“Much obliged, Miss Jade,” Taegan replied graciously, letting his face relax into a more natural smile as he handed her another coin. She raised an eyebrow at him again, but took it without comment.
“Yes, well,” she sighed, rummaging idly behind the bar before retrieving a rag with which she began to wipe down the bar top. “I remember how it is to be young and adventurous. If you didn’t hear it from me, you’d go bark up a different tree, and maybe this way I’ll at least get some more of that coin you’re so generous with by renting you a room.”
Zorvut laughed at that, the first obvious reaction he’d had in their entire conversation, and Jade chuckled in response.
“Look at that! Made the tough guy laugh,” she said, more to herself than to them. Taegan met Zorvut’s gaze, and the half-orc managed a slight smile.
“Well, if we do end up needing a room for the night, we know where we’ll find one,” Taegan agreed. “In fact, if you have a stable where we can keep our horses, we might just take advantage of that now.”
“Certainly!” she agreed, and leaned her head around the corner of the bar to yell up the stairs for a stable boy. “Vance! Come down here and help some customers with their horses!”
An irritated-looking boy of about sixteen emerged from the stairs a moment later, with dark wavy hair that flopped into his face. “Yes, ma’am,” he said in a monotone voice.
“It’s the biggest horse on the tether, plus the little red dun next to him. A stallion and a mare,” Zorvut said. The boy hesitated at his appearance, then nodded. “You’ll know them when you see them.”
They stayed just long enough to finish their drinks. Zorvut was sipping his slowly, nervousness still simmering occasionally through the bond, but when Taegan downed the last of his wine, it seemed to kick him into action and he, too, finished off his drink in a few long gulps.
“Shall we?” he asked as he slammed the now-empty ale mug onto the bar, and Taegan raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Let’s go,” he agreed simply, and Jade waved them away as they stood.
“Good luck!” she chirped, a wry grin on her face. Taegan wondered what Tomlin Whitmore must be like for her to have such obvious schadenfreude at the thought of them approaching him.
They walked out to the town square and along the southern path toward the coast. The glimmer of the ocean was visible on the horizon, and on the widest parts of the street Taegan could make out the shape of the harbor and some boats.
As they got closer to the harbor, most of the houses had a deep blue tile roof just as Jade had described, a pleasant contrast to the white stone the rest of the buildings were made of. It gave a decidedly nautical atmosphere to the cobblestone street. On the right side of the road, the buildings were taller and more narrow, and one had a set of yellow curtains fluttering through an open window in the cool breeze.
“That must be it,” Taegan said, pointing to it, and Zorvut nodded. He paused, hesitating, and Taegan turned to look at him. His brows were furrowed and his gaze was locked on the narrow blue-roofed home.
“Let me do the talking,” Zorvut said.
“Of course,” Taegan agreed, nodding. Though he had been the one to act as their spokesperson for most of the trip, it only made sense for Zorvut to take the lead now. Taegan might have been the more chatty one between them, but ultimately it was Zorvut’s quest for them to have ended up here at all.
Zorvut took in a long, steadying breath, and resumed walking toward the building, striding up a few stone steps to the door of the house with the yellow curtains. The door was wood, painted white to match the building, but streaks of pale brown were showing through where the paint was weather worn and chipping.
“Here we go,” Zorvut said, barely above a whisper, and raised his fist to knock on the door—three solid knocks in rapid succession.
“Coming!” a voice called from inside. It was clearly a man’s voice, deep and melodic even as he simply spoke. Taegan raised a comforting hand to give Zorvut’s back a few gentle pats before pulling away as the door unlatched loudly from the other side.
Taegan was standing behind Zorvut on a lower step and couldn’t get a good look at the human who stood in the doorway as it swung open, but could make out just a few features—a tall, skinny man with a short dark beard, a simple dark brown shirt and tan trousers.
“Can I help you?” the man asked after a beat of silence, obviously startled as he looked Zorvut up and down.
“Are you Tomlin Whitmore?” Zorvut asked, and his voice was even and calm despite the steady, staccato rhythm of stress coming from him through the bond like the tapping of a drum. The man’s tense stance visibly relaxed at that, and Taegan heard him chuckle faintly.
“I am,” he answered. “I take it you’re here for an autograph? Let me find a pen—”
“No, we’re not,” Zorvut interrupted, and the man stopped halfway ducking back into the house. “I—we’re here to deliver a message. May we come in?”
“A message?” he repeated, sounding surprised. “From who?”
Zorvut glanced back at Taegan nervously for a brief second before looking back at the human.
“May we come in?” he asked again, lowering his voice slightly. Something in his expression must have pushed the man into action, for he hesitated for just a moment longer before stepping back, pulling the door open wider.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you back there,” he said, leaning around Zorvut to catch Taegan’s gaze. Now that he could clearly see the man’s face, he was taken aback at how much like Zorvut he looked — the shape of his eyes and mouth, though of course scaled down on the human’s smaller face, were identical to Zorvut’s own. His hair had clearly once been dark but was now mostly gray, as was his beard, both of which were short and tidy. He was on the taller side for a human, and classically handsome with brown eyes that shone with an amber tint in the sunlight.
Taegan shook himself back to reality before his silence went on too long. “Not a problem,” he answered with as gracious a smile as he could manage, and the man smiled back instinctively, though his confusion was still apparent in his eyes. Taegan followed Zorvut into the house, and the human closed the door behind him.
