Midknight Encounters
[the Inn]
After lecturing the knight, Daerinnid assumed the evening would go fine. He could never have imagined just how wrong he was.
Upon returning to the kitchen, Daerinnid noted an odd smell. It took a moment for him to place it, but when he did he shrieked in anguish. "Why…? Why??" he moaned as he sank to the floor. His soup was ruined. In the time he had been gone, the mixture had burned. At least, that seemed to be what had happened, judging by the smell. Daerinnid reach for the ladle, but drew back as the hot metal singed his fingers. He was clearly out of his league.
Daerinnid yelled in pain as he ran up the stairs. He ran straight past the poor, confused Sir Paolos and into Neesa's room. It seemed as if Daerinnid had woken her, and she gazed at him bewilderedly. "Daer? Wha' eva's th' matta?"
"Soup-- fire!? Burned! Lost! All is lost! Hours, dinner, horse! Knight!"
"What? Slow down, I can't unnastan' a word you're sayin'!"
"MY SOUP!!" he wailed. "I spent hours making it and I didn't put any spices in it or anything and then I left it and is must have burned! I didn't even know soup could burn!"
"Calm down," Neesa instructed, careful to hide her giggle. "It's jus' a soup. Why don' ya go 'head an' bring me a bowl? Doesn' matta if it burnt, had tons o' burnt soup before."
"Really?"
"Really. An' I'm awfool 'ungry."
With Neesa's mispronunciation, it dawned on Daerinnid what a fool he had been making of himself. He ran from the room, more concerned over his lost pride than the soup.
---
Grimly, Sir Paolos considered his options once again. His squire was unconscious, he was being forced to sleep in a room covered in blood, not to mention clean said room. Dinner was looking to be cold if what that crazed innkeeper had said was true, That same innkeeper had threatened Paolos' life and had run screaming through the inn just moments later. It was a madhouse, to be sure.
Paolos looked at his squire. The boy was a rather poor servant, and it was his fault Paolos was stuck at the inn until the storm blew over. "You stupid boy, Edwin, wake up and clean my room!" Unsurprisingly, Edwin offered no response. Paolos would have gladly ousted the boy from the bed, had he not been afraid the innkeeper would kill him,
There was little choice in Paolos' mind. He would leave the minute the storm ended.
---
A particularly loud clap of thunder woke Neesa from her sleep. The candles had long since gone out, leaving the room dark and chilly. Thinking there might be some warm coals left over from the fire downstairs, Neesa gathered a shawl about her shoulders and slid off the bed onto the cold floor.
Another clap of thunder shook the house, rattling the shutters. The sound sent shivers up Neesa's spine. Calming herself, she tiptoed down the stairs and into the kitchen, only to find that the fire was still going. "Silly Daer, forgot ta put th' faiyah out! Th' 'ouse could'a lit up!" Frowning, Neesa reached for a bucket of dirty water.
In that instant, she became aware of eyes on her back. "Fear not, fair maiden, for 'twas my fault that your fire is still lit."
Shocked, Neesa turned, ready to douse the stranger with the water. What she saw was not a villian, but a man in shining armor with golden locks and sparkling blue eyes. He extended his hand towards her in friendship.
"I am Sir Paolos, Royal Knight. Who, pray tell, are you, my lady?"
"M-my name's Neesa," she stammered. The knight was handsome and tall, with sparkling blue eyes and a square chin. He looked like a picture from a romance novel. Neesa remembered the manners she had practiced and curtsied. "It is an honor to meet you, Sir Paolos."
"So that's what that innkeeper was hiding in the first room!" Paolos remarked, giving a stiff bow.
Neesa felt she should tell the knight that Daerinnid was not an innkeeper, but decided such a tiny detail could wait. "I was injured, and the innkeeper was nice enough to t-take care of me."
Looking appalled, Paolos replied, "He didn't hurt you in any way, did he, m'lady!?"
"Oh, no. I was injured by some monstas." Neesa silently chided herself for slipping up on the word "monsters." This was the longest she had ever tried to maintain a "proper" accent, and it was hard to remember where to place the stresses.
"If he had hurt a hair on your head, I would have him hung from the gallows, m'lady!"
"Oh, n-no! Daerinnid is v-very k-kind."
"On the contrary, m'lady, he threatened my life when I came asking for shelter from the storm which rages outside at this very moment!"
Surely Daerinnid had known not to treat a guest in such a manner. The thought repulsed Neesa, as it would any innkeeper. Neesa puzzled over this until the knight broke into another speech.
"I intend to leave the very moment this storm lets up. Perhaps you would accompany me?"
Neesa gaped in surprise and wonder. Here was a real knight, offering to carry her off to his castle and make her his lady. "Please, Sir Knight, I am still too wounded to travel. Might you stay a few days with me?" As was expected, the knight could hardly refuse her offer.
"The sheer thought of abandoning you turns my stomach, m'lady. It would be my honor." Inwardly, Paolos screamed for Daerinnid's blood. He had no wish to stay another night with that murderous man, yet he could hardly shirk his knightly duties and abandon this lady. It would only be for a few days. What was the harm in that?