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Cellyn shrugged, a thin smile appearing on her lips. "Oh, I don't know. If I reach enough times, do I get a prize?" she asked, rising without waiting for a comment. "I'll go start getting some supplies, or at least seeing what this place has to offer in way of them. I'll wait until you're around to carry the packages, though." She smiled sweetly and swept from the inn, the burst of cold air causing her gasp slightly. Her gown was warm enough, as was her cloak that she fetched from the warm stables out of Light Dancer's stall, and she tucked the saddlebag between the warhorse's feet just in case anyone felt like stealing from them on top of everything else. The snow crunched underfoot as she first made her way to the tailor's. They both needed at least one change of clothes, she thought with a sigh, hoping nothing would have to be made to order. She'd settle for ill-fitting clothes over another week waiting for a stupid dress.

Luck was with her, she thought in relief. After a relatively short time haggling, she had found warm clothing for both of them - Noj's fit she wasn't so sure about, but the two dresses she had managed to purchase fit almost as good as if she had ordered them herself. "Supplies next. We need at least cooking items and whatever we can find that will stay good for a while," she told herself, mentally checking off items as she headed to what passed for the local goods store. There was no market, being winter, and instead everything was tucked inside a warm two-story building that she gratefully escaped from the cold into. She found out that Tarith was about a two week's journey in good weather from here and she sighed. "I wonder why he keeps asking me where I'm going," she mused, staring at goods without really seeing them. "Does he think I'm lying and is trying to catch me in one? Or is his memory shot? Or could it be there is madness inside him from channeling after all?" She shuddered at the thought and quickly put it out of her mind.

Buying supplies for their journey was proving to be more of a strain than she had expected. "Perhaps I should bring Noj next time. People seem to think he's tough for some reason," she thought with an audible sigh as the merchant insisted a simple frying pan was worth at least twice what she would have paid for it. If that. Her eye twitched as she grew more irritated and she finally slammed the pan down on the counter.
"I don't want your bloody pan," she growled. "I don't want something that will hand me the sun, the moon, the stars and bloody Light-blasted diamonds. If and when I do, I'll find a man. What I want is a frying pan. Like the one I hold in my hand. Much like one you'll find up your bloody arse in two seconds if you don't cut it out."
The man stared at her, bug-eyed in shock, before closing his mouth. He merely nodded and silently accepted her payment for all the other items, sans pan, which was left ominously on the counter as if promising to never be hidden again.

"Bloody, Light-blasted fool merchants think they can..." Cellyn grumbled to herself, her purchases already tucked away in a new saddlebag and swinging painfully against her hip with each step she took. She considered the future bruise a badge of honor, since Noj most likely would have just burned the place down and looted the ruins.

"Hey, boy," she crooned, stroking Light Dancer's nose as she settled the new saddlebag and all its contained goods in the warhorse's stall. She figured it was safer there than anywhere else, and if they had to make a quick escape - Light, she hoped not - then everything was ready and waiting for them. The horse whickered as she frowned to herself. "I'm getting far too comfortable with running around like a thief in the night. How in the Light was I raised anyway?" she mused, wondering if perhaps her elders' were at fault for the ease at which she had become accustomed to running and fighting. If they were, she'd cut them out of the profits of her route, she decided with a thin smile. Petting the horse again, she quickly transferred herself from the stables to inside the warm inn, her cloak wrapped so tight around her she almost choked.

"I wonder if Noj accomplished anything today or if he just sat around like a man," she muttered, heading up the stairs and unlocking the room with a sigh. She blinked at the sight that greeted her and actually blushed, pink staining her face and neck with ever-brightening shades. She wasn't sure whether it was more foolish to stay or go, but her body reacted quicker and she found herself on her heel and back in the hallway, blinking rapidly. "Well..." she began, and then frowned. "What the bloody Light was that about?" she complained to herself in a hiss. "What was that, blushing and running like some lightblasted prissy little girl?" she demanded of herself, receiving no answer.

Flustered, Cellyn merely pushed past Noj into the room, keeping her gaze firmly on the ground in front of her. Ignoring the wet floor and what it would do to the bottom of her skirts, she flounced over to the bed and bounced onto it, arms crossed tightly against her chest. "If you're going to take a bath, lock the door or something," she grumbled to the window, determined not to blush again. She had the most horrible feeling that if she looked at him, she'd do exactly that and then she'd be forced to kill herself out of pure humiliation. And she was not about to give Noj that satisfaction.

She shot him a look that wavered between dirty and incredulous before settling on exasperated. "The weather? It's bloody cold outside and it's - blood and ashes, it's snowing again!" she realized, turning her head and seeing the small flakes, like specks of sparkling sugar, fall from the sky. "Light only knows how much more we'll get," Cellyn said sourly, shaking her head. She made sure not to look at Noj and moved her gaze to the pillow. "I bought most of the supplies we'll need, they're with Light Dancer. You can go through them and see if you can add anything if you want," she told him, although she was fairly certain she had remembered everything they would need.

Cellyn remained seated on the bed for a long moment, which was interrupted when the boy banged on the door, his enthusiasm for his task giving her a headache in the process. She thanked him, gave him a few more coins and stashed the bag under the bed. She would like to see someone try to get it there during the night. Obvious, yes, but they'd have to go through both of them to get it. It was pure paranoia talking, but she shrugged it off. Right now, she'd rather be safe than sorry.
"I hope you don't expect someone to not look there. Even children have better hiding places for something than under a bed," a male voice chided her from the doorway. She froze, too started to scream. "Although, it's good for a quick grab and run, which you probably need to do a lot of lately, so the plan has some credit to it," he added thoughtfully. She turned around and her jaw almost dropped - that damn assassin, Jurel, was lounging against the doorframe and have the nerve to wink at her!
"Wha...what are you..." It wasn't nearly the most intelligent thing she'd ever said, but it got the point across.
"I said you'd see me again, lady," he reminded her, wagging a finger at her. "And so you have. I managed to find a healer to heal my ouchies and decided that you were a most interesting individual."
"Interesting?" she managed weakly. The man was insane, most likely - so was Noj. What under the Light was he doing here?
"I'm not going to kill you, I botched that job and I don't do redos," he continued with a firm nod, as if pleased at his own principles. "I heard from a little birdy that some people had a run-in with a Warder and his Sister, who are now looking for said people. I said to myself, Jurel, I'll bet all the money you have that it's those two again. Who else could cause so much trouble in so little time?"
"So..." Cellyn wanted to kick him, hard.
"I thought you could use some help. And I could use something to chase away the boredom," he told her with a smile. "Long days, long nights, killing people gets so repetitive. With you two, it's sure to be something new every day! And you don't have to pay me until we reach the end of our journey." He winked again. "I get paid by the kill, lady."
Cellyn sat down on the bed before her knees gave out on her. What in the Light was going on? If he was a spy, it made no sense to send an assassin to do a diplomat's job, even if he had a smooth tongue. There wasn't any point in trying to kill her, unless he was waiting for a fight with Noj. And the inscrutable look on his face suggested there was no point in asking, she'd get a nonsense answer in return.

Jurel grinned, apparently not at all threatened by Noj despite their previous fight. "As I was telling your lady friend here, I find myself unemployed at the moment and as I choose my own employers, that's entirely up to me," he began. "I find that, although challenging, you can only assassinate people in so many ways before it gets repetitive. Upon hearing of your plight, I thought I'd offer my services. I get paid by the kill, so you won't have to worry about my racking up a fee unless you two run into trouble often," he continued with a satisfied look in his eye.
"He just showed up here on his own," Cellyn added with a weary shrug. "I had nothing to do with it."
"Ah, but you had everything to do with it!" the assassin crowed. "Lady, your beauty amazes even me and I had no choice by to follow you."
She made a face at him. "Please, does that even work?"
"Not often, but I have to try," Jurel admitted with a sigh. "Women are so cynical these days."