Savoirs

Serena

Two days had passed and we had five left to arrive at the town that held the Enemy's base. No one really knew what it looked like but everyone knew the Enemy had built a castle and had been building its army for years. Jaclyn was acting strange, almost like she was completely sure of herself which wasn't like her. She and Jason had made up but they still kept their distance from one another and as we walked they rarely talked. Adam had gone up ahead after hearing horses and we saw him running back through the woods silently.

"It's a road. I'm betting it leads to a town, maybe even the one we are going to." He says and Lia smiles.

"Well, what's the plan?" I ask and everyone exchanges a look.

"I think we should follow it. Of course we can't exactly be caught by anyone walking down a road dressed as men but it's better than wondering through the forest." Lia says and the boys nod.

"Get dressed then, we'll turn our backs." Adam says and they stand and turn away from us. The other two girls pull out three dresses and they hand one to me.

"Thank us later. Get dressed." Jaclyn says and I do as I'm told. I pull off the leather vest and under shirt I was wearing and pull the dress on over my head and shimmy out of my breeches and switch my boots out for the pair of tight fitting shoes I'm given. I'm done before the other two and busy myself with twisting my hair up into a bun. Lia helps Jaclyn lace up her dress and Jaclyn winces as the dress tightens around her wound. Once Lia is done Jaclyn helps her lace her dress up and then we are done. 

We pack up our other clothes and then Adam leads everyone to the road and we walk along the side. It's nearly sun down when we hear a carriage behind us. It's like the mask is lifted and Jaclyn slides behind Jason and we see the one we've been traveling with for most of the journey. The quiet, shy Jaclyn who was spooked by her own shadow. Now as the carriage slows the boys keep themselves between us and the carriage and a man looks out. He obviously wasn't very wealthy by the state of the old wagon he pulled and he looked like he had had better days.

"What brings you folks walking this old road at this time of day?" he asks and Joseph regards him carefully.

"Just heading to visit family, sir." Adam says and the man nods.

"Up at the next town?" He asks and Adam nods.

"Yes, sir." he says and the man rubs his face.

"I can't take you all that far but I'll take you to the nearest inn." He says and Adam looks to Joseph who nods and we walk towards the wagon. Adam helps Lia up into the wagon then climbs in himself and helps Jaclyn and myself up. The other two men get in and then we are moving. Jaclyn grabs the edge of the wagon as it hits a rut and closes her eyes. The old man looks over his shoulder and smirks.

"Don't travel much do ya, miss?" He calls and she allows a thin lipped smile.

"No, sir." She says through gritted teeth and he laughs.

"You'll get used to it miss, don't worry." he says and she nods, her knuckles turning white as we hit another rut.

"Just relax." Lia says and Jaclyn nods. The ride is bumpy and full of muttered curses from Jaclyn that the man doesn't hear. Jason watches the trees intently and then we are stopping in front of a building that has wagons sitting in front of it. By now the sun had set and there were lanterns lighting up the building and as we climbed down from the wagon. Jason helped Jaclyn down and if it hadn't been for him I have no doubt that she would have collapsed to the ground.

"Don't travel well do ya miss?" The man asks her and she shakes her head.

"No." She replies quietly and walks towards the inn silently. As we walk in we are greeted by a young woman who was short and plump and had a cheery round face that lit up the room.

"How may I help you lovely young folks?" She asks and Jaclyn smiles at her.

"Six rooms please." She says and the woman disappears for a moment.

"Sorry hon. Don't got that many left. I can give you three rooms but that's it." She says and Jaclyn nods wearily.

"That's fine." She says and brings out a handful of coins. The woman tilts her head in confusion.

"How'd you know the price?" She asks dumbfounded and Jaclyn gives her a sad smile.

"Inn keepers tend to keep the price about the same as other inns. I should know, people marveled that my prices were smaller than others." She says and hands the woman the coins.

"You are an inn keeper? My dear you're much to young for that!" The woman exclaims and Jaclyn shrugs.

"My grandmother died and passed the inn down to me. I took over it when I was just about a head above the counter." Jaclyn replies as the woman leads us to our rooms. The woman sends a sympathetic look towards Jaclyn.

"My dear, I'm so sorry! My mother gave me this place and I was about five years older than you are right now when I got it." She says and Jaclyn smiles.

"Do you like it?" She asks and the woman nods.

"Yes can't say I don't. I meet some rather interesting people but I'm sure you did too." She says and Jaclyn nods.

"I almost got married once because of a young man that had stayed at my inn when I was about two years younger than I am now." She says and the woman looks up at Jaclyn surprised.

"What happened to him?" She asks and Jaclyn looks away.

"He was hanged. I didn't attend it." She says quietly and the woman puts a sympathetic hand on Jaclyn's arm.

"I'm sorry." She says quietly and Jaclyn tenses. The woman shows us the three rooms and Jaclyn enters one and sits down in a chair staring into nothing. As everyone enters the room she starts to shake her head and as the door is clicking shut she starts to fall apart.

"What's wrong?" Lia asks when she notices and Jaclyn shakes her head.

"Everything. I'm--I'm just so scared. What if we don't win? What happens then?" She asks and I roll my eyes.

"We've been over this..." I start but Jaclyn is standing in a second and her eyes are blazing. It surprised me so much I shut my mouth.

"We die in honor. That's what we said but what about everyone else that has no idea something is about to happen? They are forced to suffer for no reason!" She snaps and I blink. She had never snapped at me before and it was surprising.

"Jaclyn.." Lia starts and Jaclyn shakes her head.

"I'm scared. I can't take feeling like this anymore. It's too much." She says and Jason looks around at everyone.

"Serena, you and the other's figure out the rooms." He says and I open my mouth to object but Joseph is pulling me out of the room and into another room with the others before I can get a word out.