An Inn on the Road to Selevea [DragonSong]

[MadEmperor]

The first floor had three rooms. A large common room with a roaring fire in the hearth, padded stools and benches, and stools at the bar where several men sat drinking pints. The atmosphere was raucous, with hardly a place to be where one wouldn't get sloshed with some drunk patron's ale. The inn back in Griffonbeak was never this rowdy. But this was near Selevea, so the young man assumed that was to be expected.

His sword arm trembled slightly as he fended off his nerves. He could handle himself, so there was no reason to be nervous—right? It didn't help that a fine-looking redhead strolled by, her attractive features highlighted by light freckles. The young man's head swam; he lost track of his surroundings as she walked past him.

Okay, wow. No girls like that back home!

Before he could introduce himself, she was lost in the crowd.

Damn.

With a sigh, the young man sidled up to the bar to order an ale. He tossed down the required coin and leaned against a support beam to take a sip. Casually, he asked, " So... Wha—"

The inkeeper laughed. "Let me stop you right there, kid. She's not someone you want to hit on."

"But I—" he began, denial giving way to honesty as he continued, "Thanks for the warning..."

The innkeeper laughed again and went back to cleaning his tankards. For the moment at least, the young man was content to drink away the disappointment.

Plenty of aquatic animals in various bodies of water. Preferably bodies like that.

[DragonSong]

Normally, the trip over the highlands to Selevea was a quick one. But without Kit, Kiara found herself traveling slowly.

Very, very slowly.

She winced, hating the petty part of herself that was complaining about the full day's trek it had taken her to get from the secluded glen where she'd left her dragon to this small roadside inn. She just needed some supplies, she'd rest for a few hours, then she'd be back to Kit.

Hopefully her friend would be healed up and ready for proper travel in a day or so. She hadn't wanted to leave him at all, really, but they needed the supplies. This part of Serendipity tended to be safe—for something like Kit, anyway—and she knew her wards were solid.


She sighed, ducking through the door into the common room of the inn and making her way purposefully to the bar. She held up a hand to flag the innkeeper, calling, "You got anything hot to eat?"

[MadEmperor]

The innkeeper grunted and nodded his head toward the menu board that rested on the bar.

"Real friendly isn't he?" Grav asked with a light smirk, his appreciative, bright blue eyes meeting Kiara's. Between the neatness of his golden hair and short beard, his lack of any obvious scars, and his unworn traveler's clothes, she could tell right away that he was either a local or hadn't been on the road long. His rough blue coat, however, had a few sewn-up cuts on it—from combat, judging from the sheathed sword across his back.

[DragonSong]

Kiara glanced sidelong at him, sizing him up quickly.

Ah. One of those.

She shrugged and gave him a slightly crooked, tired smile. "I suppose I've dealt with worse. You know if there's any rooms free in this place?" She looked around the common room. "Wasn't expecting it to be so crowded..."

With a small start, she seemed to remember some semblance of manners and inclined her head to the stranger. "Kiara," she introduced herself bluntly. "You?"

[MadEmperor]

"Grav," he responded, at least having the decency not to let his eyes drift lower or otherwise act like a lech.

The innkeeper shook his head. "No rooms open. But you're welcome to try sleeping in common room if, by some miracle, you can and have nothing worth stealing."

"Well, shit. Looks like I'm sleeping under the stars again tonight," Grav said with a sigh.

[DragonSong]

"Well, damn." Kiara sighed and rocked back on her heels, holding lightly onto the edge of the bar as she did. "Whiskey, then," she called to the i keeper, then gave Grav another crooked smile.

"Eh, you could do worse, right? Least the weather's been holding up alright—"

As she spoke, thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Really?" She scowled upward and made a rude gesture in the general direction of the heavens. "Screw you lot, too, then."

Seemed like she wouldn't be sleeping at all tonight. Taking another glance around the common room, she caught Grav's eye and added in a lower voice, "If you're thinking of taking your chances here tonight, I'd keep one hand on that blade."

[MadEmperor]

"Thanks, but I don't see myself getting much shut eye unless the crowd thins out. Or, you know, letting myself get stab-murdered," he responded in a low voice of his own.

"Not that couldn't take whoever tried." There was an air of unwavering confidence behind his words that could only mean he hasn't yet been bested... by anyone in whatever nothing of a town he was from. 

[DragonSong]

Kiara snorted as her drink was slid toward her across the bar. "You're confident," she noted. It wasn't a judgement, just an observation. She took a sip from her glass and closed her eyes for a moment as the alcohol burned down her throat. After a moment, she opened them again and cocked her head at him, looking him up and down. "You're not a local, though," she added decisively. "Which means you at least got this far, so I suppose you've some reason for confidence."

Leaning her hip against the bar, she took another sip of her drink before asking, "Don't suppose you know where a gal might find supplies around here? Mister Sir back there doesn't seem much inclined to give information I'm not paying for." She indicated the innkeeper with a quick jerk of her head.

[MadEmperor]

After swallowing down some more ale of his own, he answered, "Just got here myself. Buuut, as I also need supplies, I could pay him for the info with some of the coin I'm apparently not spending on a room."

This guy wasn't going to make it far with that attitude. At least, not without getting scammed. He may have had the face of a highborn, but he certainly didn't dress or act like the kind of person who could afford to lose all the money in his pouch.

[DragonSong]

Ah, hells.

She almost let him do it. It wasn't her job to make sure every shiny new adventurer kept coin in his pocket, was it? And gods she was just so tired, with little enough coin of her own. She almost let him.

But it just wasn't in her.

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far just yet." Nodding toward a group gathered around a table not too far from the hearth, Kiara said, "See that lot? Definitely locals--not enough gear to be anything else. And judging by the number of cups on that table, well into their drink. Annnnnnd...there we go."

Out came the dice. Perfect. Shooting Grav a quick grin, she asked, "You much of a gambler?"

[MadEmperor]

"I can't bluff to save my life, but I've been told I have a cat's luck," he answered honestly, "And the reflexes to match."

He finished off his drink and pushed off from the support beam with a languid grace that supported his claim. "So, you do the talking and I'll do the rolling?"

[DragonSong]

Kiara grinned, flashing canines that were perhaps just a bit too sharp to be properly human. "Oh, I like you," she decided, nodding. "Sounds like a plan. Mind, though, we don't really need coin--just information." Her grin turned a little mischievous. "Though coin would be a nice bonus."

She eyed the group of locals, nodded to herself, then adjusted the hem of her shirt so the whole thing laid a little more flatteringly over her figure before striding over to the table and leaning against the back of the nearest chair.

"Whatcha lads playin'?" she asked conversationally, giving them a bland, friendly smile.

Two of the dice rollers paused and simply stared at her, but a third gave her a look up and down and smiled back. "Cat's claw. Heard of it?"

"Never in my life, but it sounds perfect." She glanced back at Grav. "Weren't you just saying something about a cat's luck, kitten?"

[MadEmperor]

Grav adopted a cocky smirk as he approached, stretching his arms out in front of him as to crack his interlocked fingers. He rolled his shoulders to further loosen up and said, "I tend to land on my feet in a wager. Usually in the other guy's shoes."

"Cat's claw, huh?" he continued wistfully, though with the air of a cat toying with its prey, "That takes me back. Room for one more?"

"I'll even leave some of my winnings on the table in exchange for some information." 

[DragonSong]

The locals exchanged glances and a few smirks, then moved to make room at the table. "You're not playing, lass?" the talkative one asked with a glance in Kiara's direction.

She smiled and shook her head, switching to lean against Grav's offered chair. "Oh, I'm just the good luck charm," she said with a laugh. "You lot from around here, then?"

One of them nodded, before another elbowed him and glowered. "Why you askin'?"

She shrugged. "Just being friendly."

[MadEmperor]

He took the offered seat, growing anxious to try his luck. "Now now fellas, don't be rude to the lady. That's never the way."

"But also; less talk, more action. Kitty needs coin." His cocky smirk became a full-fledged grin as his turn neared. His expectation of victory was obvious enough to be irritating to the drunken gamblers. 

He remembered the last time he played Cat's Claw. It had been the final round and he had nearly an entire moon on the line. He, the Golden Boy of Griffonbeak, had thought he would lose it all after a series of bad throws. But he rolled a Nine Lives—a trio of threes —and won big. That was how he paid for his sword. It wasn't anywhere near enough for a masterwork but it was enough for a guardsman quality blade and a sheath to keep it in. 

[DragonSong]

Kiara folded her arms over the back of his chair and continued chatting with the locals while the group rolled, bet, rolled again.

Grav was good. Cat's Claw was a game that relied more on luck than bluff, but he had a certainty to him that made the other players both nervous and ever more determined to beat him.

Which meant they weren't being too terribly cautious in the information they shared in response to Kiara's questions. Usually, in smaller towns like this, the locals tended to be cagey about even the most basic information. She understood that, but she really didn't have time to tiptoe around everyone's feelings just now—she just needed to get her supplies and get back to Kit.

With Grav serving to split their attention, it seemed like this would be even easier than she'd thought.

[MadEmperor]

Grav rolled his three die with a flourish. 

Three... 

Three.. 

Three. 

"Hahah! Nine Lives! Read 'em and weep!"  he rejoiced, sweeping the pot towards himself unless one of the men decided he had to be cheating. Drunks did tend to be sore losers, and Serenians were usually distrustful of men of Connloathian blood. 

He couldn't exactly blame them. If half of the stories about his ancestral homeland were true then he didn't much like his kind either. Still, he wanted to see it for himself one day. 

[DragonSong]

Oh boy.

One of the men—seemingly the deepest in his cups—was glaring across the table at them. He started to get to his feet, thrusting a finger accusingly in Grav's direction and opening his mouth.

"Welp, we'd best be going!" Kiara grabbed her partner-by-circumstance by the arm and all but hauled him from the seat. "Lovely meeting you lads, have another round on me!"

She flipped a silver onto the table—not a fortune by any means, but not nothing either. She would have been using it to pay for a room and a meal, so she wasn't all that concerned about losing it if it meant avoiding a scuffle.

Hopefully.

[MadEmperor]

"But I was winning!"  he complained like puppy that can't find the stick his master tossed. He used some slight of hand to get his own bet back as she dragged him away, with possible interest because he didn't bother counting to be sure. 

He dropped the ignorant routine as they retreated. "I didn't cheat, just so we're clear,"  he quietly informed her, "Not that anyone ever believes a dirty northern dog around here."

[DragonSong]

"Oh, I know you didn't. I was watching, and unlike that lot, I'm stone cold sober." A few sips of whiskey notwithstanding.

She gave him a considering sort of look at the last, one eyebrow arched. "You get that sort of response a lot?"

She wouldn't pretend she had any love for Connlaoth—far as she could tell, the whole damned country seemed determined to rip the world apart over something as natural as magic—but she certainly wasn't in any position to be judging someone based on their bloodline.