There were a few awkward moments of silence as the three of them looked at each other. Hreysti had switched from melancholy, to panic, to seeming anger in a few moments. Dyonaigus was trying to figure out what to say. All as Shani seemingly tried to figure out what she'd done wrong.

However, Hreysti was the first to break the silence, “What are you here for.” His voice was low, rumbling almost like a growl.

“I don’t have enough money for the food.” She said flatly.

“But why were you listening in!?”

“Because travellers have jobs for mercenaries.”

Hreysti sniffed, “Of course, you’re a mercenary.”

“It’s been my job for twenty-one years. But you don’t have money I think.”

Hreysti was about to snap some sort of retort before Dyo cut in, “Where are you from Shani?”

She turned, “From the south of the Cudesh. Inside the kingdom of it.”

“So… How did you get here?”

“It has become too peaceful for work. But I know there is a lot of fighting not too far from here. A lot of small people who need help.”

“Small… People?” Dyo asked.

“Like us. Not nobles.”

“Do you want the spare wine with the soup then?”

She smiled, “I’ll take it.”

He pushed Hreysti’s wine, soup and bread over to her. Though, the vampire himself seemed to not be relaxed yet as he eyed the woman. Those shining blood-red eyes still looking at her like she could slit their throats at any moment.

“I don’t get why you water down wine. I always preferred beer. Do you have any of that here? You have a word for it.”

For a moment Dyonaigus felt something bubble inside of him, something approaching offence and anger. “It’s the civilised way of drinking wine as m- Calsyniacus introduced it. Pure wine is only drunk on special occasions and by bar-“

His mind cleared as he realised who might be included in that old term. Something that was clearly noticed by Shani as her eyebrow raised.

“I’ve gone through a lot of life, and I already know by reputation what Emorans often say of others who do things a little differently. Did you not mean to be so rude then as you went quiet at the end?”

“Y-yes! I-I-I’m just a winemaker so I-“

“Ah! A craftsman has a very tight idea of how their product may be consumed! I understand.”

Luckily for Dyo, all of this had seemingly gone over Hreysti’s head. With the vampire not quite realising what his newfound friend nearly accidentally called him. With said newfound friend now quickly diving into his wine to recover from the embarrassment.

But by the other table, a set of green eyes were studying them. Bejewelled fingers grasping the air as its owner smirked. His temporal tendrils sensed something, something that confirmed his suspicions. So, he decided to do what he was good at. Sating his curiosity.

Dyo was deep in his wine and food now with Shani doing the same. Even Hreysti had seemingly lowered his guard a little right after the conversation started to become more casual.

Overall, it seemed to be going well despite the rough start. The muscled woman had yet to comment on Dyo’s hood or Hreysti’s complexion, seemingly just accepting it.

Life had started to feel normal despite how far away he was from what was his normal life. It all felt like the adventure he’d always been thinking about. He was sitting in a city he’d always wanted to go to and was talking to people from two opposite ends of the Terra!

He’d even be able to-

He felt a hand touch against the side of his head, his horns pressing against it from under his cloak. The hand was clearly able to feel it, with his anonymity disappearing with that touch.

And smirking at him was its owner. The tall, young and handsome white-haired man. His thumb gently rubbed against the ribs of his horn through the cloth concealing them. The man’s eyes told Dyo he knew exactly what they were and was enjoying the wave of flustered panic spreading across the demigod’s face.

“My other drinking partner has just gone up to my room and I just saw that there is quite a conversation going on here. May I join you?” The man said, his low smooth voice pronouncing all the words with perfect clarity. The accent of what Dyo could only assume to be of a noble. Though his words also didn’t seem to be in any sort of hurry, like they were lounging on a klinē.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

He could be with the prince if he was a noble! Or- Or-

Just before Dyo or anyone else could open their mouth the man chuckled, “Who am I, barging in here without introducing myself? I’m Ercole de Astoria, third son of the Duke of Namisure, a descendant of both the King of Gaulik from my father and the grand scribe Maskini of Cudesh from my mother. I hope you don’t find my status to be too lofty for any of you to talk to me.”

“N-Not at all, sit!” He choked out, giving in to the noble’s demands.

Ercole smiled, gracefully falling into a chair beside Dyo.

That smile…

It set off some familiar gut feelings again. The sort of ones he had gotten when Hreysti was looking over him when he woke up and when the noble had first smiled at him…

Ah, so that’s my taste in men…

Dyo took another sip of his wine, letting some of the alcohol into his bloodstream to quell the slight flusterment he was feeling from being flanked by Ercole and Hreysti. A small trick that was taught to him by Faustus when he first found himself stricken by the looks of someone he found attractive. “Here’s an old trick to staying casual. Drink just enough to alleviate the embarrassment, but not too much as to make any regrettable moves.”

“I’ve never met a demigod before, never mind two in a day. Pray tell, am I correct in saying that you are a vampire and you’re a son of Calsyniacus? I’m not very well versed in theology or mythology, but, considering your special features I think I’m correct in my assumptions.”

The group fell completely silent as Dyonaigus felt his heart stop.

Hreysti’s jaw dropped for a moment, only for his face to contort into a snarl, “I-I- kill you if you dare try to-“

“Well, I’m not telling anyone, and I think I’d be alright with dying at this point anyway. It’d make for an excellent tale for the bards of the promising young scholar, only twenty-four, dying after getting his throat ripped out by a vampire when he outed them and his divine friend in a tavern.”

“H-How did you-“ Dyo stuttered.

“Well, my friend, neither of you have auras that would be considered anywhere near human and that piqued my interest. Studying your friend’s face was a dead giveaway to anyone who has studied the histories of the north, or read a book on demigods and monsters. Then you, my horned friend… Your legs are certainly not one of a satyr along with your aura being too strong for one. That narrowed it down to you being a child of a few horned gods, but only one has children in the republic and doesn’t grant any other physical features. Other than the pique physique you have. So, once I felt those horns, I could quite quickly deduce that you’re a child of Calsyniacus. The god of wine and madness…” He chuckled, “Quite the fellow…”

“Not well versed my ass…” Hreysti muttered.

Ercole chuckled again, “When compared to actual experts I am but an enthusiast, an acolyte, I suppose. Though my years of study at a university filled with unparalleled experts may have warped my view of what an “expert” is.”

“A-And the auras!? What are they?” Dyo spluttered.

“Oh, you two love asking questions, don’t you? Well, among the many things I have studied are witchcraft and wizardry. These rings here are not entirely for fashion reasons and work as my magical instruments for my wizardry. While the power of magic that can be wielded by normal humans has been somewhat over-exaggerated, I can somewhat easily reach out and sense individuals with magical potential. For demigods, their auras are strong and their power’s innate to them. You’re very lucky that training a human in the arcane arts takes a fair amount of time and money at select universities and monasteries, or else the prince here would have wizard bloodhounds at his disposal.”

Shani was only just waking from her bewilderment however as her eyes flicked between the three of them. Her jaw was completely slack as she was forced to process three sledgehammers of revelation at once. “A- Sorry… You two are actually demigods!? All this time!? And you! Did you study at the University of Pandaros in Cudesh!?”

Ercole giggled, “Yes, I did! One of the three grand havens of knowledge in the world, and home to the largest library known in this corner of the planet. It’s a rather fine place. But I presume you are one of the famous mercenaries of the Blue Cudesh? Right in the very south of the kingdom?”

“Yes! And in all of my thirty-three years of living, I have not been in a situation like this, e-ever! I thought this place was going to be simple, and I was past being surprised! Where my drinking friends don’t turn out to be magic...” She sighed, muttering a few words in her language. “I should have expected this. Every time I do not expect something it happens…”

The scholar smiled, speaking a few words in what Dyo could only assume to be Cudeshian back to Shani. She huffed and said a few words back, a small smile creeping across her face.

“But suffice to say all your identities are safe with me, there’s no alliance between my house and the prince’s. Nor do I think I’d like the man if I ever met him, he seems so uptight…” Ercole sighed, “But I hope I see you tomorrow morning at breakfast and get to talk to you three interesting individuals. However, I have got a very nice local entrepreneur who is waiting upstairs for me to spend a little more time with them and I cannot leave them waiting. Goodbye.”

“Wait!” Dyo called, resisting the urge to grab the man’s arm, “Why did you come over here then!?”

The noble simply chuckled, “Because I love meeting interesting people and I hope I get to know you three.”

And then he left, returning the group back to three as Ercole strolled behind to the stairs and climbed it, giving a wink as he disappeared to the next floor.

Silence fell over them for a moment as no one knew quite where the conversation was. With everyone tucking back into their food to ignore the awkwardness passing over the moment.

A thought seemed to pass over Hreysti’s face, “Did we make sure to get two beds in the room?”

Dyo thought for a moment, “No… I don’t think the owner told us if it had one or two.”

“You’re taking the bed if it’s one, I’m fine with the floor.” He snapped back.

“No, you’re taking the bed! You’ve been sleeping on the streets for weeks, didn’t you say!?”

“I’ve gotten used to it...”

“And now you can finally have a real one!”

“I’m fine.”

“You sur-“

He was cut off by a loud laugh coming opposite them from Shani, “If you argue like that, you should share.”

Share? Why-

“You-!” Dyo spluttered, his face flushing a deep red as Shani only laughed even harder. All while Hreysti was still trying to track what had just been said.

All up until a moment when his parchment white skin started to flush too with a burning red as his eyes almost seemed to glow, “I’m taking the ground, that’s it! Nothing else!”