The Girl of Dragon's Blood (DoD #1)

Chapter Two: You're a Bounty, Baby

The journey was calm for the most part, they walked on with the girl asking questions often and Iwain giving simple answers, secretly glad for the company. Jackdaw was the only one he had travelled with in a long time and sometimes one-sided conversations with your horse started to make you feel a little crazy. The girl was a refreshing change of pace even if a lot of her questions were of things anyone should know the answer to. It made Iwain wonder what kind of place she had come from, but she avoided his questions, always changing the subject, and he didn’t want to push when she was still recovering. She often flitted from Jackdaw’s side to the edge of the path if she spotted flowers, asking what they were and collecting snowdrops and buttercups that she not-so-subtly tied into Jackdaw’s tail when she thought Iwain wasn’t looking.

A couple of hours into their journey South, having passed a couple of farms and through frosted forests, a thought struck Iwain, “You need a name,” he said to the girl, who was once again distracted by the foliage. She perked her head up and wandered back to his side asking, “But why?”

“I can’t just not refer to you, it’s inconvenient. What happens if someone asks your name? Or if I’m trying to find you in a crowd?” he mused, “You need to pick yourself something.”

“You’re planning to keep me around?” she smirked, bumping her shoulder agains his leg as they walked, “But I can’t think of anything. If you want me to have a name so badly, come up with one yourself.”

“Alessia?”

“That was quick. Ah-less-ee-a,” she sounded it out, smiling around the shapes, “I like it. Where did it come from?”

“A tavern owner who helped me in the past. She let me stay a few extra days for free when I got severely injured on a hunt way back. She looked after me. She told me that her name meant strength, or a warrior and I thought it was fitting,” he trailed off at the end, unsure of himself, “If it’s not to your taste, we can think of something else.”

“No! I like it, I really do. It’s a good name, thank you,” she smiled brightly at him. 

He looked down at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling, “Alright then, Alessia, let’s go a little further and we can take a break to eat and rest.” Alessia just grinned up at him in response and skipped along in front of Jackdaw.

 —

They travelled together, the peaceful days starting to stretch on. Camping outdoors was difficult when there was only one bedroll, which Iwain gave up to Alessia each night, unable to just let her freeze. He had taken to sleeping, leant up against Jackdaw with his cloak pulled over his front. When Alessia started to slow a bit, Iwain made the decision to stop at the nearest town for her to rest. He needed to re-stock his supplies anyway and buy her a bedroll of her own. He didn’t have the heart to chase her off no matter how he tried to appear, and it meant he could also check to see if there were any Hunting jobs for him while they were passing through.

When they were close enough to see the town, they saw that a market was in full swing. A bustling central square with triangular bunting strung up between the houses surrounding a statue of Friguri, the god of Winter, Hunting and Lost Travellers. The limestone statue depicted him holding a spear towards the stars, with the crest of his mother, the Great Goddess Umbra, on his chest-plate. Iwain had never seen a statue of Friguri before, but it made sense to see him, being this far up North. From the look of the town, they were in high spirits, most likely preparing for the end of winter festival and feast; it was later in the year than he realised.

They stopped at the bottom of the slope into town and Iwain dismounted, leading Jackdaw towards the notice board. There were two missing persons, likely run-aways by the descriptions, a reminder of the festival day and how it would unfold as well as a small notice about a feline creature that was robbing the food stores and chasing away the prey from the surrounding forests. He ripped it off the board to see if there were any more details of who might pay to be rid of the thing.