"Sorry, I didn't think you were here anymore," Embris said, turning her head to see Feon waiting in the shadows of the room, her voice the only think that had told Embris she was in fact there and not just a trick of the shadows.
"It's okay," Feon replied, moving into the moonlight as Amelia left the small building. "I remember how I was when I had the spotted plague."
Embris couldn't help but smile, feeling as if the spotted plague was becoming one of those illnesses that they could share stories about rather than fearing the onset of the plague because it meant almost certain death for whoever caught it.
She couldn't help but wonder if the spotted plague would come to be a disease that came around occasionally but didn't hold the fear it once did because of the treatment for it had become so widely known.
"So, you mentioned this 'Jenn' and said about how you were good friends," Feon continued after a minute of silence between them. Which made Embris wonder if Feon had spoken because she hadn't said anything at that time. Which she wouldn't mind if that was the case since she couldn't think of anything to say, even though she felt like she should.
"Yeah, what about her?" Embris asked, unsure about what Feon wanted to know.
"I miss her," Nymis chimed in. "I wish she still lived with us instead of that big building."
"Where is she? And 'big building'?" Feon echoed, a separate question in her eyes.
Embris sighed. She didn't see a way of getting out of this one. Which meant that she needed to say something at least. If only to satisfy Feon's curiosity.
"Well, she's actually on an assignment to go to the Duchess Versith because she asked to speak with her. While the duchess didn't say what it was about, Jenn has spoken with her before and been able to handle that discussion rather well. So, I'm not concerned about what she might be doing down there. And the 'big building' that Nymis mentioned is the central building. Where the Blue Rose's stand-ins sleep."
Embris didn't like the way that Feon's eyes grew big at the revelation of what Nymis had meant by the 'big building'. She couldn't say if it was important or not, but she was confident that she was likely to get more questions about that later. Potentially at a time when she wasn't interested in answering any as well. Or at least if they weren't asked at this time, which she had a feeling they weren't going to be. Not with the way Feon looked. As sometimes it took her a while to think of the questions rather than being able to ask them when Embris would prefer her to say them.
However, that would likely be a problem for whenever Feon had thought up what those questions were. "Well, if you're done asking me things, I think I'd like to try and get some sleep," Embris said, looking for a way out of this conversation.
While she loved her sister, she would rather not deal with her when she was like this. Mostly because of how much energy she seemed to pull out of Embris. Besides, she was starting to feel rather tired. Yet, at the same time, she couldn't help but hope that her sister had another question. Something to keep the dialogue going, even if she would rather it end right then.
Why there was that contradiction inside her, she couldn't say. Just that it was there.
"Oh, have you found anyone you like while you were here?" Feon asked, a hint of mischief entering her eyes.
Embris couldn't help but chuckle. "Nope. None that I've seen here. The closest would be someone I'd seen at our village, but that's not likely to go anywhere," Embris said, her thoughts drifting a little as her fatigue started to make itself known to her.
"Wait, you did see someone here, but someone who you also had seen at our village?" Feon asked, looking like she was eager to learn more about the finer details of what Embris had said.
Yet, Embris wasn't sure what Feon was getting at. All she could think of was how her thoughts were getting sluggish and hard to form. "Really? I said that?" Embris said, her words starting to slur as her eyes started to close of their own accord.
"Yes, you did!" Feon replied, sounding almost frantic as Embris started to fall asleep despite her best efforts to stay awake.
Though, whether or not she said anything in response to Feon's assertion, she couldn't say she remembered. All she knew was that a blissful darkness descended on her and she slept peacefully at that point.
_
When Jenn woke up, she found herself face to face with Saelea, close enough that Jenn could kiss her if she leaned forward just a little. Though, as if that wasn't bad enough, she could feel her arms and wrapped themselves around her stand-in just as Saelea was still holding her as well.
While she knew she couldn't be blamed for any movements she made while she was asleep, she couldn't help but feel immensely relieved that she was wearing some clothing right then. With how her body was reacting to the position she found herself in at that moment, she didn't want to know what would have happened if both of them were naked.
Even the thought of that was enough to get Jenn's heart hammering as she carefully extracted herself from Saelea's tight embrace. Part of Jenn couldn't help but long for what 'might have been' but she knew it was likely better to remain a mystery simply because of what she suspected might have been included in that 'might have been'. As she was still determined to remain faithful to Alex, even if it was something that Alex would have never known about.
Yet, despite Jenn reminding herself about Alex, she couldn't help but find herself noticing how Saelea's nipples were visible through her tunic, Saelea's body likely having had a similar reaction to Jenn's while they slept.
Although, Jenn found it a little flattering to know she had that effect on Saelea, she also felt a little guilty about it. As if that was an act of cheating as well. Even though Jenn knew it wasn't rational or logical, she couldn't help but feel like being in the same room as Saelea was an act of cheating right then.
As she freed herself from Saelea, Jenn moved away, changing into fresh clothing while Saelea slept soundly. Looking out the window, Jenn could see that the sky was starting to lighten with the approaching dawn, meaning that she'd probably have to wake Saelea up soon, if only because she would need to get ready to go and give the list of names to the duchess soon while Jenn went out to look for a gift to give her stand-ins. Something she already had in mind, but needed first to get the order in, just in case whichever smith she went to needed time to prepare the items.
After Jenn had changed, she moved back to the bed and gently shook Saelea awake. "Time to get up."
Saelea didn't seem like she wanted to get up as Jenn shook her, turning over, as if trying to dislodge Jenn's hold on her.
"Saelea, you need to wake up," Jenn said, more firmly this time.
"Ma, just a little longer. The cows can wait a little longer."
Jenn wasn't sure if her statement was from a dream she was having or if it hinted at the kind of past she had, but Jenn found herself hating how she was pulling her out of it. She wished she could leave her stand-in in such a carefree world, but even if it was part of her past, Jenn still needed her to wake up and do what she had agreed on during the meeting with the duchess.
"There aren't any cows, Saelea," Jenn said, trying to coax her into getting up on her own. "You have duties you need to fulfill."
"Can't Mealinis do it? You know she likes the cows more than I do." Saelea mumbled as she sat up, nearly catching Jenn off guard.
Jenn wasn't sure who 'Mealinis' was but she had a feeling she shouldn't ask. That if she did, she might open a door that would be better off left closed. Something that she wouldn't be able to take back if she did.
"You have to meet with the duchess," Jenn tried reminding her instead. "Only you can do that this morning."
Jenn wasn't sure if Saelea was waking up or if it was the words she used that caused Saelea to look at Jenn, her eyes unfocused.
"What duchess?" Saelea asked, sounding like she wanted to know, which if she was lost in a dream or memory of her past, she could understand why she'd be like that. With how happy Saelea seemed in her complaints and protests, Jenn wasn't sure she'd like to get pulled out of that kind of world. Even if it was necessary.
"You know who it is," Jenn said, pulling Saelea up to her feet, trying not to think of how close their bodies were pressed together. "You met her last night."
Jenn wasn't sure if she tried to get Saelea up too fast or if it was something else, but at that moment Saelea seemed to slip and fall, pulling Jenn with her, despite Jenn's best efforts. Then when they landed, Jenn found her lips pressed against Saelea's with one of Saelea's hands on her breast.
Saelea's eyes widened, now fully alert, as Jenn tried to process the situation. Though, for Jenn, the worst part was that she couldn't help but enjoy the sensation. Especially with the slight squeeze she felt Saelea give her breast before her hand released its hold.
"I'm sorry, my lady!" Saelea said quickly, pulling away from Jenn.
"Don't worry about it," Jenn said, trying to calm her heart down. "It was an accident. Neither of us intended for that to happen."
The relieved expression replacing Saelea's alarmed expression made Jenn wonder if maybe Saelea would have wanted to have that sort of relationship with her or Jenn's attraction to Saelea was one sided.
"I'm still sorry, my lady. I should have gotten up when you were trying to wake me up."
Jenn sighed. She had a feeling that this exchange could go on for a while. Even though there was the meeting Saelea knew that she had to deal with in regards to the duchess, Jenn wasn't sure she could get this to get resolved before she'd be late for that meeting. Especially with how set on apologizing for that accident, something Jenn wished she could just move on from and forget as quickly as possible.
"Look, we're probably not going to agree on this issue, so let's deal with it later, okay?" Jenn said, hoping that Saelea would forget about this herself and she wouldn't actually have to talk about it later.
"I-I understand, my lady," Saelea said, sounding a little relieved, even as she looked a little conflicted. "I'll wait for you to decide what should happen to me for doing that to you."
Jenn wasn't sure she liked the sound of that statement. She worried that it would mean this conversation was going to come back at some point, whether she wanted it to or not. Yet, at the same time, she didn't have the luxury of getting this fully resolved right then.
"I'll wait for you to bring it up, okay?" Jenn said, hoping that by leaving it in Saelea's corner that she wouldn't actually have to deal with it. "But only if we're alone. I'm sure you don't want whispers to start going around, right?"
"Of course, my lady."
"Then you should get dressed and we can get on with what both of us need to do for the day."
"Did you have something you still needed to accomplish, my lady?" Saelea asked, looking confused.
"Of course," Jenn answered calmly. "It's not as important as dealing with the duchess, but its something I need to accomplish anyway."
"Of course, my lady."
Jenn had a feeling that it might be only possible for Saelea going back to using Jenn's name rather than 'my lady' if the situation that they just postponed dealing with got fully resolved. Which Jenn hoped wouldn't be the case. That when Saelea was done with the duchess, that even if she hadn't forgotten about the whole issue like Jenn hoped would happen, that she'd at least be less formal around Jenn. Especially when it was still possible to be overheard through the thin walls of this inn.
Jenn watched Saelea only long enough to be sure that she was indeed getting ready to change her clothes before heading out of the room, wanting to see what there was to eat. As she couldn't recall if they even had something to eat before they went to bed, though it was certain that the duchess hadn't provided them anything herself.
Pushing out the lingering thoughts of the situation just now, such as the feeling of Saelea's lips against hers and her hand on Jenn's breast, Jenn focused on what she needed to do now. Such as once Saelea was done, she would need to find a smith who was available to work on three daggers, each of the same length and weight. Though, while she wouldn't mind if they were in some way different, so as to let her stand-ins know whose was whose, she knew that wasn't an important point.
Besides, she had a feeling that Resadra and Oleania would be more than willing to share their daggers with each other, and not in a 'stabby' kind of way.
"When she arrived at the common room, Jenn was a little surprised to find that everyone else who had accompanied them to Pleonths were all asleep. There didn't even seem to be anyone on guard, just in case someone from among the other patrons in the common room tried something.
While it was a low probability, given everyone else was asleep themselves, Jenn wished that her people would be at least a little more vigilant than they were being right now. So, Jenn decided to wake up Saelea's bodyguard, Jeliup. After all, getting her woken up first meant that once Saelea came downstairs and had something to eat, that they'd both be ready to head out to the duchess' castle and give a list of names of everyone that Saelea knew were among Jenn's people.
While Jenn wished that the duchess had forgotten about that as much as Jenn had, she couldn't deny that she probably should have gotten around to getting it taken care of when she first had been told that rather than not taking as seriously as she probably had then.
Besides, she still didn't see what the whole point of it was. After all, she was only getting the names of her people. Not what they were capable of or anything else about them. After all, when the duchess looked at Jenn, she suspected that the duchess saw only a teenage girl rather than everything that she was capable of doing. With a sword, with her knowledge, or even with her magic.
While she doubted that the duchess had cause to think of her being able to use magic, Jenn knew that it wasn't an uncommon ability on this world. It was just not widely practiced because of how much training went into it and that training tended to be controlled by those who had already mastered their magic and those people tended to be a little picky of who they shared their knowledge with. Something Jenn supposed was common on this world, no matter how much she disagreed with that notion.
"Not again," Jeliup groaned as Jenn shook her awake. "It's not my shift today."
Jenn rolled her eyes as she continued shaking Jeliup. Since she'd agreed to be Saelea's bodyguard, that meant it was her shift everyday that Saelea was out like this. Something that Jenn was pretty sure Jeliup was aware of, even if she didn't like it right then.
"You need to accompany Saelea when she meets with the duchess," Jenn gently reminded Jeliup.
"Get Embris to cover for me. I need a personal day," Jeliup said as she sat up, which made Jenn feel she could stop shaking her. "Huh? Where are we? This isn't where I went to sleep last night."
Jenn sighed, she wondered if maybe she'd either pushed her people too hard getting here or if it was Shirley and Rick's fight that had made her people more tired than they usually were. Which could possibly explain why they didn't keep anyone on watch, seeing as how they were all probably worn out themselves. Which Jenn supposed she should talk with Yaelish about later on. As she doubted that Yaelish would be very happy about this when she realized it herself, after she woke up.
"We're in Pleonths," Jenn explained to Jeliup, trying to be as patient as she could when she'd rather throw water on everyone instead and let them complain to her about such a rude wake-up call.
If nothing else, she suspected that it'd make her feel a little better.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that."
"It happens," Jenn said, allowing for that much with the hour being this early in the day. "Though, Saelea will be down soon, so once both of you get something to eat, you'll need to head to the duchess' castle to get what she need to do there taken care of."
Jenn wondered if maybe she herself was more tired than she realized as she felt a wave of fatigue as she spoke, making her wonder if everything she said was understood or if she'd been a little hard to understand. While she didn't want to ask that, she couldn't help but wish Jeliup would say something to let her know if she had been intelligible with her speech.
"You're right," Jeliup said, sounding more alert now. "I should get us something to eat." Jeliup then stood up and started to walk away, but then stopped after three steps. At that point, she turned back to Jenn and asked, "Would you like me to get you something as well?"
"Yeah, I'd like that. If you would, that is," Jenn said, doing her best to be as polite as she could, even as her thoughts were moving in and out of focus as her body complained about being up so early and that she should go back to sleep for a while longer.