[Kabrin Road] The Many Different Kinds of Company (Tessa)

[Archon]

Season of Summer, Day 57, 511 AV It was just after dawn that the small caravan started to head out from Syliras and up along the North Kabrin Road. The three boxy wagons, each with benches along the sides for the guards to ride on, started close to each other but slowly grew a bit further apart as the walls of Syliras grew more distant. The day was certainly a pleasant day. The sky was clear and blue, and the temperature was cool enough for the morning. The lack of a good strong wind gave the impression that it might grow hot later in the day, but for now things were calm and almost cheerful seeming. This close to Syliras there was not much danger, and so many of the guards were taking it easy as the journey began. One in particular, the one Tessa had dubbed "The Lech" on their first meeting, slid up next to her and gave a grin much like he had the night they had met, "Glad to see you joining us. Never got the chance to introduce myself properly before. Thomlin Ehrend, head guard for our fine employer," he offered his hand to her, though his eyes had already fallen from her face, "And what might your name be, pretty?"

[Tessa Poe]

Tessa had spent most the past night in a sort of fitful wakefullness, nerves and worries over the job ahead keeping her from getting any decent rest. She cracked another wide yawn as she settled herself mostly comfortably on the narrow bench with the other guards in the wagon, though truth be told she’d rather be out walking the road. But since everyone else was up in the wagons walking out by herself, marking herself out, was probably a bad idea. On the more positive side of things though at least she hadn't overslept, actually she'd turned up at the agreed place early and had been waiting for her new employer to arrive for half a bell or so. She hoped that that had made a good impression, showed she was keen or something. For a couple of chimes she'd worried that the merchant had been lying to her, that they'd set off days ago or something so it was something of a relief when they’d actually arrived. She’d let her employer know she was there, hopefully again creating a good impression with the kit she had with her, and then nodded hellos to the rest of the guards, catching sight of brown hair and the Letch amongst them but keeping a polite distance from both, she wasn't here to make friends, just work. That and there was always the chance that Letch would take just saying 'hello' the wrong way, for some reason she got the feeling he was the type to do just that. Honestly though at that moment she was too tired to really care. It seemed there were just the three wagons to look after on this trip, honestly she'd been hoping for a couple more and the guards to look after it. The bigger the caravan the less likely it was that someone or something would try for it, though when the bigger caravans did run into trouble it was usually... well a lot of trouble. But at least the morning was bright and clear and it wasn't baking hot and maybe the traveling would be enough to wake her up a bit. Gods it was good to be back on the road again, the familiar yet subtle creaks and rumbles of the wagons as they made their way slowly along, the muted chatter of the other guards… the weight of her pack, sword and shield in their proper places, it was all so nearly like she was home again. Best of all there’d be new places to see, like the Ice Bears, and things to do when they arrived, she had to clamp her jaws shut to keep from just giggling at the thought of it all. Suddenly though she had no trouble at all fighting back the giggles as the Letch made himself know and introduced himself, and worse yet, he was apparently in charge of the guards for this trip. She groaned inwardly to herself, now more sure than ever that this Thomlin was going to be trouble. She nodded politely and kept her simple reply of “Tessa, but… ummm… you already knew that, and I said I’d be here, we shook on it, so here I am.” carefully neutral as she shuffled along the bench away from him and reached round behind herself to take hold of her pack and set it down between the two of them. She flipped it open, sorting through her kit and making sure it was all still there, or at least that’s what she seemed to be doing. She knew full well everything was still in its proper place within it. Anything to keep from having to look at him and follow the direction his eyes had taken as soon as he’d started speaking. Honestly what he hoped to see beneath her high necked tunic she didn’t know, but some men were like that it seemed. Don’t you dare blush… he’ll only… ugh… first job in a few months and someone like him’s along for the trip? I’ll just have to stay clear of him once we get further out, that’ll work, right? She started to hum quietly to herself, she thought it was a ballad she'd heard someone performing at the Swan, as she pretended to sort and check, more for the comfort than anything else. She knew she had to stay calm, or at least try to, though worries kept flashing through her thoughts. What if he didn’t get the hint and kept pushing… she couldn’t… she didn’t… and he was in charge too! Or partly in charge at least. This could end up being a very, very long trip.

[Archon]

The merchant showed a hint of surprise at Tessa's eagerness, but other than that just gave a simple, polite, greeting before the group moved along. Tessa might have scored some points, but it seemed it would take more than waking up early to impress her current employer. "I actually missed your name on the night we met," Thomlin replied smoothly to Tessa's polite introduction, apparently not bothered by her cool tone, "I'm glad to finally have a lovely name to match your face." He moved to take Tessa's hand, leaning forward as he did, but pulled back as she pulled out her pack and began to ruffle through it. For a time he simply contented himself with leering at her, but eventually he seemed to grow a bit restless as he cleared his throat, "That song sounds rather familiar, are you a performer as well?" he grinned at her, "Seems you're just full of talents and surprises, Tessa."

[Tessa Poe]

She could feel his eyes on her, or was it just that she knew he was looking without having to check? Maybe if she just ignored him for long enough he’d go away? It could happen, he could see something shiny and go running off after it even, just so long as whatever happened stopped him staring like that at her. Did he think she’d take it as a compliment? If anything it just made her uncomfortable… or maybe he thought that his tousled hair and hazel eyes were enough to set her swooning? It was true that he was quite nice to look at, but everything else about him was… she couldn’t find the proper word for it. That smarmy tone of voice, the leering looks that never seemed to be directed at anywhere but her chest, not forgetting the arrogant air he had about himself or the fact that he hadn’t even remembered her name after their first meeting, it was all… repellent. There, that was exactly the word for it. At least he seemed content to sit there quietly and simply look, the less conversation there was the better as far as she was concerned. In fact, if she tried hard enough to lose herself in the rhythm of the wagon and her humming she could almost forget he was there at all. It was strange, but she couldn’t help but compare him to Erzotol. Erzotol, with his blue eyes so full of caring, his soft spoken voice, his concern, his kindness, his smile, his laugh… his everything really. It probably wasn’t a good idea to think about him too much though… they’re spent what, a single day together? And now she was going to be away for at least a season, if not longer. By the time she made it back to Syliras again Erzotol would have doubtless forgotten her and found someone else. Besides, that was probably for the best, it would never have worked about between them. He had his life, his quest to become a knight and all that it brought with it and she… she was never going to settle down in Syliras. Still the thought of him, so different from this letch, so much more than him did raise her spirits a little, and there was nothing wrong with a bit of harmless fantasy about ‘might have beens’ was there? With those thoughts buoying her mood she wondered if perhaps she was being unkind and jumping to conclusions about the letch, even if the way he’d acted so far this morning and on the day they’d first met just kept affirming her first impressions. She had to give him a chance at least, didn’t she? If he wasn’t entirely like the way he’d seemed up ‘til this point then maybe the trip with him wouldn’t be so bad? It had to be worth a try at least. It was then that he chose to break the silence between them and his voice that simply dripped with honey and her eyes flicked up to his despite herself. Suddenly she found the blush that had been waiting in the wings breaking across her cheeks as she ducked her head, her softly hummed tune coming to a sudden halt at his words. Well, she’d given him his chance and he’d just thrown it away, there wasn’t anything more to him besides this flirty, irritating exterior was there? She was going to have to do something about him, but she really didn’t know what. Unless… “Thank you, and… ummm… there’s something you should know. It’s not that… I’m not flattered and all, but… you see there’s someone waiting for me back in Syliras. He’s a squire there and we’re, you know, together and all so...” she wasn’t entirely sure how to finish that sentence, but hopefully he’d gotten the message anyway. It had to worth a try, false as it was. If that didn’t work… she’d have to give him something else to think about, maybe she could add some Boneset to his food? There should be some growing along the way, and while the thought of making him wretch his guts up wasn’t the nicest one, it’d certainly give him something else to think about wouldn’t it? It’s not like it’d do any permanent harm either, and she had to admit seeing that cocksure smile wiped off his face would be quite satisfying.