She walked into her room and looked around before walking over to her bed and dropping her pack on the floor next to it.

It’s not the nicest place I’ve ever seen, but it’s not bad. At least it doesn’t smell like sweat.

The same could be said for the inn as a whole. It was clean and well-kept and not as expensive as she had expected. With a cost of ten copper a night, it was only twice that of the roadside inns, and considering they were in a city, it seemed rather reasonable.

I wonder how much the other inns cost?

She left her room and locked the door behind her, heading back down the stairs. She found a table to sit at while she waited for her friends who were still upstairs for some reason, and a barmaid walked over.

The woman was young with long brown hair, brown eyes, and light brown skin. She was wearing a simple dress that showed more cleavage than usual, though not an excessive amount. Anna noticed part of a tattoo on her left breast though she couldn’t tell what it was. The woman reached out and touched Anna’s hair, rubbing it in between her fingers.

“How did you get it like this?” she asked.

“Magic,” Anna replied.

The barmaid got a confused look on her face.

“I’m a mage. It’s a spell,” Anna added.

“Oh, well, it’s really pretty,” the barmaid replied.

“Thanks,” Anna said.

“So, can I get you anything?” the barmaid asked.

“No, I’m just waiting for my friends,” Anna replied.

“Alright, just wave me over if you change your mind,” she said.

“Wait, there is one thing,” Anna replied as the woman started to walk away.

“What is it?” the barmaid asked.

“What’s your tattoo of?” Anna asked.

The woman grinned and looked around the room before pulling the top of her dress down, causing her modest breasts to bounce free. On her left breast was a large three-masted sailing ship that looked like it might be a warship, and on her right breast was a much smaller two-masted schooner.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“They’re amazing!” Anna replied.

“Thanks!” the barmaid replied.

She pulled her dress back up and adjusted it to cover herself back up.

“I have a few more, but I’d have to strip to show you, and the innkeeper would fire me if she caught me doing that,” she added.

“That would be bad,” Anna replied.

“Yeah, this is a great job I’d hate to lose it,” the barmaid said.

She turned and walked away, heading to the bar where she went behind the counter and sat on a stool. The barman, who’d been so engrossed with cleaning the mugs that he hadn’t noticed her flashing Anna, just grunted when she asked him how it was going. Anna’s friends walked down the stairs a few minutes later, and she noticed that they were wearing clean clothing.

So, that’s what took so long! Wait, was I supposed to change too? Fuck it. I’m just dusty, and this city smells like a barrel of fish that’s been left in the sun too long anyway.

She got up and met them at the door.

“So, where to?” she asked.

“Gonna find a good tavern and get a bite, then whatever,” Thokri replied.

“Sounds good,” Anna said.

They left the inn and started to walk towards the main road, looking for a place to stop. She noticed a sign that had two fish with human-looking arms and smoking pipes in their mouths boxing one another. She simply walked over to the tavern and pushed the door open. Her friends followed after when they noticed she’d walked away from the group.

The tavern was smokey and smelled of stale ale and sweat. Sailors smoking pipes and drinking ale filled the room while barmaids wearing lowcut loose dresses rushed around, refilling their drinks. Anna headed for a table, swatting a few wandering hands away as she passed by the crowded tables. She sat down, and her friends joined her once they made it through.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

A barmaid swished to the table and leaned over, spilling her ample breasts out of her dress. Anna ignored them and looked the woman right in the eye.

“I want fish!” she said.

The barmaid laughed.

“Honey, we got all kinds of fish. You’ll have to narrow it down,” she replied.

Anna pulled a few silver coins from her coin pouch and held them out.

“I want some of everything, all the other kinds of seafood you got and cooked in all the ways you can, got that?” she said.

“Yes, of course! Anything you want!” the barmaid replied.

She took the coins and rushed away from the table.

“And bring us some good ale!” Anna added.

“Yes, ma’am!” the barmaid replied.

When she looked back at her friends, she found them staring at her.

“What?” she asked.

“Don’t what me! You just ordered everything!” Lyreen replied.

“I’m going to share!” Anna said.

“That’s not the point!” Lyreen replied.

“Then what’s the point?” Anna asked.

“You didn’t ask if we wanted any seafood before you got all of it!” Lyreen replied.

“If you don’t want it, get something else!” Anna said.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want it! I, I’m just saying you should have asked first!” Lyreen replied.

“Uh, why are you always like this?” Anna asked.

“Like what?” Lyreen asked.

“Like this!” Anna replied.

“What does that even mean?” Lyreen asked.

“You’re complaining about buying you food. I mean, come on, who complains about free food that they are going to eat because they didn’t get asked if they wanted free food beforehand?” Anna asked.

“I’m not complaining about free food!” Lyreen replied.

“It sure sounds like you are to me!” Anna said.

“STOP THIS NONSENSE BOTH OF YOU!” Barika shouted before slamming her fist against the table.

“Sorry,” Anna said.

Lyreen huffed and muttered something but didn’t argue.

“Thank you for the food, child,” Barika said.

“You’re welcome,” Anna replied.

The others thanked her as well, and Thokri patted her on the back. This seemed to annoy Lyreen even further, so Anna just decided to ignore the elf until she got over it.

I still don’t get why she has to be like this! I mean, I was just being nice, and she had to find a way to pick a fight with me! She even got Barika to yell at me! I hate it when she yells at me!

The barmaid brought a tray full of ales over and passed them out.

“Some of it will take longer, so I’ll just bring it out as it gets done if that’s alright?” she asked.

“That works for us,” Anna replied.

The barmaid nodded then walked away, ignoring a table full of sailors trying to get her attention.

“Looks like we have our own server today,” Barika said.

“Aye, lass probably figures she’ll get more from us than the lot of them combined,” Thokri replied.

“She will,” Anna said.

“I thought you weren’t going to tip big anymore,” Lyreen said.

“I’m never giving a little girl a silver again, but something tells me a stable hand wouldn’t get the better of that woman,” Anna replied.

Thokri laughed.

“An orc would have a hard time with that lass,” he added.

“She certainly seems like a handful,” Voekeer said.

“Those things were way more than a handful,” Elaine replied.

“That depends on who’s hands we’re talking about,” Barika said.

Here they go again, being weirdos. Uh, Elaine doesn’t even like women, and she’s going to start up about that barmaid’s looks. I wonder why she does that?

She took a drink from her mug and made a face.

“Bitter!” she said.

“Aye, it’s the good stuff,” Thokri replied.

“Bluh!” Anna added.

“Bah! Quit yer bellyaching! Good ale’s supposed to be bitter,” Thokri replied.

“No, it isn’t! Black ale isn’t bitter!” Anna said.

“We ain’t talk’n about black ale. We’re talk’n about ale here, lass. Not the same thing,” Thokri replied.

“Bah!” Anna said.

“Bah she says! Look here, black ale is made with shrooms, and this here is made with barley. They ain’t the same thing,” Thokri replied.

“I know that, but it’s called ale!” Anna said.

“No, it ain’t! That’s just what humans call it! The dwarven name means black drink that’ll kick you in the teeth!” Thokri replied.

“It does?” Anna asked.

“Aye, it’s a word from ancient dwarven. That’s why ya didn’t know,” Thokri replied.

“And whose fault is it that I don’t know ancient dwarven?” Anna asked.

“Look, I already told you I can’t teach you that without asking the old farts first,” Thokri replied.

“Aye,” Anna said.

“I thought you were going to adopt her or something. Wouldn’t you be able to then?” Lyreen asked.

“I was, but she turned me down,” Thokri replied.

“Why would you do that, child?” Barika asked.

“Because I don’t want to lie,” Anna replied.

“I told you it wouldn’t be lying,” Thokri said.

“I’m not an orphan though. My father is still alive!” Anna replied.

“And I told you it don’t matter if he’s still living if he abandoned you,” Thokri said.

“HE DIDN’T ABANDON ME!” she shouted.

The room got quiet, and everyone turned to look at her. She sat there trembling until Thokri reached out and touched her hand.

“Easy, lass. I didn’t mean nothing by it,” he said.

“I know,” Anna replied.

The barmaid walked back over.

“Would you like something else, sweetheart?” she asked.

“Yes, please,” Anna replied.

She picked up Anna’s mug and whisked it away. Everyone sat in awkward silence for a few moments before Voekeer started to fidget.

“So, uh, what did you all think of the ship?” he asked.

“She’s a two-masted gaff-rigged schooner, so she’s going to be plenty fast, and with such a shallow draft, I’d say she’ll be able to visit just about any port she wants to,” Anna replied.

“I have no idea what you just said,” Voekeer said.

“Okay, well, the ship we are going to be sailing on has two masts,” Anna replied.

“I got that part,” Voekeer said.

“Right, and the gaff-rigged schooner part describes how the sails are put on the ship,” Anna replied.

“Okay, so how is the sail put on the ship then?” he asked.

“Well, schooner means that the ship is rigged fore to aft along the keel, and gaff-rigged means that the sails have four corners, and it’s controlled from the top. Oh, and the head by the spar is called a gaff,” Anna replied.

“Uh, right, so what about the draft part?” he asked.

“Well, draft is how much of the ship sits below the waterline, so saying she has a shallow draft means that there isn’t much,” Anna replied.

“Oh, I get it. So that means it can sail into ports where the water isn’t so deep,” he said.

“Exactly,” Anna replied.

“So, why don’t all ships have a shallow draft?” Lyreen asked.

“A ship with a deep draft is faster and does better in rough waters,” Anna replied.

“Oh, I get it,” Lyreen said.

“Honestly, it’s a give and take with ships like anything else,” Anna replied.

“So, child, what kind of ship would you buy if you had the choice?” Barika asked.

“A three-masted bark,” Anna replied.

“What is that?” Lyreen asked.

“Well, let’s see…” Anna replied, explaining to her friends what a three-masted bark was and why she wanted one.