Week 4: The Crazy hat - Part 3

“And I don’t want you scaring away my new friends.” She crossed her arms. Jake lowered his head and made puppy eyes at her while sipping from his empty jar.

The from their right came the man from the bar holding two plates of pie and peas which he placed in front of the newcomers.

Helvia turned to him “How much do we owe you for this?”

“It is on the house.” He said, with the briefest hint of a smile, as he turned around and went back to his spot behind the bar.

“Excuse me Dalioth who gave you permission to give food away for free at my tavern?” A new voice, melodic in its enunciation, filled the room as a Vestali walked in through one of the doors to the side of the bar.

Vestali were uncommon in the empire, usually living in small communities all the way to the north or nearby the shattered sea. They were easily recognizable by their fur, which could vary from a barely noticeable peach fuzz to a full-on coat; and their horns, which usually sprouted from their forehead or temples and twisted around their heads like those of cows or goats. Their noses were flat, resembling those of cats and their nails were sometimes sharp and claw-like. There were also rumours of some tribes of Vestali having razor-sharp teeth and manes like lions that were more beast than anything else.

This specific Vestali however was anything but beastly. He was short despite wearing heels, dressed with an open khaki shirt and tight leather pants and his bright red skin was covered in thin copper fur. He was holding in his armpits another four bottles of whine similar to those that lied open behind the bar. As he turned around Lu saw his right horn was decorated with rings of colourful wooden beads, but his left horn was absent, cut clean merely a centimetre or two above his forehead. His left eye was also missing, as was his left ear and some of the fingers in his left hand. The left side of his body and specially his face were covered in deep, gruesome scars that reminded Lu of their own.

“It was this or throw It away, I made too many.” The bar man said.

“What if I wanted to sell it or give it to the pigs or something?” The vestali said leaving the bottles at the bar and opening one of them with his teeth.

“Don’t worry I saved some for your breakfast.”

“Damn it, I left myself open for that one.” He muttered while bringing the open bottle to the table with the mages and refilling their glasses. “Well, aaaaalright. You have convinced me, this one is on the house but don’t get used to it, today is a special day.” The Vestali said, looking at Lu. His eye was and warm and brown like chocolate, and his smile sincere. “Prakash, humble owner of this establishment, at your service.” He made a reverence, like an actor after a play.

“Humble? And a liar at that.” Jake added.

“I am humble, when I want to be.”

“We can pay for the food if that is an issue.” Helvia added.

Jeremiah walked to her and smiled in an apologetic manner. “Ah no please I insist, I was merely using you as an excuse to tease my partner.”

“Uuuh, partner, so you have made it official now?” Aregoma jumped in the conversation.

“Our partnership is strictly professional in nature, I am afraid.” Prakash replied.

Aregoma raised her eyebrow as she drank from her wine. “Oh my apologies, I will save your wedding gifts for another occasion.”

The people present continued to speak in multiple, overlapping conversations as Helvia and Lu ate their dinner. At some point the rest of the patrons left, leaving only the mages and their table. The novice mage, who up until that point had remained mostly silent stared at Lu until they made eye contact.

“Hello.” He said in a shy tone despite the alcohol. “My name is Jeremiah, nice to meet you Lu.”

He was just some kid, dressed in nice clothes with short hair and cleanly shaven, the pride of any upper-class mom. His eyes, green like Lu’s, were fixated on them.

“Hi Jeremiah, nice to meet you.”

“So... I wanted to thank you for saving us during the attack. I really admire you.” He said, regret setting instantly in his face.

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Lu forgot to chew their food for a few seconds and ended up choking on it and having to drink some wine before being able to respond.

“Thanks. It was a team effort tho.” Lu looked nervously at Helvia. “She did most of the job.”

“And what a job it was!” The gnome mage exclaimed. Lu had completely forgotten she was there, but now that she had jumped onto her chair she was impossible to ignore. Her face was covered in sooth and dust and she still had a tool belt attached to her waist. “She was there just taking and taking the beating. I counted at least seven thunderclaps that she took face-first, like an absolute monster.”

Helvia, also not ready for this sudden attention, shifted her face into a forced smile. “What can I say? I had to make it interesting somehow.”

“I am Leocadia, didn’t really got introduced yet so I will have to do it myself, as per usual.” She stood on the table to shake both their hands.

“Hey be careful you are going to step on my plate!” Jake shouted.

“It is empty dumbass.” Leocadia replied.

“Yes but what if I want to lick it?”

“We will get you something to lick, don’t worry.” Leocadia winked at Aregoma, who choked on her wine. Prakash clapped.

Jake, who at this point seemed to be having way too much of his own medicine, muttered to himself. “By Shimuri, what is up with everyone being so feisty today, I am just here chilling.”

“Blessed be his name.” Lu, Helvia, Jeremiah and Tessa prayed.

“Stop doing that! You cannot use his name in vain.” Reproached Tessa. “That is a sin.”

“Add it to the tally.” He cheered and chugged the rest of his ale down, before realising for the third time in the past ten minutes that his jar was empty, a fact which seemed to break his heart.

Helvia, in an effort to calm the shaky orc, interceded. “But you should not do it. Saying his name calls for his presence and he can see and hear through you, so unless you want to bring shame to yourself I would avoid using the name. Just say by the dragon or something similar.”

Jake smiled like a kid who had just discovered how to make fart noises with his mouth. “Oh is that true? I did not know that.”

“According to cannon that is true.” Jeremiah confirmed.

“I am going to moan that name next time I take a shit, let’s see how he likes it.” Jake laughed.

“You foul bastard!” Tessa stood up towering above all those present and slammed the table. The wrath in her voice was enough to make even Helvia flinch. The orc looked frantically around at the faces of everyone else, staring at her with a mix of shock and fear.

“I am sorry Tess I didn’t...” He started to apologize, but Tessa left abruptly, slamming the door on her way out. Aregoma ran behind her.

There was a minute of silence at the table during which Prakash switched everyone’s drinks with water.

Jeremiah slapped his knees. “Well It has been lovely but I think I have to go if I want to catch the lift before it stops for the night.” He looked at Lu. “See you around.”

The gnome muttered in agreement and also stood up, going to the bar to pay for their drinks. “Are you staying at any of the dorms at the academy?” Leocadia asked Lu.

“Nope, I don’t really have any place to sleep yet.” They answered. “How do you get to stay at the dorms?”

“Well... You either have to pay a lot of money or get into a League.” She answered.

“We can think about that at some other point.” Helvia added. “We need to find a place to stay for the next few days, we were hoping you could give us some pointers.” Leocadia shrugged and bolted out the door, following Jeremiah.

“So speaking of that...” Prakash said, jumping over the bar to meet with Lu and Helvia. “...I can offer you individual rooms at this very tavern, on the second floor, for as long as you need.”

“How much?” Helvia asked.

“Five seals a night.”

“Well I can pay for myself, but can’t pay for you.” Helvia said to Lu.

Lu grabbed their pouch and dropped its contents on the table. Four lonely seals fell out and the ex-thief made a point to count them slowly and loudly. “I can do four.”

Prakash scratched his head for a second, then spinned around himself looking around the room. “So, about that, how do you feel about working here?”

“Can you even afford another salary?” Dalioth shouted from the kitchen.

“Not a full salary no, but...” He bowed down slightly to look Lu in the eyes. “...What if I offer you a place to stay, ten seals a week, and at the end of each day we can share whatever leftovers we have?”

“So what is the job exactly? I don’t think you would want me cooking.” Lu inquired.

“Mostly cleaning, doing the dishes, any other miscellaneous tasks around...” He answered. “No strings attached, once you find somewhere else you can just tell me and our deal is over.”

It seemed a bit too generous for the man that was complaining about free leftover pie not an hour ago.

“So what are you going to be doing all day then?” asked Dalioth walking into the room start picking up the dirty dishes.

“Networking! Bringing in clients!” Jeremiah exclaimed excitedly. “I can start putting on some shows again with the spare time.”

“Look, I love your music but I don’t think you have the fame to pull many more customers yet.”

“And that is why is important to get started!” He laughed. “Worst case scenario, if we run out of money we can borrow some, the stores of fancy trinkets down by the docks have seals to spare.” He winked at Lu, as if he knew something about their past. Helvia raised an eyebrow.

“I will be leaving now.” Jake stood up and piled a fistful of coins on the table without counting them, then he pulled from under the table a large old and dull pickaxe, throwing it over his shoulder. “See you for breakfast.” He walked out the door and the black dog followed.

“Ah, how painful it is, the realization that you have goofed too close to the sun.” Prakash sighed. “So what you say?”

“I am a bit concerned I won’t have time to practice magic and study and stuff.”

“You should have plenty of free time, we barely get any patrons anyways.” Dalioth added.

“Why are you always making me look bad in front of new people, darling?” Prakash asked.

“Just trying to be helpful.”

“Sounds good.” Lu answered.

“Then I will show you to your room.”