A/N: Thank you all for being so patient here is the next chapter, shout to my beta reader STOP for correcting the many errors I missed without you this fic would be of a much less quality!
A Melody of Water: Chapter 6
A Blooded Salmon
The sun was rising over River Spit, its orange and golden light bathed the village in glories glow, Sayaka, Sir Clifford, Benjamin and Anna stood outside the door to the home of David Warren. Anna knocked on it twice a few moments, later David pushed the door open, the cheery smile on his face indicating that he didn't seem to be bothered by being woken up so early or more likely he was already wide-awake and was just getting ready for work.
"Why hello, Anna, Benjamin, Sir Clifford, Sayaka, I'm guessing by the fact that you're all out so early means that you want to rent my cart."
Anna nodded her head, "that's right, we're short on ale and Sir Clifford and Sayaka have both volunteered to go down to Erenford Keep," She handed David the bag.
The stable man inspected the coins briefly, "Everything seems to be in order, very well then, come with me and I show the cart."
The knight, blue haired girl, and the innkeepers followed David to the stable until he stopped near the entrance to the stable. "Wait here while setting the cart up," David said he went inside to do just that. Leaving Sayaka, Sir Clifford and the innkeepers waiting for the David. For a short, a period of time everyone stood in silence until Sayaka broke it.
"So what is Erenford Keep like?" Sayaka asked.
""It's a grand old keep that according to what I heard has been around since the crowing of Aegon the Conqueror," Benjamin explained.
"It's also noisy, overcrowded and home to the some of the most frustrating and money-grubbing merchants ever to walk the Riverlands," said Anna angrily.
"They're not that bad Anna," Benjamin responded, Anna gave him a look annoyed, "Well some of them are," he admitted.
"A little bit of important advice," Anna said to Sayaka, "when you're trying to buy something from a merchant, their items will always be of better quality than when they bought it."
It was at that moment David emerged from the stable, "Ok I've got everything ready, follow me please."
David led the group to the back stable where they were met with the sight of one of the grey palfreys, Foot attached to a cart with thick leather reins. The cart was a relatively small simple wooden rectangular box that was beginning to show signs of ageing. Overall it was very plain, bland and sort of ugly but practical which was the point of everything made by smallfolk.
David rubbed Foot's main, he turned to Sir Clifford, "a few things of note before you rid off Sir Knight, firstly I have placed a small sack of oats in back of the cart to make sure that Foot would have something to eat if he gets huger, secondly," the stable man's voice become a great deal stern as his eyes hard, "I know this should go without saying but I want Foot back in one piece if anything happens to him your employer will be the one to for pay it, isn't that right Benjamin."
The innkeeper sighed with frustration, "Don't worry David. Sir Clifford will take good care of your horses- no reason to get ratty about."
David's mannerisms returned to normal, "I just want to make sure my boy is taken take care of Benjamin." He then handed the reins over to Sir Clifford, the knight then proceeded to get onto the cart, while Benjamin hauled a sack filled with supplies into the back.
Sayaka was just about to joining Sir Clifford when Anna spoke up, "You know it's kind of strange I haven't know you very long yet, I feel the same sense of nervousness if I was allowing my own daughter to go off on an errand."
Sayaka's cheeks become a pinkish red, "thanks, that's sweet of you, I guess," she said while rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.
"Just promise me you will be alright."
Sayaka smiled brightly, "I promise."
The moment Sayaka made that promise Anna pulled her into a small hug. It lasted for a brief time before Anna pulled away.
"Good luck out there and remember a barrel of ale is worth two silver stags," Anna said.
Sayaka simply nodded and turned to join Sir Clifford on the cart. She pulled herself onto the spare spot.
"Are you sure you don't have anything else to do before we leave," Sir Clifford said.
Sayaka shook her head, "no let's go."
"Very well then," with that Sir Clifford pulled the reins gently, causing Foot to start trotting forward out the village. When the cart reached some distance away, Sayaka looked back, at River Spit. The humble familiar village that now looked truly small against this big strange world. She turned back her mind focusing on the journey ahead.
The countryside of the Riverlands was a mismatch of open green fields that looked absolutely stunning in the light of the morning sun and patches of thick woodland. The overall picture was very pretty. But what really stood out to Sayaka was the silence, apart from the song of birds in the distance, the occasional howl of light wind, sounds of the cart wheels turning and the odd grunt from Foot the countryside was completely silent.
Granted River Spit was much quieter than Mitakihara but there was still continuous a string of background noise, such as sounds of children playing loudly, the sounds of boats entering and leaving the river, small conversations between people, the sound of a blacksmith hammer hitting and footsteps of folks walking up and down the dirt road.
There was none of that here, which created a sense of isolation that Sayaka never felt before, like the only things that existed were the cart it's and contents, Foot, Sir Clifford and herself. There was something odd relaxing about it.
For a while the blue haired girl and knight sat quietly taking in the scenery, both of them lost in thought. However, the journey would take a whole day and thus some time into the journey one of them would have to break the silence.
"Have you ever been to Erenford Keep before," Sayaka asked trying to create a conversion.
"We'll I have a run few errands before, mostly to buy iron tools. River Spit doesn't have a blacksmith because forages are expensive and no one has the training to use one."
"Is what Anna said about the Erenford Keep merchants true?"
"Well I have only haggled with the smith; he has been pretty straightforward and honest so far, but my experience as a hedge knight has taught me that you're more likely to meet cheap merchant than a fair one."
Somehow that didn't surprise Sayaka, unfortunately. She wouldn't pretend to be an expert on economics, (in fact outside of the basic essentials she wasn't very good at mathematics general,) but she had been to the grocery store a few times with Miss Kaname who knew a lot about the subject. According to her, stores used all kinds of psychological tricks, to get people to buy their stock. Like making everything x.99 instead of whole prices to make the items feel that tiny bit cheaper.
It didn't really matter much in the big picture, especially when compared the many terrible things going on in the world, but Sayaka didn't like those practices because it felt dishonest even if they did work.
Sayaka thoughts on economics came to an abrupt end when she suddenly realised that her conversation with Sir Clifford had come to a sudden halt. She began to wonder whether or not to try to keep it going; she eventually decided to keep it going.
"Why did you become a hedge knight in the first place?" She asked while staring at Sir Clifford's face, which was fixed ponderously on the dirty road ahead as if he was trying to decide whether or not to answer her questions.
"My father was Lord Oswell Brightstone. A few days before he was to be married, he decides to have one last night out with a lowborn woman he had grown fond of, they started drinking, didn't stop and I was the result."
"I don't think his wife was happy about that."
Sir Clifford chuckled, "you have no idea. Anyway I was born a few months after my half-brother Rufus, my father then raised us both and when we reached the age of eight he made us both squares, we trained under both him and Brightstone Keep's master at arms. We both served him right through unlit the end of Robert's rebellion, after which we were both knighted. Not long after I left to begin my career as a hedge knight."
"Why did you leave?" Sayaka asked.
"To be honest, I felt like a waste, Rufus was the heir father wanted, that not say he didn't have any affectations for me, but he and Rufus clicked in a way. I never could, so I choose to go off and make my own way, I could have joined the Night's Watch but being restricted to one frozen location held no appeal. That and the organisation has fallen hard from the band of noble heroes guarding the realms to a band of glorified outcasts, thieves, murderous and other terrible criminals, fighting a bunch pity primitive raids, so I wasn't in a rush to join."
"So you decide to become a hedge knight instead."
"That's correct, a life travelling the land seeing every sight the Seven Kingdoms have to offer, going from place to place of my own will, that was the life for me. So not long after been knighted, I made my case and afterwards, my father gave me some money, a horse, some armour and couple of weapons, then I went off and began my journey."
Sir Clifford smiled fondly at the memory.
"Why did you stop?" Sayaka asked.
Just like that the knight's mood was reduced to ruin, leaving an old tried expression of regret.
Sayaka immediately realised her mistake.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up unpleasant memories."
"I know," Sir Clifford said his voice sour.
The silence returned but it was awkward now, 'great job Miki, once again you to put your foot in your mouth.' Sayaka considered trying to make an apology but ultimately decided against it; it would probably just made Sir Clifford feel worse.
For a while, the duo just sat in the cart. The uncomfortable quiet that felt oddly disconcerting next to the lovely summer day environment. After what felt like forever Sir Clifford speaks, "I…." before he could get a word in he was interrupted by a violent ruffling of a nearby bush. A man tumbled out, his body was a bloodied mess, covered in cuts both deep and small. His left eye was swollen red, surrounded by dark purple rings, his nose twisted and broken. His brown bearded was messy and covered in dirt, like his damaged and tattered leather outfit.-
Because of his sorry state it took some time for Sayaka to recognise. "Lord Glint!" She shouted as she jumped off the cart, followed by Sir Clifford.
The two of rushed towards the injured lord who was struggling with great difficulty to keep himself from collapsing onto the dirt road. Sayaka and Sir Clifford were able to catch him and provide support just in time.
"He….l..." All attempts to form words were drowned out by consistent panting and breathing.
Sir Clifford looked at the wounds, "these are some nasty wounds. We need to get him treat immediately. Help me walk him to the cart the sack Benjamin gave us should have something we could use for bandaging up the wounds."
The two of them slowly guide Lord Glint to the cart at sluggish agonising pace, not helped by Lord Glint's painful breaths for air. However the task was eventually completed and Sir Clifford started pulling bandages out of the supply bag.
"Do you know by any chance how to use these?" The knight asked.
"Yes, I learned how to use bandages during SPR sections." said Sayaka too focused on the current crisis to care about her secret.
"Good, let's start patching him up," Sir Clifford tossed some bangers to Sayaka and bent down to Lord Glint, "Listen this will hurt a bit but we need you stay still, can you do that?" Lord Glint nodded.
While bandages were being added, Sayaka considered using her magic to heal Lord Glint but then a chilling thought interrupted her. As far as she was aware, there weren't any witches in this world, which meant if she used her powers a curse would begin to grow, corrupting her soul gem until she became a witch. After that, no one could stop her. Sayaka as Oktavia von Seckendorff would remain a permanent blight upon the land, an invisible force spreading terror and death like a mix between the boogieman and the plague. Worse still since the familiars of a witch could wander off and devour people unlit they became a copy of the witch that spawned them, the disaster would continue to escalate in size until all life on this world was completely destroyed.
That was one other reason why Sayaka was reluctant to use magic, the second and shamefully the stronger one, was the horrifying idea of having to return to that hell. Only this time without any hope of being granted the relief of death, no she couldn't go back there, she just couldn't!
So Sayaka kept trudging along, slowly and carefully doing what little she could to mend some of the damage that had been inflicted on the knightly Lord.
"That should do, until we get to the keep, where the maester can fix you up properly," Sir Clifford said standing up.
"What's happened to you?" Sayaka asked.
Lord Glint to a deep breath in order to compose himself and get control of his breathing, "On the way to tourney, we set upon by brigands, they caught us completely off guard but worse still whoever they were they weren't ordinary brigands, their armour and weapons were of a high quality and was and there was great number, my men didn't stand a chance they were slaughtered until my son and I were the only ones left."
Sayaka clenched her fist in anger; she had witnessed death before when Mami die horribly but that was at the hands of a witch, at the time she thought about witches in the same vain as wild animals or natural distresses. Now that she knew what it is like to be a witch, blame them for their actions. But this cold blooded murder, that was something else altogether.
"How are you still alive?" Sir Clifford asked.
"They would have killed me, to if hadn't bartered with them, I claimed to know Lord Erenford and that he would give then a large ransom if they let I and Symond, it worked but they kept Symond as a hostage to make sure I kept my word."
"Will you be able to?" Sayaka asked this time.
Lord Glint hung his head low, "the truth is I only met Lord Erenford briefly at one of Lord Frey's feasts, so the only thing I can do is go to Lord Erenford, throw myself on his mercy and hope he is generous enough to provide a ransom."
"Maybe we could rescue Symond," Sayaka suggested.
"No!" Lord Glint rejected strongly, "you would only end up getting yourselves killed."
"But," Sayaka was interrupted by Sir Clifford. "He is right Lord Erenford is the best option we have."
"But every moment we waste, Symond is at greater danger!"
"Sayaka," Sir Clifford said calmly but sternly, "I understand, wanting to help, I would love nothing more than to run down fight my way through the bandits and rescue the boy but the only thing I would accomplish is getting myself killed which wouldn't do anything to help Symond."
"I could help!"
"How would you help, Sayaka even if you could fight we would be outnumbered unless you have a way of tip things in our favour."
Sayaka opened her mouth ready to boldly declare the existences of her magic, then stopped. No magic was too unstable; using it would be an unnecessary risk. So as she much wanted to charge in she chooses to wait. Mind reluctantly made up Sayaka bowed her head in defeat.
Sir Clifford made no comment as he turned towards Lord Glint. "Right then, Lord Glint can you pull yourself into our cart or will you need assistance."
Lord Glint tried to pull himself up but gave up after a few seconds, "it seems I'm going to need your aid."
Both the knight and the girl immediately walked over to the Lord and carefully got to his feet and put him in the back of the cart. Once that was done, the two of got onto the cart and the journey continued.
As the drama came to a temporary halt, the silence of nature returned. But the once tranquil and relaxing atmosphere was replaced by one of uncomfortable dread and tension. It was only slightly broken by very low quiet sobbing.
Sayaka turned her head to Lord Glint whose head was low in shame. "Lord Glint…."
"Those men, trusted me, I was supposed to command in times of crisis instead I got them all killed, my family only owns one small village, I knew all of those men personally, how am I going to explain to their families they won't be coming home?"
Sayaka was about say something along the lines of 'it wasn't your fault,' but then decide against it. After all, if she was in his position, she would be blaming herself and been told that you 'shouldn't blame yourself' would have only made her feel worse. So the best she could do was offer Lord Glint silent company and understanding.
Erenford Keep was quite impressive. it didn't even come close of the grandeur of Winterfell or Casterly Rock but its four tall grey walls stood proudly and boldly against the backdrop of nature. The piece of flourish was the dark pink banner that depicted a golden heron eating a fish, draped over the main gate.
Sayaka would have normally been impressed by such sight but the current crisis and agonising speed at which the cart moved put her in the mood where very little could impress her.
The gate of the keep was wide open and the two guards stationed just outside made no attempts to bar the group, allowing the cart to enter the interior with no difficulty.
The setup inside Erenford Keep was a great deal busier than River Spit. People were hurrying up and down the courtyard as they rushed to do the various task, many were yelling trying to make voice heard over the noise of animals, wood cutting, blacksmith hammering metal in shape and merchants trying to sell their items.
As the cart that was carrying the strange girl with exotic blue hair and the very beaten up man slowly rolled its way inside, people began to naturally stop to take in the bizarre sight some only took a quick look before returning to their business, most kept watching while occasionally whispering among themselves.
The group ignored the onlookers and got down to business. Sir Clifford and Sayaka helped Lord Glint out of the cart and then with their aid he limped forward towards the holdfasts at the centre of the courtyard. It was a fairly large three-floor building made of stone and wood. Its large doors were firmly shut making it clear that its occupants were not interested in being disturbed. That was not a good sign in this case.
A guard wearing leather and chain mail armour, armed with a spear approached them.
"Halt!" he yelled, "State your name and business."
"I'm Sir Thomas Glint, Lord of Salmon Stream. I request an emergent audience with Lord Erenford." Lord Glint said with as much authority he could muster in his beaten up state.
"Wouldn't you want to see the maester?" The guard asked.
Lord Glint shook his head, "the maester can wait. I need to see your lord now!"
The guard made no further comment and immediately rushed into the holdfast. Some time later he returned, "Lord Erenford has agreed to see you, you may enter."
He then pushes the holdfast's doors open which allowed the group to step inside.
The interior was a was a graceful mix of homely and authority. The wooden and stone walls looked as strong as the four walls outside; a large brown carpet was draped across the floor which ended at the small flight of stairs that lead to a finely crafted wooden chair complete with cushions.
Sitting on the chair was a man. He was starting to show signs of ageing; his face had more than a few wrinkles and his dark brown hair was already well on the way to becoming completely grey. His main article of clothing was by far the smartest and most expensive looking Sayaka had seen from this world so far, a dark blue doublet fitting for a member of the nobility. Another noticeable thing about the man was his posture body language, in contrast to Lord Glint's who most the time came off as warm and humble, this guy was clearly someone who had a strong degree of pride and demand for respect; not the kind of person who would be willing to exchange small talk with random inn workers.
Off to the left of him was an even old man. He was one completely bald with blue eyes and a very long neck which hinted that his body was very skinny underneath the large brown clock. Strangely around his neck, a was losses multi-colored chain, a result of each link been made up of a different metal, including, gold, iron, steel, silver, lead, black iron and copper.
Off to the right was a much younger fellow with black hair, who was wearing a padded chain mail vest.
"I'm Benjicot, Lord of Erenford Keep, who are you? And what is this emergency you spoke of." The man in the chair spoke with a natural voice that displayed very little emotion.
Lord Glint took one difficult step forward, "My name is Lord Thomas Glint, and I'm not sure if you remember me but we met during the feast Lord Fry held to celebrate his marriage to your daughter."
Lord Erenford scratched his chin, "Yes I do remember you: we both commented on the questionable quality of the soap. So what is your emergency?"
"My son and I were heading towards to Lord Bracken's tourney with a small party of bannermen when we were ambushed by a band of twenty-five heavily armed brigading; all of my men were killed and after that, they took all of my possessions. They were about to kill my son but I was able to convince them that you would be willing to pay them twenty-five gold dragons in return for his safety, after that I struggled my way here until these two," Lord Glint pointed to Sayaka and Sir Clifford, "Picked me up and transported me the rest of the way."
"So in, other words your son's life is my hands, I suppose I could pay the ransom but I need to know where the exchange would take place."
"I can show if you bring me a map."
Lord Erenford turned to the man wearing the chain, "Maester Jonos, get us map immediately."
"Of course my Lord," Maester Jonos said while bowing his head, he then walked over to the nearby cupboard and pulled out a very large roll of parchment, then walked up to Lord Glint and unrolled it showing that a detailed map of the Riverlands. Lord Glint then pointed to a spot just outside a piece of woodland.
"This is where the exchange is supposed to take place."
Lord Erenford stared at the map for a brief moment, and then he stood up from his chair. "I have decided that I will pay the ransom," he announced.
"Thank you Lord Erenford," Lord Glint said. Sayaka suddenly noticed something was off about the way Lord Glint spoke those last words; something familiar but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Lord Erenford turned to the man in chainmail, "Sir Forest I need to assumable some men, we are going to need some blades on hand if this is going to go smoothly."
"I will see to it right away, my lord," Sir Forest said as Sir Clifford stepped forward.
"My lord," he said, "my name is Sir Clifford. I would like to volunteer my services until the end of the crisis.
Lord Erenford considered it for a moment, "very well, having an extra sword wouldn't hurt. Go to the blacksmith, he normally has spare arms lying around."
Sir Clifford nodded and head out to get his some new weapons.
Lord Erenford turned to Maester Jonos, "Maester Jonos, our guest is injured and has waited long enough to be healed."
"I don't need to be…."
"I think you should take the offer Lord Glint," Sayaka said. Lord Glint looked like he was about to protest but then he abruptly stops.
Maester Jonos approached Lord Glint, "come with me to my study, I will have you back one piece in no time. Young lady, I think you should come with me. I find it easier to perform healing if have I have someone to perform more mundane tasks. "
With that Sayaka and Maester Jonos helped Lord Glint walk into the study next door.
"My Lord," Sir Forest said hesitantly, "sorry if I am speaking out of turn, but do think it is wise to submit to the demands of these criminals?"
Lord Erenford shook his head, "of course not, the moment boy's safety is secured I will slaughter those don't surround and hang those that do as a warning to those that dare break the law on my land, does that trouble Sir Forest?"
Sir Forest smiled, "of course not, my Lord.
Maester Jonos' study was very similar to Septon Road's bedroom with the exception of a few details. Firstly, it was a little bit bigger and comfier looking than Septon Road's room; it was much brighter because it was wasn't underground, where the sun couldn't reach it, and most importantly, there were a lot more books, enough to least fill every book shelve.
In the centre was a small, round, wooden table, surrounding the table were three chairs. Sitting at on one of those was Sayaka who was holding onto Lord Glint, in order to keep him still so Maester Jonos could stitch up Lord Glint's wounds. It was what Sayaka could only describe as a very icky process involving wounds been pulled open more so Maester Jonos could take a look at them. He would sometimes pull maggots out from a small box table and (much to Sayaka's cringing) place them inside the wound so they would to eat at all the infected flesh. Sayaka understood why it was necessary but did Maester Jonos really have to keep referring to them as cute little things.
Lord Glint was taking all of it the best he could; only occasionally in pain, though it was obvious he was struggling since he would grit his teeth with every stitch.
"You were lucky Sir Clifford and Sayaka found you when they did," Maester Jonos said as he finished the final stitch, "That should do. As long as you keep resting and do not put any unnecessary strain on your body, you will recovery with only a few scars. Now get some rest. You can use the guest room."
Sayaka had started helping Lord Glint out of his chair when Maester Jonos rang a little bell. A tall woman with light brown hair wearing simple servant garb walked into the room, "Sherry would you be so kind as to help the girl bring Lord Glint to the guest room while I lead the way."
Sherry nodded, "of course, Maester Jonos." Sherry then took Maester Jonos place and Lord Glint was then taken down the hall into the guest room.
It was a simple room with a large bed in the middle; any other features were meaningless to Lord Glint who simply pulled himself into the bed and closed his eyes trying to sleep.
Maester Jonos, Sayaka, and Sherry all left the room to give him peace.
"Sherry, thank you for your assistance, you may leave."
Sherry nodded and walked away, leaving only the Maester and the blue haired in the hallway.
"So he is going to be ok, right?" Sayaka asked.
Maester Jonos rolled his eyes, "as I explained before, all that Lord Glint has to do is rest and he will heal."
Sayaka suddenly felt rather offended, by Maester Jonos attached but chooses not to comment on it.
"So why do you wear that chain?"
"Oh this thing," Maester Jonos held up the chain proudly, "this is my Maester's chain. It took my many years of study to earn."
"What is a Maester chain?"
Maester Jonos raised an eyebrow, "you don't know? I guess I should not have been surprised given your odd appearance."
Sayaka chooses not comment on the tone or the words Maester Jonos used.
"Well you see, each link in this chain represents a different mastery of a certain skill," He held up the iron chain, "for example this link is earned by mastering the study of warcraft. Once a Maester has earned enough links, he renounces his family name and all rights to inherit, and then he is assigned by the citadel to a castle, where it is his task to provide counsel and advice to its Lord, even if control of the castle changes hands, for a Maester's loyalty is to the realm as a whole. "
"So what happens if the castle ends up in the hands of a Lord which are worse than the one before?"
"That is one of greatest questions a Maester can face. Do you remain loyal to those that you have served for years in spite of your vows or stick to your vow even at the detriment to realm? Personally, I would choose the latter."
Maester Jonos' philosophical lectures were suddenly interrupted by the creaking of a wooden door being pushed open. Sir Clifford stepped through it wearing a shiny new set of chainmail armor.
"Sorry for interrupting, Maester Jonos but I must speak with Sayaka."
"No need Sir Knight, I have other duties I need to attend to. And just one more thing, if you wish to check on Lord Glint's condition, I will give the guards instructions to let you into holdfast."
Maester Jonos walked down the hall and disappeared behind a corner.
Sir Clifford turned to Sayaka, "Lord Erenford is now ready to head out and just keen to give you this." The knight gave Sayaka a bag of coins. "This is the money Benjamin gave us for the trip, I need you get us a room at the inn."
"How could you be thinking about…?"
"There isn't anything else for you to do!" Sir Clifford grabbed Sayaka by the arm and stared her in the eye. "Lord Glint has been treated to and the boy's life is in Lord Erenford's hands, but we made a promise to Benjamin to get this job done and it would be wrong for us to ignore it."
Sayaka gave him an unconvinced look.
"I promise, I will see to it that Symond is safe. Just try to focus on what you can do."
The girl sighed and finally relented, "alright, I will trust you, Sir Clifford."
Not long after Sir Clifford left with Lord Erenford's men. Sayaka got a room at the castles inn, which was twice the size of the one in River Spit. It wasn't too hard to get a room. After getting some disbelieving looks from the innkeeper, Sayaka showed her the money and the innkeeper accepted without any additional comment. The room was nothing special too; just two small beds in a room that were barely big enough to fit them both in.
Afterwards Sayaka went looking for the ale merchant. It was pretty easy to find thanks to large sigh with the ale barrel on it. The set up for the stall was as simple as they got, wooden counters where money could be looked at and exchanged. Behind it stood a fairly short fat man wearing white clothing, whom was looking around in bored fashion, behind him were multiple large barrels of ale. Off to the left, two boys around Sayaka's age were chatting with each other.
"Excuse me," she said as she approached the man at the counter.
Instantly the man stopped gazing around, focusing his attention on Sayaka, he was now visibly annoyed.
"What you want, girl?" he said with an aggressive tone, "I don't have time to deal with little snorts so unless you're buy something which I highly doubt, get lost."
Sayaka resisted the urge to call jackass out and forced herself to get right to business. "I work for Anna and Benjamin Smith the innkeepers from River Spit. They sent me to buy ale for them."
To prove what she was saying was true, Sayaka opened the bag to show the silver and copper coins inside.
The man smiled with greed in his eyes as body language he allowed his to become more relaxed. "How can I help you miss?"
Sayaka took two silver coins out of her bag and placed them on the counter. The man picked up a coin with his fat figures and started staring very intensely at the edge of both them, after that, he bit both coins.
"They seem to be genuine but I'm afraid this isn't enough."
"What? But I was told two silver stags was enough?"
The ale merchant smiled, "normally that would be true but you see this ale is something special; a bit more expensive."
Sayaka was less than convinced, "why can't I just buy the regular stuff? And no, don't care if it 'tastes' better."
The ale merchant shrugged, "Sorry, all out of the regular stuff, now are you going to pay up or what, either way, it's an extra fiftieth copper starts."
Fiftieth copper stars! That's what all the emergency money Anna had set aside, which was probably why the man was charging that exact amount. But she had no way of proving.
"Hey there!" Sayaka and the ale merchant turned towards the direction of the shouting. A tall man with a short slim bread and blond hair with a long sword by his side approached the stall.
"Sorry to interrupted, but I couldn't but overhear that you were selling a fancy set of new ale, you see I have only been able to drink the same kind of cheap ale from the nearby inns and I have grown tired of the taste."
The ale merchant rolled his eyes, "what's your point?"
"I was just wondering if I could sample, a sip of your tasty ale," the man with the long sword smiled.
"Only paying customers to get a sample."
The man with the long sword shrugged, "ok then, but don't you think it would be a good idea to have someone test your new ale, so they can verify that your ale is actually different and you're not making up a story to trick young maidens out of their money."
The ale merchant groaned, rubbed his forehead, "you know what, I can't be bothered with this shit," he grabbed the two silver coins off the contour, "just tell me where your cart is then we can get out of each other's hair."
Sayaka pointed to the cart that she and Sir Clifford had arrived in that morning.
"Paul, Greg!" The ale merchant yelled at the two boys who had been standing around and talking behind the counter. When his yelling reached their ears they flinched. The ale merchant didn't care.
The boys not wanting to have to endure their employer's wrath immediately picked up the barrel and pulled it onto the cart.]
"You have your bloody ale now so are going to leave?"
As much Sayaka would love to rip into the jackass, she had more important things to do, so with her business settled she started turning away. She stopped and turned to the man with the long sword, "Thank you."
The man smiled and shook his head, "don't thank me, to be honest only helped you to annoy the fat ass."
"Why?"
"I was recently ripped off by some a merchant and just felt like getting some revenge by proxy ."
Sayaka raised a cornered, "who are you."
"Philip," he answered, "and you are young miss?"
"Sayaka Miki," she said.
"Sayaka- Miki," Philip repeated her name, emphasising each part as if to savour them. "Well it was nice to meet you, Sayaka Miki," Philip then abruptly turned around and wandered off into the hustle and bustle of the crowd.
The sun had begun to set by the time Sayaka returned to the holdfast to check on Lord Glint. The high stone wall's particulate glowed against the red and orange horizon. Though they still paled in comprise to the glorious sight of the glass architectural of Mitakihara.
When Sayaka asked to be let in, the guards did as Maester Jonos instructed and let her in without issue. When she reached Lord Glint's room, Maester Jonos was outside having just left it.
"Miss Miki," he greeted politely, "I assume you're here to visit Lord Glint. You can go right in. He is wide awake."
Sayaka nodded, "how is he?"
"Physically he is the same as before but mentally he seems to be very on edge, not surprising given that his son is still being held by brigands, hopeful your presence might reassure him a bit."
Sayaka opened the door and entered the room. Lord Glint was sitting up in bed, his head low.
"Lord Glint, I came to check on you."
"I'm…" The Lord stopped and exhaled, "I can't take this anymore, Sayaka I need to confess something."
A wave of unease washed over Sayaka, "what is it," She asked reluctantly.
"I didn't tell you the whole story, I did make a deal with the brigands but what I offered wasn't gold but Lord Erenford." The unease was shattered by unpleasant shock. "In the exchange for sparing my son, I promised to lure Lord Erenford into a trap."
Sayaka rushed out of the room, "Maester Jonos!!"
The Maester turned around, "What is wrong Miss Miki?"
"Lord Glint, he just claimed that Lord Erenford is heading into a trap!"
Maester Jonos expression became stone cold, "guards!!" he commanded while marching towards Lord Glint room, several men rushing to his side.
When he got there Lord Glint was still sitting in his bed, head still low. "Lord Glint," Maester Jonos spoke calmly while giving him an icy cold look, "explain you."
Lord Glint raised, his head so that his eyes meet Maester Jonos, "After my party was slaughtered, the brigands demanded that I play a role in their scheme, they have twice the number of men more than what I calmed before, they will catch Lord Erenford off guard while the other half distracts him."
Maester Jonos turned to the guards, "get as many men as you can, I don't care who they are, then move as swiftly as you can. Hopeful we might be able to just about prevent a disaster." He then pointed to specific guard, "I need you to guard Lord Glint. Make sure the door remains locked and no one gets in unless I grant permission, as for Miss Miki…." Maester Jonos turned around only to find that the girl with blue hair was no longer there.
"Where did she go?" A guard asked.
"Never mind her, focuses on takes at hand!" Maester Jonos said letting all thoughts about Sayaka slip from his mind.
Sayaka leant against the one of the walls of Erenford Keep, her mind overrun with panic. Had the ambush already happened, was everyone already dead, if so how was she going to…? 'Breath Miki, breath.
Sayaka calmed herself down and then began staring at her soul gem. It would take awhile for anyone from Erenford Keep to reach their lord in time. There wasn't a horse or man that was quick enough but, if Sayaka ran full force with magic accelerating her the whole time, she might just make it in time.
But if she did that she might turn…! No, she wouldn't hide behind self-severing cowardice when people's lives were at stake! If she was about to turn into a witch, then Sayaka would just have to take her own life.
Casting all doubt aside, Sayaka focused her will to make the magic flow. For the first time in ages, the ring on Sayaka's finger transformed into blue light before reforming itself into a golden and blue egg-shaped gem, which floated just above her hand. Sayaka grabbed it, there was a flash of light which ripped away the simple beating up peasant clothing and its place was something far more spectacular.
A leather-like corset with the lower half that was coloured white and blue, below the corsets, was a short blue combat skirt, below that her legs were protected by leather-like white stockings. The worn shoes had given way to dark blue shoes with small heels. Her arms were warped in blue like fabric material which started three-quarters of the way up before end at her hands, which were concealed behind white gloves. Bringing it all together was a flowing snow white heroic collar cape and golden hair clips shaped like music notes.
Sayaka gave a brief moment to take in the nostalgic sight of her magical girl outfit. She thought of something, it probably wasn't a good idea to be going doing all this weird magic stuff without some sort of disguise. So with just a thought Sayaka made a slight alteration to her cape design, by adding a hood. She pulled it over her face and jumped with inhuman might over the walls of Erenford Keep
Meanwhile unknown to Sayaka Miki, Philip had been watching her from around the corner, smiling playfully.
