Seduction of a Princess

Chapter Twenty-Two

Hurray for chapter-in-a-day! And on a national holiday nonetheless!

I'm very happy with myself right now, very proud that I managed to write this chapter. It was awful--I hate writing dialogue with too-little T in it, because it is hard to do and you have to force every line. But I am actually quite content with how it turned out.

Learned something about different kinds of dialogue as well... I think...

You enjoy!

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          “I don’t know much, but…”

          The man brought down his wine. He stared at Terrance, who was staring right back, both conversing in some kind of manner June did not understood. She didn’t see why he would waste his time on this guy. He was no different from the last three drunks they had fed some drinks before discovering they actually didn’t know much of anything—even worse, this one had already admitted that, twice! But still, he was sitting here with them, drinking the wine they had bought for him.

          They had moved to a corner of the taproom, where it wasn’t as noisy. It was a bit darker and a lot smellier though—the stench had made June gag, and she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to use her nose anytime soon. Like something had died there… two weeks ago. But Terrance hadn’t seemed to mind it, actually to prefer it. Only few people sat here, so they were alone to talk without being overheard. The way he liked it.

          June didn’t know how, but he had managed to get a steady flow of people going; if one drunk was sent away, it never took long before another one took his place. Somehow, they knew what Terrance wanted, and what he was willing to give in return. She actually admired the efficiency of this system. It was a good way of getting things done… had it been that any of these people actually knew anything.

          “So what do you know?”

          In his voice, there wasn’t even the slightest hint of annoyance. Either Terrance really didn’t mind talking to these people, or he knew that rushing them would do him no good, but June admired his composure.

          The man hesitated for a second—of perhaps he just couldn’t remember anything anymore, due to excessive alcohol consumption, June couldn’t tell.

          “Well… I think that I heard something… somewhere. But I’m not sure what…”

          “If you get sure, you just give us a signal, will you?” he said, calmly. With the fingers of his right hand, Terrance played with a coin, showing great dexterity as he twisted and turned it in rapid pace. With a smile, he gestured the man should leave. A lot sooner than he usually did, June noticed.

          “No, wait. I didn’t mean that. I didn’t mean I didn’t know—just give me a second, will ya?”

          “Take ten.”

          As the man started to search his mind for anything to say, Terrance turned to June, a smug expression on his face. This one would talk, it was obvious just from the werewolf’s smile. Terrance knew he would talk.

          Something that interested June. Of course it did. She wanted to hear about this mage, and even about this Maya, if she had to. But… after having seen this smile at least two times already, she found her interest quickly fading as the man took another sip of his drink. She looked around the room, wondering about how much longer this would take. An hour? Two? Even more than that?