8 The Inn

Although the inn looked somewhat shabby on the outside, it would be a warm and comfortable place to rest after an hour's travel. They had only been traveling for a short while however they had to stop and rest at the inn until the following day since the opening gate of the city only opened at particular times and they had already missed it since it was at six in the morning. Again, this reminded her of the difference between her and Arabella or basically any other noble who was respected or held the slightest bit of power.

She stepped carefully out of the inn, assisted by the single knight who had been "forced" to come along as far as the capital in case anyone saw them on their way out of the capital. Given this, he was quietly rude to her and unkind but he generally was not a bother as the whole reason he was there was to show the love the Emperor had for Clarimond. He would leave soon anyways.

Holding her bags, she walked quickly towards the warm inn where they were welcomed by a cheerful woman wearing a flowery simple dress with long vibrant flowing red hair and emerald-colored eyes.

"Hello! What is your name?"

Clarimond paused for a second as she pondered whether or not to fake her identity but decided against it. They had not decided to do this before and she might as well get something out of the obvious dislike the Emperor and Arabella and likely the crown prince had for her.

"I am Duchess Clarimond Harridan of Selemont. What is your name?"

The women looked at her, "I'm Evania. Are you sure you are the Duchess? I mean, you arrived with only a single knight for escort, not a very fancy ride, and only two maids."

Clarimond smiled and held out her family crust.

Evania looked at the crest and gasped, bowing low, "I can't believe it! Please excuse my rudeness, is it fashionable to have so little escorts now for a noble lady and to be dressed so simply?"

Clarimond smiled once more, "No need for formalities, it doesn't matter to me what is fashionable or not, the Emperor said that if I was traveling with no escort as this knight will be leaving once, we leave the capital, then we will be less of a target to bandits. I listen to the Emperor since he is basically like another father to me and cares about me greatly. I dressed simply since there is less money in the Grand Duchy for things like dresses."

Evania stared at her and looked like she wanted to burst into speech but resisted. This was going well. Now, rumors would hopefully begin to spread about the Emperor and her little importance to him, the only thing left would be look as helpless as possible.

Clarimond coughed slightly and Evania finally spoke up, "Are you all, right? Oh, we should get out of this cold air."

Clarimond nodded feebly, "I'm fine, I don't want to be a bother to you. I'm always causing problems for the Emperor and Arabella. I'm afraid that my presence has just taken away so much from the crown prince and Arabella and they are so kind to me."

"I'm sure that's not true, you are absolutely wonderful and I have no idea how you would be a bother."

They, the two maids, knight, Clarimond, and Evania, all went inside where the wooden floors were covered in plush carpets and a warm fire flickered, making the space comfortable and welcoming. This inn was the perfect setting to the actual actions which formed the end of the Emperor and his family.