A Solstice Tale-2
2004 Words
The voice startled Barlo from his thoughts. A portly, balding man was staring at Sinstari with wide eyes. The wildcat stared back, unblinking.
Barlo scowled. “That ‘beast’ is our companion, and we’re paying guests. Is that going to be a problem?”
“Ah—no, Sir Dwarf,” the innkeeper said, flushing, seeming to recover his wits. “He just startled me, is all. Are you sure he’s... quite safe? I’m only concerned for my other guests and the state of my inn.”
“He’s not going to eat any children or soil your carpets, if that’s what you’re asking,” Barlo said with some heat. He noticed Iarion’s lips twitching and suspected the elf was trying not to laugh.
The innkeeper sighed. “All right. But don’t expect me to feed him. We’re busy enough as it is with Solstice, and I can’t go giving all my meat to some cat.”
“Fine,” Barlo said. “Sinstari can hunt for his own meal.”
The wildcat gave the innkeeper a flat look before shouldering his way out the door. The innkeeper sighed in obvious relief.
“So, one room?” he asked, glossing over any awkwardness.
“Yes, please,” Iarion said.
“You’re in luck,” the innkeeper said. “We have one room left on the second floor. How many nights will you be staying?”
“Two,” Barlo grunted with ill grace. “I won’t be able to pick up my armor until the day after Solstice.”
“Very good, sir. I’ll be needing your payment up front.”
Barlo’s face lit up and he opened his mouth to start haggling, but Iarion cut him off, handing over their payment without even bothering to bargain. Barlo was about to protest, but the elf gave him a pointed look. Barlo scowled at him.
“Thank you, Sir Elf,” the innkeeper said, accepting Iarion’s coin. “The bathing room will be open for another hour, if you want to take advantage of it.”
“Do you offer laundry services?” Barlo asked. Both he and Iarion had already gone through all their changes of clothing. Most of their breeches were mud stained from travel, and some of Barlo’s tunics were getting to be on the ripe side.
The innkeeper nodded. “For three silvers each, we’ll wash and press whatever you have, and provide a robe to wear in the meantime. It’s getting late in the day, so your clothes wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow morning at the earliest.”
Barlo stroked his beard. “We’ll pay two silvers each.”
The innkeeper gave him a measuring look while Iarion stared daggers at his friend. After a moment, the innkeeper nodded.
“Done,” the innkeeper said. “Here are your robes. I’ll send my daughter to pick up your laundry.” He gave Iarion and Barlo an apologetic look as he handed over their room key. “I’ll also be needing your weapons before you go up. It’s standard policy. I’ve found over the years that unarmed guests make things a lot more peaceful. Everyone will be deep in their cups tonight and tomorrow. I don’t need any brawling.”
Barlo frowned, but Iarion slipped his bow and quiver from his shoulder and handed over his knife without question.
“We’ll get them back when we leave?” Barlo asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Of course,” the innkeeper said. “They’ll stay locked in my strongbox in the meantime. I’m the only one with the key, so don’t worry about anyone running off with anything.”
“Very well.” Barlo sighed and handed over his ax.
Iarion took the robes and key and led the way to the stairs at the back of the common room, which was filled with patrons enjoying a meal or drink. Some of them were drunk already, and had begun singing Solstice carols. Iarion walked past them with a shake of his head.
“Why didn’t you let me bargain for our room?” Barlo demanded as he trotted after his friend.
“All the inns are bound to be full at this time of year, and there was already a chance he might not let us stay here because of Sinstari,” Iarion said. “I didn’t want to risk offending him and end up without a room just so you could entertain yourself.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Barlo said. “I still would have liked to haggle with him though. I could have saved us some coin, and it might make me feel better about giving him all our weapons.”
“This is a reputable inn, and he seems like an honest man,” Iarion said, climbing the stairs. “Besides, it’s not as if we’re down to our last coppers.”
Barlo rolled his eyes. “That’s not the point! It’s the principle of the thing. A dwarf never pays more than he has to.”
“A dwarf never misses an opportunity to swindle someone, you mean.”
“Swindle? Iarion, when someone tells you how much something is, it’s only what they would like you to pay. They expect you to bargain with them. We’re the ones who got swindled.”
“Somehow, I think we’ll survive,” Iarion said in a bland voice.
“All right, you are officially banned from arranging all future purchases,” Barlo said. “Honestly, I don’t know how you get by without me around to keep an eye on your purse.”
“And yet I managed to buy your Solstice gift without supervision.” Iarion smirked. “I think this is our room.”
He slipped the key into the lock and opened the door. The room was a simple one. It had two narrow beds, and a window overlooking the street. A pair of armchairs and a low table had been arranged around a small fireplace. A washbasin and ewer stood in the corner, and there was a chest at the end of each bed for storage. Barlo pulled the heavy curtains across the window.
“No need to give the city a show while we change,” he said.
Iarion began shucking off his clothes, tossing them onto one of the beds. Barlo followed suit, pulling all his other soiled clothing from his pack before slipping into one of the light, cotton robes. It was a bit long on him, the hem dragging on the floor. He tried belting it shut, but there didn’t seem to be enough fabric to cover his broad chest, and the sash was too short. Iarion cleared his throat and Barlo looked up.
“I think we’re wearing the wrong robes,” he said in a dry voice.
Iarion’s robe hung loosely around his torso, even with the sash tied. It barely covered his privates.
“I think you’re right,” Barlo chuckled. “I suppose we should switch. I don’t think the guests here paid for a show.”
Barlo was changed into the correct robe in a matter of moments, but Iarion seemed to be taking his time.
“Why don’t you head down to the bathing room?” the elf suggested. “I’ll be there in a moment.”
Barlo frowned. “Is there a problem?”
“No, I just want you out of the room before I empty my pack, is all.” He gave Barlo a pointed look.
It took a moment for Barlo to understand his meaning. “Oh. You don’t want me to see my Solstice present.”
“That’s right. I don’t even trust you to see it wrapped. Now go out into the hall, please. And no peeking.”
Barlo decided to humor Iarion... for now.
Maybe I’ll snoop around his things tonight while he’s sleeping.
He slipped into the hall. It was empty, except for a man who was just entering another room. His pale skin and ragged, blond hair marked him as a Lesser Man. His gray eyes flickered as he spotted Barlo in the hallway before a polite smile spread across his weathered features.
“Good evening,” he said with a nod.
“Good evening,” Barlo said, feeling awkward in his light robe.
He hurried down the stairs toward the bathing room to avoid any further conversation. Chatting with strangers while almost naked wasn’t his idea of a good time. He breathed a relieved sigh as he reached the sanctuary of the bathing room, which was empty. Iarion arrived a few moments later.
“I ran into the innkeeper’s daughter on the stairs,” he said. “I asked her to have a meal sent up to our room. I figured we could do without the ruckus of the common room, especially while all our clothes are being washed.”
Barlo grunted as he lowered himself into the large, copper tub. The water came up to his shoulders. “Good idea.”
Iarion slipped into the hot water beside him. “I thought you might like it.” He gave his friend a wry smile.
With the bathing room to themselves, they took their time washing away the accumulated grime of the road, until both of them were clean, warm, and relaxed.
“I suppose we should go back up,” Barlo said. “The water’s getting cool, and they’ll be closing up soon.”
He and Iarion got back into their robes and climbed the stairs to their room. Iarion fished the key from his robe pocket and unlocked the door. Their laundry was gone. Barlo looked inside the chest at the end of his bed to reassure himself his other belongings were still in place out of habit more than anything else.
“Uh, Iarion?” he asked, as he rummaged around with increasing panic.
“Hmm?” Iarion said, working his fingers though his damp hair.
“Is your chest any emptier than it was before we left? My purse and all the gifts I had bought are missing. This isn’t some kind of elven joke, is it?”
Iarion frowned. “No...” He yanked open his own trunk to dig through it. He uttered a curse, meeting Barlo’s gaze and confirming the dwarf’s fears. “My things are missing too.”
Barlo swore with dwarven fluency. “Fantastic.”
Iarion covertly inspected the contents of his almost empty pack. Like Barlo, his purse and gifts had been stolen. All he had left were a few basic survival supplies, like his blankets and firestarting kit, and one other package he had not mentioned to Barlo that a thief would find no use for.
“I can’t believe it!” Barlo fumed. “Who would steal our stuff?”
Iarion sighed. “I don’t know. The innkeeper’s daughter is the only other person who should have been in here while we were gone. I can’t see her doing it. It’s far too obvious, and would ruin the inn’s reputation.”
“So no clothes, no presents, and no money,” Barlo grumbled. “At least my armor is safe with the blacksmith. Hopefully our weapons are still in the strongbox downstairs. Otherwise, all we have is pretty much the robes on our backs.”
“I don’t see why they wouldn’t be. The box is under the counter in the common room. If anyone other than the innkeeper tried to open it, someone would see them do it.”
“I just hope it was the innkeeper’s daughter who took our clothes, and not the thief,” Barlo said.
Iarion raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think a thief would bother with soiled laundry?”
A knock on the door cut off Barlo’s presumably sarcastic reply. A boy popped his head through the door.
“Pardon, sirs,” he said, looking up at them from under a flop of brown hair. “Your dinner is here.”
He shouldered open the door, revealing a laden tray in his arms, which he set on the low table by the fireplace. There were two tankards of mead, a plate of roast, two bowls of stewed vegetables, and a generous portion of fresh bread and butter. The lad arranged the dishes to his satisfaction and turned toward Iarion and Barlo with an expectant look on his face.
“Well, what is it?” Barlo demanded. “What are you waiting for?”
The boy flushed. “Uh, a tip is usually customary, sir.”
“And it would continue to be, if our purses hadn’t been stolen,” Barlo grumbled.
The boy’s eyes narrowed. “Look, if you don’t want to give me a tip, just say so.”
Iarion met his gaze. “He’s telling you the truth. We came back from the bathing room to find our money and Solstice gifts missing.”
“Really?” The boy gave Iarion a measuring look, which the elf held. “Huh. There seems to be a lot of that going around lately at the other inns around the city. It’s the first time I’ve heard of it happening here.”
“Other inns are having problems with theft?” Iarion prompted him.
The boy nodded. “I’ve heard things from my friends. One of them works at the Bear and Fiddle. Two days ago, every guest’s valuables went missing.”
“Interesting,” Iarion said, pursing his lips. “Could you please send up the girl who would have picked up our laundry? Oh, and the innkeeper as well.”
“My da won’t be happy to hear about this, but I’ll get him to come. He needs to know if we have a thief. I’ll send them both up.” The boy ducked out the door.
“Well?” Barlo asked after they boy had gone. “What do you think?”
Iarion shrugged. “I don’t know yet. But it’s clear this wasn’t a targeted attack against us. Something else is going on here.”
A few moments later, a mousey, young girl arrived with a meek tap on the door.
“Please come in,” Iarion said in a gentle voice.
“Bran said your things had gone missing,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“You picked up our laundry, right?” Iarion asked.
She nodded. “I only took the soiled clothes that were on the beds, I swear!”
“Neither of us thinks you took anything,” Iarion said. “But did you see anyone hanging around our door on your way in or out?”
- Writer
