The candle-lit bar room was rammed with bodies, wall to wall. All the chairs had been taken within the first hour of the evening rush, so new arrivals had taken to standing in any bit of free space.
Ale coated the floor to the extent the hem of my dress was now heavy with it. The men reeked of sweat and ale, the room stank of vomit and ale and the unidentifiable meat stew they served, and I smelled of a rank combination of the lot from pressing myself between bulging beer guts in order to serve.
Several hands had strayed to my backside, I ingnored those. The one hand which reached for a breast had found its owners unimpressive manhood clenched in my own fingers. The whispered threat to twist and pull had paled him significantly and put him off.
No one else had dared to try their luck.
Magra's eyes had been on me all night, peering from his usual spot in the darkest corner. I made sure to always keep my eyes fixed elsewhere.
As we neared midnight, the crowd thinned down to the travellers with rooms in the attached inn and the few workers who dedicated their nights to getting wasted and earning their sleep with their heads on the sticky tabletops. At least two had already dozed off by the back wall.
I was tired, feet aching, and was ready to go home when a cloaked traveller pushed through the door. Since Enna hadn't arrived to cover his shift, I waited to serve the stranger.
"What can I get you?" I tried to keep my smile as bright as possible but it was fake and I was almost certain it showed.
"Two ales, two bowls of whatever food you have and I need a room for the week, large with two beds." His face was still hidden by his hood so I couldn't try and gauge where he was from. Clearly he felt entitled enough to present his wants so frankly. Maybe a visiting gentleman.
From beneath the bar I pulled out the leather-bound ledger of rooms. Nearly all of Magra's large rooms were free, including the only one with twin beds. I found out the little bottle of black ink and the one pen without a broken nib. "Can I take your name?"
"Tur."
"Will you be paying for the whole week up front, nightly or at the end?"
"Now." He dumped a leather purse onto the counter.
I tried not to marvel at the weight of it as I tugged open the drawstrings. I tipped it up, emptying it. Once I'd counted the correct amount I replaced the coins and returned it. "Feel free to take a table, I'll bring over the food and drinks."
He snatched up the purse and stalked to the table by the fire. Ungracious bastard, I thought to myself. It wasn't like he was the first arrogant pig I'd served, but he hadn't even bothered to say thank you. Were gratitude and manners so much to ask for?
I poured out the ales before nipping to the rat infested hellhole we claimed was a kitchen to ladle out two bowls of the stew. When I returned, a smaller figure had joined the man at the table. It was clearly a woman, I wondered if they were husband and wife. Carefully, I carried a tray over and set out their food and drinks. Neither so much as looked at me.
Now they had their hoods back, I was able to get a good look at them. The man, Tur, had golden brown skin, black hair and uptilted almond eyes. He was striking even as the distant mahogany of his eyes remained fixed on the flames. The woman was his opposite, reed thin and tiny, she had white blonde hair shorn in a bob and green eyes which were almost fever bright when compared with her companions dull gaze.
She was beautiful, striking in an elfin way. I had to force myself to walk away without staring anymore than I already had. She seemed vibrant where he just seemed...lost.
I shook it off, the uneasy feeling which crept along my skin. Enna had finally arrived, allowing me to fasten my cloak and take the deserted streets back to my rooms. Once safely inside, a fire started in the grate, I readied myself for bed. I lay back, allowing my mind to examine the abrupt stranger and his companion.
Neither were easily identifiable. I had never come across someone with the woman's stunningly pale complexion before. The man seemed more liekly to come from one of the eastern kingdoms, not that I could even guess at which. I wondered at what could have brought him so far west.
I eventually fell asleep with images of the pair still clogging up my eyes.
YOU ARE READING
Diamond Heart
FantastikAya is used to feeling alone. Considered an outcast and abandoned at birth, she has no idea who her family are. All she has are the amulet her mother left with her and the letter she wrote to explain. When the mysterious Tur'An arrives in her kingdo...
