The town rose up quickly around them and soon the crowds of people swarmed around Damian and Garrick like rats. Dresdin was a much louder town than Trent, that became clear at once. The shouted conversations of thousands of people roared about them, mingling with all the sounds of stray animals, wagons and horses pushing their way through the streets and the sorrowful cries of seagulls gliding solemnly above. The aromas of bakeries and pubs were overpowered by the lingering stench of sulfur, tar, brine, and vinegar. Buildings and people were stained with dirt and the road they walked down was a sodden pit of black mud. The townspeople paid them no more mind than it took to shoulder by their horses, never even sparing Damian a glance.
She had expected as much of a reception, though it didn't make the arrival any easier. Since the encounter with the krolmins in the plains five days ago, she had been jittery and constantly ill at ease. None of the creatures had approached them since, but that meeting had terrified her and left her with dark thoughts that hadn't faded in the days following. Now that they had arrived in Dresdin, she wasn't sure she wanted to know the truth they would discover here.
She kept her honey brown and white horse as close to Garrick's regal destrier as the mare would come. The knight offered only slightly more courtesy to the crowd as it returned him, plodding forward with indifference to the people that passed underfoot. Damian took comfort in his confidence. It was a welcome shield against the careless townspeople that last time she had been here had at least been as far from her as the walls of her father's cart.
She had to yell over the crowd for Garrick to hear her ask, "How far is it to the guild?" He answered in a strong voice, gaze fixed on the muddy street ahead.
"It's outside of town, but we're not going there yet," he told. Damian shot him a curious look. He spared a grin for her. "We only just got here, you don't want to turn right around when we're finally in the vicinity of a real bed, do you?" Frowning, she looked away. It made sense, though as much as she dreaded the diviner's spell, she was anxious to know what the curious connection was between her magic ability and the krolmins' lack of it.
"Let's find an inn first," Garrick continued. "I'd sell my armour for an ale right about now." With that, he urged Brenadier onward, and following him, Damian sifted through the crowd.
It was an uncomfortably long time before they found a suitable inn, and even still, the accomodations seemed inferior to even the most modest of inns in Trent. Damian was reluctant to abandon the safety of the saddle, but she relished the thought of leaving the packed streets outside. Garrick ignored the chipped and battered hitching post set in front of the inn and had the horses immediately stabled. It didn't escape Damian's notice that he only paid the stableboy the standard half moon for his effort. She frowned uncertainly as she realized the knight hadn't smiled as much as usual since they entered the town.
Dinnertime was long past when they entered the common room of the inn, the afternoon sunlight beginning to filter through the yellow windows. Only a few people lay scattered throughout the room, most of them looking drunk or asleep, or both. Garrick strode through the maze of chairs littered over the floor to the bar, Damian close on his heels.
"Innkeep," he stated to the man behind the bar. The innkeep was a swarthy and barrel-chested man, an intimidating figure as he washed out leather mugs with his stained apron. The knight smiled amiably as he addressed the large man. "Do you have two rooms available?" The innkeep glanced up and examined the knight and Damian in turn. His stern gaze lingered briefly on Damian before it seemed to soften in approval.
"I'll put you in the finest rooms we have fer three moon a night," he responded, his voice a drawl common to the seafarers that swarmed the port town. "Each." Wordlessly, Garrick retrieved a jay from his coin pouch and set it on the bar. Nodding, the innkeep retrieved two keys from under the bar and handed them to Garrick. "Yore at the end of the hall to the right at the top of the stairs. Doors on the left and right walls."
"Thank you, good man," the knight replied as he took the keys. "And your bathroom?" The innkeep nodded toward the rough stairs at the far corner of the common room.
"Under the stairs."
"I appreciate it," Garrick concluded and turned. Damian trotted after him, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to find the innkeep watching them cross the room. The gaze unnerved her.
The knight touched her shoulder, though he only smiled ahead as he walked. "I'll send a message to the guild," he told her softly. "We'll go there tomorrow. For now, I just want to rest." Damian nodded stiffly. All she wanted was to escape the gaze of the innkeep.
Halfway up the stairs, Garrick leaned close and spoke very quietly. "You might want to let me hold on to your coins. I don't trust these fellows." She shot him a startled look. Reluctantly, she yielded her coin pouch to him. She had never experienced any such dishonesty on her father's trade routes, but she didn't trust the innkeep or the seedy inhabitants of the common room, either.
Garrick continued talking as they strode down the hall toward the rooms they had just rented. "Three moons a night for this squalor is a gouging, but a man would be mad not to want twice that on a knight and a respectable-looking woman. They probably mean to rob us while we sleep." She rubbed her arm nervously, wondering what the innkeep would do if he entered her room that night and found nothing to steal.
At the end of the hall, Garrick opened the doors that faced each other. Each room was small with a sagging bed and a tiny yellow window with a clear view of the neighboring building and not much else. It was certainly not as inviting as the lavender-scented room where she had stayed in Trent, but it was a welcome comfort after a long journey of sleeping on the ground.
"I'll have drinks sent up, what would you like?" Garrick asked as he dropped his equipment on the bed in one room.
"Er, mead," she stated distractedly. She eased herself onto the straw mattress in the other room. Though it was stiffer than she would have liked, it eased her rump and legs that had grown sore from so much riding. They had ridden harder since the encounter with the krolmins, and while she was paying for it now, she was glad they had hurried.
She looked up to find Garrick standing in the doorway, leaning against the door frame with a casual grin.
"I'm going to take a bath," he stated. "Will you be alright for a little while?" Damian considered briefly the thought of him bathing. She had never seen him outside of his armour. It seemed like a second skin and she could hardly picture him without it. Heat flooded her cheeks with the thought. She nodded faintly in response.
"I think I'll just sleep for a while," she offered quietly, gazing at the undyed linen sheet covering the mattress. The floorboards creaked under the knight's steps. Two paces and he stood before her, tilting her chin up to meet his eyes. Her heartbeat sped with the feel of his fingers against her skin and the sight of those cool green eyes close to hers.
"Take it easy," he stated with a smile. "Everything will be alright." As much as it excited her to be so close to him, his words soothed her. With that, he stood straight and walked out, closing the door behind him.
His demeanor had been comforting, caring for her as he would a sister. Yet, all she could think about at that moment was the time he kissed her. And she wondered why he hadn't again.
Thoughts raced through her mind as she drank the mead that arrived and lied down to rest. She thought back to the conversation she, or rather Garrick, had with the krolmin shaman, and the disturbing story he told of her birth. Even as she rejected any connection with the creatures, she couldn't deny that his tale was true. Her father had never told her anything about her birth, and the way he had been so adamant against her using magic only emphasized the truth of the shaman's words. Garrick confirmed that the attack her parents had fled when her mother was heavy with Damian occurred during border skirmishes over the stretch of land east of Destin River and south of Orthys Mountains, which Faneria had acquired from the neighboring kingdom of Zahn fifteen years previous.
But most telling was the fact that the shaman wore her father's knife. It was not the dagger Clyde had used to eat his supper mere hours before the attack on Aether, but it was the exact same style in the matched set that her father had told her was given him shortly before she was born. She remembered the wall-mounted plaque that held a variety of knives, one of them always missing for her father's meals and another which she'd never seen in her life. Clyde gave the krolmin leader a knife to save his daughter, and she in turn took their magic away from them.
She fell asleep curled up in a corner of the bed, tired but once more worried about what would happen at the diviner's reading the next day.
Damian felt little calmer when she awakened, though her thoughts were abstract and unfocused. Only an hour had passed since they arrived at the inn and she could still hear the dull thunder of the crowds outside through the thin walls of the building. She felt entirely out of place in the inn and the town and wondered dismally what she would do once this ordeal with the krolmins was over.
Suddenly, when she reached the doorway into her room, someone ran into her. She started and gasped, but found only Garrick clutching her arms and grinning at her. Her heart raced with the sight. His damp hair tumbled loosely over his shoulders, framing his face in soft auburn curves, and his armour was gone. Nervously, she pulled her hands back from his chest, startled by the fact that she had touched him with only his shirt between her skin and his. He was still covered more than many people in the town, but to her, knowing him only in a thick metal skin, he may as well have only been wearing undergarments.
"You alright?" he asked with a sly grin. She nodded, a little too quickly. Her hands shook and her heart raced.
"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered as he released her. Stepping gingerly into the room, she glanced at him. Strangely, he looked more formidable without his armour on. He looked very human, something that was diminished with the sight of his armour, and that made his strength seem that much more intimidating. He was lean, but his muscles were well defined, and one could tell he was likely stronger than he appeared. Without the dragonlike armour, she realized that his eyes were much more fiery than they appeared before. She felt her heart thudding in her chest.
"I sent a letter to the mages' guild," he stated casually. Damian simply gazed at him, stunned by the sight of him in only his dark grey shirt and trousers. He seemed more real now, and being reminded of the fact that he was a real person made her uneasy. "I told them we'd be there midmorning tomorrow, so we won't have to wake up too early." He grinned at her inspection of him. Awkwardly, she cleared her throat and looked away.
"Is something on your mind?" he asked in a melodic tone as he approached her. She bit her tongue, not meeting his eyes. At once, she desired him and felt uncomfortable with the way he moved close to her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were embarrassed of me."
"N-no," she answered quickly, glancing briefly at him before looking away again. "I-it's not that." He leaned his head over her shoulder to speak softly in her ear.
"You know, if you want something, all you have to do is ask."
Damian turned to gaze wide-eyed at him and she knew her cheeks were glowing crimson. He chuckled softly.
"You've got to stand up for yourself, Damian," he continued. "Say what you want or what you don't want. That's the only way to get what you're after. Nobody can read minds. You have every right to pursue the things you want, but you're not going to get them if you don't pursue." Uncertainly, she glanced away. How could she ask when it was Garrick she desired and that, she didn't even know for certain?
"You were so quiet after I kissed you, I had no idea if you enjoyed it at all," he stated. Wide-eyed, she faced him again. "You never did tell me if you liked it or not." She could only stare at him, the discomfort at being close to him gone in place of surprise and regret that it was her lack of a response that had kept him at a distance. He moved slightly closer to her, grinning knowingly. "Did you like it?" Damian couldn't bring herself to answer. Garrick took another step closer, standing inches away from her. Instinctively, she wanted to back away, but knowing that doing so might push him away for good, she fought the impulse and stayed where she stood. "Would you like to feel it again?" Her breath raced as she gazed up at him. Anxiously, she awaited his approach, but it didn't come. He only gazed at her expectantly. The choice was hers, and that was precisely why he hadn't moved closer. As afraid as she was of how vulnerable she was to him, his breath on her face and the warmth of his body so near to her were a pull she couldn't resist.
Gathering all the courage she had, she nodded faintly.
Slipping his arms around her waist, Garrick leaned down and kissed her. Warmth flooded her body, the sensation seemingly more potent than the night on the plains south of Trent. Nervously, she rested her hands on his shoulders, feeling his muscles through his shirt. He pulled her body into his, holding her tightly against him. Her breasts pressed against his chest and she thought her heart was going to burst through her ribcage.
He held her longer than he did the last time, his lips swallowing and releasing hers over and over again. She felt lightheaded, supported only by his arms as he held her close.
Finally, he pulled back. Damian didn't move for a few breaths while passion washed over her. After a long moment of silence, she opened her eyes. Garrick grinned at her, the knight's handsome face filling her vision and his arms still encircling her. It seemed like a dream. The only thought that reverberated in her mind turned to words before she could stop herself.
"Why me?"
He laughed heartily, releasing her from his grasp. "Why?" he echoed. Damian looked embarrassed, ashamed that she had asked such a thing. "Well, for starters, you're beautiful." Her cheeks flushed again. "Smart, open-minded, and independent." She raised an eyebrow curiously, but he only shrugged. "You may be having some rough times, but you don't really need anyone. I like a woman who can take care of herself." Her eyes widened, stunned. Peasants took care of themselves, and only out of necessity. The noblewomen that knights pursued were delicate things who needed constant attention and care. Such a statement from a decorated knight was unheard of.
His smile softened. "But primarily, I see a lot of me from eight years ago in you." He rolled his eyes with a snort. "Even three years ago. I can see that there's a great person hiding inside you, if only you could get past the pain, and I want to bring that woman out. I know how much it hurts to lose a father before his time. It's a pain I wouldn't wish on anybody." The smile had faded and Damian could only gaze at him sadly. "My father always taught me to help the less fortunate, that that's what we as knights were born to do. I can't bring your father back, so I'm doing the next best thing. I want you to smile again, and I want you to feel okay and understand that your father would have wanted you to be happy." He smiled gently. Closing her eyes, Damian leaned against him, clutching his back as she rested her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, one hand rubbing her back soothingly.
"But," she replied, "I've caused so much trouble for you since I met you." He leaned his head down, closer to hers.
"Adventure's what I live for, Damian," he answered. "It's going to take more than a little krolmin trouble to push me away from a gorgeous woman." Her eyes shot open and her cheeks flooded with warmth, but she didn't move her head from against him.
"Besides," he continued, "I'm a knight. It's what I do. I protect those who need it. What option did I really have? Turn you over to the Trent city guard? That wouldn't solve anything. The only way to resolve this problem is to come with you." Placing his fingers under her chin, he tilted her head up to look at him. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, love."
With that, he kissed her again. Reaching out, he pushed the door closed and lead her over to the bed.