The next morning, she rolled out of bed to the morning bell. Usually, she dozed for another ten minutes, always praying that she wouldn't actually fall asleep. She had done twice. Both times she had just skipped breakfast and ate a big lunch. It was cold today, so she just got up. Looking out her window, she gaped. The big storm that she had seen the night before had dumped out ten inches of snow. "Oh dear. I really don't want to go to work." She sighed. Oh well, she thought, I have the whole morning to warm up. She dressed, went to breakfast and attempted to do well in her three classes. Wydlon and myles, after a mild argument had decided that she did not need philosephy, so now she was down to magic, history, and etiquette. Etiquette was an unsure thing for her. Sometimes it bored her to no end, and sometimes it was facinating. Today felt like it was one of those days when she wished that she could just run up and strangle Master Oakbridge. He was just as bad, if not worse than the books decribed him. The old etiquitte master had apparently been worse, as Neal's last letter had said, but she had wrote him telling him point blank that she didn't believe him. That had been two weeks ago, and she doubted that she'd be getting anymore mail from him, now that the snow was here. This all went through her head as she jogged to breakfast and sat in her normal place. It was next to a few second years. She helped with the usual scramble to get math done. They also joked around a lot, and reminded her of some of her freshman friends, though they were two years younger or so. The third years were fun too, and she stayed away from the fourth and first years. The first years she stayed away from mostly because they were young and slightly annoying. The fourth years she shunned, though there were a few that were nice. The rest she didn't like because they had the I'm a knight and I'm better than you are attitude that she hated with a passion. When she got to class, she found that she had been right about master Oakbridge, she had daydreams of running and stabbing him with a blunt knife. Then she walked to Myles' class. She now sat through two history classes, three magic and one in hell. She was in a first year hell class, a first and a thrird year history class, and a second, fourth and third year magic class. All of them taught something different for each year, everyday, so she got a lot of magic and history. Eating lunch she chose the hottest looking cup of tea and sipped it carefully. Suddenly, a knock on her back caused her to spill the whole thing down her front. Tears formed in her eyes from the heat, and she resisted the urge to scream loudly. Getting up, she saw Drake, the fourth year, shuffling to his table and snickering. Oh blast, this is painful, she thought. Grabbing a roll and some cheese, she started back to her room. "Going somewhere slut?" Her eyes narrowed to slits. "Since you dumped that tea on me, I sort of have to change." He smiled, though she couldn't see him, as he was behind her. "I am hurt Xlelon, why ever would I dump a cup of hot tea on you?" "Lets see, because you are a total jerk?" Oh wonderful comeback, she thought, I hate this kid. She turned around, only to find no one there. Reaching for her necklace, she rubbed the dragon side with her thumb, glad for it's coolness. Shrugging, she continued to her rooms. Pulling on a new skirt and blouse, she also began the annoying process of layering her cloths. "A wonderful thing, layering cloths, but its annoying as hell." When she was done, she started out to wading through ten inches of snow. It got better as she went the roads were semi-clear, though no carts would be able to get through for awhile. When she got to the inn, Jerry told her that Julie wouldn't be working for the rest of the year, as she stopped working at the first snows. She sighed, losing Julie meant more work for all of them, and she had liked the woman. "What rooms today?" He grabbed a roster and ran his finger down it. "Any of them except for fifteen, poor guys, stumbled in this morning, slapped some money down and crashed in the room. Got stuck in the storm I'll reckon. Their horses weren't much better." "Horses?" "Yeah, a black one and a bay, both freezing after last night. I think they're better now, we warmed em up and feed em lots." "That was nice of you." He nodded. "Knew you'd never forgive me if I didn't." She smiled, grabbed her cleaning supplies and immediately ran into problems. "Jerry, where am going to get water?" He laughed. "That pump's connected to a hot water spring, it'll still run." She started, hot water spring? No wonder this inn is so old, she thought, and since when did Corus have springs? Water, that's right. The river doesn't go through the city, so they get water from the springs, and that's why the city is here. She smiled, glad to have figured it out. She then ran out and pumped water while her teeth chattered. Thinking, she decided that they couldn't really be described as hot, but just warm. Maybe it's just an aquifer, she thought, who knows though? Making herself stop thinking about the wonders of her world, she went to scrub the rooms. She decided not to clean fourteen or sixteen either, so she didn't disturb the travelers. By the time she had done four rooms, her light had run out, and she didn't clean by candlelight. Quickly changing, she walked downstairs to find the bar empty. Linda and Quatrine sat in one of the booths, sipping lemonade. "Isn't it a bit cold for lemonade?" Quatrine smiled. "It's never too cold for lemonade." Linda nodded. Xlelon shook her head and grabbed her usual dinner, a half a loaf of bread and cheese. Looking around, she found a sugar lump and grabbed it. "I'm going to check on those people's horses." Linda seemed to know what she was talking about, and nodded. As she walked out, she heard Quatrine ask, what people? Thankful that there was a connecting door, she went into the stable and found jerry's mount, plus a black and a bay. They looked strangely familiar. She greeted Jerry's old horse first, feeding him a bit of her cheese, as he didn't like the sugar. She thought it rather odd for a horse not to like sugar, but as he had said, different horse, different likes. She then came to the two new additions. "Hello, what are your names?" Numair would lynch me for actually talking to them, a tiny voice in her head said, and promptly shot it with her slight archer's skills. ~I am May, and this is April.~ "Huh. That's weird, no no no, not your names, just.have I met you before?" May horse-smirked in amusement, while April replied. ~No, we have only talked to the girl who is people.~ She fleetingly wondered what she was known as in the animal world. "Oh. Well, when did you come? Was it as bad as jerry made it out to be?" ~Yes, but he was kind to us and our humans, and we are better now.~ "Wait a second, who owns you?" "Xlelon? Are talking to that horse?" Crap, she thought, Linda. "No, just making sure that they're ok." Xlelon glared lightly at the horses, who simply snorted. "Well, we need you, the people were only late, the snow didn't stop them at all." She shook her head. "These people are insane." Linda smiled and steered her from the stables. "No they aren't, they're just drunk's." Xlelon smiled and followed her. When she walked into the now bustling room, the first thing she noticed was the warmth, as if she had just come home to a cozy fire. Must be all the people, she thought, though why it never smells in here I'll never know. Grabbing some drinks and a sheet of paper, she began to serve the people. After an hour, Linda pulled her aside. "Xlelon, there's a man sitting over there who needs some company." "Did he ask?" Linda smiled. Xlelon could see the mischief in her eyes, and calmly wondered what she knew. "No, but I know a lonely man when I see one." Xlelon rolled her eyes. Grabbing two drinks, she walked over. Stopping next to the man's shoulder, she put a one down in front of him. "No beer, thanks, I'll stick with lemonade." "Sure you don't want some company?" The man turned around to thank her and decline, as he had done so often recently, and stopped. They both stared, slightly dumbstruck. "Neal? What are you doing here?!" He smirked. "I could ask you the same thing." She raised her eyebrows. "I work here smart one." He nearly choked. "What? You work.here?" "Problem with that?" He shook his head mutely. "Well.you did tell me you'd found work." "I most certainly did." He laughed. "Yep, she's the same." He said, almost to himself. She sat down oppisite him. Linda had been watching the whole thing. Smirking, she turned around to pour more drinks. "I could say the same for you, sir." "Glad to see some things don't change." She was suddenly strongly reminded of the day that she had met him. It was one of the few things that she had said to him that hadn't been an insult. "Seriously, why are you here? Surely you aren't the two travelers caught in the storm?" He smirked, and she had her answer. "Yep. We started out later than expected, and the storm was fast. My lord decided that he didn't even want to try for the palace, so we came here." She shook her head. "I swear, the god's like to play tricks on me." "I believe it, though tricks like this are usually harmless enough that no one cares." She nodded. "Where is Lord Imrah anyway?" He jerked a thumb to the rooms. "Still asleep, I woke up and got hungry." He shook his head. "He needs to eat something as well, we haven't ate for awhile." "How long." He tapped his fingers against the table. "About a day." She frowned. "Go wake him up, he's more in danger of being dehydrated." "How do you know?" "I lived in snow like this for fifteen winters, trust me, hunger isn't the danger." Shaking his head, he got up to go and wake his knight master, head reeling. She went and grabbed some lemonade, then followed him. It wasn't until he unlocked the door that he realized Xlelon was behind him. Leaning against the wall, he watched as she gently rouse Imrah. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes. "Xlelon? Well, this is a twist." Neal snorted. "You have no idea." She turned around to glare at him, and found him smiling. She shook her head, then turned back to Imrah. "Drink this, now, If Neal is right, you haven't had anything for a day." He grabbed the tankard and downed it. Peering inside, she looked up at him. Neal stared. "Looks as if I'll have to get some more." She shook her head. "No, I'll get it, you stay here and keep him awake." He nodded and sat down beside her as she stood up. Walking out, she heard Imrah ask how she had gotten here. She smiled, wondering what Neal's answer would be. Going to find some more lemonade, she found Linda instead. "Having fun with your friend?" In the back round, Quatrine giggled. Xlelon smiled, deciding to play along. "Oh yes, lots." Linda raised her eyebrows. "Really now? And didn't Jerry tell me that there are two of them?" She smiled slyly. "Oh yes, there certainly are." Silence ensued for a moment, and then all three of them started to laugh. Xlelon ran back to the room three more times, then bid everyone goodnight and stepped into the cold. ~^~ #1- yes dehydration is a danger in the snow, there's no moisture in the air, and you lose it everytime you breath out, so you have to drink lots. Strange huh? The things you learn. #2 If you've read Hitchhikers guide, you'll get this, otherwise, disregard.Did you know that Mulder from X-files lives in apartment 42? hehe #3 aren't I eeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil?