Dragons Rising ✔️

Ch 53: Dinner and a Show

"What is your name?" Farot asked, extending his hand to me.

I took it with my uninjured left hand. "Ella."

He kissed my hand in the same way Garavues had, then let go of it. We walked towards the stable doors.

"The tavern in this inn makes very good roasted flame. Have you tried it?" He asked.

I shook my head. "We only just got here. I haven't had the chance to try anything."

"I will buy some for the both of us while we talk."

I was taken aback by the sharp frigidness of the air coming in from the outside and took a second to reply. "That sounds great." I'd never liked the cold very much, and being out after dark in Ferentis was more than enough to make me shiver.

I tried not to, though, and I picked up the pace as we went around the stable to the inn's front door. Farot seemed unbothered by the cold. As soon as we got inside, he led me to an unoccupied table in the corner and sat down. I sat across from him, glad that he'd chosen a table by the roaring fireplace. It seemed to be the only source of heat in the tavern.

A second after we sat down, the barman came over and asked Farot something in Ferish. Farot said something back, then the barman went back behind his bar and through a door I assumed led to the kitchen.

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought everyone was shaming you. He didn't do the hand brushing thing."

Farot held a finger to his lips. "I did not tell him my name. He would make me pay more if I did."

"Right."

"When did you start to think you would leave Lykela and come here?"

I shrugged. "A few months ago, when I first heard about you."

We went back-and-forth for a while, him asking me a bunch of questions about how I came to be in Ferentis and me answering them mostly with lies. Eventually, the barman came over to our table with a large platter and two glasses of a darkly colored liquid.

After he set them down on our table and left, I inspected the platter's contents. There were over a dozen dumpling-shaped things covered in a thick, dark substance that reminded me of our drinks. I poked at one of the things on the platter and discovered that it had four stubby legs.

"Try the legs," Farot suggested.

I cautiously cut off one of the dumpling-creatures legs and speared it with my fork, trying to pretend it was only galhok meat. With a forced smile at Farot, I took a small bite off my fork.

It was like sticking multiple lemons and hot peppers in my mouth at once. I immediately spit it back out, but the taste stayed in my mouth. It seemed to be growing in intensity. I grabbed my drink and took a long swig. Then I spit it out again because it tasted as acidic as the dish. There was nothing that resembled water anywhere near me, and I got a bit worried that I would never get the acidic burning taste out of my mouth.

The roasted flame dish on our table caught on fire. Farot and I jumped up. I managed to fall backwards over my chair and end up with my left arm in the fireplace. I immediately scrambled to my feet and started beating out my now-smoking sleeve.

The barman had rushed over and was drawing a rune in the air with his wand to put the fire out. Quite a few other patrons were staring at us. I tried to pretend that nothing at all interesting had happened, but even after the barman put out the fiery dish, it still smoked terribly. It also looked like a pile of charcoal.

The barman gave me a sour look, then he marched off, muttering something in Ferish.

"Why did you not tell me you were a paltor?" Farot asked, seemingly unconcerned about our ruined dinner.