I stood there a second in shock. That was not how I expected to be dropped off. Rycress had always seemed composed, sometimes even stiff, so to say I was shocked would be an understatement.

I was worried, as well. He made it sound as if he had a guaranteed place for me to get my feet on the ground. Except here I was, standing there, shocked, after having been ditched as fast as possible in a new location. Not to mention the fact that it was a hotel. It would be difficult enough to convince a close friend who owned an establishment to let someone room up there for free. I didn’t even get that courtesy. I was ditched, and from the sound of it, Rycress wasn’t welcome here. In fact, the lady, Devinda, or something, looked downright pissed. She had even called him a bastard!

What were the chances that she kicked me to the curb right this very minute? Extremely high, by my reckoning. If I were her, I would probably have booted me out as well. It’s not like this place looked well off, as if she had all the money in the world to feed and house me. Was I going to become a beggar on my second day here?

My head whipped towards the woman as she let out a sigh. I finally got a good look at her. She was average height for a woman, a little shorter than myself. She had shoulder-length brown hair, tried back into a ponytail. She had defined facial features, and wasn’t nearly as haggard as many of the other people I’d seen, although she wasn’t as immaculate as Rycress. She appeared to be in her late 30s or early 40s.

She was wearing practical clothing, the sort you might expect someone who expected to need full range of motion might wear. I would expect someone who operates an inn to wear something more … dressy? But it was a medieval city, and I didn’t know the customs. Perhaps this was the traditional dress of innkeepers, passed down through generations. Or perhaps she was security? Although judging by the fact that Rycress dropped me off with her, that probably wasn’t the case.

“Another one of Rycress’ strays” said the woman.

“He does this often?” I ventured.

“No, it’s rare, but he happens upon people like you, he usually drops them off here. “

I took a moment to digest that information. And then another moment. And another. Hey, stop judging, I’m allowed to be in shocked silence for as long as I want. The fact that other people from Earth are here was crazy. If people were constantly falling down giant, miles long magical holes that let to other planes, I was certain it would have merited at least a passing mention in the news.

“I’m guessing you’re hungry? Rycress tends not to feed the people he collects. Something about teaching them how harsh it is here. It’s a loada bullshit, I’ll tell you. The last thing somebody needs after going through something like that is to be starved”.

My stomach almost burst out of my sternum like an alien parasite at the mention of food.

“Something to eat would be great” I managed weakly, my midsection cramping up.

“By the way, my names Davinda, Davinda Varos” she said, a small smile gracing her features.

“I’m Benjamin Hutchinson. Pleased to meet you.” I replied.

Davinda vanished through a door, presumably into a kitchen, because a few minutes later, she returned, a plate of something in her hands. I couldn’t identify what she had, as it was some type of food I had never seen before. A grain that looked similar to rice, some unknown cut of meat, small, drizzled in a minor amount of sauce. Sharing the plate was a small amount of green stalks with leafy ends.

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Whilst I normally would have been hesitant to try such unusual food, the fact that I hadn’t eaten for nearly 48 hours made it smell heavenly. As soon as the wooden plate hit the table, I was shoving food into my mouth. It flew down my throat, barely pausing for me to chew it. I must have wolfed it down in under two minutes. Had I known what it was, I might have been more hesitant despite my hunger.

I looked up, to see Davinda staring at me, quizzingly.

“Do you want a second serving?” she asked.

Face flushed, I looked down, before mumbling out my assent. She vanished back into the kitchen, returning about 10 minutes later, another plate in hand.

Now that I was a little less hungry, it didn’t seem quite as appetizing as before. The meat was a little chewy, and seemed as if it had been reheated. The vegetables were deformed and mishappen, a sort of off green color, and small, and if they were sickly, having never grown to full maturity.

I still wolfed them down. I was less hungry, but I wasn’t willing to let perfectly good food go to waste. I had already eaten one serving of this, so it's not like I could double die had it been poisonous. I finished this one slower than the first, but the speed at which I ate still could have put most professional speed eaters to shame.

I still wanted more, but wasn’t willing to test my host's patience by asking for it, and if it wasn’t free, then I didn’t want to dig myself into any more debt. Plus, I had heard about the dangers of overfeeding starving people. I myself hadn’t been starving, per se, but I doubted it was a good idea to fill my stomach up to the bursting after going a day and a half without eating anything.

Davinda had, somewhat reasonably, wandered off during my time spent obliterating her food. I went to look for her, intent on figuring out my current situation. I found her, pulling water from a well, outback the inn.

“Davinda, what are the conditions of me staying here? Should I be looking for a job? Do I need to pay you anything? If so, how do I earn money?”

She took a minute to ponder what I had said.

“You’ll need to do chores around here to pay for your stay. Tomorrow, I’ll also help you look for work. You’ve had a long few days, however. You can rest tonight. You can choose any of the empty rooms upstairs. I’ll be expecting you to be down here sometime soon after sunrise. Breakfast will be around then, as well.”

With that, she turned, and went back to drawing water from the well. I stood and listened to the creaking of the rope, and the straining of the wooden handle, and it turned over and over, drawing up a bucket from deep within the earth.

I realized how tired I was. I had barely slept the night before, and with all the walking and uncertainty of the day, I was worn out. Turning around, I trudged back inside, pausing my journey to collect my plate and bring it into the kitchen, and then resumed my trek up the stairs to find a room.

The upstairs of the inn was a single, long hallway, doors on each side, each carved with a unique animal or symbol. There was a sign on each, proclaiming it empty or full, written in an odd, jagged style. I walked on, the floorboards occasionally creaking under my feet, until I found an empty room. I didn’t have to walk very far.

I stopped when I saw a sign, flipped to the empty side. The door had a worn star carved into it, a little below my head level. I opened the door, peeking my head in, to confirm there was nobody inside. Once I was certain the room was empty, I flipped the sign over to occupied, and stepped inside, swinging the door shut behind me, letting it close with a muffled thud. Slipping off my shoes, I slipped into the bed. It wasn’t a great bed, maybe twin size, with a threadbare pillow and woven wool blanket draped over it, but it was just what I needed.

Shutting my eyes, the exhaustion of the day hit me again, and I quickly drifted off to sleep, much warmer and more comfortable than the previous night.