THE SILVER ROSE

•×•Chapter 27•×•

Smoke filled her senses. She could smell nothing else.

She woke. Her eyes unfocused. She tried to make sense of the horrible scene there before her.

She lay on the side of a forest path. Her face and dress smudged with mud. Sticks and leaves tangled in her dark lochs. Her mind felt fuzzy. But...the worst part was.

Her carriage was on fire. The horses were gone and so was the driver.

The golden siding had been stripped off the carriage and all her jewelry had disappeared. Her head ached as she sat up.

Had she been robbed?

She rose to her feet, careful to not send her head pounding again.

She stepped away from the carriage and looked around.

Then she remembered.

She was on a diplomatic trip for her father. She was to renew the peace treaty with Araluen.

Her escorts were missing. Had they retreated when the carriage was attacked?

"How noble" she muttered.

She knew a village was close. Just beyond the forest. If she made it there, she could try to contact the Araluen castle. Or her father.

She hoisted up her petticoats. She kicked off her red velvet heels.

No point in keeping them if she didn't want to fall.

With nothing to loose, well, except her life and perhaps her dignity, she set off down the dark forest path.

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Once she found the village, she set about finding a proper place to stay. But she, a girl with no money, was not able to do so without.

So she started looking for work. The bakery was her first try. But she quickly realized her talents lied elsewhere. The blacksmith didn't even let her try. And the good inn already had enough server girls.

So, she risked trying at the not slow good inn..

She got accepted the moment she asked the owner. She was the only server girl. She earned only what the costumer tipped her. But the owner let her stay in one of the rooms free of charge.

And now she spent her days as a server, living off of whatever her tips could buy her from the market, she knew the quality of the inn food was close to zero so she steered clear of it.

"Anya!"

The cook known as Richard shouted loud enough to wake the dead.

Anya blew a loose strand of hair from her face and scurried across the dirty floor to grab the steaming food of the counter. She hoisted the two bowls of soup onto her arms and quickly exited the kitchen. She strolled across the wooden floor and smiled at the family she was bringing the soup to. They're were three of them.

She wrinkled her nose. They wore old ragged clothes and didn't look very clean.

She shook her head and banished those thoughts from her mind. They are people who need food. She needed squash her distaste of common folk. She basically was one now.

She set the two bowls down on the table, she reached into her apron and grabbed a few sets of wooden cutlery.

She gave each one they're own.

"Drinks?" She questioned. She tried to keep her tone light.

The father spoke up. "A small ale n' two waters please" he ordered.

Anya nodded and went to fetch them.

She heard the door open and glanced back to see two figures step into the dining room.

She'll get their orders later.

After handing the beakers to the family she walked up to the counter.

The ones from earlier were sitting there.

She noticed one had a sword strapped to his hip.

She nearly gasped at the second. He wore a green, grey muddled cloak.

She had grown up on stories about rangers from her father. He even told her she had an uncle who was a ranger.

She had believed the stories whole heartedly in her childhood. But now at the age of sixteen, she thought they were mere commoners tales.

But here was a man who fit the description of a Araluen ranger.

She tried not to get to hopeful. But maybe, just maybe he could help her get home.

She quickly took their orders and gave them to the cook.

"Why did they have to order the lamb stew" She muttered. She sat in the kitchen waiting impatiently for the food to be made.

Lamb stew took the longest time to cook.

She had to wait to see them again until she served them the food. She wasn't aloud to speak to them unless it was for work.

Now all she had to do was wait.