The Inn

They arrived at the inn at dusk. The red of the atmosphere but especially the red of the planet gave the environment an unreal touch. It could’ve been a scene from a fairy tale, just before the group met the evil witch. That the inn was in the middle of a small forest didn’t help the atmosphere at all.

When Erax put her down in front of the building, her legs complied again, and she could walk by herself once more.

Good. Meeting the evil witch in that state would’ve been more than humiliating. Though I still hope that this is a normal inn.

Tom opened the door. The rest field in after him, with Mother Clemens and the twins waiting for her to go before them.

This is so frustrating. Why can’t they just act normal around me?

The inside of the inn was larger than she had expected. Or rather far more empty. There were a few men sitting at a table, drinking from their mugs. Nia suspected it was something like beer or ale. Only two of the half a dozen tables were occupied. A few men glanced at them for a moment, then turned back to their drinks and their conversations.

Tom had made his way straight to the innkeeper. “How much for a room for tonight?”

“A single room is two silver,” the burly man answered.

And a check on the typical fantasy currency. Do I have bingo yet?

Nia saw the man behind the wooden counter raise an eyebrow, as Tom immediately returned to the group. “We don’t have enough money to rent even one room.”

Nia blinked a few times. “You have money? I mean this world’s money?”

“Did you really think we sat around and did nothing while you recovered?” Tom glared at her.

To be honest, I haven’t thought about you at all. I was a bit preoccupied with pain. She didn’t voice her grievances out loud, though. Then she would’ve lost immediately.

Instead she asked meekly: “How much did you make in that short time?”

“About forty coppers each,” Sonja answered.

“Don’t worry, I’ll arrange something,” Mother Clemens said, and walked to the counter. Nia could only hope that she wouldn’t argue that the saint needed a room. For free. The big problem was, that if the innkeeper was anything like Mother Clemens or the villagers, it would work. At the cost of blowing her cover.

Nia felt nervous, watching the priestess speak to the proprietor. The old woman gestured with her arms and even pointed in their direction, resulting in shivers crawling up Nia’s spine. Crawling up. Those shivers seemed to grab her skull as the innkeeper actually looked past Mother Clemens and at them, nodding shortly after. The innkeeper then replied to the priestess, gesturing himself. That in turn was answered with more gestures.

Nia was watching them with baited breath, not even listening to anything the rest of their group was discussing.

When the priestess returned to them, Nia gulped and waited for her to tell them the bad news.

“I have told him that you’re traveling with me.” Mother Clemens’ smile vanished as she explained. “And that you’re an acolyte to our lady’s faith, and the rest of you accompany us for protection.”

That sounded reasonable so far. It was actually a good idea.

Okay, where’s the bombshell? There has to be a bombshell, right?

“He doesn’t want to allow us to stay for free, though, and I don’t have enough money to pay for all of you myself.”

“We can pitch together,” Sonja suggested.

“Even then, it is not quite enough.” The priestess shook her head. “When I asked whether there is anything we could do to change his mind, he suggested, that you should perform.” Mother Clemens first looked to Sonja, and then to Nia.

There’s the bombshell. And that was quite and explosion.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Sonja spoke, while Nia was still reeling internally. “What do you mean by ‘perform’?”

“You could dance, perform magic, or,” Mother Clemens slowly turned to Nia, “sing. He didn’t specify what you should do, he just wanted to have some entertainment.”

Why did you have to start another bingo card?

“Do we have to?” Nia asked in the ensuing silence.

“If we don’t want to sleep in the woods. And trust me, we don’t want to sleep in the woods.” Mother Clemens looked at Nia. “Funds are usually no problem for someone like you.”

There it is. The admission that saints usually don’t need money.

“Maybe I should have asked whether he had any jobs for us,” Tom mused.

“Do you have an instrument and can play it?”

Both Tom and Ralf slumped their shoulders at the priestess’ question.

“I don’t want to sleep outside,” Sonja declared. “I think I can whip up a little magic for him to enjoy.” When she turned to Nia, the shiver was back, grabbing her spine in a stranglehold. “You will help me, right?” That question was followed by a more forceful “Right?”

“I … I am not sure whether I am comfortable enough to do that.” Nia raised her hand in a defensive gesture.

Sonja leaned in closer. An unnatural shadow appeared on her face. “You will help me, right?” The girl projected so much pressure with that third question, that all Nia could do, was nod. “Good.”

Maybe I have misjudged things, and Tom should be more careful, not Sonja.

“I just have no idea, what I should be singing. I don’t want to sing any prayers …” Especially not since they would have effects. That would blow her cover faster than a drop of nitroglycerin falling on the floor could explode. And that is quite a banger.

Sonja stared daggers at her. It wasn’t just an excuse. She had never thought of singing in her old identity, and only had done it a few times in her new one, because she had to.

“I can teach you a song or two,” Tina said all of a sudden.

Please. I don’t want to sing any church songs! She’d been forced to attend the church often enough to know some of them. And she had to admit that there were some pretty good ones. But she didn’t want to sing the praises of a god whose existence she was still unsure about. And with her magic reacting to such songs, it felt like a really bad idea.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Now Tina had also a stern look on her face. “I am not sure what you’re thinking I’m going to teach you, but it’s probably not what you’re thinking.” She sighed and looked a bit friendlier. “If we want to be successful in this endeavor, we have to choose a song that works both with your voice and the target audience.” Tina turned to Mother Clemens. “Tell him that we accept his conditions, but that we’ll also need an hour or two to prepare.”

Nia looked to Ralf for help, but he simply shrugged. When she looked at the twins, they just mimicked Ralf’s gesture. Tom probably wouldn’t help her, and when she looked at him, he just shook his head. Though with his slightly lowered gaze, it almost seemed as if he had a little sympathy for her plight.

As Mother Clemens returned to the Innkeeper, Tina grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a corner in the inn. “Okay, let’s begin.”