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It’s still dark as you try to open up your eyes. You’ve been awake for probably an hour now and trying to go back to sleep. But… you feel like that isn’t going to happen. So, you get up off the floor as quietly as you can and leave a short note. Don’t want people to think you just wandered off without an explanation! Even if no one wakes up, you can’t worry them this far into their quest.
You look at the beds as you leave. You’d gotten some pushback about being the one to sleep on the floor, but it’s fine. Someone needed to forfeit their spot tonight, and it’s not like it’s the most uncomfortable place you’ve slept before. Everyone else seems to be sleeping soundly except… Mirabelle. She’s not here.
Wuh oh, you should probably check on that.
You grab your cloak and head out of the inn. And, thank the stars, she’s sitting out on the porch. “Oh! Hi, Siffrin! I- I didn’t wake you up, did I?”
You laugh a bit. “No, I just woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. You?”
“Uh… nothing too bad. I just had a nightmare, which isn’t too surprising, considering…” She’s looking at you. Did you do something wrong? “Are you going to sit down?”
Oh! Right, you should do that instead of just standing there and being weird. You sit down next to her. Your heart’s racing a bit; you don’t really know if you’ll be of any help. Isabeau’s a lot better at this than you are, and they know each other a lot better. But, you’re going to be a good friend and try.
“Um… It was about the King. It started with him attacking the House, but it changed halfway through? And then it wasn’t just me and the Housemaidens, but you guys too, a-and you all got really hurt. He froze everyone, and…” she trails off. She doesn’t need to finish. You know what comes next; Mirabelle’s the only one who can withstand the King freezing people in time. She must’ve been left alone.
“Well… at least it didn’t happen?” you offer. Stars, that wasn’t comforting at all. “I mean! I’m not hurt, at least. And Isa and Odile were fine the last time I checked.”
“I know. It’s just… If something does happen, to any of you, and it’s because I brought you—”
“Then I’ll make sure my last words are ‘Oh no! How dare you bring this upon us? It’s not as though we chose to be here!’” You dramatically drape your hand across your face.
“Don’t tease me, Siffrin!” she says playfully. Or at least, you think it’s playful. She goes quiet for a bit, looking out at the sky. You wonder what she sees, when she looks out there. Vaugardians have told you different things whenever you’ve asked. If you had to guess, you think she’d see them as far-off lights. “I know you’re all okay. But… if something bad does happen…” she shakes her head.
You understand. If you were in her spot, you’d be worried too. About protecting everyone, making sure nothing bad happens to them, hoping they actually want to be there with you. “I guess we’ll figure it out from there, then. And prepare ourselves to make sure anything that happens isn’t as bad as it could be.” You look back over at the inn. You were one of the first ones asleep tonight, even though you were stressed out of your mind. Everyone was. So, you want to know… “Has the kid said anything yet?”
“No, not yet. But I think they’ve been more responsive, after we got them some food. I- I think they were walking for a long time; they seemed really exhausted.” She fidgets with her hands. “I don’t know if they’ll have any family around.”
You four have been looking after them today, after you spotted them. You all had planned to leave the inn this evening, to keep looking for the final orb. But you want them to be okay, first. To maybe find somewhere safe for them, if such a place still exists. “Well, we can keep them safe for now. Until we find somewhere safer, of course.” You don’t want to drag a kid to defeat someone who is essentially a monster. Stars, they can’t be any older than twelve by the looks of them. That’s younger than you were, when you started wandering. You… you hope that they’re not in a similar situation. That there’s someone waiting for them, somewhere, anywhere.
Mirabelle looks down at her hands. “Right. Probably not here though, with…” She looks over to the east of the town. Everything past there is frozen now. It’s a miracle that this inn decided to remain open, with the King’s Curse encroaching upon it. “Change, I don’t know.”
“Let’s talk about something else, then. If you want to,” you say.
She smiles and nods at that. “Yes, let’s. I could really use a distraction right now.”
She isn’t talking, so you think it’s your turn to come up with a conversation idea. Uh… Mirabelle’s wearing her bonnet right now, but maybe you could ask about her bow that she always wears? “Where’d you get your bow from?”
She lights up and goes into detail about someone she knew back in Dormont who made her the bow. How long they’d known each other, some memories Mirabelle has of her… There’s still some sadness to her words. She doesn’t outright say it, but you know that the person she’s talking about must’ve been frozen. So, you ask some follow-up questions about the House. Apparently they teach classes there, which you didn’t know before. You thought it was mostly a religious building, which in your experience…
Ah, it’s gone. No need to try going down that avenue right now.
Mirabelle mostly talks, and you listen. She does ask you some questions about your experiences, but you dodge those. This seems to only intrigue her more, but she doesn’t pry any further. You two talk for what must be an hour before you’re both too tired to string sentences together properly. So, you both head back to the room you’re staying in.
“‘Night!” she whispers as she settles into bed. You give a smile and a nod back.
And you briefly glance at where the kid’s sleeping. The medic you and your friends spoke with said they’ll be alright if given some time. You pray for that to be correct. Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay.
You’ll do your best to protect them. To protect all of them. It’s what you want.