The Moon Dancer

Chapter 20

Various voices filled the busy tavern. Though it was still relatively early in the day, groups of men sat at the tables and drank cup after cup of watered-down ale. In a secluded corner sat a group of men obviously not from the surrounding area.

From their hairstyles to their clothes, they were very different from the usual customers of the run-down tavern. The bartender wisely kept the alcohol flowing with little questions of payment, he could sense these men could be very dangerous if they wanted to be.

The group of men talked mainly in whispers, not wanting others to overhear their conversations. An empty chair lay at the table as the group waited for someone to arrive.

"When is he getting here? I'm so tired from the long journey, I just want to sleep." Complained one of the men as he took a long swing of ale. 

"Calm down, he'll be here soon." 

At the man's words, a shadow fell over the empty chair. The wood made a creaking noise as the legs of the chair were pulled back and someone sat down.

"Sorry for making you wait, gentlemen. I had some unexpected business pop up."

"It's fine. Tariq, pour the man a drink."

"No, no. I don't drink anymore." Said the man as he waved away the cup. A few of the men raised their eyebrows but didn't make any comments.

"It's been a while, hasn't it-"

"Don't use my name here, you never know who's listening. My underlings only refer to me as Boss."

The foreign men gritted their teeth at the rude interruption and at the implication that they were the man's underlings.

"Understand this, Sir, we are not your underlings. We wouldn't even be here if you weren't so close to our boss. He's doing you a favor, don't overdo it." the leader of the group snarked as his tone became slightly hostile. 

"Alright, alright. Don't get so wound up." Boss smiled as he held up his hands in mock surrender. His tone quickly turned from playful to serious, "Now then, let's discuss what you've all come down here for."

"Yeah, you want that girl or whatever. A total waste of our resources if you ask me, don't you think Sa'id?" Slurred one of the men to the group leader.

"I would advise you to watch your tongue, pig." Boss growled. The foreign man snarled angrily, reaching down for his dagger.

"Enough! Our boss sent us here on a mission, and we're going to carry it out." Snapped Sa'id as he glared at his men. As much as he hated being away from the troupe at an important time, orders were orders. If they had to deal with this man to get their mission done then so be it.

"Anyways, I'm sure there will be an opportunity to get the Moondancer very soon. I have someone on the inside that will be able to help us."

"Can't we just sneak in and grab her? That seems like it'll be easier."

"No, if all goes according to plan then she'll come willingly. The only problem is that goddamn Magi will no doubt refuse to let her go. I can handle getting her, you guys just focus on sneaking us onto the first ship out of here and taking care of any guards that come after us."

"Okay, but if this takes longer than 3 days then we're forcing her to come with us. We don't have time to mess around, the sooner we go back the better." 

"Very well, but under no circumstances are you or any of your men allowed to hurt the Moondancer. And once we're on the boat then I don't want to see any of you pigs talking to her, don't even look at her."