After finishing her stew, Anaya finally managed to get away from the wagon and find Rue. The witch appeared deep asleep while Anaya spread one blanket on the ground and wrapped herself in another as she lay down. Despite being tired, she found sleep slow in coming. She gazed up at the night sky, which was quite clear compared to the mostly clouded sky during the day. She normally enjoyed just looking at the vast star-studded black canvas, but right now she felt too distracted. Not only did she yearn to be closer to Rue, but this whole encounter with the undead had left her feeling quite disconcerted. She couldn’t stop thinking about Irdal’s words. If undead were truly starting to pop up again like seemed to be the case, it didn’t bode well for… well, anyone, really. It would definitely make travelling more hazardous.

 Anaya turned her head to look at the sleeping form of her companion. Her life was suddenly so very different in many ways. But what about the witch? She could be quite difficult to get a read on. Anaya wasn’t sure just how bothered – or unbothered – the woman was about what had taken place in Illion, or even about this whole undead thing. But she was so very glad for the witch’s continued company. She’d thought it most likely that Rue would set out on her own once they’d left the immediate vicinity of Illion, but instead, she’d gone along with Anaya’s plan. Not only that, but she’d not shied away from Anaya’s more carnal desires. She had a very healthy level of self-confidence in both her looks and personality, but in truth, she’d expected the witch to consider herself to be out of her league, even for something casual. And that had been assuming she was even into women, to begin with. Anaya herself held no strong preference for either men or women, but no man had made her feel like Rue did. Then again, neither had any woman. She had to admit to herself that what she felt for Rue went past just physical infatuation by now, even if it had clearly been only that at first and even if she hadn’t been expecting anything deeper. Either way that surprised her. Aside from her looks, she’d not thought the witch to be her type. She was mostly pleasant to deal with, but also sometimes distant, or even a bit aloof. Often it felt she took nothing seriously. She really was hard to read. Like today. She’d been acting strangely since the battle. Like why’d she been so blunt with that girl, Jillian…

 “No way,” she suddenly whispered out loud. Jealousy? Could it really be? Her mind eventually tired itself out considering such an unexpected thing from many angles, and she finally fell asleep with a smile on her face.

 The following morning, Anaya woke up to see Rue already missing from her sleeping spot, along with the blankets. It was as expected given that not only was she the earlier riser to begin with, but she’d also gone to bed earlier the previous evening.

 What was not quite as expected was that looking around, she saw no trace of the witch. Even the horse, which they’d taken to referring as Bandit because of its origins in their possession, was gone. She had a sudden sinking feeling – had the witch decided to finally set out on her own after all?

 The caravaners were all enjoying a shared breakfast. Around a small campfire were in addition to Irdal and Jillian the couple, the second guard – he’d previously introduced himself as Treon and was a man she estimated to be several years older than her – as well as the four others who rounded out the roster. They were a mixed bunch – one was a merchant, one was simply travelling to meet family, one, the only woman of the four, was looking for a new place to ply his trade of performing arts, while the last one was just looking for new sights to see, as he put it.

 After finishing her share of the offered meal, Anaya turned to Irdal, feeling a little embarrassed.

 “So, uh, I don’t suppose you would know where my companion has gone?” No one had mentioned Rue, nor had she returned, so she figured she just had to ask outright.

 “Not specifically. She said she had something she needed to get.” Irdal smiled at her knowingly. “Don’t worry. I don’t think she’s the type to abandon someone without a word.” Anaya cleared her throat. She felt her cheeks burning. Had she been that obvious?

 “I suppose not,” she managed to mutter. She glanced at the wagon. “What are you planning to do with that?” The broken wheel was a sad sight, further diminished by Rue snagging parts of it for her weapon crafting.

 “Oh, that’s right. Your companion also said to leave it be for now.” Irdal shrugged. “Not sure what she meant, but I suppose we’re not in that big of a hurry.”

 Anaya felt a little relieved to hear that – surely Rue was coming back, having said something like that. At the same time, she had to wonder why she was suddenly feeling so insecure about her companion in the first place.

 “What will you do with the one who didn’t make it?” No one had said much about the man who’d died defending them, though they’d respectfully cleaned up the body and wrapped it in a blanket after the battle.

 “We’ll take him back to Frelrun. Velmar was from there, and I believe he still has family there. This was his first round-trip journey with us, so I admit to not knowing all that much about him.” Irdal shook his head slowly. “Such rotten luck. I’ve not lost a member of my caravan in years. Oh.” He turned to point. “Your… friend…” he continued with another knowing smile, “is quite something, isn’t she?” What he was pointing at was Velmar. Not that one could’ve told without knowing, as the body was tightly wrapped from head to toe in what seemed to have been grass. “She said it should last for several days, and, well, keep any unpleasantness contained, you could say.” Anaya grimaced and nodded. It was summer, after all, so travelling in the same wagon with a body for several days was not exactly an enticing concept.

 “She’s something, alright.”