All Adventure Begins with Tragedy

Chapter VI: And so Speakith the High Queen!

"Ya gotta get up! Ya gotta get up! Ya gotta get up in the morni-oof! What was that for?" Drew said looking at the pillow- err- rock I had thrown at him. The pillows in the inn were not the softest for sure.

"You did kind of deserve it Drew," Eliza said as innocently as she could manage. It didn't work.

"Oh! Who's side are you on? His?" He gestured at me as if I was some kind of cockroach.

"Oh shut up, just get ready," I said jokingly. He walked off mumbling what sounded like dire threats.

Eliza got ready as most woman do, of course, neatly and meticulously brushing her hair and putting on make-up. Drew and I simply patted our hair flat and strapped on our weapons. Twenty minutes later we sat on the beds staring at each other.

"What the heck takes woman so long to get ready?" Drew mused.

"Dunno, but it is kind of ridiculous," I responded.

Eliza walked into the room looking exactly the same. We both looked at each other in exasperation.

"Okay! You ready now?" Drew asked trying to sound cheerful.

"Yeah! I've been ready for a bit now," Eliza said. Drew and I just shook our heads and walked out the door.

We walked down to the gate we had come in from. There were four gates, we had come from the north.

When we arrived, Drew immediately asked, "where do we enlist?"

"What?" One of the guards replied stupidly. Drew snorted.

"I think they maybe, might, kind of, want to join her royal 'ighnesses army?" He sounded as sure of himself as a mouse is sure of himself when about to be squished.

"Nooooooooo.... we want to become flying monkeys," Drew said maybe a bit to rudely.

And of course guard 1 hopped back in on the conversation by saying, "Why ask us then?"

"Never mind, where is the recruitment center please?" Eliza asked sweetly.

"Enter the town square from the north, turn left, and you will find it behind the Drunken Dragon, an inn, you can't miss it," both guards answered in unison.

"Thank you!" Eliza bid as she fluttered her eye lashes excessively.

Drew rolled his eyes.

We all tramped towards the town square. It only took about twenty minutes to walk there. It was a large open space with a nice garden at the center. Shops lined the circle- literally hundreds of them. Musicians played there hearts out. Fire-breathers displayed their talent. Sword swallows, clowns, tight rope walkers, dragon riders, they where all their. Live stock roamed behind the shops in small pens, there where many butcher shops. We ignored it all and looked for an inn named the Drunken Dragon. We soon found that the town center had a few different layers. The center was the one with the attractions, the dividing ring was that of the shops and livestock pens. Then there was a second layer of shops and livestock pens that faced away from the center garden as opposed to facing it like the other shops. The final layer was the permanent structures like inns, bars, smitheries, and more bars.

I will never understand the fascination humans have with bars.

In that outer layer we found the Drunken Dragon, and sure enough behind it was a squat structure with a symbol of two crossed swords over its doorway. A single clerk stood behind an old woodendesk, piled high with trinkets, papers, and other random paperweights and such.

"Hello, how may I be of assistance?" He asked almost automatically.

"We would like to enlist in her royal highness's army," Eliza asked politely.