Welcome to Gaia! ::

Cellyn relaxed in the bench against the wall, glad to be sitting on a cushion instead of hard wood or a saddle. The tall woman, she had discovered, was the wife of the owner, currently away on a business trip. An idea for another investment of her father's money made her smile as the serving girl brought her lunch - looking like a girl instead of a lightskirt.
"Here you are, ma'am."
"Thank you. Please come back in a few minutes, my friend has just arrived and I'm sure he'll be hungry," Cellyn requested, watched Noj as the girl bobbed her head and flitted away to the next table. She was sure he'd recognize her - she didn't give her appearance that much credence and doubted his attitude would change at all - but didn't feel like hollaring across the common room like some common girl.

"I paid for two rooms for two nights, we can stay as long as you think we should," Cellyn replied, answering both questions with a shrug. She took in his appearance and shook her head. "There's a tailor just a few doors down with whom I just made a business arraingment with. If you like, you can get clothes there and those can be washed. I had mine washed - we need saddlebags, or at least I do. Everything I had was lost when that blasted horse ran off." A frown creased her face and she heaved a sigh in aggravation. Her mouth opened as if she was about to say something, paused, then eyed him sharply. "I don't mind traveling with you, as long as I'm not going to be preached at the entire way. Hm?"

Cellyn nodded, acknowledging his words. "All right, then. I can spend tomorrow seeing what else there is in this town, there may be other investments I can make if I'm careful about it." She picked a bit at her food, a smile on her face, pleased about the compromise Noj had offered. She nodded, settling some internal debate, before glancing over at him. "We were both wrong and both right, so truce. I'll admit it if you can," she offered with a grin.

She batted her eyelashes at him with a short laugh, shaking her head. "Mine, you ask? My mother died in childbirth, but since I never knew her it was never a great sorrow to me," she replied with a levity that belied her true feelings. "I've had a few missteps with a few fools who thought they were going to marry me, but a few days hiding in the woods gave them quite the right impression."
Cellyn flashed another smile, a little too bright, a little too brittle. "So, you see, I have experience but not much sorrow in my life, I'm afraid. I'm a dull, rather undeveloped character. Nothing interesting at all."

"You're definitely good at playing stupid," Cellyn agreed with a smirk, working on her own lunch some more. She couldn't resist the backhanded compliment, surprised by Noj's age. He still wasn't that much older than her, but it was just hard to seein his face. "Do have any plans for what's left of the day?" she asked, glancing up from her plate. She liked to call th meal lunch, but it was closer to supper than anything since the sun was going down already.

Cellyn shrugged. "I was thinking of having a few more dresses made while we're here, most of his things simply need a bit of altering," she mused, thinking back to the gowns the tailor had had stuffed away in a back room. There wasn't much else to do, other than look for supplies, and that could wait until morning. She watched the man through her lashes - there was no noticible change in his attitude, other than being a bit more amicable, and she decided the new dress hadn't made much of a difference after all.

Finished with her meal, Cellyn pushed herself to her feet and nodded. "All right, I'll see you in the morning, then. Let me know when you'd like to get some more clothing," she told him with an actual smile. She supposed he thought her spoiled, silly, for getting a few more dresses. But most would be packed, bundled safely against dirt until she needed to make a good impression on a business partner or noble who might get her out of trouble. Light only knew what else could happen on their trip, after all.

The candles were halfway melted by the time Cellyn was finished at the tailor's, having gone through three more dresses to be picked up later the next day. They were both pleased - she with the work and he for the work. She smiled and hummed to herself as she strode back to the inn and up the stairs, locking her door before changing into a nightgown she had borrowed from the inn and hiding beneath the blankets, longing for a candle or the sun to rise. She had never liked the dark.

Cellyn rolled fitfully, clutching her pillow over her head in a subconcious effort to block the dreams that were plaguing her. Nightmares would have been easier, but these seemed too foreboding, too real to dismiss as nightmares. Nightmares involved things that go bump in the night - these dreams had so much more.

She screamed herself awake, finding herself on the floor, tangled in her blanket and the long skirt of her nightgown. Panting, she wiped sweat off her brow and struggled to right herself, the images still flashing behind her eyes. There was a man on a horse, a black horse, in front of an army. The sun was shining so bright behind him she couldn't see anything but his physique. He was facing a shadowed valley, pitch-black as far as she could see, but a chain was wrapped around his neck and keeping him from going forward. Another came from his back. It bound him to something - how she knew, she couldn't explain - and yet she couldn't see where it led to.

That wasn't what scared her. What had made her scream was the fighting, the battle so realistic despite the fact she had never seen a fight other than Noj's attack on the Darkspawn.
"That must be it," Cellyn realized, putting the bed to rights. "I'm having bloody nightmares because of that." It didn't even convince her, but pretending it did was better than dwelling on it. The woman stripped and sank into the cold bathwater up to her chin, closing her eyes with a sigh of relief as she woke up from the chill. It was dusted with white outside, she noted as she dried off a few minutes later, hair once more braided but hanging down her back, and she pulled on the dress from last night. It was heavy and warm, something she was grateful for as she opened her door and walked into the chill of the hall.