Page 11 of Highland Lords of War & Thunder: The Prequel

He was bringing it to his mouth when the inn door flew open hard enough to strike the wall.

Everyone turned.

A petite woman stood in the doorway.

Torden smelled her from across the room.

“Gods’ teeth,” he muttered.

The odor swept through the inn with her, strong enough to have one man gagging and another hurriedly covering his nose with his sleeve.

“What the devil happened to you?” a fellow called out.

“Get outside!” yelled another.

“Close the bloody door behind you!” another chimed in, holding his nose.

The woman paid them no heed.

Mud streaked the hem of her skirt and splattered her boots, but the dark, wet stain covering one side of her from hip to ankle appeared responsible for the stench filling the room. She wasn’t familiar to him which meant she was not from around here.

Her eyes swept over the patrons and stopped on the younger of the two men who had been arguing.

His crooked grin vanished.

The woman pointed at him. “Niall!”

His companion immediately stepped away. “I had nothing to do with it.”

“But Niall knew exactly what he was doing,” she accused, shaking her fist at him.

Niall's grin returned, though less confidently this time. “You should have moved out of the way.”

“I was off the road.”

“Not far enough.”

Her cheeks heated with anger. “You deliberately drove your cart through that rut filled with horse piss.”

A few chuckles sounded.

The woman's head snapped toward them and the laughter died.

Niall wasn't as wise.

He laughed outright. “You should have seen yourself, Ismera.”

Torden shook his head. Horse piss. No wonder she stunk. He had no intention of going near her. Let the innkeeper do his job. He picked up his mug and sniffed to clear his nostrils of the odor before taking a swallow.

“I'll give you something to laugh about,” she warned.

She started toward Niall.

The innkeeper appeared with a broom. “Out, Ismera.”

It was about time the innkeeper stepped up and did his job, Torden thought, watching the exchange.

She sidestepped him without slowing.