“I’ll be damned if that isn’t the strangest sight I’ve ever laid eyes on,” Tiffany said, rubbing at her eyes. She glanced at Arwin and Reya as they headed over to the counter. “You’re seeing this, right?”
“Nope. You’re hallucinating,” Arwin said in a flat tone.
Tiffany blinked. “What? What do you — oh. You’re screwing with me. Very funny, smith.”
He chuckled. “Yes, it’s quite something. What have you thought so far? Enjoying your experience?”
“A lot more than I thought I would be.” Tiffany looked down at her empty plate and shook her head. “Best damn food I’ve ever had for this price. I’ve never had its like before. I kind of wish I could have seen what I was eating a bit better, but at the same time, the darkness is definitely setting a mood. Being able to just barely make out the imp above me is setting my nerves on end in all the right ways.”
“What she’s trying to say is that she’s an adrenaline junkie,” one of the men with her said with a laugh. “This place is certainly unique. Didn’t think there would be so much tucked into this street. We’ve been missing out.”
“Hardly. We only just opened up a short while ago. You should definitely send any friends you’ve got our way, though,” Arwin said. “More business would always be welcome.”
“Trust me, we’ll be doing that — if only to see everyone’s expressions at the show. Seriously, Lillia and her team are incredible. I’ve never seen illusions that stick to people that well. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought those were real imps serving us. And her makeup is impeccable. Great combination of practical work and magic.”
Lillia poked her head out of the kitchen. “I heard my name. Another round?”
Tiffany looked to the rest of her group, then down at the empty flagon on the table before her. With what seemed to be a supreme force of will, she shook her head. “No thank you. I think I might pass out if I eat any more.”
“In that case, you should definitely eat more. We’ve got some rooms upstairs, and the floorboards are only a little creaky.”
Tiffany snickered but shook her head as she rose to her feet. “Wow, you’re really dedicated to the whole cursed inn thing, aren’t you? I appreciate the offer, but we’ve got lodgings already and there’s still some more we need to handle today.”
“In that case, please come again sometime soon. It was a pleasure to serve you,” Lillia said. The imp on the ceiling dropped back to the ground and started gathering the plates from the table.
“Thanks for the meal,” Tiffany said, then glanced at Arwin. “And for the armor.”
“Anytime,” Arwin replied.
The adventurer group filed out the door, leaving Arwin, Lillia, and Reya standing in the tavern behind them.
“That looks like it went well,” Reya said. “Right?”
“Yeah. It was a little stressful, but it went rather well.” Lillia held two knifes with chunks of meat impaled on them out to Arwin and Reya. “Here. Try these.”
Arwin obliged, taking one and popping all the meat into his mouth in one go. A wall of flavor slammed into him like a runaway cart. It was greasy and juicy in a way that had absolutely no right being good, and yet somehow it was incredible.
“Woah,” Reya said through a mouthful of food. “You got any more?”
“That’s really damn good,” Arwin agreed, wishing he’d taken a bit longer with the food. “Is it Wyrmling?”
“Yeah, but I’m afraid that’s all I prepared,” Lillia said with a tired smile. “I think the adventurers liked it too. Making it gives a decent amount of magical power as well. I definitely can’t complain about how anything went. I think they might come back in the future, so I’ll have to do what I can to make sure they stay the night that time.”
Lillia’s response was slightly less enthusiastic than Arwin had expected it to be, but she was clearly also pretty worn out. It looked like she’d been hard at work in the kitchen and this group was technically the first group of entirely organic customers she’d had since first meeting Reya.
“We’re rich now, by the way,” Reya said as she jingled one of the bags of gold she had tied to her waist. “Well, Arwin is. But he’s letting me carry the money, so I’m including myself in that.”
“The money is for all of us. We’ll use it to keep building up the street,” Arwin said with a laugh. “But a good amount of it will be going into expenses for materials — something that we can hopefully work out tonight with that merchant that’s meant to drop by.”
“Is there somewhere we should store all this? I honestly feel a bit uncomfortable strolling around with a literal fortune on my waist. It’s also surprisingly heavy.”
“Lillia’s room,” Arwin said without a second of hesitation. “It’s probably the safest spot in the entire street. Nobody can try to steal something if they can’t see their hand an inch from their face.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Reya removed the bags of gold from her waist and handed them over to Arwin. “I’ll leave that to you, then. Is there anything else you need me for right now?”
“Nope. Got something you want to do?”
“Eh. Just this and that,” Reya replied with a noncommittal shrug. “I’ll be in my room if you need me.”
She headed up the stairs. There was definitely something she wanted to do more than just ‘this and that’, but it was none of his business. Arwin shrugged to himself and turned to Lillia.
“Can I deposit these? Reya was right about not wanting to lug them around. It’s stressful. I feel like I’m going to trip and spill gold everywhere.”
Lillia looked up at the stairwell, then pulled her eyes away and nodded. “Yeah.”
They headed through the kitchen and Lillia guided him into her room. She took the bags of gold from him set them down one by one.
“They’re in the left corner,” Lillia said. “In case you ever need to find them while I’m busy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. By the way, the merchant coming by might be able to help both of us. I don’t really know much about them but they may be able to get some cooking supplies.”
“That could be useful,” Lillia said in a pensive tone. “I’ll sit in and see how things go. I certainly wouldn’t object to getting a steady stream of supplies.”
They fell silent for a moment.
“Is everything okay?” Arwin asked.
“Huh? With me? Yeah. Why do you ask?”
“Well, you seem a bit… restrained. I’m not saying you had to be excited or anything, but I was expecting you to be a lot happier about getting those customers. I was wondering if something went wrong or didn’t play out as planned.”
Lillia let out a small laugh. “I’m practically bursting at the seams. I’m thrilled, Arwin. It’s just not really appropriate for me to run around jumping and laughing when we’ve got other things to do. I can’t throw a party every time someone eats at the inn, you know.”
“Nobody is going to think less of you if you let yourself be happy. We’d be happy with you.”
It was a moment before Lillia answered. “I know that. It’s just a little embarrassing. I’m a grown woman. I’m the damn demon queen. I shouldn’t be this thrilled about a stupid inn.”
“There’s nothing stupid about it. Also, having people stop by quite literally means you don’t die. I’d say that’s a pretty good thing to be thrilled about.”
Lillia laughed. She stepped closer to Arwin, brushing her hand across his arm to let him know she was there in the dark before leaning closer to rest her head against his chest. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. Let’s head back into the main room before I get too comfortable here and refuse to leave when the merchant shows up.”
Arwin obliged and let her take his hand, leading him back through the dark. He couldn’t help but notice that her tail was swaying a little more than it normally did. She normally had it tucked into the leg of her pants to avoid drawing too much attention, but a thought struck him and lodged itself into his mind before he could shake it.
Do demons wag their tails when they’re happy?
That definitely wasn’t a question to be asked when they were standing in the light, so Arwin decided to shelf it for when he was feeling a little bit less interested in preserving his wellbeing.
They walked out into the common room of the tavern. The imps had already cleared everything up and were now nowhere to be seen. Nobody else was in the room, and it was already starting to darken outside. It wouldn’t be long before night was completely upon them.
“It’s getting pretty late,” Lillia observed as they sat down beside each other at the counter. “You’re sure that merchant is coming? Most people try to avoid this street during the day, much less when it’s late out.”
“Maybe the ghost got them,” Arwin said with a shrug. He wanted to speak to the merchant, but the day had also taken quite a toll on him and Lillia’s bed was calling to him. It wasn’t quite as comfortable as the bed in his own room, but he was too lazy to move it all the way down the stairs. It was a moot point. Lillia’s bed was more comfortable than his when she was in it with him. “You might be right. Maybe they decided to come tomorrow. Should we—”
There was a knock on the door.
“Talk about timing,” Lillia said.
Arwin headed over to the door and summoned his armor before pulling it open. On the other side stood a relatively short man, little more than a teenager. His black hair was slicked back and his features almost completely androgenous.
For that matter, Arwin wasn’t quite so sure the man was a man at all. The only feature Arwin had to judge by was his hair, which was definitely in a male haircut. He didn’t really care what gender the person was.
He was considerably more interested in the flecks of blood splattered across the front of his tailored dress shirt. They stood out like fallen rose petals among a sea of white frills.
“Hello,” the person said, tiling their head back to make eye contact with Arwin and giving him a flat-lipped smile. Their accent was posh and reminiscent of a nobleman more than any working-class citizen. “Pleasure. You must be Ifrit.”
“You’re the merchant?” Arwin asked.
Blood on a shirt isn’t exactly that odd for an adventurer. This bloke isn’t one of them, but even merchants need to be able to defend themselves. Still worth staying on my guard. You never know.
“So I am. Vivian said you may be interested in establishing a… relationship.”
“I need someone to procure metal for me,” Arwin said flatly. He recognized the distant sparkle in the merchant’s eyes, and he wasn’t a huge fan of it. His look was one of well-concealed mischief. “That’s it.”
“I may be able to be of aid. Are we going to discuss terms in the open?”
Arwin stepped back and beckoned the merchant in. “I suppose not. Let’s talk. Come on in. By the way, you’ve got some blood on you.”
The merchant glanced down at his collar. His cheeks colored in embarrassment and he coughed into a fist. “My goodness, it completely slipped my mind. A ruffian accosted me on the way here and I was temporarily waylaid. I did not believe I got any of his blood on my person, but it seems I was wrong. This is not the impression I sought to make.”
Use less words, please. I don’t need a novel every time you speak.
“As long as the ruffian wasn’t someone I know, I don’t really care.”
“They attacked me. It was self-defense. I trust you would not associate yourself with such sorts — but I have been rude. My name is Madiv. Enlighten me about the details of how I may be able to help…” Madiv trailed off as his gaze drifted past Arwin and landed on Lillia.
Arwin tensed, preparing to summon Verdant Blaze. He didn’t care about the merchant’s odd mannerisms, but if he made one aggressive move, he was going to end up as a fine bloody mist.
Worst case scenario I have to apologize to Vivian for pulping her friend.
But, instead of taking a single step forward, Madiv dropped to his knees. He pressed his head to the floor before raising it once more, staring up at Lillia with undisguised fanaticism — and recognition.
“My Queen,” Madiv breathed. “What are you doing here?”