Lilia's Tale

Chapter 23: Fire

The first day of travel went without any problems, as a dinner had been prepared for us, and the inside of the carriage was more than comfortable enough to be used as beds. However, the second day, some time during the afternoon, it started raining quite heavily.

"That sure is one downpour," I commented, noticing the weather.

"It sure is," Father confirmed after checking.

"Is it really okay to be flying despite the rain?"

"If it's best to stop, the coachman will tell us."

Right after that sentence, we heard a knock on the carriage's wall coming from the front.

"Yes?" Father yelled, seemingly to answer the driver.

"The rain is getting hard to traverse, and I am worried there might be a thunderstorm. Is it okay with you if we wait until the weather clears to continue? It will delay the day of arrival," the coachman said, faintly hearing him through the carriage's walls

"We are not in any hurry or under any time constraints, so it is best to take a safer route."

"Thank you, sir. There should be a town nearby where we can rest and wait. Hopefully we will either be able to get back on track by tonight or tomorrow morning."

"It would be great, but it will take the time we need. Nature can be fickle, at times."

"I agree with you on that," the coachman said after laughing.

Shortly after, we started descending, until we heard the horse's hooves on the ground, galloping relatively fast. While we were advancing forward, I looked through the window and noticed we were inside of a town. As I was looking, the carriage stopped, and I could see a wooden panel hanging from a metal pole, written "Inn".

The door opened as I was still looking at it, the coachman revealing himself, soaked, asking we hurry into the inn while he takes care of the carriage. I first let Father leave, who ran directly into the inn's frontal cover, before leaving myself.

My first reaction, instead of leaving directly for cover, was to stand exactly where I was, and look up into the rain. Instead of being bothered by my clothes becoming increasingly soggy, I instead felt increasingly happy and relaxed as the rain showered the entirety of my body. I also couldn't even feel my uniform getting any heavier.

After standing there for what felt like an eternity, I looked back at the inn's entrance and noticed the coachman had placed some of our luggage directly next to the entrance, as Father was looking at me worried. Right as I noticed his expression, our carriage suddenly moved, startling me.

"Lilia, are you okay?" Father asked with a painfully worried tone.

I looked at him, unable to find the answer. I quickly went back to looking up into the sky, trying to understand what was happening to me. I didn't allow myself to ponder for too long, as I couldn't afford to make him wait anymore, so I eventually sighed and went to him.

"I think I'm fine," I finally replied. "I just felt oddly happy under the rain."

As I was answering, I grabbed both Father and I's luggage and went back in front of the entrance, where Father was standing.

"Should we go in then, master?" I said with a smile on my face.

Father looked surprised for a short moment before smiling back and opening the door.

The inn didn't seem to have many customers as most of the tables were empty. We went straight to the counter, where Father asked if we could shelter from the rain here, and potentially buy a room for the night. The person seemed to agree, and we went to sit at a table, where I brought our baggage along and put them underneath the table, at my feet.