Anastacia woke up to a knock on the door of her new room.
“Kitten, time to get up. Go wash your face and meet me in the kitchen.” Rosie half whispered from the other side and waited for Anastacia to mumble something back before leaving.
After slowly becoming a bit less disoriented by the unfamiliar room she woke up in, Anastacia started to remember arriving to Valor and how she ended up where she was. She looked around the dark room until her eyes were caught by a slight glare of light outside of the window. Slowly, she got up and stumbled over to see what it was and to let some fresh air in.
The glare turned out to be from a guard’s lantern that dangled from his halberd while he and his partner patrolled the street in front of the inn. Anastacia could see a few more such lights by the other side of the market and by the gate, as well as inside a couple of the shops nearby as their owners prepared for a hopefully busy day of business.
As Anastacia brushed her hair by the window, she could hear the two guards chat.
“Think it’ll rain today? Would keep people off the streets.” One of them asked and looked at the cloudy night sky above them. “I could go for a day without drunk idiots haggling with merchants.”
“Naw, we aren’t that lucky, it’ll be hot like always. I don’t mind having to sort out a few commotions every now and then, but they really should let us lighten the armor a bit. I can’t remember the last time I actually needed any of it around here.” The other one said.
“Some punk threw a rock at me about three years ago, wasn’t hard or anything, that’s just the closest thing I can remember.” The first guard laughed. “Oh? Is that- Heeey. ol’ Gibber!”
Gilbert greeted the guard with a rude hand gesture while exhaustedly lumbering towards the pair. “That is not my nickname and never will be, stop trying to make it happen.” He said and tapped the guard on his helmet. “What’s up? Doing some patrolling?”
“What else is there to do? You guys keep everyone so well behaved that it actually makes our jobs pretty boring.” The other guard laughed. “Heard you dragged some kid in here, you ought to stop visiting the ladies and settle down already, you’re setting a bad example.”
“I’m not trying to be her father or any kind of role model. She wanted freedom from her old life and I was able to help, she’s her own person and will do what she wants now. She just needs a few people to help her along and I’m happy to do that much.” The adventurer explained. “Besides, someone needs to keep the ladies fed too.”
“Sure thing, pops.” The guards mocked him. “By the way, since you’re already here, mind coming along for a second? The cell door is stuck again and the lad inside was supposed to be freed three days ago.”
Gilbert let out an exhausted grunt. “Fine! Let’s go…” He was clearly far too kind and easy to pull along for his own good.
As Gilbert and the guards disappeared behind a street corner, Anastacia stumbled to her wardrobe and dug out her last set of clean clothes: a light gray dress, a black leather vest, long black socks and a belt with a few pouches. Still barely awake enough to operate, she somehow managed to get dressed and headed downstairs while trying to keep her eyes open and not fall over on the stairs.
In the tavern she was met by a young girl sitting behind the counter. The odd-looking girl had hair made of pure white feathers, that continued down her neck and all the way to her wrists, though the feathers on her arms were far longer and made them resemble wings. Wearing a loose fitting pure white ruana and an apron, she didn’t look that much unlike a ghost in the dimly lit tavern. Especially when Anastacia noticed the girl’s unusually large eyes that seemed almost entirely black because of the massive pupils covering them, she gave the necromancer the chills.
The girl’s head tracked Anastacia’s movements while her giant, unblinking eyes just kept staring at the necromancer. “Who?” The odd girl finally asked, as Anastacia was about to pass her and go into the kitchen.
Anastacia tried her best to avoid direct eye contact. “I… uh… I’m Anastacia, the new waitress. A… Are you Holly?”
“Yes.” The girl answered and kept staring blankly.
“N… nice to meet you. I’ll just go see Rosie now.” Anastacia stuttered and stumbled past the counter into the kitchen.
Rosie was peering into the firebox of her stove and every now and then blowing air into it. Anastacia kneeled next to her and peeked in as well. The kindling under the few pieces of firewood was smoldering but didn’t light up properly.
“Any chance you can do a bit of fire magic?” Rosie asked and tried striking her flint a few more times.
“I’m not a mage. Necromancy has nothing to do with magic.” Anastacia pointed out. “In fact, we’re taught to think of magic as inferior, because… I don’t know, because we’re kind of assholes?”
“Really? I always figured it was magic. Anyway, could you get me that bottle?” Rosie pointed at a glass bottle on one of the tables.
Anastacia obliged and picked up the bottle of clear liquid. She swirled it around a bit before popping open the cap and sniffing it. The liquid had a very recognizable stench of strong liquor, which burned the necromancer’s nose and made her cough.
Rosie took the bottle from her and sprinkled some of its contents into the firebox. After one more strike at the flint, everything in the stove burst into bright blue flames that slowly changed into the normal orange kind as the kindling and wood caught on fire as well. “Sometimes it takes a bit of convincing to start up properly. Usually I avoid this since alcohol this strong is expensive though.” She explained and wiped the soot from her hands to her apron. “Oh, did you meet Holly? She should be by the counter.”
“Yeah, she seemed… nice, I guess?” Anastacia shrugged and glanced at the kitchen entrance to make sure Holly wasn’t still staring at her.
“She’s something else, ain’t she? Birdfolk aren’t exactly known for their smarts, but wow.” Rosie said and started wiping the tables and counters while talking. “What do you want to do? We’ll have to dismantle some chickens, chop some onions, carrots and bacon, grind coffee and fill some pots with water.”
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“Carrots!” The necromancer exclaimed. “I mean, I can do the carrots and onions, and maybe the bacon, but no chicken. Raw meat is just a bit too… familiar.”
“Alright then, your apron is on the hook over there. The knives are on the table, if you find a dull one, put it aside and we’ll sharpen it when things slow down. The onions and carrots are in the pantry there, about a sack of each should do.” The innkeeper instructed her new waitress.
After finding the ingredients, it didn’t take long for Anastacia to realize that lifting them wasn’t an option for her, so instead she dragged them along the floor, while Rosie effortlessly carried a huge pan full of water over to the stove.
The tigress watched Anastacia struggle to lift the sacks on the table and shook her head disapprovingly. “You really need to start eating better food, this is just sad to watch.” She said and helped the necromancer out.
Anastacia started chopping the carrots with precise but slow movements that were far more suited to stripping flesh from bone than anything, but since it didn’t look like she’d hurt herself, Rosie stayed out of it and let the necromancer work in peace while preparing the chickens. They were both focused on the work and didn’t even say a word until Holly suddenly walked in.
“Time to leave” She declared and stared at Rosie without blinking once.
“Already? Time sure flies while working.” Rosie laughed and handed a piece of raw chicken to the girl, who gladly accepted it. “Your pay for the night is under the counter, as always.”
The birdfolk silently walked out of the kitchen and left without saying a word to anyone.
“There she goes. I have no idea what she does with the money, or if she actually knows what it is, but she keeps coming back so I assume she needs it for something.” Rosie said turned to Anastacia. “But that means it’s time for you to man the counter, I can handle things in here on my own. While you wait for folks to wake up and find their way downstairs, maybe take a look at your registration papers? As soon as you fill and take them to the offices, they’ll activate the glass pearl you got, and you’ll be able to accept quests. Just don’t do anything too dangerous, there are far worse opponents there than carrot sacks, so start off by gathering ingredients for alchemists or something, okay?”
After taking over the counter, Anastacia waited for what seemed like ages before anyone actually came downstairs, so she had ample time to get some breakfast for herself and fiddle with the items hidden under the counter. Once some groggy adventurer finally stumbled down the stairs, Anastacia followed him to the table and actually gave the poor fellow a bit of a scare by speaking up so suddenly. The breakfast was free for anyone who came to the tavern from upstairs but only for a limited time, so Anastacia only had to ask for money from a few guards that came in to grab something to eat after their shifts, which suited her fine as she had no idea how much anything cost.
Once things had started to slow down again, Gilbert stumbled back into the inn after his nightly adventurers and sat down next to the counter. “Mornin’ Anna, working hard?” He asked, seemingly exhausted.
“Where were you?” Anastacia asked and grinned.
The old adventurer sighed and rubbed his bloodshot eyes. “My services were needed elsewhere, the usual damsel in distress type of a deal, you see.” He carefully worded his response. “Can I get a cup off coffee and whatever Rosie is making today?”
Anastacia’s grin widened. “I see, so these damsels aren’t the cooking type then? Also, it’ll cost you since you didn’t come from upstairs.”
Gilbert sighed. “That’s not how it works, the rule is that anyone living here gets the free breakfast. Rosie just said that to you because you don’t know the regulars yet.” He explained, somewhat glad that the necromancer didn’t dig deeper into his affairs.
“Look, the instructions from Rosie are very clear: you come down the stairs, you get a free meal; you come in from the outside, you pay for it. Are we going to have a problem here?” Anastacia said and waited for Gilbert to take out his purse before telling Rosie about the order.
Slowly, as the adventurers got fed and the sunlight coming in through the windows filled the room the chatter between them increased. Many who hadn’t been in last night were wondering who the new waitress was and had to get filled in by the others.
Anastacia had been slightly anxious earlier, but it quickly eased up as more of the guests greeted her and turned out to be decent folk, though slightly odd at times.
Around the time the offer for a free breakfast was ending and the guests started to return to their rooms or leave for their quests, the inn’s door was suddenly kicked open. A man clad in shining silvery armor, decorated with gold and engravings from head to toe, waltzed in and very clearly judged the room and the people in it in his head. Following him was a woman who had the hood of her pure white cloak pulled as far down as possible, covering her face almost entirely. They sat down at an empty table in the corner of the inn and placed their gear down.
Dammar, who had come up to the counter to ask for his coffee to be delivered by Rosie instead of Anastacia as a joke, leaned in and whispered to the necromancer. “A paladin of Sylvia, they act all fancy and bright, but are actually the lowest humanity has to offer. Watch your step, lass.”
Anastacia nodded and walked over to the corner table nervously. Just as she was about to greet them, the paladin interrupted her.
“Does this shithole serve anything fresh?” He asked pompously.
Slightly stunned by how much of an ass the man was, Anastacia stuttered. “Ye… yes, everything has been prepared this morning.”
“That’s obviously a lie, but I’ll take a ham sandwich and a coffee, she’ll take a bottle of wine and some apple slices, if they aren’t rotten.” He ordered loudly.
“Thank you for the order, it shouldn’t take long.” Anastacia nodded and scurried away as fast as she could, only to return a couple of minutes later with their order on a tray. “Here you go, sir.” She served them with a very obvious fake smile.
“Took your time, didn’t you? Dismissed.” The paladin said and waved for Anastacia to leave them be.
Anastacia hurried back to the counter, forgetting to ask them for the money. The pair ate while reading some books they had brought in with them and seemed satisfied by the food. After a while, the guests started to forget about the paladin and returned to their conversations. Dammar continued to pester Anastacia about the coffee, long enough for Rosie to come out of the kitchen and tell the dwarf to piss off.
But as soon as the paladin noticed the innkeeper, he threw his plate at a wall and stood up. “The cook is a beast?! How dare you serve me food made by this subhuman whore?!” He yelled and spit on the floor.
Rosie herself had no idea what was even going on and was mostly just confused, but Anastacia was already fuming. So far, she had two friends in the world and one of them had just been insulted by a pompous twat she already hated.
“I demand you hand over the beast and-“ The paladin continued but was interrupted by Anastacia slamming her fists against the counter.
Suddenly every piece of chicken bone from the plates around the tavern floated up and split into hundreds of sharp fragments, before shooting towards the paladin. Many of the smaller pieces were stopped by his armor, but the larger ones punctured it like it was wet paper and threw him against the wall hard enough to crack a few of the boards.
When the barrage finally ended, everyone in the inn looked around in confusion. Many of the adventurers had their hands on their weapons, but relaxed once they realized what was going on.
Anastacia stomped over to the paladin, gathering the bone fragments around the room into a single mass floating above her hand. “Fucking. Run.” She demanded and stared down at the confused paladin.
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As a few of the adventurers began to gather around him as well, the paladin realized that he wasn’t in a position to argue and quickly fled the scene, quickly grabbing his gear and dragging his partner out by her hand.
Anastacia let the remaining bones fall back down. “Am I in trouble?” She asked and looked back at Rosie.