Chapter 9: A Mysterious Arrival

Robert and Greg laughed boisterously as they left the Happily Ever After Inn. Louis watched the door close and heaved a tired sigh. It had been just over a week since the Duke left, and the inn had been packed every single night since. It seemed the entire town came round to grill both he and Winston on what the Duke wanted. Winston had been adamant that the Duke was merely a connoisseur of fine liquors who had come out to meet a fellow enthusiast, and Louis was content to follow his lead.

“Finally, eh, Mister Weaver?” Louis remarked as he looked out the window, “The snow is really starting to come down. We might be in for a quiet day tomorrow.”

He looked at his boss curiously as Winston climbed the ladder to the top shelf. “Do you want me to lock up, Mister Weaver?”

“We still have a guest, Louis,” Winston pointed out as he descended the ladder with a bottle of top shelf whiskey.

The boy blinked and looked around the main room. On his second look over, he saw a lanky man dressed in dark clothes sitting at a table by the window. He had a head of white hair and a deeply lined face. Louis vaguely remembered him coming in but had lost track of him over the course of the busy night. The man made no indication that he’d heard their conversation as he stared out the window, almost completely motionless. On the table was a half full glass of ale that had long since gone flat.

“Excuse me sir,” Louis began as he walked over. Strangers were unusual in town, especially now, in the middle of winter, and the boy wondered how no one had said anything about the new face.

“I’ll take care of him,” Winston said as he walked to the table with a bottle and two crystal snifters in hand, “You can go finish your chores.”

“A friend of yours, Mister Weaver?” Louis asked in shock.

“I like to think so,” the landlord replied.

Winston set the bottle on the table in front of the mysterious man. “May I join you for a drink?”

The man raised an eyebrow and spoke with a gravelly voice “With Crystal Lake 81? Of course you may.”

Winston sat across from the man and blinked. “I’ve known you for almost my entire life, and yet I find myself at a loss as to how I should address you.”

“Nathan’s fine,” the man replied with a wave of his hand.

Winston’s eyebrow arched ever so slightly. “He used to drive you mad calling you that in public.”

Nathan paused for a moment to watch Winston pour the whiskey. “Well, I’m retired now, my fine fellow.”

“Retired?” Winston blinked. “I thought you’d do that job until the day you died.”

“So did I,” Nathan replied as he rubbed the back of his head, “But Queen Emily’s peace has rather scuppered that plan.”

The lanky man paused and smirked. “He’s ‘Ethan’, from your story, isn’t he?”

It was Winston’s turn to smile. “Well, I had to change his name, didn’t I?”

“I thought that story sounded familiar,” Nathan shook his head, “Old Horatio really let the three of you have it, didn’t he?”

“I thought we were going to die,” Winston chuckled softly as he pushed a full glass over to Nathan, “Even Ethan said, ‘I think I may have gone too far this time’.”

Nathan paused to wipe a tear from his eye and chuckled. “He did have a talent for getting under people’s skin.”

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The men clinked their glasses before sipping their drinks. “Ah, fantastic,” Nathan sighed. He looked around the room, letting his eyes rest on Louis, who had his head down as he wiped the tables, before turning back to Winston. “How is your Happily Ever After treating you?”

“It’s very fulfilling,” Winston replied. “It’s… it’s more than I deserve.”

Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Is there a lady in your life?”

Winston chuckled softly and shook his head. “There isn’t, no. I don’t know if you’d noticed, but this town is inhabited almost exclusively by men.”

“It is a bit of a sausage fest,” Nathan agreed. He looked at Louis who was still diligently wiping the tables down, “The boy, is he yours?”

Louis choked and looked up sheepishly, but neither man was paying him any heed. “No,” Winston said. “He’s just someone I took in.”

Nathan studied the landlord and grunted. “So, why setup here?”

“I wanted a quiet life,” Winston replied simply.

“And you wanted to be close to them, didn’t you?” Nathan ventured.

“That’s true,” Winston conceded. “I think I’d have been discovered sooner or later if I set up shop in Estos.”

Nathan drained his glass and knocked on the table when Winston refilled it. “Finding you did take me a while.”

“I suppose the Lord Governor of Hulva rushing over here tipped you off,” Winston remarked, sounding amused, “You made good time in getting here.”

“I was in the area,” Nathan said with a wave of his hand, “Besides, you’re not being looked for. Not officially, anyway.”

“That’s good to hear,” Winston nodded and took a sip of whiskey. “How are things out there?”

“Peaceful,” Nathan scowled. “It’s enough to make a man spit blood.”

Winston chuckled softly. “Well, she did sacrifice a lot to achieve just that. It’s good that our king has turned out to be such a good ruler.”

“Well, there’s that,” Nathan allowed, “Another reason is that no one has an appetite for war after all the death and destruction the last two brought.”

The pair sat in silence, staring at their drinks. At length, Nathan looked around the bar. “So, this is your happily ever after..."

“It is.” Winston replied, sounding satisfied.

“And here I was worried you would spend the rest of your days wallowing in guilt.”

Winston's eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You were worried about me? My, the wonders never cease.”

Nathan smirked. "Well I'm glad you are doing well. They would be pleased. And pleased that you're still talking about them."

Winston leaned back in his chair and smiled. "I think the best way to honour their memory is to remember them fondly."

"I'll drink to that," Nathan said as he raised his glass. Winston clinked his glass, and they finished their drinks in a single gulp.

A mischievous look crossed the lanky man’s face as he set his glass down. “You’ve been wiping that table for the last ten minutes, boy. I think it’s quite clean by now.”

Louis felt the blood rush to his face. “Sorry,” he murmured.

Nathan flashed Winston a grin. “Come over here, young man,” he ordered imperiously.

“How is life treating you here?” the old man demanded as Louis obeyed meekly.

“Mis… Mister Weaver… He’s a good boss,” Louis stammered, “He’s more than fair to me and a pillar of the community.”

“What do you make of the peace, my fine fellow?” Nathan laughed, “Young men like you often have dreams of going off to become big heroes in war, don’t they?”

“Not me, sir,” Louis replied, “I’ve heard plenty about how terrible it was… They say that’s where my parents died.”

“Where were you from?” Nathan asked sharply, his mirth gone.

“Belthist,” Louis replied.

The lanky old man reached over and patted Louis on the shoulder. “That’s good, then. Hopefully your generation will never know war.”

“Forgive me for saying this, sir,” Louis began as his curiosity got the best of him, “But you made it sound like you missed the war just moments ago.”

Winston chuckled softly and a smile spread across Huntsman’s face. “You can dismiss that as the ramblings of a senile old fool.”

The old man shook his head. “No, I have no desire for those days to return.”

Abruptly, his voice turned hard as he ruffled Louis’ hair. “Go on, run along, and no more eavesdropping from you!”

“Why don’t you go tidy up the kitchen,” Winston suggested, “I’ll take care of things out here.”

“At once, Mister Weaver!” the boy cried and fled gratefully. As he entered the kitchen, he paused and turned around to see the two men still watching him. He very much wanted to hear this new arrival’s thoughts on the Kingslayer but at the same time felt uncomfortable being the subject of his scrutiny. There was something about his eyes that felt as if they could see right through him.

“Go on then boy, get to work,” Nathan called out.

Louis jumped and withdrew deeper into the kitchen, wanting desperately to listen in on the conversation, but not daring to cross this mysterious stranger. They were still chatting when he was done. He crouched by the doorway, trying to listen in when Nathan called out, “You can come sit with us if you want to listen in that badly.”

“No thank you,” Louis said as he sheepishly came out of his hiding spot. He desperately wanted to listen in but felt he would be intruding.

“Why don’t you go to bed, Louis?” Winston suggested, “You’ve had a long day.”

“I think I will do that, Mister Weaver,” Louis replied sleepily.

As he lay down in his bed, he wondered just who this mysterious stranger was and what his relationship was with his boss.