Heirs of Avaline: The Journey Begins

Chapter Three: New Plans, New Companions

The 6th of Yaesoot, 1428

Daniel

It only took a few minutes to fall asleep in the chair in front of the fireplace. After the day we had, I was exhausted. I was still exhausted when I woke up, but my nightmares refused to let me rest. Jack and Nate were still asleep, but Doc was awake. He was leaning against the mantel over the fireplace smoking his pipe. I never liked the smell of his tobacco. The type he used had a sweet yet almost woody smell. I forget what it was called, but it was imported from the Imperial Isles and only available at the tavern near the Dark Forest. 

He saw that I was awake and waved me over to him. "Good morning. How'd ya sleep?" He asked.

"Same as always, barely at all," I replied.

He shook his head. "You'll sleep better eventually," he spoke.

I sighed. "It's been seven years. When will 'eventually' happen?"

Doc turned his attention back to the fire.

I stared at the pot hanging over the fire. My stomach growled as I imagined what morsels it held, but we had already overstayed our welcome at the inn, so I was sure they wouldn't feed us. "What are we going to do now? Our supplies are running low, and our pockets are empty," I said.

Doc sighed as he blew a puff of smoke. "Don't worry too much, I have a feeling something will come along," he said.

"And if it doesn't?" I asked, being skeptical.

Doc shrugged. "Then we'll search harder." He put out his pipe and placed it in his pocket. "I need to go check on our guest. She should be waking up soon." He patted my back before walking away. "Your clothes should be dry now. You should change before we leave."

I grabbed my clothes from in front of the fireplace and headed to one of the rooms to change. When I returned to the hall, Jack and Nate had awakened. "Well look what the badgers dragged in," Nate said.

I ignored him and headed back to the fire to grab my boots.

"Where's Doc?" Jack asked.

"He's checking on the girl. She should be awake soon." I responded.

"Too bad she didn't die. There's too many of her kind running about," Nate said.

"Perhaps her kind would say the same thing about you," I responded.

Nate started to return my insults when Jack stepped in-between us. "Look what I found on the notice board." He held up a wanted poster with his name on it.

Nate snatched it out of his hands and scowled at him. "Don't go waving that thing around. Someone will see you with it and put two and two together," he said.

I chuckled. "How you two haven't already been caught is a mystery to me."

Nate glared. "I could say the same thing about you, sir law and order," he said.

I turned back to the fire and ignored him. Nate turned his attention to the journal we found in the satchel last night. He opened it and began reading through its pages, invading its privacy. Jack returned to looking over the wanted posters on the notice board. "That's something you don't see every day," Jack stated, pointing to another poster. "An Esronian female wanted by the crown," he tore the poster down and brought it over to us.

I took a look at the poster. The description was strange and not befitting someone of Esronian blood. "That is strange because Esronians don't have blue eyes," I said.

Nate was unusually quiet. He was immersed in his reading of the journal.

"Five-thousand gold." Jack whistled. "That's a pretty price." He turned to me. "That girl you fished out of the river last night was Esronian, maybe she's this Bennet girl."