Knight in Dulled Armor

Chapter 13: Vacation and Vignettes

Val doesn't look back, bounding down the porch steps and securing our luggage with his steed's saddle bag. He looks at me, already sliding my pack off my shoulders. I pull my sleeves back up and tie my hair into a high ponytail, bringing two locks down to frame my face. I do my best to soothe some of the frizziness as Val secures my bag.

He turns back to me, gesturing his hand palm up towards me. His hand lifts a bit for a moment, hesitating as I reach for his hand, "You... Changed your hair. That was fast," He says, lowering his hand back and helping me up onto his horse. Val mounts his steed once more, and we set off south, opposite of Mercester.

South of the tavern on my map as I recall, was approaching the edge of the continent. Depending on how far we travel, we could be approaching beaches and oceans to reach the hot springs. We rode at a fairly quick pace, but I was curious how far we were from our destination.

"So, when should we get to the hot springs? By morning or-?" I trail off, hoping he'd answer quickly.

"Would you like to get there faster, Elaine?" Val asks, gripping the reins tight and flicking them to urge the horse.

My legs lock around the horse, and I grab onto the curved lip of the saddle as we quickly pick up speed. "Um," is all I can muster as I watch the ground beneath us become a blur. I won't fall, which was good. I can't, in fact. Val's arms sat a few inches away from my waist as he holds the reins, close enough to keep me in place if anything were to happen.

I suppose I'm not against the idea of getting there faster, I convince myself. I was thankful I'd tied my hair back before we left. I attempt to straighten my posture, only to feel something press against me. I look back to see that Val had sunk over a bit to steady himself on the racing horse.

After a few moments of silence with him slightly hunched over me, I decide to speak. My mind flicks through all the things I've thought about him recently, and chooses one at random, "What were you saying earlier, in the room? 'Will you' something?" I ask, wondering if Hidorah was even remotely right in his suspicions.

"Oh, well. That's a bit..." Val barely gets out.

"If it's personal, I understand. I don't want to intrude. I'm just wondering if there was anything you needed and I missed while you healed." I reason.

"I wasn't expecting to tell you so soon, but I was going to ask if you'd spend the night with me," Val says, taking a sharp breath.

My gut wrenches the second he finishes speaking.

"Not in the way you think! I just- I thought that maybe if y-... If you stayed close to me through the night, it would have completely healed me," Val explains.

"Oh, I see... Do you think being this close counts?" I meekly ask, "I'm still not sure how my magic works," I tell him.

"If it's based on distance, I'd say we're close enough. But then, what's stopping you from healing every passerby you bump into?" He brings to light.

"There was physical, golden magic. It actually looked similar to magic someone showed me in Braiewood," I tell him.

"I see, anything else?" He asks.

"Well, the elves in Braiewood said they were 'gauging my magic potential', obvious pandering to gain a crowd, I know. But still... I can't help but read into it." I say, my voice falling into a sigh.

"So, they told you how much magic you held?" He asks, "You don't think they're credible, do you?" Val presses on.

"Not exactly," My voice trails off into a quiver. "They held my hands in theirs, and some light magic was wisping around us. Except it got way too hot, heat bursting out in a bright flash..." I tell him, taking a steady breath, "In the frenzy, I escaped without the crowd seeing."