The Drowning Cat?

In the same moment as they pull their knives out, Lionel, Knox, and I also pull out our weapons.

While Lionel and Knox aim their weapons at around five of Mora's people, I point my dagger at Mora's throat, who is standing behind the table with her knife pointed at me.

"Don't try any dirty tricks. I won, so hand me my winnings!" I say calmly.

"You don't seem to have a sense of humor!" says Mora, placing her knife on the table.

Her followers also pack up their knives. Mora pushes the blade of my dagger aside with her index finger and sits back down leisurely.

Her ego seems almost as big as it was at the beginning.  She once again exudes a mixture of composure and arrogance. With a loose hand movement she gives a signal to her people. They let go of Caspian and two of them go into an adjoining room.

Caspian comes over to me, visibly relieved. 

"You did it. Thank God!" he says, relieved.

He pauses briefly.

"Who would have thought you were so good at gambling. We should have a go together!" Caspian says, joking.

I look at him, slightly annoyed. Seriously. I just sorted out your problems, and you haven't learned anything... Lionel and the others approach. Then Lionel skillfully slaps Caspian on the back of the head.

"Don't get any stupid ideas again," he says seriously.

"I was just kidding..."

Then the two men come back from the adjoining room packed with our stuff. Our purse, Caspian's bow, some other things...

"Here, take your stuff back and leave my store!" Mora says arrogantly.

"You don't have to say this twice!" says Caspian who grabs his things instantly.

Lionel grabs the money before Caspian could grab it.

"I will take this," says Lionel while looking at Caspian accusatorily.

"Good decision!" says Caspian, who doesn't seem to take any risk after this torture.

"Where is the orb?" I ask, looking at Mora.

"It couldn't hurt to try," she says while smiling nervously.

She lifts the orb from under the table and rolls it across the table to me.

The orb is almost the size of a small bowling ball. Where the hell did she just get that orb from? What did my grandma always say? Never ask questions you don't want to know the answers to!

"If you want a rematch, feel free to stop by Aria! I haven't had such an exciting game in a long time!"

"Thank you, but no... definitely no!" I say a little exhausted.

It's not that I hate playing some games. But that was enough gambling for the time being. There are more important things to do. And I hope that there are no more unforeseen complications. Because at some point I will lose control.

"Too bad. But we will see what the future brings!" Mora says as we leave the store.

It's already dusk as we step out onto the street. People are lighting candles in the old-fashioned street lamps. Also the light in the pub windows illuminates the streets. It's quieter than during the day, but the nightlife here doesn't seem to be that quiet either. Actually the bars certainly look well-attended.

"Grrr..." our stomachs growl almost in sync, and it spreads into a brief awkward silence.

"We should search for a place to eat and sleep!" Lionel says with his usual serious face.

"I am so hungry. I could eat a horse!" Knox says.

I actually believe him. I'm close to starving, too. We walk down the street. Sisli is nearly hanging from Knox's shoulder. She seems to be very hungry and sleepy too.

"When will we be there!" she asks, whining.

I'm so exhausted, too. But luckily, there's a glimmer of hope at the end of the road. A sign with the inscription "The Drowning Cat Inn".

Not a particularly appealing name, but we'll take anything we can get.

"There is an inn!" I shout and point with my finger at the inn on the end of the street.

"Finally...!" Sissli shouts, relieved but half asleep at the same time.

We walk down the streets and enter the big wooden door. Inside everything is lighted up. People are sitting at tables eating and drinking or standing at a counter. The atmosphere is exuberant, loud, and joyful. Next to the counter a staircase leads up. Upstairs must be the rentable rooms.

We walk to the counter. And some kind of a small, old man with grey hair is standing behind the counter.

"Good evening, sir. We need rooms for five people for at least one night. Do you still have free rooms?"

"Hello, young man. Let me check!" he says and takes a big book from under the counter.

A young woman in a yellowish dress with a white apron, braided blond hair, and freckles on her face comes to the counter.

"Grandpa, what are you doing with that big book again? We only have twelve rooms to manage, let me take care of it!" says the young woman.

"As you say, dear!" says the old man, moving aside.

"Well, we still have two rooms with two beds each available. Unfortunately, the rest are already booked because of the big festival! Despite that, when you don't mind, you can take the two rooms," she says thoughtfully.

"That's fine we will take the rooms! For two nights, if possible." Lionel says instantly.

"Great, that's fine. That makes two gold coins!"

Lionel takes out the money and gives it to the woman.

"By the way, my name is Iris, and that's Thorin. He is my grandpa and the owner of this place. If you need anything, you can come to us." she says smiling.

Knox's stomach starts to growl loudly.

"You seem to be hungry,“ she says smiling.

"Take a seat on the table there," she says while pointing with her finger to a table near the window.

"We will take your order soon."

"Thank you!" Knox says a little embarrassed.

We go over to the table and take a seat. As Sisli is too small to sit on a chair, she sits down on the table.

"I hope Iris takes our order. She was quite cute," says Caspian.

There it goes again. The old Caspian is back. But then Thorin appears behind Caspian out of nowhere. Now one of us saw him sneaking to us.

"How could you sneak up on me like that?" Caspian shouts shocked.

"Just because I'm old doesn't mean I can't do anything. My granddaughter just worries a lot, so I take things a little easier when she's with me. I hope you are not that disappointed that I will take your order instead," he says, looking at Caspian smiling but a little serious.

He seems to love his granddaughter dearly. It must be nice to have a family...to be loved by someone... My grandmother was a bit like a beast, but I think that where we lived, you needed to become like that. Nonetheless, I loved her...

"No, sir. Not in the slightest! What can you recommend to us?" Caspian says nervously.

"We have good steak; it's the best in the whole city!" he says confidently.

"Then we will take five portions from that!" Caspian says, slightly nervous.

"Please bring beer for us too!" Knox says a little excited.

"Fine!" Thorin says, noting the order on a paper. 

"Can I ask you a question?" I say.

"What is it young woman?" he asks.

"Where did the name "The Drowning Cat" come from? It's not a typical name for an inn." I ask.

"Good, that you ask. There is a amazing story behind this name. It was thirty years ago in winter..." he says until he is interrupted by Iris. 

"Grandpa? There are new customers!" Iris shouts.

"Oh, I have to go. Iris needs my help. I will tell you the story another time!" he says and leaves.

I don't know why, but I really want to know the story behind this. Let's see If I get the chance to hear the full story. A few minutes later Iris comes to our table with four jugs of beer and a shot glass of beer.

"The jugs are for you, and the glass is for the little lady!"

"Thank you!" shouts Sisli.

The glass is still a bit big for Sisli as a jug, but at least she can drink from it herself.

"Iris, I have one question. Which festival were you talking about earlier?" Caspian asks interested.

"I spoke about the Founding festival. Once a year we celebrate the founding and the existence of the city "Einheit". The festival begins tomorrow and goes for two days. There will be many attractions and stalls in the market square and the streets. There will also be a large fireworks display after dusk!" she says euphorically.

"We won't miss this. After all, the city is known for its Founding Festival! We can't do anything for the next two days anyway, right, Lionel? Then we might as well explore the city and the festivities." Caspian says.

Lionel looks skeptical.

"That sounds really exciting. Let's go to the festival!" Sisli says with a puppy dog look.

"Yeah, Lionel! Let's have some fun!" Knox says, smiling and drinking his beer nearly at the same time.

Lionel looks at me with a questionable look.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Caspian is right. We should take advantage of the break we have and relax a bit."

Originally they never went to Einheit during the festival. But in the book people often talked about the big and exciting festivals in Einheit. As someone who read the novel several times, the fangirl in me is just too curious.

"Fine, but no one lets Caspian near anything that looks like it involves gambling!" Lionel says seriously.

Iris brought us the steaks, and we ate and drank until we were full. Now I really want to sleep.

"There are two rooms with two beds, and we are five people. How do we solve this issue?" Caspian asks in the round.