Paladin - the path begins

Chapter 7

Luna sighed, the Cerdic forest inn slowly came into view. Spending all day in a carriage with her uncle was becoming nigh on unbearable to her, it wasn't that he was bad company, quite the opposite. He was charming and witty, yet she knew him as an utter bastard. Luna knew of her uncle's exploits, though nothing could ever be prove, accusers... if ever there were any would vanish soon after the allegations. No, it was unbearable because even knowing what he was capable of, she couldn't help starting to enjoying his company. She was broken from her thoughts as the carriage came to a gentle halt. It had been several days since she had parted with Tar'vid and she regretted doing so every second. She hadn't explained the Joining to him and now thinking about it, she had almost brushed him aside without a second thought. Her uncle left first, turning about face as she came to the door.

"Luna, will you be joining me for dinner tonight?" Elldran asked her civilly, offering his hand and breaking her from her morose thoughts.

"No... thank you, uncle. The journey has been tiring and I'm going to bed early tonight I think" she replied apologetically, breezing past him into the Inn, going upstairs to her room and locking the door immediately.

She had nearly said yes to her uncle though, and that frightened her. He had been prodding about Arklan subtly for the last few days, and though she had come scarily close to telling him at times about him being Tar'vid, she had a feeling he already knew his true identity. Luna lay on her bed, feeling the soft duvet under her. She was concentrating so hard on blocking out Elldran lately that it was wearing her out, at least it had been keeping Tar'vid from her thoughts. She lay back on the bed, kicking off her boots and hearing them thud on the carpeted floor of her room. Luna wriggled a little, getting herself comfortable and not even bothering to undress. She wondered what Tar'vid was doing right now, perhaps he'd forgotten about her already. Luna buried her face in her pillows wanting to cry. Her thoughts were disturbed by a loud crash from the room below her, she heard raised voices and she jumped onto the floor nimbly, pressing an ear against the soft carpet.

"... Idiot, what if she'd been here!" she heard a man say angrily.

The voices became quieter after that, and though the discussion was still heated the words weren't loud enough to hear properly. She shrugged it off as a tavern fight and got undressed, getting into her warm, soft bed. Being a princess certainly had advantages she thought, drifting off to sleep and dreaming of Tar'vid sweeping in to whisk her away to the life she wanted with him more than anything.

Luna woke up at the sound of horses braying and a sudden thunder of hooves. She couldn't remember another waggon being here when they'd arrived, or of another coming during the night... though she had been exhausted, perhaps she'd missed it.

She opened up her travel bag, pulling out her travel dress. It was still pristine as she disliked wearing it. Luna shoved her leather armour and tunic into the bag unceremoniously. She preferred the feel of her armour, but her father would expect her to look at least presentable as a princess of Keldran. Luna stared at the dress disapprovingly for a moment, pulling it on hurriedly as someone knocked at her door testily, probably her uncle wanting to make time up that she'd wasted sleeping in, they could easily be in Keldran by sundown still.

Luna unlocked the door slowly, opening it a crack. Deadra stood there looking at her sternly with her green eyes fixed intently on her.

"You should have been up at first light," Deadra told her, planting her hands on her hips.

"Oh, come on... surely my father's spymaster has better things to do than berate me for sleeping in?" Luna pouted, opening the door fully for her and walking back to her dresser.

Deadra caught her arm tightly, pulling her in the direction of the door hurriedly. Deadra was much stronger than her... and taller, taller than most men even. Her beautiful olive skin setting her apart from all Keldran elves, Deadra was of Lindian descent after all.