Tales of Aranth: The Girl and The General

Chapter 7

I wake up and think that maybe what I saw the last night was only a dream. I tend to have such strange dreams when I’m stressed. There was no Hannah in the book. Gravian’s family wasn’t mentioned besides the information that he bears the name of Aranth - just like the royal family, to which he is related. Specifically, there was no mention of a mother figure to him.

Someone knocks on my door.

“It’s open,” I say.

“Good morning.” It’s this woman, Hannah. “It’s a beautiful day. Would you like to take a bath?”

“A bath?” I gaze at her.

“I’m not saying you stink or something, but I know that these journeys are tiring and you rarely have an opportunity to wash.” She smiles at me and I know that it wasn’t a dream.

“Yes, thank you.” I thank her, but what I really want is to ask questions. Many questions. Every event I witness here makes me more curious. There was no mention of them in a book. Was it because it was a romance, so many things about worldbuilding and the character’s backstory were omitted? Or did the plotline change already that much?

She leads me to the bathroom. It isn’t a modern one, with tiles and fittings. It looks more like a bath with a wooden tub and whitewashed walls. But I’m grateful for what I can get.

“We can remove the bandage and I’ll look if you need another one.” She does it very gently, I almost don’t feel anything, even dough there is dried blood in my hair that must have been stuck to the bandage. “Now I’ll leave you. Take your time, you don’t need to hurry. The horses need to rest, I told the boy not to use that much potions on them, so you will depart about noon, not earlier.”

“The boy?” I ask putting my hair into a messy bun.

“Yes, I remember him when he was like this.” She puts her hand at waist height. “So your general will always be the boy to me.” I try not to chuckle, but I don’t succeed. “Now, I have to take care of Evor and make sure he is fit for traveling.” Oh, I almost forgot about him.

“How is he?” I ask.

“Not good, but not as bad as he could be. He will make it to the hospital and if they’ll convince a mage to help him, he will recover. If they won’t find a mage… but if he is half as important to the people as the boy says, they will find one.” She gets out and I'm finally alone. I undress slowly. There is no mirror, but I know how my body looks like now. It’s thin, I can see my ribs and bruise in places where parts of my gear rubbed my skin. My skin is a little bit grayish, because of the dust from the road.

I’m stepping into the tub. The water is warm, it hugs my body and makes my muscles relax. Hannah put some chamomille and mint into the water. It’s so nice, that I’m simply sitting there until the water starts cooling. 

The wound in my head is sealed, so I carefully wash my hair. Oh, it feels so good to have them finally clean.

After breakfast, which I’m eating alone, Hannah comes.

“The carriage is ready. Here is some medicine for Evor. If he starts hallucinating or gets a fever, dissolve it in water and force him to drink.” She gives me a little bag. “Now, I wish you a good journey.”

“Thank you, Hannah, stay well.”

I get into the carriage. Evor is sleeping peacefully. After a while, one of the soldiers rides to the window.

“We will be in King’s City by evening. I’ve got orders to escort you to the hospital. There you will be examined and if you are fine, you will be free to go wherever you want.” He hands me a purse. “This is your pay, you will need to go to the staff offices to confirm you got it and to confirm you wish to be discharged.”

“Thank you, sir,” I say remembering in the last moment that I’m supposed to act like a soldier and the man has a Sargent insignia. He rides away and I look at the purse in my hand. How much is it? For how long will I be able to live on it?

“You don’t have where to go.” I hear a weak voice. I look at Evor to see that he is awake and fixes his black eyes on me. “You can go with me. I know places where people like us can live.”

“Like us?” I ask him. Could he also be transmigrated?

“You know, without a respectable family or name.” Ah, those ‘we’. I’m thinking about it for a while.

“Thank you but I have a place to go.” I’m not lying. I can be Alarana’s first tenant. That is much more tempting than joining the ragged.

“Pity. We are in need of good people.”

“Why do you think I’m good?”

“Everyone saw you.” I stare at him. “Then, when the battle ended.”

“Who wouldn’t want to become a hero saving the general.”

He bursts into a quick laugh but ends coughing his lungs out. I fetch some water and give him. 

“No, it wasn’t like that.” He says after drinking a few sips. “If it was like this, you wouldn’t ask him to take a wounded man with and you wouldn’t help me yesterday. You are good.” I decide not to argue with him, although I think I’m rather indifferent than good. But I can obtain some information from him.

“What for do you need those good men?”

“To make Aranth a better place. To stop people’s struggle and help those in need.” Wait, the ragged was supposed to be the thugs, not revolutionaries. “Our king forgot that ruling is a responsibility and the crown prince isn’t better. The aristocracy doesn’t care about their people. We suffer because of poverty, illnesses, taxes…” he wants to say something more, but he starts coughing and choking. This time the water doesn’t help, so I use the medicine Hannah gave me. He still can’t speak but sends me a grateful look. I wipe his forehead with a wet bandage and he calms down and falls asleep.

I’m watching him for a while. He is thin and has pale skin contrasting with his black hair. That makes me want to care for him. In my world, he could be a rock star with his sharp features and an aura of a young beautiful hectic rebel. Like some communists from the nineteenth century, I've read about in history classes. When they still were idealists, not terrorists and mass murderers.