It was past midnight when the scouting group arrived the city of Alabast, so everyone was tired. Yet, being tired didn't stop Iris from being absolutely awestruck at its structure. It was like nothing she'd ever seen before. Buildings of stone and mortar rose from the ground instead of the wooden ones that she was used to seeing.
"I take it you've never been to Alabast," the general said, not looking at her. This made her snap out of her stupor.
"Never. I've never seen the like of it, either. In fact, I haven't seen any other city besides Eda and Morthrior, and both of them aren't what most would consider to be a city," she answered gruffly.
"It's quite the sight to see, then," he remarked, "Much grander than the outlying villages, if I do say so myself. Then again, it all depends on what you prefer. Here, one cannot wish to live a truly quiet life."
"I see." She continued to admire the view.
"What do you prefer?"
At his question, she furrowed her brow and turned to him.
"Hmm?"
"Do you think you would prefer to live here rather than Eda? Or are you fond of the quiet lifestyle?" he asked, referring to his previous statement. As Iris looked around, she found that she didn't know. While life in Eda was wonderful... well, for the most part, Alabast looked absolutely amazing. And strong. However, Iris had only been in Alabast for less than an hour, so she couldn't exactly draw a true opinion of it yet.
"I'm not sure yet. I'd have to see more. But living out where no one can bother you can be quite peaceful. Especially when one wants to be alone... and alone time was a thing that I sought quite often before I came here," she commented smoothly, not aware her words would draw so many questions.
"Why?" asked Shen. Iris turned to meet a pair of curious golden eyes, and then back around. She wasn't aware he'd been listening.
"Why?" Iris reiterated his question, "I guess because I was sort of an outcast. No one, mind for my father and aunt, really liked me. In fact, the opposite was probably true most of the time." Her words were vague, but they were truthful. Iris couldn't take more lying than she already had to do.
"Why not?"
"Perhaps I'm not a people person," Iris chuckled, "And perhaps they looked down on someone like me, too."
"Someone like you?" This question came from General Zayn, who now gave her a look of confusion as he led them to the inn. She sighed, sitting even straighter on her horse. To his question, she wasn't sure what to say. After a minute, however, she did manage to say something.
"Yes. That is what I said," she replied, "And what I mean by it... is that in my town, I'm considered a bit of a disgrace. Can't lose a betrothed any other way, can you? I suppose it was for the best though." Her words were harsh, but her tone was good-natured. In truth, she no longer cared about what had happened with Shad. Sure, it made her look bad... but what of what she was doing now? Surely lying to the Eldian army was a bit more disgraceful than losing a betrothed. Well, only if she got caught, that is.
"You were to be married?" asked Zayn.
"Aye. For a good year or so," Iris said honestly, and then added, "Can't say she was a very faithful lass. Left me for another, she did."
If anything was strange about the sentence, it was referring to Shad as a 'lass'. Yet, it had to be done to keep her identity safe.
"Like I said," she added, "Probably for the best that it didn't work out."
"That's terrible," remarked Shen from behind her, "What an awful woman."
Zayn was quiet.
"Ha!" Iris laughed brusquely, "No doubt she'd come running back if she saw me now. I daresay I've gotten stronger since the last time that I saw her. I was naught but a caretaker when I lived in Eda. Now that I've learned to be a soldier, things would probably be different with her." In part, what she said was true. She could only guess what Shad would do if he saw her now, given that he didn't turn her in first, but she figured that he would respect her a little more than he surely used to. Maybe he'd have thought twice before visiting the brothel whores and then thrice about leaving her for Emery.
"Do you still love her?" Zayn asked, with a look on his face that Iris could not comprehend. This made her laugh again.
"Of course not. Let the other man have her," she jested, "I wonder if she'll do the same thing to him."
Before any other words could be spoken, the group arrived at the inn. Ra, Jehrth, Shen, and Dregar all seemed to hurry inside, leaving Kayde, Iris, and the general standing outside. Iris couldn't blame them for wanting to rest. As the three of them grabbed their belongings off their horses, Kayde spoke.
"It really is terrible that that happened to you. Are you going to do anything about it when you return? I can't imagine how someone could to do that to you."
"What is there to do? What's done is done. Best to just move on," she answered matter-of-factly, "You can't see what's ahead of you if you keep turning your head to the past, after all." This made Kayde smile at her.
"Wise words," he commented.
"No doubt," the general chimed in, giving a small grunt as he pulled his main pack off his mare.
"I'm bound to have some every once in a while." She grabbed her main satchel with a grunt of her own, and then gave the both of them a small smile, "How about these for wise words? Let us get some sleep. I'm damn tired." At this, Kayde shook his head in amusement. Yet, he agreed with her a moment later.
"Yes. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Hopefully we can get the Token soldier to talk," Zayn said with a stony face.
"Do you doubt that we will?" Kayde asked.
"I don't know what to expect," Zayn said as he opened the door to the motel, "Hopefully something worthwhile."
"Aye," Iris agreed.
As they walked in the inn, they were immediately greeted by the innkeeper. He walked up to them with a smile that seemingly stretched from one side of his face to the other. Iris knew one thing as she stared at him... she knew that he was far happier than she would ever be after midnight.
"Welcome!" he continued to grin at them, "What can I do for you?"
It has to be delirium. Has to be. Iris concluded to herself. She then looked to Zayn, who looked extremely puzzled at the man's cheerfulness. No one spoke for a few minutes... not until the very air grew pregnant with the sound of their silence. Iris finally cleared her throat to clear the tension.
"We'd like rooms. Three of them," her words were short, and the very giddy man suddenly looked very awkward. But still giddy all the same. He sighed and clutched his hands together at his abdomen and then spoke.
"Sadly, I am pretty booked for the night. Though I do have a room. Has four beds. Will that suit you well enough?" he asked, and then continued to apologize for the inconvenience. Iris could really care less. It had to be better than sleeping in a bedroll in the woods, after all. A mattress itself was a welcome luxury.
"Of course. So long as they don't mind." At those words, she gestured to Zayn and Kayde. Kayde nodded in agreement immediately, but Zayn opened his mouth to speak. Yet, they never came out. Iris and Kayde watched as he choked on his words for a moment or two. Finally, he just nodded too.
"Good, good," the innkeeper said with a happy smile, "This way, now. You can pay after your stay."
As he led them up to their room, Iris just looked at the general. He seemed to be mulling something over in his head, because he was murmuring to himself. Not to mention the fact that he was staring straight at the ground. Iris wanted to ask what he was thinking about, but decided it was best to not pry. Instead, she jested at him.
"Very charismatic for a war general, you are."
His eyes snapped to her.
"What's got you in such a mood? I've never seen you jape and talk as much as you have since we've arrived here," he said, not unkindly. Iris wanted to smile at this -she about did- but chewed on her cheeks to keep it from happening. She knew he was right.
Perhaps I'm delirious too.
"I can be quiet, if you'd prefer it. It seems as if the lack of sleep has addled my brain a tad," she paused.
"Talk as much as you wish," he said, waving off his last words. Perhaps that had sounded rude. It wasn't that he wanted her to not talk. He simply just wasn't used to her bantering on as she had tonight. There was a lot of things that he wasn't used to. He wasn't sure how many times today he'd had to remind himself that Ingred, well... Iris, was a woman.
He knew he had to be careful now, knowing what he did. He had known that from the moment he had decided not to kill her. Not that he was doing a very good job, he noted. There were several times today where he'd about called her Gwen, or Iris. Not to mention his slip in front of the innkeeper a few moments ago, when he had suggested that he and Kayde share a room with Iris. Who was not a man.
Gods, one man had already seen right through him. Remorda Guardian or not, the general though he could've at least lasted a fortnight.
This whole situation is so unbelievably messy.
As he thought to himself, they were let into the inn room. As promised, there were four beds slid against the wall. Zayn could tell that this room wasn't meant to have more than one bed, as it wasn't very spacious, but at least it was warm.
Iris was the first in bed. She had made her way to the closest one, threw her satchel down beside it, and immediately slid under the blankets. The general noticed that she didn't remove her armor on this night either, but refrained from questioning it. Especially now that he knew the answer.
Kayde was the second. He took the one furthest from her, leaving the two in the middle for the general to choose from. He decided on the one closer to Kayde simply because he knew that he was, in fact, staying in the same room with a girl. Even though it didn't make much of a difference where he slept, Zayn felt more comfortable being further away.
As he laid all of his belongings at his bedside, he could only imagine what people would say about Iris sharing an inn room with him and Kayde if they knew that she was a girl. He knew that it definitely wouldn't be anything good.
After that, he got ready to change. And then he stopped as he once again reminded himself that a girl was behind him. At this thought, he considered going to the bathroom to do so. Yet, he knew it would be suspicious if he were to do so. After all, he'd never had a problem with it before. Then he contemplated sleeping in armor... which would be even more dubious. With a heavy sigh, he looked back at her. He noted that her head was under the blankets. She couldn't see him.
Then he turned his gaze on Kayde, who simply raised an knowing eyebrow at the general's dilemma.
It took a moment for Zayn to come to a decision. With one last look at Iris, who hadn't moved, he pulled out his bedclothes and changed.
Needless to say, that was the fastest that the general had ever put on a pair of pants.