Now that Caldor and Idriseth are together, everything seems to be going right for once. Cal is still bitter and angry after what happened to his guildmates, but he tries to put it all aside, move on, and focus on the new life path that's in front of...
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Given the length of their trip, Cal had been worried about Idri slipping up and Kyra figuring everything out, but thankfully, that hadn't happened yet, and they were about to reach the town. Kyra and Idri seemed to have found a common interest in reading, and they'd been talking about books they'd read, which meant that Caldor was being left out of the conversation, but he didn't care. He was happy to be around Kyra, and that she and Idri were getting along.
He did want to tell her about what Idri was, but every time he so much as thought about saying it, the words refused to leave his mouth. Cal was terrified of her not taking it well, but at the same time, forcing Idri to pretend to be something he wasn't was unfair to him.
Maybe alcohol would help him tell Kyra the truth. He would just have to be careful and not drink too much, or he risked saying it too loudly, and he didn't cherish the thought of having to run away immediately. He needed to rest his legs a bit after this.
It was already getting dark by the time they finally reached the town, which turned out to be situated right next to a mountain cliff and surrounded by huge, grassy fields. It was no Redreach, but it seemed quite large, with maybe over a hundred buildings, but the thing Cal was mostly focusing on was the fact that the place had a stone wall surrounding it, which meant that the only way to enter would be to go through the gate that would no doubt be guarded.
They would have to hope that either the guards wouldn't recognize them or that they could be paid off. Caldor was assuming it would be the latter.
"This isn't what I imagined," Kyra whispered as they approached the metal gate.
"It's going to be fine," Cal whispered back before putting on a mask of confidence. He could already see the guards standing next to the gate looking at him, and he needed to seem like a clueless traveler if he was to be in any way convincing.
"Good evening," he greeted them with a smile, only to be met with two blank faces.
"What's your business in Everfell?" the female guard asked, sounding incredibly bored. Good, bored he could work with. It was the male guard that was making Cal a bit worried since he kept staring at Idri.
Cal could understand how someone would want to stare at him, given how good-looking Idri was, but this wasn't that kind of staring. No, this was the suspicious variety.
"We're traveling north, and we were hoping to spend the night at a local inn." The guards said nothing, only looking them all over. "We do have the coin to pay for it if that is a concern."
He reached into his pocket to show off the silver to make his point, and also possibly to try to subtly bribe the guards, when the woman waved her hand. "Fine. There are three inns. You can find the nearest one by following the path on the right."
"Thank you very much."
The female guard looked even more irritated at Cal's pleasant smile. "Just get inside."
