Carved by the Gods

The Promise

The sleepy town innkeeper welcomed Maya and I in with open arms, telling us how happy she was we could find our way here. Her smile was a little too bright for my taste, it seemed almost too good to be true. Maybe my guard was too high up, being in a strange new town. SHe provided us a room with one bed, it was piled high with beautifully woven cloth blankets and a fur that looked foreign to the land. Maya dropped her pack on a small wooden chair in the corner and gazed longingly at the bed.

"You can take the bed Maya, I'm gonna stay up for a bit and have a look around." I said, shrugging.

"But it's dark out." She argued. Her eyes widened as she thought I was going to escape.

"Emo blinka raun ostof auda graun! Emo gada loufa in!" She snapped. From what I could gather from the Trig she had spat at me, Cage had eyes all over, and something else I couldn't figure out.

"Spies. Bellamy. He has spies. For all we know that innkeeper could be one of them." Maya whispered. I hadn't thought about that. Cage would have to keep tabs on us, he mentioned that we couldn't escape, that he'd come after us.

"I won't run off. Don't worry." I said, shrugging on a red cloak and clasped it with the golden circlet that had a ruby in the center. A blood ruby. Someone had to die for the cloak to get its red color. I shuddered and threw it off as soon as I realized. Maya glanced at it and gave me a look, her brown eyes held something dark within them, like she knew whose blood it was.

"I'll be back soon, don't worry. I wouldn't jeopardize your freedom." I said. I turned my back to her and headed towards the door, Maya sighed, the bed creaked as she lay down on it. The innkeeper was doing a room check a few doors down, her blue eyes met mine, they seemed nervous but she plastered that smile from earlier on.

"Hello! Are you doing well in your room?" She asked brightly. I nodded and ducked my head as I started down the stairs near our door. But I stopped and looked at her, she had long blonde hair pulled halfway up with a golden headband, much too expensive for an ordinary innkeep to have, her chiton was a deep brown with green detailing on the edges, also too expensive. Unless she knew a skilled seamstress who could work her magic with dye. Like my mother. She tried to teach me how to dye cloth using crushed flowers and beetles, it was messy and frustrating, but she got through to me eventually.

"Know any good bars around here?" I asked.

"There's a tavern three doors down." She said quickly. She scampered down the hall after that, as if she were scared of me, or nervous to be seen for too long. But I trusted her advice on that tavern, so I headed down and out to the dirt road. The small town of TonDC was lit by torches and oil lamps, as if to tell visitors they were welcome at all times, their small homes were built of stone and rock, the bigger buildings had beautiful masonry done by people clearly talented in the art of stonework. Maybe even metal work. The tavern was three doors down like the innkeep had said, it had dark and light grey rounded stones plastered into walls, two large doors, and shutters that were opened to let the smell of malt and hops. The scent was delicious and inviting, rich, toasty carobs, and herbal spice with citrus and flowers. I opened the front doors as quick as I could and seated myself at their wooden counter, I let myself relax for a moment before taking in my surroundings. Men and women alike were seated at tables enjoying a late night meal, some at the counter having a casual beverage with their friends, chatting about life, marriage, children, how would the Gods feel about the rumors going around the land. I ignored the rumor because it didn't interest me. What was the point in worrying about the Gods if they didn't give a damn about me?

"What'll you be having stranger?" The bartender asked. He was tall and gangly with brown cropped hair, his dark eyes were warm and friendly, he smelled like plums and pine, an odd set of spectacles rested on the top of his head.