Chapter 78 - Situation

Gary is woken up by Siv's shriek. In a blink of an eye, he is standing with his dagger drawn, adrenaline pumping through his body. He is ready to kill. He looks over to Siv to find her standing on the bed, flat against the wall and ready to cry.

"What happened?"

"There is… there is a spider on the bed." She stutters. Gary blinks at her a few times.

"What?"

"Can you just kill it." She yelps again when the spider moves toward her. "Oh my God, get it away from me." Gary bursts out laughing.

"It is not funny."

"I think it is, the spider is probably more scared of you than you are of it." He puts his dagger away.

"I doubt that."

"Miss Gene, have you forgotten that you knocked out a royal guard earlier, with your fist?"

"This is-" She screams again. "Can you not lecture me right now?" She finally looks away from the spider and sees that Gary's shoulders are shaking in amusement. "Are you enjoying this?"

"You have to admit that it is funny."

"No, it's not… ugh… please…" She pleads.

"Alright, alright." Gary walks to the bed and picks up the tiny spider.

"Oh my God." A shiver runs through Siv's body at the sight of him holding it.

"There." He opens the window and sets the spider free.

"Thank you." Siv breathes and gets down from the bed. Gary looks at her and shakes his head slightly.

'Damn it, he is totally judging me.'

"You might as well take the bed." She sighs. "I won't be able to sleep in this room."

"It is not that serious, Miss Gene." Siv stares at him for a moment before walking to the chair.

"It would be a waste if neither of us used the bed."

"What if I stood guard to make sure no spiders got close to you?" He can't even keep a straight face as a smile is desperately pulling on his lips.

"With that look on your face, I have a feeling you would be the one putting bugs in my hair or something. Just go to sleep, Mister Gary." Siv sits down on the uncomfortable wooden chair.

"You should really get some sleep, though."

"Maybe tomorrow."

Gary stares at her back for a moment before heading to bed and lying down. He falls asleep in a matter of seconds.

'I do have to sleep at some point… Stupid spider.'

Siv yawns a few times, but unfortunately she can't fall asleep. She adjusts her position a few times.

'How could he fall asleep in this unpleasant chair? My butt hurts already.'

She looks at Gary, then back out of the window at the autumn sky. She thinks about Colby and the state he was in when he projected himself to warn her.

'I should have been more careful.'

Siv clenches her fists when she thinks of Veda and how she trusted her blindly. Her nails dig into her palms but she doesn't mind the pain. Betrayal is more painful. Seeing her standing in that garden and reporting to Saga broke her heart.

'If Saga is behind changing me back to my body, then she knows about my secret, and that is not good at all.'

Siv sighs. She watches as the light clouds pass by for hours until the sun starts to rise in the horizon. As soon as the first rays of sun reach the room, Gary wakes up.

"Good morning."

"Oh, you're awake already?" Siv turns to face him.

"Did you get any sleep?" Siv shakes her head.

"I couldn't."

Gary studies her for a moment, she looks exhausted. He makes a mental note to get a better room next time, or at least a cleaner one. He walks to the table by the door and pours some water in the basin to wash his face.

"Would you like to freshen up before we leave?"

"Yes, please."

Gary leaves the room first to give Siv some privacy. She joins him at the inn's lobby when she is ready.

"Shall we?" Gary asks.

She follows him to the stables attached to the inn. Asger is already waiting for them.

"Good morning." He greets both of them.

"Good morning, Asger." Siv greets back.

"Good morning. Are the horses ready?"

"Yes, sir." Asger looks at Siv for a moment.

"Did you have enough rest?" He looks back at Gary.

'Oh crap, I probably have dark circles from my lack of sleep.'

"We had a... situation." Gary teases, remembering Siv's ridiculous fear. Her glaring does not wipe the grin off his face, though. The boy's eyes widen and his face tints crimson.

'What is this boy thinking? He totally misunderstood Gary's words.'

"Let us be on our way, we have no time to waste." Gary orders.

"Yes, sir." Asger clears his throat and disappears into the stables. He comes back a minute later, pulling two horses behind him.

"Hello beautiful." Gary caresses the white mare's face. She immediately neighs. "I have missed you too, my dear Val." Gary smiles, putting his head against hers.

"This is Tuuli." Asger announces as he hands Siv the reins of the second horse. She carefully caresses his face.

"Don't worry, he is a very gentle animal." Gary says while caressing Val's neck.

'Yeah, Betson was supposed to be gentle too.'

"Would you like me to help you mount it?"

"No." Siv almost shouts, taking Gary by surprise. "Sorry." Siv blushes. "I meant, I can do it, thank you."

'Like hell I'm going to let him help me up, even if I have to die trying to mount this horse.'

Gary doesn't understand why she refused his help. He can tell she is not used to riding, and thus mounting. Asger appears from the stables, riding a third horse. Siv looks at him and gulps.

'Come on, I can do this.'

"Please be gentle to me, Tuuli." She whispers in the horse's ear. She grabs the reins and saddle, then lifts her left foot into the stirrup.

'Holy… why are all the horses in this world gigantic?'

She pushes up, praying that she doesn't embarrass herself. It only takes her three tries to succeed. She saddles the grayish horse with a grin.

"Shall we?" She asks. Gary just shakes his head.

'Maybe all the women from Lohja are this strange?'