Wolf and Mystery Ⅰ
They crested the hill and the village came into view. It had been a few long, cold days since they'd seen a soft, warm bed, so it was a welcome sight for them both. It would be a few more long, cold days until they arrived in Lenos.
"We are stopping here for the night, are we not?" Holo asked, looking up the road and past the village, toward the mountains. She seemed concerned he might say 'no.' He nodded. True, they could still make more progress today, but these days, he was in no particular hurry to reach his destination.
The inn was a simple two-story building situated along the dead-straight main road that ran north through the village and out to the rolling plains beyond, with mountains standing sentinel in the distance. He couldn't immediately see where the stables were, so he pulled up outside the entrance and went in, Holo in tow.
Inside was a middle-aged woman, a little on the plump side, working away at some knitting.
"Good afternoon," he said. "Do you have any rooms available for the night?"
"God must be smiling on you; we only have one left. It is small, but it's good and warm, and has a lovely view of the road heading south," the woman said, a welcoming smile on her face as she set down her project. "Did you arrive by horse?"
"With a wagon, in fact," Lawrence replied. "We—"
"In that case, I'd best get Willem to stable her for you." She stuck her head out of the nearby window and hollered instructions, presumably at Willem, before turning back to Lawrence. "So, are you a peddler? Did you come down from the north?" she asked, pulling a heavy log book from under the counter.
"A travelling merchant, yes. We're actually heading north, as it happens." The woman seemed the sort who wrung conversa—
"I do hope you have plenty of warm clothes and blankets. It only gets colder from here. Your name?"
"Kraft Lawrence." Oh yes, this one was a chatt—
"I see; and your wife, if I might ask?"
Lawrence noted the symbol of the church faithful about the woman's neck and hung on the wall. "Her name is Holo." 'Wife' would be an easier sell than 'companion,' what with all its possible misunderstandings. Not only that, but 'nun' might see Holo subjected to an impromptu quiz on the finer points of church doctrine.
He really should ask her how robust that disguise was.
The innkeeper nodded amiably. "My, but you do look a young one!"
Holo smiled sweetly. "I should say I am older than I look, lest my appearance lower your opinion of my husband," she said in a sweet, demure tone, ducking her head from embarrassment. Was she implying that he looked old? "In truth, I have often felt my elder sister took much of my share of the growing."
It was terrifying, if convenient, how easily Holo could slip into seemingly any role she chose.
"Ah, I had the opposite problem, myself. I roundly cursed my younger sister the day her head grew above my own! Four years younger, but you wouldn't know it to look at her!" She laughed. He should break this off befo— "How long have you two been married?"
He desperately wanted to end the conversation, if only because the longer they talked, the more opportunities Holo would have to make sport of him. He really wanted to have a rest.
"Oh, only a few months yet," Holo replied. She turned to look askance at him. "Even so, it has been quite the adventure."
This was received as though it were a tacit admission of salacious behaviour. For all her piety, she had to have details.
"Oh, my! How did you meet? I hope you'll not take this poorly, but you two make a somewhat odd couple..."
"In truth, I met my dear husband when he was passing through the village where I lived."
'Dear husband'? Uh oh...
"Well, God does work in mysterious ways, but surely there is more to the story than that!"
"Oh, it is somewhat embarrassing, and not all that inter—"
"No, no; please do tell!" she exclaimed, leaning over the counter.
Lawrence realised he'd been completely excised from the conversation.
Holo blushed slightly as she began. "You see, I was quite unhappy, spending my days cooped up in the village, gazing longingly out toward the horizon. I could do naught but wander through the wheat fields, dreaming of what lie beyond the hills and forests and mountains." Holo's voice had began high and sweet like an untouched noble maiden, her hands clasped tightly in front of her chest. It was sickeningly winsome. "By chance, I had spied Lawrence from afar many a time. I knew him to be a good and kind man, and hoped in my heart that he could free me from my cage."
The inn's mistress was positively enraptured by Holo's storytelling. He had to consciously avoid being seen smirking at the ridiculously overwrought performance.
"And so, during his last sojourn, I stole away from my home. I left all I had in the world behind, save what I wore, and snuck into his wagon." Holo ducked her head, averting her eyes. "'Twas not until night had fallen that he discovered me, 'neath a pile of warm furs. Rightly was he surprised, and meant to return me!"
The innkeeper shot Lawrence a look of incredulous disbelief. 'How could you?!' it demanded.
"I begged him: 'please, good sir, do not take me back. If you will take me with you, I know I shall find some way to repay your kindness!'" Holo's eyes shone as she wove the tale. Then, her face took on an altogether different look, adding: "I had... already prepared myself for whatever he might ask of me."
The woman's look was now a mix of pity and admiration. Lawrence hoped that Holo would reach the end before the poor woman swooned from over-stimulation.
Holo looked up, her eyes bright and moist, her smile soft and warm. "But he merely smiled at me and said, 'your yearning to be free has moved me; I shall take you wherever you wish to go. The loneliness of the road and the beauty of your smile is reason enough for me.'" The innkeeper sniffled at this blatant character assassination. "So began our travels together.
"Each day, he showed me such kindness, though 'twas in his own, peculiar way. Despite my merely being a passenger, he put his very life at stake to defend me!" The mistress' look of admiration was now directed at him; it was a look he was rather unfamiliar, and uncomfortable, with.
Holo pushed on. "Before long, I found myself, well... when he professed his love to me 'neath the moon, what could I do but accede to those same feelings within mine own heart?" At this, Holo looked shyly toward Lawrence, then blushed and hid her face, clutching at his arm. "Forgive me, I am yet overcome by my fortune."
It was utterly farcical. But, he had to admit, it had won over the innkeeper. She quickly escorted them to their room, burbling about how they must want to rest, stopping only to wipe tears from her eyes.
He tried to say something about attending to his horse, but she just talked over him.
Once the door was closed, Lawrence finally glanced down at Holo.
"That was so sweet, my teeth ache."
Holo snorted and pulled away. "Thou are merely envious of my magnificent abilities!"
"Hmm? Would that be to spin tales from whole cloth, then?"
She gave him a predatory grin. "She does not know the sort of man you are; you cannot blame her thinking over well of you!"
"That's not what I meant!" he spluttered.
"Oh ho! Were you perhaps not noble enough in my story? 'Travelling Merchant,' indeed. 'Peddler' is hardly grand, now is it?"
"That was simply a matter of... of accuracy. You just didn't need to exaggerate quite so much."
"Oh? Did you not see the joy she took from hearing such a lovely tale of pure and honest love? Do you feel I have slighted you?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him.
"No..."
"Do you think she would have preferred a more accurate version, mayhap?" Holo embraced her own arms. "'Why, upon seeing me, cold and shivering, he drew his blade and threatened to haul me back to my prison!'"
"Now hold on..."
"'I defended him, but he recoiled in horror!'"
He flushed with shame. "That's... not..."
"'He referred to me as cargo, naught but a pretty sack of wheat!'"
"Holo!" he cried out.
She grinned malevolently. "Your complaints are because your reality is so much less admirable than my tale. Aye, there is a bit too much truth in those sweet words for your liking, I think."
He wasn't going to just stand there and take this. "Truth?! I must have been hearing a different story."
"And at which point was I so untruthful?" she challenged.
He raised a finger. "For starters..."
Only then did he realise that he was drawing a complete blank. ...she had escaped with what she was wearing, technically. Strip away the grandiose words, and it was all more-or-less what had happened.
Holo's grin grew wider and wider as he wracked his mind for anything he could seize on. He could only think of one thing; after all, technically, he had "...never professed to loving you."
The moment the words left his mouth, he realised just what a colossal mistake they were.
He'd seen Holo feign hurt before. This could not possibly be feigned. Her eyes were wide with sudden shock, her mouth parted, lower lip trembling faintly. All the bravado and confidence that had been there a moment ago drained from her whole body.
"I... no... not in those words... but after our fight, I thought..." she took a step back and turned away from him, her eyes staring out past the walls. "I thought you had some measure of fondness for me..."
"Holo, I do... I, I didn't..."
"What did you mean, then, Lawrence?" Her voice was now hollow and listless.
He tried to think of how to put it. Even the haphazard, vague answer he'd given in Kumerson had been so hard for him; he just couldn't find the words.
So he stood there, mute. With a start, he realised that Holo had wandered to one of the beds, slipped under the cover, and curled herself into a ball.
'Words,' he thought as he put his hand to his face. He needed words.
There really were only two things he could do. One was to leave the room, and likely drive a wedge between them... but there was no way he could do that. That left only...
...honesty.
He slowly walked to the bed and sat on the edge. Beside him, Holo curled up tighter. He took a deep breath. The cover around her head twitched.
"You're very special to me."
"...What?!" The word came out in an angry, strangled voice. "You would dare use those words now?!"
"They're the truth. You're right, I am envious of your way with words," he tried and failed to keep himself from wringing his hands, "merchants don't have much..." Lawrence sighed. "Sorry, let me say that again; I have never made much use of any language at all when it comes to how I feel."
"As well I know," came an unhappy muttering.
"I've never had a companion before. The closest was probably my master, but I wouldn't want to spend my days with him if I could avoid it."
He paused to think for a moment. "There's never been anyone I wanted to share a journey with." Even with her face hidden, he still felt the need to look away. "I'm a merchant. Money— profit is more important than most anything else. It's the reason I live like I do... But surely you know, it's not..." he swallowed again, "... it's not the most important thing to me." She had to know it was true after his battle against Amarti, if not what happened in Pazzio.
Holo made no move at all. It seemed this wasn't enough. "What you said about my reason... for bringing you with me. I don't know about back then... but..." He groped for something, anything elegant to say. "I know I feel that way now. That and, uh..."
Holo lay still and silent under the covers. Lawrence couldn't think of anything else to say. Well, there was one thing he could say. In theory. He knew the words. He just... if he said that, there would be no taking it back, no way to change its meaning. Was that... did he really...
Holo sighed. Slowly, she uncurled, and poked her head out from under the covers. "I suppose that will have to do, for now. 'Tis unrealistic to expect a more eloquent serenade from you, it seems." Gone was the shattered, broken look. In its place was a wry, calculating grin.
Bloody demon.
He put his face in his hands as she laughed at him.
"Oh, do not be so upset! You did not do that badly, all told," she said in commiseration, patting his head. "Still, you did take altogether too long." She sniffed and bounced off the bed and on to the floor. "I am hungry, and I do believe I saw a tavern not far from the inn."
Lawrence sighed in defeat. "Yes, I believe you're right. I'm not sure how good the food will be," he cautioned.
"Oh, that is of little worry, so long as they have plenty of wine!"
He looked up through his fingers to see Holo beaming happily at him. Once again, it seemed he would make amends through his coin purse. Beaten, he stood. Holo took his hand and dragged him out of the room, her tail wagging.
𝓣𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓮𝓭...