“What’s it to you?” the drunk man asked. That was a rather odd question, given it was Lillia’s chair he’d been about to throw.
“Put him down,” one of the man’s companions said, putting a hand on the hilt of his sword. “One warning. We protect our own.”
“You should have protected your own by keeping him from running his drunk mouth,” Wanda spat. “Try to start a fight and I’ll make cymbals out of your heads. You’re a lot of babies that haven’t wet their swords in a real fight — or woman.”
A few people let out amused snorts at that, which only served to anger the group even further. Lillia’s expression tightened even further. She clapped her hands together and the shadow holding the man in the air released him, dropping the drunkard to the ground with a thunk.”
“Get out of my tavern. Now.”
The group of adventurers stiffened, as if strings had been attached to the tops of their heads and jerked taut. Fear washed over their features as, to everyone’s disbelief, they marched straight out of the tavern and onto the street.
Rodrick recovered the fastest, striding out the open door before any of them could even turn around.
“If you come back here without a written apology, I’ll throw you out on your ass,” the warrior said. “And don’t even think about trying shit, or Ifrit will bend you into a pretzel and blacklist you from buying anything from him.”
Reya walked up alongside him.
“Like we give a shit about some random braggard smith,” one of the drunkard’s friends said as they scrambled to their feet, desperately trying and failing to maintain what little dignity they still had. “What kind of witch is—”
“I’d watch your words carefully,” Reya said, her voice soft. Her hand ran over the hilt of Wyrmhunger and the blade purred in response, sending her a plea through their bond. It wanted nothing more than to drink from the men, to rip the life from their bodies and feed. “Don’t say something you’ll regret in the future. You aren’t past the point of no return yet, but if you say one more thing about Lillian or the Devil’s Den, don’t expect to ever be allowed back.”
That gave them pause. It was one thing to try to act cool, but completely blowing a chance to purchase from the only new smith that the town had gotten in recent times — one who already had quite a bit of attention around him — was a big ask.
The drunkard opened his mouth, but one of his friends clapped his jaw back closed. Without another word, the group turned and stormed off down the street. Reya and Rodrick exchanged a nod, and the warrior closed the tavern door.
“Show’s over,” Rodrick said with a dismissive wave. “Stop staring at me like that. I’ve got a wife. Go back to eating or being idiots.”
A wave of chuckles passed through the room and cut the tension. The silence faded away and people started talking again, quietly at first, but it soon returned to the atmosphere from before.
The shadows swirling around Lillia slipped away and her wings vanished. A momentary look of weariness passed over her features before she shook her head and plastered a smile across her mouth once more.
“That was something else,” Wanda said. “You some kind of control mage? I haven’t seen anyone forced to march like that since I served in a big guild.” Before Lillia could figure out a response, Wanda shook her head and scooped her empty mug off a table. “Actually, I don’t really care as long as you keep serving the good shit. Top me up!”
An imp scurried out of the darkness and hopped up, snagging the mug from her hands. It brought it over to the counter, where a second imp hoisted a large bottle and started filling the mug back up.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
The casual air completely returned to the tavern as everyone relaxed once again. Reya nudged Rodrick with her elbow and lowered her voice, speaking just loud enough to be heard over the commotion.
“Did you know Lillia could do that?”
“No,” Rodrick replied in the same tone. “She’s kind of scary when she wants to be.”
“She is the Queen,” Madiv said, a twinkle in his eyes. “Now I understand.”
“I think she told you not to call her that,” Rodrick said. “But now I’m curious. You understand what?”
Madiv cleared his throat. “This is no mere tavern. Lillian is creating a new kingdom, and she does it from within the deepest reaches of her old enemy. Like a parasite, she will grow and feast upon their resources until all the power is within her capable hands.”
Reya blew out a sigh. Evidently, Madiv still had a few things to work through. “I think you might have gotten a few things twisted, but I’m sure you’ll get there eventually. Just don’t go sharing that around if you don’t want to cause Lillia trouble.”
“I will not breath a word,” Madiv swore, pressing a hand to his chest. “For the time being, I will keep an eye on the ruffians that the Q — Lillian dismissed from her presence to ensure that they do not attempt anything ill advised.”
With that, the vampire swept out of the room and slipped through the door like a shadow in the night. Reya watched him leave, then shook her head and looked back out at the crowded tavern.
“It’s pretty incredible, isn’t it?” Rodrick asked. “I won’t admit this to anyone else, but I was starting to wonder if we’d ever actually get things moving. I’m happy for Lillia and Arwin.”
“Not just them. We’ve got a ridiculous amount of money now. Most of that will probably go into fixing up the street and getting some support.”
Rodrick nodded in agreement. “Momentum is important. We can’t let up now that people have learned about us in proper. But… keep an extra eye on Arwin, would you? We can’t have him working himself to death.”
“We all will,” Reya said. Something nudged her leg and she looked down to see an imp in a maid outfit holding out a mug to her. She smiled and took it from the small monster. “Thank you.”
The imp nodded and scurried off. Rodrick’s nose scrunched. “Where’s mine?”
“Over here,” Anna said, emerging from the darkness carrying two mugs. She handed one to Rodrick, then nodded to Reya. “Lillia said we should take a moment to breathe. It’s been one hectic day.”
Reya sipped from her mug. It tasted like apples. She smiled. “It damn well has.”
***
It was nighttime by the time Arwin finished in the smithy. Despite his promise, after resting for around an hour and making sure nobody else had plans of showing up unannounced, he returned to the back room and made several more sets of Wyrmling scale armor.
There was still a lot of work to do, but he was satisfied — and exhausted. He emerged from the smithy, locking the door behind him to make sure nobody got any ideas about all the gold they had in its back.
As he turned, he spotted Madiv sitting on the top of a rooftop, watching over the street. The two men exchanged a nod before Arwin walked over to the Devil’s Den and headed inside. There were only a few people still there, but he could tell from the messy tables and imps scurrying around, wiping everything down with rags, that it had been quite busy.
Reya, Rodrick, and Anna had gathered at one table and were happily chattering away, all clearly drunk. A smile passed over his lips. They deserved it after the hard work they’d put in. There was no sign of Lillia, which meant she was probably doing something in the kitchen.
Arwin started toward it, but he paused just a few steps into the tavern as he spotted a familiar face. Jake sat at one of the tables with a mug of ale and a plate of beautifully charred meat before him.
“Well, if it isn’t Ifrit,” Jake said, sending Arwin a smile. “You’ve been a busy man.”
“I try,” Arwin said. He nodded to the food. “How are you liking it?”
“Incredible. This was a genius move. I didn’t expect myself to have nearly as much fun as I am. Having fake imps in dresses serve food, the whole demon theme… it works well. Really well. That tavern keep knows what she’s doing.”
“You came by just to check on things, then?” Arwin knew the words were false hope before they even left his mouth. Jake didn’t seem like the type of man to show up when there wasn’t business to handle.
“That would have been nice.” Jake’s smile faltered and he shook his head, confirming Arwin’s suspicions and sending his heart sinking deep into his stomach. “But no, I didn’t. I’m here on business, and I’m afraid I don’t bear good news.”
“What happened?” Arwin asked. His hands tightened and he felt Verdant Blaze’s hum in his mind, hungry for slaughter.
“I came by to let you know that you were a lot more perceptive than I thought,” Jake said. He set the tankard down on the table and wrung his hands together. “Between last night and now, there were three requests to buy the land your street is on from the guild.”