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"Well, let's get out of the rain. You two come to my place for a late breakfast." The dwarf/gnome said while putting his sleeveless leather coat over his head to keep himself from getting wet. It was not a question or a request, it was an order.
I quickly (even if somewhat reluctantly) packed my few belongings, all of which were already drenched. My hair was plastered to my face and my clothes were soaked through within a minute. John just stood there, hair dripping down his face and he was looking at me incredulously.
"You're going to actually take him up on his offer?" He asked in disbelief. I gave him a look that meant, He ordered us to go, so I must go, remember? How I told him all this through one look is beyond me, but John got the message anyway and grumbled as he picked up scattered and drenched belongings.
We hurried to catch up with him as he headed toward the Main Street of the city. We passed many shops, mostly trading shops for merchants picking up their usual jewelry to sell all over the surrounding countries.
Our new leader turned into the blacksmith shop and went through the door in the back. In there were small living quarters, with a bedroom and bathroom, a poorly taken care of kitchen, and a living room with a small fireplace where the remnants of a fire smoldered quietly. There he turned to us.
He introduced himself, "My name is Seekaran, but you can call me Seek. This place isn't much, but it's enough for me, and at least until the rain stops I hope it will be all right for you two."
We nodded. John spoke for both him and me, "My name is John, and this is my friend Elisa. Thank you for your hospitality."
"Um, I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just curious… are you a gnome or a dwarf?" I asked.
He smiled. "I'm half gnome and half dwarf. Is there a problem with that?"
"Why would there be?" I smiled back.
"Good point." He replied. "Now, as I was saying before we all got soaked," with this he wrung out his coat and hung it to dry near the fireplace, poking the fire with a stick (this, by the way, did not make the fire come to life at all), "I think you two should disguise yourselves as knights. If you keep your helmets on and just stand like sentries at your post by some door, you won't be noticed by many people at all, if that is your intent."
Seek acted as if our plans were completely natural. He looked at us expectantly, waiting for a reply.
"And… um, what if we have to take our helmets off?" John asked.
Seek grinned. "Well then, you'll have to think of something if that time comes, now, won't you?"
"Well, it sounds like our best option, John." I commented. "We have to be hidden without hiding, and be seen without being noticed. Dressing up as a knight sounds like the best option, unless we can make ourselves invisible."
"Well, a knight sounds all well and good until you realize that WE DON'T HAVE ARMOR!"
"By the Creator, elf, are you really that dense!" Seek cried out. "Hello, I'm a blacksmith, remember? You know, the person that can make armor!"
"Oh." John blushed, but as fast as lightning strikes he regained his composure and shot back, "Well how do we know that we can trust you? Do you have armor ready now? It takes a while to make, doesn't it? We don't have a lot of time!"
Seek frowned as he studied the defiant, imposing elf in front of him. "Now why would I have even said anything to you two on the road back there if I didn't already have something in mind?" He paused, waited for a response, and, when he got none, he continued, "So, you and your friend need two suits of armor, right? Well, I need someone to test my new armor. I made the armor differently so that it's smaller and more lightweight, but just as strong and durable as the huge, clunky armor that is usually made and it gives you more flexibility. Of course, you won't be fighting in it or anything, but at least you'll be wearing it for some time while you're riding and walking around. Therefore, we both win if I give you the armor that I made (it is made to fit humans, so it should fit you two). You two get your disguise, I get the chance to test my armor. Do we have an agreement?"
I looked at John for the response. After a short pause, John replied, "There are two things: First, why do you need someone to test your armor when you know they won't use it in a battle, and second, why not have some knight try your armor?"
"Smart boy." Seek commented, and I didn't know whether he was being truthful or sarcastic.
John stood up straight and glared at Seek in indignation. "I'm not a boy, I'm sixteen!"
This new information surprised me. I had thought John to be at the very youngest eighteen the way he looked and acted. But now that I looked at John more closely, I could tell that through the mature posture and speech, he had the awkwardness of a teenager. I also realized that he had never told me how old he was, and I had failed to ask. It was funny; some of the obvious things to ask someone about themselves had slipped my mind.
"What ever you say," Seek answered with a shrug. "To answer your questions, I am not having a knight test them out until I know that they truly will work in everyday riding and walking, even running. When I know that they will work for that, I can have a knight come and test them out while in a mock battle or something."
"It's all ready, you may leave whenever you wish. Only promise me that you will return my armor when you come back. If you don't," he lowered his voice into a menacing whisper, "I will find you."
John was not about to take that from someone half his size. He towered over Seek, who did not back down. John asked in a whisper just as menacing, "Is that a threat?"
"John…" I said warningly. "Give it up, okay? Seek, we accept the deal. Now both of you stop trying to act all macho." I found it funny that I hadn't noticed John's immaturity before. Well, he isn't that immature… I thought, besides, all guys have their flaws, right? I sighed at my own stupidity. I still couldn't think up a good enough excuse to stop liking John. Was that it? Did I like him? Was I actually admitting that I like him?
"So let's go and look at the armor. I'm ready for some danger!" John said excitedly, and he flashed me his best smile. I tried to grab my heart and pull it back down to Earth before it floated off into the sky. My heart just took me with it. I smiled back.
"Took you two long enough!" Seek said exasperatedly, and led us back to his shop.
With great difficulty, Seek impatiently taught us how to put on armor. It was heavy, and yet Seek had said that this was the lightest armor ever made! Then we had to get our horses used to the extra weight. Moonlight, being half unicorn and having some draft horse blood in him, was fine with the extra weight. When I sat down on him, he turned his head and looked at me with his big, beautiful, and defiant eyes, seeming to say, "Is that all you've got? Bring it on!" While we trotted down the street, he pranced and strutted his stuff, showing off his knight in shining armor on his back. When I asked him to halt, he reared up gracefully and with much pride, and halted in front of Cinnamon.
"Show-off." I told him. He ignored this comment and looked to make sure that John's mare was watching.
Cinnamon wasn't as forgiving of the extra weight as Moonlight was, and she made sure John knew it. But John knew how to handle her, and before long Cinnamon stopped complaining.
"Now you can go and sulk, mare," John said, getting off and tying her up again. And so she did. John turned to me. "When should we leave?"
I shrugged. "It was a five or six day ride from Frell, and we were traveling fast to get away. The ball's in two weeks, so we have plenty of time, I suppose. And we don't want to get there before Emma does, so we could leave tomorrow and make it a leisurely ride to Frell."
"You two may stay at my place for the night. It will be a tight fit, but if you want to, you can." Seek offered.
"Thank you." John and I said in genuine appreciation.
So that night we stayed at Seek's house. We had a light dinner, sitting in his living room. There wasn't much room, but it was still comfortable anyway. I was very happy, because the small living room meant having to sit close together, so John and I sat next to each other facing Seek. John's leg was touching mine, and this trivial thing made me giddy. Then I felt stupid, but still giddy. We talked about anything and everything, with Seek asking us questions about our life, and John and I asking Seek questions about his. We laughed and joked and ate and talked long into the night. It was a very happy and peaceful night. I thought how much Emma would have liked this, and then I thought how much she wouldn't have liked Seek's messy kitchen. It would be spotless by now, with Emma at the sink doing the dishes, and John and I teasing her while she snapped retorts back good-naturedly. I missed her.
It was very late; John and Seek were talking about mighty battles of elves and gnomes and dwarfs. I found it fascinating but as I gazed into the flames picturing these battles, my mind drifted off and I leaned against John's shoulder to sleep. Instead of shrugging me off, John allowed me to do so. I wasn't sure if I dreamed it or not, but I almost thought that John put his arm around me… but it was too wonderful to be true, so I accepted it as part of my dream and drifted off into a deeper sleep.