“I’m really sorry, I don’t have room for you.” The Innkeeper said matter-of-factly. I put another golden coin on the counter. “Please. I’ll take a broom closet if I have to.” I pleaded with the man. He rubbed his beard as he looked at the two coins on the table. “Lady, with all due respect, help me understand. You’re looking to overpay me - by a large margin might I add - for hosting you in a… broom closet.”
His tone shifted to borderline ridicule at the end. “I’m not saying no just yet, but I don’t want my good reputation tarnished. I know that Rowdy Rumbler across the street has free beds. You could get much better service there. Especially considering your circumstances.” He motions to Malinka as he speaks. She’s been quiet ever since we entered the town and I don’t know how to feel about that because… well, that means she’s been following the plan we’ve made before perfectly. I also felt guilty about it. Whatever, I’ll unpack that later when I have time to process it
“We… Some of the guests at the Rowdy Rumbler and I don’t get along.” His eyes narrowed at that. “You two some sort of criminals? Runaways?” I felt his gaze burrow into my eyes before he quickly looked between me and Malinka. Suddenly, his eyebrows rose as he recognized the truth of the situation. “No. Hunters. Did you.. recruit her recently?” His tone was different from before. He now sounded concerned as he focused on Malinka.
She promptly hid behind me to escape the man’s scrutinizing gaze, which prompted him to focus on me again. Even if his eyes flicked to the little girl every so often. “Yes, but I promise it’s safe as long as she’s with me.” My tone was guarded as the tension in the room rose. I took a quick glance around me and noted down the shadows in the room, an instinct that came with my magic reacting to the danger I was feeling.
“Should have said so from the get go.” The man huffed before he pushed the coins back to me. “I’ll let you two use a spare room down in the cellar. It’s a bit dusty, but it should be good enough to let you two sleep undisturbed.” I blinked my eyes at the sudden turn of events. “What?”
The man looked at me like I was stupid. “I said you have a room, free of charge. A bit dusty though. Name’s Stein by the way. Welcome to the Prancin’ Horse. What would you like for breakfast? Tea and bread is free of charge, meat and eggs are extra.”
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According to Stein the room was ‘disused storage’ and ‘not cleaned properly’, but I honestly wouldn’t complain even if I could find a flaw with it. The truth is, both Malinka and I were exhausted after all of the travel to simply get here, and a warm bed with a locked door was exactly what we both wished for.
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I didn’t even realize that the room was decorated until the next morning when the sun crept in through a small window at the very top of the left wall and rudely shone directly on my face. I tried pretending it didn’t exist for all of fifteen seconds before finally giving up and sitting on the bed. That’s when I registered that this room is not quite any old ordinary ‘disused’ room.
The walls of the room were decorated. Don’t get me wrong, the artist was at most of passing skill, but I could easily tell that I was clearly looking at depictions of the great lake by the capital city of Eldorath. Another thing that stuck out to me was an easel with an unfinished painting in the corner of the room. The style of the painting and the wall was identical, so I was pretty confident that they were made by the same person.
And whoever this person was, they thought Stein was important enough to warrant a portrait. However, seemingly they never got around to finishing it. The only other noteworthy thing was a sheathed blade in a wall-mounted rack besides the easel. Whatever this room is, I highly doubt it’s just a ‘disused storage’. It all felt too personal.
Roughly a minute later I got off the bed without moving the blankets around too much as I wanted to let Malinka sleep a while longer. I took the time to get some morning stretches in before sneaking through the door to get us both breakfast.
Upstairs the inn was bustling with activity, but I didn’t have a chance to properly appreciate it. Someone moved a chair into the hallway outside our room and left a note alongside a warm cooked breakfast for both of us. I quickly skimmed the note before nodding to myself and taking the two plates inside and locking the door again.
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You both look like you haven’t eaten properly in a month, so I figured you could use some real food.
Also, the bath is two rooms to the right. Don’t worry about other guests, they have rooms upstairs. Please use it before you leave the cellar, I could smell the road on you.
- Stein
P.S. You owe me four coppers for the breakfast.
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