After getting dressed, she hurried downstairs and joined Remmy and John, both of whom were already seated in the dining room. Each of them was clutching a large stein filled to the brim with a murky brown liquid. They looked markedly happier than when Rialta had seen them only moments ago. Each of them had clearly bathed. Remmy, like Rialta, was wearing a long set of dark robes while John was wearing a large knitted shirt which draped over his new pair of thick, roughspun trousers. Rialta smiled and hurried to join them at their table.
“What have you got to drink there?” Rialta asked as she sat down across from them.
“Beer, I guess,” said John eyeing his stein with a skeptical frown. “But it smells like yeast.”
Rialta shrugged. “Not surprising. This place does not look like it is technologically refined enough to filter their drinks.”
Remmy took a sip from his stein. He gulped hard, then shuddered.
Rialta laughed. “Is it that bad?” she asked.
Remmy opened his mouth to respond, but he stalled for a moment as if struck by a sudden intriguing thought. “It’s actually not terrible,” he said, furrowing his brow. He went for another sip and took a moment to consider the beer. “It’s okay,” he added, nodding his head.
At this, John took a sip as well. Like Remmy, he too grimaced for a moment, then raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I see what you mean,” he said.
A middle-aged woman with long blonde hair approached their table from behind the bar counter. Her immaculate magenta dress flowed gracefully behind her.
“Good evening, miss,” she said to Rialta. “I’m Amy, and I’ll be taking care of your table. What can I get you?”
“Uh…” Rialta trailed off looking to Remmy and John questioningly. They smirked and offered no help. “Do you have a menu?” Rialta asked.
“A what?” Amy asked, arching an eyebrow.
Rialta wanted to slap herself for speaking without thinking. Laelynn was the only place she had ever been in her entire life whose population was rich and decadent enough to support restaurants that offered entire menus of options to their patrons.
“Sorry. I meant to ask what you have available for food and drink tonight,” Rialta said.
Amy nodded. “Well for beverages we have our house beer, a white wine, a red wine, clover wine, and a few different spirits if you’re lookin’ for a bit of a lark. For food, we’ve got roast pheasant, bread, onion soup, and a wild vegetable salad. You can order any combination of food you like.”
Rialta peeked into her coin purse, which was stuffed with glittering blue coins among a few purple ones.
“How much would it be for a beer and the soup?” she asked.
“Four amyth,” Amy replied.
“The little blue ones,” Remmy whispered across the table.
Rialta’s eyes widened in disbelief. “How much more would it be to add on the pheasant, bread, and salad?” she asked.
“Another seven amyth. So eleven total.”
“Let’s do that, then,” Rialta said, grinning broadly at the thought of such a filling meal.
Amy nodded and returned Rialta’s smile. “I’ll get your drink. Shouldn’t be too long on the food for you all.” With that, she turned and walked back toward the bar. When she was out of sight, Rialta turned to Remmy and John.
“Exactly how much money did they pay us for getting rid of those sheepstalkers?” she asked in a hushed tone.
“A lot, I guess,” John said, a wide smirk plastered across his face. “The blue ones are called amyth, and the purple ones are called beryth. The purple ones are worth five of the blue ones. We were just as surprised as you are when she told us the prices on everything. I thought it was going to be the equivalent of a few copper or something.”
Amy soon brought a large stein out from behind the bar and placed it down on the table in front of Rialta. Much like John and Remmy, Rialta shuddered upon taking her first sip. The beer was incredibly thick and earthy, but there was a pleasant aftertaste to it that seemed to linger long after she had taken her first sip. Only after putting the stein back down on the table did she notice John and Remmy staring at her, each of them apparently awaiting her thoughts on the beverage. The proud part of her wanted nothing more than to offer the boys her opinion about the beer—to keep the conversation light and superficial, ignoring the tension among them. But an odd feeling seized her at that moment, and she knew, unnatural and awkward though it would be, that she needed to confront the events that had taken place earlier in the day.
“John, I apologize for what I said earlier today,” Rialta said, spitting out the words before she had any opportunity to be embarrassed by her apology. “I truly regret it, and I hope you can forgive me. You were right. You’re not to blame for all of us being here. It was silly of me to call you reckless. Frankly, I probably owe you my life.”
“I’m sorry too,” John said at once, his face glowing red while he stared down at the table. “Remmy was right, as usual. I had no business calling you a coward, especially after you charged into battle without a second thought. And you tried to warn us about that mana engine and everything. You know a lot more than we do about certain types of magic, that’s for sure. We’d probably be dead already if it weren’t for you.”
For the first time since they had arrived on this strange planet, Remmy looked simply overjoyed. He raised his stein high in the air, looking at both John and Rialta with great anticipation. They each raised their steins in turn, and the beer mugs crashed together as they made a hearty toast. They brought their steins back down, and they each took a deep draught of their beers. Rialta and John grinned at each other despite themselves, all enmity forgotten in an instant. Remmy’s smile wavered, and then he broke into a fit of heaving sobs as he collapsed onto the table.
“Aw shut up, Remmy,” John said, pulling Remmy upright from the table with a single hand. Remmy remained limp, his head bowed into his chest, and he continued to sob without restraint.
Rialta gaped at Remmy, then looked up at John. “What did we do to him?” she asked.
“Nothing,” John said with a sigh. “Remmy’s just a bit—er—emotional. Always has been for as long as I’ve known him. I think he’s just happy that we’ve made up.”
Rialta laughed. “Don’t cry, Remmy! Everything is okay!”
Remmy finally sat upright, wiping his nose on his sleeves and settling into his seat.
“Right,” John said with a laugh. “Let’s have another toast, then. To us.”
They all took deep drinks from their steins before breaking into lighthearted conversation. Rialta sipped her beer to keep pace with John and Remmy as they chatted idly about their adventure thus far. Weak though the beer was, she could not help but think its influence had at least something to do with her willingness to engage in a much more relaxed, animated, and spirited conversation than she had ever had with them so far.
“So how did you two meet anyway?” Rialta asked, leaning forward on the table. “I said it before, but you two seem like an unlikely pair of friends.”
John leaned back in his seat and took a long drink from his stein before he responded. “Well me, I was orphaned at twelve. Had to make it on my own for a while, ya know? So I ended up just stealing whatever I needed to get by. And then I’d steal a bit more for good measure. Seemed the most logical course of action at the time, given I was too young to work anywhere. I operated alone for quite a while before I came across Remmy here. I guess he ran away from home as a teenager.”
Remmy nodded, setting down his drink. “I was fourteen at the time, yeah.”
“And I was fifteen at that point,” John said. “So I had a lot more street smarts than he did. And we just sort of— I dunno, joined forces. We worked together to score treasure, complete quests, and just sort of do whatever we needed to do to survive.”
“How did you end up being orphaned?” Rialta asked. But as soon as the words left her lips, she felt a burning sensation build under her collar. The que
stion was much more direct and personal than she had intended. “It’s just—you see, I was orphaned, too. When I was just six, mind you. And it obviously had quite an impact on my life. So I was just curious…”
John’s eyes flashed as he snapped his gaze to Rialta’s. Rather than looking offended, though, he simply smirked at her. “That’s a story for another time, I think,” he said with a wink. “Let’s just say I’ve got some things to attend to when we get back to Ro.”
“And so do I,” Remmy said, his voice low and quiet. He raised his stein. John joined in a silent toast with Remmy as the two shared a solemn, knowing glance.
To Rialta’s relief, Amy chose that exact moment to return to their table, breaking the building tension. She carried with her a gigantic tray loaded with four helpings of each of the inn’s offerings. John had apparently ordered two of everything.
“Enjoy!” Amy said with a smile and a bow. Rialta, Remmy, and John went silent as they snatched up their silverware and began to tear into their meals.
Rialta’s expectations for the food had been low; she’d looked forward to feeling full, but nothing more. To her great surprise, however, everything tasted delicious. It had clearly been prepared by someone whose culinary ability outclassed even her own considerable skill. The pheasant was perfectly cooked and generously seasoned. The soup was thicker and more savory than anything she had been anticipating, and the bread was light and flaky. Even the salad was more lovely than she could have imagined, tossed with wild onions and mushrooms and lightly topped with a mild vinegar dressing.
John and Remmy were apparently similarly delighted with the food. For nearly half an hour, the three of them remained silent but for the sound of their utensils clinking against their plates. When they had all finished with their food, they ordered another round of drinks. They continued to talk and laugh with each other, but the cadence of their conversation became gradually more subdued. They were all full, numb, and tired. For the first time since they had sat down together, a beat of silence passed.
“Do you think we’re ever going to go home?” Rialta asked, staring down into her half-empty stein.
“Yes,” Remmy said a bit too quickly. “Of course we are. It’s just a matter of time.” He took a sip of his drink.
John simply shrugged, then drained the remainder of his beer in one huge gulp.
Rialta let out a long, deep breath. She looked at Remmy with a sullen frown as if pleading for him to keep plying her with empty, comforting words, but he did not oblige. With their silence mounting, the sound of rain pelting the windows harmonized with the gentle crackling of the inn’s fire like a lullaby encouraging them all to sleep. Rialta imagined that they each desperately wanted to go to bed, but none of them wanted to be the first to admit they were getting too tired to keep up with the others.
John relented first.
“All right,” he said, clapping his hands together, “I’m turning in. I’ll see you in the morning, Rialta.”
Rialta jumped at this opportunity. “That actually sounds pretty good,” she said. “I think I’ll head up to bed as well.”
Remmy stretched his arms high above his head and shuddered through a long stretch. He didn’t say anything; he simply nodded and got up from the table. They each paid Amy before heading up the stairs. When they reached the first landing, Remmy and John both gave Rialta a little wave as they strode off down the corridor on the left. Rialta went to the right and unlocked the door to her room.
Despite everything that had occurred that day, Rialta could not help but feel grateful for a delightful, filling meal and a warm, comfortable bed. Her full stomach had a numbing effect, forcing the woes of the day far from her mind and dulling her to the point of resigned indifference. Five minutes after she had climbed into bed, she was sound asleep and drooling into her pillow.
Chapter 13
Lorenza’s Request
Rialta awoke to the relentless pitter-patter of rain striking the window beside her bed. The room was hardly any brighter than when she had fallen asleep, and she would have assumed that it was still nighttime but for the muffled sound of lively conversation and heavy footsteps treading back and forth in the corridor outside—unmistakable signs that much more time had passed than she had originally thought. She stretched out under the covers and blinked a few times, observing the room around her. Through the window, she saw that although the haze of the rainstorm remained, the bright green hue of morning light was peeking through the clouds. She had intended to get up, but the room was so warm and her bed was so comfortable in contrast to the miserable weather outside that she found herself compelled to return to sleep. She closed her eyes and snuggled into the blankets with a long, deep sigh.
She had all but drifted off when a loud knock on her door jolted her awake.
“Rialta?” John shouted. “You up?”
Rialta grimaced. “I am now,” she called back to the door. She hauled herself out of bed, crossed the room, and opened the door. The hallway was much more brightly lit than it had been the night before. She felt her eyes squeeze shut in protest as she tried to look up at John through the blazing light.
“We’re going out for some breakfast. You—uh—wanna come with?” John asked, furtively scratching at the stubble on his chin.
“Whhhaaaat time is it?” Rialta yawned.
“Well that’s sort of the neat thing,” John said. “I talked to some of the locals down in the lobby this morning. Turns out days are closer to twenty-six hours long here. It feels like it’s just before noon for us, but that’s pretty much mid-morning for these guys.”
Rialta blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to the light. “Really? How long was I asleep?” she asked.
“Right about thirteen hours,” John replied.
“Damn,” Rialta said. I guess all of the events from yesterday really took it out of me.
“Tell me about it,” John said. “We were wondering when you were going to get up.”
“How long have you and Remmy been up?” Rialta asked, leaning against her doorframe.
“Few hours now, enough to get our morning routines in, but we haven’t eaten yet,” John said. “We were still full from last night, but we’re starting to get a little hungry now. You should come with us. The inn apparently doesn’t sell food until later in the afternoon, but there’s all kinds of vendors and stuff outside right now. Remmy and I just had a quick look at what they’ve got and it actually looks pretty decent.”
Rialta smiled. “I will be there in a bit. Meet you outside.”
“Sounds like a plan,” John said. And with that, Rialta shut the door behind her and heard John walking away down the hall.
Rialta washed up, smoothed out her robes, got dressed, then made her way down to the lobby. Though there were more people in the lobby area than there had been the night before, this area of the inn remained remarkably quiet. There were several people gathered and seated in the overstuffed chairs surrounding the massive hearth, and a blazing, towering stack of logs in the fireplace provided enough warmth to spread throughout the entire first floor. The happy cracks and pops issuing from the fire were by far the loudest sounds coming from the lobby. Rialta took a moment to take it all in. There was such a pleasant, quiet dignity about the place.
“Oi, is you Rialta?”
Rialta turned to the vestibule to find the source of a voice: a bedraggled old woman dressed in an old, dirty coat. She had crazy, bulging eyes, and her wild grin made it very clear that this was a woman who had long since parted with the majority of her teeth. She might have looked comical if she wasn’t in the process of bearing down on Rialta.
“C-can I help you?” Rialta asked, taking a step back from the woman.
“Y’betcha can, you just stand right there and enjoy old Silby’s serenade.”
“Serenade?” Rialta said, taken aback. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m a traveling minstrel, I am! A lov’ly young man named John ‘ired me to sing
to ya, of course!” Silby shouted. Several of the patrons by the fireplace craned their necks to see what was going on in the lobby.
“He did, did he?” Rialta replied through gritted teeth. “Well that truly will not be necessary. Enjoy the money and be on your way. I—”
Ooooooooohhhhh good morning, Rialta
You sweet special girl
John wanted a song
So I’ll give it a whirl
“Really, please—”
Your hair is… black…
And has… A few… Curls
“That was very nice,” Rialta said as she backed toward the vestibule. “But I think I’ll be going—”
You are… Reasonably good… looking…
A solid six out of ten…
Rialta didn’t wait for any more of the song. She flung open the front door, stepped into the small vestibule, and exited the building. She was very pleased to find that Silby had apparently been too caught up in her song to notice she had left.
The weather had not let up since Rialta left her room. She stepped out into the rain and made a long, sweeping gesture with her right arm, at which a glimmering, spherical, blue shield surrounded her. The rain immediately began to ricochet off the shield, leaving her completely dry. She walked out onto the cobblestone path and took the opportunity to look out at the streets around her. The street that the Pampered Quail was on was lined with buildings crafted primarily from stone and wood. Though the buildings did have windows, the panes tended to be oddly lumpy and distorted in places, completely unlike the perfectly smooth windows she was used to seeing back in Laelynn. Vendors had set up their stalls on either side of the street, their wares covered by wooden awnings and canvas tarps. She looked around, but she could not immediately find Remmy or John.
I suppose they got sick of waiting for me, she thought with a frown.
Just then, her stomach rumbled. She looked toward the vendors and absentmindedly clutched at her coin purse.
The Chasm is not the biggest town I have ever seen. Surely I’m bound to run into them sooner rather than later. It couldn’t hurt to have something to eat in the meantime.
A Quest for Chumps (Departed Dimensions Book 1) Page 8
