AN: Here is chapter 2, written by LadyWallace. Do note that updates may take a while sometimes.

Chapter Two

Redmont, a Tavern

Everyone sat at a table in the back of a tavern, solemn faces all around. Mana came around with a tray of steaming mugs, but there was none of the heavenly aroma of the coffee they all craved.

"Tea?" Halt growled as he wrinkled his nose at the mug Mana handed him.

"It's all they had," she apologized.

Siobhan took hers and glowered down at it. "Well, gentlemen and ladies, it seems we have lots of plans to make if we want to get our coffee back."

"But who would take the coffee?" Will asked, his eyes wide with innocence.

Gilan was face first on the table looking to be in the uttermost depths of despair. Mira poked him and slid a mug of tea over to him.

"Tea?" she asked.

"NO!" Gilan moaned, his voice muffled by the table.

Zulla nodded seriously. "I feel you, Gil. I'm not drinking it either."

Auryon peeked out from behind the book she was reading and looked skeptically at her tea before taking a sip.

"Traitor!" Will gasped at her but she just ignored him.

"Sooo," Keiro said, as he inconspicuously tipped his cup of tea over the table edge. "What course of action should we take?"

"Well, there's really only one we can take," Halt said sarcastically. "FIND THE COFFEE!"

"And how are we going to go about doing that?" Brantley asked, looking through his arrows to make sure all the fletching was good.

"How are we even going to function with no coffee?" Zulla asked, close to hysterics again.

"Calm down, everyone," Violet said. "First we need to think about who could have stolen the coffee before we can think of getting it back."

"That's right," Siobhan said, tuning her fiddle and starting to play a tune on it. "Any ideas?"

Everyone contemplated for a moment then Mana pounded her fist on the table. "Skandians!"

"Not after the treaty," Auryon said. "Besides, they don't even drink coffee."

"A rogue band of coffee haters?" Keiro asked.

"Who hates coffee?" Will asked, blinking at everyone in disbelief.

"Rogue coffee haters," Zulla growled.

"We should ask around," Siobhan said. "See what we can find out. Everyone should go to a different part of the kingdom and see how far a circle the thieves have hit. Perhaps it is only Redmont that has no coffee. We don't know that yet."

Hope lit everyone's eyes at the thought that not all the coffee was missing, but they quickly quelled those hopes in case they proved futile.

"But it was obviously a very quick and secret operation," Violet said. "How will we ever find out how to trace them?"

"She's right," Brantley added. "We'll need to think of some sneaky way to discover the coffee nappers."

Suddenly, Gilan's head sprang up as he looked at them all with new light in his eyes. "Ladies, gentlemen, I have a cunning plan!"

To be continued!