Viscount's Rise

“What? Upset that it wasn’t some romanticised story?” Braydon looked across at Mireille as they rode along at a leisurely pace. It had been some minutes since he had finished telling her what happened when he found her but she had not said a word. Nor were her expressions particularly telling when trying to guess her thoughts.

“Would have been angry if it was.” Mireille finally looked back once he spoke up. 

“How come?” He was curious, from his limited experience with the opposite sex, he knew that many would have preferred a story of a knight in shining armour. Though having met both Nela and Lani, he knew that was hardly a fair thought.

“Would have been a needless lie.” She just looked at him as if questioning why he had even asked such an obvious question.

“True enough. So, penny for your thoughts?” Braydon was more curious about what she thought about it than her lacking reaction. He at least hoped that she might remember something of her past even if not the bloody scene that he had just depicted. 

“Your family neglected its duty.” He was almost caught off guard by the statement. Factually it was true, his father had indeed not paid much attention to the lands gained from his lesser title. Hence the disrepair and bandit problem that he had arrived to find. But it was not exactly the kind of answer that he was hoping for. He was more hoping for her thoughts on her own situation. And Braydon suspected that she knew as much.

“And?” He tried to egg her on.

“And I was unfortunate to be caught up in it.” Mireille gave him a look that said she could not say more without any memory of what happened.

“That you were. Have you tried recalling things? From before you woke up in Cliforge.” Not that he needed to specify, his question was pretty plain. As much as he was interested because of the strange visitors that he had been getting, Braydon was more inclined to listen to the person herself when it came to her own life story. 

“Is there anything else to do when bored?” That was as close to an emphatic yes as he could expect to receive from her. But that only led to the logical follow on question.

“Have you had any luck?” If she had, it would likely answer many of the questions that he had about the fairly mysterious backstory that he had painted in his head. Though, he suspected that since he had not heard of her talking about her past to anyone there had been little success thus far.

“Nothing helpful.” Mireille said after a short pause. Clearly slightly frustrated about it.

“But nothing helpful is more than nothing.” Braydon could almost imagine it himself. He would have been driven mad if the only things that he could remember were some kind of mundane memories like eating or travelling along a dirt path. Not that he could even be sure if that was what she had meant.

“Being on a boat...” Mireille murmured in a quiet voice.

“Pardon?” Braydon was almost sure that she had said something about what she had remembered. Not that he could hear it properly over the rhythmic sound of hooves thudding on the dirt road.

“I remember being on a boat.” She repeated more clearly, looking once more over to her riding companion.

“Oh? Care to describe the scene for me?” As much as ‘being on a boat’ was nondescript, Braydon was sure that he could piece together something more from it if she was able to recall a more clear picture of her previous surroundings. What she had told him so far, however, was within expectations. If Mireille really was related to some rich person from another continent, it would not surprise him if she had spent a significant amount of time aboard ships. There was only one way for somebody to move between the continents and it was definitely not by walking.

“Lots of crates, covering most of the deck. Land in the distance.” Mireille started once again, unsure of herself. It was obvious that she only had a tenuous grasp on the memory but it was a start. At least she was starting to remember something. That could only be a good sign for the future.

“Sounds like a merchant ship. I doubt anybody else would have so much cargo.” Braydon mused out loud. There was not much more to go on, and he doubted that he was some genius that was capable of figuring out much more.

“Urgh.” His musings got a grimace out of Mireille. The only merchants that she had had any form of contact with in her memory was the pair of Serheshi. And the way that they had looked at her had obviously rubbed her the wrong way.

“If you want to talk more about this, you can come and find me any time. Within reason.” He didn’t want to push her on the topic since she would only be able to go as far as her memories returned. But in the same vein, he did not really want to be woken up at an ungodly hour because she wanted to talk about her memories. Braydon doubted that they would have a productive conversation in that case anyway.

“Un.” Mireille nodded, more than happy to just think about riding. As much as she wanted to know about her past, there was only so much that she could do. It was not like she could will herself to remember things.

“Then the first one to reach the other side of Mapjess wins?” Braydon asked, turning back to the original reason they were riding together in the first place. They had several more hours to kill and they had a fun way to do it. Heavy conversations could be saved for later.

“Ha.”  Rather than responding, Mireille instead instructed her horse to go faster accompanied by the loudest sound Braydon had ever heard her make.

“I take that as a yes.” He was not going to be outdone was easily as the previous time, immediately following suit as he chased after her.

Darkwood

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