With all four of us now on board the carriage it was time to depart. A quick word to the driver and we were off. We all crammed around the window to wave goodbye to Siofra as we left. After the last few days, it seemed sad leaving a party member behind like that. But her life was here and really, it was probably for the best if she wasn’t around Lillia too much.

I suppose it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise to see Lillia looking down. She had to choose not to be around one of her oldest friends for their own benefit. It wasn’t exactly her own fault, but it was because of her that things were difficult for Siofra when she was around. Must be a hard thing to deal with. Someone you wanted to see, but couldn’t for their own good.

The cart rolled out of the square and through the town towards the city gates. I could already tell this was going to be a much more comfortable journey, than the cart ride here from the village. For one thing, the carriage had proper seats. It also had some kind of rudimentary suspension underneath. All of this meant that I couldn’t feel each and every one of the cobble stones we went over in my bones.

It wasn’t long before we passed through the city and out of the gates. Lintz was now becoming smaller by the moment in the background as we followed the road that crossed the plains surrounding the city.

It was a two day trip from Lintz back to Dunshelm. It was a regular route between the two cities. The carriages made short stops along the way, to switch out horses and drivers, but it didn’t stop for the night. The longest breaks we took were when we called in for food at the larger towns. It was interesting how sophisticated a system they had set up here. Along the route were regular official stops for the carriage company to change horses and drivers, as well as for food.

The drivers and horses were ready and waiting in each town when we came in to stop. The places we stopped for food were clean and they made the food quickly. It would probably have taken four days or longer to travel the distance between the two towns if they hadn’t such a system in place.

The only thing that was a little uncomfortable about it, from my perspective at least, was sleeping in the carriage. There was no way to lay down, perhaps if it was just one or two of you in a carriage, but with the four of us it was impossible. This wasn’t something that seemed to affect any of the girls, they all fell asleep like it was nothing, despite the awkward positions. I won’t say that I didn’t have any sleep, because I did, but it was light and broken. When we finally made it back to Dunshelm, I was looking forward to a proper night’s sleep in a proper bed.

After being waved through the city’s main gates by the guards, the carriage rolled onto the small square in front of the guild hall. It seemed like I was going to be the only one that was getting out here. The carriage was going to make its rounds and drop the others at their own homes. Come to think of it, I only knew where Lillia lived. Well, if I had to guess, I would expect that Serin and Altria probably also lived in the nice part of town.

“This is where we say goodbye for now.” Lillia said as the carriage came to a halt.

“Right… I’ll just quickly grab my stuff.” I answered, feeling a little weird to be going our separate ways.

“You can relax for today, but expect to hear from me tomorrow.” Lillia quickly added.

“Okay, I’ll make sure I don’t go anywhere then.”

I went to climb out of the carriage, when Serin stopped me.

“Bye Theo. We might not be in a party for a while, but if you’d like, I could um send for you, perhaps for some dinner?” She asked twitching her thumbs.

“Yeah, that’d be nice, I’d like that.” I replied.

“Great, I’ll send word once everything is arranged.”

“That sounds really formal!”

“Oh, no nothing like that. I just want to make sure I have everything ready.”

“Okay.”

“Anyway, I’ll send for you.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

I went to leave again, just quickly turning to Altria before I left.

“Bye Altria.”

“See you later.” She said with a smile.

I knew that Altria wouldn’t think twice about coming to find me if she felt like it. After that I climbed out of the carriage and grabbed my gear, it soon got moving again taking the girls home. Stayed at the foot of the guild steps waving goodbye until they rolled out of the square towards the posh part of town. Once they were out of sight, I headed up to the guild house.

It was a pleasant change and almost surprise stepping into the guild hall. This place was almost buzzing compared to Lintz. The days on the road and in that quiet town almost made me forget how alive this place was in comparison. I stopped for a moment and took in the sounds and view for a moment before heading up to my room. I could see that Jules was working on the front desk today. I thought about going and saying hello, but she looked busy and I was wanting to drop of my gear first.

Just as I was about to head upstairs, I caught Jules’s eye. She had just finished with the current customer and waved across the room to me. She was mouthing something at me, but I couldn’t make it out. Seeing as she still had a queue of people to serve, I headed upstairs once she had stopped waving to me.

Once upstairs I chucked the rucksack with my gear into the corner of the room and flung myself on the bed for a bit. This place wasn’t home, and it didn’t feel like it, but it was still nice to return to somewhere slightly more familiar. After laying there for a short while, deciding what to do with my free time, I got up. I decided that while I was by myself, I might as well go and see Liz. It might be the only chance I got to speak with her for a while.

 First things first though. I’d been on the road for two days, so I wanted to go and wash up before I headed out into the town. The trip here had taken just a little under forty eight hours, it meant it was only just noon now. I had more than enough time to go and clean up before I went to find Liz, her shop would still be open for hours.

After a quick visit to the empty baths and changing, it was time to head into town. I stepped into the guild hall again on my way out. I glanced over at the desk, but this time there was no sign of Jules there. I wondered if she had gotten off shift now and that was what she was trying to tell me earlier. Oh well, I had things I wanted to do today, and I was sure that I would bump into her soon enough. She was living next door after all.

I headed out of the guild and down the stairs into the busy city streets, making my way towards Liz’s shop. I was on the street and almost there when someone called out my name from just inside one of the shops.

“Theo!”

I stopped and turned around to find Elentra stood in the doorway of her shop.

“So, you’ve made it back safely from your first quest?” She asked.

“Yeah, I just got back this morning.”

“Where are you off to without your elf minder?”

“Oh Lillia… She’s at her home and I was just going to pay Liz a visit.”

“I see. Then maybe you’ll have time to come in for a massage. The store is quiet today, so I can close the front for a bit if you’d like?” She asked in a very inviting manner.

Elentra was wearing the same small green dress that barley held in her top half and thigh high socks as the first time I saw her. I really, really wasn’t going to mind having a massage from her, but I did want to make it Liz’s while I had the chance to go alone.

“I would, but I really need to go to Liz’s today.” I told her.

“That’s fine!” She said tasking my arm and pulling it in between her breasts. “This won’t take that long, you’ll still have plenty of time to see her after.

“Okay…”

She directed me into her shop. Once we stepped inside, she closed and locked the door, before flipping over the open sign to closed. Then she headed towards the rear of the shop.

“Come on follow me, my room is this way.” She said signalling for me to follow as she went.