Before Rex and his companions entered the town, the second guard held out his hand.“If you follow this main road, it leads from the northern to southern entrances. In the town centre, you will find our tavern and market area, which by the sounds of your reasons for being here, is where you want to be. Our residents live in the houses on the outer edge, and I implore you to not go skulking where you do not belong,” the guard said in a flat tone, eyeing every member of the group warily, especially Grub.“Sounds good, we aren’t after any trouble at all,” Rex replied, putting on a smile.“Righto,” the guard replied, stepping aside and giving Rex a curt nod, before turning back to face the first guard and taking up his earlier discussion on the pros and cons of raising sheep to goats.“Good to know they take their job seriously,” Dilo growled approvingly, “They might have a training yard so we can all train tomorrow morning.”“Let’s just hope they leave us alone, we get some sleep, have a
Taking in the scene within a few minutes, Rex could see the entire area of the bottom floor of the tavern. He was standing on the top of a platform that lowered two steps down to the main floor of the bottom level. Over three-quarters of the space was taken up with circular tables with a mixed number of patrons seated around each table, across the far end of the room was a long wooden bar with two people behind serving the customers and two girls scampered throughout the tabled areas bringing drinks and food and taking away the emptied plates and glasses to a room behind the bar, to the far left of the bar against the wall was a doorway with a set of stairs that could be seen through the archway heading up. Against the far-right wall was a small, raised platform that had a golden-haired woman singing an upbeat tune strumming on a lute and just behind her was a tall wiry man with a strange bowl haircut beating a drum. “You going to just stand there like a weirdo or come and organise ou
Gary was staring at Rex waiting for a response before the woman called Rosie stepped in and grasped his large bicep, “Please stop making trouble.”“I wanna know if he can arm wrestle, that aint makin trouble issit?” Gary replied, his words slighted by drink.“He is deep in conversation with the Assiarian woman before you intervened, let’s find him later?” Rosie said, her voice turning a little sharper and more authoritarian.“Assarians!” Gary spat, looking up at Karinna with scorn, “Wasta space and good air I reckon!”“I’m willing to arm wrestle him,” Rex said, standing so quickly Gary was bustled back slightly by his movement, Rex was sure the bump would aggravate the irritated man, but he simply looked down at Rex, rubbing his sternum where he was struck.“Little man hits good, come,” Gary said, his tone changing to cheerful, beckoning Rex to follow ov
“Kealy can you follow Dilo and make sure she doesn’t start the fight early, I guess we will wait outside and make sure the soldiers don’t do anything unfair in this silly bout,” Rex sighed, nodding to the archway before scratching his chin. “I would like to ask if we could come, I have a vested interest to see how this bout goes myself,” Karinna asked. “Why would you have a vested interest in how our affairs go?” Venya asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Call it intuition,” Karinna said, “It is a gift and a curse for my race to have these kinds of things. I cannot explain why, I just have this feeling that we should accompany you outside.” She shrugged at not being able to explain it any further. “Rosie called you an Assarian, what is that?” Rex asked as they made their way through the tavern, Rex gaining a few cheers and claps and the shoulders from the men in the tavern from his win over Gary in the arm wrestle. Cassius cleared his throat from behind them, getting Rex’s att
The instant Dilo heard Rex’s proposal, she released her grip, “I submit.”“Hey!” Rosie said through gritted teeth, “That isn’t fair, I only won because he said something to you to make you stop.”Dilo chuckled low in her throat as Rosie released her grip, “You won this fight, but like the idiot you are, I actually won in the long run, and you don’t even realise.’Unlike Rosie, Dilo had full control over her mind and actions while the battle adrenaline coursed through her body, so she knew what Rex’s proposal meant, but with Rosie’s brain being fogged and from lack of experience, she had only just realised what Rex had said as her pulse slowed, and mind cleared. Her shoulders sagged once she comprehended why Dilo had given up.“A good lesson here I think,” Brend said stepping forward and patting Rosie on the shoulder, “Rex’s friend, sorry I didn’t ca
“Ok,” Rex said, sitting up a little straighter, “You have my attention.”Dilo sighed loudly and her shoulders slumped forward a little, “I thought that would. His message came while you were at the river. I wanted to tell you about it straight away, but no good time came up, but I wanted to also let you know I have no intention of responding to him, like I said earlier, my loyalty is mainly to you, but also by extension to anyone you deem worthy to be a part of our group.”The soft sincere tone Dilo had while speaking resonated with Rex, he could tell she genuinely met what she said about her loyalty, he just was not sure why it had changed so quickly. “What did he want?”“He wanted me to let him know where I was. I get the feeling he thinks I am a prisoner in need of rescue. I wanted to get your thoughts on replying saying my allegiance has changed,” Dilo said her tone remaining soft, with only the sma
Taking in his surroundings as he came through the doorway and out onto the roof, Rex’s senses were on high alert as he snapped his head back and forth, checking corners, shadows and places one could hide to ambush from. Just because Brend and his group of soldiers had not caused any issues for Rex and his group yet, did not mean they wouldn’t try something while he was alone.“Someone is on high alert,” Rosie chuckled, turning to see why Rex’s footsteps had quietened, stopping one foot onto a two-step rise to an open-roofed pagoda with a few low wicker chairs and a table.“One cannot be too sure,” Rex shrugged, still wary even though Rosie seemed at ease.“I can see the sense in that,” Rosie nodded, “I have no reason to do you harm, plus after seeing you defeat Gary, I would be more worried about you overpowering me.”“I consider myself more of a pacifist when possible,” Rex sai
After Rex said his goodnights and departed, Rosie was left trembling and breathless as the shock of what she had done finally hit her, “I don’t know why I did that.” Remembering what had happened as she walked back down to her room, a voice halted her outside the door of her room. “Where were you? You seem happy about something.” Looking at where the voice had come from, she nodded and then shrugged, “Squad leader Brend. I was upstairs with father. I’m just heading to bed now.” As she turned back to face her door once more, something out of the corner of her eye drew her attention back. “Why are you dressed for an outing? Going somewhere at this hour?” Looking at his riding equipment and warm travelling coat draped over his shoulder, he grinned before shrugging smugly, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ve just returned from the garrison.” Seeing a smugness more than usual in his body language piqued her interest. Brend was usually secretive when he left to send and receiv