Seduction of a Princess

Chapter Seven

Yay, I've been productive today. Thanks to the G.H.O.S.T.-writers, the writing-club I visit every wednesday, I've managed to finish one chapter, and write a whole new one! Yay for me XD.

Anyway, I hope you like this. I do. I like it a lot more than the last chapter, mainly because of one certain character that gets a bit of dialog (or rather: a lot of dialog). That conversation even went so smoothly, I had to split the original chapter into two pieces... second will be written as soon as I have some more time.

Enjoy!

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          Climbing down from the attic window was harder than June had expected. Though there had been enough places to put her feet, spots to hold on to the old, crumbling wall, she wasn't used to supporting her weight that way, and by the time she'd scaled down the side of the building, she was out of breath. Luckily, she hadn't tore the traveling cloak or the clothes she wore underneath. She waited a moment in the alleyway next to the inn to catch her breath before straightening her clothes, making sure the hood was covering her face completely. And then, she walked straight back into the inn.

           The taproom was cool, where the heat of the sun did not reach. It was a bit dark, without the sunlight, but the candles on the tables and the walls lightened the room enough to see what was happening. It was quite crowded in the room—at least more than June had expected from a small inn in a small town. This was probably the only bar in town, because it was so crowded that no one even noticed her entering the room. All the men were talking, laughing and singing as they drank their ale, and did not take note of the hooded person that slid into the taproom.

           With one hand, June held on to the rim of her hood, to make sure that it wouldn't be pulled back suddenly by a drunken man, as she searched the room for a place to sit. The long benches were all filled with people. Fat ones that drank one beer after another, and skinnier ones that were already swaying a bit. All men, of course—women weren't a common sight in a bar.

           When she reached the end of the room without finding a place to sit that was not too close to the loud and drunken men, her eye caught sight of... Terrance. The slender man was sitting not on a bench, but on a table, talking with two grim-looking men. His one hand was still in the sling, his other was holding a beer.

           “So the soldiers are out of this area now?” he said to the men. They muttered something too soft for June to hear. She moved closer, intending on listening in, but Terrance turned to her and his lips curled up.

           “Sarah!”

           For a moment, June didn't realize that he was talking to her, but that moment was quickly over, and awkwardly, she stumbled closer. Terrance didn't seem a bit troubled by it, but grinned as he steadied her with his feet. He gestured her to sit at the bench in front of him.

           “Good to see you here too. I was getting a bit bored, you know. These people don't have much to tell me, except that the Royal Mage was here just a few days ago with a whole regimen of soldiers. They're gone now—don't worry.”

           She stammered something not even she understood before anything sensible managed to come out of her throat. Caught off guard by him, sitting casually on top of a table, talking about such strange things, the first thing that came to mind was to ask why she shouldn't worry about the Royal Mage. Or why he would take a whole regimen of soldiers with him. But what finally exited her mouth was “You still have your arm in a sling.”