A Wail of a Tale

[Outside of Brewbury]

In the morning, they were off, Daerinnid riding a homely chestnut with a nasty disposition and Neesa on a far milder gray mare. Unlike the new clothes Neesa now sported, the ponies had not been a gift. Daerinnid had paid more than twice what the beasts were worth simply so he enjoy the pleasure of a day off his feet.

Being from a moderately wealthy family, Daerinnid was an experienced horseback rider, but Neesa seemed out of place as she grappled with the reins of her mare, trying to keep he seat.

"Neesa, don't pull so much. If you tug too hard too suddenly, she might bolt."

"Y-yes, Daer," Neesa gurgled, trying to follow his advice.

"Grab a big piece of her mane -- that's the horse's hair -- and use that instead of the reins for support. Don't worry, it won't hurt her. Don't squeeze with your legs like that, it means speed up."

Gradually, Neesa figured out what Daerinnid meant and pulled off a passable imitation of a rider. "That's it, steady now," soothed Daerinnid, "You're getting the hang of it."

Soon, Neesa began to squirm. "D-Daer, this 'urts."

"Would you rather be walking?"

"No, I guess not…"

"Just sit and think, then."

Some more time passed quietly, Daer riding regally despite his mount, and Neesa riding poorly despite hers. Finally, Neesa said, "I can't think o' anythin'."

Rolling his eyes dramatically, Daer turned around and said, "Well then, don't." Sufficiently chided, Neesa looked downward.

"I'm hungry."

"We'll stop in an hour."

"Bu' I'm hungry now--"

"In an hour," said Daerinnid firmly, ending the discussion. He was really starting to get annoyed by how much Neesa seemed to want to talk. He would just have to get rid of her in the city, where nobody would notice her.

Neesa sighed and looked at her hands. Daerinnid was turning less and less romantic by the moment in spite of her attempts to please him. It was almost as if her trying turned him off. Neesa bit back her tears. She would have her storybook ending, she was sure of it.

"Okay, let's stop."

"No."

"What?"

"I said 'no,'" Neesa replied, her hands gripping the horse's mane tightly.

"What do you mean, I thought you were hungry!" Daerinnid protested.

"Well, I'm not any more."

"Women," Daerinnid mumbled as he turned back to the front. Neesa ignored him.

After a while, Daerinnid began to wonder when Neesa would start asking to stop. He was getting hungry himself. "Okay, let's stop now."

"No."

"Look, Neesa, I don't care if you're hungry, because I am." Daerinnid brought his horse to a halt. The gray mare kept going.

Unfortunately, Daer had to ride after her in a canter once it dawned on him that she had the food.

---

The morning and the afternoon passed much the same, Daerinnid asking to stop and Neesa denying him access to the food with her determination to keep going. Night was coming, and still Daerinnid had not eaten. He was beginning to wonder who was in control of the situation, him or the baggage he had unfortunately picked up in what had seemed a good idea at the time.

Feigning indifference, Neesa had let Daerinnid suffer. It was for the better, she assured herself. This was not a case where the woman had to secure the man, it was clearly something different. In this instance, the woman had to train the man.

Her mother had warned her about training men. "Thim'z oozlez 'tul thar prauprly trenned," Effie had always told her daughters. The prime example was supposed to be their father, who did most of the heavy work around the house and left Effie to do what Effie did best: cleaning and cooking. Effie extolled the virtues of the housewife, pointing out that there was very little for a housewife to do.

And that was precisely the problem. There was so little for a housewife to do that Neesa had practically died of boredom. Every day she woke up, helped her mother prepare breakfast, ate, tidied her room, helped her mother make some lunch, ate, helped her mother make dinner, and ate. Neesa was forced to admit that the majority of her family had been a tad overweight due to the fact they did nothing but sit around the house and eat.

Neesa was different. When she was not eating, cooking, or doing the modest bit of cleaning required of her (which was most of the time), she walked around the countryside and read. She had only a handful of books in her collection, but she knew them all by heart. (They were ashes now, she recalled sadly.) Neesa had always known she was better than the inn. Even though her family thought her strange to be gone all day walking, it was the walking which kept Neesa's figure small. Neesa had heard stories from travelers of the thin women favored by the Royal Courts. She had even seen one once. The woman had been so thin she seemed liable to float away on the wind, like a fairy from the ancient Elven forests. Neesa imagined how beautiful those forests might be, filled with lush green trees and magical creatures…

"Neesa? Can we stop?"

Daerinnid. Neesa was going to train him well. A woman of the Court would need a loyal man to represent her. Daerinnid was not terribly handsome, but he had an interesting face and impeccable manners when he chose. When he chose, because Neesa was beginning to think his manners were not quite as perfect as he let on. It was as if he would go from being a daring hero to being something just below the average level of kindness.

"Neesa?" Daerinnid pleaded, a perfectly awful look on his face. The poor man looked as if he were starving, which Neesa suspected was the truth of the matter. Had the man ever gone more than a day without food? she wondered.

Surely there was a secret here. Something in Daerinnid's past he did not want to share. Something that made him act coldly on occasion. What had he said about pain? It had been something about his understanding the pain of loosing one's family. That had to be it. He had lost his parents and still suffered because of it. According to one of her novels, it was now Neesa's job to unravel his hidden past and heal his pain. Of course, a secret past could mean only one thing…

Daerinnid was royalty! He had to be! He was a prince from a small kingdom which had been overrun by an evil warlord. The warlord killed his parents, but Daerinnid escaped, hoping to someday return and claim back his lost land. In that case, Neesa would become queen and bear him heirs and live happily in his castle, after she helped him defeat the warlord and his evil wizard. Neesa would have to learn magic to beat the wizard, and Daerinnid would take up the sword and fight the warlord in one on one combat. Perhaps they would even meet some elves along the way who would join their cause and teach them fairy-magic.

"Neesa!"

Maybe they were on their way to find the elves right now. It was wholly possible that Daerinnid was searching for a map in the city, a map which would lead them to golden treasure. Then they could use the treasure to finance an army, an army of magical elves. Neesa would stand alongside Daerinnid and help him lead the charge against the warlord. Daerinnid would defeat the warlord and they would go after the wizard, but Daerinnid would be terribly wounded, leaving Neesa to use her newly-acquired fairy magic to defeat the wizard all by herself and save Daerinnid's life.

"NEESA!!!"

Finally, Neesa was forced to stop. At Daerinnid's yell, the mare had instantly reared up in fear, throwing Neesa backwards off the horse. She hit the ground and landed firmly on her rear.

"Finally!" Daerinnid exclaimed, sliding off his pony and grabbing for the mare. He quieted the frightened beast and began to rummage through the pack for some food.

For a few stunned moments, Neesa sat, bewildered, the pain not even registering. She watched dumbly as Daerinnid munched contentedly on a roll of bread and come cheese, not even looking at her.

Neesa's lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears. She let out an ear-wrenching wail.

"Huh?" Daerinnid said, turning to look at her, the bread still sticking out the side of his mouth. "What's wrong with you?"

Neesa wailed and wailed.