Sorry for the long wait. I have had some issues.
Two years later
"My Lord, is there really a need for this?" the young servant asked and looked to the sky.
His grandmother had told him, there was going to be a storm, but the young baron had insisted on going on a ride in the countryside.
They had riding for most of the day, and he could tell the horses were getting tired.
"Do not worry too much," the young lord smiled and looked to the gathering clouds. "We will head back after finding dinner. A little water never hurt anyone."
The servant boy swallowed an exhausted sigh.
His young lord would not like it, if he debated him on this.
The young man riding in front of him sighed in content.
"I am glad, we decided to do this, rather than all the work that Father had prepared for me." He said and turned to his friend and smiled.
The other young man forced a smile and did not comment on how it was all the young lord's decision or how Alexander preferred organizing the library than riding on a tired horse through an insect-filled, smelly country road.
"I really do think we should head back. We are not dressed for the rain.
His lord laughed and kicked his horse into a gallop.
Alexander grounded his teeth while watching the other young man disappear over a hill.
When the young lord's riding clothes got ruined by the rain, it was not the son of the baron that would be blamed, but Alexander.
He raced after him, as the first raindrops started to fall.
"Is this the rain, you are so afraid of?" The young lord laughed, as Alexander caught up with him.
The thick pillars of water streamed down around them.
The dirt road had turned to mud, and the two young men were scared of the horses slipping.
The wind smacked the water into their faces and they had a hard time hearing each other – much less see anything.
He really wished that he had listened to Alexander and turned back when the rain began. He thought, as the horses carefully carried them onward.
Alexander yelled something at him, but he could not hear him.
Alexander instead steered his horse around his lord's and forcefully pulled at his reins to make the horse move out of the way, for another horse racing past them.
If not for the lantern on the saddle, it looked like a wild horse running free.
As soon as it passed the rider made it slow down and looked back at them.
As they reached him, they could see it was a middle-aged man.
"What are you doing out in a storm without so much as a light!" He yelled over the rain.
The young son of a baron arched his back as best he could. "I am Eric…"
"We need shelter!" Alexander yelled over him.
The man nodded and water flowed down his face. "Then follow me."
Alexander kicked at his horse and followed the stranger and his lord followed them.
It felt like a long time, but once they were over a hill, they saw a light in the distance.
As they came closer they saw it was an in with lanterns hanging on the outside.
Their guide got down from his horse outside the stable door and knocked.
A boy opened and when he saw the three of them, he opened up the stable doors fully.
Alexander and his lord rode into the stable and dismounted, while the boy and the man who had helped them closed the stable door behind them.
"Ugh," the boy grunted and patted at his now wet clothes. "Now I am wet too."
The older man laughed and patted the boy on his back. "I'll take care of my own horse, you can help those too."
The boy shrugged and took the reins of the two horses. "You are lucky we expanded the stable, there are just three boxes left for you."
The black-haired young man looked at him confused like he was not used to people talking to him.
The young man pulled his bag down from the horse and pulled out a few coins and handed them to the stable boy, who took them with a confused look.
"Make sure our horses have the best of care…" the dark-haired one explained.
"Best of care…? All my care is the same." The younger boy mumbled still confused.
"We would also like a change of clothes and for these to be washed." The young man continued without listening to the boy.
The older man cackled further down in the stable as he unsaddled his horse.
The boy looked at the other young man. "Does he have a fever?"
Alexander looked from the young baron to the stable boy, not sure if he should tell his lord that the inn was probably not what he expected or tell the stable boy to whom he was speaking.
Then the stable door opened again and a bigger boy with red hair and a plate of food.
"David, I brought you … dinner?" He stared at the guests in the stable.
"Edward," his brother said. "They want clean clothes and … the best of care."
The two soaked young men arched their backs and looked at him expectingly.
Edward scratched his head. "We have dry clothes in the bathhouse, follow me."
Then he handed his brother the plate of warm food.
David smiled and took the horses down the row of boxes.
"Someone needs to stay with the horses tonight," Edward called after him.
The wind banged against the stable doors.
"I will sleep out here," David yelled back and disappeared into a stable box with one of the horses. "William kicks in his sleep anyway."
The redheaded boy, who did not look that much younger than them, apologized for the lack of water, but there were plenty of towels they could dry themselves off with.
Alexander helped his employer out of the soaked leather.
Both of them could feel the boy watching them confused.
It was amazing how close this place would be to the city, yet the ways of the upper class were so foreign to him.
After they had dried off and put on some worn-down shirt and pants, that were way too big for them, the redheaded boy assured them that their clothes would be dry tomorrow.
Erik was pleasantly surprised at the inn.
There was a nice warmth in the big hall and lanterns on the tables and hanging on the walls gave it a cozy glow.
The redheaded boy led them to a bar, where an older man stood.
"Father, we have some more guests…" their guide said.
The older man turned toward him and Alexander, and Erik straightened his back as he reached into his bag for some coins.
He handed the older man the coins. "We would like your best rooms." He smiled.
The old man raised an eyebrow at him and did not take the coins.
"I am sorry, Sirs." He said. "But because of the storms we are full, but you are free to sleep here in the hall." He gestured out into the hall.
He was about to say something, but Alexander stopped him.
"Thank you," Alexander said to the innkeeper. "Is it possible for us to get something to eat?"
The older man smiled. "There is always food for another. Go find a seat and I will send some food down."
They found a small table in the back of the hall.
Erik glanced at the other guests.
He could barely see their outlines in the dim glow of the lanterns. They were gathered together around the tables whispering to one another.
He elbowed Alexander in the side and pointed into the darkness when he saw something move around in the darkness between the tables.
Alexander chuckled as he looked at his lord. "Those are children…"
Eric blinked and focused his eyes.
Sure enough, it was three boys who went around with drinks for the guests.
A girl came towards them with food and sat a warm plate of food down in front of each of them.
Erik was stunned.
The girl had glittering, red, curly hair that flowed down over her shoulder. Her light green eyes reflected the dancing flame from the lantern on the table.
"Thank you," Alexander said and stuck a spoon in the stew. "Could we get something to drink too?"
"Certainly," The girl smiled and gracefully turned around and went up to the bar.
Eric tasted the stew.
It was not bad, though it was a little bland for his taste.
He looked toward the red-haired girl, who had stopped to talk to someone at another table.
"Eric…" Alexander rarely addressed him directly. When he did it was because Eric was about to do something that would get them both in trouble. "Just bear with this for the night, tomorrow we will return home and you can sleep the rest of the day if you want."
Eric lifted an eyebrow at his friend.
Alexander always worried about the small things.
The girl returned with two mugs of a warm, sweet-smelling liquid.
As she put one of them down in front of Eric and he gently took hold of her hand.
"If I may, Miss … you are truly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, like the first beam in a sunrise. Not even the queen of fairies could compare to you."
He then lightly kissed the top of her hand.
He was expecting her to giggle and blush while covering her mouth with her hand.
Instead, she raised an eyebrow and smiled knowingly, as he looked up from her hand.
"Thank you," she smiled politely and elegantly pulled her hand out of his and looked from him to Alexander and back again.
"Please enjoy," she said with a polite smile and then spun around and disappeared into the darkness of the dining hall.
Eric heard whispers and giggles from the other tables.
He was sure they were directed at him, even more, when Alexander did not look at him and had his lips pressed tightly together, only opening them to eat his food or sip on his drink.
He could not understand what was so funny and fumingly he ate the bland stew. He had just complimented a beautiful girl, that was all.
Alexander looked to the roof as the wind banged against it.
"There is no need to be scared."
They barely recognized the man that had led them to the inn.
"Thank you for helping us," Alexander said, as the man sat down at their table.
The man shook his head. "No need. It is the innkeeper that gave us shelter in the storm."
"Have you been here before?" Alexander asked, as Eric still boiled beside him.
The sipped his mug. "A few times, maybe more. People tend to flock here no matter the wind and weather." The man smiled at them mysteriously and stared into the darkness. "And you tend to be pulled back – like magic."
Eric was about to ask what he meant when more lanterns were lit lighting up the entire dining hall – just like magic.
People pushed their tables to the side making a space in the middle of the hall.
The red-haired girl stepped into the empty space with a smile and a violin.
There was completely silent.
She put the violin to her neck and started playing.
Eric had never heard a song like that. It was quick and joyful and seemed to drown out of wind and water banging against the roof.
As the melody quickened, the girl started moving. She twirled and moved so gracefully that it almost looked like she was floating.
Eric so was completely spellbound.
She was like a blade of grass bending and dancing in a soft wind.
The rhythmic clapping from the onlookers and the shadows she cast on the walls and floor in the soft glow of the lanterns made her look otherworldly.
Eric was not sure that she was more beautiful than a fairy. It was far more likely that she was the queen of all fairies.
"Amazing, is she not?" the man beside Alexander said, as the song ended, and the girl took a graceful bow and the hall erupted into applause. "Some say that the girl learned to dance and play music from the fairies themselves … though others swear she is a changeling and that is why she is so beautiful and graceful." The old man leaned in over the table with a gleam in his eye. "And why she always finds her way in the forest."
Next day
He blinked awake.
How he had ever fallen asleep onto a table, he could not understand.
It was hard and cold and his back hurt.
He sat up.
People were sleeping on the tables, chairs, and the floor.
He heard a gasp and looked over to the fireplace, where the red-haired girl from yesterday was standing by the fireplace pulling down clothes from the mantle.
He rubbed his eyes and looked again.
She was tiptoeing over the people sleeping on the floor and disappeared out of the door, they had entered the inn from yesterday.
He raised an eyebrow, as the door silently closed behind her.
Was she stealing the clothes?
Alexander stirred beside him.
Eric glanced at him.
He seemed so peaceful. He had probably fallen asleep at a table before.
He got up and tried to quietly follow her. There were quite a few grunts and angry moans from the men lying on the floor.
He was very happy when he finally got out in the cold morning air.
He looked around – not knowing where to go. Then he heard singing and rounded the corner of the inn.
He saw clothes billowing from a clothing line and the red-haired girl singing as she was hanging the clothes on the line and hitting some of them with an odd stick.
It was his shirt she has hitting.
"What are you doing?"
She spun around and tilted her head when she saw him.
"What can I do for you, Sir?" She asked and looked at him with her big green eyes.
"Why are you hitting my clothes with a stick?" He asked.
She looked over her shoulder at the nice shirt hanging on the clothesline.
"We had to hang them by the fireplace yesterday, so they could be dry for today." She looked back at him. "But they smell a bit like smoke, so I wanted to air them out a bit before you all woke up."
Eric felt his face get hot.
He looked down embarrassed. "I am truly sorry, please accept my apology."
She giggled and held a hand up to cover her mouth. "It is quite fine."
Eric peered up at her. "I am also sorry … for what I said yesterday."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Why are you sorry for giving me a compliment?"
Eric was taken aback. "Did I not offend you?"
She laughed and showed off a row of pearl-white teeth.
She shook her head. "No, of course not. Why would you think that would offend me?"
Eric took an unsure step back. He had never had this kind of conversation before.
"I … I … I am not really sure…" He stammered.
She giggled at him and covered her mouth with her hand like the other girls he had met usually did if he just looked in their direction.
"Well," she smiled at him. "I found it very sweet, that you think I am beautiful like an elven."
He breathed, reassured, and took a step toward her.
Just then a wind picked up and blew her red hair over her shoulder toward him. Instead of mussing her hair, the red logs seemed to flow on the wind.
"Then I would like to properly introduce myself," he bowed lightly and held out his hand for her.
She stifled a laugh and placed her hand in his.
He looked up at her, as his lips hovered over her hand.
"I am Eric Charles Branigan, my lady." He said against the top of his hand and kissed it.
She giggled quietly. "I am Wendy, my lord."
So, sorry again for the wait. I will be working hard to finish this fanfic.
But for now ... please tell me what you think.
I will be back next sunday.