She found herself overwrought now with exhaustion, having spent the greater extent of the past day now having been awake, the few moments in which sleep was allowed being forcibly denied, instead replaced by pain and anguish. Vyra wished she could have rested now, but with the loose time restriction that had been set up on her, the luxury of waiting for some time before moving on was one that was hardly afforded to her.

Vyra had to leave. It was not a question of if she wanted to. She had to.

The sun had long since risen by this point, it being closer to midday than it was anything else. Only a handful of hours before the sun would set, and if she were found upon these lands, to which she fully expected there to be diligent hunters searching all throughout in hopes of finding her, then it would be that she would be facing an execution. And she doubted that for a second time she would be able to get out of it, nor would her unlikely guardian angel be able to help her.

[186/2000]

There ideally would not be a second time though.

As the hallway had fully cleared out, Vyra found herself still in the company of the woman, the white-haired beauty that she had now come to realize was the Countess of this land. A title that she did not know quite fell into the hierarchy of these lordships. Seldom few existed within the Southern part of Fiore and of those that may have been there, there were even fewer who engaged at all within the politics of Hargeon, to the point that the mere mention of a lord would be considered that of a no longer relevant pastime.

It appeared that the North were not quite as refined as the south. If the two men whom had accosted her within the carriage as they arrived within the Barothy lands were any indication, it lent to the question of why would anyone dare venture North.

That repulsiveness made the Countess such an outlier and a welcome one at that. Beautiful, thoughtful, it brought a smile to Vyra’s face to see the woman show any sort of interest towards her, to be genuinely worried for her well-being as well as grateful too. The sad truth was that it would have been very likely that Vyra would have been prepped and sent off to a dungeon or something, awaiting an unwanted date with an executioner.

“We shall getting going in just a moment,” The woman spoke softly, the confidence that she radiated out as she confronted the Lord being replaced by a softness that reminded Vyra a bit of Alisa. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired, hurt, not sure really what to make of all of this,” Vyra spoke, her words hoarse, the exhaustion and fatigue wholly evident within her.

“It’ll be alright. In just a moment we’ll be off; as soon as our escort arrives.”

[497/2000]

“Escort?” Vyra asked, not quite sure what to think of that. A small group of soldiers? Her mind immediately fell back to the battlefield she had stumbled upon, how things had gone for the staff that they were escorting. It then dawned on her that she no longer had the staff, it having been taken, “Where is my stuff!?”

The Countess patted the Demi-Human on the shoulder, a reassuring smile on her face. “They brought it with them as you arrived here. It’s why my escort is not yet here. They’re getting it for you.”

“And the staff?”

A stern shaking of the head by the Countess was sufficient enough of an answer, and Vyra was fine with that. If she were here now because she had made the mistake of taking the staff, the last thing she’d look to do was try to leave with it, and just reinvite them to find her again. As the seconds lingered into minutes of waiting, she found herself wondering if she had not found the staff, would that have been more worthwhile? Rather than being here, somewhere quite wherever it were not particular certain towards, she could have been spending more time in the sauna, enjoying all the luxuries that came with the hot springs.

Even the current company, the white-haired Countess, as welcome of a guest as she may have been, hardly made up for what had been something that she was beyond looking forward to. Though it was a bit of a relief, the Countess was hardly worth losing out on what could have been.

“Ah, there they are!” The Countess exclaimed which prompted the exhausted Vyra to wonder just what to expect.

To have seen the escort, the towering Knight, rivalling that of the Knight whom had originally kidnapped her, adorned in more sinister looking armor, was far from what Vyra had first anticipated seeing.

“This is Ser Gholston, Knight of the Lord Barothy, and my personal bodyguard.” The way it was said, it seemed so second nature, as though the sudden appearance of a towering Knight wasn’t something to take for surprise, Vyra found herself struggling to not be a bit intimidated, fearful for whether this Knight, despite its role towards the Countess would be towards her. “Now, let’s get going!”

[880/2000]

Not too much was said as the trio traversed out of the lands. Now able to walk on her own feet, Vyra was able to fully appreciate the Barothy Estate for the first time, in complete awe of the huge Keep that seemed to utterly consume everything in sight. Even as they had traveled for some time, it was still viewable in the distance, making Vyra wonder how it was that she had neither heard of them before, nor how this woman would have been able to have such incredible sway over someone who commands a land like this.

In the back of her mind too, she feared the likelihood that she would be able to actually escape, worried that the lands and the bounds of what defined the land as the Lord’s would last until. Could they have traveled all this time only for her to remain in hunted grounds?

Glancing upon the white-haired Countess had her hoping that the trust Vyra had put within her was not for naught. The woman had shown great confidence in standing up to the Lord and offering to aid Vyra, but the Demi-Human could not get over the feeling that time was not on their side.

It did not help either that exhaustion was getting to the point where she was struggling to adequately stand and keep going. At least twice in their travel up to this point she had lost her footing, catching herself the first time, but not the second time, falling to the ground, managing to throw out her hand quickly enough to stop herself from completing landing upon the dirt road that they had travelling by. Vyra escaped with seldom any injury fortunately, but it was enough for her companion at the time, the Countess of the lands, to have her massive bodyguard carry her the rest of the day.

“Think nothing of it,” the Countess insisted. “Often I have relied upon Ser Gholston for this very purpose, and with far less legitimacy than you have now.”

Though it allowed Vyra with enough reassurance to at least not feel quite so guilty, still a part of her that could not help but be worried. In many ways, she was still alone in what could have been considered a foreign land, and the window that she had to find relative safety was closing fast.

[1275/2000]

Some time passed, quite how long it had been that the trio had been travelling remained a bit unclear to the Demi-Human. Much of that attributed to the fact that while being carried by Ser Gholston, the towering bodyguard of the Countess in their company, Vyra had seemed to drift in and out of consciousness, the fatigue getting to the point that where she did not envision being able to do much more at this point.

Little doubt that if it had not been for the willingness of the Countess to aid Vyra, the Demi-Human would not have been able to make it out of the Lord’s domain on her own. At one point, after insisting upon getting out of the comfortable hold of the towering Ser Gholston, the Countess objected, “Please. You have been long denied rest; please, allow us to bring you somewhere safe. I promise, no harm will come.”

A sense of guilt certainly did exist within her for not being able to contribute more, but with the Countess being as insistent as she was about allowing Vyra to rest, the Demi-Human thought it best to just acknowledge this request and not try to fight. For as much as she may have wanted to go ahead and pull her own weight, it was impossible not to appreciate the fact that under these circumstances they had made much greater progress than compared to if they all had been walking.

More time passed as Vyra struggled to keep her eyes open, often drifting back in and out every couple minutes. Every few times, looking upon the area around them seemed to change drastically, or at least she may have come to think that. Conceding that she likely just wouldn’t know for sure just how far they had ventured, Vyra surrendered to whatever fate would have upon her, hopeful that the Countess was not leading her astray.

[1592/2000]

“We’ve arrived!” The Countess exclaimed, turning to the weary-Vyra, having only woken just a few minutes prior. Much of the trip had been of her sleeping, waking up for a moment to hear the calm discussion between the Countess and her bodyguard, only to then drift back into silent sleep. However though, with the assurances that they were close to whatever the destination was to be, Vyra found herself awake. Tired certainly, but awake.

However, the Demi-Human did not expect that the Countess would have led her to a church, albeit one that certainly lacked the glamour and extravagance that may have existed across other churches, certainly those within the south. But in its more basic nature there was something that was a bit more reassuring about it, quite what Vyra did not seem to fully appreciate, but at this point, if this was a place far enough from the Keep she had once been prisoner of, quite how it looked would not have mattered.

“How are you feeling?” The Countess asked, resting a hand against the forehead of Vyra, fearful for if her sleep may have been attributed to some sort of illness. Confident that it were not the case, she nodded to her bodyguard, who carefully placed the Demi-Human upon the ground. “Come with me, they’ll be grateful to see you.”

[1815/2000]

Unsure why what to think of, Vyra followed the Countess towards the church, surprised that there seemed to be nobody at all nearby. The grounds appeared that they were tended to, but it seemed completely empty, otherwise abandoned. Continuing along, Vyra found herself surprised that as she and the Countess entered inside the church itself, there sat two women seated amongst the numerous empty pews.

“Sisters! It has been too long!” The Countess exclaimed as she moved towards the two women, both of whom seemed as surprised as Vyra were at the others’ company. One of them was rich yellow-orange hair, slightly wrapped but otherwise covered behind a thick white robe, older in appearance and clearly having seen more wear and tear than that of robes one would typically expect out of church folk. The other, dressed in more radiant robes, if at least in terms of the relative wear and tear, but the attributes of the woman were more unclear. Not until she turned towards Vyra did the Demi-Human see any of her attributes, the long flowing blonde hair that extended down in seeming infinite rows, creating another layer upon the robes themselves. Secondary though, was all of this to the long black strip of silken cloth that covered the woman’s eyes, it being impossible for Vyra to not look upon it in shock.

“Veronica is here,” spoke the blind Sister, there being an unusual calmness to her that seemed almost foreign. Inappropriate even. Vyra said nothing much, standing there and watching the interactions, not sure quite how to interpret the Sisters, whether they should be trusted or not. Neither seemed to indicate that; if anything what more took Vyra by surprise was that the blinded Sister seemed to have no issue maneuvering, moving as though there were no sight impediments at all. “It’s been too long, how are you? How fairs your father?”

The Countess went red with embarrassment, it taking a moment for Vyra to appreciate the reasoning for this, only fully understanding once the white-haired woman spoke, “My father… My father remains as he has been.”

A disappointed look befell the orange-haired sister, “I see,” She turned in the direction of Vyra, “And your friend?”

“A… guest… of my father. But no longer,” the Countess said, the tone of which she used being difficult to decipher. “The girl was taken from other parts; I will be arranging for them to be returned home safe, but in the interim, may I trouble the pair of you to allow her residence?”

The disappointed look immediately seemed to change as the orange-haired Sister’s face glowed with delight, “Of course! We would be happy to allow your friend to rest here.”

Vyra could not help but smile, equally at a loss for words as she were still facing exhaustion. Looking with appreciation towards the two Sisters, she simply turned to the white-haired Countess and gave her a hug, at a loss for words at the kindness shown her way.

“It’s the least I could do. In a few days’ time you’ll be back home!”

[2329/2000]