The tavern was finally cleaned when Lieta stepped out to head back to the Black Steel barracks. After a day of nonsense, both with Sigfread being nice and then mean, and a meal she cooked for a few of her friends, Lieta was ready to collapse in bed and sleep. No reading or studying, just sleep. It was a strange but fairly memorable birthday for the new seventeen year old.
That was, until she heard something scratching and sniffing around. She stopped at the entrance of the tavern, unsure of what the sound was. She scratched her head as the sound was still around and the noise was getting louder. She had a hand on her dagger, worried that it might be something or someone hunting them down in revenge of their fight with brigands in the North Downs.
Suddenly, a wagging tail came walking up. The black spotted hound was not what she was expecting. The beast stopped to look at her before sitting, which left Lieta confused. She never dealt with hounds much. She barely had much of anything growing up on her own. So she stared at the dog and the dog stared back. His head tilted to the side some (she guessed it was a male dog) as he let out a whine.
For a moment, Lieta wasn’t sure what more to do but she quickly ran back into the tavern to grab some of the leftover rolls she had made a few hours before. She bolted back to the door, seeing that the dog didn’t move. She held out the roll.
The dog didn’t move.
Lieta sighed before tossing it at the hound. Only then did the dog sniff at the roll and ate it in one gulp. She tried holding another out, but the dog stayed put. She held her arms out, wondering if the dog would come to her for a pat. Nothing.
“Aren’t you a pain.” She mumbled as she sat down on the grass, “Well, if you aren’t going to come, then I might as well walk home. Surely, someone else will come looking for you.”
So she got up and started heading back to the barracks. The entire trip home, she knew the thing was following because every time she looked back, the tail was wagging wildly as they went on.
“Mr. Fiontann says no visitors to the barracks. I think he means hounds too, when he says it. I can’t just let you in the front door.” The dog continued to follow, but wouldn’t let her pet him, “Fair enough. You just want food, I suppose.”
When she reached the front door, she told the dog to bugger off as she couldn’t do much more. The dog continued to watch her. With a sigh, she looked around the barracks, finding no one.
“Come on.” She said, walking to where her bedroom window was, “Here I am, worried Mr. Fiontann would be angry at me for those books and Sigfread continuing to make fun of me because of boys and I’m not sneaking one of those in the barracks. I’m sneaking a dog!”
She held her hand out, trying to get the beast to come to her. When he didn’t, Lieta walked over to grab the dog. He allowed her to pick him up and try to push him through the window.
“You are heavier than you seem.” She grunted through her teeth as she finally got the thing in her room. She gave the yard one last look before pulling herself through. The dog was already lying in her bed. She sighed again before falling into bed, “You better hope Mr. Fiontann’s ‘no visitors’ rule only applies to Men.”
She looked at the dog in her bed before looking at the ceiling. Two paws then moved as the dog laid on her chest. She muttered something about being stuck and she then knew that someone would have to come get the damned thing off of her. So she waited.
