on his back, was equipped with several daggers, and had a curious style of facial hair with just a tuft of hair growing from his chin. The man's dark brown hair was long and greasy, swept haphazardly behind himself.
"Gladly," the stranger replied, bowing lowly before accepting a seat by the fire next to the man. Natalie looked a bit nervous, but continued eating silently as she kept one eye on their new guest. "Emmanuel, at your service."
"Aleron. And this here is my daughter, Natalie."
"A pleasure, sir," she greeted shyly.
"The pleasure is all mine, my lady," Emmanuel replied courteously as he grabbed the skewer of meat offered to him by Aleron.
The trio ate quietly for several minutes before Aleron broke the silence.
"Where did you come from, Emmanuel?"
Emmanuel looked up at Aleron, smiling. "Ah. I was in Santaria for a time, carousing with the women and drinking the wine," he sang.
Aleron raised an eyebrow, smirking. The bard continued.
"I'd tell the traveler to try both if Santaria were his goal, as otherwise he may find his visit just a tad dull."
"I'll take the advice," Aleron replied sarcastically, getting a huff from Natalie from across the fire. "Do you, er, always speak like that?" he asked the bard.
"It's called a rhyme, the dear traveler should know. But to answer his question, I would tell him..."
Emmanuel paused. Dramatically. "
No
."
"Hah!" Aleron laughed. Natalie couldn't help but giggle as well. "Tell me, bard, were there any murders in the city while you were there? Of some knight?"
The bard nodded. "Indeed. A lordling had been slain just inside the palace, not a few days before I left the city, alas." Aleron rolled his eyes, realizing the bard was not done with his unbearable tune.
"The nobility seemed quite worried, but for good reason I would say. The Ducal guard had been hurried, having no clues but hearsay."
Aleron nodded. This was good news, no matter how obnoxious he'd learned of it. It meant that he hadn't missed his chance at the bounty.
"A few days before, huh? Was it you?" Aleron asked sternly of the bard. Emmanuel held his hands up to imply his innocence before Aleron chuckled two moments later, the trio soon sharing in the laughter.
