by RG Long
The surfaces shone, and the walls were clean. A pleasant smell was coming from the kitchen and in the innkeeper looked genuinely happy to see them, even though Blume knew they were strangers to him.
“Let’s grab a table in the back,” Elise said. “One by the door. It’ll give us time to think.”
Blume thought that was at least a reasonable strategy. If some guards burst through the door, they could potentially find their way back out to the other. Though where that one led, Blume did not know.
“Could we trouble you for some food and drink, please?” Ealrin said with what Blume could tell was a really forced casual expression. She hoped it was just because he knew him so well that she could see right through his veneer. At least at first glance, the innkeeper did not appear worried.
“Very well! Food and drink! Find a table of your choosing, and I’ll get something out to you shortly. Three coins a meal, please.”
Ealrin felt in his pocket with a worried expression on his face. Blume rolled her eyes and pulled out nine coins from her own dress pockets.
“I thought you would’ve come prepared,” she said under her breath.
She put the coins on the counter as they walked over to their table.
“At what point were you going to tell me about that by the way? You know, about the whole rebellious traitor thing that came up twice now?” she asked, now feeling heated.
A small spark of energy escaped her fingertips as she attempted to pull her magic back inside of her.
“Keep your voice down,” Elise said as she looked around the tavern. “We don’t know who’s here and who knows us.”
“That’s right,” Blume said. “I forgot I was talking to the famous commodore’s children.”
Ealrin leaned in.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“What do you mean what’s wrong?” Blume fired back in a hiss. “You don’t think your rebelling against your father and the king of Rerial was something I needed to know? Maybe I could’ve been a little bit more helpful in trying to cover your back. Instead, I was left to try to get us out of danger as quickly as possible. I can’t help with something I’m unprepared for if you’re going hide things from me!”
“I wasn’t trying to hide things from you,” Ealrin said, looking flustered. “There wasn’t any time.”
“Time enough to spend with your sister on the ship here,” Blume said. “Time to relive your past without telling me about it. I thought we were closer than that.”
“I’m sorry,” Elise said, putting herself into the conversation and forcing Blume to concentrate on not blowing a hole in the wall. “Maybe you forgot that Ealrin is my brother. Someone I’ve known my whole life. I’ve only been apart from him for three years. But maybe you don’t think catching up with someone you thought was dead is all that important to you?”
“Three hot plates! Coming in!”
The tavern owner sat down three plates of food in front of them and quickly came back with three large cups of what Blume guessed was mead or some similar drink.
“Eat up and enjoy!” he says he clapped Ealrin on the shoulder. “I might stop by for a tale of your ship after you’re finished. Not often we get travelers to Poral anymore, and I’m desperate for some news!”
The jovial tavern owner was a stark contrast to the mood at the table.
Even though the food looked delicious, Blume found that her stomach and her mouth had both gone sour. She couldn’t even think about putting food in her for the enjoyment of it. But if there was any magic to be done later, she knew she had to replenish herself.
She took her fork and began angrily shoveling food into her mouth. She was sure the sight was not pleasing to either Ealrin or Elise, but at this moment, she didn’t care.
After taking a large drink of what turned out to be a sweetened tea, she slammed down her mug with a clunk on the table.
This time she did lower her voice because she knew that shouting was going to get all three of them in trouble and not just Ealrin. Who, she admitted to herself; she was definitely still mad at.
“So the explosion that killed the king,” she said in a whisper tone. “You had nothing to do with that?”
“Of course not!” Ealrin said. “I tried to save his life, not end it.”
Blume nodded her head.
“As far as we know,” Elise said doubtfully. “Those who had wanted to transition and power had given up the fight after Ealrin disappeared and King Beltrame had died. When his son Belfast took the throne and began to campaign for peace, we felt like most of our desires have been taken care of.”
She took a long draft of her own tea before she sat it down and stroked her chin.
“Then again, there is the Blackthorn clan gang.”
“Who are they?” Blume asked.
“Terrorists,” Elise said simply. “In the last three years, they’ve gone from being a gang that was concerned with stealing to those who would rather watch the world burn. Their exploits have become more and more dangerous and having a wider impact. Sources tell me that they have recently assassinated the governor of Severn. If they’re trying to destabilize the continent and causes much chaos as possible, they’re certainly on the right track with killing off king Belfast. Severn and Rerial are the two nations who desire peace the most. With their leadership gone...”
She shook her head.
“I’m afraid dark days for Redact are ahead of us.”
“Then we get them to admit they’re responsible,” Blume said. “That the Blackthorn gang were the ones who caused the explosion and then we can clear your name.”
Elise looked at Blume as if she had magicked a second head onto her shoulders.
“Are you insane?” she asked. “Go up against the Blackthorn gang without a plan or contacts or intelligence? You do have a death wish.”
“What’s your plan, then?” Blume asked. “Try to make it sound like you are innocent to your father? He didn’t seem keen on you after Tucker admitted guilt. I’d like to know what strategy is.”
“Blume,” Ealrin said.
“We can’t just run,” Blume said, looking at Ealrin. “You’ve got to...”
She saw that he was not looking at her but rather out the door where both guards from the house of Poral and the airship were standing there talking to the bar owner is had just turned to point out the three of them sitting at the table.
13: Casual Followers
“I still don’t understand why they were so upset with us,” Felecia said as they left the Council’s Chamber and made their way back out to the streets of Perin. “Certainly seemed like they thought we were a nuisance at best.”
“They just don’t want to get involved,” Holve said grumpily as they left the building. “Shortsighted fools. The continent is falling apart around them, and they don’t see it.”
The meeting had not gone well. The members of the council had questioned them several times about why they had been with the Skrilx, what their intentions with the race were, and why they had been abandoned by them instead of escorted into the city.
To Felecia, it seemed like the council was much more concerned with how they treated the feline race than how they had come to Darc and why they wanted to return to Rerial. They had barely allowed them to ask any questions and only vaguely referenced a ruler in a tower in the capital of Darc that they had to consult with before they could give any definitive answer.
What good would talking to a man far away in a tower do for them right now? Weren't they the leaders of the city? Felecia was frustrated.
They wanted nothing to do with the Court of Three or Rerial. Their actions made it very clear they wanted as little trouble as possible. And, at the moment, Felecia surmised that they thought the best way to keep out of trouble was not to aid their group.
It didn’t take long for them to leave the glistening area where the Council’s Chambers were and, as long as they continued to walk away from it, they were unhindered by the army
district. Guards looked their way but did not block them from leaving. Felecia only looked over her shoulder once, but when she did, she saw that a group of guards was following just far enough away to seem like they were on some other business.
But she knew better.
She had been casually followed far too many times.
“Do you really think that the continent is falling apart? Isn’t that a little harsh?” Silverwolf asked as they made their way through a gate and down the street. Upper Perin, the residential area of the port city of Darc, lay before them.
Felicia looked over her shoulder again to see that several guards had come out of the army section of the city and were looking intently in their direction. Essentially, Felecia thought to herself, this was to make sure that they left the governing district and did not return.
“Not with what we’ve seen,” Holve said. He didn’t elaborate.
Felecia always had the impression that Holve knew more than he was letting on, especially since the dragon picked them up and took them to the Skrilx.
She checked up in the sky to see if the great beast might be circling up there but found that nothing was above them except for birds from the sea.
“I think they could’ve at least offered us someplace to stay, you know,” Trotta said with an air of complaint.
“You haven’t traveled with us long enough,” Silverwolf said back. “We don’t play well with new people. Unless Holve knows somebody in the city, we’re either working for a place to stay tonight or bumming it on the streets.”
“We won’t be on the streets,” Holve said. “And I don’t know anyone in the city, but making a new friendship with someone here shouldn’t take long.”
With that, he turned around and addressed the group.
“We’ll do better if we split up,” he said. “Keep an eye open for inns and taverns off the beaten trail. See if any of them need repairs or protection from any local thugs.”
“Trading beds for services are we?” Gorplin asked.
“Not all services,” Silverwolf said, crossing her arms.
Holve nodded at that.
“Probably best to stay away from brothels,” he said, looking from Felecia to Trotta.
“Ya think?” Trotta said, matching Silverwolf’s expression. “Men.”
Felecia smirked. She didn’t doubt that Silverwolf knew her way around such a parlor. Trotta, however, she was less sure of. Perhaps the young woman had never been inside such a business. Either way, it seemed like she didn’t want to go anywhere close to one.
Little Alma looked from Holve to Trotta as if a question burned on the tip of her tongue. He continued before she could ask it.
Holve looked at the place they were standing and pointed up at a street sign. Felicia saw that it read Morning Street and Seaport Way.
“Meet back at this intersection before nightfall,” Holve said. “Be careful about what promises you make. And watch out for any Blackthorn gang members. They have that tattoo under their eye. Who knows if they're down here in Darc or not, but if they are, I imagine we'll find them soon enough."
"Or they'll find us," Silverwolf said casually.
Holve nodded.
Felecia saw him look at the group warily.
“Wisym, Serinde, Gorplin, be careful. Darc is mostly a human nation. I don’t know how well they’ll take to... Well, to you.”
“I’ll go with Gorplin,” Felicia said.
“I’ll go with Wisym and Trotta,” Holve said.
Silverwolf shrugged her shoulders.
“I’ll babysit,” she said, looking at Serinde and Alma.
“I’m at least twice as old as you are,” Serinde said, looking at Silverwolf and furrowing her brow.
“In years, perhaps,” the assassin said. “Try me on street smarts, and we’ll see how long you make it.”
“Enough,” Holve interrupted. “Back here by sundown. See you in a few hours.”
“Holve, Trotta, and Wisym walked off in one direction, while Silverwolf left without even saying a word to Serinde and Alma. The two of them shook their heads as they followed after her.
Felecia looked down at Gorplin who had his arms crossed.
“Do you have any coins on you?” she asked.
“Probably enough for one bed,” Gorplin said as he stroked his beard.
“Or two drinks.”
“One bed won’t do us much good,” Felicia said that she looked around the street and saw a sign for a pub towards the docks.
“Two drinks, however, sound like what we need.”
“Aye, captain,” Gorplin said as he walked off in the direction she was looking.
She knew she liked the dwarf.
14: Unbelievable
“Unbelievable,” Serinde said as they walked through the outskirts of a residential area that was not as pristine as the one they had been in a few moments ago. “Together for five minutes and then that know it all assassin abandons us to head in a different direction. Didn’t Holve say to stick together?”
“I like Silverwolf,” Alma said.
“Yes well,” Serinde said, feeling rather uncomfortable with that statement from Alma. After all, she had been the one who had taken care of the girl for most of their time together. They shared a lot. They had both lost family to war. They had both been separated from those they loved and were exploring odd and strange new continents.
Granted she was an elf and Alma was a girl who had magic abilities granted to her through the powerful a demon that currently resided inside of her somehow. They weren’t fully alike. But what in the world did the young girl have in common with an assassin?
“I just wish she would be more responsible,” Serenity finished, brushing aside her feeling for the moment.
Perin in Darc was not as old as some of the cities they had been in and explored in Ladis. It certainly wasn’t as grand as some of the towers Serinde had been in in the elf empire of Enoth. In fact, the buildings they were around now were beginning to look a little more worn, as if they weren’t cared for like the structures that were closer to the main square and the army’s district.
What they would find here in this kingdom, Serinde did not know. From what they had gathered from Holve so far, Ealrin was supposed to be in another far off nation reunited with his family. If he even found them yet. They were to have supposed to been reunited with Ealrin at this point as well but had been kept from doing so when Ealrin had flown off in the airship. In doing so, he had left the others behind to deal with dragons, the Blackthorn gang, and other issues besides.
Serinde thought it was uncharacteristic of Ealrin to abandon his friends like that.
It was very characteristic, in Serinde’s opinion, of Silverwolf.
“Holve said to check the places off the beaten path,” Alma said, stopping their walking and pointing off of the road they were walking down towards an alley. “Let’s check out this area. It looks a little unbeaten to me.”
Serinde couldn’t help but agree with that. The way Alma was suggesting was certainly a back alley, though there were several shop signs hanging down from the walls of the buildings. All of the ones she saw, however, were a little faded and unkempt.
Serinde sighed and decided she would worry about the assassin later. She could tell Holve of her abandoning them. Perhaps he would take her seriously and know how they could reprimand her. With such happy thoughts in her head, Serinde smiled.
“Lead the way,” she said.
So far, Serinde hadn’t received very many glances from the people of Darc. It was very different than how she had been treated and most of the cities on Ladis. At least this nation had heard of elves. Some of them apparently had business dealings with them as they had come up and asked her if she was from LeGrove.
Serenity couldn’t even imagine where that was. She hadn’t so much as seen a map of the continent yet, let alone remembered all of its countries. LeGrove must be a mostly elven nation somewhere close by. No matter the case, she ju
st shook her head and kept walking.
The first two shops they encountered were closed down. The third was one of the variety Holve had told them to avoid. Serinde pushed Alma along before any of the patrons or workers there could make their way outside.
“I think we should get back on the main road soon,” Serinde said. “You probably don’t want to be staying in any of these places.”
“Why not, lovely?”
Serinde’s spun around to see the jeering face of a brutish man. She hadn’t heard him come out of the brothel. Maybe he had emerged from one of the closed shops instead? He smiled at the sight of the two of them, something that made the elf furrow her brow.
“Hey, boys!” he said over his shoulder. “Look what we’ve got here!”
Four more unkept men staggered out of the shadows and joined the leering man as they looked at Serinde and Alma with hungry expressions.
“She belong to you?” the man asked Serinde he pointed at Alma. “I’ve known some elves who deal in flesh.”
Serinde put a hand on Alma’s shoulder.
“She does not belong to me, nor does anyone call her their servant.”
The man chuckled as he looked over her shoulder again.
“Says she is up for grabs if I heard her right,” he said with the same sickening sneer. “How much?”
Serinde didn’t know if the look of disgust on her face quite communicated her contempt for this man and his cronies.
“She is not for sale,” nor should anyone be. “This is your chance to turn and walk away. I suggest you do so quickly.”
At this point, all the men gathered in front of them began to laugh.
"Aw, do be kind," the one up front said. "See, there’s five of us and only two of you. Alone here in the dark alley. I don’t think that’ll go too well for you. "
Serinde's hand twitched.
"Last chance," she said as she glared at the ringleader.
"Not very nice," he said. "Maybe you need a lesson in manners? I’ll teach you all I know. And I'll make sure your little girl learns too. For free of course."
