There was only one inn in Willowbranch, a slightly dubious establishment called the Singing Fiddle. At the moment, Emelye didn't care how odd it was; she just wanted to sleep. Sully was fast asleep already, his fuzzy white head resting on her lap.
Emelye poked her head out of the window as the carriage stopped. "Are we staying here?" she asked.
"I don't know," Jeanetta said. "The inn looks crowded."
"Don't worry, my dear," Keefer reassured her. "I'll be sure to find a room for you and your sisters." He dismounted his horse. "Come on, Calix. We must make certain that the two young ladies are taken care of."
"Three," Emelye reminded them, waving.
Keefer blinked. "Oh, yes," he said. "Three young ladies."
"Actually, two young ladies and a half-pint," Leverett yawned. A shoe flew out of the carriage window and hit him neatly on the back of the head. "Ow!" He glared in Emelye's general direction, but she had retreated into the shadows.
Julietta patted her tired horse's neck. "I do hope the princes have been able to find a room for us," she sighed. "I'm so tired."
Just then a couple with several whining children trooped out of the inn. "I wish they had more rooms here," the wife said. "No, Billy! Don't pull your sister's hair!" They shepherded their wailing herd across the courtyard to the gate.
"Oh, dear," Jeanetta said.
"What luck!" Keefer called. "There are two rooms available."
"But what about those people?" Julietta asked.
"What people?" Calix asked. "When we gave the innkeeper our names, they fell over backwards in their desire to give us the keys."
Emelye rolled her eyes. "I told you they were snobs, Sully," she whispered.
"Talking to your goat again?" Leverett asked dryly.
"Perhaps," she countered. "What are you here for?"
"Returning a shoe," he said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Thank you," Emelye said, sliding the old boot on her foot. She scooped up her dozing goat. "Now if you'll care to move. I have to get out."
"Well, you may not have any manners, but I have been well trained," Leverett said, slightly annoyed. He opened the door and held out his hand. Emelye placed her hand on top of his. His hands were thin, with slight calluses on the palm from holding a sword hilt. "Are you going to let go?" he griped.
Emelye jerked her hand away. "You wouldn't let go of me!" she argued. She shifted Sully, swept pass Leverett, and stalked into the inn.
"Oh, no," he said. "I could distinctly tell that it was your fingers that wouldn't let go."
"Only in your dreams, highness," Emelye said.
"My dreams? I'll have you know that I am eligible to wed nearly any girl in this kingdom!" Leverett said.
"Nearly?" Emelye repeated, snorting.
"You-"
Suddenly a shadow loomed over them. "There's payin' customers asleep, I'll have you know," the innkeeper rumbled.
Emelye hugged Sully tightly and nodded, wide-eyed. "Yessir," she said meekly. Leverett opened his mouth to argue, but she elbowed him hard in the ribs and curtsied meekly to the innkeeper.
"You expect me to kowtow the patron of a measly inn like this?" Leverett hissed. Emelye rolled her eyes, walked purposefully over his foot, and followed her sisters to their room.
It was a fairly nice room, average sized, with two beds and a wardrobe. "Who's sharing the beds?" Julietta asked.
"I am not sharing with Emmalina," Jeanetta said immediately. "She kicks."
"Well, you talk in your sleep," Emelye retorted.
"Now, girls," Julietta started to say.
"And you snore!" her sisters said.
Julietta took a step back. "Well!" she said. "We'll have to put up with each other anyway. I'll share with Jeanetta."
"And Emelye gets a bed to herself?" Jeanetta pouted.
"Of course not!" Emelye said. "I'm sharing with Sully." She held the sleeping, drooling goat's face close to her sister's. "Don't you want to share a bed with Sully?"
Jeanetta drew back, making a face. "Don't be so repulsive, Emmalina!" she squealed. "You can share with him!"
Satisfied, Emelye set Sully on the bed. As she straightened up, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She scowled and yanked the dark ribbons out of her hair, letting her pigtails fall down her back. Emelye changed into a sleeveless nightdress, scooted Sully over, and climbed into bed.
"Oh, Emelye!" Julietta scolded gently. She picked up Emelye's patched skirt and faded blouse and folded them neatly. "Can't you clean your things up neatly?"
Emelye yawned and pretended to be asleep. Julietta laughed. "Good night, Emelye," she said. But by then she really was asleep.
Emelye's dreams were full of confusing fantasies. She kept dreaming that she was walking through a castle, walking up and down stairs and through hallways and around balconies until her feet ached.
"Miss Schmeadling?"
The castle never seemed to end. It was cold, too- the stone floors froze her feet and slowed her down even more.
"Miss Schmeadling."
She was so tired, tired of walking, tired of being cold, just plain tired. But somehow she didn't know how to stop.
"Emelye, wake up!"
Emelye blinked rapidly. A pair of dark green eyes were glowing in the dark, studying her carefully. "Are you kidnapping me?" she squeaked.
"Oh, you stupid peasant girl," Leverett griped. "You were sleepwalking."
"Sleepwalking?" she repeated, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Where am I?"
"The middle of the courtyard," Leverett reported. "I came down to get a drink- the servants are all sleeping, lazy creatures- and there you were, meandering aimlessly. Playing Ophelia, are we?"
"Do I know her?" Emelye asked hazily.
Leverett rolled his eyes. "Ophelia is- never mind," he said. He glanced at her. "Do you have...anything to...well, cover yourself up with?"
Emelye frowned, until a night breeze kicked up and she realized she was wandering around in her shift. "Oh!" she blushed.
Leverett took off his cape and handed it to her. "Put it on," he said. "Now go up to your room before you die of pneumonia." Emelye nodded, almost smiling. She was at the door when she heard him finish what he was saying. "Of course, I'll probably have to burn that cloak later..."
Emelye picked up a rock to toss at his head, but instead she smiled and dropped it back on the path. She retreated to her room and crawled under the blankets of her bed.
She awoke the next morning to see her sisters standing over her, smiling fiendishly. "May I help you?" Emelye asked sleepily.
"We were only wondering where you got that cape," Jeanetta said. "A gift from a certain young prince?"
"Of course not!" Emelye said, horrified. "He only let me borrow it because I was cold. It has no sentimental value whatsoever. It was a common courtesy."
"Common courtesy doesn't mean you have to sleep with it in your hand," Julietta pointed out. Emelye blushed and let go.
"It was all Sully's fault," she said. "He took all the blankets, so I had to use the cape."
"Oh, certainly," Jeanetta said. "Blame the goat."
Emelye ignored her giggling sisters and got dressed, hoping they would tire of their game and leave her alone. No such luck. They were still harping over it as they prepared to leave and ride out for the day.
Jeanetta elbowed Emelye playfully. "Look, Emelye, it's your prince," she said. "Are you going to tell him what you did with his cape last night?"
"It was the goat," Emelye muttered.
"What did she do?" Leverett asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing-"
"She slept with it around her," Julietta smiled. "It was so sweet, highness."
"It was cold. Sully took all the blankets. I had no other choice!" Emelye insisted. She thrust the folded cape in Leverett's hand. "Just take it."
"Like I said, I'll have to burn this later," he said. "Oh, well." Scowling, Emelye climbed into the carriage, dragging Sully behind her.
"Did I miss something?" he yawned.
"Yes," Emelye said, her arms crossed over her chest. "I blame you."
"For what?"
"Everything!" she said. "Leave me alone." Sully, still bemused, went back to sleep. Emelye pulled her notes on giants to study them.
She'd never dealt with giants before. Brownies a plenty, and even a p'shog or two, but she'd never had to fight anything bigger than five feet tall. Emelye rubbed her nose and sighed. It was going to be difficult to fight a giant. She was barely five feet tall herself.
"Are you conscious in there? I'm talking to you! Listen when I'm speaking?"
"Huh?" Emelye mumbled.
Leverett glanced down through the window. "Why don't you ride one of the horses?" he asked. "We only got the coach to hold luggage. And instead you're holed up inside."
"I hate horses," Emelye said.
"But they're nicer than that rattletrap of a carriage," Leverett said. "You're most likely riding just to be obstinate."
Emelye dug her bitten-off fingernails on the window ledge. "My mother was killed by a horse," she said, her voice quiet and fierce. Before Leverett could say anything else she closed the shutter on his face.
She was glad Sully was still sleeping. She didn't want him to bring up the topic as well. Emelye stared at the floor for a while, her arms folded across her stomach. She must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew the sky was streaked with pink and orange as the sun set. She rubbed her eyes. "Where are we?" she asked Sully.
"About a day's ride from the capitol, I'd say," the goat surmised. "We should be arriving at the castle tomorrow."
"Are we stopping here?" Emelye asked.
"I would think so, as the carriage has come to a total and complete stop," Sully said dryly.
"No need to be snippy, Sully," she said. The goat snorted as Emelye opened the door and hopped to the ground.
"I cannot believe that we have to spend the night here," Leverett was complaining. "Sleeping out of doors? The concept is simply unbearable."
Keefer shrugged. "It's not that bad," he told his little brother.
"Not that bad? Not that bad?" Leverett repeated, trailing behind his brothers as they prepared a tent. "This is very bad! I mean, after all, think of the three ladies."
"I thought it was two ladies and a half pint," Emelye mused. "I've moved up in the food chain."
"And we're quite used to the outdoors, highness," Julietta said. "It will be no hardship for us."
"See, Leverett?" Calix said. "If the girls can do it, you can do it."
"But they're peasants! Of course they can do it!" Leverett moaned.
"You're very annoying when you whine," Emelye commented.
"He is at that, isn't he, miss?" Calix grinned. "And to think we've put up with it all these years."
"I pity you, highness," Emelye bantered. Leverett opened and closed his mouth several times in protest, but finally gave up to stalk into the woods.
"I'm getting firewood," he mumbled.
It was nearly an hour later before anyone remembered him. "Didn't the prince go somewhere?" Jeanetta remembered.
"He'll be all right," Keefer said with a wave of his hand. "Here, Miss Jeanetta, there's plenty of food."
Emelye stretched her legs towards the crackling fire. "You know, there have been reports of sprites in this area," she reminded the older princes.
"Maybe one of us should look for him," Calix said guiltily.
Emelye stood up. "I'll go," she said. "Sully needs a walk. He's getting fat and lazy."
Sully waited until they were out of earshot. "Fat and lazy?" he repeated.
"You are on the bit pudgy side," Emelye pointed out. This sent the goat into a sulk, and Emelye knew from experience that a sulky goat was not a fun companion.
A tree rustled. "Sully, do you hear that?" she said.
"Hear what?" he asked. "I'm so pudgy it's affected my hearing."
Emelye kicked him playfully. "No," she said. "Don't you hear that? Sounds like a sprite."
"It might be," Sully said.
There was a sharp crackle of underbrush. Emelye drew back slightly. "Oberon's breath, I forgot my dagger," she mumbled.
The intruder broke through the thicket. "I have the wood," Leverett huffed.
"Where'd you get it?"Emelye asked, grabbing one of his sticks and examining it.
"I searched everywhere,"Leverett said. A lock of dark hair fell over one eye and there was a scratch on his cheek. He was obviously pleased with his toil.
"Maybe you should search a little bit more,"Emelye said, holding up the stick and examining it in the moonlight.
"Isn't it good enough for you?"the prince snapped.
"No,"she said. "It's as wet as a sea dragon's underbelly." She waved the twig in Leverett's face. "Don't you know anything?"
"It'll be fine," he groused.
"No, it won't," Emelye said. "By Oberon, you are just too stupid sometimes." She hooked her fingers in Sully's collar and started back.
"Now, you listen!" Leverett exclaimed, chasing after her. "I have been-"
"What? Been what?" Emelye asked.
He grabbed her arm. "What was that?" he hissed.
"I didn't hear anything," she said, shaking his arm off. "You have too vibrant an imagination, highness."
But she couldn't help but shiver when she heard the noise too. "Let me borrow your sword," Emelye whispered.
"You can't be serious," Leverett said. "You'll just drop it. Unless you plan to kill the intruder by dropping an anvil on his foot."
"Just give it to me!" she insisted. Emelye yanked the sword of the sheath on Leverett's belt and nearly fell over with the weight.
"I told you so," he sniffed.
She ignored him. "Sully, the sound is coming from that direction," she said. The goat trotted off. Emelye grasped the sword hilt with both hands and strained to lift it. "Oh, and highness...you might want to stand back."
Leverett opened his mouth to spout off some snide comment, but he quickly shut up as Sully reappeared. In his mouth he held a green, scaly, snarling creature about seven inches high that faintly resembled a human. Only faintly.
Emelye held the sword out in front of her, her arms shaking with the weight. "You are of the sprite-folk," she said clearly. "Do you repent?"
The scaly insect-person answered by spitting violently at her. "So you have chosen for yourself," Emelye said. A ray of bright white light shot from the blade and hit the sprite, shattering it into a thousand pieces.
Emelye handed the sword back to Leverett. "My thanks," she said. She patted Sully on the head and started back towards the campfire.
Behind her Leverett stood stock-still for a moment, and then ran after her. "Wait a minute!" he shouted. "Where did that- how did you- it's never-" They broke through the fringe of woods to the clearing.
"What was that flash of light?" Keefer asked, looking up from poking the embers of the campfire with a long stick. "We could see it a mile away."
"Just a sprite," Emelye shrugged.
"Ooh, did this one bite?" Jeanetta asked.
"Thankfully, no," Emelye said. "I think it was just looking for the local deer population to feed on."
"Was it very strong?" Julietta asked.
"No," she answered. "It didn't take much to exterminate." Emelye yawned. "Sully and I are a little tired, though. I think we'll go to bed."
"Good night, then, Miss Emelye," Calix said.
"G'night, everyone," Emelye said, yawning again. She climbed into the carriage, Sully at her heels, and curled up on the cushioned bench to sleep. As she drifted off to sleep, she could hear the others still talking.
"So, Leverett. Where's the wood?"
Emelye snickered and pulled her blanket over her head.
Author's Notes: Aw...ishn't dat sho shweet?! I love Leverett...and Rei Kashino!! I am so in love with Rei Kashino I could diiiieee...anyways...shoutouts!
BlackRoseGirl: Yippee! Glad you like Sully! Here's a new chapter for you!!
Raspberry Girl: Yup, Sully eats everything. And Scully? That would be interesting. The Half Pint X-Files!!! yeah!!!
bOw-doWn-tO-keiKO: Wahoo!! The first of my animeff-reading-pals to review Half Pint!! Yay!!! I loves you!!!!
