Erivale: The Lost Princess

Chapter 3: Part 2

By the time we had made it to the town of Creighton, it was well into the night, and I found myself dozing off into a light sleep while holding onto Ulric.

Seeing him fight today had instilled a sense of safety that was likely dangerous in itself. How could I allow myself to trust a foreign man who I had only known for two days? On top of that, he was trading me in as his bounty, whether I wanted to go or not. Thankfully for both of us, I did, in fact, want to go. No, I needed to go. I had to uncover my past and understand what was to be my future. I knew so little about this world.

This was the longest I had ever stayed in Erivale, and I also wondered if I would ever be able to find my way back to the human realm. I had been gone for quite some time; would my parents be concerned? Would my art teachers still grade my finals? What was to become of the life I already have?

I was awoken from my sleep and roiling thoughts as Ulric lifted me from the saddle and began to carry me towards the front door of what looked like a small, medieval inn. Although medieval architecture is pretty much modern architecture here.

"Thank you, but you can put me down." Now that I was awake, it was no longer necessary for him to carry me. With a grunt of understanding, Ulric set me on my feet and walked ahead.

"Stay close," he grumbled. I was immediately colder without the warmth of his body, and I found myself missing his embrace. With a frown, I struck that idea from my head. I had one, maybe two more days of Ulric, at most before he would disappear. Then I would never see him again. He was banned from these lands anyway. Which also made me wonder why we were entering an inn of all places--it seemed like an easy place for him to be spotted.

As the door to the bar opened, the pungent scent of alcohol washed over my senses, and the din of loud chatter and drunken music cascaded over my ears. The main floor of the inn appeared to be a bar. It was quite dark, making it difficult to make out the individuals around me.

Gerard followed closely behind me, his hooves sounding much louder than Ulric's and my footsteps on the wooden floors. Taking another look around, I noticed a few Fauns and Satyrs around bringing large mugs of ale to their lips. There were actually quite a few different races within this bar. While the majority was obviously elves, I also spotted a Centaur, a Minotaur, and a Garuda with a Lilitu tucked under his wing.

Ulric went up to the bar counter where a female Elf in a dress traditional to a tavern maiden stood. Her breasts were practically spilling over the top of the dress, and her black hair shone under the firelight illuminating the room.

"A room please," Ulric growled in his gravelly voice and tossed a small leather bag of coins onto the counter. Without a second guess, she opened the bag, counting out the money and then slipping it into a leather bag around her hips.

"Follow me." She walked us up some creaking stairs to a hallway of doors. As we passed, I could hear some unusual sounds coming from behind some doors that meant intercourse. I blushed and hurried faster after the apparent innkeeper that doubled as the tavern maiden. She opened the door to a room with one single bed and a washbasin with fresh water.

"One bed?" I looked at Ulric, unsure of how the sleeping situation would shake out.

"I may be a brute, but I'm still a gentleman. The lady shall have the bed."

I rolled my eyes. "Ulric, you and I both know I'm far from a lady." A small smile quirked the corner of his lips.

"Either way, get some sleep. I will be back later. Feel free to bathe if you'd like as well, although there are no spare changes of clothes." He headed toward the door.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"I must check on something," he muttered.

I wanted to press him further, but he was out the door before I could get in another word, and I sighed in annoyance. Now it was just Gerard and me. "I can help you prepare the bath, Amberleigh," he offered.