Shadow Whispers

Chapter 4 ☀ Boar's Tavern

Fostie and I still aren't sure how it happened, but it spread like wildfire that we were magic-less. There must've been an aura manipulator around, but who knows. That part doesn't matter so much. Those people are super common."

She took a big bite out of the apple next to her. Wiping her mouth with her sleeve, she continued with her story.

"This was just before winter hit. The weather turned awful a week after we'd gotten kicked out, and Fostie-"

"Nessie!" Foster whined.

"Fine, Foster here-" she enunciated," got sick. As the days passed, he got worse and worse, and I was worried he'd die. A few places let us sleep in their stables for the night, but it was still difficult trying to find food and medicine for Foster."

"Nessie, enough. You're drawing this all out and making me look bad in front of this girl." he wagged his finger. "Let me talk now."

He took a deep breath. "While Nessie was looking for help for me, we came here and asked Maeve for help, since she was the owner of this place. She's an aura manipulator herself, so she welcomed us and introduced us to this small rebel group that was meeting there later that evening..."

After Foster finished his story, they ate breakfast in a comfortable silence and waited for noon.

"Khoeli, shouldn't you be heading down now? It's twenty minutes till." Nessie softly inquired.

"What?" Khoeli was shaken out of her thoughts. "I- oh yeah. I nearly forgot. I'll head down now. Will you guys still be here when I finish?"

They shook their heads. "We have to get back to our posts. We can't have the lord's son thinking we're actually not the beggars we pretend to be. We've already been gone a while."

She nodded in understanding. "I see. Well, thank you for staying with me and telling me about everything."

"Of course. Goodbye Khoeli."

She laughed. After hugging them goodbye and thanking them, the Aredale rebel leaders walked out of the room, Damian trailing behind them and munching on a chicken leg. Finding the sight quite comical, she stifled her laugh.

After glancing at the clock one more time, Khoeli realized it was ten minutes until noon.

She quickly changed into the clothes Nessie had bought for her, and decided to carry her money pouch with her down to the tavern's bar. The young woman briefly wondered what it'd be like to get drunk, but she quickly brushed that thought away as she thought of Felix's reaction to that.

She sobered up as a thought came to mind. She'd never told the rebels her name.

How did they know she was called Khoeli?

She brushed that thought away, too. Maybe she'd misheard.

Pulling her hair into a ponytail, she tied it with a ribbon and noted with satisfaction that she had two minutes remaining until she was to meet Cassi.

After bouncing down the stairs, she noticed a table with two empty seats, a hooded figure at the end of it. She slid into one, trying to look inconspicuous.

"Ellie!" hissed the hoodie. Or well, the person under the hoodie.

She gasped. "How do you know my name?"

The figure pulled back his hoodie. "It's me, Felix, you fool. You had me worried sick!"

She crossed her arms. "I wasn't the one who went disappearing and never set a rendezvous to meet."

Felix drew his hoodie back over his face. "What are you even doing here, anyways?"

"I should be asking YOU that question," she bit back. "I'm supposed to be meeting a Cassi here. He said noon." She pondered for a bit. "And he offered to buy me a drink. It was very nice of him."