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She hadn’t expected them to stay as adventuring companions for such a long time.
Everyone got tired of her eventually. As soon as she had woken up from her own grave, people fled when they saw her. Inside, she was no different from the sweet, bubbly girl that they’d hung ages ago.
The people around her didn’t seem to care what she was inside. All they saw was a walking corpse.
And then she met Imogen.
It had already been a happy day—The Midwinter Festival had made its way to town. Laudna had been camping on the outskirts of a larger city for quite some time. She’d learned years ago that the townsfolk wouldn’t tolerate her presence amongst themselves. They’d chase her away with pitchforks and spears and torches, even if she had just been politely inquiring as to where to find a nice tavern.
But at night, when the streets were silent and empty, she could sneak into the city and scavenge what she could from rubbish bins in the dark alleyways. It wasn’t good food by anyone’s standard, but it kept her going. And the leftovers from a hearty festival were sure to be a treat.
She’d been lurking in the darkened alleyways as evening approached, awaiting the setting sun. It was then that the woman had appeared.
She looked as light and bubbly as Laudna had once been. Striking lavender hair pooled at her shoulders. A yellow scarf hung around her neck, loose and wrinkled as if someone had been tugging on it. She wore round glasses that were askew on her face as she held her head in her hands. Laudna watched curiously as the woman leaned against the wall of the alley and slowly slid to the dirty street floor.
Her forearms were slightly pulsating with light as she huddled against herself. It was quite clear that she was in pain from the way she was clutching her head. From this angle, Laudna could just barely see the tears streaming down her face.
Laudna had met a lot of people since she’d been, well, whatever she was now. She’d always received…less than positive reactions. At best, whoever she was trying to converse with just ran away shrieking in terror. At worst, well, the pitchforks and spears and torches were always an option.
Despite that, Laudna didn’t stop trying to help the people she’d found, and this woman was no different. She crept out of her hiding place, keeping to the shadows as she made herself visible. “Excuse me darling—”
The woman started, her eyes finding Laudna’s and wincing almost immediately. Laudna saw a flash of something pass over her expression before the pain took over again. Laudna cleared her throat and continued, “Terribly sorry. I saw that you seem to be in pain and I was wondering if I could be of any help at all.”
“Oh, I’m fine, don’t go worryin’ about me.” When she spoke, Laudna was caught off guard at how pretty her voice was. Even strained, it was light and melodic, and had that lovely accent to it.
“Are you quite sure? I have a camp outside of town where you could recover.”
“Outside of town?” the woman repeated, wincing as she did so. “Is it…Are there a lot of people there?”
“Only me, darling,” Laudna gave her a friendly smile. “I am quite the loner.”
The woman eyed her cautiously. Laudna felt…it was as if there was a poking in her mind. It wasn’t painful or anything, but it felt almost invasive. Still, she welcomed it. Her mind had been alone for such a long time, any presence besides the voices in her head were welcomed. After a moment or so, the prodding retreated, and the woman across from her gasped. “Take me there.”
…
Laudna did her best to lead the woman away from the flurry of activity in the town. She knew plenty of hidden paths out of the city, so the main problem wasn’t being spotted. The main problem was that her newest companion could hardly hold herself up at this point. Laudna was a lot of things, but she definitely wasn’t strong. She linked her arm with this woman, doing her best to lead her and support her weight at the same time.
When she spotted the tiny hut at the edge of the woods, the relief she felt was enough to spur the last of her movement forward. She lugged the woman into her tiny home, gasping for breath as she did so.
The hut was miniscule, a shelter Laudna had stumbled across when she had been traveling. It had been abandoned when she’d found it, and no one had returned to it in the months she’d been staying there. The walls kept the cold out, and she had a steady supply of food from the large town nearby. Based on that, she’d decided to stay here for a little while.
Laudna led the woman over to her makeshift cot, laying her down against it. She frowned at the various cloths that served as a mattress. For her, it was fine. Her comfort wasn’t a huge priority. But for this woman, she felt bad that she didn’t have a proper bed.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m doin’ fine,” the woman said, letting Laudna lower her to the ground. “This is more than alright.”
Laudna frowned. “I didn’t realize I said that out loud.”
“You didn’t,” the woman grimaced. She let out a groan as her head found its place in her hands again. “Ugh, my head is hurtin’ so much.”
“I’ll make you some tea then,” Laudna said, quickly getting to her feet. She hurried over to the kitchen, which was in the same room as the makeshift bed. Everything was in the same room, actually, except the bathroom, which was more of a nice hole outside. She started a fire on the stove, placing her little tin pot above the flames. It was about then that the woman in her house spoke up. “This place is awfully small.”
Laudna frowned. “I apologize, I wasn’t expecting company.”
“Oh no, I didn’t mean—I am more than grateful for your hospitality. I just—where are you goin’ to be sleepin’?”
Laudna smiled at her new companion’s nervousness. “I’ll be quite alright, darling. Let me focus on your tea.”
“Right. Sorry ‘bout that.”
Laudna turned her attention back to the water heating. She opened up her cupboards and fetched her small chipped cup. She went to another, gathering the tea packets—she’d found almost half a box of them thrown out a few weeks ago and had been saving them for a special occasion—and a small metal spoon. The other woman spoke up again. “I feel so awful for intrudin’ in your home ma’am. How can I make it up to you?”
“Oh you’re not intruding at all, don’t you worry,” Laudna said. “Although, I don’t remember hearing your name.”
“Right, sorry, prob'ly supposed to do that earlier. Imogen. Imogen Temult.”
“I’m Laudna,” she said with a grin. “I’m sorry to say I don’t have any milk or sugar for your tea.”
“That’s alright, thank you Laudna,” the woman—Imogen—said with a yawn.
“Well of course,” Laudna said. She went back to the tea, pouring the boiling water into the little cup. She let it steep there for a moment, cursing herself for never having found any sugar. Milk never kept for long, but sugar would be helpful for times like this.
Times like this? Who was she kidding? It wasn’t like there was ever anyone but herself and Pâté. And the new one, now. Imogen.
She carried the tea over to Imogen, who was now laying down amongst Laudna’s collection of cloths. It wasn’t until she got closer that she realized the lavender-haired woman was snoring softly.
Laudna smiled at her new companion. She wouldn’t wake her; she obviously needed her rest. She sat down next to her on the hard floor, crossing her legs over each other. After a moment, she took a sip of the tea she had prepared. She’d meant it to be for Imogen, but it was good tea. It shouldn’t go to waste.
…
Imogen didn’t wake until a few hours later. Laudna was exhausted, but she hadn’t wanted to sleep, besides dozing for a few minutes at a time, until the other woman had woken up. It was stupid, but she was terrified that this new woman would just leave if Laudna had fallen asleep and Imogen had woken up.
When her companion did finally awake, Laudna had breakfast—well, dinner—prepared. The woman mumbled and stirred as she awoke. Her voice, as clear as if she was speaking in Laudna’s ear, said, “Good mornin’.”
“Oh, that’s a nice trick,” Laudna praised.
“Thank you,” Imogen grumbled from her spot, stretching and yawning. “Thank you, Laudna. I slept like a rock.”
“I wouldn’t say a rock, rocks are permanently inanimate. Perhaps more like a corpse,” she smiled.
Imogen, for her part, just smiled back. “I’d reckon that’s true.”
If Laudna’s grin could widen, it did. “Well I have breakfast ready. I’m terribly sorry if it doesn’t match up, supplies are…nonexistent.”
“That’s quite alright. You really ought not to feed me, you’ve been more than kind.”
“I insist.”
“Well, that’ll be your loss then. I’m like a stray cat, you leave out some scraps and I’ll just keep comin’ back here.”
“I wouldn’t mind that in the slightest.”
Imogen sat across from Laudna on the one rickety little stool that she had. Before her was a cold plate of some type of half-rotten vegetable roots, stale bread, and a few chunks of some kind of boiled meat. The more she looked at it, the more depressing it was. “Wow, you weren’t kiddin’ about the supplies.”
Laudna deflated. “Yes, I know. This is just the best I could muster up. I’m terribly sorry.”
“Now don’t you go on apologizin’ to me Laudna. You’ve been more kind to me than many,” Imogen said. “But what do you mean it’s the best you could muster up?”
“I am unable to go into town. People….well, they don’t take well to me.”
“So you eat by…Oh, Laudna…”
“Gathering up scraps, yes. Don’t look so mournful, it can actually be quite fun.”
Imogen frowned. “Still, you’re just eating scraps and living here in this hut? That doesn’t seem like much of a life.”
Laudna grinned at that, almost telling Imogen that no, it wasn’t a life as she would think of it at all. But she didn’t want to burden the other woman. “I make do.”
Imogen seemed confused, more so than the simple words would indicate. But Laudna brushed it off as post-migraine confusion, if such a thing existed. “Well then what are you doing all of this for?”
“I’m not quite sure,” Laudna admitted. “But I was given a life, I might as well make use of it.” The other woman would never learn just how much that sentiment rang true. “What about you, dear? What are you here for?”
“I’m lookin’ for answers,” Imogen said simply.
“Do go on.”
She frowned. “I’ve had certain psychic abilities since I was young. I’m trying to learn about them, specifically how to control them.”
“Well that seems like quite a noble pursuit,” Laudna said. An idea crossed her mind. It was ridiculous, really, but, well…she liked this woman. It had been years since someone had treated her like something that wasn’t a nightmare. She didn’t want to lose that. “Perhaps I could help you.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, two people usually fare better than one,” Laudna said. “And I have to say, I’ve been lonely for human interaction for quite some time. You’re the first person in years that hasn’t run away screaming when they laid eyes on me.” She paused, glancing at the floor. “And I quite enjoy your company.”
“And I yours,” Imogen said, causing Laudna’s head to shoot up in surprise. “You have shown me an incredible amount of kindness. I mean, I reckon no one else woulda stopped to help me. People, er, they tend to shy away from me too,” Imogen said, scratching the back of her neck.
“Well, I suppose us outsiders should stick together,” Laudna said, trying to pretend like her stomach wasn’t whirling with joy. “If you’ll have me, of course.”
“You don’t mind leavin’ all this?”
“Darling, there’s nothing to leave. Only adventures to come,” Laudna said. “I’ll happily stay by your side.”
Imogen stuck out her hand. “Partners?”
Laudna smiled, grasping it between her long, thin fingers. “Partners.”
“Great. I reckon we ought to save up. I know a place a while from here that might have some answers. Plus, I doubt you’ll get too many funny looks, there’s all sorts of people over there.”
“Where is this magical place you speak of?”
Imogen grinned. “Marquet.”