“When he asked me for the Ale I owed him, I said that I only agreed to owe him the Ale. So if I gave it back, I wouldn’t owe him anymore and would break the agreement. I’m a man of my word after all.”

  I gave the crowd a wink and grinned widely. I hoped I’d remembered the whole joke properly; Ulther always got a good laugh from it. A chair scraped across the floor, and someone near the back of the tavern coughed. Sila, God bless him, laughed, but everyone else just stared at me. Probably just a joke for Avanish, then. The Cemfyllians were just plain odd.

  Kizran clapped his hands together and chuckled, “Well, I for one adore different takes on comedy. What a great try, thank you, Tullen!” He gestured at my empty chair, and so I returned to my seat before he sauntered off behind the bar.

  “That was funny,” Sila said, in the tone you use with a child that’s a bit slow.

  “Stupid.” Gertha snapped.

  “Give off, it wasn’t my joke to begin with.”

  “No, the joke was fine, giving your real name. Was not.”

  My cheeks flushed. I hadn’t even thought about it; I’d been too preoccupied with giving a performance.

  “Well, it’s not like any of you lot were going to do a show, was it? What would you have done? Eat a-”

  “People have ears, Tullen,” Gertha said, her voice cautious.

  I clamped my mouth shut. Embarrassed and frustrated.

  “Just stop pricking away at me then,” I grumbled, my hand brushing against my necklace. I wondered if Eggs would feel it.

  “It’s fine, Tullen isn’t exactly a common name, but I’ve met one or two in my time,” Sayo said.

  “Yeah. In Zellund.” Gertha said.

  I opened my mouth to bite back, but a young lad, dressed similarly to Kizran, brought four big bowls of stew, which arrived with hunks of bread floating on top, slowly absorbing the liquid. It smelled peppery and spicy, with hints of herb. Unlike a lot of foods I’d had before. But then again, I’d never left Avandun that much. My stomach growled, however, which meant it was at least passable grub.

  “Thanks,” I said to the lad, who nodded. No jingle for him, his hat didn’t have bells. I guess that was a privilege only for bosses.

  I took a mouthful of the stew, and it tasted wonderful. I got hints of the tomato, and was that beef? I immediately took another spoonful, this time with a piece of bread that was the perfect softness.

  The others tucked in too, and for a few minutes we just ate in silence. Sila kept making the occasional humming noise. After the third time, I caught Sayo and Gertha’s eyes, and they giggled.

  “What?” Sila asked, his face puzzled.

  “You enjoying that, mate?” I asked, smiling.

  “Yeah. It’s nice.”

  “Sounds like you are,” I said.

  Gertha and Sayo started laughing out loud, and Sila looked between all of us. He then looked me dead in the eye, took another mouthful and made a much louder humming noise, causing other patrons to look at us.

  I burst out laughing as did the others, and I held up my mug of ale.

  “Cheers, everyone,” I said, and we all clashed our vessels together. The clunk was satisfying. The next few minutes passed in satisfied silence as we finished the stew.

  As the last spoonful was swallowed, Kizran called to us from across the bar, “Your rooms are ready, head on up if you like! They’re the ones on the left as you come out of the stairs.”

  We stood up and walked to the bar, where Kizran produced four keys and handed one to each of us. We still carried our mugs of ale.

  We went upstairs and Gertha unlocked the first room, beckoning us all to follow. One after the other, we all went inside after her and were greeted by a small bed, a chair and a table, with a bucket in the corner for obvious reasons. The rest of the room was bare, wooden boards and a small window just large enough to squeeze through. Gertha sat at the table while Sayo and Sila sat on the bed, leaving me the chair.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  I never knew why rooms like this had a chair in them. I figured that if I were staying in a room, I’d either sleep or just sit on the bed. It wasn’t like there was anything to sit and watch in a room.

  “Better we talk in here. People listen.” Gertha said.

  I caught Gertha’s eye, “You’ve not been in a great mood for a while. If I’ve wronged you. I’m sorry.”

  She took a deep breath in and out.

  “No, I’m sorry. It’s just been a long journey for us all. It doesn’t seem to have any end in sight, and those Arcuzane just got to me.”

  I nodded, “Because they’re… like you?” I said.

  “They’re not like me, though. That’s the thing. They just think they’re so much better because they aren’t…sundered.” She looked down.

  “Well. Fuck them. I’d take your type over theirs anyday.” I said, giving her a soft punch on the arm.

  “You’re sweet. But if you, if any of you could really understand what it means, you wouldn’t be saying that.” She said, taking a big gulp of ale.

  I looked to Sila and Sayo, then back to Gertha.

  “Good job, I’m an idiot then, isn’t it?”

  She smirked. Hah! Success. Sayo and Sila grinned as well.

  I took another swig of ale, satisfied for now. I didn’t know why Gertha was so melancholy sometimes, but we trusted each other, and she’d spill whenever she was ready. Maybe I’d spill to them sometime. Like how Peevan had spilt over my blade when I’d stabbed him through his scheming little neck.

  I paused. Where had that thought come from?

  “We should probably consider our next steps,” Gertha said.

  “How do you want to do this?” Sayo asked, playing with the ends of her hair.

  “Follow the weird right? There’s a weird noise coming from the palace, and the Butchers are booked up for months. Doesn’t take a scholar to figure out that one.” I said.

  “So we go to the palace,” Sila said, draining what remained of his ale.

  “Hang on, we do go there, but we go to the Butcher first,” I said.

  Gertha cocked her head, “Go on, Tull,” She said.

  “We get in the Butcher’s, either as workers or some kind of delivery. We can walk right in, and nobody will think twice about it.” I grinned at my own cleverness.

  “You just want to walk in?” Sayo laughed.

  “Nobody ever notices the workers, really, do they?” I said.

  “So your plan is to…get a job?” Sayo asked.

  “Can’t be that hard, can it?” I said.

  “Well, you can’t just go get one; the Butcher would have to give it to you, and to do that, they’d need to want to hire you.”

  “Well, I did String Guarding for years, I know how to follow orders.” That was mostly the truth. If I got a stupid order, I’d tell whoever gave it precisely why it was stupid.

  “Tullen, you got put on that wall because you killed a man. You can’t do that to be a butcher's worker.” Gertha laughed.

  “Then I’ll kill a pig or something, you can’t say I wouldn’t be good with their knives,” I said. Fighting the image of Peevan scrambling to plug his throat shut with his fingers away from my mind. My back felt sweaty, and I breathed slowly to try to conceal the shake in my breath.

  “We used to help prepare rabbits and the like from trappers for market a few years back,” Sayo said.

  “When was this?” Gertha asked.

  “Sometimes we’d take off from the other Nomads for a bit. We’d find work near towns.” Sila added.

  “Why would you do that?” Gertha asked, but I already knew the answer. I could read it in their faces.

  “We looked for you for a long time, Misrelia,” Sayo whispered.

  Gertha took a step toward her and cupped her face, kissing her on the head.

  “You found me, my darling. I won’t leave you again.” She said.

  I wanted to warn Gertha about making promises she might not be able to keep. But I didn’t want to wipe away the smile that slowly bloomed across Sayo’s face.

  “If the butcher is as busy as Kizran says, then they might want more workers. And they may just take up two travellers who know their way around a skinning knife.” I said.

  “Then we head to the butcher’s first thing in the morning. See if they’ll take us in. Otherwise, we have to find another way.” Sila said.

  “Sounds like a plan to me.” I nodded. Clamping my eyes to ward away the memory of Peevan’s death rattle.

  “Well, let’s get some rest and see to this tomorrow, then. I don’t know about all of you, but I’m pretty tired.” Gertha said.

  “Good idea, Misrelia. We have a lot ahead of us.” Sila said.

  “I’m going to get some air. Need to clear my head and wind down.” I said as I slapped my knees and rose to my feet.

  “Want some company?” Sayo asked, smiling.

  I looked her in the eyes, Peevan’s dead face overlaid on top of hers. I swallowed hard as my heart pulsed. I had to get out of this room. I needed air. I needed to be outside.

  “Need to be with myself. Next time?”

  “Sure.” She said softly.

  I turned away and walked through the door, cursing myself.

  I’d killed the smile.

  My hand strangled the handle of my swordstick as I stomped down the stairs.