They had been travelling for a week on the rough road when Bron stopped the wagon. "Look at that. A decent road. And is that an inn?" Bron pointed ahead to where the road curved, then ended at a much wider road. At the corner of the two roads a couple of buildings stood alone. Keri stood up and stretched her sore muscles. Aeronwyn put her hand over her eyes to shade them from the sun and nodded.
"Yep. Inn. Hot water, maybe. With any luck we can trade this wagon and the horses in for some mounts. I am ready for a hot meal and a feather bed!" Aeronwyn said wistfully. "It looks pretty quiet though. What do you think, Bron? Shall we check it out."
"Yes, but let's be cautious. I don't see anyone moving around and there is no smoke from the chimney. Might be they just haven't lit a fire because the inn is empty but let's prepare in case." Bron jumped down from the wagon. "Keri, climb up here and take the reins. Rhiannon and I are going to scout ahead. When you see us waving, bring the wagon down."
Bron and Aeronwyn checked their swords and began walking towards the inn. When they got closer, they drew their swords. Bron motioned towards the stables. They larger stable doors were closed and Bron cautiously tugged on the handle of one. It opened easily. "Smells okay." he whispered. He opened the door wider and they stepped through. The stable had six horses and when they approached, the animals seemed mildly anxious but unharmed. Aeronwyn looked inside and saw there was no feed. The water troughs appeared about half full but the fact that the horses had not been fed by mid-morning was curious.
"All clear it looks like," she said, "but something is off. Six horses? Inn might have one or two only so where are the people?"
"I know. Animals not fed but still here? Not a raid then." Bron agreed.
They moved towards the inn. As soon as they opened the door, Bron stepped back and allowed his eyes to adjust. The inn appeared quiet so Bron stepped through into the common room of the inn, with Aeronwyn following quickly behind. There was no one there so Bron moved carefully to the back of the room and swung open the kitchen door. "In here, Aeron...Rhiannon." Bron said.
Aeronwyn stepped into the kitchen. Laying on the floor was a woman. She bent down and felt for a pulse. "Alive. Unconscious but alive." There was a bump and some blood at the back of her head. Bron motioned upstairs. Aeronwyn followed him. The door to the first room was open. No one was inside but they could see the bed had been in use. There were four more rooms at this inn. All but the last were empty. The last room had a lone occupant, a man who was dead. There was a sword beside the bed. "Mercenary? Perhaps a guard?" Bron suggested.
They went back downstairs where Aeronwyn tried to wake the unconscious woman. Bron opened the back door of the inn and called out, "Here is another one. Probably the Innkeeper. Dead too."
Aeronwyn reached into the woman with some healing magic and was rewarded a few minutes later with a groan. She had been able to repair the damage but didn't completely heal her so as to not arose suspicion. While Bron called Keri and the wagon down, Aeronwyn helped the victim to a nearby bench.
"My head. Gods, but it hurts!" She looked up at Aeronwyn. She had a pleasant, plump face and blond hair riddled with grey. "My husband. Have you seen him?"
Aeronwyn looked at her sadly, "We found two men dead. The one outside? I suspect that's him but you will need to confirm it." The woman held her head with one hand and cried softly.
