Chapter 5: The Room Filled With Laughter
"DAMNIT it's cold!" They were moving slowly over a large frozen lake. Snow was falling calmly from the sky, the world around them was covered in white. They had their hands under their shoulders, rubbing their chests as neither of them was dressed for the cold weather. "DAMN that cat and his fur!" Brelyna had been cursing the weather for a while now, she really didn't like the cold.
Nephiah kept stoically walking forward. Finally, on a hill in the distance, a house became visible.
"Azura, I hope that is it."
As they got close enough to read the sign on the porch, Brelyna raised her arms in joy. "YES! Come on, let's get in! We can get some stew! And a bed!" She stopped and looked at Nephiah with big eyes. "I mean two beds. We can get TWO beds and we, and we... come on!" She ran up the steps to the door, Nephiah trotted along behind her.
The door sprung open before they reached it, revealing a crowd of people sitting at tables, talking and singing, a bard was playing, a thick atmosphere of food and ale smell burst out of the hall. The man that opened the door seemed to be drunk. "Scuse me.", he said moving past them, his hands already opening his pants. He eventually disappeared behind a tree, the door closed on its own.
"Figures.", Brelyna said. "Could have been a quiet evening. But no, it had to be filled to the roof with drunken people!" She sighed. "Let's go."
She took a step forward and reached for the door as she noticed that Nephiah had stopped dead where she stood as soon as she saw the crowd inside. "What. I'm sure they'll find a couple of seats for us."
Nephiah still didn't move.
"I know, off the top of my head I can think of 10 places I'd rather be myself. But I am cold, I am hungry and I am tired. This place can help with all of that AND it's where you wanted to go!"
Nephiah took a step backwards, still staring at the door. Brelyna stopped pushing as the noticed the expression of sheer terror on Nephiah's face. She had seen her face down a horde of monsters in a dark underground tunnel without flinching. Fear was not what she'd have expected to ever see in her. She carefully approached until she stood closely at her side. "Not a people person, huh.", she said in a soft voice. Nephiah looked her in the eyes, terrified.
"Do you see that there?" She pointed at the mountains behind the Inn. One could make out the dark silhouette of a woman far in the distance. "That is the shrine of Azura. You can see it from the roof of the college. You know what that means?"
Nephiah looked back into her eyes.
"It means I know where we are! How about we go in just a moment. Warm up, ask around for your guy and then we go meet my friends. They have a library there. It's big and quiet, I spent many days in there. It's serene. There's an Orc that's a bit of a mother hen when it comes to his inventory but he's a good man, he'll leave us in peace."
Nephiah looked at the door. She grabbed Brelyna's hand and pulled it to her.
"Ou ou ou! Not so tight!"
Nephiah let off a little.
"Ok then. Let's go."
They both took a step forward.
"Scuse me." The man had done his business and rushed past them. The door opened, laughter, chatter and song got loud, the door closed and it was silent again.
Nephiah shook her head and turned tail.
Brelyna was being dragged along by the hand and had to put her whole weight into making Nephiah stop. "Don't be afraid!" she pulled on her arm until she spun around and stumbled a step until they ran into each other. There was no space between them, Brelyna moved her head back to avoid their noses touching. Nephiah was shaking, in part from the cold, in part from fear.
Brelyna however had instantly blocked out the cold, shivered no more and was as calm as a mountain flower. 'How does she do it?!', she thought. 'This happens every time!' She smiled very softly as she looked into the eyes of what she knew to be a fierce warrior but now was but a frightened creature, pleading for refuge. She was able to drive a sword through a brick wall. Had saved her life no less than three times in one day. Yet in this very moment, she seemed so small and vulnerable, Brelyna's heart broke a little. "I'll protect you.", she said and looked Nephiah in the eye until she slowly nodded.
They closed in on the door. Nephiah squeezed Brelyna's hand as her heart beat faster and her breathing got deeper. Her free hand formed a fist. Brelyna was trying to suppress the pain in her squeezed hand. 'Damnit!', she thought, 'That is one firm grip.' She opened the door and entered.
The crowd inside didn't take much note of them as they moved through the aisles trying to find a free spot to sit upon.
Nephiah nervously looked left and right, trying to catch all the movements in the room, especially those of people who were noticing their passing.
A bench table at the wall still had a couple of open seats. Brelyna lead her friend over, sat her down and turned to go to the counter. She was stopped however as her hand was not let go.
Nephiah looked at her, her eyes begging for her to not leave her alone.
"I'm just going to talk to the man over there, get some stew. You want some stew?"
Nephiah pulled on her arm and shook her head.
She sat down, took Nephiah's other hand and put them both on the table. "Look, I'll be right over there." She pointed at the counter. "I will be back very quickly."
Nephiah loosened her grip and let Brelyna go. She formed fists and squeezed her eyes shut. Brelyna stepped away.
Nephiah focused on her breathing as the crowded room closed in on her. The man sitting to her left was pushed by another patron in friendly banter so that his shoulder briefly collided with Nephiah's. She closed her fists even harder. She looked over her shoulder to see Brelyna standing at the counter, talking to the innkeeper. Somebody said something funny, the entire room erupted in laughter, Nephiah immediately turned around, lowered her head and shut her eyes. Her breathing got faster and faster, she puffed her cheeks as suddenly she recognized a voice shouting through the echoes in the room, sending a sensation of deep terror down her spine.
"Little girl!", the man said in a rough voice "More ale over there!"
The little girl slowly began to put one foot in front of the other, trying to keep the tray in her hands steady. Four tall flagons filled with ale stood on its surface, a load much too heavy for a twelve-year-old. She moved very carefully, trying to avoid the many drunk patrons of the underground inn. Suddenly one turned around and looked her in the eye. She froze in fear. He took three flagons off the tray, leaving the last one unbalanced. It fell and shattered, the tray slithered over the wet floor.
"What in Oblivion?!" The man behind the counter stood up, he was furious. Nephiah immediately kneeled down and began to pick up the shards. As the man reached her, he removed a whip from his belt and let it crack over her back. "What did I tell you about spilling ale?! A flagon of ale is worth TWICE as much as you!" Another crack of the whip. Nephiah looked up at him, tears in her eyes, the look on her face silently begging him to stop. Another crack. "Did I tell you to stop cleaning?!" She looked back down and continued to pick up the pieces as the whip hit her back a few more times. "Hey!" A patron yelled. "You almost hit me with that cursed thing!" "Oh you like it!", the innkeeper yelled back. Loud laughter filled the room as he turned to sit back down behind the counter.
She was crawling through the mud, weeping, picking up pieces of broken pottery. Blood soaked through her rough linen robe in thin red lines. Then she heard heavy footsteps behind her that came to a halt in close proximity. She didn't dare turn around, just kept collecting flagon bits. "You know...", a terrifyingly deep voice spoke, "...now that I see you on your hands and knees..." Nephiah closed her eyes and suppressed a whimper. "I'm thinking, maybe it's time to educate you in services more suited to your talents."
A hand reached for her shoulder and grabbed it to turn her around. Instinctively she reached for it, twisted the wrist and slammed the arm down hard on the table in front of her. "Ou ou ou! It's me! It's me!" Brelyna had been spun around like a twig and had landed with her back on the table, knocking over food and drink.
Shocked and confused Nephiah looked around the room. The music had stopped, everybody was looking at them. Subconsciously she kept pressing Brelyna's hand down as she slowly reached for her sword with her free hand. The room was filled with danger.
"Is there going to be a problem?" Two patrons stood up, wearing guard uniforms with Riften insignia on them.
"No, no, it's alright...", Brelyna said with barely contained pain in her voice. She was tapping the hand holding her down, trying to get Nephiah's attention. She was eventually looked upon by eyes that recognized the situation.
Nephiah let go and quickly put both hands back on the table surface.
Brelyna shoved herself to her feet, holding her aching wrist. "Sorry! Sorry!", she said to the room as she sat down.
Everybody got back to conversation, the guards sat down, the bard continued his song.
"What is wrong with you.", she whispered to Nephiah. "I'm a mage not an arm wrestler, you know." As she noticed her friend's tears, she leaned in further. "They had only one room available, so I took it. Want to get out of here?"
Nephiah didn't move, silent tears continuously running down her face, forming drops on her chin.
"Hey...", she said very softly and reached for her cheek.
Nephiah winced at the advance.
"Shhhh.", Brelyna said, carefully wiping a tear away. She then took her hand. "Come with me."
They stood up, went into one of the small rooms on the side and closed the door behind them.
Something should indicate when the present scene and a flashback are going to mix together to help orient the reader.
