"Nyla!"
A jolt of fear struck me, making me freeze in place, spilling a little of my newly purchased ale on my skirt. My mother's voice had an uncanny ability to force it's way through any and all noise. Unmatched by even the most skilled use of Thaumaturgy, she naturally dominated every conversation she took part in and was unafraid to abuse that power.
"I know you're in here..." she cried, as I slid under the table to avoid her detection. If Vonda's expression was anything to go by, I had a maximum of 20 seconds before mother found me between her thighs which, believe me, is not somewhere my mother wants to find her daughter.
Vonda and my mother had never seen eye-to-eye. Mam thought she was a bad influence on me, what with being a "half-breed" and coming from a "whore mother who never respected the Lunus to begin with" - mothers words, not mine. And on the flipside, Vonda thought much the same as I do about my mother: that she's a mean, vindictive and all round boring old woman.
Vonda squeezed my head gently between her thighs, catching me off guard, before smirking down and gesturing for me to make my move. I did not hesitate. I slid from between Vonda's legs and through the tables like I knew how to Misty Step and narrowly avoided detection from my mother's hawk-like eyes. I threw a quick apologetic nod Kerrith's way before slipping through the entrance and gaining my freedom once again. I could hear my mother scalding Vonda from outside the building, quickly noting that I'd need to apologise on both of their behalf in the near future, before deciding I was pushing my luck by standing so close to the inn.
I headed toward my house with a pep in my step, feeling like I owned the world, before I felt a hand grasp my shoulder.
"What's a pretty girl like you doing out on the streets so late, with nobody to protect her?" sneered a voice I was all too familiar with. Vorna's ex-girlfriend and therefore my most hated enemy: Keya Gwaelon.
It was no secret that Vorna was the strongest of our little group, with her ability to lift me like I was nothing. That being said, it wasn't that hard to lift me, seeing as I was very, very short for an Elf. Vorna had stronger muscles in her non-dominant arm than most of the Lunian guardsmen, and wasn't afraid to remind them of it every now and then. It was a large factor into why she got away with quite as much as she did. That, and the fact her mother was once held in very high esteem in Blackbridge, and some of the more open-minded - and generally younger - members of the town still thought of her as so. I imagine that was what Keya was referring to when she mentioned my lack of protection.
"Piss off Keya, I had a good night and I'm not gonna let you ruin it..." I muttered, staring at her feet and avoiding direct eye contact. As much as I hated her, I couldn't deny there was something intoxicating about her very traditional Lunian features.
"Don't be such a stranger baby, I just want to make sure you don't get swarmed by big, scary, human men in the middle of the night... Allow me permission to walk you home? You know how the streets are crawling with them now..." she whispered, matching volume with the now distant shouting between my mother and my best friend.
She wasn't wrong, unfortunately. The humans had started to create a settlement in Blackbridge, granted to them by the Queen. There was only a few of them right now, but with the amount of materials they are bringing and the looks of the men they've sent, I don't imagine it will be long until Blackbrige is expected to take on human merchants for permanent business. None-the-less, Keya wasn't exactly any better for my mother to catch me with than Vonda, and at least with Vonda she knows I'm not doing anything that could get our family name any less popular. See, Keya was one of the few that came forward about their sexuality to the masses, and her liking woman was seen as a disappointment to the Gods. She was henceforth known as the 'sin child' or the 'lady of the night, with no knight to guide her'. She was thrown out of her family home and spent the majority of her days in the brothel with the ladies who judge no-one.
