Chapter 37 - Rescue Mission Pt. 2

Eleanor had to cover herself in Rowan's clothing in order to make the journey. Everything was way too big for her, but she had to make it work if she was going to go into Amsey and not get attacked because of who she was.

She had to tie the clothing on the insides to fit her body somewhat, and then she threw on one of his cloaks for safe measure. It would be best if she didn't stand out as a young woman either. She was sure the people in the Amsey did not know how to properly treat them.

The hardest part of her journey was figuring out how to get to Amsey. She left the house and went through the town asking and looking for people who knew how to get up there. Eleanor had never bothered to ask Rowan how he traveled and she was deeply regretting it now.

Eventually, she found someone who was willing to give her a ride up there in the back of their cart. It took every ounce of etiquette training inside her not to set up her face. The cart was not even covered, it was just a piece of enclosed board that she was expected to sit on for the entire time. And the board was not even clean. It had dirt paths and looked to have the remnants of the last things that were carried in it.

"Are you gettin' on?" the cart driver asked.

Eleanor cleared her throat. "Yes, I am."

Slowly, she climbed in and situated herself on the bottom left corner of the cart. Hopefully, it would be going fast enough that no one would be able to snatch her from the side of the road.

Another thing that Eleanor did not know, was how long it would take. It seems that she forgot that Rowan left for Amsey in the morning and came back the next day. It took four hours for her to get to Amsey. The ride was bumpy and Eleanor's hipbone was throbbing by the time she got there. The cart driver did take a break and that allowed Eleanor time to stretch and go by food in the town they stopped in, but even sitting for twenty minutes turned out to be a real pain.

Once she got to Amsey, Eleanor could barely feel her legs and she nearly fell to the ground when the first got off the cart. She paid the cart driver, telling him that she would pay him more money if he waited for her to come back.

Eleanor did not want to spend more time in Amsey than she needed to and so planned a getaway.

The first thing that she noted about the state, was that it was mostly trees. And that it smelled like animal. The cart driver stopped at the edge of one of the towns and since it was still afternoon, she felt a lot better entering. She also noticed how sad it looked. There was barely a splash of color, everything was wood brown and depressing.

The roads were not even properly paved. They were dirt, with random spurts of grass in them. There were a lot more people than she thought there would be. And a lot of them were sitting and lying down on the side of the dirt roads. Eleanor wanted to believe that they were just resting and did not sleep there, but the books she read told her something different.

And unlike in Arune, no one looked at her weirdly. Because they were all dressed like her. In black baggy clothes that looked like they were falling apart.

Eleanor had stepped into too many puddles of mud and had almost been run over by at least ten people because apparently, their lives were that busy.

The smell of the place was beginning to suffocate Eleanor when she stumbled across the Goldenshroud guild hall. It definitely did not have a huge sign out front, but the doors were open and she saw some familiar faces inside.

It looked like a big dining hall to her and looked the least bit illegal in her eyes. But that was probably how they wanted to look.

It was only when she found the guild hall that she realized how hard of a task it would be to actually talk to Rowan's friends because of how much they hated her. If they didn't believe her, then they could do something horrible to her. Eleanor could never be heard from again.

Her heart hammered as she entered the building, silently praying that she would make it out alright. With her head down, she looked around for anyone from the group that didn't insult her in the past. The hall was loud and rowdy and she was almost knocked down numerous times.

Eventually, she found one of the older members that didn't look too scary to her and approached him. He was sitting by the bar at the side of the hall, hunched over on a stool. His beard was scruffy and looked like he just rolled out of bed. He smelled like it too.

"Excuse me," Eleanor said to him softly.

The man turned to face her and only reacted when Eleanor pulled back her hood a little. He made a choking sound and then looked around quickly before scooting closer to her.

"What are you doing here?!" he demanded in a whisper as he looked around again. "Where's Rowan?"

"That's why I'm here. He's been arrested by the Prince."

The man's face dropped, it was a mix of shock and mortification. "What- what? Are you sure?"

"I was right there. He figured out that he was a part of this guild and arrested him. Calling him a mercenary for some reason. Is that true?"

He coughed and sat up. "Of course, it's not true. That's not the type of business we do here."

"I knew it." Eleanor let out a breath. "So, is there a way to help him?"

There was a way, but it involved getting more people involved. In under five minutes, she and other members of the guild had gathered in a room in the back. The gentleman, whose name was Donn, told them what was happening, but instead of the shocked and frantic reaction, she pictured, the group turned everything on Eleanor.

"Of course, he got arrested. Why would we be surprised when everything is about Eleanor Louis," one of them snapped at her.

"Huh?" Eleanor blinked dumbfounded.

"Always the damsel." Another snarled.

"What are you talking about?" Eleanor hid her shaking fists behind her back. This time she didn't have Rowan to protect her. "How could this possibly be my fault? I tried to stop him but how could I do that?"

"Getting involved with you was what brought this on. Who knew the royal family would be so persistent in trying to get to you-"

"Who knew?!" Eleanor cut her off, she was getting angry now. "Who knew?! You people really are stupid. But I guess a lack of proper education would do that to you."

The guild members all made outraged noises.

"What did you say you bitch!" The girl who seemed to love picking fights with Eleanor shouted.

"Of course, you should have known that the royal family was not going to give up. You guys don't stand a chance against them if you can't even figure out that much. You can't fight an enemy you can't see and it looks to me like you guys are miles away when it comes to that. I was curious to see how your plan would have unfolded, but now, truthfully, you don't stand a chance."