Craft

Part 8

Conbo came by my room soon after my father's episode and told me we were leaving. If he had noticed the swelling of the left side of face, he didn't make it obvious. Though, when a megar sigh left my lips he looked at me with a brief, contemplative gaze. It wasn't particularly analytical, but he seemed curious nonetheless.

"When will we be getting to the Lord's fortress?" I asked. A slight wince from the pain that was slowly lulling itself into a pulsing numbness crossed my features, and it didn't go unnoticed.

"What's wrong?"

It was a simple enough question, but the thought didn't escape me that he had completely ignored my own question. Somehow that bothered me more than the pain in my jaw.

"It's nothing really. Father struck me when he found out we were leaving, and doing so without his permission." I know a slight blush dusted my, already flushed, face and suddenly I felt much too exposed. The way I said it seemed to imply we were doing something waywardly.

He looked at me and my suddenly flustered form for a moment longer before letting out an almost delicate sounding chuckle. I was puzzled to say the least. What about that was humorous? I suppose my face gave away my thoughts as he began to explain himself.

"Your face. You're blushing." 

The simple response brought all of the blood in my body rushing to the surface. I'm sure if I looked in the mirror my neck and chest would be equally as red. With the comment our conversation died. I was far too embarrassed to speak anymore and he was content on leaving it there. Soon, we collected Ifan and were on our way.

Conbo insisted on carrying my bag and I was not going to decline. It was quite heavy for me having not done much physical work before. I'm much more along the lines of a scholar than a warrior. Already an hour into the journey and my chest began to ache as well as my legs. I don't know how people can do these long treks, but I hope that I don't need to do them very often. I won't complain though. I was more than welcoming to the fresh views and sounds.

Ifan pranced happily around the area. He seemed just as happy as I was to be out and about. He sniffed ever flower, pawed at every rock, and climbed any felled tree. I could only wish to have that much energy. My dress would do nothing to aid me in that kind of galavant.

My robes are form fitting. My entire body was covered. From ankle to neck, I was sheathed in black. There was a skin tight material the monks would wear under their robes, and they kindly shared a few with me. My robes were held firmly in place by a white obi. The outfit was simple but designed for meetings and ceremony. It was comfortable, but nowhere capable of leaping without tearing. The same onyx pendant hung around my neck as well.

By night fall, Ifan had settled down and the novelty of being out had worn out for now. Conbo allowed us to stop for the night. I could feel a small blister forming on my heel from walking this long, so I was very glad to be able to sit. He seemed to notice that I was tired and pointed out that he chose here for the stream that was a few meters into the underbrush. I thanked him before collecting my bag and walking in the direction he had pointed.

The water was cooling and without thinking, I squatted until the water was up to my neck. My whole body ached and this night would do nothing to help my throbbing muscles. Unless Conbo carried with him a futon of some kind, we were sleeping on the ground. I didn't think about it too much since I could watch the stars if I couldn't sleep.

I splashed water on my face, clearing it of the soft makeup I had put on to hide the bruising, and finished cleaning myself. I dressed in one of the other full body garments and decided that was enough coverage for a warm night like this. Before we left, I hadn't had the time to heal the area so it had to wait. I grabbed my things and on my return I saw Conbo had come back from wherever he had run off to and Ifan lay beside him.