652 The Smelly Stable

Panic surged through the tavern as Alexios bellowed, "It's time for us to leave! Go! Go! Go! Leave here at once!" His voice was a thunderclap, jolting Nikolaos upright as Alexios hauled him from his seat. Coins clattered onto the table in a hurried offering as the team of professionals, initially frozen in confusion, began to stir with a sense of impending doom. The guards, ever vigilant, were the first to grasp the gravity of their lord's command.

Just then, a guard perched in the rafters shouted down, his voice piercing through the air, "A fleet of riders approaching this tavern! The leader unknown! Bearing the flag of the local government!" The words hung in the air like a dire prophecy.