She Left Before He Woke Up

Despite his mental anguish, Earnest’s body decided that now was the time to recover from multiple days of travel. He slept like he was dead, and woke up feeling like it too. He struggled to open his heavy eyes, and slowly saw the unfamiliar ceiling of the inn. Memories of his night slowly came back to him, as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. His built up fatigue and drinks from last night had not completely left his body, as he groggily stood up and prepared for the day ahead. One look out the window told him that the sun had already been out some time.

Earnest descended the inn’s wooden stairs with heavy footsteps. He couldn't hear anything over the noisy patrons last night, but now he could hear every loud step. The innkeeper heard him coming down and greeted him on the ground floor.

“Too much to drink son? Don’t worry, breakfast comes with the room, or maybe you’d prefer lunch at this hour.”

“What hour might that be? And breakfast, if you would please.”

“There’s only an hour or two before noon.”

All the tables were empty, so Earnest seated himself at one towards the center of the room. A burning question suddenly popped into his head and just as quickly exited his mouth. He faced the bar and kitchen and loudly asked the question to the Innkeeper in the back.

“Miss innkeeper, is Rosalind up yet?”

Shouting back just as loudly, the innkeeper responded.

“Miss knight? She headed out earlier already, a few hours ago.”

“Do you know where she went?”

“She was out of here in a rush, didn’t even have breakfast! She said that there was something she forgot about, somethin’ that needed checkin’ on immediately, so I reckon it’s some knight thing. You’d never guess she passed out drunk last night, you should’ve seen her! As soon as she was out the door, she was runnin’ like a deer!”

Earnest was tempted to do the same by bolting out the door to look for her, but his stomach was cramping from hunger. His body refused to budge from the seat until its demands were met, but thankfully the innkeeper was quick, bringing out a simple meal of eggs, toast, and cooked ham alongside a mug of beer. Earnest gave her thanks before tearing the meal apart and stuffing his face as quickly as possible. The innkeeper looked at him bemusedly.

“Are all the knights always in a hurry? Don’t forget to chew young man, or else you’ll on it!”

Earnest ignored the warning and continued his erratic feast until the plate and mug were empty, handing them back to the innkeeper who took them in both hands.

“Well I hope you don’t get a belly ache alright? Miss knight hasn’t been, uh, how do I put it? Well she hasn’t been okay recently, for whatever reason, so be nice okay? Y’know what? I know you’ll treat her right, so help her get back to her old self alright?”

“Yeah, I’m just here to help.”

Earnest left the inn at a brisk pace, stomach too full to move at a running speed. He didn’t know where Rosalind was, nor did he know where anything was in this village, so he followed the dirt paths house to house, farm to farm, and field to field. He spoke to any villager that would open their door to him or lend him an ear, asking about Rosalind. He was surprised how quickly news of him spread, but then again he did introduce himself to a good fraction of the townsfolk last night. Indeed, he was the young knight or young traveler that they had heard about, and he was here to ask if they had seen Rosalind this morning or knew where she was headed.

None of the villagers he talked to at the start had any answers, and were only able to provide information he had already known, as well as more wild speculations as to the cause of Rosalind’s behavior. However, as he made his way around the village and the sun made its way closer to its midday point, the villagers he talked to started having answers.

“Yeah, I saw Lady Knight, she passed by not too long ago.”

“Miss Rosalind? Yes, I believe I saw her coming back from a patrol or something.”

“Yes, she passed by, yes. You can probably find her by the bakery soon, she usually goes there for lunch.”

The answers varied a little, but it was clear that Rosalind was out and about. Earnest took the last piece of advice, and headed towards the bakery. Earnest followed directions given by the villager and arrived there quickly enough. It looked like a normal family house, but with a bakery extending out of one of its sides. It had a surprisingly pleasant storefront, with little details caved into the wood that gave the bakery a certain whimsical style. There was even seating in the small shop, with the wooden chairs and table sharing the same style. Even though he just scarfed down his breakfast a few hours ago, his walk around the village helped him digest it quite quickly.

After purchasing some pastries and chatting with the baker, Earnest learned that the woman running the bakery always dreamed of running her own bakery since she was a kid. She grew up with a friend from a family of carpenters and shared a young love. The young man was somewhat shy about his feelings, but he made his move by asking her to marry him if he built her the bakery of her dreams. She accepted his proposal, and they were immediately wed. The carpenter prepared to build the bakery, but an early pregnancy put a family home at a higher priority. The newlywed wife was patient and level-headed, but still wanted to realize her dream as soon as possible, so she suggested to the carpenter that the bakery be built into the house to save work on two walls. He always supported her ideas, no matter how creative or strange, and made sure to consult his beloved on every piece of wood that would go into her dream bakery. Such was the reason for the extra care and detail put into the unusual extension.

“I feel like I live in a fairy tale. Happily ever after and all. I love him and our little one to bits. You know what he said when I asked him how to repay him? He said the darndest thing! He said, ‘Your fresh bread every day is all I could ever want.’ Could you imagine! That man…”

Earnest couldn’t help smiling as he saw a look of love and infatuation on the baker’s face. They were clearly absolutely head over heels for each other. His attention was pulled towards the door as he heard footsteps approaching, then entering. Earnest had to look over his shoulder, as he was seated facing away from the entrance. The baker left her lovestruck state and welcomed the new visitor.

“Rosalind! Nice to see you again. Would you like the usual sausage roll?”

“Yeah, sure, the usual.”

Earnest saw her standing tall in the entrance, wearing her light armor, as she turned and met his gaze.