Chapter 12: Departure
The sun was not fully up yet.
It wouldn’t be for a while. The days had been getting shorter as autumn settled into the Gannon region, and the sky at this hour was still dark with a blue color, as if it hadn’t committed to becoming morning.
Despite that, the mansion was already moving.
Maids worked through the corridors - dusting, straightening, replacing spent candles and torches with fresh ones. The smell of bread came faintly from the kitchen wing. Through the window at the end of the corridor, Jin could see the training ground below.
The knights had already started their morning session. The sound of wooden practice swords carried up in the cold air, punctuated by the occasional bark of an instructor’s correction.
The Gannon household seemed to be running the same way regardless of what was happening to any individual member of it.
Jin adjusted his grey coat, thinking about the last hour he had spent rediscovering the medieval approach to personal hygiene, which the novel had never once mentioned and which he now understood was a significant omission.
There was no running water.
There was a basin, a pitcher, and a cloth. The water in the pitcher was cold because nobody had thought to heat it at the sixth bell, and he hadn’t thought to ask. He somehow felt that might have been intentional.
He ignored it for now and washed his face and hands, and did what could be done with his hair using a wooden comb, and the result was not impressive, to be honest.
There was also the matter of the chamber pot, which he decided never to think about again.
He had changed into the riding clothes Gus had prepared. Thick trousers, a linen shirt, a wool layer over it, and the grey coat on top of everything. He had stood in front of the mirror afterward and looked at himself for a moment,
Encrid’s face was less disheveled than the night before, and the headache was also gone. But still, it was not a face that would give any favourable impression.
’This is going to take some getting used to,’ he had thought, coming downstairs.
Corvan was waiting in the entrance hall.
Jin saw him before he saw everything else - the head steward standing at the center of the hall with his hands folded, his jacket pressed, and his shoes polished neatly. There was no evidence whatsoever of a sleepless night spent arranging provisions, weapons, horses, and money for a departure that had been decided last night.
Then, Jin saw the rest of them.
Four knights stood in a line beside the door, donned in full armor, each of them had an engraving of the white griffin on their breastplates and gauntlets.
Two soldiers held the horses beyond the open door. The grey and the brown, saddled and loaded, steam rising from their breath in the cold morning air. The brown was packed with provisions. Three servants stood beside the animals, holding the weapons he had requested.
There were also four more horses, just behind.
Jin looked at all of it and then at Corvan.
"What about the money?"
Corvan produced a sealed leather wallet from inside his jacket and held it out with both hands.
"Twelve gold Solari, young master. His grace approved the advance without condition."
Jin took it and weighed it in his palm. Then he unbuttoned the coat, lifted the wool layer, and tied the wallet to the cord that was built around his waist. He buttoned everything back up and smoothed the coat down.
It was very inconvenient, but he liked it for some reason.
"Thank you," Jin said.
Corvan inclined his head. "It was my duty."
He looked at the four knights.
They stood at attention, visors up, facing forward. Young men, mostly. He could see their stiff expression and hardship while they tried hard to perform, understanding their instructions.
"Corvan, What are these for?"
"An escort, young master. To accompany you to the Wall."
Jin looked at the four knights again. Then at Corvan.
"Are you afraid I’d run off somewhere else?"
A brief silence followed between them.
One of the four knights made a sound that he converted very quickly into a cough. The other three continued facing forward, trying hard to focus and ignore whatever remarks that Jin was making.
Corvan’s expression, however, didn’t change. He was impressive indeed, as expected of the head steward of Gannons.
"The Duke felt it appropriate that a son of this house travel with a proper escort, young master," He said.
"Of course he did."
Jin walked past Corvan and out through the open doors into the cold.
He took the sword from the first servant and buckled it at his waist, adjusting the angle.
The dagger rig went across his shoulder - there were four daggers in total. Small and handy enough to use both in close combat and as throwables.
He took the crossbow last and felt its weight. It was heavier than he expected.
He slung it to the horse’s side.
With all that, he was aware of how he looked. Encrid’s body was broad and solid and had a build that came from twenty-three years of excellent food and minimal effort. With all the weapons and coat, he probably looked like a war elephant.
But nobody said anything.
Jin walked to the grey horse and got himself into the saddle. The horse shifted once and accepted him. He settled his weight, took the reins, and looked out at the estate.
The training ground was visible from here. The mansion rose behind the courtyard, stone and banners, the White Griffin watching from every crest. He had been inside this building for less than a full day.
But it already felt like longer.
The four soldiers had mounted up behind him, arranging themselves into a loose formation. It was likely that they had done escort duty before. Their armor caught the pale morning light, and the White Griffin on their breastplates gleamed.
Jin looked at the road ahead.
Behind him, he heard movement -the brown horse was shifting, and a strap being checked. It was the small sounds of someone settling into a saddle.
He turned.
Gus had pulled himself up onto the brown horse and was seated as if he had been riding since he was born. He reached forward and checked one of the pack straps, found it satisfactory, and straightened.
He looked up and found Encrid watching him.
"What are you doing?" Jin said.
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