Dreams of Hardovia and The Green Throne (Part 1)

3: Lost in Someone's Body

"Who is that? He looks foreign here."

"Look at his dress —"

"— no! Look at his eyes —"

"Is he a royalty... Yes.... The Brenin's."

Philip's eyes widened as he heard the last word. He kept stepping ahead but faster than earlier and didn't bother to look back at the people.

"Brenin? What about Brenin? Why does it have something to do with my eyes?" he mumbled.

It confused Philip. The only thing that he remembered about Brenin was when the time — he witnessed death. The death of an old, powerful wizard he once knew. As he reminisced the scenes of his dreams, he was sure Arthur knew nothing about Brenin, his fate, and the holy sword. They only once heard it from Henddyn's last few words before passing away. Even if it was Arthur's memories, he could feel its confusion back then. Merlin was confused, too, while sobbing.

"Merlin!" he halted and exclaimed, whispering. "I have to find him.... but where?"

Philip jerked his head around but grunted in frustration when his stomach rumbled again. He went to the other side of the market but the same as where he came from, people were acting strange towards him. Philip overheard the people around him murmuring about his clothing, especially his green eyes. Was Arthur a rich man? Or was he an heir of a wealthy family? Besides, as he remembered, Arthur lived in the woods, so he was a stranger to them. Their actions towards Philip are reasonable. After, he wandered around the market and finally found the entrance and the exit. Philip noticed the people's houses were timber-framed, then plastered with wattle and daub. The cabin he used to live in looked neater than the places he saw now. He strolled around the street, and a road with a building made of stone caught his attention. They build the nearby buildings from stone, but this one is much bigger than the others. He reached the front porch but was shocked when a lady and a man approached him. Because of the building's astonishment, Philip didn't realize the people on the side came to him. He noticed the stranger man's clothing was the same as his, but his knee-length tunic was green instead of blue. His hair was short, but he swept it to the side, showing his shiny forehead. His face was also cleanly shaved, which reveals his oval-shaped face. The fair lady with short brown curly hair then took Philip's attention. She wore a fancy long gown which was also touched by green.

"Greetings, my dear," the lady joyfully greeted. "My name is Lady Lucie.... and this is my husband," — held her hand to the right — "Demin."

Rats crawled on Philip's chest, and he didn't know what to do. He nodded a little to show some respect, but he didn't let a word out.

"As I have noticed by your actions, you are new here in Tref.... am I right?" said Demin.

"Yes! I... ah......?" Philip was spaced out, and confusion blocked his ears.

"Want to go inside?" The lady cut him off.

"I'm sorry?" said Philip confusedly.

"You want to go inside? We... own this inn."

"Inn? Ahhh... Yes! of course." Exclaimed Philip and followed by a short fake laugh. "I'm sorry, I'm just... hungry."

Lady Lucie and Demin giggled and said, "No worries. People like you are very much welcome in our place." — and they both smiled —

Lady Lucie and Demin stepped ahead to the entrance, and Philip followed — even if he was ambivalent. Philip finally came in, and the main hall occupied his sight. The view of the inn immensely amused him. The light coming from the chandelier of candles makes the inn cozy. Even in the daytime, they still lit the candles. Philip eyed a few tiny windows on the inn's sides, but it wasn't enough to light up the whole place. Philip remembered Arthur's memories at the cabin where Arthur used to live. They only lit a fire from the woods because they didn't have candles as a light source at night's peak and depended on the sunlight by day. Besides, their cabin was tiny, so the sunlight passing through the window could light the whole place.