The Sword Maiden

A Tavern and A Man

We tramped down to tavern part of the establishment, which looked pretty messed up.  Empty and half filled mugs lay scatted on every surface, along with scattered bits of food, and card games.  The place smelled very strongly of ale.    

There was a woman with a cloth, on the floor, with a bucket of water, scrubbing away.  A man was wiping down the bar.  Redwar walked up to him.  

"Good morning.  We would like some breakfast, and then we'll do the work."  

"Alright" replied the man cheerily, which surprised me, because he looked so rugged and dour a moment ago.

He went into the kitchen.  We sat on bar stools while we waited.  Hecame back with bread and cheese.  "I'm 'fraid this is all I've got right now," he apologised.  

"That will do fine," replied Redwar evenly.  "Do you have water?  I prefer not to drink this early in the morning."  

The man laughed.  "Yes, let me go draw some."  

Redwar cut the bread and cheese, handing the slices to us.  I put the cheese on top of the bread and bit down.  The meal was not necessarily tasty, but it was filling.  

The man came back with a pitcher of water and a ladle.  "I'm 'fraid this is the way you'll have to drink it, I don't have anymore clean glasses."  

"That's alright," Redwar said as he took the pitcher and dipped the ladle in it.  He swallowed huge gulps and then passed it to Valeria.  "What work do you want us to do?"  

"Well, I was thinkin' your two daughters could help clean off the tables and wash the glasses.  And you could help me-"  

Valeria erupted into a coughing fit.  We looked at her with concern.  She waved a hand and said breathily, "I'll be alright, just got water in my throat."  

I turned to look at Redwar.  Had he told the manager we were his daughters, or had the manager assumed that?  

Redwar did not correct him.  "Help you do what?" He prompted the manager.

"Help me muck out the stables."  

Redwar nodded.  "Sounds good to me.  What about it, girls?"  

"That sounds alright," said Valeria.  I shrugged and agreed with her.  

"Then it's a deal," said the manager.  "I suppose I should introduce myself.  I'm Mr. Finnley."  He pointed to the woman scrubbing on the floor.  "That woman there's my daughter, Sherria."  

Sherria looked up and waved at us.  

"She'll help you two clean this place up and get it ready for lunchtime.  What're your names?"  Mr. Finnley asked Valeria and I.  

"I'm Valeria, sir."  

"My name's Ravine."  

He clapped his hands, which made both of us jump.  "Two beautiful names for beautiful girls."  

I dipped water with the ladle and raised it to my lips as Valeria said, "Thank you." 

After breakfast Valeria and I began helping Sherria clean the place up.  My first job was gathering all the mugs and shot glasses, then cleaning them out.  It was a fairly easy, but very mundane, task.  Valeria was assigned to scrub the tables.  

Sherria proved to be friendly but quiet.  She did her work with a well practiced air, proving she'd been doing this probably all her life.  Despite having two helpers, she did not shirk any of her duty, but worked just as hard.