Killing Chivalry

Chapter 18 - Runaway

When she woke up her stomach flipped and her head was pounding. She groaned and rolled over, squinting her eyes against the bit of light coming in from the curtained window. She felt like she'd been run over by a truck and pieced back together.

As she pushed herself into a seated position her head spun and she nearly flopped back down, but the bed was getting really uncomfortable. Swinging her legs out over the edge, she put her hands over her temples and hung her head.

What in the hell... She'd only had one cup of that stuff. How did one cup warrant a hangover like this?

Looking over the room, she realized two things. The first was it was morning, and she'd slept through supper and the entire night. The second was the knight wasn't there. His bed was in order, his pack resting on top of it, but no sign of him.

Standing up, she swayed and grasped the edge of the table for balance. When the room stopped swaying she walked to the door and went out into the hall, walking slowly to the top of the stairs to look down into the common room.

He sat at one of the long tables, eating breakfast.

Airyn took hold of the railing and made her way down the stairs, getting steadier as she went. When she crossed the room to the table and slid onto the bench across from the knight, he smiled.

She groaned and crossed her arms on the table, resting her forehead on them. She heard him reach out and move a glass from in front of his plate across the table to her. Looking up, she raised her eyebrow.

"It's wine."

"I don't think I need any more alcohol."

"It's very weak, more like juice than wine." He motioned at someone over her shoulder, pointing at his plate, then looked back at her. "Food will help."

"What did I drink?"

Shaking his head and using his knife to cut a piece of meat away, he answered, "Avrennati spirits, from what you said. And by the smell of it I'd say that was right."

"What is that though?"

He propped his elbow on the table and finished chewing his food before answering. "The Avren love to drink. Their constitutions are much stronger than human or Qemsonori, so their alcohol is much stronger too. The Qemsono have the most tasteful wines, the humans the best ales, and the Avren the strongest spirits."

Airyn groaned and carefully set her head back down on her arms. "I hate the Avren."

He chuckled. "I'm surprised you made it past the first sip, let alone finished a cup of it."

"I wish I hadn't."

He continued to eat and she sat in silent misery until someone set a second plate on the table next to her. Looking at it, she recognized a slab of some kind of meat, a small loaf of bread, some fruit, and a pile of some kind of mashed vegetable.

"What is it?"

"Leftover roast with mashed potato and carrot."

She picked up the knife and spoon and pulled the plate over. Her first bite wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would be, and she was suddenly starving. She ate quickly, drinking the weak wine Koeska had given her to wash it down. When she'd finished the entire plate she looked up to see the knight watching her.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing." Pushing his plate away, he stood. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

She stood up as well, following him to the stairs and up to the room. She didn't sway this time and the floor wasn't all wavy anymore, but she'd have given anything for a couple of aspirin. Aspirin!