The Knight Queen

Chapitre Quatre: Le Hôtellerie en Clermont

  Maybe we can turn back time, do it all over again,
Tomorrow we could press rewind, we're staying at the Lotus Inn.
¶Why Don't We––Lotus Inn¶

    N̤̈Ï̤G̤̈Ḧ̤T̤̈ had already dawned when the Queen and her entourage arrived at 'Le Clermont Hôtellerie'. All of them were saddle-sore and their countenances betrayed they were sleep deprived. Rafael was all for showing what he was feeling; was never one to hide his emotions that one. So, he threw the reigns to the stable boy that had came up and marched away to the inn, seeking some good night sleep.

   Estelle looked at him and slightly shook her head. She knew of what he was going to be met with upon his entrance, hence the way she made no hurry to go inside. Soon enough, she caught up to him and being the gentleman he was despite his grumpiness at the time, he opened the door; but before Estelle could walk in, the noise inside the inn blasted their ear drums. He was forced to shut the door to salvage the rest of his hearing senses. When he turned to Estelle, he saw that she was trying to hide a chuckle.

   Well that is a first, he thought, but forced himself to think about what he originally wanted to say

   "I thought you said that we were going to stay at a peaceful place, not this brothel!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in utter frustration.

   "Aye, we were, but you insisted that we just rest at whichever place we found first. And, mind you, this is not a brothel, 'tis my cousin's inn. They just have a little habit of playing music up to the wee hours of the night, that is all." With that, she opened the door and the sound blended into the silent night, drowning it with its loud music. Having no choice, Rafael was forced to follow after her.

   Violins, drums, guitars, a pianoforte; they had an entire band on the raised platform and people were in each others arms, twirling and twirling to the tune. To Rafael, it was all utter chaos. Sure, back in Zejardo, this was the kind of place in which he thrived in; but, not at that moment. He was sleepy and he had an incessant, unrelenting migraine. Bringing his hands up to his ears, he tried blocking the sound but to no avail.

   "Estelle!" a shrill voice rang through their ear drums making them wince at the way the sound reverberated in their ears.

   A tiny figure ushered them to a tiny parlour to the side and they dutifully complied seeking solace for their dear ears. It was a complete wonder to them as to how the people inside were able to tolerate all that noise.

   The figure threw herself to a prepared Estelle who nimbly caught her in her arms. Rafael felt completely ignored; the girl didn't even acknowledge his presence and it was hard for him to swallow that since he was always the centre of everyone's attention in a room.

   "Oh, Estelle, how I have missed you so. It has been three years since we last met and you have grown so beautiful!" she said with adoring eyes, lovingly stroking her jet-black hair.

   "Thank you, Giselle. You have grown into a beautiful young woman as well. Now stop treating me akin to a babe. We both know that I am not one," she said with a chirpy tone, making Rafael wonder as to who this person really was to put Estelle in such a happy disposition. To him, when she was in a good mood, she would speak normally, but alas! when she was angry, her sentence length would be reduced to only few words and they would be said with such coldness that one would wish to crawl under a surface.

   At long last, Giselle turned around and faced a very grumpy Rafael; it seemed to be his general mood that evening. Her grey eyes brightened up when a smile plastered her lips, stretching from ear to ear beautifully. Seeing so, Rafael cheered up, noticing that she wasn't so rude as to not be courteous. Bowing down, he took her hand into his own and brushed his lips against her knuckles.