#harold woolf

“You’ve met before?” asked the female knight to Sequin’s right.

Sequin nods. “Ouais, she’s the one who…” they trail off.

“Fell on her face? There, I completed it for you,” the female knight said derisively. She had greasy ink-black hair that was tied in a bun and a sharp jaw.

Sequin chuckled sheepishly, bringing their hands down.

“No, she’s right,” Jo admits, scratching her nape. “I didn’t really do much else, did I?”

“Well then, join us Brenna! There’s always room for more.”

The knight who spoke in question was taller than the rest of the knights, with locks of rust falling to his shoulders, and a beard the same shade.

Jo opens her mouth, then closes it. She realized how cold and wet she felt, and now that the adrenaline’s gone, she did feel a bit weak in the knees. “Crap, when was the last time I’ve done something like this? Or met nice people who aren’t family?”

“Oi, Brenna!” the blackhead called, her mouth in a straight line. “Yes or no?”

“I guess I can’t then.” Jo steps closer to the table. “Sure, merci.”

Sequin gestures to the empty seat to their left. ‘Brenna’ makes her way to the chair and seats herself quietly, staring at the oak table.

She lifts her head. “What’re your names, then?”

“Good question,” answered the bearded knight. “I’m Monsieur Jakob Aurand, one of the first knights who joined L'Ordre du Soleil.”

He then turned to his right and gently patted the back of what Jo thought was an empty cloak.

The cloak groggily mumbled. “I’m not taking night watch, Sarge…”

Jakob chuckled, lifting the cloak’s hood and revealing a messy mop of chestnut hair. “Think again, endormi. And didn’t I tell you to stop reading till the middle of night?”

“Uhh.. Jak?”

“There it is. Get up now, we’re introducing ourselves to a lovely lady.”

“Lady? I- How though?! I’m covered in muck!” Jo wondered; her thoughts imminently scrawled across her face.

“O-kay fiiine..” the hair groaned, craning up to reveal a knight with sunken eyes.

“Oh jeez, he’s worse than me,” Jo thought, looking at the man rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

He took notice at the new arrival, and waved.

“William Schuyler, good evening ma’am.”

Jo nodded. “Brenna Cadieux. Good evening.”

William rested his elbows on the table, cupping his chin. Sequin, on the other hand, nudged the woman with his elbow. A silent “your turn”.

She cleared her throat. “My name is Dame Kyda Sellanddatter.”

“Good, that should be everyone present,” Sequin completes. “Other than us, there’s Paul Cartier, Claudio D’Angelo, Felix Dupont and Bernadette La Beau. Yeah, no one else.”

Jo furrowed her brow. Four plus four would be eight.. so only two out of eight of then are women? That’s like most government positions. Well.

“So, the seven of you make up the Order?” Jo asks curiously, leaning toward the fire to warm herself.

“Ouais. I’ll tell you about those three later, I suppose; but to start-”

—————————————————————————

The storm had been reduced to steady rain pattering down on the roof and the occasional howling of the wind.

Jo found that Sequin was amazing at keeping the conversation going in an interesting way. Without pointing out some flaw with her and- irrelevant. Apparently, ‘they’ was the right pronoun for them as they considered themselves as genderless. Just human.

They were new, and had yet to learn what they were best at. William felt a similar way albeit having been in the Order for a year or so, dubbing himself as a ‘jack-of-all-trades’. Jakob, on the other hand, was an excellent swordsman, and has apparently been in the army for around thirty years. Whew!                                                        

Kyda was an expert archer, and Sequin jested Jo to ‘watch out’, because of her terrifyingly accurate aim.

Sequin then carried on about their tales of chivalry which isn’t holding a door open for a lady, which Jo was well aware of. During her research, it came that chivalry in the Middle Ages was more of a social, ethical and moral code. Yes, being a gentleman was probably part of it, but not the point of it.

William rapped on the table.

“Yeah?” Jo asked, her attention shifted.

“Aren’t you hungry, Brenna? You’ve been here, what, an hour or so by now; and that’s as long as I was awake.”

Jo nodded, pondering the thought. She could manage a bit, right? She wasn’t really feeling hungry or anything. Maybe worked up an appetite, but in her current penniless state would have to give it a second thought.

Kyda, however, seemed to think otherwise. “I agree; you do seem a bit… dull.”

Jo blinked. Was it from the thing at that plaza or something? She did feel tired. Was it that noticeable?

She vaguely hinted, waving her hand dismissively. “Oh no, it’s not that, no. Though I’d love some fried chicken. I guess my welcome to Equinox got me a bit… well.. overwhelmed.”

Sequin’s cheery disposition slightly faded.

“I forgot to ask, are you alright now? You seemed…”

“Out of it?”

They cocked their head. “Terrified. You were heaving.”

That seemed to get the attention of the other three. Jo sighed, resting her right arm on the table. Could she be honest? But she just met them! She couldn’t let her guard down.

“Oh, I was sprinting,” she lied evasively. “But then I tripped and fell. Thanks for the help.”

Sequin glanced at their feet. “If that’s what you say.”

A bout of silence rang through them for a few seconds, as if no one believed a thing. Jo looked to the side, checking if anyone else was staring at her. Which they weren’t.

“You want anything to drink?” Sequin resumed the conversation. Streaks of their platinum-blond hair was lit up by the warm glow from the fireplace adjacent to them.

“Hm?”

“You said something about fried chicken. Want any drinks with that?”

Jo replies, putting aside what was asked earlier. “Well, I guess warm water would be nice. But I don’t have any money on me.”

“What do you mean?” Kyda inquired.

“It was stolen off me by that bastard, that’s what I mean,” she answered without thinking. Catching herself, she falters.

“Ah, I- sorry.”

“Not an issue,” Sequin chimed in. “The money, I mean. I feel like I could have done something else to help. Consider this a favor.”

They were feeling guilty? Jo got surprised at the thought. That wasn’t what she was- never mind. Never mind. Free food does sound good.

Jo grins. “Sure then. Merci.”

“Certainly welcome, Brenna. I’ll go order.”

Sequin rose from the table, walking up to the counter. They were around the same height as Jo, she noted.

“I- I’ll go with him, just in case.”

And with that Jo stood up and followed them yet again, tying her hands behind her back out of habit.

“Lucky,” Jakob jested, swirling around the beer in his tankard.

—————————————————————————

Sequin approached the barkeeper casually. They waved. “Hey Jonas!”

The barkeeper met their gaze, wiping up a spill on their counter with a cloth. He was a tall, lean man with sideburns.

“Quin, na, what would you like?” the barkeeper asked with a thick accent.

He peered behind them, noticing Jo.

“And hallo there! You must be das Mädel who kicked open the door.”

Jo stammers. “I- sorry what?”

“He’s German,” Sequin explained. “Mädel means ‘girl’.”

Jo gave a quick nod in understanding.

“She’d like the poulet frit, and some warm water.”

“Anything else?”

Sequin turned to Jo. She first shook her head before realizing she definitely needed a spawn point and somewhere to rest. She then answers quietly.

“I do need a room for around a week at least.”

“Oh, then you’ll need the innkeeper,” Jonas said.

“Harold!”

At that, a burly man walks to the counter with sideburns similar to the barkeeper.

“This is Harold Woolf,” the barkeeper introduced to Jo, “the innkeeper. Also happens to be my bruder.”

Jo swallows, keeping a deadpan face. “B- bonsoir.”

Harold responds in a gravelly voice. “Bonsoir.”

“The girl needs a room, Oldie,” Jonas explained nonchalantly.

“I’ll take care of it. You go and work.”

And like that, Jonas went back to attending the next customer. Harold opened a drawer, pulling out an old leather-bound book and a ridiculously tiny pair of glasses.

He lays it on the table, picking up the pen that was already lodged in between the pages. “What name should I put her under?”

“Brenna Cadieux,” Jo replies, her hands behind her back again.

Jotting it down, he pauses, before continuing.

“You have Room 12, in the middle of the hallway upstairs.”

Jo held in a chuckle. Sure, liking the number 13 was something an edgy kid would do, and you can’t forget all the ravens. Yet somehow she always seemed to notice.

Harold took no notice of her, however. He went on.

“A day would cost you 15 grains. Every extra day cost 5 more.” He looks up, waiting for an answer.

“I- I’m.. well..”

Great going, Jo. Go ahead, go ahead, you’re doing absolutely splendid. And yeah, look him right in the eye!

“She’ll pay later; she got robbed earlier.”

“Alright.”

“That simple?” Jo wondered.

She felt an hand on her back and quickly glanced at it. It was Sequin’s, the same hand that helped her up.

Ugh, that’s too melodramatic dude.

“Let’s go?” they asked.

Jo almost lifted her hand to give them a thumbs-up, but knew better. “Of course.”

—————————————————————————

By now, even the wind had slowed down; the rain a mild drizzle. There was almost no one left. The fire was dying out before one of the barmaids fed it some chopped wood.

Jo was now cracking jokes every now and then, finding a flow in the conversation. And Sequin didn’t seem to mind talking about knighthood to a strange peasant girl they just met today. Nor did the others. Well, most of them. Kyda was a bit more reserved, only serving them a fair share of what she called ‘honesty’ every now and then.

When William pulled out his pocket watch, he realized that they had been chatting well past the eleventh hour. When he mentioned it to the others, it was first met with a groan.

“And there goes my sleep. Poof!” Sequin sighed.

Jakob chuckled, stretching. “Well then, we better get going Will. I’ll just pay for us first.”

“Sure thing, Jak,” William agreed, standing up along with Kyda, who was ready to leave.

Jo yawns, covering a hand over her mouth. “Yeah, I’m tired.”

“You better sleep then,” Sequin advised, smirking. “I could take you on tour once my work shift’s done.”

Jo smirks back, pushing her chair back to get up.

“Bonne nuit, Kyda!” Jakob shouts from the other side of the tavern.

“Bonne nuit, au revoir!” Kyda replies, exiting the tavern slowly.

“Good night Quin, get home soon.”

“Bien sur, Will. Bonne nuit!”

“Bonne nuit, Quin!”

Sequin waves at them before following Kyda out the door.

Jakob comes back to their table after wishing the Woolf brothers a good night, then thumps Will on the shoulder.

“Time to go, Will. Come on.”

He looked up at Jo with a tired smile.

“Bonne nuit, Brenna.”

Jo reciprocates and gives them a slight wave.

“Au revoir, Jakob; William. Bonne nuit!”

The duo leave the tavern, leaving Jo the last person in the tavern, other than Jonas. Wait, another Jo? Oh well.

Jo ambles her way to the stairs, picking up her bag. The stairs were to the right of the counter where the bartender stood, putting away all the tankards and cups.

“Bonne nuit, Woolf.”

Jonas looks up and echoes the greeting, before retiring to his room.

“I should go to my room as well,” Jo thinks.

She picks up the keys left on the counter, stepping up the wooden stairs.

—————————————————————————

A/N: And that’s a milestone. I mean, two thousand words? Pretty big for an amateur like me. Funny to think I started at what, 950-something? Here’s to hoping I keep getting better at this!

Glossary:

Ouais: ‘Yep’ in French. (Not pronounced ‘oasis’, search it up)

Merci: ‘Thank you’ in French.

L'Ordre du Soleil: ‘The Order of the Sun’ in French.

Endormi: ‘Sleepyhead’ in French. Masculine use.

Na: German slang for ‘alright’, ‘yes’ etc.

Bruder: ‘Brother’ in German.

Bonne nuit: ‘Good night’ in French.

Au revoir: ‘Goodbye’ in French.

Go ahead and read the old chapters if you’re curious.

Thank you for reading!