“How long till the wind subsides, mutt?” my lady completely ignored my qualms about their casual disrespect. Did they think I was jesting about domination? I couldn’t wait to prove them wrong.

The wind was still blowing strong, and the fire flickered aimlessly despite the rocks sheathing us. The whizzing sound had intensified over the past few minutes, and the gloom had escalated outside. It wasn’t a snowstorm, yet the fastidious chilly gale couldn’t let our horses travel for long. Waiting for the storm to subside was our only way out.

Garlan glanced outside the opening for a while, lost in thought, before he turned to my lady, “A couple of hourglasses, lady Letitia. At least we are not in the desert terrain. Heat storms are a lot worse than chilly storms.”

I handed one loaf of bread wrapped in a paper packet to Letitia while she shook her head. “You eat it. I’m not hungry.”

“You will grow hungry soon, my lady. And we will reach the port late at night,” I reasoned because she had skipped breakfast too. Her appetite hadn’t been particularly good since yesterday. Period was unlikely, for she would have told me about it. With much reluctance, of course. And I had never heard about adolescent girls losing appetite.

She stared at the packet for a while and accepted it begrudgingly. Nibbling on the bun wasn’t as hard as she made it to be. I wrapped her in her cloak that she had removed and watched the flickering flames before us in the momentary silence.

“Do you know how we met each other, lady Letitia?” Garlan grinned, filling the stillness with his haughty voice.

“My mongrel already told me about it,” she clicked her tongue, but we didn’t miss the smile on her face. “That was a fun story.”

“Yes,” Garlan laughed. “I knew we would click someway, and it’s been two years of no betrayal.”

“You betray every other mate?” I asked with a smile.

“It’s the other way around,” he sighed. “Mercenary business is pretty harsh, no matter which city. Money drives us, and parties are companions as long as you get paid. Once the mission is called off, you go back to being a cutthroat mercenary. And people hate my portly appearance, so I become a scapegoat in most of the party missions.”

“That’s so sad, bread lad,” I said.

“Then stop smiling, bastard!” he snarled, and my lady chuckled. That came off as a surprise to both of us, and her ears turned rosy instantly. It was a sweet melodic laugh, nonetheless, and my bread lad shared one of his honest smiles with me.

“There was a time when I was used as a bait for a wild boar late at night. I was a young adventurer back then, still portly. The second party on the same quest mistook me for a boar and hunted me down. After a couple of arrows on my butt, I rammed them with my boulders until they ran away, fearing a magic boar.”

“Those were lonely days, though,” he continued with a smile. “I went out on quests every day, returned to the tavern, chugged a few mugs of ale, slept around with a woman for some shins, and returned back to my dingy residence. The bread was my only solace amidst the fast-paced life that never waited for me. But then I met this bastard,” his forlorn smile changed to a grin, “and, well, this bastard, though bastard, never judged me for my appearance. It boosted my self-esteem tremendously, and I ended up becoming a man who stayed true to his desires.”

“That was three bastards in a row, bread lad,” I sighed. He was a moth for me, just like others, so there was no need for any judging. “What’s with all the sentimental talk today?”

“Well, I am not sure if we would return alive from this mission, so why not?” Garlan shrugged.

“You will return, mutt,” my lady said with unconcealed hesitance. “My mongrel will make sure you will return.”

“If that’s your wish, my lady,” I said.

“The fuck?!” he gave me a horrified look. “This bastard would have abandoned me without Letit, I mean lady Letitia’s, order. And what was with all that hesitance, lady Letitia?!”

“Letitia would do,” my lady said flatly.

“What?!” Garlan stared at me, aghast.

“You want me to pierce those ears?” my lady clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“No, lady Letitia,” Garlan sighed. “I would stick to lady for now. That’s too much grace in a single day, and I don’t want to use up all my luck.”

“Suit yourself,” Letitia said coldly, but I knew she would go back on her words later. You either accept her grace when offered or wait until you earn it again. Then again, acceptance came really hard to her, so I suppose Garlan was lucky enough to have gained it from both of us.

We spent the next hour in silence after my lady had fallen asleep against my arm. Even Garlan had lied down on the moist rocks of the cave and started snoring. It was comparable to the snores of the horses, so the mare looked particularly interested in the portly man. He scratched his tummy that his tunic had failed to cover and mumbled something under his breath before turning to the other side.

The mare and I exchanged stared for a while until we mutually acquiesced that we had no clue what the man had said. At least, that’s what I thought, but I wasn’t sure of the mare to reach a stubborn conclusion. The stallion was having a nap of its own, leaving us all alone in the encroaching darkness of the night.

“You sleepy?” I whispered to the mare who had snuggled closer to the fire to feel the warmth of the blazing fire.

The horse nickered, and I had no clue what it meant. All I could understand were the primary equine vocals, and interpreting them hadn’t been much of my concern until today. The mare nuzzled her forehead against my cheek, and I caressed it after much hesitance. Growing attached to mortals was the last thing on my bucket list that entailed things to attempt before the next millennium. But, I was changing for the worse the longer I lived in this world.

In all my previous worlds, I lived alone without any deep association with the sphere outside. That somehow hadn’t worked here, as I hadn’t taken sufficient preventive measures. My overconfidence was to blame, if anything, for I absolutely believed that I wouldn’t get attached to mortals. Perhaps, this human body might be responsible for these abhorrent feelings, but it didn’t offer much solace. The thing was, Garlan and Letitia had become something close to companions. But I had to somehow prevent them from becoming craters that would bind me to this world because I would suffer in the end, not anyone else.

You see, we undead have a lot of self-love, without which living over a millennium in solitude was close to impossible.

The wind had worsened over the last hour, and I softly placed my lady’s head over my bag after retaining my crumpled cloak over it. A brief walk to the entrance had me shivering from head to toe, so I used [Warmth] on my body, trying to get accustomed to the crawling sensation all over my body. I could see dust garnering in the cold winters, freezing to frost at times, before disappearing into the distance. The chill storms were unique characteristics of this world, but they weren’t much different from snowstorms that buffed the whole of barren lands with a thick layer of snow. We did get snow occasionally, but seldom close to the coast.

I felt frail arms around my waist, and I glanced at my lady who was standing behind me. “I’m sorry, my lady. I woke you up.”

“Mmm,” she mumbled something and buried her head in my bosom after I turned around. “I’m sleepy.”

“Then get some rest,” I smiled, ruffling her already tangled mess. “You want me to sing you a lullaby?”

“Ah,” she leaned out and rubbed her eyes, “don’t. Singing is one thing you must absolutely avoid. It threatens the world, Rudolf.”

“That bad?” I asked in surprise because I always believed my singing was good. Then again, I sang her lullaby only once when she was young, and she fell asleep with just books since then.

“That bad,” she repeated with a yawn. “Terrible, awful, dreadful, horrible, frightful, ghastly–“

“I get it, my lady,” I laughed, feeling the chilly breeze on my cheeks. “Though, that was quite hurtful.”

“It’s the bitter truth,” my lady gave me a reassuring pat, but she had to stretch her hand upward considerably, much to her annoyance. “Will we get to sail over the waters?”

“Do you like the sea, my lady?” I asked, scratching my hair nervously.

“Don’t you?” she raised her eyebrows. “How can anyone not like the sea? I have never seen one, but the descriptions alone are enough to marvel at the absolute splendor of nature.”

“Well, sailing is a hard chore. Books glorify it like it’s the most exciting thing next to bread, but that’s hardly the truth. Seaskiness, homesickness, breadsickness, everything follows you from day to night on the vast expanse of blue. Did I say neverending? That’s the most important part. Blue in the morning, blue in the night, blue in the day, and blue everywhere.”

“You made up the last sickness,” she rolled her eyes. “But, adversities are fun at times. You have been lazing around in the mansion for a long time. It’s time you get used to sailors’ way of living.”

“I was serving you sincerely, my lady,” I defended myself. Lethargic I was, but finishing my tasks came naturally to me. “And I’m not really interested in becoming a sailor. But if you insist on living in hell for a few days, we can always take up a quest that needs us in the sea for a few days. You’ll realize the weight of my words.”

“Won’t the envoys ask us to accompany them?” my lady locked her arms behind her and reeled closer to the entrance.

“They might,” I touched my chin in thought. “If they trust us enough.”

She nodded with another yawn and ambled back to the cave for a nap. Her ability to sleep at any place was indeed commendable, and she didn’t bicker about hospitality like usual nobles girls. Should I credit my upbringing or her astuteness? Another rhetoric.

When the wind had slowed down considerably after almost an hour, the sky had already darkened. I shook my lady awake first, who didn’t try to assault me this time, but waking up Garlan proved to be a formidable task. After pouring a ball of water over his face, he woke up with much haste hurling novel curses at me. My lady’s glare stopped him short, and we brushed our rides for a while before resuming the journey to Port Achlon.

It was my first visit to a port city, so I was quite excited, just like my lady, whose eyes glittered with enthusiasm throughout our journey across the pass until we reached the highlands covered in wilted shrubs. The lack of sun’s glare had destroyed the lush green vegetation, but it still appeared more vibrant than the barren lands of the pass, festooned with tumbleweeds.

Our horses climbed up the final slope with much effort, and I cast [Heal] on them multiple times, which didn’t help restore their stamina. I jumped down from the mare, with Garlan following my suit, and I gestured for my lady to keep riding. Garlan held the reins and led the stallion through the muddy roads leveled for carriages, relying on my glowing ball of fire for illumination. We didn’t pause to admire the scene behind us and reached the top of the arduous slope soon.

“Welcome to Port Achlon, my loyal mates,” Garlan grinned, pointing his finger at the bustling city below, surrounded by the sea on all three sides.