“Understatement of the century,” Kieran grumbled.“The sooner we can get the Hilt and get out of here, the better.”
Sebastian nodded his agreement.
Not long after, the sign for the local pub, the Sunken Soul, came into view.It hung askew from a metal rod and creaked faintly in the wind.Through the window, Kieran could see that the entireplace had hardwood flooring and matching wood paneling on the walls, the only breaks in color coming from old portraits nailed to the wall.People crowded around tables and squeezed in at the bar, sipping from steins of golden ale.In the corner, some young women played darts, but that seemed to be the most exciting thing going on.One of these people must know something about the Hilt.
Briar pushed the door open and held it for the others.A little bell rang overhead as they stepped inside, and every eye in the pub immediately turned their way.
Kieran’s skin crawled.Every person in the pub had gone silent, staring at them as if they’d come in and fired off explosive spells in every direction.While a few stopped after a beat, most just kept looking.Others whispered behind their hands while some not-so-subtly pointed at them.Anxiety tightened Kieran’s throat.Suddenly, he had a newfound understanding of how zoo animals must feel.
Seemingly unruffled, Briar said, “Looks like there’s room at the bar over here.Come on.”
As they waded deeper into the pub, more of the stares fell away, and Kieran remembered how to breathe again.Townsfolk scooted away from the four of them as they took the last group of open seats at the bar.Kieran took one between Delilah and Sebastian.
“Could I get a whiskey?”Briar asked the bartender.“On the rocks?”
The barmaid—an older woman with thick, gray-streaked black hair and brown skin—turned at the sound of Briar’s voice and cocked an eyebrow at her.Silently, she grabbed a bottle off ashelf and poured the contents into a glass, then pushed it in Briar’s direction.
“Water’s fine for me,” Kieran said, knowing that his incredibly low tolerance for alcohol would catch up with him if he wasn’t careful.Delilah nodded in agreement and asked for the same.
“I’ll have the house red,” Sebastian said.
The barmaid was silent as she poured everyone their drinks and slid them across the bar.She wrote out the tab for each and passed it to them, still not speaking a word.
Before she could turn away, Kieran cleared his throat.“So, um—sorry to distract you while you’re working, but we’re new in town, and I was hoping to ask a few questions about the lake.”
The barmaid blinked at him as if that was the dumbest statement she’d ever heard.Color flooded Kieran’s cheeks as she drawled, “It’s a lake.Not much else to know.”
“Is it a warm spring?”Delilah asked.“We saw steam rising when we came in.”
The barmaid nodded.“Yup.”
They waited a beat for her to continue, but it seemed that was all they were going to get out of her on the subject.
She began to reach for a dirty glass to clean when Briar took a big swig of whiskey, sighed, and said, “All right—let’s cut to the chase: We’re looking for a magic-imbued item that’s supposed to be in the lake.Part of a scepter.You familiar with it?Know how we might get to it?”
For the first time, the barmaid’s face changed.Her eyes widened for a moment, her fingers tightening around the glass she’d picked up.For a second, Kieran could have sworn he saw her lip tremble.
In a quieter voice, she said, “Unless you’re looking to die, you’re better off leaving that lake well enough alone.That’s witch stuff, and we don’t trust witches here anymore.”
That, it seemed, was her final word on the subject.While Kieran sat agog, she turned and walked to the other side of the bar to take an order from some surly-looking men.Kieran turned to see Sebastian’s reaction, but he was just sipping his wine.
“Well, that was ominous,” Briar grumbled.
Delilah pulled her hair back from her face, twisting it around as if she were going to put it in a bun.Kieran recognized it as a nervous habit that tended to get worse the more anxious she grew.“What do you think she meant bywitch stuff?”
“No idea,” Kieran muttered.“But something tells me we might want to lay off on any magic until we learn more.”
“I suspect we may need to change our approach,” Sebastian said, using his thumb to wipe a droplet of wine from his lip.He set his empty glass down.That was fast,Kieran thought.“I…have an idea, if you’re willing to let me take the lead.”
“At this point, I’ll do anything,” Kieran admitted.
Sebastian nodded, then said, “Briar, Delilah—maybe see if you can strike up a conversation with any amenable townsfolk here.In the meantime…Kieran, would you mind coming with me?”
“Me?”Kieran blinked.“Why?”
“I have a plan that I suspect might work better with just the two of us.”Sebastian nodded toward the pool tables and dartboards at the back of the pub.“Any experience with darts?”
Kieran thought back.He’d never played.But he’d done a lot of archery as a child on the Pelumbra estate and had always had goodaim, so maybe that would translate to darts.If not, well, what did he have to lose?Other than an eye, maybe.
