Chapter 44 - Hide and Seek
Blue Rose Tavern.
The place hadn't been difficult to find. What had been a slight bit difficult was figuring out where they were in accordance with the map so that they could get there more easily.
Fugitives now, Link and Zelda had settled themselves in a quiet corner of the streets where there wasn't much light in order to hide from randomly passing guards and figure out their little puzzle. Hiding under the veil of hoods and cloaks, it didn't take them long before they were on their way.
Link felt the tavern would be closed more than likely due to the late hour, but he wanted to find it so they wouldn't have much trouble in figuring out where it was located later. He'd been a bit surprised though to find a light coming from inside of the establishment. The tavern itself looked nicely kept, windows sporting painted glass diamond patterns and a sign hanging over the door with a picture of a blue rose painted onto it, he looked at Zelda and shrugged.
"So maybe they are open after all."
It wasn't completely close to dawn, maybe an hour or so away, so the two of them could only guess really. After using every trick in the book that they could to escape the Palace and keep from being spotted, which including traversing a few ledges outside of windows and then Mirian's key to open servants doors, all while ducking guards, especially once they'd made it over the wall, it would be nice to have a place to sit down and relax for just a few minutes.
So Link decided to try to use the front door and see if it was unlocked. When it opened, he shrugged and pushed it in, the whole while wondering just how good of an idea it might be to go inside now. After all, it was very late or very early depending on how someone looked at it, and guards could have been inside, spending some time off with a good drink or two.
Still, it could have happened just as easily in the daytime, if not more so because everyone would be awake, and so Link went ahead and took a chance, heading into the tavern with Zelda, their cloaks sure to make them look like travelers passing through the area. The most important thing about the hoods though was that they masked their Hylian ears - a dead give away to their identities in this Kingdom, especially once word got out that they'd escaped.
The inside of the tavern was just as nice as the outside. Wooden floors and pillars lined the area, and the tables and bar had grey marble tops, lined in blue probably due to the name of the place. As the two took in their surroundings, they noticed that they weren't alone.
Three guards were sitting at a table on the far side of the room, but one of them was passed out. The other two had large mugs they'd been drinking from, and from the slur of their words to one another - spoken at a moderate volume - Link knew they were probably too drunk to care what was going on around them. Probably off duty. Saying they caught wind of what was going on, they'd probably be too drunk to follow them for long.
"Well hello there," a voice said from behind the bar. A large man with big, burly arms, wearing a white button up shirt beneath a somewhat marred apron was shining a glass with a white clothe, and both of the hooded patrons he'd just greeted glanced over in his direction.
Link took Zelda's hand and led her over to the bar, saying in reply to the man, "Hello. I didn't think you were open."
"Nah, Blue Rose is always open. Guards like to stop here during their nightly rounds and have a brew or two while they're on break. So what can I do for you two?," he added after the explanation of the guards hanging out in the back of the place. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, you look like travelers. Figured maybe you were passin' through."
Link nodded his head, the reasoning good enough for him. "We are for more or less. What about them?," he motioned toward the guards. "They're not still on duty, are they?"
"Nope," the man grinned. "Been here all night. Pay 'em no mind, they get loud from time to time, but it's been a quiet one over all really. Just them and Renard," he chuckled. "But then again, Renard's always here."
"Renard? Who's that?," Zelda asked.
The bartender motioned with his head to a somewhat darker area behind Link and Zelda, and they turned to look. With his head on the table, sound asleep, they spotted a Hylian of all people sitting there.
While taking the sight in, the bartender continued on from behind them, "Renard's been in Althor for a month now, but he likes to travel a lot. Spends his time around here lately though, said he was taking a short vacation. Something about needing to rest for a while before moving on."
Link was surprised to see a Hylian in Althor besides Zelda. Glancing back again, he asked, "How long has he been asleep now?"
"Not sure, never paid him much mind. Probably a while though."
With a nod, Link looked at Zelda to see that she'd turned to face the bartender with him. Renard could be a good lead, and he knew that Zelda realized that. But Link thought that maybe this bartender might know something as well, so without further ado, he got started in asking about Bowe and seeing what they could find out.
"You know," he began, "we're actually looking for someone in specific, his name's Bowe. You wouldn't know it by any chance would you?"
The bartender's expression grew thoughtful and he leaned his arms onto the counter after placing his recently shined glass aside with the others. "Hmm, Bowe, you say? Can't say it rings any bells. Maybe one of the bartenders or maidens who're here during the day has though. Might want to try then. Or you can always ask Renard over there since he'd about most times."
With a nod, Link asked him, "Well, in the meantime, have you got any milk?"
"Sure thing, not much of one for ale or whiskey huh?"
"Not really," Link replied, shaking his head.
"And what about you, little lady? Care for anything?"
"No thank you, except maybe a glass of water," Zelda told the man, wanting to blend in with the crowd instead of stand out so to speak.
With a nod, the bartender got their drinks and settled them down onto the counter, telling them both to enjoy themselves while they stayed before he moved on to finish cleaning other areas of the bar. As he did, Link took his milk in hand, not specifically thirsty, but he thought he might look a little less conspicuous with the guards near by if he played the part of a weary traveler and got something to drink, sotted though they were or not.
"Do you think we should go wake him?," Zelda asked as she turned to face Link completely. "Or wait until he wakes up? He may be more friendly if he's gotten a decent nap."
"True," Link replied, "but I also want to know about Bowe, and the sooner we can find out more about him, the safer some people might be."
Zelda gave a nod of her head, also figuring that might've been the better course of action since lives were on the line. "Then, let's go nudge him awake."
Taking the glass of milk and downing it, Link sighed out a breath and settled it down, swiping a hand over his mouth with a nod of his head, and began walking toward the table with Zelda just behind him.
Once he'd gotten to the heavily snoring Hylian, he stopped for just a moment, contemplating the best way to go about this, and then asked, "Uh, excuse me, Renard?"
Renard continued snoring soundly, and Link looked back to Zelda and shrugged a bit. Reaching over, he started shaking the Hylian by his shoulders and said his name again, "Renard, wake up."
"Huh, what! I paid my tab already!," the man sputtered out a bit as he sat back straight, peering a set of blue eyes up at the two who'd just woken him before stopping altogether. After a moment, he seemed to get his mobility back. Reaching up, he started rubbing his eyes, pushing some blonde hair from his face to smooth it back a bit with his fingers before he yawned into his fist.
"You're not Reesha," he told them on an obvious tone of voice.
Link glanced at Zelda and back, asking, "Who's Reesha?"
"Owner of the bar. She's been bugging me for the past few days to pay my tab, which I just did today." Smacking his lips once and yawning again, he asked through the drawn out sound, "Who're you two?"
Link shrugged his shoulders casually as if that much didn't really matter, telling Renard, "It's a long story. But we're passing through, looking for a man named Bowe. The bartender said you might know him."
Renard, though still somewhat asleep, narrowed his brow and looked up at the both of them inquisitively. His brief pause made Link think that he knew exactly who they were talking about, but Renard only said, "Not sure. Met a lot of people here in the last month. Can't really remember names anymore."
Zelda put her hand on Link's shoulder as she stepped forward in order to try herself since she sometimes had better luck with the sweet tone of her voice, saying, "It would've been recent. He only just arrived here. Anything you can tell us would be helpful."
Renard looked from Link and toward Zelda, her violet blue eyes a bit beseeching, and he sat back, regarding the both of them quietly for a moment. When he looked back at Link again, noticing that the boy's eyes a more sapphire blue, he suddenly gave the young man an even more scrutinizing gaze, tilting his head a bit.
"Do I know you? You look familiar," he asked Link.
The question seemed a bit out of place, but Renard looked as if he earnestly wanted to know anyway. Shaking his head, Link replied, "Don't think so. Not that I know of anyway." Link had to stop himself suddenly, about to ask if Renard had been to Hyrule recently, but he didn't want to give anything away just yet, not here and not now.
When Link gave his response, Renard put another question to him, "What did you say your name was again?"
Briefly, Link glanced over at the guards settled in the back of the tavern, and noticing that they were completely absorbed by their own company, he told Renard, "It's Link."
"Link, Link, Link," Renard thought, repeating the name like it might jog something in his head, then shook it slowly. "Nope, doesn't ring a bell. Ah well. Sorry I couldn't help you," the man went on before standing up from his table. "But I get the feeling I'm only gonna get the rest of my sleep if I go back to the Inn anyway, drunk guards around and all. Good luck finding this Bowe guy."
Link and Zelda both allowed him to get up and leave, heading to the door without another thought. As they watched him go, Zelda said what Link was thinking. "I think he's trying to protect Aggie. He doesn't know we mean him no harm."
"I have to agree," Link nodded. "I think we should follow him, if only to find out where he's staying and see if we can catch him later sometime. Preferably alone."
"Good idea," Zelda nodded, and she began to walk with Link to the door so they could pursue the man. Hopefully, he wouldn't be anymore aggravated that they'd followed him on top of woken him up from a nap in order to question him.
Keeping Zelda close, Link headed to the door of the establishment to follow Renard. His steps came to a stop though when the door suddenly opened and a guard walked inside, the speed making Link back up just a bit.
"Hey!"
Link thought the man was talking to him, his first instinct to run, but thankfully, there was a sound of a crash coming from behind them while the drunken soldiers scrambled to stand up, tossing their chairs about with their hurried movements in the process.
Link moved to the side without making his movements too sudden, and the guard moved past them, telling the patrons he'd been speaking to before, "I hope you haven't been drinking too much, I just got notice."
"Notice?," one of the drunken men asked. "What's...notice?"
Seeing how his speech was slurred and the fact that he wasn't standing up completely straight, the guard who'd just entered the tavern knew that drinking too much had been exactly what his comrades were doing. In response, he let an agitated sigh and went on, "Great, we've got a lost Princess to find along with her Knight, and you three are sotted. Wonderful." Turning to the bartender, the armored soldier instructed, "Jorgo, don't serve them anymore beer. I need them sober as soon as possible, just incase we can't find our new fugitives."
The bartender gave the guard a partial salute, and in his much more sober state, he asked, "Princess? You don't mean Charlain do you?"
"No," the soldier drew out as if he wished that might've been the case because he didn't think Charlain would've been a danger to society, looking over at the two hooded patrons in the bar for a moment before he went on in explanation. "I mean Princess Zelda of Hyrule. A guard went to check the room when all was quiet, and found nothing. She's a suspect in an attack on Prince Risek. So if you see any Hylians around and about, call a guard immediately. But try not to let them know you're onto them. If suspicions are correct, they'll run at the sign of recapture."
"I see. Well, I'll make sure these boys get good and sober soon enough incase they don't turn up."
After Jorgo gave the guard his word, the man nodded in appreciation, then narrowed a brow, turning to face the two hooded patrons again.
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have–," he stopped suddenly. They were no longer standing there, having left the tavern completely.
Outside, Link and Zelda hid beside of the building when the guard walked outside to see if he could locate the two hooded individuals for questioning, and when they weren't in sight, he shrugged and turned to walk off, mounting a horse before trotting down the road a ways.
Hearing the sound of hoof beats growing softer in the distance, Link turned and looked around the corner, spying him leaving. Standing up straight again, Zelda spoke up behind him, "At least now we know that they're aware we've escaped. We need to find that Inn before more can happen."
"Right," Link agreed, and he reached into his pouch to tug the map out. Some of the buildings had names on the map, and as he read them, he started by saying, "There's only one Inn listed on this map, right here," he pointed it out, "up the road the way the guard went, turn right, and down a few buildings."
The sun had started coming up, the sky beginning to lighten in color a bit, and Link rolled the map back up and took Zelda's hand. "Come on, before someone really starts asking us questions. But if they do, we've been at the Blue Rose looking around, that's all, just so we keep our story straight." As he began to walk, he added in a slight grumble, "Why do I get the feeling what the Gerudo taught me is going to come in handy soon. I almost with Nabooru was here."
Zelda walked along with him, smiling over his spoken thought. With the sky overhead becoming lighter as they made their turn, they saw the word "Inn" printed on one of the signs. It was rather tall, but very nicely built, and looked like a place that only the wealthy might be able to afford. Somehow, it didn't really seem as if a man who'd fall asleep in a bar and owe it a tab would stay there, but who knew. Hopefully, Renard was there anyway and not at some other place.
But if he wasn't, Link and Zelda would simply have to resign themselves to the Blue Rose and wait for something to show up.
Stepping inside of the establishment, the clerk - who was settled behind the front desk asleep - was talking about some girl named Lea who was apparently very pretty if his words were any indication. Zelda watched as Link lifted his finger to tell her to be quiet and then walked around to step in behind the desk next to where the clerk slept.
"Keep a watch on the door, Zelda. They might have a guest list," Link told her softly, leaning down to look under the desk and in the shelves hidden from public eye to see if he could find it.
He silently searched, and while he was down there, Zelda kept an eye on the door. Glancing back when the clerk twitched a bit, she saw him settling again and returning to his slumber. It took Link a few minutes after that, but he finally stood back up and left the area to walk back around.
When he moved in beside Zelda, she looked up at him to listen. "He's here, in room 55. Let's go find it."
Nodding, Zelda went along with him and into the back of the nicely built and furnished inn. It was probably a bit expensive to stay there, especially for a month, so Link could only imagine just where Renard got his funding from if he was a traveler like the bartender named Jorgo had told them. Maybe he had money saved up from all over the place, who knew?
While looking for him, Link and Zelda found out that the rooms were marked according to the floor apparently. The first floor only had single digit numbers, so they found the stairs and went up a level. That floor was marked in the teens, and realizing this, Link and Zelda went back to the steps and headed up to the fifth floor.
Once they arrived, they began looking the numbers over, and Link found 57 when Zelda told him, "Over here, Link."
Turning, he walked over to the right door, and looked at Zelda. "Think he'll be mad?"
With a softly made sigh, Zelda shook her head, "Even if he is, I don't think we have a choice."
"Well, let's find out then," Link replied and reached up his fist to knock at the door.
