Chapter 3 - "The Clouded Judgement Inn"

Chapter 3

The Clouded Judgment Inn came into view as I topped the next hill. I smiled to myself as I drew my hood closer about my face, continuing to walk in the direction of the Inn. I had decided that I was going to surprise Claire. I knew she wasn't expecting me.
I opened the door to the Inn and stepped inside. I shut the door behind me and scanned the room. It didn't take me long to spot her. Her auburn hair immediately caught my eye, as did her delicate figure. I walked over to the table she was sitting at.
"Is this seat taken?" I asked her, deepening my voice in hopes she wouldn't recognize me.
"Huh?" she said blankly, looking up at me. "Oh... no, not that I'm aware of. I haven't really been paying much attention to anything going on around me," she said.
"Is that so?" I said, maintaining my masked voice and suspicious persona. "Why's that?" I continued, pulling out the chair the next to her, taking a seat.
"Just... thinking about a lot of things," she muttered quietly. "Well... not really a lot of things. My mind is occupied on one main thing..." I watched her slowly spin a spoon around in her cup.
"May I ask what, per se?" I asked. "I know this is probably awkward coming from someone you don't know... but it's always good to talk about things stressing you out. Helps relieve some of the tension." She looked over at me for a moment, appearing to be somewhat hesitant. Finally she took in a deep breath and sighed.
"I suppose you're right," she said. "Well... I'm part of the Mage's Society."
"Quite the prestige."
"Yeah... I was just in Bravynhail. I got my first reccomendation for the University."
"Well that's wonderful. But why do you seem so distressed?"
"It was... someone that was at the guild hall."
"A friend?"
"Yeah. I just left yesterday and... I already miss him," she said. I couldn't help but let a smile cross my face. Luckily she couldn't see me.
"Is that so?" I asked, maintaining my mysterious aura.
"Yeah," she muttered. "I wrote to him... but I'm afraid it won't reach him until tomorrow."
"I wouldn't worry. The Courier got through the bandits just fine. I just came in from Bravynhail myself. I got a letter... it was quite touching. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to meet the sender here or not, though," I said as I removed my hood.
"Gerard?" she exclaimed, standing up quickly. "You...! I thought... what are you doing...? How embarrassing!" she said, hitting me lightly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wanted to surprise you," I said, standing up as well. "I thought I'd come by and... maybe travel with you. If you were alright with it."
"Well I definitely am surprised! Though it's kind of embarrassing," she said, giggling as she gave me a quick hug. "But I'm glad you came. Of course you can come with me! That'd be great!" she exclaimed. By this point, most of the people in the Inn were staring at us.
"Let's go outside," I said as I drew up my cloak. "Sorry, everyone." Claire realized what I meant and apologized as well. A low murmur aroused from the crowd as they all went back to their normal business. Claire and I stepped outside into the chilly evening.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked happily, gently pushing me. I chuckled as I caught myself before tumbling over.
"Well, you seemed like you really wanted to see me in that letter," I said, looking over at her. "And what happened in the inn just now-"
"Oh! How... how embarrasing!" she said, blushing furiously. I cracked a smile and laughed as I watched her face turn a rose red colour.
"Stop laughing!" she said, giggling a bit.
"Okay, okay," I said as I drew my coat about me. The wind had decided to pick up, making it ever more increasingly cold.

"Perhaps," I said, "we should go back inside... I brought some money, so I can manage a room for the night."
"Nonsense!" I heard Claire exclaim bluntly. "There's two beds in my room. You can just stay in the other one."
"Are you sure..."
"Yes! Now get!" she yelled, opening he door. She pointed inside. "Go on!" I walked through the door back into the inn. Shortly afterwards Claire followed me.
"This way," she said as she lead me through the lobby to a set of stairs. We proceeded up the stairs to where the rooms where, the sound of people talking slowly drowning out. She stopped infront of a worn, ebony door and took out a key. She unlocked the door with a quiet chink and we walked inside, relieved to be in the comfort of heat.

I took off my coat and tossed it to the side on the back of one of the chairs. I yawned loudly and stretched, flopping down on my back on the bed closest to the door.
"Damn!" I exclaimed as I hit the bed. "This is... really soft..." I muttered as I got myself comfortable. The bed was nice and warm, not to mention incredibly comfortable. "I always thought that an inn with this sort of a name would be some ramshackle place with cheap rooms and too many drunks!"
"I thought the same thing," said Claire, "but this place is actually pretty nice, isn't it?" she asked.

She took in a deep breath and walked across the room to the other bed, taking a seat on it.
"So you got through the bandits alright?" she asked. I could tell she was a bit worried. She probably thought I was hurt.
"Yeah," I said. "A couple of them attacked me... but they were so clumsy and arrogant it wasn't hard to dispatch of them," I continued, sitting up. "I didn't kill any of them, mind you... but they should know to not mess with me again," I said in a tough voice. I heard Claire giggle as I put on this facade.
"You're so strange, Gerard," she said, smiling at me politely.
"Hey! Is that an insult?" I asked, acting offended.
"No! No, not at all!" she quickly retorted, trying to defend herself. "The good kind of strange... you know."
"Yeah, I know," I said. "I was just giving you a hard time," I finished, grinning. I layed back down on the bed once more and stared up at the ceiling. After a short moment of awkward silence I sat back up and looked back over at Claire.
"I really hope you don't mind me tagging along," I said. I knew I had come without a warning, and I honestly wasn't sure if I had upset her or not.
"Not at all!" she exclaimed. "Don't be silly! I'm glad you decided to come," she said, putting on her familiar friendly smile. As she smile I felt reassured; for some reason her smile helped put me at ease. I put on a small smile myself and watched her. It took me a moment to realise I was staring. I quickly cleared my throat and turned my head.
"Something wrong?" she asked, leaning over to try and look into my eyes.
"No! Nothing," I said. I was glad she hadn't had noticed. "But uh... I suppose we should get some rest, huh?" I asked. At this Claire seemed to snap to attention. "Oh. Yeah, we do. We're gonna have to head out early tomorrow," she said. At this she slung off her shoes and layed back on the bed, as did I. I put my hands behind my head and stared up at the ceiling for a moment before my eyelids started to get heavy and slowly closed on me.


"Mama... papa...!"

I reached out and grabbed the collar of my mother's shirt. I pulled her gently over, off of the top of my father. As she rolled over I saw that her eyes were closed, her hair cluttered in her beautiful face. Her throat, slit.

"Mama...?"

I gently shook her, her body shaking along with my hands.
"Mama! Stop it!"
I shook her harder, acting as if she was going to wake up. I couldn't comprehend why she wasn't responding to me. "Mama! Please! Answer me!" I screamed, shaking her harder. Tears welled up in my eyes and started flowing like water as I continued to scream her name, shaking her in a futile attempt to awaken her.

"What's going on?" a guard yelled as he burst in. "By the Gods..." he muttered under his breath as he looked at the scene stretched before him. I looked up at him through a tear-stained face, my face in fear. I knew who he was; his name was Syd. The captain of the guard. As I saw him I jumped to my feet and ran over to him, grabbing his leg, crying my heart out. He put a hand on my head and looked down at my parent's bodies.

"Syddy! What's going on?! Mama won't get up! Neither will papa!" I cried to him, looking up at him as I clenched his slacks in my hand.
Syd looked down at me with a painstaking look, one I had never seen him show before. Syd had always been a strong man; vigilant and brave. To see him scared sent my fear spiraling. I let go of his leggings and took a few steps back.

"Gerard..."

"No!" I screamed, running back over to my parents' bodies. I tripped and landed next to them, crawling the rest of the way. I grabbed onto my mother's apron and held it to my face, the still wet, warm blood getting on me.
"Come on, Gerard," said Syd as he walked over and put out a hand to me.
"No!" I screamed again. "Not without mama and papa!"
"Gerard... your mama and papa..."
"No! No, no, no, no, no!" I screamed, my voice brokenup into heartwrenching sobs. Syd gently took my arm and started to pick me up. I was too weak to resist, too exhausted and scared from my parent's deaths of which I still had yet to understand. Syd carried me out of the dark, bloodstained house and into the pure white snow as several other guards rushed in to investigate.