The Ancients

Chapter 22

Vipin opened her mouth to ask the Nix Elf what that was supposed to mean but he turned around and stalked away from her. The conversation had ended.

She had to jog to catch up with him. His pace was faster than the leisurely stroll they used to get here. Walking with a purpose and with the length of his stride against her own she was playing catch up. When they approached the inn Ajlen and Liam looked like they had just arrived themselves. They both held bundles of clothing and were chatting quietly.

Ajlen was the one who spotted them. "Hey!" he almost held up his hand to wave but thought better of it. "Want to open the room for us?"

Vipin laughed at them, "I'm coming." She sped past Ryland, who had slowed down now that her attention was elsewhere. She followed behind them into the inn and up the stairs, letting them inside their room. Ryland followed closely behind closing the door after him.

"What did you guys get?" Ajlen asked, nodding to the sack over Ryland's shoulder.

The Nix Elf set the bag on the small table in the center of the room and the two came over to see their results.

"Not a bad haul," Liam nodded.

"Could've been better," Vipin frowned.

"Town is flooding with refugees," Liam reminded her. "You're lucky you got the farmers to trade anything at all."

Vipin rolled her eyes at the accuracy of his statement.

Ryland moved the sack to the floor and the other two dropped the clothes on the table. Ajlen looked Ryland up and down. "I hope I got the length of your pants right," Ajlen squinted at the elf who was less than half a foot taller than him. "I was sure in the store, but now that I'm looking at you, I am not so confident."

Ryland sighed defeatedly but took the dark pants the Calsolis Elf handed him. Liam gave Vipin leather pants and a long-sleeved crew neck; the pants were a dark brown and the shirt was wool and had been dyed a navy blue at one point, but it was faded now. Liam held black pants and another pale blue shirt. Ajlen had picked faded black pants and a faded red shirt and tossed a pale gray one to Ryland.

"It'll probably keep us warmer if we wear both ripped and new clothes," Liam said looking at the worn clothing they were able to secure with their coin. It wasn't like the shop keeper had charged much for them – she was just excited to get paying customers – but this was the best quality she had left on her shelves. He already felt guilty enough taking these from the homeless farmers and townspeople here.

"Didn't happen to get socks?" Vipin asked.

"What do you think we are? Monsters?" Ajlen asked chucking a pair at her chest.

It landed against her with a thud as she caught it against her chest. She looked at the small ball of wool socks in her hands and laughed. They gathered their new clothing in their arms and made their way downstairs. Asking Ben for directions to the bath house but instead he led them to another room in the back of the inn, presumably next to the kitchen.

There two stone pools – each enough to hold over six people – a small flowing stream of water in the center, that seemed to flow underneath the walls, a wash basin next to a fire on the opposing wall.

Ben nodded his head respectfully and left.

They all stripped and placed their clothes in the wash bin, rubbing soap across them and rubbing them against the wash boards. Ajlen had taken a comb, a small jar, and a bundle of wool thread out of his jacket pocket placing it on the table holding the soaps. They placed their clothes on the drying rack next to the fire and lowered themselves into one of the pools. The water was nearly hot, soothing their sore and tired muscles as they sank below the surface.