Rannie got up from the bed, having passed yet another night without sleep. Not wishing to disturb Wil and Tallawyn and started to get dressed. It wasn’t her typical garb but then that was the point. She was to look like a trader from the south not a Bree land Rat. She had to dig up the last reserves of her coin as her time as guardian for the Shadow Blades to buy the clothing. Rannie tied her hair up and placed the hat on her head.
For the first time since she left the Pony after her talk with Seaver, Rannie felt a flicker of emotion pass her deadened state of existence as a small smile managed to break across her grim face as thought of Sefa and her passion for hats. What would the eccentric friend of Seaver’s think of hers? It wasn’t as extravagant as Sefa’s but she hoped the lass would approve. She looked at herself in the mirror and was satisfied that she was nearly unrecognizable as she was.
Turning from the mirror and with quiet haste, she double checked to make sure she had everything. Rannie knew she had agreed not to do this job but what else was she did she have to do? Rannie told him she would stay away and even though Wil had been nothing but supporting, watching Tallawyn and him was like salt in the wound. She had taken precaution to keep her plans known only to herself and that of the Order.
None would ever understand why she felt the need to do this. They would simply think that she was acting on her broken heart and maybe they were right but it also served a purpose. She would do some good, give him the space she may have not been able to give him staying in Bree and help her keep her mind off Seaver. With resolve in her actions she lit a candle and sat down at the small table to write her friend a letter. She didn’t want Wil to worry or think she had just abandoned him and the work like so many others had done.
Rannie rubbed her hand once she was finished, the cut in her hand always hurt after writing but she had one more letter to write this time to Seaver. She had asked him to tell her of his decision and if he should reach it before she returned, she wanted him to know that she may not be in Bree. She left the note in the kitchen then donned her dagger and the sword Flynagin had given her from the tomb in Trollshaws.
She left the farm house and into the early morning. It was still dark but the cool fresh air felt good against her skin. “Well here we go aye” she said walking down the steps and the stables where she had secreted away the horse she had rented earlier. She patted the horse’s neck before packing him down with her pack. Silently she mounted up and started towards Bree but avoided entering into the town to avoid becoming a part of the rumor mill that Bree was.
Essentially she wanted to all affects and purposes to disappear. This way Seaver could better tell if she important to him or not. Instead she passed along the west side of the hedge wall and joined the path heading north towards Trestlebridge. Taking out her black rabbit’s foot, she rubbed it absent mindly as she walked, letting her mind wander as she rode down the path but making sure to stick to the road and not to wander.
To her surprise she reached Trestlebridge earlier than she thought. As soon as entered the town she stiffened her back and lifted her chin. She forced a beaming grin at the stable hand. “Good day boy” she called down to him in her best Gondorian accent then elegantly dismounted the horse. She flipped him a coin. “Take good care of my horse and there will be more where that came from” she told him, walking off before he got a chance to reply.
Keeping her chin lifted she walked through the town with a confident stride till she found the local merchant. Taking a page out of long winded Lord Gerwolf’s book, she chatted with the man excessively, giving the name Nethedol as her own and making sure he knew that she was but a merchant looking for possible trade in the north that wasn’t restricted to just Bree Land.
It was the perfect excuse to quiz the man about the lands without looking suspicious. Rannie put in an order for more provisions and asked where she might find a place to stay. “Then inn’s been burned down Miss but lots of folk are rentin out rooms. That’s all you’ll find here Miss,” he told her. Rannie gave him a rather put out look.
“Very well but make sure those supplies are ready by early tomorrow morning! I will wish to depart as soon as day breaks,” she told him firmly with a stern tone. He bowed his head quickly and repeatedly that all will be to her command. She almost wanted to burst out laughing if wasn’t so sad. She liked being a rat, everyone told you what they thought since they didn’t want to impress you. With that she walked off to find herself a place to stay.
