Sleepwalker

Chapter Seven: The Lonely Bard

The sun was just beginning to rise. I’d already been walking for over an hour. It was the best time to start my journey, as I was slow and clumsy with heat exhaustion later on. Traveling by the hot sun was inescapable and inconvenient; sweat glistened and dribbled down my face and I often grew weary during the days. I plodded along though.  

The dirt paths were scarcely traveled on even as I passed through the closest town north of the inn, Yondrin; the capital was in central Caligeria, about a week’s walking distance, yet I was already starved for human contact after two days. I kicked up dust from the road, sputtering it out. With a heavy sigh, I took a small swig from the water skin that the Jones’s had given Papa for me. Though my pack was fairly light, my shoulders were stiff from sleeping on the ground. “This is torturous,” I muttered only to hear a sound that was not chirping birds or scurrying rodents.

“You are a bit lonely, I see? Perhaps, a song for thee?” Next to me was a man about a decade my senior dressed simply in a white shirt, collar down and black trousers flowing into a pair of black boots. Strapped to his back, was a small stringed instrument, a lyre to pair with the flutes that hung around his next. “You may call me William.”

I studied him. “You’re a bard,” I stated more in the manner of an inquiry.

“Precisely, Miss Stone! Do not even ask how I know. It is the hair and the confusion. My word, those are Eric’s ears! Great man, your father is. Great man.” He spoke faster than I could listen. “Close your mouth. Do wish for flies to mate in there?”

“I hadn’t realized it was open. How do you know my father?”

His eyes widened. “The real question is why hasn’t your father mentioned me! Those two swore for ten Gold Tyans that they would name their tavern after me!”

“You’re the ‘Lonely Bard’?” I wondered excitedly. Then I became confused. “You’re too young. You could not have been more than a child when he traveled.” I allowed the bard to walk past me. All noise stopped, even the gentle clop of boots. Squinting, I studied the way the sun just barely glittered through him. I walked to him.

He was translucent. With the horror my face, he winked. “Something just clicked. I’ve been twenty-seven for a long time…what was that name Eric told me…his mother’s name…Virginia, Genet, Genesis, Lisa…Genevieve! There it is, Genevieve Stone! Jen Stone! Gem Stone! Ha! Anyway, let me tell you a story. I did a bad thing. I was young and in love, what else was I supposed to do? I wasn’t just in love; I was in love with the queen! Lizzie and I would’ve been perfect together. We were friends. I made her laugh. She invited me to all her dinners. It was beautiful. I was a good bard though. Damn good one. I roamed the streets making people hum. One day, Lizzie starts fooling around with this earl, so I sharpened up my flute and stabbed him in the heart. Needless to say, the poor bastard died. Lizzie was so mad at me that she chopped my head off publicly. You see though, Lizzie had some connections with the ‘forces’ and because of our past friendship; she didn’t really think I was cut out for damnation. So I became a ghost telling my story to some travelers in need of company. It’s how I got the nickname.”

“With that story, I’m surprised you didn’t shoot an Albatross.”

He chuckled, a deep hardy sound. “Where’d you dig up that fossil of a poem? Christ, I haven’t heard that one in centuries! So where you headed, Gem Stone?”

“I’m looking for my mother.”

“Eric, sleeping around? No kidding? I’ll always admire him. What’s her name? Maybe I’ve met her once or twice.” He nodded his head curious, black curls tumbling.

“Papa thinks it’s a pseudonym, but the name I have for her is Alia Pallas.”

He mused on it for a second. “I’ve never met her. You’re looking for a darker woman. Actually, you get the weird lighter ones sometimes. Anyway, you just look for dark hair and anywhere from dark brown eyes to light green. Are you making a little mental note of this? Alia Pallas. I wonder if she’s smart. You know who Pallas is?”