Chapter 5
Old and New
Even in a big city, news travels fast. The latest news being a young couple just walked into the city.
They were really dirty and looked as if they had spent a couple of nights on the ground. They claimed that their bags had been strapped to their horses when the horses got spooked a couple nights ago and ran off, leaving them stranded.
They said that they were brother and sister, but nobody seemed to believe that. The man was about six feet tall, broad shoulders, hair as black as midnight, and had brown eyes. The woman was probably about five foot six inches tall, and had short, blond hair. She looked like she could take care of herself though. They always talked in hushed tones, as if they were on some kind of secret mission and couldn't risk being over heard. But when they did talk to others, they were always really polite.
"Yeah sure. I've got a room. You two are lucky, I just have one room left. 'Course its only got one bed. Will that be alright with you, miss?"
"Um, is there any place in the city that has two beds available?"
"Sorry ma'am, this is the only hotel."
"It'll work." Emmett decided, and turning to Ayden, he said, "It will be fine, but if you want to get your hair fixed, then I suggest that you hurry. It's kind of late and I'm pretty sure these places won't stay open for much longer."
"You're right, of course." And facing the man again she said, "We'll take the room. And, if you don't mind, is there a place I can go for my hair? I've always been the odd one in my family, what with my blonde hair. And I was wondering if a city this size has a place I can get it dyed?"
"Yes ma'am, there is a place, just two buildings down, in fact. It's on the opposite side of the street though. Next to a bakers shop and across from a tailors store."
"Thank you so much. How much is the room?"
"That depends on how long you plan on staying, missy."
"Well, I guess a week at the most, but I'm not completely sure."
"How about I charge you by the day. You just pay the rent on the room every day so that way, when you want to leave you don't have to worry about getting extra money to or from me. Sound like a winner?"
"Yes sir. That sounds good!" After handing the man the money, she and Emmett turned to the door and headed for the building that the man had pointed out.
They found the right building and walked in, not quite knowing what to expect. They saw a girl in her mid thirties sitting in a chair in front of a mirror. Noticing her visitors she got up and started walking towards them.
"So you guys are the new couple in town, am I right?" she looked at them skeptically, as if she didn't exactly believe they were brother and sister either.
"How can I help you?"
"Well, as you can obviously tell, I look nothing like my brother here. I was always the odd one in my family. We live in a small town from across the border and we don't have a place that can put color in my hair. I've decided that I want my hair to be black, like the rest of my family. But also, I was wondering, if I like it, could you give me some more of the color that would last me about a year or two?"
"Sure honey. I don't see what you have against your hair, though. Its beautiful the way it is."
"That's what I keep telling her, but she is insistent that she fit in." Emmett said, squinting down at Ayden.
"I told you I want to do this. Oh, and do you have anything that would make my hair longer?"
"Sure do. I just got extensions in from Paris a couple of days ago. Course all of this is going to cost you a pretty penny."
"That's alright. I think I can pay for it all. I just want it down to my shoulders. Well, as long as you can get it without it looking fake."
"Sure sweetie. Just sit right here and I will see what I can do." The woman patted the chair and got to work on Ayden.
When she was through, the girl sitting in the chair was hardly recognizable as the one who came out of a forest just a few hours ago all dirty and bedraggled. While she had been getting her makeover, Emmett had stepped out to look at the clothes in the shop across the street. As he walked back in, he looked around for a moment not seeing Ayden. Finally realizing the girl with the long black hair was her, all he could do was stare.
"So what do you think?" she asked timidly.
"Well…you look more like me."
"Yeah, but does it look natural?"
"Yes. It does. It's beautiful."
"Are you being serious or are you just saying that just to please me?" she said, glaring at him.
"No, I'm serious. It looks really good."
"Okay," she sighed, satisfied. "Thank you so much. How much do I owe you?"
"Um…60 dollars."
"Sixty?" Emmett asked, appalled.
"Yes sir, sixty."
"Here you go. And thanks again." Ayden said, handing the woman the money without even flinching.
"Your welcome dear. Come again!"
Walking back to the hotel, Emmett started talking fast.
"Where in the world did you come up with all that money? You just paid sixty bucks for hair that isn't even yours!"
"You don't like it?" Ayden asked, running her fingers through her newly lengthened hair.
"What? Oh, no you hair is fine. What I mean is where in the world did you get all that money? You act as if you had money to burn."
"Hmm? I told you. I saved up most all the money that I had ever earned. And, working for the king actually had a few benefits. One of them being I was never short on cash. I've collected about five thousand dollars throughout the years."
Emmett stopped short and pulled in a sharp breath through his teeth.
"What?" he squeaked, his eyes bulging. That's more than I would have made in ten years!"
"Well, I'm not a blacksmith in a small town, Emmett. I worked for the king. That pays just a little bit better."
"Obviously," he snorted.
"Hey, come on. What's mine is yours. Now come on, lets get back to the hotel. Wait, we need clothes. Did you find any that you liked?"
Turning around, the two went back to the tailors shop. There they bought five outfits each. Ayden's outfits included four dresses and one pant ensemble.
After getting back to the hotel, they faced a new problem. One bed.
"I have a solution." Ayden announce after a moment. "I still have my mat that I used in the woods. I can sleep on that and you can take the bed. How's that sound?"
"You're obviously not thinking clearly if you think I'm going to let a woman sleep on the floor and I get the bed. That's insane. Unheard of. Impossible! It goes against everything us men stand for!"
"You know, I have a problem with chivalry. The last time someone was chivalrous to me, they got killed."
"This is a choice between sleeping in a bed or on the floor. I don't think either choice is fatal."
"Fine, I have an idea. We'll flip a coin. Heads, I win. Tails you loose. Okay?"
"Fine."
"Okay, here we go." Ayden flipped the coin. Oh, look at that! Heads, I win. Which means…I sleep on the floor. Alright?"
"Fine." he grumbled.
After that, they finally fell asleep, Ayden comfortably on the floor and Emmett on the bed. In the middle of the night though, Emmett shot straight up.
"Hey!" he exclaimed. "Heads you win, and tails I loose? You did that on purpose!"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ayden yawned and rolled over sleepily.
"Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. You get your skinny behind into this bed right now before I kick it in. I will take the floor." but as he started to get up Ayden said, "We'll switch out tomorrow, Emmett. Right now lets just go back to sleep." and with that she fell back into unconsciousness and slept peacefully till morning.
Ayden awoke the next day fully rested and ready to go. Emmett, on the other hand, woke slightly grouchy.
"What's the matter, grumpy guts?" Ayden prodded.
"My conscious kept me up all night, telling me…no yelling at me to get up out of the bed and put you into it. But I knew you really wouldn't like that, so I didn't and fought with that shouting voice in my head all night. I didn't get a wink of sleep."
"Aw I'm sorry you are such a gentleman. Poor you, not a bit of sleep in the warm, comfortable bed, and yet here I was sleeping like a baby on the floor. What a strange world this is."
"Strange indeed." he muttered back.
"Any-hoo time for a bit of breakfast, dontcha think?"
"Yeah sure, whatever."
"Oh come on. I am so not going to put up with an attitude all day, so snap out of it mister or you are staying here."
"Humph. What exactly are you planning to do today?" Emmett asked, eyeing the bags that lay empty on the floor.
"I am going to get supplies for a long trip…if we are going to try and find Willow, we might need a lot of food. She lives in L'eau Douce Vallèe, so we got a ways to go."
"What other kind of supplies are you after?" he asked warily.
"Oh you know, shoes that won't fall apart, a couple horses…weapons…and you know, other odd things." she answered hesitantly.
"Wait, horses?" Emmett asked in surprise.
"Well, yeah. You didn't think we would actually walk the whole way, did you? Travelers on foot draw too much attention to themselves. We need horses."
"Okay…wait, weapons? What do you need those for? I thought you already had some?"
"I do, but I need to get them sharpened. What weapon is it you prefer to use?"
"I don't really know. I've never actually had to use one. But I was pretty good at using my cross-bow to hunt with."
"What did you hunt?"
"You know…deer, turkey, quail…the usual meat animals."
"Okay, when we go get the weapons I'll take you along so we can find you the perfect cross-bow.
"Um, I'd rather not. I'm not exactly comfortable with you just spending money on silly things like that." as soon as those words came out of his mouth, Emmett knew that he had said the wrong thing. Ayden looked kind of shocked and was shaking her head as she explained.
"Emmett, weapons are not silly things. They are for your protection and for your protection only. There are several thieves along the road from here to L'eau Douce, also, the king is looking for me and is going to try to kill me. He doesn't think I'm dumb enough to try and go back there, but that wont keep him from still looking. I myself don't exactly know why I'm going back, but I have a feeling its to keep you from moping and whining about my camp."
Raising his hands in a surrendering gesture, Emmett answered, "Alright, weapons it is. And I don't mope or wine."
"Sure you don't. Lets go." Ayden said, rolling her eyes.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Emmett followed her.
Finding the store was easy, but dragging Ayden out was hard. The girl loved the weapons, especially the swords.
"They are the proper weapon." She explained on the way, "You can battle, kill, warn, or just spar with them."
After finally finding a good crossbow for himself, Emmett found Ayden mesmerized by a sword in a glass case. At first glance, he couldn't tell what was so special about it, but on closer inspection he could see what she found so appealing. The hilt had an intricate pattern on it that reminded him of vines and leaves, twisting around a tree. It was made of stainless steal and had a thin line of gold inlaid in the pattern. Small jewels were also incrusted in the hilt. The blade was folded steal. So well made was the sword that there didn't seem to be the slightest imperfection in it.
Ayden was practically drooling on the case.
"I don't need another sword. I don't need another sword. I don't need another sword," she whispered to herself over and over. Hearing Emmett approach, she finally turned away with a sigh.
"I don't need another sword. Did you find what you needed?" she asked.
Instead of answering her, he raised his eyebrows and glanced pointedly at the sword.
"Its just a really fine piece of workmanship. You would be a fool not to admire it. And, you didn't answer my question. Did you find what you needed?"
Glancing at the sword one last time, Emmett raised the crossbow that he had found.
"I believe so. The owner let me take a few practice shots with it. I hit the bulls eye every time," he said, pride glinting in his eyes.
"Ha, alright Robin Hood, lets go pay for it. Then we will look into some horses." flipping her now long, back hair, Ayden headed over to the shop owner so she could pay him.
By the end of the day, Emmett had narrowly avoided getting kicked by an ill-tempered Arabian horse, the one that, of course, Ayden chose as her own.
Emmett chose a sweet little Pinto as his. Their names were Ace and Rose. They had also successfully found enough non-perishable food to last them for around three weeks, and enough horse feed to last for four weeks. They also found a couple of saddlebags that were big enough for all of their food and clothing. Emmett found a mat for him to sleep on as well.
"I think we should leave in the morning," Ayden said before she rolled over on the bed, as Emmett had vehemently refused to sleep on the bed. When Ayden finally gave in and slid under the covers of the soft, warm bed, she sighed. She had not slept in a bed for a little over a year.