Chapter 6
I woke the next morning an hour or so before dawn and, to my surprise, found Adelio and Osian eating breakfast.
"Ophelia! We thought you were planning to sleep the day through! Not that I could blame you," said Adelio as he helped himself to more breakfast, which turned out to be some sort of fish. "But we really have to keep moving if we are to reach Bast in a week."
"I'm sorry," I said as I walked over to the fire to help myself to a fish. I probably looked something awful, but I didn't care at the moment. "I had very little sleep last night."
"I bet I know why, too," Adelio said in a sly voice. I glanced over at Osian to see his reaction. There was none. Adelio continued "You were working on cracking that code."
"What! Oh, no, not at all, I assure you. Actually, I had trouble falling asleep. The pressure from the past few days has been," I paused, "Overwhelming."
"Of course it has!" said Adelio sympathetically. "And I hope you know that I am here for you," He said as he placed his hands on my shoulders and looked deep into my eyes. It was always unnerving when he did that. "And if you ever want to talk, I will listen."
"Thank you," I managed to get out. At least, I hope I did, but I was sure I was muttering incoherently as he walked away. I finished breakfast and went to gather my things and change. Today I was to be a wife of one of the two men (however odd it seemed to me to deem them as such) and the other was to be my brother. I was at that moment wondering whom I was to marry for a day.
"So," I said as we started off on are journey for the day, "Whom am I married to?"
"Me." The voice was Osian's.
"Really? Why you?" I asked.
"Osian has been in higher circles then I have," explained Adelio, "And as such is at a better advantage to act as a wealthy traveler who has just been robbed by bandits and is in ill-humor because of it."
"Surely you do not believe I would think lower of you because you do not socialize with rude aristocrats who are only interested in their own well-being, do you?" I asked.
"Of course not. I know you think nothing of aristocracy," Adelio replied.
"And don't you forget it!" I said jokingly. I then caught a look at Osian. His eyes were on the ground as he moved forward, his face, as usual, expressionless. I looked down, and felt the same feeling in the pit of my stomach that I had felt the day before when I saw the man whom I had healed. We walked in silence for quite some time after that.
About an hour before we were to enter the town, we donned our costumes. I was in a dress of the latest fashion, which I had bought when I went shopping three days ago with Adriana. This one was of purple, and based on my study of the human nature, purple is the color most associated with higher class. We were not to be to high, for that would bring in far too much attention, but we had to have an excuse for coming into town on foot, and being robbed was the only logical one that any one of us could think of. As we donned our disguises, we also donned characters. Osian was to be a gentle man, except when he was upset about being robbed. I was to be his devoted wife, an extremely weak woman (physically, mentally, and emotionally) who could never think poorly of her husband and defended him to the last. Adelio was to be a brother to me and best friend to Osian, although he was to have no income of his own and lived with us. After changing, we set off toward town, and I am sure we all felt a little anxiety.
Our party must have been an interesting sight; three people, obviously well to- do, walking into town. I was leaning on Osian's shoulder and clinging to his arm. One might say I was, at that point, a pendant that he could flaunt whenever it took is fancy to do so. At the moment, it was not in character for him to do so, and the thought was very comforting to me, although I confess I have not the least idea why.
We walked up to what seemed to be the best hotel in the town and walked into the lobby. We proceeded to the front desk, and Osian said in a huff that he wanted two rooms for the night.
"I'm sorry sir, we have only one room available." The innkeeper told us.
"What?!" Osian cried, "That's impossible! We must have two!"
"I'm terribly sorry sir, but we only have one," said the innkeeper politely.
"Sir, I do not need this," Osian began in a voice that stated very clearly who outranked who in this conversation. He proceeded to tell the innkeeper exactly what had "happened" to us, and why he was in such a bad mood. I smiled secretly. I was sure the innkeeper would allow the news of what had happened to us to spread through the town by nightfall. It was a perfect situation, and happened so often that it would not be talked of a week later. "And I therefore wish to spend the night here." He concluded. "I would not if it were not absolutely necessary, I assure you. But I need two rooms!" he roared.
"Sir, I honestly wish I could help you," said the innkeeper, "But I cannot. We are already full, save the one room of which I have mentioned."
"My dear," I said in a whisper of a voice. I sounded so weak I shocked even myself. The three gentlemen in my presence stared at me, two from shock that I could act so weak and one from the thought that a creature this weak was married to a man of this temper. "It is of no consequence. We will spend one night here, and leave tomorrow. We can endure the awkwardness for one night."
"My dear, are you sure?" He said dotingly. He really was a wonderful actor. "I would not wish to inconvenience you."
"I shall be fine. Thank you, my dear, for your caring. You are really too good to me." I smiled. The innkeeper blushed; it was unusual to display such emotion in public for persons of our rank in society.
He smiled back at me and turned to the innkeeper
"I will take your room tonight," he said gruffly.
The innkeeper grabbed our bags and led us up two flights of stairs. I leaned on Osian's arm and he helped me up, supporting my elbow and treating me as if I were something fragile. We walked down the hall to the last door on the left, where the innkeeper set down our bags and opened the door for us.
The room was mostly bed, and one bed at that. I stared in disbelief and shock. There was a rather unsanitary bathroom, one giant bed that could fit two people easily (or three narrowly) and enough floor space for one person to lie down.
"I hope you are satisfied with your rooms," The innkeeper said. When he got no response, he left us. What happened over the next few minutes was a rather heated discussion over who was to sleep in the bed. I insisted that the two men share the bed and that I would lie down on the floor, while Adelio said Osian and I should share it, and that after all, we were "married," while Osian said he would not mind sleeping on the floor but insisted that I sleep on the bed.
After who knows how long of arguing we were getting no where, and I was just about to say something in a rather loud and argumentative voice when the door opened suddenly, and in cam the innkeeper to see if we wanted anything. He looked surprised for a moment to see me standing, until I sat down suddenly and made some comment about the weather being to cool for a walk of our distance that day. Taking their cues from me, the two men managed to shake off the innkeeper and regained our privacy. After the door closed, Adelio glared at us both.
"See!" he exclaimed. "See! This is why you two must sleep in the bed, anyone could walk in here tonight, and," He turned to me, "if they see me in bed with you or you on the floor it would blow our cover! So what if it's a little awkward for one night? You'll get over it! What would be really uncomfortable is if someone saw us acting in a manner we shouldn't be acting in, and ruined our cover!"
Osian and I looked at each other. We both knew he was right, but neither one of us was looking forward to what it meant. I sighed.
Later that night, after working on cracking the code and making very little progress, I blew out the candle by my bed and went to sleep: but only after making sure Osian was on the very edge of the opposite side of the bed.
*Author's Note(s): Thank you for reading this! I hope you liked it! Please review with questions, comments, things you would like to happen, things that are really obvious that will happen, and what you like and/or dislike about the story! I need constructive criticism, people, or else this story will be as bad as it is throughout! Thanks again for reading, and please review!*
I woke the next morning an hour or so before dawn and, to my surprise, found Adelio and Osian eating breakfast.
"Ophelia! We thought you were planning to sleep the day through! Not that I could blame you," said Adelio as he helped himself to more breakfast, which turned out to be some sort of fish. "But we really have to keep moving if we are to reach Bast in a week."
"I'm sorry," I said as I walked over to the fire to help myself to a fish. I probably looked something awful, but I didn't care at the moment. "I had very little sleep last night."
"I bet I know why, too," Adelio said in a sly voice. I glanced over at Osian to see his reaction. There was none. Adelio continued "You were working on cracking that code."
"What! Oh, no, not at all, I assure you. Actually, I had trouble falling asleep. The pressure from the past few days has been," I paused, "Overwhelming."
"Of course it has!" said Adelio sympathetically. "And I hope you know that I am here for you," He said as he placed his hands on my shoulders and looked deep into my eyes. It was always unnerving when he did that. "And if you ever want to talk, I will listen."
"Thank you," I managed to get out. At least, I hope I did, but I was sure I was muttering incoherently as he walked away. I finished breakfast and went to gather my things and change. Today I was to be a wife of one of the two men (however odd it seemed to me to deem them as such) and the other was to be my brother. I was at that moment wondering whom I was to marry for a day.
"So," I said as we started off on are journey for the day, "Whom am I married to?"
"Me." The voice was Osian's.
"Really? Why you?" I asked.
"Osian has been in higher circles then I have," explained Adelio, "And as such is at a better advantage to act as a wealthy traveler who has just been robbed by bandits and is in ill-humor because of it."
"Surely you do not believe I would think lower of you because you do not socialize with rude aristocrats who are only interested in their own well-being, do you?" I asked.
"Of course not. I know you think nothing of aristocracy," Adelio replied.
"And don't you forget it!" I said jokingly. I then caught a look at Osian. His eyes were on the ground as he moved forward, his face, as usual, expressionless. I looked down, and felt the same feeling in the pit of my stomach that I had felt the day before when I saw the man whom I had healed. We walked in silence for quite some time after that.
About an hour before we were to enter the town, we donned our costumes. I was in a dress of the latest fashion, which I had bought when I went shopping three days ago with Adriana. This one was of purple, and based on my study of the human nature, purple is the color most associated with higher class. We were not to be to high, for that would bring in far too much attention, but we had to have an excuse for coming into town on foot, and being robbed was the only logical one that any one of us could think of. As we donned our disguises, we also donned characters. Osian was to be a gentle man, except when he was upset about being robbed. I was to be his devoted wife, an extremely weak woman (physically, mentally, and emotionally) who could never think poorly of her husband and defended him to the last. Adelio was to be a brother to me and best friend to Osian, although he was to have no income of his own and lived with us. After changing, we set off toward town, and I am sure we all felt a little anxiety.
Our party must have been an interesting sight; three people, obviously well to- do, walking into town. I was leaning on Osian's shoulder and clinging to his arm. One might say I was, at that point, a pendant that he could flaunt whenever it took is fancy to do so. At the moment, it was not in character for him to do so, and the thought was very comforting to me, although I confess I have not the least idea why.
We walked up to what seemed to be the best hotel in the town and walked into the lobby. We proceeded to the front desk, and Osian said in a huff that he wanted two rooms for the night.
"I'm sorry sir, we have only one room available." The innkeeper told us.
"What?!" Osian cried, "That's impossible! We must have two!"
"I'm terribly sorry sir, but we only have one," said the innkeeper politely.
"Sir, I do not need this," Osian began in a voice that stated very clearly who outranked who in this conversation. He proceeded to tell the innkeeper exactly what had "happened" to us, and why he was in such a bad mood. I smiled secretly. I was sure the innkeeper would allow the news of what had happened to us to spread through the town by nightfall. It was a perfect situation, and happened so often that it would not be talked of a week later. "And I therefore wish to spend the night here." He concluded. "I would not if it were not absolutely necessary, I assure you. But I need two rooms!" he roared.
"Sir, I honestly wish I could help you," said the innkeeper, "But I cannot. We are already full, save the one room of which I have mentioned."
"My dear," I said in a whisper of a voice. I sounded so weak I shocked even myself. The three gentlemen in my presence stared at me, two from shock that I could act so weak and one from the thought that a creature this weak was married to a man of this temper. "It is of no consequence. We will spend one night here, and leave tomorrow. We can endure the awkwardness for one night."
"My dear, are you sure?" He said dotingly. He really was a wonderful actor. "I would not wish to inconvenience you."
"I shall be fine. Thank you, my dear, for your caring. You are really too good to me." I smiled. The innkeeper blushed; it was unusual to display such emotion in public for persons of our rank in society.
He smiled back at me and turned to the innkeeper
"I will take your room tonight," he said gruffly.
The innkeeper grabbed our bags and led us up two flights of stairs. I leaned on Osian's arm and he helped me up, supporting my elbow and treating me as if I were something fragile. We walked down the hall to the last door on the left, where the innkeeper set down our bags and opened the door for us.
The room was mostly bed, and one bed at that. I stared in disbelief and shock. There was a rather unsanitary bathroom, one giant bed that could fit two people easily (or three narrowly) and enough floor space for one person to lie down.
"I hope you are satisfied with your rooms," The innkeeper said. When he got no response, he left us. What happened over the next few minutes was a rather heated discussion over who was to sleep in the bed. I insisted that the two men share the bed and that I would lie down on the floor, while Adelio said Osian and I should share it, and that after all, we were "married," while Osian said he would not mind sleeping on the floor but insisted that I sleep on the bed.
After who knows how long of arguing we were getting no where, and I was just about to say something in a rather loud and argumentative voice when the door opened suddenly, and in cam the innkeeper to see if we wanted anything. He looked surprised for a moment to see me standing, until I sat down suddenly and made some comment about the weather being to cool for a walk of our distance that day. Taking their cues from me, the two men managed to shake off the innkeeper and regained our privacy. After the door closed, Adelio glared at us both.
"See!" he exclaimed. "See! This is why you two must sleep in the bed, anyone could walk in here tonight, and," He turned to me, "if they see me in bed with you or you on the floor it would blow our cover! So what if it's a little awkward for one night? You'll get over it! What would be really uncomfortable is if someone saw us acting in a manner we shouldn't be acting in, and ruined our cover!"
Osian and I looked at each other. We both knew he was right, but neither one of us was looking forward to what it meant. I sighed.
Later that night, after working on cracking the code and making very little progress, I blew out the candle by my bed and went to sleep: but only after making sure Osian was on the very edge of the opposite side of the bed.
*Author's Note(s): Thank you for reading this! I hope you liked it! Please review with questions, comments, things you would like to happen, things that are really obvious that will happen, and what you like and/or dislike about the story! I need constructive criticism, people, or else this story will be as bad as it is throughout! Thanks again for reading, and please review!*