Into That Wild Blue Yonder

20. It's a Matter of Perspective

Reaching Lakesville felt the way Idara suspected finding the monastery would feel; filled to the brim with joy and relief and a sense of something finally ending. The last few days on the road, a light rainstorm rolled through, and after one miserable day before reaching a small town, Ulan had to walk in the rain and caught a caught a cold. He trudged through the remaining journey, but he couldn't hide the soreness all across his body.

"Finally," he said in an exasperated tone. "We-" He hacked a nasty cough- "We made it."

"Ulan, you seriously need to get some rest," Idara said. "Like, right now."

"I... Yeah. I should rest."

"Don't wanna get us sick, too," Colm said. Idara shot him a glare. "And... you know, you should rest."

"Come on, let's get a hotel," Idara said. "We'll find a nice one, overlooking the lake."

"That sounds nice," Ulan replied stuffily with a delighted grin.

Idara paid a local carriage to handle all their bags and had them lead the way to a hotel by the lake, insisting on the nicest hotel available. Colm wondered how on earth they had so much money to spend on hotels all the time, even with them being a famous bard and arena champion. Even he couldn't afford a five-star, lake-front hotel for more than a few nights without putting a ding in his savings. At least, he was pretty sure that was how his funds stood.

The carriage driver brought them to a massive building right on the lakefront with easy access to the beach and hordes of beachgoers getting the last few days of lake time in before the weather fully turned. Their proximity to the desert kept it warm enough to at least go, but few people cared to go in the water.

The carriage driver unloaded their bags onto the sidewalk and left after getting his coin from Idara, tossing her a flirtatious wink that she rolled her eyes at and focused on helping Ulan get inside to a room. Colm stayed outside with the bags while he waited for Idara to get Ulan into a room and return to move the bags in after.

He couldn't believe how different Lakesville was from either Joustbergh or Stiftung. Countless people, all dressed decently enough or in athletic clothes or swimwear, poured through the streets, chattering and laughing and enjoying themselves. Colm couldn't see a hint of graffiti, no signs of trouble, nothing out of the ordinary. He was probably the most out-of-place thing in the immediate area.

And he could tell he was, too, from the looks he got. Assessing gazes left and right, some curious and some suspicious. The hairs on the back of Colm's neck stood, but not like they usually would. He had a feeling no one would outright engage him here, not even in conversation, but he suspected his presence wasn't all that welcome.

Somewhere around thirty minutes later, Idara came back with a satisfied look on her face and two luggage carts. She motioned for Colm to help her toss the bags onto the carts and got right to it. Once they were loaded up, each of them picked a cart and they made their way inside.

"What's the room?" Colm asked.

"I got us the top suite for seven days while Ulan gets better," Idara said. "It's a pretty sweet... suite." Idara chortled at herself.

"Expensive," Colm said.

"Only the best for my main dragon."

Idara led them through a couple of side hallways to an elevator. When the door opened, Colm's eyes narrowed and he looked suspiciously at the strange system in front of him. He had heard of elevators, but few buildings he went to ran them in Joustbergh, and he wasn't sure how much he trusted them. As Idara waltzed in, she turned and saw Colm hesitating and sighed.