Cateline.It was very pretty, I had to admit.
“And what about you?” I asked.
“I was thinking Elric,” he replied. “I’ve never used the name Elric before.”
“So this is a regular thing for you, making up new identities?” I asked, softly so a passing farmer wouldn’t overhear.
“Only when necessary.”
“But you clearly enjoy it.” I found a smile spreading across my lips. “Now I understand why you felt the need to call yourselfGeorgein my world.”
“I called myselfGeorgebecause it was necessary,” he said. “My brother’s names weren’t common in your country, but at least they could be passed off as eccentric. ButRadvenwas far more unusual, and thus far more likely to attract questions we didn’t want. People in your world never questioned the name George.”
“Fair enough.”
We’d reached the outskirts of the village, and now that the sun had mostly faded, the buildings were starting to light up from within, spilling firelight through open windows out onto the street.
“The inn is just around the corner,” Radven told me, ambling along like we were out for a pleasure stroll. “Let me do all the talking.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my mouth shut,” I assured him. Then, “Random question, but how exactly do I understand people here? Are you telling me there isn’t a language barrier between our worlds?”
Radven smiled, and it somehow looked slightly less devilish in his current disguise. “That would be the essence. Don’t ask me how it works—I’ve always been less concerned withhowit works and more interested in what it can do for me. No one understands all the mysteries of essence, not even those who have it in abundance—which I don’t. But I do know that it’s a force as old as Therador itself, and that we humans have hardly begun to grasp its mysteries.”
“Okay,” I said. That cleared up absolutely nothing, but I was just grateful I was able to communicate with people here.
We rounded the corner, and Radven drew me closer to him as we approached a building with a wooden sign featuring a lamb and a loaf of bread.
Radven glanced up and down the street, then opened the door and pulled me inside.
The inn was much livelier than I had expected, given the size of Far Meadow and the relative emptiness of the streets outside. It looked like everyone in the village was here—men laughing riotously over flagons of ale, women dancing in front of the large fireplace, people young and old digging into plates piled high with meat. I even spotted a handful of children chasing a dog under one of the tables.
Radven threaded through the crowd like a pro, leading us to the bar at the very back where a man was filling more flagons from a large barrel.
“My wife and I would like a room for the night,” Radven said.
Wait—we were going to be sharing a room?! I looked at Radven sharply, but he ignored my glare.
“Of course, sir.” The innkeeper stepped closer, nodding. “We have one of our standard rooms available just above, but if you and your lovely wife would like a larger suite—”
“The smaller room is fine.” Radven pulled a few coins out of his pouch. “Cateline and I don’t need nothin’ fancy. We’re happy gettin’ cozy with each other.”
He was just teasing me now, and I let him know how I felt by stomping on his foot. He continued to ignore me, but the corner of his mouth tightened, and I knew he was fighting a smile.
He’s enjoying watching me squirm, I thought, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. I suspected the best way to handle that was to deny him the reaction he was obviously expecting from me.Two can play at this game.
“We’ll take our supper up there as well,” Radven told the innkeeper.
I saw my opening, and despite my agreement to leave all the talking to Radven, I leaned against him affectionately and told the innkeeper, “We’ve no interest in leaving our room tonight, you see. Dearest Elric and I have a few other things in mind.” I stroked my fake-husband’s chest.
Radven immediately dissolved into a coughing fit, and when I looked up into his face, I could see that he was desperately trying to cover up a laugh. I’d caught him off guard.
Good, I thought, pulling away from him with a satisfied smile.
Radven was still trying to pull himself together behind his fake coughs, so I leaned on the bar and watched the innkeeper as he stepped away to take care of our requests.
The innkeeper wasn’t bad to look at honestly, with dark, friendly eyes and a thick, dark beard that the hipsters back home would have killed for. He had sort of a rugged lumberjack thing going on, with the broad shoulders to suggest he would have handled an axe just fine.
And his backside isn’t bad, either, I noticed as he turned to tell a serving girl to prepare our room.
