Bright emerald eyes stare up at him full of life, golden hair full of luster, pale skin with the barest hint of a tan. Such a stark contrast from the blood and viscera covered image of the last one that looked like her.
“Hello? Did you hear me mister?”
The blood dripping from his hands-holding her hand in greeting, perfectly clean. The glazed look in his eyes-hers starting to show concern. The last words out of his mouth-“Ehem, please let go of my hand sir.”
“Ah! Apologies, could you repeat that?” Dropping her hand perhaps a bit too quickly, his poor attempt to brush it off is not missed on her.
She eyes him with skepticism for a moment while he does his best to bury the guilt with a sheepish look. “I had asked if you were looking for work as a mercenary guard, you’d seemed the most competent available but I seem to be mistaken, pardon my intrusion.”
Realizing she’s about to leave he reaches out to grab her arm, “Wait! I apologize! I was just-caught by your beauty!” His poorly formed excuse, while not antagonizing her, certainly fails to placate her, though he releases her arm before that changes. “I am absolutely looking for work, and I can assure you mercenary guard work would be trivial for me. I’ve been to all but the most remote villages in the region and have extensive combat training, perfect for guarding and guiding.”
She eyes him critically for a moment, ‘I did approach him because he’s the least seedy looking person here, though I suppose I can’t fault him for being surprised when I had walking in with my hood covering me.’ “Alright then, how about we sit and talk over the details, mister…?”
“Of course, and please, call me Marcus.”
“Well met Marcus, I am Lady Annamarie Dawngold.”
“Ah! A Lady, my sincerest apologies for my earlier behavior, could I treat you to a meal as recompense?”
Having survived off of stolen loaves of bread and apples for the last two days, and not having her coin purse after being robbed the day before that, she is not about to turn down the offer of free food, though this man doesn’t need to know about the reason for the missing coin purse. “That is acceptable.”
While waiting for their order, Marcus asks, “So what are the details for this contract? I must admit I’ve not heard of the Dawngolds so I can be a nominal local guide, travel guard, stationary post, or, though my tracking skills are less than average, I make up for it with traps and combat experience if you need me to hunt something.”
Worried he might realize she just made the name up this morning, she’s quick to latch onto the branch he’s offered, “Yes, I am in need of a local guide as well as a traveling guard, my last one unfortunately didn’t meet my standards, so I’m glad to hear I’ve found someone competent.”
Wincing internally at the blatant lie, though one only he is likely to realize, he is quick to respond, “I’d be glad to assist, though I must ask where it is we’ll be going to make any travel plans, as well as secure any supplies we may need.”
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Trying desperately not to show her grimace at the thought of her lack of funds for supplies, she responds in an attempt to appear flippant and wealthy, “My last guard made off with my coin so I will need you to provide for supplies until we reach our destination, as for where that is,” she hesitates here, wary of trusting anyone, though ultimately realizing she’ll need to give at least a general description for travel. “I’m heading near the port city of Ramaj.”
“Ramaj, eh? Shame about the coin, could have bought a couple horses, as it is, on foot it’ll be about three weeks, likely more considering I’ll likely need to do some side work to make up the coin for rations and other supplies along the way, would that be acceptable to you, Lady Dawngold?”
“How long do you estimate this side work will add onto the journey?”
“Hard to say, depends on our travel speed, weather, if you want to supplement our rations with hunting, it could honestly take anywhere from an extra week to a couple months.”
“I see, you wouldn’t happen to know of any caravans or wagons heading that way would you?”
Eyeing her fancy, though not ostentatious outfit, mainly the ruby red top and wheat-gold trousers, thankfully mostly covered by her black traveling cloak, he finds he can at least approve of the sensibility of the outfit, if not the clear signs of someone worth robbing. “Not for free, and not for the coin I’ve got available, and unless you haven’t noticed Lady Dawngold, this town isn’t the most traveled by the ilk of merchants and goodfolk.”
“Indeed, that was why I’d approached you initially.”
“Not sure whether to be flattered or offended,” he teased. Before she could utter a response, their meals arrived and he paid the tab.
“When do you want to head out, Lady Dawngold?”
“When is the earliest we can leave?”
“Well it’ll only take me about an hour to gather up supplies for the journey to the next town over, so if you want to join me for that, we can head out to do so once we’ve finished eating.”
“Very well.”
—
Having finished their meal and gathered most of the supplies, Marcus remembers to mention, “Before we depart Lady Dawngold, how comfortable are you camping? I’ve a tent for myself, though I’m sure someone of your sensibilities would appreciate your own, I’ve not enough coin for another. I’m willing to sleep in a bag to give you mine while we travel, but I must warn you camping isn’t entirely pleasant regardless.”
Not wanting to disappoint her only companion before ever setting off, and not wanting to sleep in the grass again, she’s quick to dismiss his worries, “I shall have to make do with yours then, if there are no other concerns I would like to make as much time as possible before we need to make camp.”
Chuckling at her clear unwillingness to dirty herself to mortal standards, Marcus begrudgingly agrees, “Very well, we’ll be off then.”
—
After traveling as far as they could before needing to make camp, Marcus speaks while watching the campfire, absently finishing his rations, “So, Lady Dawngold, may I ask what brings you out this way? The logging towns of the the Skytooth mountains are a fair distance from Ramaj.”
Quickly schooling her expression, Annamarie responds somewhat heatedly, “I was visiting someone, now I am leaving, best not to ask questions above your station, I hired you to guide and guard, not pry into my personal business.”
“Of course my Lady, I apologize for my presumptuousness.”
“Hmph, don’t let it happen again,” not in the mood for anymore conversation, she heads to the tent to lay down for the night, though sleep eludes her, the memory of her father’s blood staining the floor of her home, her fearful escape, and her only lead to his killer being a cloth with embroidery of the sea, any sleep she gets is fitful and fraught with uneasy dreams.
Marcus, on the other hand, wonders what exactly his life has become, willfully playing bodyguard to the daughter of the man he was sent to kill, he stares at the fire until it burns to coals, laying down in his sleeping bag, he too has dreams fraught with trauma, though with the trauma of how it felt as he pushed the blade into the man’s heart and watched the gold-tinged red blood pool around him as the last light left the eyes of Thurnir, the god of the Skytooth mountains.
