The Bane of Light

Conversations Over Dinner

"This is one of those establishments?", He hissed at me, thinking that the inn keeper couldn't hear, "They serve all species here-?"

I quickly kicked him, cutting him off before he could finish that phrase. I kicked him hard. To his credit, he didn't voice his pain. He simply glanced down at me sharply, as if I were some misbehaving toddler in the check-outline. I glared back up at him, my jaw clenched and eyes enraged, giving him my best 'shut your mouth' look.

What did he expect with this kind of establishment? Beings of all nature came here to remain below-the radar. That included humanoid and mage creatures that would not be accepted in other, more reputable establishments. I could not believe he just asked that, especially with so much condescension in his voice.

The lady looked up from her tome of magical drinking ages, a melange of suspicion and confusion adorned on her face at Paris' behavior. Her gaze caught on me, and narrowed in recognition. I stared right back, daring her to say something. Finally, after several moments of staring eachother down, the innkeeper shrugged in resignation. She gave me a look of indifference, clearly stating that all business was business.

"Human and eighteen" I told her, as if it would make any difference. We were not allowed to legally drink or rent rooms at eighteen, but it's not like we chose this establishment for its five-star services or deluxe commodities. Even in Mage society, where the legal adulthood marked at your first quarter of a century, at the age of twenty-five, we were still considered minors. Regarding the law, well, there was no law in such places, which was exactly why we were here. Only coin mattered. And that I had an abundance of.

"Yeah" Paris added on with a sneaky smile, giving me two thumbs up and a wink he probably thought was subtle, "And this is my fiancée Liliflora"

The innkeeper broke out in a delighted smile, revealing her sharp, pointed teeth, "Fiancée you say? I'll see what I can do about that to make your stay pleasant. Young love. How delightful" she clapped her hands together, her tone not in any way sincere.

"We have dinner open in the dining hall" she pointed to the scattered tables throughout the room, "And you pay for your room after you spend the night, which is at that point non refundable. I will take you up myself as your honored hostess" She crooned to us.

Something about her tone made me bristle. Maybe it was the way she was obviously lying, or maybe it was just because her voice was plain obnoxious. It sounded like nails being scraped on a chalkboard- high-pitched and screechy.

I gave her a suspicious glance before Paris practically shoved me into one of the dining hall chairs. Some kind of stew and bread appeared on the table the second we sat down. It was watery and plain lentils, but it smelt edible. I was hungry enough to ignore my suspicions on how it was prepared.

I nearly groaned at the warmth of the stew, my body having frozen over from the outside cold. Thankfully, the inn was warm enough. Nothing I would depict as cosy, but better than the freezing temperatures outside. Many other humanoid beings were dining with us throughout the room. One of them had a tail, while I saw another with slitted eyes like a goat. Paris, thankfully, had his back turned to them. I don't think he would be as calm as he was now, if he knew there were half-breeds in the room with us.

Once I got a sizable amount of hot stew in me, I finally looked up, wiping my mouth. My etiquette tutor would have an aneurysm at my current manners. I was shoveling down the soup with my elbows on the table. I hardly cared about manners at the moment, though. Not with the gaping chasm that was resting in my stomach at the moment. My hunger hadn't registered throughout the day, and I only realized how starving I really was when I got the first bite in.