by Eric Vall
“Carmedy, slow down!” Annalíse exclaimed when they narrowly avoided a man pushing a squeaky wheelbarrow.
Rana shook her head and chuckled as she dashed off to catch up with them. Morrigan followed behind them without any hurry and whispered to her ravens as she walked. I strolled behind the white-haired elf at a moderate pace. Like Morrigan, I was in no hurry, but I was sure that my reason was different from hers. Now that we were staying the night, there was no need to rush, at least I didn’t think so. I could enjoy a casual walk amongst the people that bustled about the street. It was good to be free.
A couple of children raced past me as they chased a ball, and a dog yawned lazily and curled up underneath one of the vendor’s carts for a nap. Some of the passersby glanced or blatantly stared at the women as they navigated through the busy cobbled road. Perhaps it was because the townsfolk knew that the women were newcomers. Or it could have been because they weren’t used to seeing bipedal foxes and cats and elves with mage markings. Then again, maybe it was because Carmedy and Annalíse kept bumping into people.
As I watched the four women weave through the crowd, a smile came to my lips. I was pleased that I had been able to come up with a suitable alternative, but not only because none of my minions had wanted to stay outside. I had my own selfish reasons and wasn’t the least bit ashamed of them.
I myself would not have wanted to keep watch. My desire to indulge in the inn’s delights in their entirety was as great as theirs if not greater. I had experienced a few different environments since I had left behind the dreariness and solitude of my dungeon, and I had relished each one with newfound appreciation. I would not take even the simplest of things for granted.
As my steps brought me closer to the tavern, I longed to experience its sights, smells, and sounds. While Annalíse’s bliss over sleeping in beds wasn’t something that we shared, there was still a sort of eagerness within me simply because it was new and different. My mind hadn’t been consumed with thoughts of desserts like Carmedy’s had been. However, I did look forward to sampling the tavern’s foods. Hopefully, there would be no trouble during the night that would interrupt the eagerly anticipated delights to come. I wanted to savor this evening. Even gods needed the occasional break.
Chapter 12
“Not bad.” Rana looked around the inn with satisfaction.
After bumping into several people and offering numerous rushed apologies, Carmedy and Annalíse had arrived at the tavern first. Rana had followed, and Morrigan and I approached soon after. The five of us gazed at our new surroundings, and our eyes darted to every last corner of the place.
The inn was not extravagant in the least. There was no golden chandelier as Carmedy had hoped, but I could tell from the women’s expressions that it was still a welcome change to sleeping outside. The space was large and every surface, from the walls to the ceiling to the floor, was constructed of hearty darkened wood. By the time we had reached our destination, the sun had nearly disappeared altogether, and the candles of the sturdy iron chandelier that hung over the room’s center had already been lit.
The building housed several long wooden tables with matching benches. Each seating arrangement had several brass candlesticks and collectively, the small flames bathed the spacious room in a warm glow. The atmosphere of the tavern was lively, and several groups of men occupied most of the tables. The men ate, drank, and chattered amongst themselves enthusiastically. The vibrancy of the tavern was exhilarating, and my excitement grew as the fascinating sounds of the tavern swirled around me.
Loud laughter filled the air as men swapped tales of amusement. Patrons sang their drunken songs while a duo played fiddles beside the great stone hearth’s crackling fire. Ale mugs cheerily clacked together, and occasionally the foamy beverage sloshed over the brims and splattered to the floor. I had never before entered such a place, and that made it all the more thrilling to me.
Our party approached the counter that stood to one side of the room, and I stared in awe at the fur rug that lay in front of it. The hide was enormous, and although the thick fur was a sinister black, it looked rather soft. Whatever beast this had come from probably hadn’t been taken down easily. It looked to be about twice the size of a bear. The pelt was a good ten feet wide and roughly twenty long. Never before had I seen a creature of this size. Were there more of these magnificent hulking beasts? Were they local to this continent? Whatever the case, I hoped that one day I’d lay eyes on a living one.
There was a large muscular man behind the counter with his back to us. He busily wiped ale mugs clean, and one by one placed them on a slightly slanted shelf. Hefty barrels were stacked to the right, one atop another. Their spigots dripped lazily, and the drink within gave the air a hoppy smell.
Rana rapped on the counter to get the man’s attention, and he quickly turned to us as he placed the mug he had been cleaning on the counter.
“My apologies, I didn’t see you there,” the man’s deep voice boomed. His voice was loud and had a jovial ring to it. “How can I help you, folks?”
“We’d like some rooms, please,” Annalíse said pleasantly. “How much are they?”
“Rooms with one bed are ten gold coins, and rooms with two beds are five.” The big man counted the two options on his fingers.
“Ooh, we could each have our own rooms,” Carmedy whispered to Annalíse as she bounced on her heels excitedly.
“I would love to have my own room,” Annalíse said blissfully, and she bit her lip at the thought.
“So would I.” Rana chuckled. “Believe me I would, but I don’t think we should overspend. Some of us could share, and he can have his own.” The fox gestured to me.
“You’re right,” Annalíse said with a sigh. “We’ll take three rooms.” The swordswoman turned to me, and I stuck my hand into my pocket to retrieve one of the bags of coins. I handed it to Annalíse who proceeded to open the sack and place the specified amount of money on the counter. The bulky man’s eyes widened at the sight of the bag that Annalíse had drawn from, and he looked at our group in surprise.
“Alright then,” he said with a large smile and scooped the coins into his huge palm. He stooped down to retrieve something from under the counter before he returned to us. “Here are your keys.” He placed three brass keys in front of us. “The rooms are right up there.” He pointed to the wooden stairs across the room. “Yours will be the last three doors on the right.”
“That’ll be fine,” Annalíse said as she pocketed the keys and handed the bag of remaining coins back to me.
“Anything else I can help you with?” the big man said as he resumed cleaning the ale mug.
“What kind of food do you have here?” Carmedy asked excitedly. “Do you have cake?”
“No, no cake I’m afraid,” the man said with a hearty laugh. “We have beef stew, roast leg of lamb, a nice smoked cod, and pie though.”
“What kind of pie?” Carmedy leaned forward on the counter in anticipation.
“Cherry. My wife makes it herself,” the large man said proudly. “Best in town.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.” Carmedy rubbed her hands together hungrily. “Where do we order?”
“You can leave your order with me,” the man said with a large grin. “Go ahead and set yourselves down at one of those tables, and it’ll be brought to you directly.”
“Sounds go to me,” the green-eyed cat purred. “We’ll have some of everything. Tonight, we feast like kings!”
The man chuckled at Carmedy’s enthusiasm.
“Why don’t you folks have some drinks in the meantime? On the house. We don’t often have such lovely ladies as customers here,” he said with a playful wink.
“Mister, you’re speaking my language.” Rana grinned. “I think we’ll take you up on that offer.” The fox linked arms with Carmedy and turned in the direction of the tables.
“Hold on.” Annalíse stopped them. “Give me your packs. I’ll drop them off upstairs.” The f
ox and the cat removed the bags they carried on their shoulders and handed them to the female warrior before they walked off toward one of the tables.
“Thank you, mister…?” Annalíse turned back to the man behind the counter.
“Just call me Tom,” the big man said with a polite nod.
“Thank you, Tom,” the freckled woman said, and with that, we walked away from the counter.
“I’m going to drop these off in one of the rooms.” Annalíse gestured to Carmedy and Rana’s bags and slung them over her shoulder. “You two can give me your packs and go ahead and join the others.” After Annalíse took our bags, she turned from us and quickly made her way toward the wooden stairs. The female warrior’s long strides carried her across the energetic room, and she reached the other side in moments. Annalíse jogged up the stairs, and they creaked and groaned with each hurried step that she took. A few seconds later she reached the landing, and her chestnut braids bobbed out of sight.
Carmedy and Rana had chosen an empty table near the back of the tavern, and they waved us over to join them. Morrigan and I walked in between the tables, and as we passed, the pale elf got a few curious glances stares. There were a few elves in town, so I was sure that the townsfolk weren’t unaccustomed to seeing them. It was the white-haired elf’s red mage markings that were bringing her so much attention. Either that or her pet ravens.
Morrigan and I sat down opposite the cat and the fox, and within a few minutes a thin woman wearing an apron who I assumed to be Tom’s wife, brought a tray of drinks to us.
“Here you go,” the woman said with a sweet smile as she placed the mugs on the table. “Enjoy. Your food will be out in two shakes of a lizard’s tail.” With that, she scurried away and disappeared behind a door beside the counter. I motioned for my minions to wait for a moment and took a sip from each of the mugs to be safe. I hadn’t forgotten the Barden brother’s threat from earlier. When I was sure the drinks hadn’t been tampered with, I gave my companions the go ahead.
“Ahh, this is the life,” Rana said as she picked up a mug and stretched her legs out on the long bench. She took a few long gulps and sighed with satisfaction.
“I’ll say,” Carmedy said after a sip from her cup. “All that food sounded so delicious. I can’t wait to eat!”
“It did sound rather appetizing, I must admit,” I said with a smile. I too was eager to try the foods that Tom had spoken of.
“Our lodgings are not lavish,” Morrigan said as she glanced around the room. “But they are… tolerable. And I have grown tired of our meals of brown bread and roasted salt beef.”
“I’m with you on that,” Carmedy said as she took another sip. “Not to complain or anything, but even the meat I kept fresh with my herbs gets old after a while. It’s nice to, you know, have something different for a change.”
Annalíse returned a few moments later and sat beside Carmedy. “Is that for me?” The tall woman pointed at the completely filled ale mug.
“Yes, ma’am,” Rana said, and she raised her cup in cheer. “Drink up.” Annalíse grasped her cup with two hands and took several large gulps. The rest of our group stared at her with wide eyes as the freckled warrior chugged the alcohol until it was gone. She finally set her mug down in front of her and licked her lips.
“Alright, Annalíse!” Rana leaned around Carmedy and patted the human woman on the back. “That’s the way to do it.”
“Well, I figured I earned it.” Annalíse laughed raspily. “In fact, we all have.”
“Here, here!” Rana raised her mug to the air. “To the dungeon conquerors,” the fox said as the rest of us held our cups together in a toast.
“Annalíse’s cup is empty so that one doesn’t count,” Carmedy said with a hiccup infused giggle.
“Well, we’ll have to fix that then, won’t we?” Rana said with a wry grin. The fox raised a finger to Tom’s wife who was walking by. The woman whisked away the empty cup and returned with an extra one for each of us. We toasted once more, and within a few minutes, Tom’s wife returned with platters of steaming food. As she placed them before us, Carmedy’s eyes bulged at the feast. My mouth began to water, and my senses were overwhelmed with scents of freshly baked bread, fragrant spices, and roasted meats. Without hesitation, we each began to fill our plates.
For a long while, there was no conversation of any kind at our table, only chewing and moans of satisfaction. As we filled our bellies, we listened to the fiddlers’ spirited tunes. Carmedy occasionally sang along through mouthfuls of food, and Annalíse tapped her foot in rhythm. The merriment was joyous and unlike anything I had experienced since my banishment to my dungeon. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt so contented.
When we’d finished our meal, Tom’s wife came to clear the dishes away and informed us that the pie would be ready soon. I turned around on the bench and leaned my back against the table as I rubbed at my swollen belly. To my recollection, I had never eaten so heartily. Every bite had been more delicious than the last, and I looked forward to the cherry pie. This tavern was a wonderful place. It would be a shame to leave in the morning, but we did have more important things to do. Places to go, dungeons to conquer, as Rana had so comically put it, but I would enjoy my time here to its fullest.
“Hey,” Rana said suspiciously. “Is it just me or do those guys keep looking over here?” The fox woman’s voice brought me away from my contented thoughts.
The rest of us turned to look briefly at Rana whose face bore an irritated expression. We then turned to face the direction in which she was gazing. A few tables down from us was a group of seven men. When I first turned around, I didn’t observe anyone looking in our direction, but after I watched them for a few moments, I did see a few narrow-eyed glances and whispers. What was the matter with them?
To my knowledge, none of us had done anything to warrant such hostility from these men. We hadn’t even in been inside the tavern for that long. All we had done so far was talk with Tom and enjoy our food and drinks. No one in our party had spoken to them. We hadn’t even paid them any mind up till now. How had we managed to cause tension in such a short amount of time?
“See, they did it again,” Rana hissed. “What’s their problem?” The fox frowned.
“Maybe it’s like Tom said.” Carmedy giggled. “They’re not used to seeing such lovely women.”
“Maybe,” Rana said as she squinted at the table in question. She didn’t seem convinced. “Wait, aren’t those the two morons from the trade shop?” The fox raised an eyebrow.
“It is them,” Annalíse grumbled before she took another gulp from her mug.
“Who are these… morons?” Morrigan asked. I had forgotten that she hadn’t been with us when we had met the Barden brothers earlier today.
“We had a bit of a… disagreement with some men today,” Carmedy said softly.
“It wasn’t a disagreement.” Rana snorted. “They insulted Carmedy and me, and then they insulted Annalíse for ‘associating with us.’”
“I see.” Morrigan nodded. “Was this all that transpired?”
“No,” Rana said with a sly grin. “Demon man over here knocked them clean off their feet, and I mean literally.” She gestured to me and shot me a quick smile. I was shocked by that but returned her smile and nodded politely.
Suddenly, the fox’s friendly disposition began to darken, and I wondered what I could have possibly have done in such a short amount of time to upset her, but then I realized she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking behind me. I turned over my shoulder to see the two men we had encountered in the shop as well as two others. They were clearly not coming with pleasant greetings in mind as they each bore angry looks.
The men we’d encountered earlier each had a purple bruise where I had struck them, and I struggled to keep back a smile at the sight. The thin man pointed to me with a scowl and whispered something to the two new men. The newcomers also had the same dark hair and sharp noses. The man who led the group was
almost as large as Tom and had a jagged scar that slanted across his right eyebrow. The other man who I didn’t recognize was a head shorter than him and just as muscular.
“I hear you were picking on my two little brothers.” The man with the scar folded his arms and glared at me when his group reached our table.
“Ohh, you’re all brothers?” Rana asked with a smirk.
“Yeah,” the larger man sneered. “So are they.” He jerked a thumb at the table they had come from. The men who sat there stared at us with unflinching hate in their eyes.
“That explains it,” Rana said with a wry grin. “I was wondering why everyone at your table was so ugly. Now it all makes sense. It runs in the family. And here I thought that maybe the people in this town weren’t that good looking.”
I nearly choked in my effort to stifle a chortle. I was used to Rana’s creative and unapologetic wisecracks, but she had outdone herself this time. She wasn’t holding back, and I had to admit it was quite entertaining. Carmedy snorted as she tried to hold back her laughter. Even Morrigan seemed amused as the tiniest smile came to her lips, but the Barden brothers apparently hadn’t found the fox’s words so funny as they glowered at her.
“You shut your mouth, you filthy fox,” the scarred man said sharply. “We don’t need your kind around here, or yours.” He pointed at Carmedy.
“Look,” Carmedy said softly. “We’re not trying to cause trouble. Your brothers are actually the ones who picked a fight with us and--”
“Did I ask you to speak?” the leader growled, and Carmedy whimpered in response. “Don’t go blaming them. Let me fill you all in on how things work around here.” He placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. “We Bardens run this town, and we don’t take kindly to half-breeds or strangers who don’t know their place.” He narrowed his eyes at me.
“That’s telling him, Luke,” the fat man from before chimed in.
“You know, I’m getting really tired of these names.” Rana slammed her paws on the table and slowly rose to her feet. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you it’s not nice to call people names?” The fox’s blue eyes flickered with anger and defiance. “My name is Rana, not half-breed, not filthy fox. Rana. Got that?” the red-headed woman said through gritted teeth.
