Status: The cover image is not mine and all rights go to the creater
The Tale of Four
A Tale of Four Ch. 3
The Tale of Four
Chapter Three
It was fascinating to watch the people of a different culture go about their daily business. I was watching through the window in my room. It hadn't taken me long to get bored when the man left me here. The carriage ride had been rough and uncomfortable but I still got some sleep and was now energized. I was still hungry though and every minute that passed was dreadful. I sighed deeply, never before had I been so hungry. A slight knock came from the bedroom door.
I opened the door to find a woman in her late twenties standing there. She was slightly shorter than me with mousy brown hair. She was wearing what looked like a servants dress. Without waiting she walked into the room while dragging a wash basin behind her. She set it in the middle of the room and left. A few minutes later she came back with two buckets of steaming water. She dumped the water in the basin and left again. This repeated a couple of times until the basin had been filled. She left once more after that taking the buckets with her.
When she came back she held a towel, sponge, and soap in her hands. She started to speak to me in a slow obvious manner. The woman then held the soap above her arm and pantomimed a scrubbing action. I didn't know for sure but I think she thought I was stupid. I just crossed my arms and waited for her to stop. When she did she threw the stuff on the bed and walked out in a haughty fashion. I just shook my head and started to take my bath.
It didn't occur to me until I was in the middle of my bath that I had nothing to change into. I was done with my bath and the water was getting cool, I was about to give up and put on my old clothes when the woman from earlier came into my room without knocking. She didn't look any happier than the first time. I felt really awkward for a moment, here I was sitting in a wash tub with nothing covering me and this woman kept staring at me and giving me a mean look. The moment passed and she threw something on the bed and stomped out. I got out of the tub quickly and dried off with the towel. The things she had thrown on my bed were clothes. I guess one of the others must have gone and got them for me.
I didn't know why, but that woman didn't seem to like me very much. Maybe it was a woman's intuition, but I think it had something to do with a guy. I cared very little though. I was more concerned about food and when I was going to be eating said food. I couldn't wait any longer so I left my room intending to find one of the people I came here with. Instead I ran into the woman yet again, it was getting a little ridiculous. She then started to speak angrily at me. As she was ranting I saw the leader coming up the stairs behind her. I finally got fed up with her attitude and yelled, "Look lady, I have no idea what you are saying! I have done nothing to you so your attitude is not appreciated. You need to calm down and leave me alone!"
After I finished my yelling both the lady and the leader looked at me with widened eyes. The difference between the two was that the leader looked amused and the woman looked scared. She backed away slowly until she got to the stairs and then she darted down them like a bat out of hell. I was confused, why did she run? I didn't think I was that scary. The leader must have thought it was funny though because he was laughing hysterically. He looked handsome when he laughed. Normally his height, being 6’5” and muscles making him seem like he was built like a brick house, intimidated me. His fiery red hair and topaz eyes were nice tough.
When he was done laughing he waved for me to follow him downstairs. Half way down the staircase I could smell the food. I will admit that I drooled a little from the smell, which I quickly wiped away. Sitting at one of the tables was the two guards and the purple haired man. They seemed to be waiting for us. Not one to keep people waiting I hurried over and took my seat. It was like a small feast that was displayed before me. It was more than enough for the five of us. I didn't know what half the stuff was but I ate it anyway, when you are that hungry anything would taste good. In the corner of my eye I noticed that the man and the leader were talking. They seemed to be talking about me from the glances I was getting, but I paid no mind to it.
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"Vincent, do you have any idea why that Samantha girl would be yelling at your guest?" Colonel Markus asked.
"I told her that the girl was my lover." Vincent explained.
Markus sighed heavily. "Pray tell, why did you tell her that?"
"That girl was being too pushy. All day she kept hounding me about who I was and what I did for a living. I don't even want to tell you what she said when she brought the wash basin in to our room. I felt that she would leave me alone if she knew I had a lover. The girl can't speak Altereon so she couldn't confirm or deny what I said. Besides it's not like I could tell her who I really am could I?"
"And you think you can tell a woman that and not expect any consequences?"
"Why? What happened?"
"Like I said, that Samantha was yelling at the girl saying things like, 'What's so good about you?' and 'You can't even speak properly.'. The girl got mad and yelled back at her. I've got to say her language is a weird one. It’s definitely not something I've heard before. So weird in fact that Samantha thought it was witchcraft. I could hear her praying under her breath. She was quite scared. A scorned woman is very frightening though."
"Indeed. I will be wiser from now on." Vincent agreed.
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After our group finished with dinner we retired to our separate rooms for the night. It was shortly after night had fallen when I heard noises coming from downstairs. I was curious so I left my room to look over the railing of the staircase. The dining area below was filled with people eating and drinking. The owner of the inn must rent rooms out as a side job while the real money comes from the towns’ folk having a good time. During the day only one person like that woman must work. Now that the sun has set there were much more staff members working. The noise I heard earlier was a mixture of laughing, singing, and music. The people seemed to be having a grand time. I have never seen so many happy people in one place before. I sort of wanted to go down and party it up with them but decided it wouldn't be such a good idea. I sighed sadly and returned to my room. That night I was lulled to sleep by the sounds of merry making.
The next two days passed by without much hassle. During those two days I realized that the woman who yelled at me the first day was infatuated with the purple haired man. It didn't take long for me to put two and two together; her actions when she was around him were very obvious. From that night that I yelled at her the woman was too scared of me to face me directly, but she managed to do little things to make my stay here annoying. The most annoying thing that was done to me was when we were eating our last dinner. I was enjoying my meal of some type of fowl and vegetable when the back of my chair was bumped into and I felt the cold and wetness of liquid spilling onto me. It shocked me and I jumped out of my chair. In doing so I knocked into the person behind me, which happened to be the woman. She fell to the floor and smacked her head against the ground. When she fell the tray that she was holding fell as well. She was then covered in all sorts of different drinks. I shook the remnants of the liquid out of my hair and looked down at her. She was cradling her head and had rolled to her side.
I sighed and asked, “Are you all right?” to which I just got a glare.
The purple haired man had been sitting next to me and had witnessed the whole thing. When he tried to help the woman up she pushed his hand away and while grabbing the back of her head she scrambled away. I guess she must have been embarrassed that she sort of made a fool out of herself. I would have felt a little bit of sympathy for her if she wouldn't have been so creepy. I just didn't understand how you could fall for someone so quickly the first day that you met them. The man didn't seem to be returning her feelings either. I was perplexed by her actions. After I finished my meal and got cleaned up I went back to my room to get some rest. I had a feeling that this was going to be my last night at the inn. All day the others were wondering around and getting things together, I assumed that they were preparing to leave. The rest of the night was peaceful and I would miss getting lulled to sleep by the happy noises from the inn below.
The next morning I was awoken by a sharp knock on the door. I groggily got out of bed to see who it was. The leader was on the opposite side and gestured for me to get downstairs so they could leave. The leader wasn't as kind to me as the man, but he did get a great deal nicer after the incident with the servant lady. At least he didn't seem to hate me as much. I got dressed as quickly as I could; I had gotten several pairs of clothes from the man since I got here. I felt very undeserving of the kindness that I have been shown. As soon as I could communicate properly to him I would thank him as earnestly as I could. He really had saved me when I first got here. And I don't mean by getting me out of the dungeon. If he hadn't brought me with him I don't know if I could have survived. All this thinking was getting me depressed again so I finished changing and headed downstairs.
Everyone had gathered at the entrance of the inn and seemed to be waiting for me. The servant girl was standing off to the one side and wouldn't make eye contact with me. I sighed and walked over to her. From what I gathered in the last three days shaking hands was a polite gesture here as well as where I was from, so I stuck out my hand for her to shake. She eyed me wearily for a moment before taking my hand. We shook for a moment and the girl visibly relaxed. That was how the servant girl and I came to a truce on the last day. After dealing with her I was ready to go. The others had already left the inn to wait outside for me. When I joined them we headed for the carriage that was across the street. The leader and the two other guards took the drivers bench in the front and the purple haired man and I got into the carriage.
Much like last time we rode in silence for good portion of the journey. It took about three hours to get from the city we were in to this really huge road. The road was about three carriages wide and was made completely from cobblestone. It must have taken years to build this thing. It was very spectacular to look at. The road went on for miles, which just made it more impressive in my mind. However nice looking the road was it was also a little bumpy. I guess I was spoiled when it came to roads in my world, them being made of asphalt and everything. And it became pretty clear the last three days and during this ride as well, that I was no longer in my country, or world for that matter. I realize that many places in the world have undeveloped nations, but I don't think wyverns would have been over looked by tourists who were visiting those places. And I was thinking about those other creatures that I saw during that battle. They definitely were not human. The best way I could describe them would be as trolls and orcs.
Just thinking about it was terrifying. Here I was stuck in a different world where I couldn't speak their language and if that wasn't bad enough this world was full of fantasy creatures that were no longer part of a story book. I guess I had to face the facts sooner or later, but it didn't make my goal any easier. How was I going to achieve said goal with monsters running around. And the language barrier was a problem as well. The man was helping as much as he could these last few days. Any moment we could get he was trying to teach me the basics of the language, but I wasn't the greatest at learning. Even in school when I tried to take a language course it never worked out well. My mind just can't comprehend certain things. The difference between then and now is that to survive in this world I need to learn the language. My brain really needs to step it up.
Chapter Three
It was fascinating to watch the people of a different culture go about their daily business. I was watching through the window in my room. It hadn't taken me long to get bored when the man left me here. The carriage ride had been rough and uncomfortable but I still got some sleep and was now energized. I was still hungry though and every minute that passed was dreadful. I sighed deeply, never before had I been so hungry. A slight knock came from the bedroom door.
I opened the door to find a woman in her late twenties standing there. She was slightly shorter than me with mousy brown hair. She was wearing what looked like a servants dress. Without waiting she walked into the room while dragging a wash basin behind her. She set it in the middle of the room and left. A few minutes later she came back with two buckets of steaming water. She dumped the water in the basin and left again. This repeated a couple of times until the basin had been filled. She left once more after that taking the buckets with her.
When she came back she held a towel, sponge, and soap in her hands. She started to speak to me in a slow obvious manner. The woman then held the soap above her arm and pantomimed a scrubbing action. I didn't know for sure but I think she thought I was stupid. I just crossed my arms and waited for her to stop. When she did she threw the stuff on the bed and walked out in a haughty fashion. I just shook my head and started to take my bath.
It didn't occur to me until I was in the middle of my bath that I had nothing to change into. I was done with my bath and the water was getting cool, I was about to give up and put on my old clothes when the woman from earlier came into my room without knocking. She didn't look any happier than the first time. I felt really awkward for a moment, here I was sitting in a wash tub with nothing covering me and this woman kept staring at me and giving me a mean look. The moment passed and she threw something on the bed and stomped out. I got out of the tub quickly and dried off with the towel. The things she had thrown on my bed were clothes. I guess one of the others must have gone and got them for me.
I didn't know why, but that woman didn't seem to like me very much. Maybe it was a woman's intuition, but I think it had something to do with a guy. I cared very little though. I was more concerned about food and when I was going to be eating said food. I couldn't wait any longer so I left my room intending to find one of the people I came here with. Instead I ran into the woman yet again, it was getting a little ridiculous. She then started to speak angrily at me. As she was ranting I saw the leader coming up the stairs behind her. I finally got fed up with her attitude and yelled, "Look lady, I have no idea what you are saying! I have done nothing to you so your attitude is not appreciated. You need to calm down and leave me alone!"
After I finished my yelling both the lady and the leader looked at me with widened eyes. The difference between the two was that the leader looked amused and the woman looked scared. She backed away slowly until she got to the stairs and then she darted down them like a bat out of hell. I was confused, why did she run? I didn't think I was that scary. The leader must have thought it was funny though because he was laughing hysterically. He looked handsome when he laughed. Normally his height, being 6’5” and muscles making him seem like he was built like a brick house, intimidated me. His fiery red hair and topaz eyes were nice tough.
When he was done laughing he waved for me to follow him downstairs. Half way down the staircase I could smell the food. I will admit that I drooled a little from the smell, which I quickly wiped away. Sitting at one of the tables was the two guards and the purple haired man. They seemed to be waiting for us. Not one to keep people waiting I hurried over and took my seat. It was like a small feast that was displayed before me. It was more than enough for the five of us. I didn't know what half the stuff was but I ate it anyway, when you are that hungry anything would taste good. In the corner of my eye I noticed that the man and the leader were talking. They seemed to be talking about me from the glances I was getting, but I paid no mind to it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Vincent, do you have any idea why that Samantha girl would be yelling at your guest?" Colonel Markus asked.
"I told her that the girl was my lover." Vincent explained.
Markus sighed heavily. "Pray tell, why did you tell her that?"
"That girl was being too pushy. All day she kept hounding me about who I was and what I did for a living. I don't even want to tell you what she said when she brought the wash basin in to our room. I felt that she would leave me alone if she knew I had a lover. The girl can't speak Altereon so she couldn't confirm or deny what I said. Besides it's not like I could tell her who I really am could I?"
"And you think you can tell a woman that and not expect any consequences?"
"Why? What happened?"
"Like I said, that Samantha was yelling at the girl saying things like, 'What's so good about you?' and 'You can't even speak properly.'. The girl got mad and yelled back at her. I've got to say her language is a weird one. It’s definitely not something I've heard before. So weird in fact that Samantha thought it was witchcraft. I could hear her praying under her breath. She was quite scared. A scorned woman is very frightening though."
"Indeed. I will be wiser from now on." Vincent agreed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After our group finished with dinner we retired to our separate rooms for the night. It was shortly after night had fallen when I heard noises coming from downstairs. I was curious so I left my room to look over the railing of the staircase. The dining area below was filled with people eating and drinking. The owner of the inn must rent rooms out as a side job while the real money comes from the towns’ folk having a good time. During the day only one person like that woman must work. Now that the sun has set there were much more staff members working. The noise I heard earlier was a mixture of laughing, singing, and music. The people seemed to be having a grand time. I have never seen so many happy people in one place before. I sort of wanted to go down and party it up with them but decided it wouldn't be such a good idea. I sighed sadly and returned to my room. That night I was lulled to sleep by the sounds of merry making.
The next two days passed by without much hassle. During those two days I realized that the woman who yelled at me the first day was infatuated with the purple haired man. It didn't take long for me to put two and two together; her actions when she was around him were very obvious. From that night that I yelled at her the woman was too scared of me to face me directly, but she managed to do little things to make my stay here annoying. The most annoying thing that was done to me was when we were eating our last dinner. I was enjoying my meal of some type of fowl and vegetable when the back of my chair was bumped into and I felt the cold and wetness of liquid spilling onto me. It shocked me and I jumped out of my chair. In doing so I knocked into the person behind me, which happened to be the woman. She fell to the floor and smacked her head against the ground. When she fell the tray that she was holding fell as well. She was then covered in all sorts of different drinks. I shook the remnants of the liquid out of my hair and looked down at her. She was cradling her head and had rolled to her side.
I sighed and asked, “Are you all right?” to which I just got a glare.
The purple haired man had been sitting next to me and had witnessed the whole thing. When he tried to help the woman up she pushed his hand away and while grabbing the back of her head she scrambled away. I guess she must have been embarrassed that she sort of made a fool out of herself. I would have felt a little bit of sympathy for her if she wouldn't have been so creepy. I just didn't understand how you could fall for someone so quickly the first day that you met them. The man didn't seem to be returning her feelings either. I was perplexed by her actions. After I finished my meal and got cleaned up I went back to my room to get some rest. I had a feeling that this was going to be my last night at the inn. All day the others were wondering around and getting things together, I assumed that they were preparing to leave. The rest of the night was peaceful and I would miss getting lulled to sleep by the happy noises from the inn below.
The next morning I was awoken by a sharp knock on the door. I groggily got out of bed to see who it was. The leader was on the opposite side and gestured for me to get downstairs so they could leave. The leader wasn't as kind to me as the man, but he did get a great deal nicer after the incident with the servant lady. At least he didn't seem to hate me as much. I got dressed as quickly as I could; I had gotten several pairs of clothes from the man since I got here. I felt very undeserving of the kindness that I have been shown. As soon as I could communicate properly to him I would thank him as earnestly as I could. He really had saved me when I first got here. And I don't mean by getting me out of the dungeon. If he hadn't brought me with him I don't know if I could have survived. All this thinking was getting me depressed again so I finished changing and headed downstairs.
Everyone had gathered at the entrance of the inn and seemed to be waiting for me. The servant girl was standing off to the one side and wouldn't make eye contact with me. I sighed and walked over to her. From what I gathered in the last three days shaking hands was a polite gesture here as well as where I was from, so I stuck out my hand for her to shake. She eyed me wearily for a moment before taking my hand. We shook for a moment and the girl visibly relaxed. That was how the servant girl and I came to a truce on the last day. After dealing with her I was ready to go. The others had already left the inn to wait outside for me. When I joined them we headed for the carriage that was across the street. The leader and the two other guards took the drivers bench in the front and the purple haired man and I got into the carriage.
Much like last time we rode in silence for good portion of the journey. It took about three hours to get from the city we were in to this really huge road. The road was about three carriages wide and was made completely from cobblestone. It must have taken years to build this thing. It was very spectacular to look at. The road went on for miles, which just made it more impressive in my mind. However nice looking the road was it was also a little bumpy. I guess I was spoiled when it came to roads in my world, them being made of asphalt and everything. And it became pretty clear the last three days and during this ride as well, that I was no longer in my country, or world for that matter. I realize that many places in the world have undeveloped nations, but I don't think wyverns would have been over looked by tourists who were visiting those places. And I was thinking about those other creatures that I saw during that battle. They definitely were not human. The best way I could describe them would be as trolls and orcs.
Just thinking about it was terrifying. Here I was stuck in a different world where I couldn't speak their language and if that wasn't bad enough this world was full of fantasy creatures that were no longer part of a story book. I guess I had to face the facts sooner or later, but it didn't make my goal any easier. How was I going to achieve said goal with monsters running around. And the language barrier was a problem as well. The man was helping as much as he could these last few days. Any moment we could get he was trying to teach me the basics of the language, but I wasn't the greatest at learning. Even in school when I tried to take a language course it never worked out well. My mind just can't comprehend certain things. The difference between then and now is that to survive in this world I need to learn the language. My brain really needs to step it up.