Once the plates were once again cleared away and their bills were settled, they set up the game according to Alfric’s instructions. He seemed to be the only one to have played it before, but it was simple enough. When someone was going, everyone set their hands on the table so that they could stop the rolling ring from going off the table. It was fun enough, Isra supposed, but mostly because of the exclamations of the others rather than the actual game itself. She found herself smiling at Alfric’s groan of defeat as she sent one of her rings careening into two of his.
After a few rounds of this, the music stopped, and Isra felt the warmth and openness slowly fade from her. Her eyes went to Verity, who had rolled her sleeves back down. She wore a calm, impassive expression as she packed up the lute, but there was a hint of a satisfied smile there.
“Ready to go?” asked Verity once she’d come over. “I asked Cynthia to pack me up my dinner, so you don’t have to wait.”
“Ay, the music was lovely,” said Hannah.
“Thank you,” said Verity with a modest bow. “I felt nervous, having the four of you there.”
“I’m glad we came,” said Alfric. “It was a good time.”
“Well, we should get going,” said Verity. “I get hungry after a set. Normally I had Cynthia leave my food up in my room, but we still have to walk across town.”
“Let’s go then,” Alfric said with a nod, standing up.
They left once Verity had taken a small covered dish from the kitchen. Again, Isra found herself watching the bard, but this time there wasn’t the excuse of watching a performer at work.
“Can I carry that for you?” Isra asked as they walked.
“Oh, thank you,” said Verity, handing it over. “You enjoyed the music?”
“Very much. I do wish I could have heard it without the other noise.”
“Tavern music is meant to fade into the background,” said Verity. “And at certain moments, it’s meant to catch your attention and let you get lost in it. It’s meant to fill in gaps in conversation. I can’t say that I’m all that good at it.”
“You were spectacular,” said Isra. “Beautiful.”
“Well,” said Verity, blushing. “Thank you. But I just play what I want to play without thinking too much about what I’m doing or why. It’s a very relaxed way of doing it and probably not what’s best suited to a busy tavern, but Cynthia has never told me to do anything different, and if I don’t have any pressure on me.” She shrugged. “I would rather play something that’s beautiful to me.”
“You’d make the songbirds jealous,” said Isra.
Verity smiled. The other three were walking slightly ahead, engaged in their own conversation. “I suppose you’re going back to your home soon? It’s getting late. I have a lantern you can borrow, if you need.”
“I can make my way in the dark,” said Isra. “It’s one of those things I had thought everyone could do.” She was silent for a moment, feeling the warm dish in her hands. “If there’s a bed, I may ask Mizuki if I could stay the night. I already packed my bag and left it there.”
“There’s a bed,” said Verity. “You’d be in the room with me, where Mizuki’s sisters used to sleep.”
“If that’s not a problem,” said Isra, feeling flushed. The ale hadn’t quite left her, it seemed.
“I have to warn you,” said Verity. “I
Isra smiled. She was quite looking forward to it.
Mizuki was finding that she didn’t actually like traveling that much.
Six miles was a long way to walk, especially if you were going to do a
dungeon at the end of it. The dungeon was also a mile and a half off the
warp point, so that was seven and a half miles. Then
She was also very slightly hungover, though it had helped that they’d set off later in the day, after a light breakfast. She drank lots of water and chewed an herb Isra had given her, which helped.
“We should have gotten a cart,” said Mizuki. “Or a mount. We have the money.”
“And you know how to ride, ay?” asked Hannah.
“No,” said Mizuki. “But it can’t be that hard.”
“The birds are hard,” said Alfric. “And there are limits on how much weight they can carry, though you might be able to manage it, actually. The lizzo are finicky and slow. A good mount is one of the most sought after of the beasts you could find in a dungeon.” He glanced over at Isra. “With your abilities, I’m hoping that if we come across the opportunity, we might be able to capitalize on it.”
“You’re not s’posed to take animals out,” said Hannah. “Not unless you have the equipment for it to make sure it won’t get loose. And anything a person could possibly ride, we wouldn’t be able to fit in the book.”
