Week 1: The soldier - Part 2

The sun had already set by the time they reached the town. Like many of the places Lu had visited during their travels it probably had a hundred people at most, many of them being artisans and merchants that would regularly trade with the farmers of the nearby fields and the travellers on their way to or from the nearby city. The small buildings were far apart from one another leaving more than enough space for their vehicle to go through the streets towards the centre of the town. There was a single two-story building which, like in many other small settlements like this one, served the role of town hall, church and school. Some children rushed out of their houses and race the slow moving wagon, celebrating when they reached the central edification before it did. Helvia had to shout at them a few times to get out of the way, but the mules seemed too tired to even care about the noisy kids. Once they reached the town hall she got off and knocked on the door. An older man in a dirty guard uniform opened, who Helvia quickly saluted. The man stuttered for a second while returning the salute before both of them relaxed.

“Greetings fellow Shimurian, we are travelling on imperial orders and we wondered if your town had any shelter we could use for the night.” Helvia stated with a well practised smile on her face.

The man scratched his chin while looking at the soldier and Lu, who was standing next to the wagon.

“It would be an honour to shelter you for the night. On the back of this building there is a stable where you can leave your animals. You can sleep in this same building if you don’t mind getting up early, we have worship to do tomorrow morning.”

“That would be no problem at all.” Helvia pulled out three imperial seals from a pouch tied to her belt. “Please take this as a show of gratitude.”

The man shook his head vigorously. “I appreciate the gesture but reject the present. Helping an soldier is a reward in itself”

“Very well.” She said putting the coins away. Gesturing towards Lu, she continued. “I will head to the stable. Please show my companion where we will be sleeping.”

Lu jumped out and headed inside. The man took them to a fairly big room on the ground floor which had the emblem of the dragon engraved in wood hanging on the wall opposite to the door. In front of the emblem there was a lectern and facing it ten benches distributed in two rows. Lu helped the man sift away some of the benches, enough to make enough space for the two travellers to sleep.

“If you are hungry I can also offer you some food. We have some leftover from dinner, it might not be as warm as we would like but is good stew”

At the mention of food their stomach rumbled, a reminder that they had not eaten anything today. “I would personally love to… But my companion is the one making the decisions here so I will ask her.”

As Lu was leaving to meet Helvia the man headed to one of the other rooms on the first floor. “I will be here if you need anything or if you decide you want some dinner. Front door is unlocked so you wont need to knock again.” He smiled and held Lu’s hand. “You can also stay for breakfast if you like, we usually share some food after worship.”

“Thanks, I will ask the boss.”

The man gave Lu one last smile before going into the other room. The mage went outside and back around the building where in the distance they could see Helvia preparing some hay and water for the mules, which were gulping on water. Helvia then lifted the wagon completely off the floor to reposition it under the roof of the structure. She got in and grabbed two of the chests before closing the door to the sables and meeting Lu midway.

“That was impressive.” Lu said, with a slightly open mouth.

“There is still one chest left, do you mind picking it up and bring it inside?”

“Yes captain.”

Lu walked past her towards sable and went inside, jumping on the back of the carriage. They grabbed the remaining chest and lifted it by the handles on its sides, but despite it being relatively small in size it was almost too heavy for Lu to carry. They pushed the chest to the back of the carriage and jumped down and then hugged it from the side lifting it slightly, rushing back to the building with great difficulty. They arrived at the door as the chest continued to slowly slide down from their grip, but before it finally fell Helvia exited through the door and picked it up with one hand as if it weighted nothing.

“What... Is in these things?” Lu panted.

“I do not know, and don’t have the keys either so I can’t know.” Helvia answered wile putting the chest next to the other two in their assigned room.

“I am pretty sure I could pick those locks.”

Helvia turned around, putting her hands on her hips.

“I am joking obviously.” Lu corrected. “Speaking of food, the old guard offered us dinner, and food if we stay for worship.”

“Dinner sounds good, but I would like to get moving as soon as possible.”

“Are you sure? I am willing to stay for worship if that means more fresh food.”

“I thought you didn’t want to waste any time on the road?” Helvia smiled. “We will buy some food before leaving, don’t worry.”

They walked to the side room the man said he would be waiting in. Going inside, they found the guard talking with the mayor, an old gnome about three feet tall with wide shoulders, tanned skin and dirty blonde hair mostly hidden under a wide brim hat.

“So these are the two guests!” The gnome exclaimed, jumping to stand on his chair. “Have you come to taste my cuisine? It is an ancient family recipe.”

“We would love to, we haven’t had proper food in a while.” Answered Helvia, bowing her head down with gratitude. “Do you mind if we sit down?” She added, turning to face Lu who had already pulled a chair and was about to sit on it, making them hesitate and look at the gnome, waiting for an answer.

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“Of course!” He laughed. “For the night this is your home! We don’t get many travellers stopping here so it is always a pleasure to help, especially if they are some of our finest soldiers like you!” As he talked he walked to the kitchen and grabbed a pair of bowls containing the leftovers of the stew, bringing them along with two spoons to the table.

The stew had been reheated and just the smell made Lu drool. As soon as it was put in from of them, they took the spoon and devoured it, burning their tongue in the process. “Thank you, it is great.” They said with their cheeks full. Helvia stared at them and cleared her throat while gracefully holding the bowl, eating slowly and methodically like anyone of noble background would. Lu wasn’t persuaded, they hadn’t eaten any warm food in more than a week and they were determined to enjoy the meal their way.

The old gnome guffawed, slapping the table with his open hand “Have seen pigs fancier than that! My gramma would be delighted to see you enjoy her meal that much.”

Helvia rolled her eyes. “Thank you very much for your kindness, we appreciate very much the dinner as my feral friend here is showing.”

“As I said, always a pleasure to help our brave soldiers.” The mayor smiled. “You look a bit beaten up, have you been in the frontlines? Where did you fight? Do you have any news other that what they say in the official reports?”

Every question turned the practiced polite expression of the dragonkin more and more into a frown. “Yes, I was deployed to the Felnythian frontier. I am not allowed to give any more details than what it is officially stated.” She left the bowl half full on the table and stood up. “I am full, it was delicious. I am sure my friend will take care of the rest…” Before she finished the sentence, Lu had already picked up her bowl and was munching on what was left. “I will go to sleep. Tomorrow morning please wake us up before the worship so we leave without disturbing anyone.” She bowed down her head again. “Blessed night.” She said before slamming the door behind her.

After Helvia left the room the two men didn’t ask any more questions and Lu enjoyed the rest of their dinner in silence. Not like they could have answered anything with a full mouth anyways. Soon, Lu left the room with a heavy stomach. They weren’t used to eat that much and they felt sick, like they were barely holding back the stew in their belly on their way to their sleeping bag. When Lu got into the room they found that the dragonkin was already lying down on top of a foldable mattress and covered by a blanket, facing the door with her back to the empire’s emblem and Lu tried their best to take off their armour without making any noise just in case their guardian was already asleep. It took some time for Lu to fully settle, first due to their aching stomach and then because the paladin would sometimes murmur things and shake were she was lying.

Like clockwork Lu woke just as the sun was raising, put their clothes back on and packed all their sleeping mats. Before Helvia woke up they got out of the building to have a small walk around the waking town and drop their bag back in the cart. The cold air of the morning slapped them as soon as they opened the door fully knocking out any remaining traces of sleep in them. Not too long after they had gotten up so did the townspeople, who were getting out of their homes to greet the new day. Worship would be soon. In all Shimurian communities it was law to hold Worship at least once a fortnight, but most towns in the inner regions would hold gatherings at least once or twice a week always just after dawn to praise the emperor, his light and his gifts. Some of the border regions still held traces of old religions, archaic practices and almost-forgotten gods whom they venerated alongside the emperor. It was not illegal to have other faiths as long as the emperor was properly revered, but it was extremely rare to find anyone in the inner regions that would even know and much less care about other religions, the Dragon Worship was already time-consuming enough.

When Lu arrived back to the building Helvia was already up and ready, dressed in the wool under-armour from yesterday with only her chest plate and shoulder pad with the Solias on. The rest of the armour was neetly tied up and she seemed not interested at all o wearing in it for the day, which seemed pretty reasonable seen how uncomfortable it had to be to sit around all day with twenty kilograms of steel strapped to your body. As soon as Lu entered the paladin asked them to pick the lightest chest and take it back to the cart. They nodded and did as requested, lifting it with great difficulty and walking out. It was certainly less heavy than the one from last night but still barely within their ability to handle. By the time they placed the chests on the back of the wagon Helvia had almost reached the stable holding the two remaining chests above her shoulder with her left arm, the rest of her armour tied on a bundle on her right hand and her backpack full and properly strapped.

“Do you mind going back inside and giving this to the mayor? I know he said he didn’t want anything but I insist.” She reached into one the pouches she had tied on her belt and handed Lu four seals. “Do not take no for an answer.”

Lu took the money and walked back to the building where the people were already gathering for the liturgy. They muttered barely disguised whispers to each other as the stranger walked past them speeding up their pace, getting into the first room to the left where they had dinner last night and slamming the door behind them. Lu sighed and waved their hands to compose themselves, having everyone looking at them was an unusual experience.

There was a knock on the door and the voice of the old gnome spoke from the other side “Ehm... I assume you are not staying for breakfast?”.

Lu opened the door to let the man in. “Oh I am sorry I was looking for you and got confused. I am afraid we will not be staying, but please have this as a show of gratitude for dinner and as an apology from my companion for being a rude bitch.” They said as they handed the four seals away. “Her words, not mine.”

“Oh please, no need. As I said, helping our soldiers is reward enough! No need for pity coins.” The mayor said, turning around to go to the chapel. “Have a nice travel!”

Lu looked at the coins for a second, then around the room. It was still empty, everyone else was in the chapel. They took off one of their boots and put the coins under the sole before suiting themselves back up and heading back to the stable. Helvia had finished preparing the mules and the wagon was ready to continue its journey. As it was marching away, Lu jumped on the back.

“Did he took the money?”

“No, but I left it on the table anyways.” Lu answered.

“Nice thinking.” Helvia answered.

They marched out of town without crossing paths with anyone, salve a few dogs and some chickens and after arriving to the main road they turned right too continue on their journey west. On the distance there was another wagon, moving forwards on the same direction and with similar speed so it kept its distance for the hours they spent on the grey paved road across the endless fields where piles of hay, wheat and other grain sparsely broke the monotony. Days rolled past as Helvia and Lu travelled along the almost perfectly straight roads among fallowed fields crowned by the occasional pile of hay. Each day they continued their journey before the sun was fully out and only when dusk approached would they look for a suitable place to rest. In a few instances they crossed path with other travellers, most of them going to the city looking to stock up on an supplies their communities would need for the coming winter. They would stop to talk about the estate of the roads and exchange any relevant news or advice to those travelling in the opposite direction, but most important than all of that was the enrichment of finally talking to someone new after long hours and days of monotonous travel. In this time of the year there was not much activity outside of the most important trade routes. They stayed in towns in two separate occasions receiving a similar enthusiastic hosting as their first night on the road, while the rest of the nights they decided to camp nearby wherever there was enough space for the wagon an mules. Thankfully they weather was being kind and hopefully as they travelled south the temperatures would continue to raise. The two travellers did not talk much to each other, and when they did it tended to devolve in superfluous arguments which, in all fairness, were still a good entertainment for both of them.