He slowed his horse to a trot. His first action was getting the layout of the town and then he'd start asking around. It took him a few hours to go around since he was taking his time, scoping it out and looking to see if the next turn of a blond braid was Aurora herself. Or another man with dark hair and light brown eyes was Gharet. But he saw neither of them and the sun was beginning to set for the day. He would soon have to find a place to stay for the night and was happy he had gold on him to use, he'd run from the manor so fast not thinking of actually taking anything with him. He'd had one thought, and he still had the same thought but he also was getting hungry and would need to eat soon.
He walked slowly looking for an inn. In the west part of Malivan he spotted a multistory building with a green roof as the sun's rays glanced across it before dipping below the horizon. He found a post and tied his horse off, and walked inside.
He was met with a comfortable quiet. A fireplace was lit on his right and a few tables and chairs were centered around the room, the chairs pulled off the floor and flipped over on the tables for the night. The floor even had a sheen to it as if it had just been washed.
A long counter was ahead of him, a shelf of different liquors lined on the wall before it. He saw the back of someone as if they were crouched down picking something off the floor that had fallen behind the counter.
"Hello?" He walked over attentively. He didn't want to startle anyone behind the counter, seeing how it was quiet and looked like the dining area was closed up for the night.
The back of the person he couldn't see jumped at the sound of his voice but stood and smiled. A short and stout man with a balding head and a bushy white mustache looked at him with clear blue eyes. The man was only a head taller than the counter but had a very gentle aura around him. It settled Evander immediately to see such a kind old person.
"Hello, sir," the man said with a grin. Even at the dark hour the man seemed happy. Normal people were grumpy and cranky with an attitude by the time the sun set. It was almost as if the sun itself brought happiness and took it away until the next morning.
"Do you have any rooms available?" Evander asked.
"I might," the man said and reached under the counter for a shelf in the counter itself. "I will just need to check, and then I'll just need a name."
The man straightened and with him he brought up a large tattered book. The cover was so worn it was almost falling off, held only by single threads of the binding. He opened it, taking a thick amount of the uneven pages in his hand and turned to a page nearing the back of the book where a piece of leather stripping was holding it as a bookmark.
On the long pages were scrawled in black ink various names and dates. Both of when they checked in and with their lodging at the inn was done. Some didn't have an end date which meant they were still in the inn at the moment.
The man's eyes read through the list of names he had and then turned the book around.
"Do you know how to write?" the man asked.
Evander nodded. "Yes, how much for a room?" From a pocket he took a leather pouch and opened the small drawstring.
The man's eyes widened.
"My lord, I apologize if I've been ignorant at all. Only a quint," the old man said waving his hands with a guilty look on his face.
"That little?" Evander said still with his hand hovering over the bag. He pursed his lips and then withdrew a shining gold coin. "How about this, and if I need to stay a few days this should cover those as well?"
"Oh, thank you my lord! Are you hungry? Can I make you anything? Shall I show you to your room?" the man leaned down again and produced a large rung of keys.
YOU ARE READING
Shadows of Iraedes | NanoWrimo 2021
RomanceAurora Bailey has had a hard life, and the horizon is only looking harder. She's finally had enough of her abusive partner and decides to leave him, but finds she can't when he keeps pulling her back, sometimes even physically. After many attempts t...
