AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 12
Alrick
As she followed my sister and entered the inn, her pretty eyes widened, and her rosy lips fell wide open. Drunk men were singing loudly to some man playing the flute. The room smelled of sweat and vomit. Prostitutes were lingering at every corner, their dresses dirty, their makeup overdone.
As a soldier, I’d been forced to stay at countless inns just like this one—some even worse. But I could only imagine what Mina thought of a place like this.
“Now look at that,” an old, drunk man gibbered as he stumbled toward Mina. I could smell his breath from here. “Aren’t you the prettiest whore I’ve ever seen? I have a coin with your name on it right here.” He squeezed his privates through his pants and laughed, revealing rotten teeth. Henrike stepped backward, covering her mouth in disgust. I, on the other hand, felt an immediate rage just thinking about this guy touching the princess. Fists clenched, I was about to punch the old pig when out of nowhere, Mina landed a strong smack right across his face.
“And I have something for you too!” she barked. Her slap was so powerful that the man stumbled backward and fell over a table, flipping it with all its drinks. The group of men sitting at it broke out into loud laughter.
“There is more where that came from,” Mina announced into the tavern, causing a new round of cheers and laughs. I was speechless, rooted to the ground like a tree. This woman never ceased to amaze me.
“Come,” Mina said, walking up the creaking wooden stairs to follow the innkeeper, who had ignored the whole scene as if it happened every day.
“We will eat upstairs in our room.”
Henrike and I exchanged confused looks, then followed. Mina was right: it would be best to be out of sight. Even wet and muddy and wrapped in her servant woolen cape, clearly Mina still attracted attention. I could dress her in rags, and she would still look like a princess. The way she carried herself, spoke, walked...and by the gods, she was blessed with beauty. Even more so now than when I first saw her all these years ago. Keeping her out of sight as much as possible would be essential to this mission.
Our room was dry, but in all other aspects, pretty shabby. It was tiny, and, even in the dark, I could see the dust swirling around. There was a mattress on a wide wooden bed—if one could call hay covered with a filthy sheet a bed. A stained rug and a simple table matched the rest of the room perfectly.
“It’s my best,” the keeper said as he cleared away dirty plates and placed a candle on the table. He pointed at one of the dark walls. “You have enough coin for wood?”
My eyes adjusted to the darkness, making out a small fireplace.
“Yes.” I handed him a few bronze coins. “Bring up the trunks in the cart and some food and water as well. Water from the well, not from the river.”
The keeper slipped the coins into his filthy wool pants’ pockets and nodded. He was almost out the door when I decided it would be better to send a little warning. I knew guys like him, and I hated the way he had looked at Mina when we first entered.
“Keeper!”
He turned as I revealed my sword by pulling back my coat. “There were two extra coins. One for your stable boy. Have him guard the horses so they don’t go missing. The other one is for you. I don’t want trouble, but I know how to take care of it if it comes my way.”
The keeper stared at my sword, then nodded once more and left with a grunt.
Henrike and Mina stood in the middle of the room, speechless. I walked over to the table and hung my wet coat over one of the chairs. I started to unbutton my leather shirt when Mina gasped from behind me.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
I frowned. “What does it look like? I am taking off my shirt to dry it by the fire. Your skin will grow soft and prone to infection if you stay wet all night.”
Henrike started to take off her woolen coat and dress, revealing her undershirt and underpants, which still covered her better than those fancy new summer dresses the rich women liked to wear these days.
But Mina’s head jerked back as if I had struck her. She clenched her arms around her wet body.
“B-but you can’t.”
“I’m afraid I must. At least the leather clothes.”
I had just taken off my leather shirt, still wearing my undershirt, when Mina ran her eyes over my exposed arms and down to my pants. She turned away.
“Stop it! Both of you!” she demanded. “This is most unseemly. Especially you, Sarolf. How can you just expose yourself like this in front of me?”
“Expose?” Henrike laughed. “We won’t get naked if that is what you are afraid of. But the wet outer garments must come off, or we’ll get sick.”
“Then I’ll get sick, but I won’t get undressed in front of a man!” Mina protested.
Henrike was ready to say more on the matter, but I placed a hand on her shoulder and shook my head.
