Chapter 229: Inn

Author’s note: Hey guys.

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 229: Inn - link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/124847155

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Chapter 229: Inn

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Ashe cursed, kicking a stone hard enough to send it clattering off the alley walls. No way she had bolted from the barracks like some whipped dog, giving that monstrous bastard the satisfaction. Not that he seemed the type to care. No, she walked out, head high. The worst part? Not a damn soul tried to stop her. Even the guardsmen at the gate let her pass without a word - aside from throwing salt into her wound and wishing her, "Have a nice day".

"Fuckers! If... if..." The words stuck, throat tight, chest clenched with the thing hated most - fear. Not of the city guards, not even of the guy with the apprentice. No, this was worse. The fear of never getting Zander back.

'Get your shit together, Ash! This isn't the first time he’s been in deep shit.'

Not the second either. Trouble had chased them for years, more times than fingers could count. And every time, they scraped through. Ever since the age of seven, when Zander - no older than herself - threw himself into a fight to stop a child gang from beating her bloody.

'I'll get you out, no matter what!' The vow grounded her, breath settling as resolve took hold. No use getting ahead of things, though. 'There's still a chance that Zander just didn't make it into the city.'

And if he weren't? If they got him? There was no way she was getting him out on her own. That was a job for the whole group.

'First things first - find out where the bastard actually is.'

Decision made, with hours to spare before noon, the path was clear. The city gates.

Storming in would be a fool’s move. Better to listen, let the words come freely. The trick was getting people to speak of what mattered. No way Zander had gone down without a fight - guards would be talking. And if not? Gossip always found its way to the streets. Houses and shops clustered near the gates were full of ears and loose tongues. Someone had to know something.

The trouble was, there was no telling which gate Zander had chosen. A necessary precaution to keep the group safe. As such, not even the one she came through couldn’t be ruled out. He could simply just show up at the gate an hour or two after she came through.

'Hope he didn't choose the west gate.'

Unlike the rest, the west city gate attached to the barracks was the only one she was reluctant to spy on.

'But if I have to...' Ashe didn't finish the thought, heading for the northwest gate.

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At first glance, their meeting place, their place of stay, the Broken Mug Inn, looked weary, its best years left behind. At least compared to the buildings on the main streets and downtown of this damn city. But by Munca City’s standards, this was luxury. A half-timbered house with a stone ground floor stood well above the usual mud brick dwellings.

Ashe glanced at the sign above the entrance, a smirk tugging at her lips. "No welcome," she murmured, watching the painted mug split down the middle.

The ground floor held exactly what was expected - a tavern. Half the tables were taken, and a girl wove through the gaps with a tray. Likely Tess, the innkeeper’s daughter. Behind the bar, a man poured beer, just as described. Short, mustache, bald.

'Good job, Yonas.'

Mismatched details set her teeth on edge. Not only did it mean that someone didn't do their job properly, but it was also very dangerous.

"Ah, Miss Akane, good to see you," the innkeeper greeted. Byron, if memory served. "I was wondering if you would come back."

"Why?"

"Didn't catch you leaving. Thought my humble inn didn't suit you."

'A man who liked to keep track of his guests. Good to know - maybe worth mentioning to others.'

A fake smile flickered across her lips. "Needless worry. I'm an early bird."

"I see - I used to be too, in my younger days. Here for lunch? What’s it gonna be?"

"Not picky."

The tips of his mustache lifted in a smile. "Then I'll do my best not to disappoint you. Please have a seat. Tess will be right with you."

Despite half a dozen empty tables in the tavern, the occupied one drew her in. Yet her steps carried her to the one already occupied. Laughter and conversation wove through the group, ale foaming in mugs, plates scraped clean. The warmth died as soon as she dropped into the empty chair, as if a spell had been broken.

"I take it you had no luck finding Zander," Yonas said after a beat of silence. 

A sharp breath. Anger coiled tight, ready to lash out, the weight of a dagger almost familiar in her grip. It wasn't his fault their leader wasn't here with them.

"No," she said through gritted teeth. "Still have the west gate to check."

"Don’t bother," Zeray said. His twin, Zewdi, nodded. "It’s the one we came through."

"And...?"

Ashe paused, eyeing the young girl approaching their table with a mug in hand.

"Here, ma'am. I'll have food for you in a moment."

"Yonas?" Ashe threw their mage a look when the girl danced off to serve another table.

"Don't worry, they can't hear shit we're saying," he said, grinning. "Or more precisely, they hear us rambling about labyrinths."

She nodded and took a sip of her beer. It wasn't bad. "So... the west gate? What about it?"

"Well, not really anything special," Zewdi started. "I mean, not that different from the rest."

"From what the others said," her brother added, "it’s in better shape. Enchantments and all that shit."

"Yeah, walking through it gave me tingles all the way to the tip of my nipples. You know, the weird kind, not the fun one."

Ashe rolled her eyes. "Not exactly a reason why I shouldn't check the gate. Or...," she added, elbows on the table, leaning in. "If either of you has a word on Zander, speak up."

"Hey. Calm your tits down, Ashe," Zewdi growled. "If I had anything, you’d already know."

"Then…?"

"You remember my idiot brother chatting up that tit in the baths?"

"Yeah. She knows something?"

Zerai, the twin brother, nodded. "Wouldn’t shut up. The kind that makes your ears bleed. Best to steer clear. But she did mention stopping by the gate often. Bumped into her today, again. We talked - or, more like, she did. To cut it short, if something happened there - and we all know Zander - if they tried to arrest him, there would be such a commotion, no way she would keep quiet about that. But nothing. She just kept going on and on about..."

"That's enough, Zerai," Ashe stopped him, finding it hard to imagine anyone chatty enough to test Zerai’s patience. "So you're saying they didn’t arrest him?"

"At least not at the west gate," both siblings nodded. 

Hearing that should have eased the weight in her chest. It didn’t. Unease gnawed at the edges of her thoughts, turning every possibility into something worse. But before any of them found their way to her tongue, the door of the Broken Mug slammed open. Birhane strode in, wrapped head to toe as if facing a northern winter. A quick greeting to the innkeeper and his daughter, then he was at the table.

"I found him," he blurted, gripping the back of the chair. "I know where Zander is."

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Author’s note: 

I'll see how it goes, but the next chapter is likely to be on Tuesday. I have a lot of errands to run on Monday :(

See you with the next chapter. :)

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                                                     Glossary

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