{-Beika-}

The music carried through the Lost Lamp Inn, a peppy tune with optimistic lyrics, as she went around talking to guests. She had a tray of food in one hand, a guest’s ordered pint of beer in another, and a confident stride to show the balancing act had long stopped fazing her.

“Enjoying your stay so far?” she asked the patron, a smile as she sat down their order.

“You’ve got quite the arrangement here,” the patron mused in response. “I can see why they say this place is so popular.”

“Might I ask if that means you’ll be willing to come again?”

“Definitely. Room and board all in one place, and in this good of a spot? You’ve got yourself a deal ten times over!”

“Aw, thanks! And be sure to tell your friends, too!”

Beika, now having a free hand, waved goodbye and went to find the next patron. Along the way, she picked up a finished group’s tray to save her the trip later. She conversed with other patrons along the way, mostly in rehearsed responses; they might’ve thought they were the first to ask but, really, she had an answer to nearly every question patrons might ask.

“Who’s that kid with the lute?”

“That’s my brother, Titham! Really talented, right?”

“Yeah. I was wondering if he’s looking for a new opportunity. You know, out of this tavern.”

“Nope! He’s content with staying right here. It’s where his family is, after all.”

She gave that answer confidently—he’d told her before, possibly dozens of times. He didn’t like change, or people. She’d seen for herself that he lost all confidence the moment he had to talk to a stranger.

Occasionally, she’d also hear questions like, “The person running this place—it’s Serafina Luca, right?”

“Mhm, that’s my mother! She’s the one that made those paintings. Oh, and she plays the piano sometimes, too.”

“Where’s she now?”

“At the counter, see?”

“Why’s she got two kids doing most of the work for her..? This place should be successful enough that she could hire a couple of people if she wanted to.”

Beika never dwelled too long on the answer, but still said brightly, “I don’t know! But it’s not that we don’t like it. I, for one, love being out here! It’s nice to be able to talk to people and help my mom at the same time.”

She tried not to stay for any one group for too long so, at that point, she’d always leave that group as well. She wandered around, talking with more people, making note of requests for food or drinks, offering reassurance to Titham whenever she passed him.

Today wasn’t going to be any different than the rest. She thought that even after hearing the bell signifying someone opened the door; her hands empty, she went up to greet them.

One was older than her, with short red hair and an outfit kind of similar to what the Palus nobles wear when they came to the border talks; the other was much younger, pushing a bit of icy blue hair out of her face and glaring at whoever looked back at her. It looked like she was wearing a seal pelt. Maybe on the richer side, Beika decided, not nothing too out of the ordinary. Serafina would probably be happy to know they spent some time here, at least.

She started to wonder otherwise, when she got close enough to hear their conversation.

“We should just go up and talk to her,” the kid said. “We can’t stay here for long.”

“I get that,” the Palus noble reasoned, “but that’s not going to do us any favors. We can’t just drop out of nowhere. Not anymore than we already are, anyway.” They stopped when they saw Beika coming up to them. Brightly, they asked, “Are you one of the servers here?”

Shaking off an uncertain feeling, Beika nodded. “Welcome to the Lost Lamp Inn! I’m Beika. Are you looking for a room, or maybe something to eat? I’ve got a bit of time so I can probably help you out!”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“We need to talk to—“

“Imena, not now.” The Palus noble, much louder, said to Beika, “We’ll see what you have to eat, if it’s not too much trouble! We’ve been traveling for a while now, it’ll be nice to relax for a little bit.”

Beika nodded and gestured for them to follow her to an empty table. “Could I get your names? For the order.”

“I’m Enebish,” the Palus noble said, gesturing to themself. They gestured to the kid and continued, “This is Imena. She’s an old friend of mine.”

“You’re just going to call her a friend?” Beika asked before she really thought to stop herself. “She looks young. She’s not like a cousin or niece?”

Maybe she could claim to be checking for other reasons; there were a few bad people who found their way into the inn, too, after all. But that thought had never crossed her mind. In all honesty, she was just curious.

“It’s none of your business,” Imena mumbled in response. “At least not for now. If it were up to me, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation…”

Enebish, as they sat down at the spot Beika gestured to, said thoughtfully, “A smile’s going to go a long way, you know.”

“Do you expect me to smile when we’re on a time-sensitive mission? One that’s very obviously a serious issue. Explain to me how that makes any sense.”

“Well, for starters, it makes us look friendlier. And gets Beika here to stop staring at us like we’re planning to rob someone.”

Beika hadn’t even realized the way she must’ve been treating all of this. She rushed to say, “O-oh, I’m just a little curious, sorry! We can just move on, if you don’t want to talk about it. The menus are right over there. Does anything look interesting?”

Enebish thoughtfully picked up one of the menus and looked through it. Imena didn’t even bother, grumbling something like, “This is stupid.”

“I’ll have whatever you’d recommend, actually,” Enebish decided. They pulled out a couple of coins—silver ones, so they really were a noble—and set them on the table. “Will this be enough? For that and a glass of water for Imena.”

“I don’t need anything,” Imena mumbled. “You know I don’t need to eat.”

Beika, to save herself the trouble of trying to understand it, simply chose to ignore Imena’s statement. “Alright, I’ll be back with those right away.” She gave a quick wave goodbye and went to the counter.

She talked to a couple of people along the way, of course, but just mentally set aside their requests for now. They’d claim to give equal service to everyone but, well… when someone shows up with a handful of silver coins as if it’s pocket change, that person takes priority.

When Beika got to the counter, she immediately prepared to relay the order to Serafina. Instead, however, Serafina asked a question of her own.

“Have you seen what those two want?” She gestured, vaguely, to where Enebish and Imena were.

“Yeah, I went and showed them to the spot. They asked for—”

“They didn’t say anything to you, did they?” Serafina had a serious look, one more out of caution than aggression. It was what made Beika realize this might’ve been a little more serious.

“Not really..? It sounds like they want to see someone, but every time Imena asked, Enebish interrupted her. They didn’t really say anything to me specifically…”

She didn’t think there was enough of an answer in there, but it seemed to give Serafina all the information she needed. “I’m going to walk back with you.”

“Are you going to get the order..?”

“If I can help it, they’re not going to stay long enough to enjoy it. No use in even giving them the option.”

Beika hesitantly nodded and, with Serafina’s prompting gesture, led the way back to Enebish and Imena. The two were having a hushed conversation, up until the moment they saw Serafina.

Imena, for the first time since arriving, almost seemed happy. “Are you Serafina? Coincidentally, we need to talk to you…”

Enebish, meanwhile, was more solemn—they gave a grim nod. “Do you have some time to talk with us..?”

“I’m not hearing anything you say,” Serafina decided firmly. “I want you out.”

Beika couldn’t quite believe it. There were only a few people Serafina turned away, and these two didn’t appear to fall into those categories. “M-Mom, why would you—”

“Because the longer they’re here, the worse things are going to get,” was Serafina’s simple answer. To the other two, she said, “I want you out of my inn. I have the right to force you, you know—I’d advise against making a scene.”

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Enebish asked. They slowly stood up, though it wasn’t to leave. “You know you can’t ignore it.”

“Our goals are the same,” Imena agreed. “I’m not here because I’m bringing them to you. I’m here because they’re coming, no matter what you do, and I’ve been asked to keep you all safe. You might think you’ve made yourself a haven. But snakes can still find their way into a rabbit’s burrow.”

Serafina looked like she wanted to argue, but then she looked at Beika, and then at Titham across the room. “There… isn’t another option?”

“We wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t,” Enebish answered honestly.

She nodded, slowly. “Alright. I’ll… hear what you have to say, then decide on what to do with you. Beika, I want you to keep tending to the patrons here. Get Titham to help you if you need it. I don’t know how long we’re going to be.”

And Beika was about ready to question it—to ask for some kind of explanation—when the three of them went and walked away. As much as she wanted to follow, she knew Serafina had given her a mission; one that she knew she should complete, and was more important than her own curiosity.