The man whistled and chuckled, “That fellow is going to have one hell of a headache tomorrow…”

Then he peered at the collapsed prince and turned to a young man sitting in the corner.

“Hey, Kylian. Help me get this guy outta here. I suspect he is more than just a commoner come to drink his troubles away through ale," He said, and then added as an afterthought, “We could be in for a fat payday.”

The young man came up to him and stared at the softly snoring Adrian.

“Ugh, he reeks!” He wrinkled his nose in disgust before bending to grab his arms. The other man grabbed him by the legs after having left money for their ale and some of Adrian’s, too.

<--<< >>-->

Adrian woke the next day on a bed, with no memory of how he got there. Feeling his pounding head and parched throat, Adrian knew that he had been at a tavern drinking again. He promptly groaned, rolled over and vomited on the floor before clutching his head in agony.

“Whoa, man! Watch where you spew!”

Adrian hissed and covered his ears from the sudden explosion of sound that assaulted him. His gaze wandered around the room and he saw a man with mousy brown hair held out of the face with a headband, tanned skin riddled with small, pale scars, and sharp blue eyes. He was dressed in light leather garb and had a sword strapped to his waist belt.

The man raised an eyebrow, saying, “I take it you feel terrible? Too much ale can do that to you.”

Then he grinned, “Remember me? From last night.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but I have no memory of what happened yesterday. I was drinking again, wasn’t I?” Adrian croaked.

The man smirked, “That’s an understatement. You downed so much that eventually you just collapsed in a puddle of your spilt ale. I was there when you collapsed and had a… travelling companion… help me carry you to a room above the tavern.”

“Travelling companion?”

The man rolled his eyes, “He hates me, I hate him. The only one who keeps our little band together is Arian. I’m Lasair, by the way. Who’re you?”

“Adrian Bla-. Adrian," Adrian replied, stopping himself in time.

Though Lasair appeared to bear him no ill will, it was always wise to conceal one’s identity, especially in situations like the present one.

“Adrian. Alright, well if you like, we’ll escort you back wherever you want. Make no mistake, we’re not doing this out of the kindness of our hearts—your purse was nicely filled and we used your gold to pay for the drinks and this room. The rest, we took.”

Adrian frowned, then fumbled at his belt, finding nothing where his coin pouch would normally have been.

Lasair smirked, “But had anyone else found you, you’d likely end up in an alley with your throat slit and your pockets filled with nothing but air!”

Adrian gingerly sat up and asked, “You’re rather confident. Are you not afraid I’ll report you to the royal guards?”

“Pfft!” Lasair cracked up laughing, “The royal guard is far too busy to be dealing with petty theft at the moment! Honestly, with the current situation, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say one could even get away with murder!”

“And,” He smirked, his hand wandering to the pommel of the sword that hung at his side, “I happen to be excellent at silencing any potential problems. Currently, I’ve judged you as ‘unproblematic’, but that could change…”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Adrian sighed, but a small grin had crept onto his face during the exchange, temporarily numbing the throbbing headache he’d woken up with.

A straightforward man… and relatively honourable, for having just robbed me of all my gold! I quite like him, actually… He thought, then frowned as another thought struck him.

“Wait… what situation are you speaking of?” Adrian asked Lasair.

Lasair scoffed, “Word on the street is that the late king Darwond II spent a damned fortune on Anhuan silks, and no one in the castle found out until king Kashius ascended and had the accounting system reworked! I heard that since then the royal family was trying to secretly pay off the debt—and they were planning to get help from the elven royals with a marriage alliance, but this morning an emissary was delivered to cancel the planned engagement! The royal family has ended up as the laughingstock of Sanobar!”

He shrugged, “Sure, I dunno how much is true… but one thing you can count on is that word spreads like fire in the streets.”

Adrian quickly stood up, then groaned and clutched his head as a wave of nausea washed over him.

“I need to get going!”

Lasair, perplexed at the urgency, shrugged again and said, “Hey, I’m not keeping you here. I’ve already got what I came here for,” He grinned, pulling out Adrian’s coin pouch and holding it up triumphantly.

He stuck his hand out for a handshake and said, grinning, “Well, I guess this is where we part. It was nice robbing you… if only everyone was as agreeable as you.”

Adrian stepped forward and shook the outstretched hand, saying jokingly, “I like you. Want to work for me?”

Lasair smiled and playfully replied, jingling Adrian’s coin pouch, “If the price is right.”

<--<< >>-->

What a strange guy, Lasair thought, It’s the first time I’ve had so little resistance. He must be really rich!

He and Kylian, his ‘travel companion’, packed up their bags and prepared to leave the tavern. They headed downstairs to the main tavern floor, but were stopped by the tavern keeper on their way out. He waved them over to the bar counter, where he was wiping down the wooden flagons with a stained cloth.

Lasair greeted him cheerily, “Hey, Marius! How’s business going?”

Marius, a giant of a man sporting a bushy beard and a beer belly, cracked a smile and replied, “Good, good… might be better if I didn’t occasionally have patrons come in complaining of theft, though!”

He leaned forward and lowered his voice, his face becoming serious, “But on another note, remember the guy you ‘helped’ yesterday? He dropped an item… and I think it’s best if you return it to him.”

Lasair frowned, “What’s wrong? Normally you’d have pocketed it by now. Is it a black market item?”

Marius shook his head and muttered, “If only… Lasair, it’s the royal emblem.”

The royal emblem! Lasair thought, Of course Marius can’t sell that! That fellow, Adrian, must have stolen it from the castle—that must be why he was in such a hurry this morning! By the gods, this is bad!

His mind shifted through the different outcomes quickly.

1. We return it to him. Likely outcome? Probably death. Dead men tell no tales.

2. We hide it. No, impossible. This was the last place he was—he’ll definitely be back, and then it’ll be our heads at stake!

If that’s the case, He concluded, The only remaining option must be…

“Marius!” He said quickly, “When he finds out it’s missing, we’re done for. I’m certain he’ll silence us even if we do return it to him. Our best bet would probably be to return it to the castle. Requesting protection in return for the emblem ought to be possible…”

Marius bobbed his head and brought out the emblem—a beautiful golden shield-shaped badge, dwarfed by Marius’ massive palm, that had a jewelled black rose in the centre.

Lasair leaned over and grabbed it, then proceeded to sprint out of the tavern.

He yelled over his shoulder, “Oy, Kylian! Race ya to the castle! Loser cooks for a month!”

Kylian immediately shoved their bags to Marius and muttered, “Watch ‘em for us!”

Then he bolted after Lasair, his long legs shortening the distance between him and Lasair by the moment.

The two knew the alleys of Sor’othi like the backs of their hands, and they were neck on neck as the castle gates came into view.

Blackrose castle was an imposing fortress built with its back against the Peloan mountains and a deep lake at the front. A large stone bridge connected the castle to the town and the gate was manned with royal guards at all times.

It was there that they saw Adrian walk up to the gates and Lasair screeched to a halt and doubled over, breathing heavily.

We’re too late, He thought in despair, as he heard Adrian greet the guards.

The guards bowed and said, “Welcome back, your highness!”

For a moment, Lasair heard nothing but his own thundering heartbeat, then his eyes widened as the realisation hit him like a pile of bricks.