They embraced each other.

“It’s good to see you,” Tiberius whispered, but loud enough that we could all hear him. Then the queen and Julia greeted each other. Then finally Tiberius introduced us and she introduced her son, Hektor. He appeared to be of our age, had dark curly hair and dark eyes. We went to the dining room, where we sat down at a table filled with exotic foods. Some I’d never tasted before. The grown-ups started reminiscing while we – the younger lot – ate in silence. It was surprising when I heard the queen had prepared the meal herself. Everything being so informal, I had trouble grasping I was sitting next to a queen.

After dinner Tiberius and Julia remained in the villa. We pledges and Atia were told to go to a tavern nearby, where they had rooms waiting for us. Hektor was our escort. During the walk Hektor questioned us about this and that, but he didn’t seem interested in hearing the answers. When we came to the tavern, he said:

“Here we are! Find the barkeeper and she’ll give you the keys to your rooms. You’ll have to excuse me now, Vetulonians, I have some urgent matters that need my attention,” he blushed.

I suspected this urgent matters of his was some girl his mother didn’t know of yet. He smiled nervously, then awkwardly bowed and ran away.

“What an odd creature,” remarked Flavia.

“He ran to some girl. Let’s go inside,” I said, feeling tired from eating too much food. The inside of the tavern was dark, noisy, smoky and loud. People were drinking, singing and playing cards. The smell of wine and beer, mixed with smoke, was everywhere. We managed to wriggle through the crowd to the counter where they served drinks.

“I need to speak to whoever is in charge?” I said to a tall, older blonde woman with flashy blue eyes and an enormous chest. I was struggling not to stare at it.

“Oh, you do? What for?” she barked at me.

“We were told you have some spare rooms? We’d like to rent a few.”

“I do, but those are reserved for Frida’s guests. That’s the queen, you know? And those rooms are for Vetulonians!”

“Well, we’re them.”

“You are?” she glanced over me. Only then she noticed the Vetulonian silver wolf embroidered on my chest. She frowned and looked at us with suspicion.

“You’re awfully young!”

“We’re pledges…. Of the Cohort… Our Lord and Vicelord are staying with your queen and we’ve been directed to come here.” I sighed and to ease the mood, grinned, “Will you have us?”

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“Oh, that makes sense! But of course! Follow me!” she grabbed a candle holder and off she was.

We followed her though the crowd, who at that point stopped doing whatever they were doing and stared at us strangers. We climbed the narrow dark steps to the upper floor.

“There are three chambers, so you’ll have to share. If you'd like something to eat, come down and I'll serve you dinner. Here are the keys,” she handed them to me. Once again, she stared us down, smiled and mumbled to herself.

“Vetulonians… They’re just children!” and walked away.

I took a slight offense to her comment, but didn’t take it to heart. Alena’s realm was a matriarchy, and some of my peers couldn’t even grow a full beard!

“So, Otho and I will share one room, Flavia and Cecilia another. You Atia, can have your own den. Would that suit everyone?” I then wiggled with the keys, not sure why.

“Yes, that would be fine,” Atia answered and the rest nodded their heads in agreement. I handed out the keys and we all went to our chambers. The room had a fireplace, which was already lit, a small window, two beds, a chair, a small desk and a big chest. Otho and I opened the chest and dropped our traveling bags in, then closed it and sat down on our beds.

“So, what will you do for the next three days? I’ll just rest. It’s been a long journey so far,” Otho yawned.

“I have much to do. First I’ll send some letters, so I must find a post office. Then I’ll visit the Temple of Alena. It’s more of a museum than a place of worship. Then the library, to browse through scrolls and books, can’t wait for that!”

“Ha ha, Antonius, you book worm you!”

“After that, when the day is over, I’ll get drunk and mingle with the locals. Perhaps spend a pleasant night with some local girl,” I winked at Otho, while he rolled his eyes.

“What?” I yelled. “We’re Vetulonians, we’re something new, exotic even. Why not have some fun? You could use it too!”

Again, he rolled his eyes and then lay down, as did I. I tried to meditate, but it was too warm in the room. The fireplace was too large for such a small place and it wasn't even autumn! I stood up and opened the window, then the shutters. The fresh air burst into the room.

“Such odd glass they have here,” I tapped on the strange material. It wasn’t glass.

“What is that?” I asked myself.

Otho got up from the bed and looked towards me.

“What else could it be?” he frowned.

I kept tapping it until it came to me.

“It’s pig skin!” I yelled, happy because I solved the mystery.

Later I went for a downpour in the hygiene room down the hall and then to sleep. The bed, although small, was quite comfortable. I looked forward to tomorrow’s day.