The journey of destiny

Chapter 7

The boys were relieved to find the inn within the heart of the city, where they didn’t feel threatened by everyone crossing their path. It was a popular inn – sounds of voices singing, people laughing and cutlery clinking against plates drifted off onto the street. Will looked up at the sign hanging on the side of the building. It showed a pony so white it seemed to be made of sugar. He figured the owner had chosen that one on purpose. Will pushed open the door and a wave of warm air, rich with the aromas of food, welled over them. The boys entered and closed the door, trapping the warmth inside.
            The inn was just as cosy on the inside as it had seemed on the outside. Everything appeared to be made of wood, though the walls outside had been stone. A long bar run along the wall at the far end of the taproom. Several men sat there, having a drink, but most people had taken a seat around one of the many round tables scattered across the room. Many small lanterns hung from the walls and stood on the tables, doing their best to light the room. On the left, a few yards away from the bar, a large fireplace produced the heat to warm everyone. Every now and then, the bartender would hurry over there and take care of the flames.
            The boys slowly made their way into the inn, not sure where to go; none of them had been in an inn like this before, not without supervision of an adult. Some men close by the door just started to give them funny looks as Will spotted his father. He and Owen were sitting on the right side of the room, accompanied by a couple of others he didn’t recognize. They seemed very capable of amusing themselves, judging from the laughter and the way they spoke to each other. Will was just about to head for their table as sir Steven spotted them.
“Ah! How nice of you to finally join us!” he didn’t sound unfriendly, but it was clear he would have preferred the boys to be in way earlier.
“Yeah,” Will agreed. “We could’ve been here hours ago, weren’t it for the fact that we had no clue on where to go.” His friends shot him warning looks, but sir Steven nodded.
“Fair enough,” he said. Then he got something out of his pocket. “Here,” he said, throwing it over to Will. “Room 4, you’ll find it easily – it’s just up the stairs.” He winked, as though making up for not giving them directions before. Will looked around the room and spotted a spiral staircase in the right corner of the room, close by the bar. He figured the bartender could keep an eye on the guests going up that way.
“Get a good night’s rest,” Owen advised. “Tomorrow will be a busy day.” Will nodded and led the way toward the stairs.
            As they reached the second floor, they looked into a narrow hallway with doors on both sides. After two doors, the hallway reached a dead end and split up in two separate corridors leading to the left and right. Will figured there were more rooms there. They didn’t know if they had to go all the way up the stairs or if they had to be on this floor, so they decided some exploring was in place. It didn’t take them long to find the right room: it was just around the corner. Will took a look at the object his father had given him and realized it was an outworn key.
            The room didn’t look like much. It was a small space with three bunk beds in it. The little moonlight that had managed to break through the clouds shone down through a tiny window up at the far end of the room. Several smaller versions of the lanterns they had seen downstairs were positioned on a small cupboard next to the door. As Leon lid one, Will noticed the room also contained a small sink and a large can of fresh water, with some towels next to it. The room wasn’t particularly amazing, but it was comfortable. The sheets were neatly tucked in, the floor was recently swept clean and the air was less damp than they would’ve expected from the crowded space.
            Will claimed the nearest bed by letting himself fall down on it. The others followed his example and each chose a place to sleep.
“So,” Bryan started curiously, hanging down from his bunk to look at Will, “What happened? Why did that creep take you? How did you escape?” The others eagerly leaned his way, longing for a good story.
“Well,” Will started. The others didn’t notice the cheeky twinkle in his eyes. “First he dragged me with him to the most ominous place in town. The buildings towered above us, blocking all of the light, so I could barely see anything. Then we entered a building. It seemed normal at first, but as soon as he lit a fire, I knew it was bad. The room was lined with books and jars with all kinds of slimy things in them; I don’t even want to know what they were. Also, plants were everywhere, but they weren’t regular plants. They had all kind of odd shapes and colours. The worst of all was the man himself. He began to chant a gloomy spell, his eyes closed, as he held onto some kind of relic. The plants seemed to listen to his chanting and come to live. As soon as they started to creep my way, I turned around, but the door was gone! All I saw was solid wall. The man started to laugh and slowly, step by step, made his way toward me. Then I saw his eyes weren’t closed at all: they had disappeared! It was as though his eyelids had grown into the rest of his skin. I was so fixed on looking at the man, that I didn’t notice one of the plants had come real close – until it touched me. Everything became black.” Will looked around, dramatically pausing, while trying to keep a straight face. His friends were looking at him with horrified expressions on their faces, trusting him to tell the truth. “And then I woke up, somewhere in that alley where I found you guys again,” Will added, shrugging.
            They all started to nervously shout at once, wondering what the man could have done with him and expressing their concern that Will could be in danger. Maybe the man had poisoned him! Bryan was the first one to abruptly stop worrying, as he noticed Will was shaking with laughter. One by one, all of the knights-to-be realized they had been fooled.
“You… You should have seen your faces!” Will managed to exclaim in between bursts of laughter. “Hilarious!” Bryan rolled his eyes.
“Very funny, Will,” he said, getting back on his own bed.
“We are so going to get you back for this!” Adam threatened, already trying to think of a good way to do so.
“Prank war!” Leon exclaimed, looking as though his biggest dream had just come true.
“What actually happened?” Nathan asked, always the one to be most down to earth. Will slowly stopped laughing, feeling his friends deserved to hear the truth.
“Nothing much, really,” he finally said. “The man took me to some sort of house, showed me some pictures and then let me go.”  The others had to think about that for a moment.
“Why?” Noah asked, frowning. “What’s the use of that?” Will shrugged.
“I have no idea,” he answered, though he had a perfectly good idea. Will knew he hadn’t been lying, but it made him feel uneasy to keep parts of the truth from them. “Let’s just go to sleep now,” he suggested. “Who knows what Owen and my father have planned for tomorrow.” The quiet murmur of agreement was accompanied by a loud snore, coming from above Will; Bryan had fallen asleep already.