Having learnt that opening the letters addressed to herself was as simple as touching the envelopes, Coral refused to be within three feet of the stack that was waiting for her. She got up from her chair and backed away hastily. This ensured that she didn’t accidentally accept the letters piling up. The wax seal would crack open if she were to touch the letter, and as far as the Adventurer Guild was concerned, it was considered as acceptance of said letter. It was how the Adventurer Guilds still maintained some modicum of payment when the intended recipient was unwilling to accept. A steady ‘touch it and it’s yours,’ type of policy. Not that many people chose to bother the Adventurer Guilds with something as trivial as a letter.
The reverse fee was also an added insult that would have pleased her father’s vindictiveness. Particularly when it came with messages such as ‘filth’. Vaguely, Coral wondered if the pile of envelopes also contained single worded insults, or if her father had deigned to write her a more detailed and specific summary of his deplorable theories on how Coral had failed him. Judging by the thickness on some of the envelopes, she hoped he had. Purely so that her father’s hands ached from the effort. Eirek Farley’s mind unfortunately was never short of insults and veiled attempts at guilt-trips.
On refusing to take any of the letters, Crowcaller dismissed Coral and Pearl with a pleasant smile. Silas walked them back down to the ground floor. Coral followed along, her shoes feeling twice as heavy an hour ago. Instead of turning back towards the entrance foyer, he steered them down another corridor and stopped outside of a wooden door identical to six others.
“This is where you will stay for the night,” he said, turning back towards them. Silas’s eyes travelled over Coral’s face, a small frown line forming between his brows. “We’ll likely be some time and until we give our all clear, you’ll need to stay within the grounds of the guild. If you must leave, you must be escorted by another Adventurer. Don’t take Elwin.”
“What about supper?” Pearl asked, followed by a loud gurgle from her stomach.
Coral felt that pang of hunger in her own stomach. The sandwich had done little to satiate her appetite. There was also the bone deep weariness that was weighing her down.
“Only members can eat from the hall. You’ll have to go to the Dog House to get something,” Silas said. For a moment too long, he stared at Coral as though he couldn’t decide if he should keep talking or not. He hadn’t looked away to answer Pearl. Instead he kept his eyes trained on her, and Coral could almost see the thought forming behind those unnaturally bright silver eyes.
She was used to people forming assessments of her, and Coral was familiar with the judgement that lined his face. She did not meet his expectations. Coral lifted her chin a little higher, undeterred. She had her own opinion of Silas, which equated to not much went on in the brawny man’s head.
“You’ll both want to water down your drinks. The mead is strong, and it’ll knock you on your arse in one sip.”
With that, he turned and walked back down the corridor. Coral crossed her arms as she watched him leave. She was not going to water down anything. Did Silas think she was some sort of delicate doll? She wasn’t fond of mead, but she’ll drink it just to spite him.
Coral wasn’t keen to go anywhere else, but she was hungry. The ache in her stomach protested the notion of sleep. Eating would be good, and it was a chance for her to explore the Dog House’s menu. Previously she had been deterred by the raucous chatter and shouts. The Dog house would be her competition once Moonflower Inn was running, Ghouls and ghosts not-withstanding. While buying the mansion and its grounds had been an excellent idea at the time, having some foresight would have been welcome.
Coral hadn’t really considered what the implications hiding away in a small town would be. Not many people come to Direwood, it was a common enough complaint, that it solidified her decision to buy the manor tucked away in the forest. Which was great for keeping a low profile. It was also terrible for attracting customers. Coral and Pearl would have to work hard to build up a good reputation within Direwood first so that any visitor could, hopefully, be directed to her Inn.
What she really needed was a competitive edge. If Coral sampled whatever was available in the town, perhaps she could find a way to enhance it? Caspian had been right about one thing. An Inn needed to be entertaining, though she seriously doubted Ghosts would be that answering call.
While toad racing was popular within the city, Coral would rather peel her own eyes out of her head and feed them to hobgoblins before she let any form of gambling past her door. Which posed another tricky problem. There wasn’t a lot around town to do other than get drunk, gamble and fight monsters.
Pearl pushed the door open, revealing the modest bedroom within. Two single beds had been pressed up on either side of the room, with just enough space between to walk abreast. It was sparsely decorated, with thick blankets and single pillows. Having seen the type of detail that had gone into the guild, Coral would have thought it would extend to the bedrooms. Then again, the Adventurer Guild’s were not meant to house visitors. They did house Adventurer’s though. Perhaps this was for a trainee? It was clean and warm, so Coral couldn’t fault anything about the room.
There posed another problem. Moonflower Inn was terribly cold. Now that she knew it was haunted, Coral suspected that the ghosts had something to do with the temperature within. Regardless, it was going to cost her a fortune just to keep the manor warm. Thank goodness she had an abundance of land within the estate. A hundred acres to be exact. The majority of it covered in forest. The availability of wood wouldn’t be a problem, it would be cutting the tree up. Her hands hurt just thinking about the blisters she earned from clearing the driveway.
Coral dropped down on to the mattress, the Direwood blue blanket bunching beneath her as she pinched the fabric between her fingers and plucked at it.
Pearl sat on the bed on the other side and watched as Coral continued to wear at the blanket. “I thought you couldn’t squirm ever since you broke your fingers.” She said, holding up her own and tweaking the last two fingers. The same fingers that their father had broken under the guise of punishment for fidgeting. It was a true enough statement, but Coral wanted to break most of the habits her father had instilled in her.
Coral sighed, though she didn’t stop plucking at the material.
“I’m sure we will be safe in the guild,” Pearl said, misinterpreting Coral’s sigh.
“It’s not the Ghoul I’m worried about,” Coral told her.
“Your black eyes,” Pearl said, more of a statement then a question. “We should see about getting a salve for that. Do you think Doctor Thornheart would be willing to make another house call?”
“No, that’s not what’s bothering me either. I would rather go see Doctor Thornheart directly, rather than make her come out again on my behalf. She must think we’re a terrible nuisance,” Coral said.
“Probably. She wouldn’t be wrong,” Pearl said. She didn’t sound concerned about this. In fact she sounded almost bright. “What is bothering you. Is it the money? I know the letter from father was unexpected, but the reverse fee is manageable. A payment schedule can be made up, and when we have more people staying at Moonflower Inn, I’m sure we can pay the debt off in no time.”
Now that her sister was mentioning it, it did feel like several problems were compiling. Coral had never really considered those things to be problems. There was an easy solution to the things Pearl had brought up already. With a Ghoul, while abhorrent and terrifying as the monster was, all she and Pearl had to do was wait in relative safety while the Adventurer’s guild took care of it.
Her bruises would heal, with or without the guidance of a witch. The curse placed on her had yet to reveal itself. The debt could be handled as Pearl had said with a monthly repayment schedule. She had already accepted that maintaining and repairing the manor would be an ongoing endeavour, though now from what she heard, it was best to hurry to blockade any windows and doors at ground level before the Night of the Undead. The coming winter would pose a challenge to complete this before that night. The ghosts were another issue she was going to have to find a way to remove without it costing her any further money she didn’t really have.
What was bothering Coral, was how would they make Moonflower Inn a serious competitor. What would it take to have people come to Direwood, specifically to stay at their Inn?
“We need to attract customers,” Coral said, refraining from picking at the thick weave of her blanket. “And we need to do it well. What can we do to make Moonflower Inn exceptional?”
“Good wine for a start,” Pearl said seriously.
Her sister had never been one to partake in drinking, though she did enjoy the more complex flavours wine could offer. All in thanks to Coral having introduced Pearl to her first sip of a vintage wine with hints of blackcurrants and mossdrop.
“Wine is a standard necessity. So is food, nor do we have funds to hire a cook just yet,” Coral said.
“We need something for them to do. What about the adventurer’s that will come to Direwood for the Night of the Dead? Yes, they’ll have plenty of the undead to slaughter, but they may want to stay if they had something else to do. Like removing the ghosts from the Inn? Caspian seems to think a haunted building is interesting,” Pearl said.
“I don’t want to be dropped on my face again,” Coral mumbled. It would be good if an adventurer took an interest in removing the ghosts. Caspian had, though he was more intrigued by the haunting experience rather than removing them. She stopped playing with the threads of the blanket. She had dismissed the bedroom as sparsely decorated, but the blanket was of fine quality and had warmed quickly beneath her touch. “They’ll want a reward. Have you ever heard of an adventurer doing anything without being paid?”
“The guild is taking care of the Ghoul for free,” Pearl said slowly. She turned her head towards the door, cocked slightly to the side.
“Only because it’s likely to be the thing that killed the people in the village.” Coral pointed out.
There were several footsteps now outside their door. She could hear how each step differed from others. Coral realised after a moment that their were many pairs of feet, not just one or two people.
“I’m starving. Let’s go get something to eat.” Pearl said, sliding from the bed to her feet.
Coral didn’t know where she get the energy to get up, because now that she had sat down on the bed, falling asleep was all that she wanted to do. She followed her sister regardless.
When Pearl pulled the door open, they were met with the sight of five men and two apprentices strolling down the corridor. All of them were heavily armoured in scale mail, with an assortment of knives and swords strapped to them. When they stepped out, at the catch of the door they stopped and turned as one to glance back. A second was all they took to look at Coral and Pearl, eyes filled with curiosity before they bowed politely then returned to walking.
Pearl looped her arm through Coral’s and together they walked behind the group towards the entrance foyer. There, four more women waited, dressed similarly to the group of men. Though they were unarmed. From the fierce gaze they shot Coral from across the room, she felt like they didn’t need weapons. Not with eyes like that. Coral could have turned to stone under their gaze. Her fingers wanted to twitch, and she refused to look affected by them. They dipped their heads in polite greeting, though they too did not say anything directly to them.
Elwin was watching the crowd of people with a pained look etched across his face. He eyed the women, who’s predatory gazes had not missed Elwin’s unabashed longing. Coral made her way towards him with Pearl in tow.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Elwin turned his attention towards Coral when she reached him. “I’m being left behind,” he complained, thoroughly dejected.
“You’ll be safe here with us,” Pearl said in what she clearly thought were comforting words.
The two apprentices who looked around Elwin’s age sniggered. A muscle in Elwin’s cheek twitched. “I’d rather be facing the Ghoul,” he grumbled.
“We’re going to get supper across the river,” Coral told him, trying to gloss over the muffled laughter behind her back. She felt sorry for Elwin, even if she didn’t understand what drove Adventurers to seek out dangerous situations, she could empathise with being left out.
“I’ll come with you. It’s better than what’s in the mess hall. There’s never enough meat,” Elwin said, perking up slightly.
“You’ll stay right there until your shift is over,” Crowcaller’s sharp voice cut across the room as she emerged from another corridor.
Elwin slumped a little against the desk, sulking. He picked up the quill he had been using and twiddled it between his fingers before resuming his scribbling in the open log book before him. He jotted down several names, and then wrote beside it in the notes section ‘Ghoul expedition’.
Crowcaller approached them. The desk was tidier thanks to Silas earlier, but Crowcaller looked displeased to find that the there were still ink bottles, paper, and strangely, toadstools that had not been there when Coral first looked at the desk.
“Elwin, I need you to pull the files we have for Lady Seaver’s estate. Ensure you filter anything untoward before handing it to her.”
“Thank you,” Coral said. She was grateful that Crowcaller was trusting her to peruse any documents at all. Necromancy was illegal and all information was strictly kept out of the hands of the public.
“I’m not sure what information will be left. Hopefully it will be of some use,” Crowcaller said.
Silas stalked from the corridor Crowcaller had come from, now dressed in the same scale mail as the others. He looked murderous. His eyes shot directly across the foyer, straight to Crowcaller. Whatever had transpired in the minutes that he had shown Coral and Pearl to their room, was not good news. Silas remained silent as he crossed to the main entrance door. The afternoon light was beginning to dim, and the last of the light was shining a vibrant orange and pink through the window. The men and women were busying themselves with fastening the Direwood blue cloaks around their shoulders, this time fastened with chain links.
Crowcaller stood beside Coral and Pearl, watching them. “That’s one thing I miss. Being out in the field,” she said wistfully. “I don’t miss the blood,” she added as an afterthought.
“Do you not join the expeditions,” Pearl asked.
Crowcaller shook her head. “No, though curses know I want to. Being the Guild Master has many perks, but it means I must be available at all times. If I had known what I was actually signing up for I might not have taken the post. Still, I can’t say I don’t like the role.”
“How long have you been Guild Master for?” Coral asked, curious to know how Crowcaller had gone from being a renowned adventurer, to hidden Direwood village Guild Master.
Crowcaller looked thoughtful as she continued to watch the other adventurers. “It can’t be more than five or six years now.”
“The guild’s never been the same since she came along,” Elwin said, finishing up his notes in the book. He dropped the quill and shoved the book aside a little too hard, so that the ink bottle was knocked over. He swore under his breath, mopping up the ink with a cloth he pulled from below the desk.
“It was a little forlorn when I got here. Definitely a challenge whipping you all into shape. There were a few exceptions of course,” Crowcaller flitted her chin in the direction of Silas. He was pointedly ignoring them.
“Still, it would be nice to go and have some fun.”
The door to the guild opened, spilling a gust of frigid air into the warm foyer. Coral shivered as it washed over her, thoroughly glad that she wasn’t going to be spending a cold night wrapped in blankets by the fire hearth.
The two new arrivals went straight to Crowcaller. Their matching Direwood guard uniforms were very different from the Adventurer Guilds. They wore a light chainmail over thick padding, grey as the stone found along Direwood river.
“Duty calls,” Crowcaller sighed, leaving Coral and Pearl where they stood. She greeted the guards, though she didn’t bother with bowing and engaged them in a hushed conversation.
Behind them, Elwin let out his own sigh and pulled his log book back towards him. “I hate reception duty,” he mumbled, scribbling down names.
“Do you know everyone in town?” Coral asked. He hadn’t asked who the guards were, he just simply scrawled names down. There were a few neater entries listed at the top of the page, in comparison Elwin’s writing looked like chicken scratch.
“Yes. Hard not to know everyone when you’ve never left Direwood. That’s Robard Dewbraid with the beard, and Arther Stoneshaper is the fat one. Though he says it’s the uniform that makes him look that way. He forgets everyone watches him gorge himself stupid at the Dog House.”
Arther Stoneshaper looked over at Elwin Over Crowcaller’s shoulder, his eyes narrowing. Elwin grinned back at him.
“It’s important to not cause alarm to the town at the moment,” Crowcaller said to the guards, her voice raised slightly so that it carried back to Coral and Pearl. “Everyone is already on edge and we don’t need to cause panic.”
“With all due respect, if there’s a Ghoul attacking citizens then we should be enforcing safety protocols. They should remain inside while you track down the beast,” the man Robard said.
“Do you really expect everyone to stay inside for another monster lurking about? Yes, Ghouls are deadly, but so are the rest of the monsters that come across this town every week. It’s no different to every other day,” Crowcaller said waspishly.
Coral tried to not look like she was listening in to the heated conversation between Crowcaller and the Guards. Judging from the side eyeing from the other Adventurer’s gathered in the foyer, she wasn’t the only one.
“If you’re so concerned, then you should have voted for the town wall to be built,” Crowcaller told him.
“I’m not boxing citizens away from their land,” Robard said, crossing his arms. “It doesn’t keep the monsters out, and you’ll be locking us in with the undead at midwinter, where no one can escape.”
“The wall would help to keep the undead in town, rather than having to go hunting for bodies through the woods for weeks. Citizens wouldn’t stay in town on the Night of the Undead,” Crowcaller said with a hint of restraint in her tone. She sounded like she had repeated this more than once.
“I don’t have time to argue with you Robard. When Silas and his group returns, we’ll report back to you,” Crowcaller said patiently. She raised her arm, indicating for the Guards to leave. Robard looked particularly sour as he turned and left, letting another bout of crisp air into the building.
“Is Robard on the town’s council?” Coral asked Elwin.
Elwin nodded his head. “Every year we argue to put up a wall to keep the monsters out of the streets. But the town can’t exactly afford it, even when Adventurer’s pour in from all over the country at midwinter. Funding always goes to any repairs. And some think it’s caging us in.”
Coral recalled the night when giant wolves had attacked Caspian. He had escaped them by the tall wall that lined the manor. A wall would definitely be a benefit to have. Even a temporary wooden structure. She was very glad that at least her mansion had a wall to protect her, and hopefully if it could keep the wolves out, it would be enough to prevent any undead from clambering through her windows.
Silas didn’t say anything as he left through the door, followed by the adventurers. A group of twelve to hunt down a single, dangerous ghoul. Coral hoped it was enough, while she was sure they were all strong and had trained for this, she still recalled how haggard Caspian had been at the end of the fight. He was been blessed with supernatural strength and speed, and he still had struggled against the ghoul.
“Good luck,” she said under her breath, hoping they all returned whole.
“They’ll clear out the lair and check for any other hidden crevices. That manor of yours is so big it might take a few days to search every room. It’s unusual it was missed in the beginning,” Crowcaller said, walking back towards Coral and Pearl.
“Mistakes happen. I don’t mind how long it takes. Some rooms are in complete disrepair, so they may not get access to every part of the mansion,” Pearl said. Her stomach gurgled again, and her cheeks flushed a pale pink in embarrassment.
Crowcaller cocked her head to the door. “Come on, Let’s get you something to eat. I’m famished. And you stay here. I’ll know if you leave your post Elwin,” she said, her eyes crinkling with mirth at the petulant expression on his face.
“I’ve learnt my lesson. Can’t you give me a break?” He said sullenly.
“No.”
----------------------------------------
The Dog House was a large tavern, which Coral immediately understood why it was so popular besides being the only place in town to drink. The ground floor was lined with flagstones, like many of the houses here. The walls were handsomely decorated with wooden panels. A large bar sprawled across the end wall, bar stools occupied already by several patrons in the midst of drinking deeply from their mugs. The entire ground floor was open, dotted with round tables and wooden chairs in rich dark hues. A staircase lined two walls to the first-floor balcony that overlooked the ground floor, with wooden balustrades carved with wolves bearing their teeth in vicious snarls. It felt lively and warm, emphasised by an enormous hearth. Wooden arches braced the ceiling, also carved so that it appeared an occasional wolf peered down at them, each with their own movement and expression.
Crowcaller ordered from the counter with her usual. Not knowing what was on the menu, and having felt the cold from the brief walk over the river to get to the Dog House, Coral asked for soup with crusty bread. She didn’t care what kind of soup, and she didn’t bother to ask. She was so hungry that she doubted she would notice the flavour while she poured it down her throat.
Pearl was a little more selective, and took her time to read what was scrawled across a black board behind the bar.
They followed Crowcaller up the flight of stairs and to the first floor. This too was filled with an array of tables and chairs, and along the windows were plush lounges.
Crowcaller sat at one of these, propping her feet up at one end and lounged back so that her arms draped over the side of the plush red chair. They didn’t have to wait long for the food to arrive, placed on the tall table between them. Crowcaller took a gulp from her mug before tearing into a large lamb shank.
Coral barely registered that her soup was more stew than anything. It was hot and filled with potato and a meat she didn’t recognise. It didn’t matter. The rich broth filled her stomach as she spooned it into her mouth, uncaring of ladylike manners.
Pearl showed some decorum, daintily cutting into her roast beef and vegetables. Which Coral was sure Pearl was grateful that she had. Not more than a few mouthfuls in, had Caspian walked up the flight of stairs and sat down at their table.
“Crowcaller,” he said, dipping his head in a slight bow.
“Caspian,” she answered around a mouthful of lamb. She swallowed hard before going on to say, “You’re looking well fed.”
Pearl choked on her food. This comment was not considered savoury for a public conversation. In thanks to the people that sought out vampires for more perverse pleasures, it implied sexual debauchery. While Pearl was not immune to such conversations in the past, being the innocent type, she had never been privy to such remarks aimed about her specifically. Crowcaller knew that Caspian had fed from both Coral and Pearl.
Pearl had to drink deeply from her mug, which she spluttered again as it had been filled with mead and not water like she had asked. She emerged with her face bright red, and unable to meet anyone’s eyes. It was easy to tell where Pearl’s thoughts had been at Caspian’s arrival.
“Very satiated,” Caspian purred, his eyes smouldering as he focused on Pearl.
Pearl glared up from beneath her lashes at Caspian from across the table. Coral was all for teasing her sister, but there was a line she would not cross. Caspian had just crossed it. He probably wasn’t even aware that he had toed the line. Pearl’s face blazed, and she stabbed at a piece of meat with her fork.
Why couldn’t a handsome man flirt with her unabashedly like that?
Crowcaller raised her eyebrows. Thankfully she took pity on Pearl and changed the topic. “Was your trip successful then, when did you get back?”
“I got back the day before, and have since been enjoying the splendid hospitality of these two delectable ladies,” Caspian said.
Did feeding on both Pearl and Coral fill Caspian’s head with the essence of stupidity? Was he purposely trying to torment Pearl? Had he used ‘delectable’ intentionally? Coral sipped at her soup, wondering how she could ‘accidentally’ spill it on Caspian’s doublet. At least he was wearing clothes now.
Coral looked down at the almost finished broth and scooped up the last of the potato. It was too good to pass up for a little payback. If Caspian even thought about getting any form of a refund as his stay was cut short at Moonflower Inn, he would have to think again. Saviour or not. Coral would not give up a single coin to him after he embarrassed her sister.
Coral finished the last of her soup and tried hard to not imagine a mysterious handsome man making passes at her.
“I can’t say for sure if it was successful. I lost my horse to the wolves and left behind what I went out for in the first place. If I can’t track down my horse tonight, I’m going to have to go back south,” Caspian said.
“You were gone for eight months,” Crowcaller said.
“Exactly. It took so long to find what I was looking for.” Caspian said. “Southrest was the most difficult, how could somewhere be so sunny,” Caspian winced at the memory.
“What were you looking for in Southrest?” Coral asked.
“Rare ingredients for Doctor Thornheart. Sun Dust is only ever found in the south isles. Basgoil, Rotten snowdrop and Fluxroot, to name a few. I’m going to be very disappointed to have to go searching for them again. Especially for Sun Dust.”
“Wasn’t Doctor Thornheart going to look for your horse?” Coral asked, trying to recall their conversation when Doctor Thornheart spoke to her. So much had happened since then that it was hard to recall. Or possibly that fatigue was eating at Coral.
“She was. Doctor Thornheart took Silas with her today, evidentially her plans went astray. Finding the Ghoul takes precedence over some wilting plants,” Crowcaller said.
“Yes well, now that I’m no longer incapacitated, I’ll be hunting them down all night,” Caspian said.
“With the wolves still out there?” Pearl said, then looked annoyed at herself.
Coral didn’t think her sister had meant to say that out loud, as she still kept her eyes away from Caspian.
“He’ll be fine, he’s not incapacitated,” Crowcaller said through another mouthful of food. “Did you really break your arm, and it didn’t heal?” she asked curiously.
“Yes,” Caspian said, his eyes still trained on Pearl.
Crowcaller was stunned to the point that she stopped chewing and stared at him. “That’s not normal.”
Caspian leaned forward, picked up Crowcaller’s mead and drank deeply. “No. Not a lot about me is normal,” he said mildly.