The Lady Knight

Chapter XXIV: Friendships and Fiancées

According to the Potential Quest schedule, Nick and the rest of us were not to come to Carcassonne until much later. However, the circumstances were such that I had to set foot here a little earlier.

Thinking of the Potential Quest reminded me of Nick.

That, of course, made me wonder at once about what he was doing at the moment. Would he still be angry with me after finding out about my sudden, uncalled-for departure? Would he have reached Vareniol safely by now, and met Estelle and Elisabeth?

He must have. It had almost been four days since I had left Cavarriere.

At this very moment, however, he would be sleeping in his bed like the dead. Lord, how I pitied the first person who would wake him up!

I chuckled to myself, amused, as I remembered how absurdly grumpy he could be in the mornings.

Once again, a sad smile made its way up my lips as I found that I quite, and rather ridiculously might I add, missed him. Indeed, I was even half-wishing now that I had at least informed him of my departure before I had left.

But then again, if I had done so, he would have tied me to my bed to prevent me from leaving, and I would not have found Richard in time.

"You are laughing to yourself, Jules," Richard's dry voice broke me out of my reverie, "should I be worried that you are losing your marbles?"

I blinked, startled. "I beg your pardon?"

"I was asking you where we are now, because I do not recognise this area," he explained, sighing, "but then, you laughed to yourself, and I assumed that you have lost your sanity at long last."

I rolled my eyes. "Continue riding straight on till I tell you to cease," I ordered, "we are now in the earldom of Limoges in Carcassonne, if you want to know."

I gazed at the row of houses that stood on the sides of the cobbled path we were riding on, waiting to recognise a certain blue cottage.

"Why have we come here, of all places we could go to? From the way you spoke last night, I thought you were going to hide me in a tree hole in the woods."

I wanted to punch his back, but the sorry state of my hands made it impossible to do so. I settled with a hard elbow jab to his back instead.

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated, old chap," I muttered, "and fortunately for you, I value your desire to be free of captivity, so I planned for you to stay with a special friend of mine who lives here in secrecy as well. Do not force me to change my mind and proceed with the tree hole idea."

"Who is this special friend of yours?" he sounded intrigued, "do I know him?"

I hesitated for a moment. "It is a her," I corrected him, "and yes, you do know her well to a certain extent."

His shoulders tensed. "That...would not be very appropriate, would it?" the whole column of his neck reddened, and I knew his expression would have been priceless if I was able to look.

I chuckled in amusement. "Cease. We have arrived," I tapped his shoulder instead, as we neared the small, familiar faded blue cottage, which was built in subtle seclusion from the rest of the houses in Limoges.

A young woman dressed in black was currently tending to the gardens in front of the house, pushing back the veil around her head once in a while to prevent it from becoming wet when she watered her plants. She glanced up in surprise at the sound of Aurora's hooves thundering towards her abode.

I beamed at her, as we both dismounted from Aurora. Beckoning the uncertain Richard forward, I strode towards her gate.

"Greetings Jackie," I grinned, "remember us?"