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"So it might be your fault." Kerina's smile was back, but guarded this time.
"Potentially," I agreed. "You haven't answered the question."
A frown flitted across her brow. "No, I don't hear any strange music. No music at all. Just chatter." She gestured around the room. "That man over there is annoyed at the amount of tax he had to pay on cows. The man at the table beside him is telling his wife he doesn't have a lover. He's lying, of course."
"You overheard all of that while we were talking?" I was impressed.
"I keep my ears open," she said with a modest shrug. "There's a surprising number of people here who are lying to the people they're with." She paused for a moment before she added, "All right, it's not that surprising. Most people lie about something a dozen times a day, but it's different here. More…duplicitous. Everyone has an agenda."
"To get to the top of the cliff?" I suggested. "Or is there more to it than that?"
She shook her head. "I don't know."
"Is it possible you're seeing something that isn't there?" I asked.
"Normally I would say no and challenge you to a duel to keep my honour." She smiled faintly. "But this feels so off to me. Can you sense anything strange?"
I hadn't until she said that, but once she had, I realised my senses picked up something weird since we walked in.
"Yes. Everyone is uneasy. I don't think anything has happened, but they're expecting it to. They don't know if it's good or bad, but it's…something."
"They anticipated our arrival?" Kerina joked.
"Possibly," I said with a hint of humour. "We might be perceived as ominous by some."
"If they knew why we're here, especially." She turned and propped a boot on the chair beside her. "Or they have weather sense and something bad is coming."
"I hope to Hades that isn't the case." I grimaced. "The lift will stay town-side all night and so will we." No amount of gold would make them take the risk of pulling the contraption up in high winds or heavy rain. If it was damaged, parts of the town would be cut off from the others for days. They would have to board a ship back to the city, or head south. Either way, it would mean wasted time we couldn't afford.
"As do I," she agreed. "I don't think there are enough rooms in the lower town to accomodate us all until a storm passes."
I nodded. We'd likely end up sleeping on the taproom floor.
I glanced around and caught the eye of a man who sat at the other side of the taproom. Tall and slender, he reminded me of a stick insect if stick insects dressed in blue from head to toe. It wasn't a startling blue, like the sky, but a deep shade that might disappear on a dark street.
The man raised his glass and gave me a nod.
I nodded in return and looked away, but my gaze returned a moment later. The man's eyes were still on me, and he didn't disappear. Not a trick of the light then. If he was a trick of Hades, he was more solid than the kid, but I suspected he was an actual person.
The man rose like a cat uncurling and approached the table, wineglass in one hand, worn travel bag in the other. He moved with slow, deliberate steps, like a dancer making an entrance onto a stage.
"May I join you?" He spoke in the same slow, deliberate way he moved. His accent suggested he'd spent a lot of time away from the Vault. In Scotland, unless I was mistaken.
I regarded the man for a moment before I waved toward the spare chair. "Help yourself."
The man didn't so much as sit and he seemed to flow into the seat. He tucked his long legs under him and placed his glass on the table.
"You're not from here," he stated. The quirk of his brow suggested he hoped we had an interesting story for him.
He would be disappointed. "Neither are you," I stated.
The man gave no sign of annoyance. Rather, he smiled and offered me his hand.
"My name is Wesley, I'm a musician."
"Bain. Kerina." I nodded toward her.
Kerina lowered her boot from the chair beside her, turned to face the table and sat forward eagerly. "A musician? So you sing? Do you play as well?"
