A Whole Bunch of Loki's

Draugr - Part Two - The Bride

When starting my shift that dreary evening, I hadn't anticipated just how my life would change within a mere hour of him walking in, seeking refuge from the torrential rain that battered again the roof of our small establishment.

Due to this, the night was unsurprisingly quiet and we had next to no patrons, meaning that when he walked in with an air of authority and confidence, it was hard to ignore him.

He took up a far corner in the tavern, a worn book laying atop the table, his finger travelling down the page to follow where he was reading.

I found myself hypnotised by him, unable to tear my eyes away.

Never had a man this handsome taken shelter in our bar, he looked out of place and to me it felt beneath him.

We were not a well-to-do lot in this village, the ones getting by best appeared to be the farmers who could sell their crops to outer sources for better benefit.

The local farmer's son, who had recently become a regular, and I had struck up a friendship and I wasted many nights talking with him as he sat nearest the bar, it had become a tradition for him to venture in after a long day's work and to rave about the day's happenings as I stood behind the wooden counter, wiping down goblets and tankards while laughing at his stories.

Unfortunately, he had seemingly disappeared seven months ago, never to be heard from.

Theories were thrown around for the first two months, talk of him venturing between villages and getting lost and other stories about him leaving silently with a traveling merchant's daughter all floated around and yet, it seemed as if no effort was made to attempt to find him.

As if the people merely accepted that he was gone and that was that, evening his father and uncle barely batted an eye when he was mentioned during their visits.

It was disconcerting that I appeared to be the only one who missed him.

"Oi, take that to the stranger in the back."

I looked to my boss then down at the goblet of red wine he had set beside me.

"Of course."

Giving him a nod, I set aside my drying rag and delicately plucked up the goblet, being sure not to spill a drop as I made my way around the bar.

I managed to make it to the table with barely any leering from the few other patrons, though it wasn't anything I hadn't gotten accustomed to during my time working there. It could be disgusting and fights had broken out about it in the past but luckily, I had reached the point of working there for so long that I was effectively old news.

"Here you go, sir."

He looked up from his book as the goblet clunked on the table, a youthful smile brightening his handsome face.

"Ah, excellent, thank you very much, ma'am."

"Don't mention it, if you wish for a refill merely hold the goblet up and one of us shall notice."

"I suppose you would," he hummed, looking around the room, "considering how quiet it is tonight."

"Yes, the rush of merchants and travellers has settled, so here we are."

"I shall take note of when and when not to visit."

"As you should, it's a nice little place when things are calm."

"And the other times?"

"The other times are as rowdy as you would expect a bar to be when full of conflicting personalities."