There were many words and looks of gratitude when Anaya joined everyone else at the wagon, and she felt a little overwhelmed by it all. It felt good that her help had been welcomed, of course, but she wished they’d maintain at least some sense of personal space. Though she knew they were friendly, she found herself feeling vulnerable with her injuries and without her armour, and therefore being swarmed like this made her a bit nervous on that account too.
Once Rue had given the guard Anaya had saved some healing, the woman rushed out to meet her. She was still limping slightly. It seemed as though the witch hadn’t been quite as thorough with her.
“Thank you. I had already thought myself done for before your timely arrival,” the guard proclaimed earnestly. “I’m Jillian. May I ask for your name?”
“Anaya.”
“Well, thank you again, Anaya. Truly.”
She realized that the girl was fairly young, more from the way she acted than how she looked – which age aside was reasonably cute, though paled in comparison to Rue. She must’ve been new to her role as a caravan guard, or whatever her duties normally were. Anaya had pegged her as a guard mostly due to the fact that she'd been fighting, and even at a glance had some skill at it, but she hadn't worn much in the way of armour. Just a few pieces of hardened leather. Iron and steel armour was very expensive, and Anaya wouldn't have been able to afford her gear if she'd had to pay it for herself either.
“You’re welcome. No need for all that. You already repaid me, after all.” She glanced at Rue, who had just arrived next to them as well and was looking at them with an unreadable expression on her face. “Something wrong?”
“No. I’m going to turn in. I’m quite tired. Healing takes a lot out of me.” It didn’t quite seem like that was the only reason, but she didn’t want to probe further since they weren’t alone. On which note Jillian gave her an apologetic smile and slinked away. Rue's look seemed to have spooked her a little.
“Sure. I’ll probably do so soon too. My head still feels foggy. It got rattled pretty good.” That didn’t help her feel any more at ease with the attention from the crowd. In truth, she wished she could’ve just curled up under a blanket with Rue for a good night’s rest – and actually just rest this time, as she was in no condition or even mood to get frisky. Not that they’d had the energy for such things ever since leaving Hurlann in general, thanks to their brutal travel schedule in light of the warrant. But even without that being the case sleeping together might’ve drawn a little too much attention… not that they hadn’t become quite unforgettable already. The caravan didn’t know about their fugitive status, but they’d certainly recognize them by description if they heard about such a pair being looked for. Of course, it also didn’t help that she’d gone and given up her name already. She wanted to blame that on being knocked silly, but in truth she just wasn’t very good at being deceptive in general. She figured she’d just have to hope that no one would want to give up someone who’d come to their rescue if they ever found out about the warrant.
Eventually, despite her stated intention to sleep Anaya gave in to the requests of the caravaners to join them for supper. She couldn’t deny being a little hungry. Since they’d been maximizing their travel time it had meant that not only was there no time for playing around, but it also meant keeping their stops short in general, resulting in less of Rue’s fancy cooking to enjoy.
Fortunately, it turned out that the caravan head was a quite competent cook, too. He was a friendly man with a bit of a stomach, a wrinkled face and greying, short-cropped hair, and went by the name of Irdal.
“Have you run across undead before?” Anaya asked between spoonfuls of stew. Irdal shook his head.
“No. Not since the end of the war, anyway.” He looked thoughtful. “I haven’t heard any talk of them, either. We would’ve been better prepared otherwise. We mainly travel between Hurlann and Frelrun transporting things for others, mainly for merchants, and we do it year-round. It’s rare for there to be even bandits along this route, never mind something like this.”
“Mm-hmm,” Anaya said and swallowed. “I thought as much. I also ran into a skeleton a while back, despite not having heard of any being around.” She frowned. “Something’s definitely off about all this.”
“I hate to say it, but perhaps the Necromancer isn’t quite as… well, dead… as everyone was led to believe,” Irdal mused. The mere thought was enough to send a major shiver down Anaya’s spine.
“I sure pray to Kiraya that’s not the case.”
“Likewise,” the man agreed. “But for now, eat up. You’ve more than earned it. And your companion, too.” The mention of Rue made Anaya glance back to where she’d seen her headed, to the side of the road where a few others had been setting up lean-tos and the like in preparation. It was already too dark to make her out even from this meagre distance. She couldn’t help but wonder if it had been wise for the witch not to eat too if her healing was as draining as she said. But she supposed that Rue herself would know that best.
“Well, thank you regardless,” Anaya said as she turned back to the man.”
“You never need to thank me. It’s thanks to you that I still have my daughter.” She followed his gaze as it shifted to Jillian, who was conversing with a man and a woman that Anaya hadn’t caught the names of yet. They behaved like a couple and were perhaps in their thirties. From their slightly unusual attire, she suspected they might be Ysserians.
“She’s your daughter? I didn’t realize.”
“Oh, yes. She doesn’t exactly resemble me, does she?” The man smiled. “This is our family business. My wife handles things back in Hurlann, while my son and his wife do the same in Frelrun. And Jillian has gone with me, ever since she was old enough. She’s quite an adventurous soul, unlike Treldon. My son,” he clarified. “Anyway, what brings you here? Whatever it is, it sure was a boon to us.” Anaya gave him a crooked grin.
“Not so much for us. I’d rather not get into the details. But we’re glad we could help.” She glanced in Rue’s general direction again. “Even if she’s being a bit grumpy for some reason.”
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