Dreamer's Redemption

Chapter Ten

            In the morning, Dominae went to see the healer. "I need some of that medicine you're giving me in a travel pouch," she said.

Nia raised her eyebrows. "You're planning on going on alone, aren't you?" she asked.

"Not alone, exactly. I'll have the minion and Cacia with me. You're needed here, to watch Jason."

"He's getting much better," said Nia. "I expect he'll not touch drink again for a long while."

Dominae smiled wanly. "At least something good will have come from this, then. Will you mix me up some of that medicine?"

Nia sighed. "I wish you weren't doing this," she said.

"So do I," Dominae admitted, "but I don't have a whole lot of choice in the matter."

"Aye," Nia said. "I'll make it up today, and you'll have it by the end of the afternoon. I assume you're going tonight?"

Dominae bit her lip, but nodded. "Yeah," she said finally. "Probably as soon as the common room's clear enough for us to go without being followed."

"Are you worried about that?"

"Some," Dominae said. "But I can't see to everything. If someone's going to follow us, then so be it. I'll have Minion with me."

"You trust him greatly, don't you?"

Dominae smiled. "I trust him with my life," she said.

"I've never seen one like him," Nia said. "I know a little about creatures of his sort, and most of them are full of rage. He's got some sorrow in him, but no anger. It's puzzling."

Dominae tilted her head. "How do you know that?" she asked.

"I see things," said Nia modestly. "It was part of my training to be able to see negative emotions. One would expect something from the hells to be filled with them, but he isn't. It's a rare thing, Dominae." She smiled. "You're not wrong to trust him."

"Thank you," Dominae said, smiling back. "It's always nice to have someone confirm something you've suspected."

"Aye," said Nia. "I'll bring the medicine to your room tonight. No sense in alerting the others by trading it in the common room, in plain sight."

"Good thinking," Dominae said. "See you tonight."

###

The common room was lively during the dinner hour. The inn where they'd had to stay for the past few days was one of the few in the area and, by the landlord's own admission, the best of the crop. Dominae had been amused by the funny little man who owned the inn, but she understood his pride in his establishment. Weeks of being with Perry as he cared for his inns had showed her that the landlord was right; he ran a very good inn. If she had to be stranded, at least it had been somewhere not entirely unpleasant.

But all of that was coming to an end. Now that she knew they were leaving that evening, she felt restless. She was torn between wanting to be on the road and wanting to soak up every last bit of comfort she could. The path that Minion had showed her on the map was devoid of nice inns. The few that were picked out on the map were, in fact, places that she wouldn't have dared go near, if she didn't know that Sara was waiting for her. The Slaver's Market wasn't the only horrible place in this land.