"Is she your child?"
He repeated, this time also lowering his voice.
"What kind of question is that?"
"Miss, I don't want to be rude but I have a lobby full of paying patrons here, if your child—or whoever's child that may be—causes trouble…" He glanced sideways, visibly uneasy. "Well… I can't afford to lose regulars over… this again."
Those words made Rionara curl her lips as her head hung low. With her small left hand she pulled her dirty hood lower over her face and clutched Priscilla's hand more tightly.
"I should cut you down where you stand."
It was the first thought that came through Priscilla's mind. The sheer audacity of denying a child shelter or at the very least a warm meal—was beyond forgiveness.
The idea of leaving someone like Rionara out in the cold streets, especially after what she had said about food, made her blood boil.
As a royal knight—no, as an adult—it was her duty to at least provide the bare minimum for a child who couldn't even fend for herself. She was fine with being mocked, judged or even punished for her own actions. But letting Rionara suffer just because others saw her as inconvenient was not something she was willing to let go.
"Ha… haha… hahaha!"
Priscilla suddenly started to laugh as if she heard a sick joke. Patrons looked at one another in confusion. The innkeeper gave a strained and nervous chuckle.
"Ha… ha?"
She then suddenly grabbed him by the collar of his clothing and yanked his head very close to the counter, but stopped just shy of hitting the grainy wood.
"You listen to me and listen well." She hissed. "I will leave, but don't you dare let me find you anywhere outside this city or I swear." Her grip tightened. "You will regret it."
She shoved him backwards, forcefully propping him up just like he was standing before. She sighed and gently squeezed Rionara's hand as she started to head out of the inn.
"Let's go, Rio. We'll find somewhere else to sleep."
That being said, she didn't know the city at all and once she stepped foot outside the establishment it really hit her.
'Well… what do I do now? It's getting late and I'd rather not sleep on the street now that I have her to take care of.' She glanced briefly at Rionara, who was still hanging her head low. 'No… for her sake as well as my own I can't just leave things half finished.'
She let go of her hand and kneeled in front of her. Rionara's azure eyes wore a sad expression as she glanced up at Priscilla.
"Rio. Are you okay?"
She quietly nodded in response.
"I… am used to it."
"Don't say that. I'll find somewhere else that will let us sleep without being bothered."
"Are you… sure?"
"Mmm. I'm a knight, remember? I'll do my best to keep you safe."
"...I trust you, Miss knight."
"Haha… that's reassuring. Say, I never gave you my name did I?" She shook her head slightly. "I see. My name is Priscilla."
"Priscilla… can I call you Pris?"
"You can." She ruffled her hair through her hood before standing up again. "Now that we know each other a bit better, shall we continue looking?"
"Mmm."
They spent the evening walking around the city but to Priscilla's dismay, there were only two inns in the entire city. One by the central square, of which she was refused and the other at the slums—hardly a place to bring a child to.
"This is… very bad…" The knight muttered quietly to herself. "I can't have her sleep on the streets with me."
"Pris… my feet hurt."
"Your feet?" She looked towards the lower half of her body and noticed she was walking barefoot the entire time. "Oh dear goddess… I've made you walk so much without shoes… I'm sorry Rio."
"No, it's okay I–"
"Not another word." Priscilla effortlessly lifted her up on her left arm. "You can rest on my shoulder while I keep looking."
"But my clothes are–"
"It's fine. This uniform has seen better days already. Now… where do I…"
Rionara sheepishly leaned her head against Priscilla's shoulder. Walking around in the cold evening was more taxing than she expected. It wasn't long before she was sleeping even while the knight walked around the city.
The evening was coming to a close as darkness engulfed the sky. Stars, moonlight and lamp posts were the only things keeping the otherwise sleeping city awake. Priscilla walked around every corner of the main street as well as around the slums but there was truly no other place that would accept them both.
"At this rate…"
She clenched her teeth. She didn't want to finish the thought that lingered in her mind but considering how late it was and how much she walked it was becoming painfully obvious that there would be no roof above their heads tonight.
Or at least, that's what she thought.
"Hm? Ay, Lass, is that ye?"
A familiar gruff voice barked in the distance as she turned her body towards it. A shirtless tanned man stepped from the shadows of an alley.
"Geralt?"
"Aye an' what do ye have with ya? First an adventurer now a mother Lass? Ye've been busy."
"Oh shut it. She's just someone I'm taking care of."
"Care? Ah, isn't that the orphan child that ol' nun was taking care o'?"
"Yeah. I've been looking for a place to stay for the last couple of hours, but the inn by guild doesn't accept children."
"Ah well… good ol' Geralt has nothin' against 'em children but those coin lickers always want to keep 'em appearances. Tough bein' a noble."
"Tch, if all it took to be a noble was appearances then half of Arcadia would be of a noble house. Anyway… do you know any place that would let me and this child rest for the night? I couldn't even feed her a proper meal since the incident at the inn."
"Why don'tcha come over to me abode? It ain't fancy 'nough for 'em blue bloods but it can work for ye and the young un'."
"Seriously? I can't thank you enough Geralt."
"Ah, just a warning. Ye might need to share a room with two other folk, izzat fine with ye?"
No problem at all. As long as I can get a roof above our heads is fine."
"Glad to have ye Lass. Come this a-way."
"Right behind you."
They walked for a little bit. The alleys and streets were narrower but at least they weren't in the slums. Thoughts lingered inside Priscilla's mind as to why that blacksmith was so intent in helping her, but she couldn't turn away a helping hand with her current situation.
'It's better if I don't think about it.'
Her right hand tightened slightly.
Amongst the various turns and curves, they made their way to an open area. Uncharacteristically to the residential area, there was a barn—a large one at that. Though boarded and fully covered with adobe—a mixture of straw and clay in order to close the gaps between the wooden planks.
Priscilla eyed the place up and down before asking.
"Geralt… is that a former barn or something?"
"Aye twas my father's barn. Twas a lot of work to make a house out of it, I tell ye."
'I want to ask questions but I'll save it for tomorrow.'
Geralt opened the wooden door made out of twigs and left it open for Priscilla to step through. Once inside she noticed there were dim flickering lights coming from one of the adjacent rooms.
"Ah… those two ain't returning tonight." Geralt said while rummaging through a pile of assorted items at the corner of the room. "Well, guess ye have that room all for yerself Lass."
"Those two?"
"Aye, 'member I told ya 'bout those two ye'd be sharin' a room with? They are also adventurers. 'Em always leave the water boilin' before leavin', twas their way o' sayin' they would be late."
"Ah… so they have been living with you for a while?"
"'Bout three to four weeks? They pay rent in labor."
"Wow… that's surprising."
"Wha? That good ol' Geralt let people sleep in his abode?"
He pulled out an oil candle and prepped on the side of his kitchen counter before heading in the next room.
"No, not that. I'm just surprised that they pay in labor instead of coins. What do they do for you?"
"What only adventurers can do, Lass. Bring me sum materials from the dungeon."
"So the guild doesn't know."
He then returned with a lit candle and left it on the adobe table in the middle of the room.
"Aye, guild fees are too high for sum run down the mill adventurer Lass. Anyway, good ol' Geralt here need sum sleep. Ye can use the water ye roommate boiled to bathe yerself."
Priscilla raised an eyebrow, clearly worried.
"I'm assuming there is a door between the rooms?"
"There ain't none, but I'm too ol' for the likes of ye, Lass. 'Sides, I ain't one to mistreat my customers."
Priscilla chuckled quietly.
"Customers eh?"
"Ah, just ye know. One of ye roommates is an elf. Ye know, pointy ear folk."
"Haha, I know what an elf is. Thank you for the reassurance Geralt."
"Aye. Make yerself at home Lass."
He gave a short nod before heading to the other room while carrying the lit candle. After taking a deep breath, Priscilla went to the other room in it. There were stacks of hay and a raw cotton blanket thrown on top of it, she was assuming those would be their beds for the night.
'Could be worse.' She thought. 'Could be the street brick.'
She then took a peek where the water for the bath was being boiled. It was a crude bathtub. One made out of clay with wood planks stacked at the bottom so whoever was entering the water wouldn't burn their feet since the fire was lit directly below it.
'This… is quite more fancy than I expected…'
She gently tapped Rionara's back while whispering.
"Rio, time to wake up."
It took a few minutes but after waking her up, Priscilla explained what happened and why they were there now.
"He sounds like a friend of yours, Pris."
"I wouldn't say friend, but he's a nice person."
"Mmm. Sounds like it."
Their conversation went on until just before Priscilla was about to bathe Rionara.
"Wait…" The knight raised her voice. "Geralt?"
"Aye." His voice came from the other side of the adobe wall. "Watcha need?"
"You didn't soak in this water, right?"
"Nah, that way o' bathing is too fancy for me. Only the elf goes inside of it."
"Right… thanks and huh… sorry."
"No hard feelings Lass."
Priscilla chuckled slightly before turning to Rionara.
"You can take off your clothes now. I'll get something for you to get into after you finish bathing."
She nodded without saying anything. Though a bit concerned, the knight turned around to remove her own jacket. The white enchanted cloth was now a bit dull from the use.
The chainmail made clinking sounds as each chain collapsed on top of one another as she settled her gear on the foot of the hay bed.
She sighed in relief as she unfastened the belt and left it against the wall near the rest of her equipment.
'Today was… tiring. Even more than the training sessions we would hold at the academy…'
With that, she turned around and her eyes instantly widened upon looking at the girl's back. Rionara's pale skin was covered in scars of a myriad sizes. As Priscilla approached, her azure eyes met hers with a faint sign of resignation as if she was waiting for the knight to say anything. Instead, Priscilla didn't utter a word about the things she had seen. She chose not to.
"Here, let me help you."
Throughout the whole experience, Rionara couldn't utter a word. Instead only communicating with nods and shakes of her head.
After taking a well deserved soak in the hot water, she was dried up using Priscilla's raw cotton shirt and then gently covered with her jacket. Though far too oversized, it was thankfully warm enough that she could sleep with only that.
Priscilla on the other hand didn't even have the strength to take a proper bath and instead chose to only wipe herself clean with a piece of rag and warm water. She thought she had witnessed the worst in humanity after the week-long civil war in Arcadia. But nothing could have prepared her to see the scars alongside that girl's small back.
She dried her own shirt by the open fire before wearing it and lying down on the haybed. Exhaustion was weighing down on her body but at the same time the image of Rionara's resigned stare kept reappearing in her mind.
It left her restless. Who would have done such cruelty to a child? Why would a human being go out of their way to do it? Questions lingered and the more she thought about it—the more rage would build up inside her chest.
'No… I need to rest. If I don't, I won't be able to do anything for her or myself tomorrow.'
She closed her eyes, but the night was not a pleasant one.