Chapter 5: Girl Talk.
My eyes were as large as dinner plates. There was a mixture of fear and anger coursing through me. This arrogant popping jay could ruin everything. I glared at him. "What is it going to take to keep you quiet?"
"I want what you promised me a long time ago." He walked towards me and stopped inches from me. Dante crossed his arms and looked down at me. The man was at least four or five hands taller than I was.
"What?" I didn't even remember meeting him, how could I possibly remember a promise I made to him?
He chuckled. "You don't remember, do you?" A smirk crossed his face. I kept silent and tried to kick start any remote memory I had. Nothing came to my mind.
"You can't tell Xaedes." I pleaded. "Or Marious." I was frantic.
"Hn… Why not? They deserve to know they have a liar in their midst. It's just as dishonest as having a thief." He kept his arrogant smirk.
"I am NOT stealing anything. I am avoiding complications. Xaedes ASSUMED I was his little brother and I never corrected him." I turned on my heel and started to stomp towards the Inn.
Dante grabbed my arm and spun me around. "What are you thinking girl? You think that this is a game?" His tone showed a bit of concern that confused me. Dante had a look on his face that stirred a memory. It was like a foggy dream that I couldn't see. His eyes made me want to melt into him. I resisted and pushed him away.
"THIS is why!" I shouted. "I know this isn't a game. I understand the serious danger I, no, WE face. The last thing I want is for ANYONE to get hurt or killed because they feel duty bound to protect the little girl. I am PERFECTLY capable of taking care of myself." I was breathing heavily from how angry I was.
Dante seemed angry as well. He let go of my arm. "I will reserve judgment until we train tomorrow. But you WILL allow me to walk you to your Inn… George." He spat the name.
I growled and headed to the Inn, Dante not far behind me. The bastard knew my secret and worse, he knew my NAME. We had met before and I couldn't remember him at all. I'm sure I would have remembered those emerald green eyes that made my stomach flutter and my pulse race. DAMIT ALL!
I started to count again and reminded myself that I hated him. I ignored Dante as I walked into the Inn and up the stairs. I started to unlock my door, but before I actually opened the door I looked up to see him leaning on the wall next to my room. "You walked me to my door. Now. Go. Away."
"No." He was enjoying tormenting me.
"Look, go and tell Xaedes and Marious all you want. Out me as the deceiving female I am. It will only prove how much of a spoiled brat you are." I felt the chill in my own voice. I must have hurt him some way, because he stood up off the wall and turned away from me.
"You really don't remember do you?" Dante sounded like a whipped puppy. I was glad I was seething with anger at that moment or I would have done something girly.
"It must not have been that important." I kept my glare.
Dante sighed sadly. "I guess not." He started to walk back down the stairs and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Dante turned back up to me. "It was to me." And then he walked away.
I stood at my door and blinked in shock. I was confused. I didn't know what had just happened. There was a jumble of emotions that I wasn't used to. I wasn't sure how to feel or what to feel. It all boiled down to a twisted sense of guilt that was starting to gnaw at me. I tried to shake it off, but it only made me dizzy.
I opened my door and walked inside. I was too deep in my thoughts to notice the human size lump on my bed. I had taken off the leather chest piece and tossed it aside. I sat down on the bed as a wave of exhaustion came over me. I stretched and yawned at the same time right before I was going to fall sideways to hit the fluffy looking pillows.
I screamed and nearly jumped out of my skin when the warm hands touched my sides. I was on the other side of the room faster than I thought I could move. There, in my bed was a very naked wash maid looking a little scared herself. My heart was in my throat and I was breathing heavily. I swallowed hard and was about to protest her intrusion, when Dante burst through the door with his sword drawn. Next time I will remember to lock the door.
I took a deep breath. "What are you doing?!"
The wash maid and Dante were trying to answer at the same time. There was something very funny about the situation. Unfortunately, I couldn't see it at that moment. I held up my hand for silence. They both stopped talking, Dante sheathed his sword, and the wash maid adjusted the blanket to cover her breasts.
I really didn't know what to do. I had an urge to throw something at Dante, but there was nothing in reach that I thought was heavy enough to do damage. I massaged the bridge of my nose, sighing deeply. I looked over to the girl in my bed, "What is your name?" I asked her.
"Laura." She said meekly.
I smiled. "Laura, what are you doing? I thought I had said…"
"I know what you said, and I know you were being polite this afternoon." She gave me a sad smile. "I lied to the Inn keeper and told him you had bought my warmth for the night, so I wouldn't have to bed with some smelly patron. You at least bathe, which is more than I can say for some of our other more frequent tenants."
I nodded. It was a fair answer, and I had to make a guess that I would have done the same thing. "I see." I took another deep breath. I was going to face Dante again and I had to steady myself for the task. I turned to him. "And what are You doing?"
"You screamed." Dante said plainly. There was still a touch of hurt in his voice. I started to feel that odd twisting of guilt start to gnaw again.
I turned back to Laura. "You can stay here, but there will be no… None of that." I blushed. "Now, please go put some clothes on." And I pointed to the dressing area. Laura nodded sadly, wrapping the blanket around her and headed for the dressing area. I turned back to Dante. "I screamed, and you thought it necessary to burst into my room and rescue me from a naked wash maid?" I tried not to smile. It didn't work.
Dante perked up a little. He must have thought it was funny too, but he kept silent. Then he did something unexpected, he hugged me. My eyes shot wide open. I didn't know how to react. My father used to hug me like that. There was a difference I couldn't explain. His arms were strong, warm and caring.
Another foggy memory sparked. It was of a time long ago and I could quite reach it. The memory faded before I could latch onto it, like I had buried it so deeply in the recesses of my mind I would never find it again. It was deeply buried so not to cause pain. Dante let go of me and turned to walk out the door, shutting it behind him.
Being confused is confusing at best. Laura's appearance from the dressing area snapped me out of my stupor. She was wearing a long white under dress and she looked like the world had collapsed around her.
"I am sorry that my presence offends you." Laura hung her head and looked away from me.
"You do not offend me. It's just that I gave you the silver piece to avoid this." I gave her a half a smile.
She blinked at me; then she turned an interesting shade of red. "Oh…You don't like woman."
I had to chuckle. "I guess you could say that, but it isn't what you're probably thinking."
Laura tilted her head and looked at me in confusion. I was having a strange battle with in myself. There was already one person that knew my secret; did I really want to risk the second? I needed the companionship of another female. Laura wasn't Granny and I doubt she could give me sage advice on how to handle the emotional turmoil I was dealing with. She could at least understand.
I sat her on the bed and took a seat next to her. "I'm not a man."
She giggled. "Well that's obvious. I was hoping to change that for you."
"I find that flattering, I really do. But I don't think it would work out that way." I blushed. "Because I have the same equipment as you do."
It took the girl a second to understand what I said. Laura's brown eyes went extremely wide with shock. "Oh gods… You're a woman?" She covered her mouth.
"Afraid so." I smiled.
She was still shocked. "You look so convincing."
"Thanks." I sat up a little straighter rather proud of myself.
Laura's shock turned to curiosity. "So why hide it?" It was a valid question, and if I was going to be her friend, I had to tell her.
"It's complicated. Well, not really, but it is part of who I am. I was raised like a boy, around boys, and no one really tried to stop me. My Granny tried, but it caused more problems than it was worth, so she stopped trying when I was about eleven." I shrugged.
We started to talk about the ins and outs of pretending to be a boy. Laura told me how she hated being what she was, but the Inn was cleaner than the brothel and she made a decent living. The crescent moon was slightly past its apex when I started to yawn.
Laura looked over at me. "Why keep it a secret though? I mean, would your brother really treat you any differently?"
"I don't know. I guess that's what scares me so much." I shrugged.
"I'll make you a deal." Laura said with a smile. "I have an idea if you have a few more silver pieces you can spare. Even if you don't, I promise what I heard will never leave this room." She gave me a hopeful and genuine smile.
"I might have a few I can spare. What do you have in mind?" I was a little worried.
"You said you were going to be in Castletown for the next few days. Give being a woman a try for one or two nights. If you like it, I will personally help you pick out proper armor. The leather smith owes me, as does the black smith. I will also stand behind you and help you tell your brother the truth. If you don't like it, I will still keep your secret until my dying day." Laura put her hand over her heart. "I swear."
"This is a bad idea." I was extremely nervous about this idea. "Why be so helpful?"
"Because it means I get a few days off and I get to help a friend." Laura smiled and started to yawn.
"This is a bad idea." I said again.
"Don't worry so much." She looked out the window at the moon. "Oh, it's late. You have to train in the morning. And I have some shopping to do. We should get some sleep."
She was right. It was very late. Laura curled up on one side of the bed, and I curled up on the other. My day was stressful, emotional and I was hoping for a nice dreamless sleep. I wasn't that lucky.