The Defender: Stoneford

One

I’ll try this place first, he thought.

 He walked through the front door. The inside was ordinary. There was a dining area with half a dozen tables, each with four chairs pushed close to them. To his right was a counter, to his left an open stairway. Two candelabras hung from the ceiling. They weren’t lit, but a lantern on the counter was.

Behind the counter was a man with short dark hair washing mugs. He had a plain face and a solid build. He stopped what he was doing and looked at Allan. “Help you, young man?”

“I hope so,” Allan replied. “I’m looking for a place to stay.”

The man smiled. “I have rooms, young man. Single bed or double?”

“Single.”

“For the night, or longer?”

“Longer. I’m new in town, and hoping to make my way here.”

“Well, then, welcome to Stoneford, and the Gray Stallion Inn. My name is Gregory. A room with a single bed is three coppers a night, or a silver and a copper per week. I must ask that you pay the first night, or first week, in advance.”

“I can do that. Does that only cover the room?”

“I would be a poor host if it did, young man. The price includes a morning and an evening meal each day you stay. You’ll have to pay for extra food, and extra drink.”

“Of course.”

Allan went to the counter. He removed coins from his coin purse and placed them on the counter in front of Gregory.

“Thank you, young man. Might I get your name?”

“Allan.”

“Where you from, Allan?”

“Elderwood Ford.”

“Ah, yes, the city where that masked fellow fought the Lord and brought him down. Is it true what the say about that masked man?”

“That depends on what they say.”

“They say the man uses magic.”

“That was the word around the city, though I never saw it myself.”

“Interesting.” The smile faded from the man’s face.

“Why should that be interesting, Master Gregory? It seems just another story to me.”

“Yes, you are new in town, aren’t you? So you haven’t heard?”

I have heard odd rumors about Stoneford. Perhaps this is my chance to learn more. “I heard nothing. Tell me, Master Gregory. If I’m to make this city my home, I should know what’s going on.”

“Indeed you should. We are ruled by Lord Jason. A few months ago, towards the end of the winter, a fellow came to town, calling himself Malloria.”

“Malloria? What sort of name is that?”

“A strange name, young man, and for a strange man. Malloria said that he could see the future. Well, by then the rumors of that masked fellow in Elderwood had come. People wondered if the magic had come back. Anyway, one of this Malloria’s predications was that doom would befall Lord Jason’s younger son Kenneth. Sure enough, a couple of weeks later, Kenneth died of fever.”

“Did people suspect this man of foul play?”

“No. Other children died around that time, about a dozen or so, all of fever.”

“That is strange.”

“Indeed. After that, His Lordship took this Malloria into his confidence.” Gregory shook his head. “Things have not been the same since.”