–Safrine’s POV-
We finally reach the room, and I sigh out of relief. This hotel is the best thing we could get tonight, with it being a place for female seeker and adventures to come to, whenever they feel they are in danger, and luckily there were rooms vacant.
I bring in the love-struck daughter of mine, following her Belinda with the injured Pinchira come in.
With the hotel being here to protect rather than serve, the rooms here are not on the luxurious side. Even the money we spend here goes to the mages and fighters, so seeing the rooms it doesn’t feel that the money is well spent, but what could we say, we need security more than comfort.
The room has a large king-sized bed in the middle, a settee near the window, and two rooms on the side, one of them would be the bathroom, and the other, storage for our things.
With Haruru on the toe, I dive on the bed.
I bring the girl close to me and hug her.
“Motherrr.. you are suffocating me.”
The little girl of mine squirms under my breast, I hold her face and make her look up to me, licking her cheeks, I say,
“I was really looking up to come and meet you, tell you about the new things I did, the places I went, and the people I met. But this Unor disturbed it all, first assaulting you when you were working, and now, I would be scolding you right now for not telling me about the assault before, but you are lucky, we have to run and seeing you sad would affect Janvas too.”
She sulks with my every word, I would’ve soothed her, but the things that were happening to her, they weren’t small to ignore.
First, Unor approached Janvas to buy her, like she was a tool, then harassing her repeatedly, later on, attempting to rape her; now abduction.
Unor has crossed every bound; if he wasn’t a General of the Army and a Noble, I could have pulled some strings to make him pay for all the things my children went through, sighing I separate from her and caress her face.
“Ru, freshen up, I need to look after Pinchira, we need as much of ma-women-power as we can.”
She gives me a small smile and heads to the bathroom.
I move up and get near to the settee where Belinda has laid Pinchira. Bending, I place my hand on her head, and cast the spell, Inspect. I had already healed the injuries she got back at the house, so I search for injuries her mind may have suffered, but I couldn’t sense anything.
Her body was normal, so was her mind, thinking she could have been under the same spell as Janvas, I cast Light Heal and Inspect again, no abnormalities.
[Wait! Isn’t she from Maiden Flora?]
I motion for Belinda to pass me the water placed on the table, receiving it, I sprinkle some droplets on Pinchira. With a jerk, she wakes and ratted she looks around.
“Master…”
The cheeky voice of hers completely eradicated, with a quavering voice she says Master, looking around and not finding her said Master, her face turns dark, finally her eyes land on Belinda; she jumps up at her, with tears she hugs her.
I sigh,
[So, she is one of those girls. What kind of girl has Marine brought. She must have lost her mind if she thinks she brought the right girl.]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We stay in the room, waiting for Janvas and Marine to come, I sit on the bed, while Haruru uses my lap as a pillow while sulking, on the other-hand Belinda looks after the cowering Pinchira.
“Mother, why are we staying at this hotel, instead of running? Shouldn’t we run, now that we know of Unor’s plans?”
I look down at my daughter and chuckle, how naive can a person be, or is it my fault that both my kids are naive and not ready to live in the wild.
“We are not running right now as it’s near midnight and during this time the demonic beasts run rampant and they are more vicious, so until we know each other fighting style like our own, or we going in a large group we can’t move now. We will probably move within the next few hours, and only after getting the right tools. First, we need to get a wagon, with the carriage you girls bought, we would attract attention from robbers and bandits, and having to worry about four things isn’t optimal for us.”
She buries her face harder on my lap,
“Haruru!”
“Mothe…”
Her voice comes with cracks. She probably was going to cry.
I try to smoothen her, when all of a sudden, she stands and moves towards the door, worried I follow her,
“Ru, where are you going?”
She opens the door and jumps at the surprised man. Worried I look at them, but with their lips touching, a chuckle leaves me.
I cast a small heal on both of them.
Janvas tries to smile when he sees me, but with Haruru kissing him, all I could see was him smiling with his eyes.
[Kids.]
I sit on the bed facing the others in the room, Janvas sit on the settee, with two girls in his arms, and two standing behind him.
Seeing him like this, I feel he still has the princely charm of his, but if both the girls in his arm cry, he looks like a kidnapper who is molesting these girls.
Janvas tries to soothe them but to no avail.
“*Ahem* Janvas.”
“Yes?”
“What happened out there? Why did you seem so tired when you came back?”
“Amm, I only thought that going out would give me peace of mind, but after I bought back the things, I had given the Merchant Store to prepare… I met…”
He stops and looks down at Haruru, who has her head laid on his chest as she shed tears.
“… Scorn. And we fought. Luckily, he wasn’t strong, so I overpowered him… and-and killed him.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine. He did get me once, but the strength behind the attack was lacking, so I simply received a small scratch and when you cast the ‘Light Heal’ they healed, but tell me what happened at the house. How tough was the enemy that Marine damaged her Katana and Pinchira, why is Pinchira soo scared?”
He looks toward Marine and speaks,
“Why didn’t you tell me someone was hurt?”
“Master, Ms. Safrine was here, and looking at the weapons they held, I thought it would only be small injuries but-”
“Janvas, I don’t feel you need to worry about Pinchira.”
Confused he looks at me,
“She’s fine mentally and physically. And she is crying to hide a mistake of her.”
When I say the words, I see the Rabbit/Fox girl flinch a little.
[I knew it.]
“What do you mean?”
Janvas ask,
I turn towards Marine and ask her,
“Marine, tell me, how does Pinchira compare to Janvas and yourself?”
” Ms. Safrine, I believe she’s in the middle, she could probably beat Master in fighting, but not me, while Master can beat her in magic.”
“If she’s stronger than Janvas in fighting, then how could she have been in that state while fighting those hooligans who didn’t even use magic?”
“Pinchira, don’t tell me.”
From the side, Belinda speaks with a pale face. She probably understood where I was going, or she knew about Pinchira very well.
Belinda comes in front of me and prostrates.
“Mam, please forgive her. Pinchira doesn’t even realize what our predicament is.”
“What’s going on?”
Janvas asks from the side, even the crying daughter of mine stops and sniffling she looks at what’s folding in front of us,
“Shall I tell them, or will you tell them yourself, or should we hear it from someone who knows you well?”
I look at the shivering girl in Janvas’s arms.
Now the seating arrangement is different from earlier. I sit on the right side of Janvas, whereas Haruru stays as she was. Marine stands behind Janvas and Haruru like earlier.
On the other hand, Belinda prostrates on the floor, with Pinchira right behind her. The crying girl is nowhere to be seen as a scared girl takes her place.
I was waiting to listen to her, but looking out the window I see it to be past midnight, and within two-three hours the first batch of the caravan would be leaving. I stand up and say.
“Janvas, you, Haruru, Marine, and Pinchira, stay in the hotel, while I and Belinda go out to buy a wagon and the necessities for our trip. We need to run and before we do, I want the basic things ready.”
“Safrine, wait. Take me with you.”
Seeing me declare that I would go out with Belinda, Janvas tries to tag along.
“Janvas, stay and get to know what’s the reason for such notorious behavior of hers.”
He tries to protest, but I stop him before he could utter a word,
“Janvas, I understand you’re concerned about our safety, but the thing is, only I and Belinda are the ones who can do it. You, Haruru, and Marine are the prime faces that the people in the palace know of, Belinda, Pinchira, and I are outsiders, so them knowing out face has a low probability.”
As I caress his face, I say,
“I let you go out thinking, all the tension you have been holding, would be drained if you breathe a little, but it seems, I was wrong, I should have forbid you from going out, I didn’t expect your hunch to be so accurate.”
I kiss him on the cheeks, then look at Haruru,
“Make sure he gives her the punishment that she deserves. Be the Odesvana that they call you.”
With those words, I leave the room.
Belinda and I stand in front of the hotel and wait for the steward to bring our carriage back. While looking around, I find the place to be lively, I ignore the gazes of the males as I look ahead.
On the corner of my sight, I see Belinda’s downcast look, smiling I ask her,
“What bothering you?”
She hesitates to answer, nonetheless, she speaks,
“Mam, please don’t be strict on Pinchira. She might have acted as an asinine, but I vouch that she didn’t want to do any harm by it.”
“Do you know what she did?”
She shakes her head,
“I don’t, but I have a hunch.”
“Then you must know where she is wrong.”
Shocked, she looked at me.
“It’s not my first time to meet people like her.”
I look back at her,
“Janvas and Haruru need to grow up. If they are ready to accept people as their Royal Maid, then they also need to take responsibility. Marine was an easy girl for Janvas. She never complained, had tantrums, or asked for anything, she took Janvas’s words as the law, but you two are different.”
She lowers her head,
“While one is a grown-up, the other is a child.”
Silence falls, as we wait for the carriage to come,
When I see kids walking with their parents, I remember some of the things Janvas and Haruru would do as a child, which makes me giggle. Far more eyes turn towards me, but I ignore them as I see a parchment on the streets, which makes me remember,
“Ahh, yes, I forgot to ask Marine to give me the papers of the carriage. Belinda could you go back and get it for me.”
“Mam, it’s not needed.”
Surprised, I ask,
“Why?”
“Because the carriage is stolen. Marine killed the drives and hid their bodies.”
Silence befalls us again, as I look back at what bunch of people my daughter and son have surrounded themself by.
*Neigh*
Katrine’s voice gets my attention; I look to the side and see the steward riding the wagon as Katrine galops up to me. The steward ogle’s us as he gets down from the carriage. I glare at the steward and he hurriedly leaves us alone.
When I look back, I remember the gaze of the man I loved, his look just like an animal who would eat me alive, but now I wonder if I will ever see those again or will he never see me like that.
My swaying tail makes me remember what I was going to do an hour ago.
[Ahh! If I don’t masturbate sometime soon, I would explode if J-]
*Neigh*
“Hey! You didn’t have to tell him.”
I look at Katrine, as she separates from me.
*Neigh*
“Even if, it’s true, you won’t.”
*Neigh*
I ignore her as I look towards Belinda,
“It would have been easy for us if you knew how to ride a Gordan, but looks like we have to go everywhere together, but that’s good too.”
“Ma-Mam, wouldn’t it have been easy for us if we didn’t bring the Go- I mean Katrine?”
Belinda nearly called Katrine, a Gordan, but as I looked at her intensely, she quickly corrects herself.
“Nope, if something happens, then the carriage would be our liability.”
“Then, may I ask for something?”
“Yes?”
“Can you teach me how to drive the carriage? Please.”
I was wondering when she would ask me to teach her about how to drive a carriage, and finally, she asks me,
“Okay.”
I motion for her, and she sits beside me on the cabin, with Katrine once again following us,
The ride from the North to East, is not as tasking as, from West to North, the earlier crowd has now subdued to a lot, now instead of the streets, it is the restaurants, food stalls, small vendors, and hotels which seem full.
Even with the crowd being deplenished, I couldn’t give the rope of the carriage to a rookie, so Belinda sits beside me as I tell her how to give direction to the Gordans with the rope, she carefully looks as I pull, loosen, jolt, or swing the rope.
We quickly move away from the crowd, shops, and merchants, and stop beside a stable, out of the five stables in front of us, I chose the one with the most obnoxious structure.
Seeing the carriage to park in front of their stable, a young lizard boy comes out.
“Welcome, Miss. Welcome to our Stable, where you can buy, sell, and rent any horse or carriage you want. We promise you that you will be 100% content with what we have to offer you.”
Showing a small smile towards the boy I say,
“We’re here to sell. And are you the person who handles the shop?”
“Mister Pring deals with the money related things, while I work here by showing our merchandise to our lovely customers like you, Mam.”
“Oh My! You have such sweet tongue for such a young age.”
“Thank you, Mam.”
Belinda and I get down of the cabin and stand in front of the kid, who gets lost in his fantasy after seeing us standing in front of him, I have to flick our finger in front of him to bring him back.
“Ahh! Sorry, Mam.”
He quickly apologizes while fixing his clothes and diverts his gaze.
“Mam, it seems you are here to sell the Gordan, and with how beautiful she is I’m sure we will fetch a good deal.”
The kid says, but still, he doesn’t look at us but does send glance from the sides.
“It’s not just the Gordan but the carriage too. And we would also like to buy a wagon and a Blue or Red Gordan.”
I ignore him too and speak without any spirit. The moment he looked at us like a tool, I knew sweet words would attract trouble.
“Okay, Mam, why don’t you head in as I bring in the Carriage inside, so I can check it.”
Seeing my change in tone, he quickly goes back to talking like a kid.
“Okay. But do not touch the stuff inside, or you may check after we transfer them to the wagon we buy.”
I don’t change the way I speak, but he still talks like a kid.
“That will also suffice, Mam”
I turn to Belinda and look at her weapon through my eyes, she gives a smile as she understands and nods, as she silently follows after me.
*Neigh*
I look behind to see the kid trying to get Katrine in control by pulling the reins on her, instinctively I shout at the kid,
“What are you doing to her, KID!”
With a jerk, he looks back at me,
“Mam, I-I-I..”
He tries to say but with Katrine trying to get free he couldn’t utter a word.
I hear footsteps behind me, and as I turn around, I see a male pig there, who looks at our breasts as he says,
“Is there a problem, Madam?”
Belinda unsheathe her sword and points it as his neck,
“Manners.”
She says in an ice-cold voice,
For a split second, I’m surprised at her quick change in tone, form the normal and half-docile girl, she goes to complete icy tone. I ignore them and look back at the kid,
“She’s not the one for sale, so don’t touch her. Just bring in the carriage.”
The horror-struck kid nods and gets the Carriage horse’s reins.
“Ma-Ma-Madam. if you could please…”
The pig squeaks, turning back I see him covered in sweat.
“Belinda.”
As I call her out, she sheathes her sword and she stands beside me. The scared owner stares at my face with displeasure, so I stare back at him; he inevitably looks down, pleased I say,
“Show me the Wagons you got and a Blue or Red Gordan.”
“Yes.”
With lowered head, he invites us in. After all, money is important to people like him than pride.
Going to such a shabby place is not a good thing, but with the carriage not being ours, it’s the best place to come.
Entering the stable we see, two junked up Gordan’s as this place’s attraction, heading deeper we find different Gordan on both the sides, they vary from small, fat, having scars, red, blue, and green. Entering a little deeper, we see wagons on our right, and carriage on our left, they too are of different types.
Behind us, the kid brings the carriage and parks it on the left, Katrine comes and stand behind us.
“Mam, here our best wagons. The ones with the small body can go fast but can’t withstand heavyweights, the ones with the big frame can lift heavy weights but are slow unless you have more than 2 Gordans, and the medium ones are moderate on both.”
Says the kid,
I nod and move ahead to inspect them.
The small and large body is of no use to us, the small ones seem nice for us, but with how small they are, the place would too cramped, and the large ones are out of the option, so only the medium is left.
With there only being three medium ones, our selection criteria are small, and from my past experience I can easily tell only one of them is suitable for us, and it’s the gypsy one, I get close to it and see its make.
The body is made entirely of wood, with two window-door attached on both of its sides, with there being a small window on the back. It also has a separate cabin room, with a sliding window connecting it to the room on the back. But it only had a single Gordan attaching mechanism,
[With this, we can cross up to two layers with ease.]
“Out of all the wagons you have, this seems nice. But… with it only having capacity for a single Gordan, it seems to lack in certain compartments.”
I speak in a displeased manner. The pig seeing it nudges the kid to speak,
“Mam, don’t you worry, we have the best Gordan here, the Blue and Red Gordan we have, can do the work of two Gordan with ease, and the wagon that you have chosen is currently very famous in the market.”
“How much would the Gordan and the Wagon be?”
I ask the pig perks up and say without a second of hesitation.
“10 Golden Coins.”
“—”
I look at the pig, then Belinda, then at the kid,
“We are leaving.”
I say as I move to the carriage we came in,
The pig’s face changes color drastically as he says,
“No-no, I was joking 8 Golden coins.”
I stop and turn to the pig and speak in a calm voice,
“That wagon has a single Gordan attaching mechanism, so the top it can go is 2 Golden coins, and a full-grown pure breed Blue Gordan goes up to the price of 2 Golden coins, and you want 8 Golden coins for them, I better go to a place which doesn’t overcharge its products.”
“5 Golden Coins.”
“4 or we leave.”
The guy grumbles under his breath, as he looks back at us, then at the carriage, we came in, then back at our bodies,
Belinda grabs the hilt of her sword.
The pig acts as he is thinking he then looks at the kid, who nods,
“Okay, 4 Golden Coin, and 10 Silver for the papers.”
The rest of the trip to different stores goes smooth, with no creepy shopkeepers like the pig and lizard, we end up selling the carriage, and the two Gordan to him, for 7 Golden coins, they would have sold for 8 Golden Coins if we had its paper, but this is fine too. He offers to buy Katrine for 10 Golden coins but receives death glare from both Belinda and me.
We end up buying a tent, bucket, Namiks(Salts), Maslas(Spices), 2 Sword, 5 Chest-Guard, and 5 Helmet for 10 Silver, 10 Bronze, 5 Copper, 5 Copper, 40 Silver, 100 Silver, and 50 Silver.
With A Credit of 7 Golden Coins and Debit of 5 Golden, 200 Silver, 10 Copper, and 10 Bronze coins.
Leaving us with, 1 Golden, 299 Silver, 89 Copper, and 0 Bronze coins.
Keeping everything in the Wagon; telling Katrine to rest up, I give the steward 2 Coppers coins as a tip. We get back to the room; only to find my kids sleeping with the person they needed to punish.
I see Marine possessively guarding them, her eyes got the same vigor that she once had.
[At least something good happened today.]
I think to myself.
Calamity’s Close By(Master and Servant Bonding.)[Calamity Arc- Part 25]