Gawain

Shadow appeared at the entrance of the Kingdom of Fire, his cloak billowing behind him. He pulled his mask up, covering his face and hiding his identitiy.

As he entered a small inn, he found a group of girls gathered around the front desk, chattering away.

"Hey, hey have you heard? The king is looking for a wife!" The pink girl said.

"You serious? After all this time?"

The girls continued on, not noticing Shadow's presence behind them until he cleared his throat. They looked up and moved a bit, allowing him some space to sit down with them. Shadow almost hesitantly took the seat, not knowing what he was getting himself into.

"Hello! I'm Amy! Nice to meet you!" The pink hedgehog smiled. She motioned towards her other friends. "This is Wave and Marine." The swallow and racoon waved.

"Lancelot." He whispered.

Wave batted her eyelashes in a way that Shadow could tell she wore tons of make-up. He eyed her hand warily as it slid over to his. Shadow pulled back his hand, making sure to drop one of his things to look like he was picking it up instead of dodging her grabby hands. She wasn't his type.

Not that he had a type.

"So Lancelot. What are you doing around here?" Amy asked.

Shadow stayed silent, eyeing someone who looked responsible standing in the corner. He stood up and walked away from the group of girls, muttering an apology and forcing a smile.

"Good day sir. Do you know where I could pay for a room?"

Purple eyes stared at Shadow warily before motioning for him to follow. Shadow was lead into what seemed like a small workroom with papers littered all over the floor.

The purple-eyed male placed his gloved hands on Shadow's shoulders. "What is your real identity?"

Shadow frowned. He was sure Mephiles hadn't leaked out information of his subjects. Especially him.

The other man suddenly grinned, slapping his hand on Shadow's back and giving a low hearty laugh.

"Man, you should have seen the look on your face!" He chuckled. "You may call me Gawain."

Shadow forced himself to smile, mentally cursing the man for frightening him. "Lancelot." He answered back.

"Well Lancelot, let me help you find a room," Gawain dug through a few papers. "I would think you'd want one separate from the others correct?"

Shadow watched as the echidna pulled out a form from under a stack of papers. Gawain pushed everything on his desk off, leaving pen and ink.

"Alright," He bit down onto the back end of his pen. "Double bed, away from others, plenty of space, I'm sure this one is perfect for you." He said, place the paper down so that it faced Shadow.

Shadow scanned through the paper, making sure to read every last bit of information, mainly the the price. It certainly wasn't too bad, being thirty-some rings per week. He would just have Mephiles pay most of it off when he returned.

Taking the pen from Gawain's outstretched hand, Shadow signed the document, collecting his small amount of belongings and taking the key to his temporary room.

"Enjoy and all. Call one of the workers if you need anything." Shadow received a hard slap to the back. "They're the girls you were talking to near the front."

Shadow grunted and exited the messy room, sighing as he breathed in fresher air. The echidna definitely needed to clean the room, he decided.

He glanced at his room number and began walking up the stairs, searching for the number 215. It was on the second floor he was sure, and was hopefully somewhat near the back.

He found the room hidden in a corner.

Shadow huffed and stuck the key in the keyhole, turning it. He was greeted with a nice dark room with several bookshelves a couch, a comfy looking double bed, and somebody's belongings scattered on the bed.

Shadow frowned when he heard the sound of boots running across wooden floor.

"Sorry!" Gawain announced as he showed up at the doorway. "Forgot to mention you'll be sharing. I'm sure you'll get along famously."

Shadow wanted die at that very moment. Or punch the echidna in the face. Either worked.

Gonna be uploading a ton of chapters today!