Horses

Making their way through the plains of the Hessian Kingdom, Sylus and Maya kept asking questions about the situation in the citadel, trying to get as much information as they could from Rom who kept sighing and scoffing at them, showing his displeasure towards their relentless nagging.

Halting his steps on top of the hill, looking down in the small valley where the village laid, he sighed in relief looking down at the woman in his arms who was still very much out of it.

Her black hair stained with blood, that dried making her hair look stiff, her face was covered in blood as well, couldn't really see the features, the staines on her dress had now turned dark red. Wondering how was it possible for her to end up like this just because of a loaf bread, he could sense that there was more to it but there would be no answers to his questions until the woman comes back to her senses .

Rom heard Maya's voice echoing in his ear breaking his train of thoughts

"Huh?" Rom questioned back slowly coming out of his daze, having not heard the previous questions.

Maya sighed in annoyance " The witch Rom! What does she want?" she asked in a high pitched voice on the brink of losing her temper because of Rom's aloof atitude.

"Oh, that! Ummm.....I'm not sure, father never really said if I would have to guess, she wants more power just like everyone else!" he stated in a low voice that faded at the end

Maya and Sylus looked at Rom a little baffled at the lengths one would go just to gain more power.

Maya looked at Sylus who was frowning just like her with his mouth open to speak but he quickly closed it.

Wanting to put an end to the hurricane of questions and get back to more pressing matters, he looked at the at his sister and Sylus seeing them frozen in their spot with a worried look on their faces.

" We should stop at the village in the valley bellow, will leave the woman there and see if they have some horses for us to use!" he plainly explained the plan, while the other two finally snapped out of their daze and nodded in agreement understanding that for now Rom was done with answering their questions.

" The sun will set soon, we should get going!" Sylus commented while looking at the sky.

Descending on the hill, making their way to the village, the three kept quiet and picked up the pace to get there before it turns dark, so the villagers won't be suspicious of their arrival.

Walking past the first house in the village, Rom caught with corner of his eye someone peeking from behind the curtain.Thinking that they were still quite close to the citadel, it would best for them not to linger in the village. Making a plan in his head, he looked ahead and spotted a small inn sign, tipping his chin " We should stop at the inn!" Rom suggested while the other looked ahead as Rom did.

" It would for the best that you don't use your real names and don't say where we are from or where are going!" he spoke in grave voice letting them know how serious the situation was.

Maya blinked a little taken aback " Where are we going?" she asked curiously while staring at Rom.

Rom sighed " Best that you don't know for now, it would easier for you!" Rom told his sister still looking ahead while they were approaching the inn

Maya nodded in agreement and looked at Sylus who seemed to know just as much as she did.

Halting in front of the shabby looking inn, Rom looked at Maya and Sylus " For now let me do the talking!" he stated in a serious tone while opening the door wide open so he could enter inucumbured since he was still carrying the women in his arms.

The later just nodded in agreement while holding the door open so he could get in without too much trouble, following him inside the inn.

The few people that were inside seated at the table drinking went silent and turned to the newcomers looking a bit surprised.

Rom made his way to the counter to speak with the innkeeper, who looked a little worried at the sight of the three.

" We need a room and a healer!" he spoke in a commanding voice while staring at the innkeeper.

Hearing Rom, the innkeepers eyes shone with greed at the thought of how many coins he could make off their backs.

" Three gold coins for the room and another three gold coins for the healer!" the innkeeper demanded while his lips curled up in a wicked smile.

Rom clicked his tongue " We don't have that much gold, we are wanderers without a place to call home and not many belongings!" he lied as best as he could to avoid them asking further questions.

" I accept other things, like jewellery or anything of value!" the innkeeper replied while tipping his chin at Sylus, his eye settled on his chest.

Maya and Rom turned around following the innkeepers line of sight, Rom raised an eyebrow in question thinking that he had never seen Sylus wearing jewellery.

Sylus looked down pulling the necklace out from his tunic, with a weary smile " This you mean, you can have it but we also need some horses!" he bargained chuckling, his eyes locked with innkeeper's eyes staring at each other.

" Seems like a fine jewell, so you can have two horses" the innkeeper bargained in return while he kept his eyes on the sparkling jewell.

" It's a deal!" Rom conceded while looking at his sister and Sylus with a glint of suspicion in his eyes, the necklace looked familiar.

" Follow me! I'll show where the room is and I'll have a healer to look at the woman!" the innkeeper spoke while making his way from behind the counter to the back of the inn.

They followed the innkeeper through the narrow and dark corridor, quickly reaching a shabby looking room with one small table in the corner, a wooden bed covered with hay with a bedside table next to it and a jug of water on top of it.

"Three gold coins for this!" Sylus scoffed at the innkeepers greed.

"The next inn is five days of walking from here if this room is not to your liking!" the innkeeper retorted with an amused voice.

" We will take it!" Rom deadpanned while glaring at Sylus for not keeping his mouth shut.

" I'll leave you to it then, I'll go get the healer!" the innkeeper spoke while walking out of the room.

Rom placed the woman on the bed, making sure she is comfortable enough, frowning he looked at her trying to understand why she hasn't woken up yet, her wounds weren't bad enough to justify her condition.

" Now what? Are we leaving her here, we can't pay for the innkeeper to look after her !" Sylus commented while looking at Rom waiting to hear his thoughts.

Standing up straight, taking sharp breath in turning around to look at Maya and Sylus " We will wait for the healer and will make a decision after!" he spoke in a hushed voice worried that someone might be listening at the door.