Ranestone: Return of The Serpent

Chapter Thirteen-Brynn

Waking up to the face of Grey Strowd had been surprising, but not at all unpleasant.

Brynn had still been a bit disoriented, her head throbbing slightly when she'd woken up that morning two days before, but the pain from her injury had now almost ceased to trouble her.

The gray-eyed guard had been by her side ever since that morning, and Brynn had actually quite enjoyed their time together.

He wasn't at all who she'd assumed he'd be; silent and brooding. In fact, he sometimes made jokes and told her stories of his past, a few of them making her cackle much to her embarrassment. His company had made the days of sitting in bed more than bearable, but she was glad the healer had told her she could begin walking again.

Not that her parents would let her go anywhere.

The accident had nearly driven her mother over the edge, the queen demanding she stay within the castle walls when she was no longer bed-ridden. Not that this was unusual, she was rarely let outside of the castle anyway.

*

Now she sat in the castle library, the vast dark room quiet and isolated, her favorite space in the castle. Reading had allowed her to venture outside the castle's stone walls, and sometimes she'd liked to imagine herself in the place of some of the characters in the books, going on great quests and adventures.

She was perched in a comfortable chair by one of the long thin windows, a rather large book in her hands.

Grey was seated in a chair next to her, back straight, eyes alert as usual.

He'd wanted to stand, but she'd managed to convince him to sit down on the soft cushions.
The guard's large dog lay like some giant fur rug at his feet.

"Tell me Grey, do you know what 'pervicacious' means?" She asked him, tapping her finger on the page.

"No," he admitted, eyes curious. "What does it mean?"

Brynn laughed, "I don't know, that's why I asked you. Didn't you say you like to read?"

He'd said no such thing.

Grey's lips pulled into the crooked smile she'd grown used to.

"Very funny princess."

"Brynn," she corrected with a pointed look.

The guard had struggled to call her by just her name after she'd requested he do so, something she'd found quite entertaining.

She folded the page, and closed the large book with a sigh.

"I suppose it isn't time for dinner yet is it?" She asked, fighting back a yawn.

Grey raised a dark eyebrow. "Tired?"

"No," the princess said indignantly, setting the book on a small table beside her chair.

"It's just been a long day." She pushed her long hair over her shoulders so that it fell smoothly down her back.

They'd removed the cloth earlier that day, and her head felt lighter without the itchy covering.

Grey watched her with a smirk.

"So, you aren't tired, but it's "been a long day"," he said, standing up.

She sometimes forgot just how tall the muscular guard was, and he looked all the more impressive in his new thick silver armor.
She'd asked him about it the day before, tracing a finger over the intricate patterns on the metal, and he'd told her of his new position as part of the staguard, explaining that the new armor came with the move in rank, though she'd known all of this already.
She wondered how he'd react if he knew how good she was with a sword.
Perhaps she would show him someday...