When we entered the dining area of the tavern, I spotted a busy counter behind which was a good looking girl in a low cut dress and bouncy blond curls. An older lady was walking through the tables taking orders. The lights of multiple candles and the musky scent of beer and liquor filled the air. There were no empty tables and we had to share a long bench with another group. We had been on duty for so long that it felt strange to be back with all these people.I touched my belt, making sure that my knife was still in its leather sheath. When finally all of us were seated together, the barmaid in a tight corset approached the table and placed herself directly in front of me.
“What would you like, handsome?” she purred.
“What are you serving today?”
“Lamb and young potatoes,” she responded, eyeing our group.
“We’ll take it. What do you have for drinks?” I asked.
“Everything, good sir. Beer, kvass, or something stronger.” She moved her shoulders, giving me a side eye.
“Kvass then,” I said.
“What’s kvass?” Alina, who sat opposite of me, asked Frid.
“Low alcohol, bread-based drink,” Frid said.
For a moment my gaze landed on the prisoner.
How could she not know that?
Her hair was braided and secured on top of her head. A couple of dark red locks framed her cheeks. Her large brown eyes shifted from Frid and she met my gaze. She was beautiful in her dark brown shirt and tight suede pants. The attention of all the guys at our table moved to her as soon as she spoke.
Did she tell us the truth? Was she really not from Talman?
“So, what’s your name?” Erin asked and the girl’s eyes landed on him.
“Alina,” she responded.
“Why were you in a high-security prison?” Erincontinued and for the first time I was not mad about him talking too much.
The girl only shook her head.
“Where are you from?” Frid asked.
The girl moved her head meeting Frid’s eyes.
“Evaten,” she said.
“Evaten? Where’s that?” Erin glanced at me, I shook my head.
“Evaten? Isn’t that below?” Victor asked.
My eyes darted back to the girl, she did not look like that meant anything to her. The level below was outside the dragon lands. No one was permitted to cross the border, not since the council came to power. There was a time when travel between the dragon land and the land of commoners was frequent. But all the information we once knew about the other lands had become distant memories.
“It can’t be. It’s impossible to cross the border.” Victor smirked.
“What do you mean?” The girl suddenly looked pale.
“If it was that easy many of us would have left to escape the crawlers, don’t you think?”
“The crawlersareeverywhere,” Frid added.
“There are no crawlers where I came from!” the girl said in a firm voice.
“No crawlers, huh? Must be nice,” Victor chuckled.
“I don’t know if I believe you, beautiful,” Erin said and I hated to agree with him.
