Scorched

19

Ezra didn't even say goodbye to Cleo after he dropped her off at the pier, he dropped her off so quickly that the entire thing happened in about ten seconds with ease.

But she was rather glad that the trip back was quiet. She could see Ezra was one of the tranquil ones who constantly thinks about his every next move. After he drops her off, what's he doing now? kind of person.

Cleo made sure he dropped her at an area with the least activity, and when he got her to the side of the pier, she jumped on the ladder which was against it and she slowly climbed her way up, making sure her feet didn't get into the water below her of the ladder that extended right down into the water.

She peeked up keeping her stance on the ladder before lifting up and directly onto the pier;  after seeing majority of the villagers at the front of the pier, she climbs onto it and hides behind a box of ship shit.

When she turned around, Ezra was already gone and she grits her teeth. The High Mage. Hell did they have one of those?

A few moments later of her hiding, searching and finding her way closer towards the farms, judging by the fresh scent of grass and the windmills in the distance she finally finds herself standing in the middle of the pathway between the farms.

And still... No Jezio.

He said he would be here and he is not.

Yes her heart did an excited jump at not finding him at the pier because that would be too much talking from her to him. It's usually the other way around and she prefers it that way.

She didn't see the old man's barge in sight either, and Cleo is desperately hoping that Jez hasn't seen him return without her. What if Jezio was with the old man now? Looking for her at sea?

She didn't see anything on her trip back. She steers her thoughts away from that.

She sighs and straightens her back harshly as another wave of pain tackles her. She has to get back to Court. Now.

But where the hell was Jezio?

Cleo keeps walking forward down the pathway, drooping her head down low as she briskly walks away further from the sea towards the Village. If Jezio wasn't here, she would just leave him and come another time, and she'll come prepared for the fight he would start at leaving him. Again.

He wouldn't be an idiot to go all looking for her, or maybe he would but at some point he'd give up. There isn't exactly anything he could do regarding her whereabouts to others; they wouldn't even know how she looked. And he'd just end up driving himself deeper into a hole with no way out. So he will have no choice but to let it go. Let her go.

But it wasn't sundown yet, and the old man's barge wasn't there last she checked, so when Jez comes back to the pier from wherever he is he'll know she isn't back yet.

It is about midday. The activities in the farms, and even the Beggar Area where she is soon reaching has gone up a notch. More people, more work, more of everything. It's making her think when her crowning ritual is. How long has it been anyway?

She hears the cries of chickens, or maybe it was the children screaming she didn't know, because to her they all sounded the same. It made her think of Thane. Sweet little Thane.

The walk from the farms back to the Village is a long one. Surpassing many hills, trees, and even more crops before actually reaching the edge of the entire Market — which is the Beggar Area, made her body feel more dead than it was back at sea.

She glances toward the dead crops; she wouldn't even be surprised if it were the beggars themselves taking their foods from the farms like she saw earlier. Or maybe she should get guards to make sure there aren't any crossings of the beggars gliding to the farms to manage the purloin of crops and food.