𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑎𝑤𝑛 | 𝐆𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐒𝐎𝐍

32⋆☾⋆ A shot in the dark

A lone rider and her horse walked through the streets of a bustling little village near Caraway; smoke puffed from the chimneys, chatter sounded through little alleys and stands were placed in the middle of the town's square. In the distance, over the treetops and hills, the large castle hung over her like a dark cloud. She could hear the cheers and commute carry over from there. The skies were clear for once, quite unusual for the usually rainy Araluen, and that seemed to be the topic of the day for the people.

"Oh it's real class seein' the sun again, the goddamned deluge has been a nightmare." An elderly grey haired woman said to her blonde teen girl sitting at the eating table in a stone cottage with a bright blue door and window frames. The scent of fresh porridge made the rider's stomach growl.

The multiple bright stands in the square with all their fresh smells didn't help either, so she bound Vacker to a pole where other had also placed their horses, and went on the hunt for a nice breakfast. Her face could only be described as sleep-deprived, drained and mostly bags under her eyes. She had her hair out of her face by wearing a two long braids that started at the crown of her head, so none of it was hidden. With her plain grey dress on, that she had borrowed from Charlotte, she could pass as a normal village girl. She passed stands where they sold fish, cakes, fabrics or jewelry, but none of it seemed to matter when she found one where they sold sausages rolled in bread. Gilan was the one who had introduced her to the delightful concept of the sausage bread rolls, but it had been ages since she had eaten one, much to her own dismay.

Her eyes had given her away to the rowdy large village man who gave her a smile. He thought the girl looked a bit faint in the cheeks, so she really needed a good meal.

"Areet lush lassie? You clamming for some bait?" He spoke and she couldn't help but stare, and blink. It took her a minute before she got what he was saying, only because her mentor had sometimes joked around and spoken in the dialect of his fief, to annoy her and mock her 'soft' accent according to him.

"I really am, thank you," she managed to prop up a slight smile for the man and got out her burse, "two of them, please."

The man frowned. "Yee not from theh toon?"

"No," she handed him the coins and walked off. She wasn't in town to socialize or to blend in with local perse, she was on a mission. Across the market place she spotted the hanging board with a black and white cat on it

A young couple gave the female Ranger a polite smile when they almost bumped into her. She returned it briefly, then turned to the pub she was looking for. Where Crowley had told her to look.

As she pushed the heavy dark blue door open, the familiar wave of a stuffy bar and the stench of alcohol welcomed her. She went to the bar and ordered herself a large pint of beer and sat down on one of the stools. The other people sitting around were mainly some families and a few old ladies and lads. Those weren't her demographic though.

"Quite a big pint for a small lassie like yerself," the bald barman raised a dark brow at her as she took a careful sip.

She grinned, "I'm used to quite a bit sir, no worries." That was a big fat lie. If she got more than that one sip in she'd start to get tipsy and quite giggly; she had always been a horrid lightweight.

The man behind the dark oaken bar frowned, just as the seller at the stand had done. She sighed internally, preparing herself for the comment to come, the best she could with a polite smile plastered on her face.

"Yer not from here? Yer in town for the tournament?"

"Yeah," she forced out, biting down her tongue.

"I heard they've been great, our Sir Malik has been winning every tournament up till now, I think he's got a shot."

The young woman had to halt the second sip she was about to take and scan her brain for infos of the knight. She vaguely remembered Gilan gushing about him from time to time, always referring to him as his 'best mate'. "Oh, yeah he's a real winner."