Flickering Creatures | ONC 2024 Longlist | ✔︎

(10) To Guide Our Searching

Daphne's umbrella pattered incessantly by the time the rest-house phased into view through the misty forest up ahead. Its windows flickered with firelight. A cheerful sign contrasted the dilapidated roof of the building, which Daphne had assured Bella and Titus "wasn't actually as shady as it looked" and was in fact quite a reputable establishment that Daphne's family had frequented during other travels. This, at least, proved true. A booming voice hailed Daphne by name the moment she pushed through the door, shaking water from her umbrella.

Daphne grinned. "Hi Aes. Do you have a room?"

A bear of a man sidled out from behind a serving counter and came to greet her, wiggling bushy caterpillar eyebrows. "Did you lose the family along the way? Feed them to the Wights? Carried off by crows?"

He winked at Bella, who decided she rather liked this man. Titus did not seem to agree. He was attempting to shrink backwards into Daphne's long hair, like that would hide him from the various eyes that turned to survey the new arrivals. Most turned back to their meals and mugs immediately, but this did not put Titus at ease.

Daphne fell into conversation with the man, who knew her whole family by name and proceeded to inquire about their health and wellbeing. Bella took the opportunity to look around. The rest-house was indeed a cozy affair. The main room featured a roaring hearth on one side, over which an eclectic and excellent-smelling array of pots steamed and bubbled. Nearby was what seemed to be a serving counter, arranged like a bar without alcohol. Perhaps a half-dozen people sat about the room's four tables. Two young women chatted with one another, but the rest merely stared into the fire or out the rain-streaked windows as they ate.

Off to the counter's other side was a nondescript doorway. Over it, an only slightly more informative sign read "Rooms" in block text. That must be where patrons of this establishment spent the night.

Titus had somehow blended into Daphne's hair, which was admittedly long and dark enough to hide him. When Bella glanced at him again, it was to find him eyeing a nearby woman's plate with a hungry, almost feral look in his eye.

Bella snorted. "Stealing food now?"

Titus startled, then sniffed and hunkered back with about as much dignity as his hiding arrangement would allow. "Given that we have not stopped for a bite since daybreak, I believe I can forgive myself for being hungry."

Bella's next jibe was stymied by the rumble of her own stomach. Titus had a point. Unwilling to let him gloat over it, Bella let the conversation lapse back into silence. Titus's eyes returned almost immediately to the woman's slice of shepherd's pie, his nose and whiskers twitching. His attention only shifted as Aes beckoned Daphne down the hallway and showed her to an empty room with a plain wooden bedframe devoid of anything mattress-shaped. Daphne thanked him.

"Will you be joining for dinner?" asked the man.

"I think so."

"I will see you when you're settled, then."

He left them alone. Titus jumped from Daphne's shoulders to her sleeping roll as she unpacked it, morphing himself into a tidy loaf against her pillow. The room was uninsulated, with walls that leaked small drafts, and a damp, musty thickness to the air. Bella shivered and fluffed her feathers. It was going to be a chilly night.

"Do you want to stay here, or come back to the main room with me?" asked Daphne when she'd finished setting up. "I can bring you both food."

"I'll stay," said Titus.

"I'll come," said Bella. The main room was a great deal warmer than this. Daphne patted her shoulder again, and Bella resumed her perch there. They returned to the main room together.