Jenn didn't see the harm in letting the others sleep in, as it wasn't like they needed to do anything specific and she figured they probably were rather tired themselves. Besides, it wasn't like none of them knew the risks of not having someone stand watch in addition to the fact that without Shirley and Rick among them, they didn't have anyone who wasn't a Silverthorn sleeping down here.
What did occupy Jenn's thoughts were the responses she got when trying to wake up Saelea and Jeliup. How both of them were pretty much in another place when they were waking up. It made Jenn homesick. While she figured she might get this way at some point, she couldn't help but think about home and her family. Even the parts of her family that she didn't like. Such as her sister's best friend, her parents insistence on celebrating her birthday, her issues with picture day at school, and homework.
Right now she wouldn't mind experiencing some of the troubles that came with those, even though she doubted that if it actually happened, that she'd be as eager to 'enjoy' the 'experience' like she did right now. It brought a smile to her face and somehow was relaxing. She wasn't sure what it was about thinking about that that made her relax, just that when Saelea startled her by sitting next to her, Jenn could feel that her body wasn't as tense as it had been before.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I thought you were aware of me as I came downstairs. You were looking in that direction," Saelea said, sounding rather hesitant to speak, making Jenn wonder just how much of the accident when Jenn was waking Saelea up was still on her mind.
"It's okay. I was just lost in thought," Jenn answered. Jenn opened her mouth to ask Saelea how she liked taking some time off from being Jenn's stand-in but closed it because she couldn't say who else might be able to hear her. As she couldn't help but worry about her identity of being the Blue Rose getting out by a careless remark like she had been able to make.
"I didn't see Jeliup here, did she go get you something to eat?"
Jenn nodded. "Yeah, I sent her to get something for the both of you to eat so you can leave and get what the duchess wants from you over as quickly as possible. That way we don't have to worry about the duchess getting unhappy and making our stay here more unpleasant or having her decide that she wants the slaves that escaped returned to her."
"I never thought I'd be able to be free again when I'd been captured by bandits and the rest of my family killed," Saelea whispered, her tone shaky and uncertain. "Even if I have to die myself, I'm not going to be made a slave again. Not even for you."
Jenn patted Saelea's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'd never ask you to do that, or even pretend to be one. I'm not sure how I feel about it all myself, but when I was one, I could see things about it that I hadn't been able to before. Where I'm from, slavery isn't allowed anymore and I guess I never really thought about much it until I came to this world."
"What would you do if the duchess wanted to make us slaves again?" Saelea asked, sounding almost like a lost little girl.
Jenn couldn't help but glance at Saelea. She wasn't sure how she should respond to that question, as she couldn't say that she knew exactly what she'd do herself. As there were many things that she could do but at the same time she wasn't sure what the best one was. Besides, if the duchess did want to make them slaves again, then she would be making herself their enemy and Jenn couldn't say that she'd ever really had an enemy before that she had to deal with herself.
"I guess I'd treat her like any enemy," Jenn said, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to explain exactly what she meant by that. Especially since she merely blurted the words out and was still trying to figure out what she would actually do if the duchess made herself her enemy.
"I see," Saelea answered, breathing a sigh that Jenn supposed was a sigh of relief. "It's good to hear that you'd do that."
Jenn wished that she understood what Saelea was thinking. Which was another time that she had to resist the temptation from peeking inside another's mind. Since she knew that once she gave into the temptation to do that once, that it would be easier to do that again, no matter how many times she resisted it after that one time.
Jenn wasn't sure if Saelea was starting to get uncomfortable with the quiet between them, but she knew she certainly was after that last question she'd been asked, but she was saved from having to deal with it much when Jeliup came, bringing a bowl of what looked like a porridge for each of them, carefully balanced between her body and her left arm.
"That's what they had ready at this time," Jeliup said as she set the bowls on the table, one at a time. "Though I was told that if we waited, they'd have some sausage to go with it."
"Ugh, I hate sausage," Saelea muttered, her expression turning almost poisonous as she looked at her porridge.
"Well, then it's a good thing you won't be here for it to be ready, right?" Jenn asked cheerfully. She wasn't sure why she was so cheerful right then, just that she couldn't help but feel relieved that she wasn't alone with Saelea right then.
She wasn't sure if any uncomfortable subjects would be brought up, but at the same time she worried that something would come up that Jenn would prefer to deal with later, if possible. Though, having another person present would at least help keep things from coming up that she'd rather not deal with right then, if at all.
"I guess," Saelea muttered as she started eating her porridge, as if the porridge itself was something she didn't like.
"Do you not like porridge, either?" Jenn couldn't help but ask as she started eating her own.
"I like it," Jeliup remarked, seemingly oblivious about Saelea's attitude about the porridge.
"It's not that I don't like it, I just can't help but think about the sausage."
Jenn nodded. She could understand that. Just because it wasn't something that you had in front of you didn't mean that you couldn't smell or taste it anyway.
"Oh, I just remembered, they said that they had berries for the porridge, but that it would cost more if we wanted them. I said no, but I can go back if you'd like some."
Jenn glanced at Saelea. If Saelea wanted some, then she'd be willing to accept the additional expense, but if not, then she was fine with the bland flavor as it was. She'd gotten used to things like this with her time here in this world. Even though she knew that she'd be going back to flavored foods when she got home, she was willing to deal with flavorless foods like this porridge while she was here.
Besides, she had a feeling it wouldn't be long before she'd be able to bring some modern conveniences to this world, even if it was through the duchess. After all, she knew what to ask for where the duchess didn't. All she needed was to bring enough, or at least get this world a taste for it, and they'd likely be eager for more. Something that she hoped would happen sooner than it probably would.
"I'll be fine without it," Saelea said after a couple minutes, sighing. Jenn suspected that she'd like some berries as well but was probably thinking about the expenses as well. Which Jenn could hardly blame her for, since she was thinking about the same thing as well.
About the time they were finishing up their porridge, Jenn could hear at least some of the Silverthorns who were still sleeping nearby starting to stir. As well as some of the other guests at the inn. "Looks like it's time to go," Saelea remarked as she finished scraping her bowl of porridge for as much as she could get. "Though, I'd rather put this off for a while longer."
Jenn nodded sympathetically. She fully understood Saelea's sentiment there. She herself didn't care to deal with the duchess any more than she had to. Partly because the duchess was such a force of nature herself and partly because Jenn was quite confident she'd screw things up if she bothered the duchess too much, which was exactly what she considered dealing with the duchess. Even though she didn't have any evidence to support such a theory on.
"Well, better get going then," Saelea said, sounding like she was talking more to herself than anyone else.
"Do what you can to enjoy yourself afterwards," Jenn said a moment before she heard rain starting to fall outside.
Saelea groaned, her annoyance clear. "Guess this is going to be a rainy day."
"Maybe they'll let us stay in the castle until it clears," Jeliup remarked, though Jenn had her doubts on that front. Although, if Saelea took long enough giving them the names that the duchess wanted, then they could outlast the rain.
Assuming it didn't end on its own long before then. Jenn realized that not having a weather report to watch or listen on any news channel certainly had its drawbacks. Not that she'd be able to do anything about that even if she got in contact with Heathcliff, since she'd need more than just someone who understands the weather, which she thought might be called meteorologists, because there certainly weren't any satellites on this world that they'd be able to connect to in order to get the information they'd need to know what weather patterns are approaching at the very least.
Jenn didn't say anything after the rain started, she just watched Saelea and Jeliup leave, Saelea clearly looking unhappy with the rain. Not that Jenn could blame her. After all, she'd need to go out in the rain herself, otherwise she'd miss the chance to find a smith without Saelea being aware she left the others at some point. Which she hoped to avoid as much as possible.
"You're up early," Yaelish remarked, sitting next to Jenn as Jenn scraped the bottom of her bowl for as much porridge as she could.
While it was more to have something to do to occupy her thoughts, Jenn didn't see the harm in getting just a little more of that porridge, which was better than she had expected, at least with the bland taste.
"I just woke up in time to make sure Saelea went to meet with the duchess," Jenn remarked as if it wasn't of any consequence. "I noticed that there wasn't anyone keeping watch when I came down."
"Yeah, I think I forgot to assign someone, but all of us were rather tired and not getting something to eat didn't help matters any."
Jenn shook her head in amusement. She knew that Yaelish was aware that statement was merely an excuse. That they'd had watches before when they were running low on food and needed to travel into the night a little to reach their destination quickly so they could get something to eat without having to stretch their supplies. Not that she planned on saying anything about it. After all, it wasn't like it was a serious offense in her opinion. Not when they were at an inn that was supposed to be safe anyway.
"Yet, if you had, then you could have had whoever would have been on watch wake Saelea up just in case no one woke up early enough. After all, the duchess wouldn't care why she wasn't at the castle promptly this morning, just that she wasn't there when the duchess would have liked."
Jenn could feel Yaelish staring at her, which for some reason, brought a smile to Jenn's face. She wasn't sure if Yaelish was uneasy or amused at what Jenn had said, just that she'd clearly caught Yaelish off guard.
"So, are you upset about that or not?" Yealish asked after a few minutes of silence.
Jenn looked at Yaelish, wondering why she thought that Jenn might be upset, but stopped when she saw how uneasy Yaelish was. She wasn't sure why, but it almost looked like Yaelish was afraid that Jenn would lash out at her over that simple point.
"Relax, I'm not upset. I was just mentioning why having had someone keep watch last night would have been beneficial. Besides, it' s not like we planned on going anywhere, so they'd have been able to sleep in as late as they'd have wanted. Though, the only two who wouldn't have the luxury were Saelea and Jeliup. Both of whom seemed a little resistant to getting woken up."
Why the accident with Saelea suddenly popped in Jenn's mind wasn't something that she could explain. All she knew was that Yaelish suddenly started chuckling as Jenn felt her face heat up.
"What happened when you tried to wake Saelea and Jeliup up? You're as red as a raspberry."
"I'd rather not talk about it," Jenn replied, really not wanting to discuss the matter. Not with what she recalled.
Although, she wondered if maybe she should do a dream conference with Alex just so she could spend time with her girlfriend, without Alex knowing that Jenn was away. After all, she was confident that she'd be able to return after she finished here, so it's not like she'd be stirrup up waters and create trouble for those she cared about back on Earth.
However, that would be something she'd need to take care of another time. As not only wasn't she tired herself right then, but she had other tasks to take care of.
"Anyway, I'll be going out soon," Jenn told Yaelish calmly, wondering if she'd need to have someone tag along with her or if Yaelish would trust her to remain safe while she was taking care of the task of getting her stand-ins a souvenir from this city.
"I'll join you," Yaelish replied casually, as if she was coming for reasons other than the reasons Jenn was certain she had. After all, Yaelish had one of her Silverthorns watching Jenn while she slept in Maelias' smithy back when they were helping others find a way to get clear of their debts.
"Well, I was thinking of going by myself, but some company would be nice," Jenn replied, not seeing a reason to try and insist on going by herself. Especially since she doubted that it would happen. That if she pressed the matter, that Yaelish would either go herself or send someone to follow Jenn. Something Jenn had serious doubts about how subtle they'd be. As she didn't think that they were very well acquainted with the idea of the concept of subtly.
Let's wait until the others wake up. We wouldn't want them to start whispering about why we were gone as well," Yealish teased.
Jenn wished she hadn't because with what had happened with Saelea earlier, she couldn't help but imagine Yaelish in Saelea's place suddenly. Something that she wished she could push out of her mind as easily. Though, it helped that Jenn knew Yaelish had someone else in mind for romance, but that person wasn't here and she knew some of her people liked having affairs when whoever they were with or married to weren't there. Something they didn't even try to hide afterwards, which their significant other didn't seem to have any complaints about.
Which felt like it was another cultural difference that Jenn doubted she'd ever understand. Especially since she knew that Alex would want Jenn to be faithful to her, no matter how long they were apart. Regardless of how lonely Jenn got, even though Jenn knew that she still wouldn't have let Alex do much more with her than Jenn had allowed her in the past.
"Maybe we should get them up?" Jenn suggested when the other Silverthorns didn't show any signs of actually getting up, despite the fact that they were awake already.
"Well, if you want. Though, since they are up, you could just let them know that you're leaving. I'll just miss breakfast so I can accompany you, since none of them are ready to go. Which then should be enough to keep them from getting this lazy in the future. As I'm sure they'd volunteer to join you if they were ready themselves."
Jenn wasn't sure exactly Yealish was going on about, but she didn't feel like it would be good for her to ask for another explanation. Especially since she doubted that she'd be able to understand that one, either.
"Whatever," Jenn sighed, not wanting to figure out a plan that she could understand right then. Or at least the reasons behind it. After all, the rain didn't seem like it was letting up nor was she getting closer to finding a smith to either purchase daggers from or commission them to be made.
While it wasn't what she recalled being a common souvenir, she supposed that her stand-ins would be happy with that in this case. Especially since she had a feeling they'd like to be able to defend themselves more than they currently were able to. Then there was the matter with her advisors, which she figured would be happy with the idea of arming her stand-ins, since that would help add to their protection as well.
After all, Jenn knew that she hadn't been doing well teaching them how to use their magic, but that was more because she was so busy with other things, such as this visit to the duchess, when it hadn't been something that she had planned on happening at this point. Not that it really mattered anyway.
"Let's go then."