Alcingeria

Chapter Thirty Seven: Reacquainting

Chapter Thirty Seven Reacquainting:

Tuesday June 29th 1690

Feeling thirsty, I walked over to the bar. Almost instantly, a young man walked over to me dressed in a clean, crisp uniform.

"Hello, what would you like?" He asked in a friendly tone.

"An ale would be great, thanks."

"Coming right up."

He walked over to a tapped keg and poured me a frothing tankard.

"Thanks," I said, taking it.

I took a few swigs and eventually finished it, it was tasty and rich but not too strong. I set the empty mug on the counter and asked for a refill. I looked around the room, there were people all over the place. Some were dancing to the band's music, some were at the bar with me, others played darts and there were people who sat at the tables and played cards. I noticed that there weren't too many, and they all looked very well dressed and likely wealthy. We seemed to be the odd ones out, so was this some kind of swanky place that was hard to get into? That explained why nothing cost us anything.

I saw Robert talking to Macalister across the room. I got up and went over to them.

"Hey Redmond!" Robert grinned. "Enjoying yourself?"

"The place is pretty great! It's got a lot of things to do here." Macalister added.

"I know, I just finished creaming Walden in darts." I said, leaving out the part about Tabatha helping me cheat.

"I saw!" He laughed. "But do you know what's a sight worth seeing?"

He put a hand on my shoulder and turned me towards the table where Don and Tabatha sat. The young man Don was playing cards with was gone. It was just the two of them sitting across from each other. They were about twenty feet away from us.

"See that?"

"What, Don and Tabatha?"

"No, the redhead at the bar," he laughed and rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm talking about them!"

"What about them?"

"I bet Robert that Don would strike out with Tabatha." Macalister grinned, holding up his one remaining gold piece.

I laughed at him. After all this time he still had it.

"You made two mistakes here, Macalister." I pointed out.

"What?"

I chuckled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You underestimated Don, and you underestimated Tabatha."

Macalister pondered this for a moment. I turned away from him and faced our two friends. We were too far away to hear what they were saying over the pleasant music, but I could see that Tabatha had a playful grin on and that Don was laughing. I smiled, I was happy for the both of them. They made a good couple... in an odd way.

"Redmond!" Stella called from across the room.

I walked over to her.

"Hey, Stella." I greeted her.

"Look! Don't you see that? Don and Tabatha are right over there, and they're flirting!" She squealed with girlish enthusiasm.

"Flirting? Really?" I asked, feigning ignorance, casting a glance at them.