Ever So Lightly- Book 1

8

On the third night of her journey, Saria was sitting in the dining area of a small inn situated just off the main road to Faron. The weather had forced the wagon load of travellers to stop earlier in the day, and though the rain only sputtered off and on, the sky didn't clear up until the sun had already begun to set. The wagon driver had made the decision for everyone to stay at the inn until morning. Saria was put out, she would have preferred to sleep on the wagon and continue travelling throughout the night, but then, she wasn't the one that would be awake all night driving. Still, she had been in a foul mood for days now, a mood that even the warmth of the hearthfire didn't seem to be softening.

A young, overly-perky serving girl with bouncing blonde curls and a heavy accent that marked her as being from the southwestern region of Autos practically skipped over to the table where Saria sat alone. After her meltdown on the wagon the other travellers had begun keeping their distance, something that Saria had immediately noticed and thought of as the first sign of intelligence any of them had shown.

The serving girl plunked down the wine Saria had ordered onto the wooden table top and smiled so brightly Saria thought her head would begin to hurt from the cheerfulness.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, ma'am?" There was that infuriating smile again.

"No,"  Saria plastered what she hope passed for a cheerful look on her own face. "Thank you, I'll be going up to my room soon."

"Okay, well, you just let me know if you change your mind!" The girl skipped back across the room, headed for the door to the kitchens.

Saria rubbed her temples with a sign, then took a deep drink from the cup the girl had placed in front of her. And then almost spit the contents across the room.

Of course the wine would be watered down, she thought, forcing herself to not slam the glass to the table. She pushed it away from her and started to rise from her chair, the bed she had rented for the night beckoning her. A phrase from a nearby table caused her to freeze mid-rise.

"...they raided the town in the middle of the night, during that big storm that passed through. Most of the townsfolk weren't disturbed, didn't even realize the soldiers were patrolling until the next morning. Why would they need to raid a town as small at Bremerton?"

Saria's heart crashed to a stop and she dropped back into her chair, forcing herself not to stare at the elderly man who had just spoken to several of the people she had been travelling with. She had noticed the man earlier and thought him to be the inn's owner. Bremerton had been raided by the soldiers? Why? She took a deep breath to calm herself. Maybe it didn't mean anything. She kept that thought in mind as she once again stood and walked over to the group talking about the shocking news.

"I heard from a farmer who had gone into Bremerton for some supplies," began a woman who Saria didn't recognize as one of the people she had been travelling with. The woman leaned in from the table she was seated at as though she was telling a big secret and didn't want the other groups around the room to overhear. After she was sure she had everyone's rapt attention, she continued.

"He told my husband that the only building that was actually attacked was the town bookshop."

Saria couldn't breathe. No, she thought, her heart slamming inside her chest, her vision blurring. She barely heard what the woman had to say next.

"Yes, it was the only place with any damage, the entire front window of the store was blown out. But that's not even the most interesting part!" the gossipy woman continued, a smirk on her lips and a gleam in her eyes

If she wasn't in complete shock, Saria would have pummeled the woman for taking such pleasure in what she was saying. Saria pushed aside the man standing in front of her and step right up in front of the woman.