The Vampire's Bride

Chapter 21

Iris had never been in a roaring town pub. Stenches of cheap whiskey and sweat wormed into her nose.

This was not her small home village: it was a larger, more popular town fifty miles away. Jason couldn't take another night in the cold, otherwise Iris would have kept them to the outskirts deep within the woods. It felt strange, alien, to walk past chaotic card tables and drinking games, with a sword at her hip. With what money she had managed to pilfer from the vile corpses of the bandits, Iris had purchased warmer clothing. Both her and Jason looked less out of place. In fact, they blended in so well that she had left him with the horse outside. The former king had recovered near completely. However, Iris refused to take him inside with her.

Her caution seemed well placed as she spotted armored guards, scanning the drunken crowd like gargoyles. Iris anxiously tugged the hood of her cloak further forwards to hide her face. The folds swept forwards to hide the hunter's ordinate sword easily.

Iris stepped up to the long tavern bar, little more than a slip of a shadow. She coughed slightly and rested her arms apon the warm and stained counter.

"What'll it be?"

Her silver eyes locked with the chesnut eyes of the barmaid.

"Where can I find an inn?" Iris asked softly. The woman swept a rag over the counter, swaying to the music played by muscians in a brighter corner.

"We have rooms upstairs. Fifty bronze," she replied. Iris shuffled around the coin pouch neatly before coming up with the clattering currency. She passed it over, looking around. "For the reasons of those Italian soldiers searching for fugitives, I need to know your name and the name of anyone with you."

Damn it. She should have just made Jason rough it out one more night.

"Evelyn and... Tobias," Iris lied smoothly, pressing with her power at the barmaid's mind. The woman seemed convinced and smiled easily.

"Second room to the right, enjoy your evening."

Iris nodded and stepped away from the counter, glancing to the side as she witnessed one of her butterflies land on the keg of ale. The damn things still hadn't vanished. If only she could figure out how to let them go. It was too cold for the bugs, so they certainly weren't natural. They were something corrupted.

And they came from her.

Iris flinched slightly as she walked into the cold dusk air. She found Jason brushing the horse, his eyes concentrated on his task. She took their pack from the horse, finding her eyes meeting his.

"Inside," she told him. He nodded and followed her in.

"A lot of soldiers here," Jason remarked. Iris agreed softly, holding tightly to his hand as they acended the stairs.

The room was small, with one wooden bed and a crooked wooden chair. Iris set their bags apon the chair and threw herself onto the bed, content with not moving for the next year. Jason layed next to her, chuckling softly. She smiled as he laced his fingers through her golden hair. Iris kicked off her boots and sighed heavily.

"I never thought that I'd miss a bed so much," she murmured, shutting her eyes.

"It's been a while," Jason replied. Iris turned her head to smile at him once more. He caught her lips in a kiss, smiling back. "I did miss seeing that lovely smile."

"I thought you weren't going to survive," Iris admitted. Tears sprang to her eyes at the very thought. Again, the visions of Adelaide boring the knife into him like warm butter flashed through her mind, and again she had his blood on her hands.