Infinitesimal: A Tale of Dragons and Daring Deeds

Chapter 2: Traveller

Hansen sat next to Cooper and leaned into him heavily. His face betrayed how drunk he was. He mumbled something incoherent to Cooper, and the other boy laughed. Lou could see the two together. It seemed better than Lou and Hansen. Lou scoffed at that. What a terrible idea.

She checked out the window. The sun was still high in the sky. She could make it to Eastvale by the time night fell. She bid Cooper farewell, and nodded at Hansen. She got mixed responses.

Cookie was tethered to a post outside their old dorm. Lou stroked her face lightly. She saddled the horse, and rode off. Lou still didn't trust herself on Cookie to go too fast, but she still went faster than she should have.

Lou left the town. She left the town far behind her. Cookie's rhythmic trotting soothed her. The forest landscape eased the stress built up after years of training seemed to leak out of her shoulders.

"Ah, Cookie, isn't this brilliant?" Lou asked.

The horse neighed in response.

"I'm glad you agree! Do you think we can make it to Eastvale in time?"

Louanne received a disapproving whinny. Lou huffed. "Don't be such a downer, Cookie. I bet we can do it!"

Somehow, Cookie seemed to complain. Lou ruffled the hair between her horse's ears. She loved that horse.

Hours passed peacefully through the forest. Birds perched and sang in trees. Every once in awhile a rabbit would sprint in front of Cookie. She seemed to be unaffected by it. That fazed Lou as sort of odd, since horses are generally jittery.

Lou shrugged it off. It didn't matter much to her. As long as they didn't stray off the path, she cared not.

Finally, she reached Eastvale. The town seemed active, even as the sun dipped low in the sky. People talked on the streets. Lou slid off her horse. She asked someone where she could keep Cookie, and was directed to the pub.

She reined Cookie, and looked at the door. She gulped.

Carefully, slowly, Louanne opened the door. The pub's air was thick and heavy. Men of shapes and sizes ogled women of curves and long hair. Lou's face scrunched up in disgust. She made her way to the bar, her head held high and her steps heavy. She scowled at the barkeep.

"One pint, please. I can pay for myself."

The barkeep nodded, his shifty eyes darting around. Lou kept her eyes on her hands. Her thumbs twiddled and she thought of home. Cookie was corralled outside, but Lou's thoughts still wandered to her.

"Have you heard?" One patron said. They turned to their friend.

Lou listened in. She hadn't heard anything outside the bubble of her world.

"About the king?" The other patron responded. Their voices turned quiet and hushed.

"Word is that he's gone quiet. No one goes in or out of the castle anymore. The princess stopped throwing parties. The only guards allowed are the personal ones."

"No parties from the princess? Something must be up," the patron laughed to himself. The other chimed in, happily drinking and gossiping.

Tumultuous. Lou thought. She hoped there would be a guard position for the castle on the message board. She'd like that.

The pint slid in front of Lou. She sipped it and thought to the message board and all the types of jobs she might get. The drink was starting to get to her when a person sat next to her, accompanied by a poof of sound.

"Hey there, darling! How's your life been?"

Louanne turned to the voice. Her face went stark red to see one of the barmaids was talking to her. Her dress was low cut enough for her to see a majority of her chest. Her eyes were accented with flecks of gold and silver, her long hair halfway down her back. Lou averted her eyes as soon as she could.

"Fine." She said.

"That's good, sweetheart!" The barmaid patted her back. "Pretty thing like you's gotta have a good life, huh?"

"It has been better recently." Lou sipped her ale again.

"Oooh! Why's that, hun?"

"I was knighted."

"No joke?"

"I wouldn't, miss."

"Aye, barkeep! Bring the next drink to my room. I wanna talk to this doll for a bit." The barmaid slid her hand to Lou's waist and guided her to her room. Lou's head felt hazy. From her knowledge, she shouldn't trust the barmaid, but she smelled so nice and the bar was so warm.

Following her heart and not her mind, Lou trailed after the barmaid.

The maiden opened the door to her room, and Lou happily went inside.

She asked Lou a lot of things. She can't remember much now, but that barmaid learned a lot about her. Lou was very certain her name was Fedella, but that's all that Lou learned about her. When she was older, she would tell people about her first fateful encounter. No one believed her, Fedella was a fairy goddess, not a barmaid in Eastvale. Lou did often say she was one with the more spiritual. Cooper would laugh at her for that.

The next morning was a groggy one. Lou found a glass of water and a letter on a bedside table she didn't recognize. She leaned up and rubbed her forehead restlessly. She assumed she was at least a little hung-over. Shame.

Only then did she notice her armor was in a clump with her underclothes. Only then did she realize she had hardly anything on.

Lou groaned.

She had spent maybe a week in the world outside her home, and she had already made a very bad decision.

Blast.

When she stomped out of the bar, hardly anything learned from her trip, she was furious. She was meant to make sure that there were no thieves around. She was meant to protect people, not sleep with barmaids. Not this early in her career, anyway.

The barkeep didn't seem to know why she was angry. Lou just dropped some coins for the room and bolted. The door swung wide open and slammed behind her, making Cookie jump. Slowly, she regained her composure. She leaned against the wall of the bar, thinking things through. Hopefully, the Fedella woman did not take anything from her.

Hopefully, Louanne can leave with her pride.

The knight huffed, and made her way to town hall. The message board was posted outside, and she looked over it carefully. She needed to pick up a job before she left the town, or else she'd be in for a load of trouble.

There were a few, most just running errands for the people in the town, or sending something to Verrville. Lou was frustrated, she didn't want to go back already. All that was left was one job.

Louanne swallowed hard. It was...difficult, to say the least. The more she looked at it, the more she realized that it wasn't local. It wasn't tattered, placed in haste. The parchment looked new; like it had a spell on it to keep it from getting wet. Only the richest of folks could afford mages to do such trivial work. This was from the capital, Clairvoyance. Lou smiled when she saw the payload. She's definitely taking this job.

The new knight smiled. She had a job, a horse, and a blade. Best of all, the job gave her somewhere to go. She jogged to the stables. As she grabbed Cookie's reins, she noted that they were rather new. Soon, indents from her grip would be there. Her face lit up with joy, and she hopped atop her horse.

The Eastvale was a spot in the distance by the time she turned around.