We finished up our discussions with Durdan just as the sun was disappearing below the horizon. Durdan, unenviably, had more work to do before he was allowed to turn in for the night, so he dismissed Kala and I so he could get it done before dawn at the very least. The man honestly had the endurance of a freight train if this was his daily schedule, and I hoped that he at least had a day or two out of the week to relax a little.
Kala and I left the keep and entered the main part of the town again. Stopping on a street corner for a moment, I turned to her to ask a question. “So, should we go find them now, or wait for tomorrow?”
She tilted her head slightly in thought. “Hmm, well, at this hour, I'm fairly certain they are all in the same place. It would probably be easier to get them all together for this right now.”
“Alright, sounds logical. Not too late in the night, so I can delay rest for a little longer. Want to get a drink while we’re there?”
“Maybe one.” She said with a smirk before taking my hand and pulling me along.
She kept close to me as we moved through the streets, the chilled air of night already settling in over the landscape. The streets were lit by crystal lanterns, the iridescent rocks shining brightly in the dark. There was an increasing amount of evidence that we were approaching our destination, mostly in the form of some individual staggering through the streets. I always found it interesting to witness a drunk Valus. The serpentine people were much steadier than us two-legged people when it came to moving while drunk, but their slithering pattern was wild and varied, sometimes almost looping back on themselves before correcting their heading.
It was shortly after losing sight of the Valus that we came upon the den of raucous noise that was the local tavern. The place was packed to bursting with the soldiers of the coalition, as it had been nearly every night since the takeover. Honestly, I was surprised the place still even had alcohol to sell considering that some of the larger species could drink damn near a whole barrel of the stuff before passing out. I suppose that being an agricultural center means you have a lot of leftover food and goods in storage, and it also helped that after the first day the officers put a stop to simply stealing the alcohol so the business wouldn’t be destroyed by rampant looting. The soldiers had to pay for their drinks, much to their initial vexation.
We stepped through the door to the establishment and were met with the familiar scent of stale beer and sweat so thick you could sample the drinks before even ordering. A soldier’s default mode in a social setting amongst their peers seemed to be boisterous. Conversations were loud, physical, and usually invoked a variety of curses said in jest.
The only exception to this was a small group of resident Thrainians sitting in the corner of the room, nursing their drinks, and trying not to draw too much attention. At least the soldiers were leaving them alone, only giving occasional sneers in passing before returning to their group. Maybe they were learning to be tolerant, or maybe there was an officer or two here that would have chewed them out if they started a fight. Whatever the case, we had our own business here, so Kala and I started combing through the sea of faces in search of some familiar ones.
We moved through the crowd slowly, and luckily most of the people here were too drunk to notice who I was. While skirting by a particularly loud table, my eyes fell on a quartet sitting down in the back of the room. Otar, Jorn, Hargon, and Velian sat at a table, talking over their drinks, and enjoying their time off.
I grinned while nudging my way through the crowd in their direction. About halfway to them, Hargon noticed me and sat up a little straighter while waving. His actions drew the attention of the rest of the table, and they all welcomed us with smiling faces. When we reached the table Hargon greeted us heartily.
“James, you’re back! I take it things went well with your trip? Evening Kala, you look lovely as ever.”
Hargon may have been a mountain of cream-colored fur and muscle, but he was an agreeable sort and easy to get along with, even if he did talk shit with the rest of us at times. “Yeah, as well as it could have at any rate. I still think that maybe there was more that could have been done, but when I try to think about what, nothing comes to mind.”
Otar leaned in over the table. “If you couldn’t think of anything, that just means there was nothing more you could do. Honestly, what else is there? Were you going to adopt the child? Drag her along behind our army as we match into battle?”
I sighed in admitted defeat. “No, I know that wouldn’t be feasible, and it would have been completely unfair to her. Logic just isn’t helping me feel better right now though.”
“Well then, how about beer?” Jorn chimed in jovially. “Beer always makes me feel better.”
That made me laugh, improving my mood quite considerably. “You know, that might just be a good idea. However, before we start getting drunk, I’d like to have a word with everyone. Where’s Holdrem and Ulthises?”
Velian was quick to answer my question with a pointed finger. “Over at the game table. We actually have a running bet on how long it will take for Ulthises to get caught cheating and thrown out. Want to join in? They’ve been at the table for about twelve minutes at this point.”
I followed his gesture and soon found the pair sitting down with four other people, two Nactren, one Ulgor, and one Trelnval. The serpentine form of Ulthises was particularly noticeable as his earthy scales coiled below him to form a spring-like seat. They appeared to be playing a card game right now, and a smirk grew on my face at the thought of what was to come. “Twelve minutes huh? Damn, don’t imagine he’ll last longer than ten more before he tries something.”
“You want in on the pot then? Three coppers.” Velian asked, revealing a small pouch that jingled with coins.
I gave a shrug before answering. “Sure, why not. I can get a drink and we can all kill some time while waiting. Put me down for twenty-three minutes then.” The bet amount was removed from my personal store of coins and handed over. After the bet was secured in the pouch, Kala and I ordered a drink.
We all sat together, drank, caught up on what’s been happening, and watched Ulthises while keeping time. This was a nice way to unwind after several long and stressful days. It was about the time when I finished my drink that we all heard the signal of the end of our bet.
“You damn sneak! I saw that!”
“What?! I didn’t do anything.” Ulthises tried to deflect the accusation to little effect.
The Ulgor stood up from his seat with an enraged look on his face before stomping around towards Ulthises. Ulthises tried to skirt away but was seized by the tail. His tail was lifted to eye level, which revealed a few cards that were stuck to the underside of the appendage.
“Then what in the pits is this!?” The disgruntled Ulgor said with an accusatory finger point.
“Uhm, someone dropped some cards and they got stuck to me?” Ulthises’ excuse was not accepted.
“You’re done. Help me get him out of here.” The Ulgor hefted his lengthy tail while the other members of the table, nix Holdrem, grabbed another part of his body to carry him towards the door.
“Hey, hey, come on now, we can talk this out! There's no need for this.” His words fell on deaf ears as the crowd was parted to allow for the eviction of the cheater.
Our table was laughing at the helpless guy as he was carried out like a particularly long rug. “What’s the time?” I asked.
“Thirty-one minutes.” Velian answered with a slightly disappointed tone.
“Yes!” Otar celebrated with a fist pump, apparently having the closest bet. He received the pouch of coins with a victorious grin on his face as he tucked the money away.
After another good-hearted chuckle at the whole situation, I directed everyone to follow the Valus on his involuntary trip out of the building. Holdrem noticed all the movement coming from our table, and seemingly just realized that Kala and I were there. After the initial surprise, he gave us a smile and a wave. After returning the gesture, I motioned for him to follow us as we all formed up and moved towards the exit.
Despite his complaints and struggling, Ulthises was firmly in the grasp of the angry gamblers as the front door was kicked open. After hauling the couple meters of Valus out into the open, they all gave a heave ho and tossed his body into the street. Ulthises landed with a slap in the road and the gamblers dusted their hands before meandering back inside.
Ulthises simply laid there on the ground like a sack of potatoes, staring up at the night sky. We approached the hapless noodle, and I leaned over him into his line of sight with a smirk. His eyes widened a little bit in surprise before launching into a greeting while still prone on the ground.
“Oh, hey James! Didn’t know you were back.”
“Hello Ulthises, I see you still haven’t learned your lesson.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“I can’t help it man! I just feel a rush whenever I pull it off and it’s just so much fun.”
“Even if it lands you in the gutter more often than not?” I questioned him with a raised brow.
“Part of the risk, part of the fun.” He answered with a long-faced grin.
I chuckled before offering a hand to help right himself. “Well come on then mister risk taker, I want to ask you all something and I need you upright for that.”
“Oh? Well, I'm interested.” He accepted my hand, and I helped pull him to an upright position again.
Now that he had most of his body underneath him again, and everyone was lined up for the conversation, Hargon spoke up. “So, James, what did you want to talk about? Must be something important if you are coming to us this late in the day.”
“Yeah, actually, it is important.” That got their attention, and they all became a little more focused on the conversation. “We just came from a conversation with Durdan, and he’s planning to send me out to gather support for our cause, hopefully gathering an army right alongside said support as well. So, the question I have for all of you is, how do you feel about getting a promotion?”
They all raised a brow or two at me and that question. “Promoted?” Otar asked.
I nodded. “Yep, it turns out that I am in need of a personal escort of soldiers to keep up the official appearance. So, if you are at all interested in wearing some fancy clothes, receiving a pay raise, and following me into the darkest pits of bureaucracy, then the offer stands ready as you are the first to come to mind when I thought of potential candidates. What do you think?”
My group of friends looked around at each other for a moment, faces of consideration reflecting in each of their visages. Finally, Jorn looked back at me with a slight smirk on his lips. “How much of a raise?”
I could detect the bit of humor in his voice, so I returned his smirk with one of my own. “Pay is one silver a month.”
That made them all recoil a little in shock. “A... a silver? A month?!” Jorn exclaimed with wide-eyed surprise. His reaction was understandable and amusing. After all, most soldiers usually get paid around ten coppers a month, with slight variations for rank and extra for seeing combat, so I was offering to quadruple their income. Ten was a little low for a living wage, but considering that meals are provided for, it probably came out to be a pretty good deal
Velian shot his hand up straight, bringing his total height to about my shoulder. “I’m sold! By the pits, for a silver a month I’ll wipe your ass for you.”
That struck me as hilarious, and I burst out into laughter before giving a very emphatic answer of: “No, thank you. I would prefer not to be traumatized every time I need to use the bathroom.”
“Hey, I got a gentle touch. You’d barely even notice I was there.”
After another round of laughter that slowly died down to a light giggling, Hargon spoke his mind next. “Jokes, and pay, aside, I would be willing to assist you. You’re a friend, and this seems to be a worthy course of action. Count me in.”
I gave him an appreciative smile and nod in acknowledgement before turning my attention to those who had yet to give feedback. Jorn threw his good hand around his brother’s shoulder, pulling him in close. “We’re definitely in. Still owe you for saving our necks, so this is the least we can do.” Despite somewhat being roped into it, Otar nodded along in a unified front with his brother.
Holdrem nodded at me next. “I would be more than happy to aid you in this. We certainly need to strike while the iron is still hot in this situation, and the word of the goddesses chosen will certainly be a powerful motivator.”
Finally, Ulthises gave his thoughts on the matter. “Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Better pay, safer, staying with people whom I enjoy spending time with, yep, I think I’ll be joining you as well.”
I gave an appreciative smile to them all. “Thank you, all of you, however, I'm not sure about that safer part. I’m probably going to have to step on some very powerful toes if we’re going to make any amount of progress. Attacks are probably going to come from the shadows, not in the open. You’re all going to have to carry yourselves differently, act formally in the presence of important people, and be aware of dangers that might not be immediately obvious. Are you still alright with that?”
Even with the out given, they did not budge in their position. Jorn even scoffed at my offered escape. “You’re not going get rid of us that easily. Sorry to say, but you sealed your fate with this one, cause now you’re stuck with us.”
“Oh damn, I just realized how big of a mistake I’ve just made.” I said with mock horror written on my face.
There was a round of chuckles that went around the group for a minute before Holdrem posed another important question. “So, what happens now that we’ve accepted the position?”
“Now, you’ll report to Durdan’s office tomorrow. He’ll get you set up with all your new equipment, some lessons on how to conduct yourselves, and a more in-depth explanation of your duties.”
Otar nodded along before chiming in. “Sounds good, but before we lose all our time to work, how about we get one more drink, celebrate our promotion, James’ return, and the future defeat of Alathos!”
All of them seemed to be in enthusiastic agreement with that plan. Despite my plan to simply have one drink, ask them if they wanted to join my mission, and then get some sleep, I ended up being roped into their plans due to the sheer energy of the group. We all ended up back in the tavern, though Ulthises made sure to stay well away from the gambling tables right now. Well, I guess having one more drink with everyone wouldn’t hurt anything, right?
We did not have just one more drink. They planned on having a pint for everything they wanted to cheer about individually. That came out to a lot of alcohol. While I very well could have simply refrained from participating so heavily in the celebrations, it was hard to deny them when they were that insistent. Also, I was having fun, a first in the last several days. So, we drank, we joked, we laughed, and at the end of it all we stumbled out of the building singing loudly a song I didn’t know.
Kala and I danced through the streets to the serenades of our group, if you could call our flailing and tripping movements that, with large smiles on our faces. The rest of our group had to separate from us part way back to our house. We all had our own version of a slurred goodbye to give before everyone went to seek out rest.
I don’t know if I would have cared if there were people outside our place, but luckily, I didn’t have to because there was no one there. Kala and I staggered inside, leaning against each other while giggling and having fun swaying side to side. Once in our room, my back hit the bed with a flop and a loud sigh.
“Wow, I'm exhausted.” My voice was airy while exhaling the words.
Kala laughed before coming up to the bed and leaning over me with a teasing look on her face. “Oh dear, is my lord feeling alright?”
I quirked my brow at her for a second. “What are you... Oh fuck me! I forgot, I'm a damn lord now! Uuuuuggghhh.”
Another round of giggling came from Kala as she leaned in and nuzzled into my neck for a second. Her breath danced across my skin for a second, sending a brief shiver up my spine. Her mouth came up to my ear and she whispered very sultrily into it.
“You know, I’ve never lain with a lord before.” Those words were immediately followed by her tongue as it lapped at my earlobe.
She was really getting my heart racing now. I gave her a smirk. “You’re getting feisty now, huh? So soon after we just got your scales back to normal?”
“Can’t help it if I'm attracted to a man with a title now, can I?”
My face was buried in my hands, muffling my words slightly. “Kala, please have mercy, I’m going to die of cringe at this rate.”
She was having fun, as evidenced by the continued mirth that escaped her. “Well then, why don’t I try to make it up to you.”
Suddenly she was sliding down my body in a half drunk half lazy fashion. Her goal was made clear when her hands latched onto the hem of my pants, sensually tugging it downwards. I couldn’t help the smile I gave her as she slowly undressed me. Feisty indeed. I guess sleep is just not an option tonight.
And what a night it was. Apparently, those few days we were separated, coupled with several pints of alcohol, were enough for her to get seriously pent up. She was ravenous, and we only ever stopped because she was starting to suffer from overheating, a rare happening considered their natural temperature.
The following morning, I awoke feeling both rejuvenated and exhausted. Last night was wonderful for a variety of reasons, yet those same activities that made it so pleasant also robbed me of many hours of sleep. My head was also thumping a little as the hangover from the other night finally caught up with me. I groaned while shielding my eyes from the light of the window.
My noises and movements ended up disturbing Kala out of her slumber. She groaned and pulled the covers over her head, hiding from the light like I was. With a weary sigh I made an attempt to talk to her.
“Are you regretting last night too?” My voice came out very quietly, trying not to aggravate the hangover.
“Hmm...” The sound of contemplation was heavy from her side of the bed. She was clearly taking her time measuring the pros and cons of our escapades. “Half regret, half pride.” She finally said while removing the covers just enough for her smirk to be visible.
That got a light chuckle out of me. “Sounds about right. However, the regret might start weighing more heavily on that scale because we have to get up and start preparing for our next step.”
The covers went back over her head. “Nooooo, not moving, no do anything, sleep more.”
I rolled over and moved closer to her, so our bodies were touching. Her caveman speak was always entertaining, but there was much that needed to be done so it was time for the ultimatum. “Well, if you really don’t think you can get up, I won’t force you. However, I have to go, so you’ll be on your own for a while.”
She let out a sigh. “Can’t you magic away the hangover or something?”
Her question made me scoff in amusement. “It’s possible, however, I'm not a doctor, at least not officially, and I really don’t want to mess with chemical balances in a body, especially since it isn’t clear just what normal would be in that regard for you. If there is even the slightest possibility that my actions might cause you harm, I'm not going to risk it. You’re far too valuable for that.”
“Trying to butter me up so I’ll slide out of bed easier?” She asked with a pleased smile on her face.
“Can’t I just give a compliment to the woman I love without any hidden motives?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. You are awefully devious at times.”
“Ahh, you wound me, I am wounded by lies and betrayal of the highest order.”
We both indulged in some laughter after that before releasing a content sigh. My eyes wandered her body for a moment, and I spied the beginnings of the change in color on her belly. I let out a ‘tsk’ sound before speaking again.
“Unfortunate how we just managed to get your scales back to normal and now they're lighter again. Honestly not too big of a fan of signaling our romantic activities to the world.”
“Why? You embarrassed to show just how successful you are at courting a lady?” She wore a teasing smile.
I gave some mock consideration. “Hmm, half embarrassed, half proud.” Turnabout was fair play after all as I used a variation on her own words. It succeeded in making her giggle at the very least. “Besides, more often than not it’s you who are jumping me for some late-night wrestling.”
She gave me a sultry look. “True, but you take control in the moment so well.”
I gave her a little boop on the snout. “Alright you little flirt, that’s enough out of you. I’m getting up now, and if you’re coming then you should get ready too.”
Kala let out a sigh. “Alright, alright, I'm coming. Gods only know what trouble you’ll get into without me.”
“The gods don’t even know the half of it and fuck them besides.”
She rolled her eyes, accepting my hatred of all things deific in stride now. I got dressed and Kala sought out some water to splash on her face. We would eat, and then seek out Durdan and the others from our group. It was time to prepare for a diplomatic mission.