Tavern Girl 2

The next morning, Esme rose before the sun.

There was a dull ache in the back of her skull as she practiced her shadow walking but she considered it punishment for drinking on the job.

When the sun began to climb in the sky, she made her way towards the stables to check on Bull.

As she approached the stable she found that it wasn't as empty as she expected.

There was a raucos coming from inside. Esme's hackles raised. Surely it was too early for anyone to discover her, she hadn't even made a move.

She crept up to the entrance with her back to the walls but as she came closer and closer she relaxed.

The raucous was a girl persuading a chicken to give up her laid eggs.

'You bad bad hen', the girl was saying.

'You already have so many babies and yet you would rather we loose our small loyal guests?'.

Esme smirked and peered inside the stable.

It was no stable but a barn.

A poorly dressed girl was bent over making silly faces at an hen to distract her from guarding her eggs. The girls back was turned to Esme and at her feet was a basket that held four eggs which Esme guessed were from the two other hens.

In the distant corner, Esme could see Bull locked up in a single stable that looked a little too small for him. The war horse was undisturbed by the commotion.

'You're always the most stubborn', The girl said giving up on the dance.

'I'll have you know that all your babies that hatch make even finer dishes as roast chicken'.

'That's not a very nice thing to say to a mother', Esme interjected walking in.

The girl jumped almost four feet in the air. Fortunately she didn't kick the basket of eggs at her feet as she struggled to regain her balance. Once her feet were stable she turned to look at Esme a look of alarm alight in her small eyes.

The alarmed look morphed first into that of confusion and then that of realisation.

'You're the new tavern manager. The one Meksta said would fill in for her, yes?'

Esme liked that Meksta had been wise enough not to tell the other tavern girls that she was selling herself in place of an Otunarian noble lady.

'Correct. I'm Ria', Esme said picking the name off the top of her head on the spot.

'I'm Eris. The renowed cook in this tavern', the girl said 'And I'm not usually so mean to the hens. It's just when I came by the ban this morning, I saw that magnificent horse in the stable. We must have a guest in the VIP room and I thought to prepare a fine egg dish for our important guests'.

Esme raised her brows then smiled at Eris.

'We have no noble guest. That horse his name is Bull and he belongs to a merchant I once worked for. This merchant sold that horse to a fake noble man. The fake noble man only paid a quarter the price and promised to pay the balance later but he tried running off with the horse. Fortunately the merchant caught him and seized the horse. He is hiding it away here until the fake noble man pays every penny he owes'.

Even as Esme spoke she marvelled at her ability to lie on the spot.

'I see', Eris nodded. 'That makes so much sense, we barely have any important guests at this tavern'.

Her face looked crestfallen.

'You must have looked through the records and seen that we don't make a lot'.

Esme had indeed noticed that.

'Don't worry the merchant has to pay for the horses upkeep and I imagine caring for a magnificent horse as this can be quite expensive'.

Eris's face lit up, 'Really'?

Esme nodded smiling, 'The horse can be our noble guest'.

Eris clapped her hands and went closer to Bull's stable to peer at the horse.

Esme could see that the girl was young, perharps fourteen years old. She shouldn't be working at a tavern. Even if her family wasn't wealthy she should be learning a trade that would make her financially valuable.

'You don't have to cook any fancy breakfast now Eris so hurry along and make something simple. We only have two guests to feed this morning'.

Eris smiled.

'Of course Miss Ria', She grabbed her basket and skipped out of the barn/stable.

Esme went over to Bull's stall and gave him a caress.

'I suppose you've had a hard night being in this tiny stall. I promise to let you have a walk for some stretching in the evening'.

Esme spent some time with Bull and then went back into the tavern.

When she entered the front room, the chatter that filled it stopped.

In center of the room sitting at two little tables pushed together to form a big one were seven young girls and two young men about her age.

They stared at her unblinking.

Eris came round into the room from the adjoining kitchen to see what the silence was about.

When she saw Esme, she grinned.

'Guys this is Ria, the girl Meksta said she would send us'.

'Jiv', Esme greeted.

'Where's Meksta?', one of the young women with light chestnut hair and dark brown eyes asked.

'She left last night', Esme answered.

'Why would Meksta leave without introducing you?' another girl with similar hair but lighter eyes asked.

Esme shrugged.

'You all were quite busy and her business could barely wait'.

'Do you know what business that is?, Meksta has been too tight lipped recently'. The dark eyed one said.

'I haven't a clue', Esme said in her most convincing voice. 'She let me know that she would require my assistance and as soon as I arrived she left. I guess it was urgent'.

There was another moment of silence, then Eris jumped in.

'You uncultured lot', she scolded grabbing a chair and making a space for Esme at the table. 'Meksta would be dissatisfied in your manners'. Turning to her she said. 'Please seat, Ria. Breakfast would only be a moment'.

To the others at the table Eris said 'Introduce yourselves nicely' and then stormed back into the kitchen.

'I'm Niaki and this is my sister Wekya' The Chestnut haired girl with the lighter eyes said first pointing to herself and then her dark eyed sibling.

Esme sat at the space Eris made for her and smiled at the two girls.

'Jiv, it's good to know you'.

'I'm Roukan', one of the boys spoke up. 'Eris is my little sister'.

'Oh that's nice, Jiv'.

Esme was relieved that Eris was not working in a tavern by herself.

'I'm Ushna', a blonde, hazel eyed girl spoke up. She was a beauty Esme could see and she was a bit shy too.

'Jiv, Ushna'. She wanted to compliment the girls looks but she knew being a pretty tavern girl was no easy maneuver. The girl had probably heard about her beauty all her life. At least she wasn't in a brothel..close but not quite.

'I'm Riyi', the other blonde spoke up. She had dark eyes that were alight with myth and fantasies. 'This is Amad, Clena, Souse and Miyaicy'. She said pointing to the other guy first and the three other girls that hadn't introduced themselves.

The girl called Souse scowled at Riyi clearly irritated at her forwardness.

'Jiv everyone. I hope we all get along'.

Some of the faces smiled back at her while others remained indifferent but all Esme could think about was the fact that if she succeeded and Sukech invaded North Chedii all these barely hanging on lives would be ridiculousy affected.