It took a while to calm the innkeeper down, especially since anyone would have been supremely irate at having their livelihood taken apart one hinge at a time. Luckily, a gold coin shut the man up quite quickly; it would replace the door, compensate for his room and board, and much more. The innkeeper regarded Erwin with quiet suspicion at first (what was a man doing in his inn with this much money?) but said nothing. After all, his fine clothing, though muddied as they had been, belied his noble birth.
Nobody else questioned him, not the innkeeper nor the stableboy who fetched his horse. A frown crossed his face again as he pondered just how much monetary and sentimental value he'd lost when Mae'leena stole his father's horse and rode off into the night. But there was no use thinking about her. In their short weeks together, she'd caused him enough trouble. Best that they went their separate ways and left it at that.
He'd escaped from Jarrod easily enough. Even at this hour, there was enough of a small crowd to lose the man. Now, in the dead of night, with soft snow falling all around them, Erwin saddled his horse and started the long ride back to Wulfbauer.
