The previously cool and temperate village seemed to melt under the sun’s assault. Flies which previously danced around sat still in the smoldering, their flight oppressed by the sheer weight of the sun. Louresa swore and wiped her forehead with the bottom of her shirt and looked around for a shadow to shelter under. She found none. “Bastard left us all the dirty work. What kind of recruiter leaves his diamond like that? Certainly not one who wants to get paid. Least we left the armor at home, that hauberk chaffs some places I’d not like to mention.”

  Clair laughed as they walked back to the cabin. She remained, much to Louresa’s annoyance, cool in the simmering heat. “Look at it this way, you get more time with those boys you, and I quote, ‘basically secured’. And is walking on your own really that big of a deal? Can’t imagine you’d do well in a group of more than two.” Clair reached for her sealed flagon, kept cold by the rune carved into its wood, and purposely spilled some water as she went to drink.

  Louresa rolled her eyes and scoffed but stopped grumbling. She eyed the tankard and the cool liquid soaking into Clair’s linen shirt. A tankard. Liquid. Water. She thought for a moment, then it hit her. “You have a way of looking on the bright side I couldn’t copy if I tried. Alright! Let’s go to the tavern and get piss drunk after this. Last couple of days here, might as well enjoy them with a bit of flair, eh?” Louresa grinned.

  Clair shook her head. “We really can’t afford to do that. I’m flat out broke, always have been, and you spent all your coin on your shiny new helmet. Stuck with jack and shit we are.”

  Louresa threw her hands into the air and sweat flew from them, spattering on her surroundings. “And there you go bringing my mood back down again. Always do this, you do. Have me happy as a clam at one moment and drag me screaming from my shell the next. Well, bugger you I say! Bugger jack and shit as well! I cleaned out my tab a while ago and I plan to fill it back up today. With me or no, I’m going.” Clair resigned herself to stop speaking. Anything she said would only deepen her friend's need for a pint and drive her to binge-drink well into the night. Better to let Louresa’s addiction to cheap brandy and ale run its course than interrupt and make it worse.

  Clair’s stare drifted away from their conversation. “Clair?” Loursa prodded her friend. No answer. Louresa sighed and stepped in front of the smaller woman Their procession continued in silence until they eventually came to the cabin and Louresa sidestepped, allowing Clair to hit the cabin wall as she ambled forwards unaware of her surroundings. She stumbled back and snapped to attention, her focus now solely on keeping her balance.

  Clair held up one arm to her friend and rubbed her forehead with the other, speaking softly. “I know, overthinking things again. I’ve gotten better though, you have to admit.”

  “I’ll admit it when you stop doing it. And couldn’t you have at least gotten angry at me? You’re much too young to be acting as mature as you do.” Louresa frowned and walked to the cabin’s door, holding it open for her compatriot. She caught the look on Clair’s face as she followed behind. Cool air blasted them, escaping into the heavy damp air outside. Both women rushed to close the door, unwilling to let their only escape from the heat be compromised.

  “Too much piss and vinegar are sure poison for the heart, you’ll always need something sweet to balance out the tart.”

  Louresa mimed throwing up and continued to walk. “Absolutely horrible. Can’t even put my disgust into proper words, they wouldn’t honor the feeling.” She opened the office door and walked to the desk, staring down at the documents spread out on the table intently. She smiled. “Same retinue. Well, us and another. I can’t recognize the name.” Louresa gathered up the papers and set them in a stack on the table. The notes left her hands dampened. “We’ll wait outside for him. Paper says he was told to come here today too.”

  “Not even going to tell me his name?” Clair took interest and rifled through the sheets, briefly scanning through them until she reached the object of her interest. “Doru. He’s a… a cat. Is this a joke?”

  Louresa sighed. “Wish it was. And before you ask, I’ve honestly no clue what he is either. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  A thought came to Clair. A thought so horrible she could do not but smile evilly and utter its contents to her already drenched friend. “Shouldn’t we do that outside and not in here? How’s he going to know anyone’s home if we aren’t ready to greet him.”

  Louresa gulped and beads of sweat formed on her head once more. “Outside? I don’t know about that. I’m sure if he really wants his papers he’ll knock, why go back out in the heat?”

  Clair turned and her smile broadened into an even larger grin. This was an opportunity for great things, and not one she planned to miss. “Come along now, out the door we go. You’re a big strong woman yes? Shouldn’t a superior nobleman be able to take the heat better than a scrawny little peasant girl like me?”

  Louresa groaned but followed her friend through the door, shielding her eyes from the sun with a hand over her eyes.

  Both women waited below the sun and looked out for their new companion. Neither were willing to be the first to abandon their post and face ridicule from the other. Clair, however, stood stronger and sharper minded than her companion even as Louresa’s thoughts became addled in the heat.

  Louresa noticed a trail of ants and crouched down to better see them, observing their march from the close by anthill to a grasshopper that’d been caught by the swarm. The ants eventually shied away from their single-minded duties and retreated to their fortress, taking what spoils they could and abandoning the rest to rot. The rising sun won even against their clockwork behavior and forced them into a rout. One and, left behind by the others, struggled to pull a morsel. Another ant turned from the receding group, perhaps realizing they’d left a member behind, and dropped its own prize to help its ally, settling in beside its brethren and tugging.

  Louresa blinked hard. She turned her head to her own friend, eyebrows slightly pulled together. “Do you think it feels good to be missed?”

  Clair regarded her friend quizzically. She thought for a moment. “…suppose it does. Do you think it hurts to be forgotten?”

  Louresa stared at the ground. “Suppose it does.” Clair looked up at the white blobs in the sky, drifting and disappearing beyond her sight at the skyline.

  “We’re all ephemeral, aren’t we? It’s not like any of us will be remembered come next generation. If I were to be a cloud…” She tilted her head slightly, finger pressed into her chin as she thought. “I think I’d not mind that fact at all. Connected to nobody and nothing, so close to all my peers but still drifting all alone. I think I’d get used to it, maybe, and it wouldn’t hurt so bad.”

  Louresa hugged her knees to her chest, still staring at the ants working below. “I see.”

  They stayed silent for a time. A shadow as mercifully cast on them, bringing with it a brief period of relief before sliding away from the pair and over nearby houses. It was quiet, save for the breathing of the pair and rustling of leaves against the stone pathways.

  “It’s a kitty. An ugly kitty.” Clair stated simply. Louresa raised her eyebrow and looked in the direction her friend stared. Her heat exhaustion was replaced by sheer curiosity; indeed it was a cat, though not like any she’d seen before. It had no fur and stood on two legs, taller than a child but slightly smaller than most human woman might. The eyes that stared back at them were huge on its face and doe like in their seeming innocence, its tail was much thicker and longer than the tail of a cat’s might normally be even at its size. The women continued to stare at the alien creature before them, unsure of what to make of it. The thing stared back.

  Louresa broke the quiet. “Hello. Are you lost? We can help you if you are.” She made a pspsps sound with her mouth in an attempt to attract the oddity before them, rubbing her fingers together. It shook its head and walked into the cabin, leaving Clair and Louresa outside to discuss what they discovered.

  Louresa softly voiced her concern to her friend. “That’s not a cat.” She reached up to her head and rubbed her eyes in an attempt to remove whatever caused her to hallucinate.

  “Louresa,” Clair said with wide eyes, “I think you just offended it.”

  “It’s not real in the first place Clair, just a figment of our imaginations. Must be the damned heat messing with our heads. We need to go find some shade and rest for a bit.”

  “We can’t do that yet. If we don’t make sure it’s real I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight. Take the cup, you’ll need it.” Clair handed over the tankard to Louresa, who opened the container and poured the rest of its contents onto her own head. The cool water soaked into her hair and provided a flood of relief from the oppressive daylight.

  “So, the plan is just to wait for it to come out then?” Louresa stared at Clair with resignation in her eyes. She knew well that her friend’s natural curiosity would not allow either of them to quit without answers.

  “I suppose it is, Louresa. We can’t just corner the poor thing inside the cabin, it’d be rude.”