Sammy pulled the mostly cooperative girl toward the now empty market place. Stopping at one of several fountains in the wide area, Sammy sat down on the water’s retaining wall. Gypsa sat next to her.
“Um, what do you want with me, ma’am,” Gypsa asked, sounding uncertain in her unease.
“Don’t know yet,” Sammy said with a grin. Gypsa looked at her with a blank expression. “First, tell me about what just happened. Who was that man? the one who grabbed your hair and stuff. Why didn’t anyone react to it, or to what I did for that matter? Who the heck was that bouncer guy, assuming he’s a bouncer, and why the heck didn’t he try to stop us from leaving?” Sammy took a deep breath. “We’ll start there.”
Gypsa stared at Sammy for a moment, her mouth hanging open. “You really don’t know?”
“Agh, of course not,” Sammy muttered as she tilted her head back to look at the star-filled sky. “ I just arrived here. My home’s a long way from here. At least,” and Sammy hesitated. Where exactly was her home anymore? The Foghorn Bridge had been home for a long time, but stupid Dista was supposed to give her a new home. She grimaced. That jerk better come through after all he was putting her through. Of course, there was Count Iona’s castle. Did that belong to her now? That would actually be kind of cool, really. So many glyphs to play with.
Sammy shook her head to clear her thoughts. It didn’t really matter, she supposed. “Well, anyway, I’m new around here. Help me out.”
Gypsa hesitated. She liked this strange girl. In fact, she felt like she could really trust her, and that scared her quite a bit because she didn’t know why.
Sammy waited. She couldn’t really go back to her room at this point, and while the night was a little chilly, it wasn’t all that bad really.
Gypsa bit her left index finger for several moments. The heavy weight of silent anticipation and expectation settled over the two.
Finally, the kitchen worker let out a big sigh. “That was my cousin, my grandfather’s brother’s son.”
Sammy blinked. “That’s too confusing. Let’s just say he’s a relative. So why was this relative being such a jerk? I mean, you’re not allowed in the dining area? And he hits you and pulls your hair, like, right in front of a bunch of patrons? Ugh, I’m getting ticked again.”
Gypsa looked away, but then looked Sammy in the eyes with a spark of defiance. The aura Sammy liked so much brightened. The arch-duchess could not help but shudder a bit in relief.
“When my parent’s died, they left the inn to me. But Danas claimed I wasn’t capable of running it because I’m a minor. The court awarded him control of me until I’m not a minor anymore.” Her eyes dropped to the ground in front of her. “It’s not fair. I do all the work and cooking and keep the finances straight and everything. He doesn’t do any of it, but just because he’s an adult, he’s supposed to be better than me. I hate it.”
Sammy nodded. “I have the same problem. What the heck is Dista thinking? Stupid jerk.”
Gypsa gave Sammy a startled look. That had sounded really childish and while the girl sitting next to her definitely looked young, for some reason Gypsa had been perceiving her as being much older.
Sammy let out a big sigh. “Well, setting aside that whole bucket of shenanigans, what you’re saying is that this guy is trying to steal your inheritance. I can at least understand that.”
“He’s not trying to,” Gypsa began to object.
Sammy interrupted her, “Of course he is. He got control by claiming you’re a minor. Now he’s working at destroying your confidence and all that by beating you and stuff. I mean, just with what I’ve seen in a few hours I can tell that much. And now he’s trying to destroy you, so when you turn the corner to adulthood he can claim that you can’t handle things on your own anyway. I’ve seen it before, well only once really, but still. Ha,” Sammy laughed sharply making Gypsa jump, “I even overheard a couple of hooligans planning something similar back home.” Sammy grinned. “It didn’t turn out well for them though. That apple to that Myst captain’s head was so worth it.”
Gypsa just stared at her, clearly not sure what to make of this strange girl.
A man’s large silhouette strode toward them from the direction of the inn. Sammy watched the man approach, quite sure it was the bouncer from earlier. She relaxed since the guy was finally acting a bit more normal that before, but then she stiffened and glanced to her left sharply.
Another man had just entered the market area from a side street. Little electric shocks raced up and down Sammy’s spine. She could sense something close to stapha emanating from him, though it felt strange, muted. She was sure it was powerful despite, or maybe because of that unnatural muting.
“Gypsa,” the bouncer said in a sever voice when his figure resolved out of the darkness. Sammy jerked because the second man had so thoroughly grabbed her attention. “Enough of this. Please return to the inn right now or you won’t be able to get the prep work done.”
“She’s not going back right now,” Sammy answered before Gypsa could. “Her cousin should be able to take care of the place on his own, right? That’s what the court decided, or so I hear.”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The large man frowned intensely at her but then refocused on Gypsa. “Danas is awake and very angry. Please, if you come back now, we can somehow mollify him.”
“Mollify him,” Sammy said, her voice dripping with distain. “You mean, for instance, let him beat her till she almost dies or something? She’s already covered in bruises, in case you hadn’t noticed. She’s wearing long sleeves and a full skirt and I still noticed.” Sammy leaned forward from her seat on the fountain’s wall. “Are you really okay with that?”
The girl did not look away from the bouncer, but the hair on the back of her neck stood at attention as the other man approached them on feet way to silent. She did not think he was hostile or anything, it was just the nagging thought that he was significantly more powerful than Jenna that made her super nervous. If he had been hostile, she certainly wouldn’t still be sitting there, that was for sure.
The big man shifted uneasily. “It’s not that easy, girl. Danas has connections and it’s not going to go as smoothly as you seem to think.”
“I doubt your right, since I don’t think it’s going to go smooth at all.” Sammy stood up abruptly and moved so she could face Gypsa, the bouncer and the other guy all at once. “That said, I am way interested in Gypsa, so let’s make a little bet.”
The mysterious man stopped a few feet from the group. He did not say anything, just stood casually. Sammy sighed. He was obviously quite full of himself, worse even than Dista, which was saying lots.
The bouncer glanced at the man, but then glared at Sammy, his frown turning into a scowl. “A bet?”
“Yep,” Sammy said. She dug in her money pouch and pulled out her two largest coins, denra worth enough to pay for her room for over a month. “Two denra says that things are going to be absolutely miserable in that inn today.” Sammy snickered suddenly because she could feel the land’s riled anger coming from the direction of the inn. “Seriously, I have to wonder if even one meal will be served properly.” She took a deep breath to quell her amusement. The silent man was making her way too nervous to really enjoy it anyway. “That said, when it gets to the point where you can’t stand it any longer, come and get us. If you don’t come, then you get the denras. However, if you do come, you have to let me do what I want.” Sammy stepped closer to the big man. “By that, I mean you will prevent anyone from interfering.”
The bouncer took a step back from the strange girl. Even though he had stapha going, for some reason he felt at a disadvantage against the child. “Gypsa, please.”
“Not happening,” Sammy once again asserted. “She and I are going to play around the market until you come and get us.”
The bouncer shuddered. He wanted to just knock that arrogant girl to the side and drag Gypsa back, but every time he tried, he just kept standing there. It was almost as if his muscles weren’t receiving the command from his brain, or were actively refusing to obey.
Sammy turned to the man standing there silently. “You’re being kind of rude, sir. What are you doing?”
Gypsa turned to look at the man and gasped, her face going pale. The bouncer glanced at the man again and then jerked in surprise as if just noticing him. His face paled to near white even as he jerked his eyes away from him.
“How amusing,” the man said, his voice velvety and pleasant to hear. Almost as pleasant as the queen’s had been. “You may call me Tane, young lady, and I am merely curious. Forgive me for being rude, but why do you think this inn you are speaking of will have such a catastrophic day?”
“It will,” Sammy declared. “I’ll sort of explain when the time comes.” Sammy grinned. “That sounds like I know what I’m doing, right?”
“If you left off the ‘sort of’.”
Sammy grinned at Tane, deciding she liked him. Turning back to the bouncer, “Well? You gonna take the bet or not?”
“I truly am curious,” Tane said. “Come mister Hawk, let’s go back to the Redoubt. Since you’re not going to drag the girl back, and this little miss isn’t going to back down, that would seem to be a prudent course of action.”
So his name is Hawk, Sammy thought.
“My lord,” Hawk said, his whole body stiffening when the man addressed him by name. Still, he beseeched the man for assistance. “Would you help me, sir?”
“My fee would be way too high for you,” the man said, his eyes boring into the bouncer. “Besides, I am quite intrigued by this young lady’s challenge.” He then smiled Hawk, and raised a questioning eyebrow as he said, “Well, if you’re going to play around here, I’ll just head over on my own.” He then began to casually head towards the inn.
Hawk hesitated, but then hurried to accompany him unable to withstand the pressure the other man exerted without even trying.
Sammy watched them go and then sat back down next to Gypsa. “Well, that actually went way more smoothly than I thought it would.” Seriously, that Tane guy was way to much for her handle. She doubted she could even escape if he truly wanted to catch her, even if he gave her a week head start. Super scary.
Hawk and Tane entered the inn behind a number of fishermen coming in for their pre-dawn breakfast before heading out to sea. The powerful man glanced around the dining area and frowned. Now that he was inside, he could sense a muted hostility that made his entire body itch. He moved over to a seat along the back wall where he could see the entire room. Hawk went to report to Danas who was sitting at the bar. A few moments of heated discussion and the bouncer moved away to sit at the front door. Both he and Danas were red faced with anger.
Danas struggled to stand and limped back into the kitchen. Even before the door shut, he began yelling at someone to get the prep work done for the day.
The fishermen had found a table to sit at and a waitress took their orders. More customers appeared as the dawn approached. Many of them were fishing crews that would head out of port as soon as the sun crested the horizon.
Bang! An excessively loud crash from the kitchen made everyone in the dining room jump and turn to look at the kitchen door. Silence fell for a long moment and then people began talking again, though in quieter tones.
Several long moments passed, but no one ran out of the kitchen yelling about a catastrophe. Tane watched the dining area, idly trying to identify the oppressive, hostile atmosphere. That aside, it seemed strange that none of the waitresses were coming out of the kitchen yet. As more time passed without the kitchen doors opening, Tane found his eyes focusing on the kitchen door. More customers entered and found seats without guidance, but still none of the serving staff appeared.
Abruptly all of the waitresses exited the kitchen in one go, each hurrying over to different tables. Danas limped out of the kitchen a minute or so later. As he exited, the door suddenly slammed back into him for no apparent reason, knocking him sideways into the closest cabinet behind the bar. The cabinet buckled and the displayed liquors crashed to the floor.
Suddenly the lighting in the dining room flared bright and then cut off completely. Blackness descended, marred by bright spots left in eyes. A cacophony of protests rose to fill the blackness as fear gripped those present. A flash of light lit the outlines of the kitchen door as another boom shook the whole building. The door to the kitchen flew open and billowing smoke lit by internal fire rolled into the dining room.
Hawk ducked out the front door and raced for the market.