“That’s ridiculous.”
“I told you I’m not that bad.”
I found myself rolling my eyes “that’s just weird though. You’re all ‘yeah, I wanna do her’ and then you change your mind because she lookedinnocent?”
“I have a sister.” Stryker shrugged “sometimes I remember that before I start toying with their feelings.”
“I have a sister too.” I snorted “but we don’t really like each other and with her it tends to go the other way round anyway, so…safe to say I don’t really give a shit.”
“Coral, right?”
“That’s her.”
“Her best friend’s into me.”
“Who isn’t?”
“I’m into her too.” Stryker smiled, thoughts appearing to go elsewhere for a moment before he shook his head “anyhow,I’d ask you as well, but seeing as I was watching you the whole night…”
“Well that was totally unnecessary, wasn’t it?”
“Not really, with whatever you were trying to pull on poor Matthew.”
“Can you drop that? I wasn’t thinking straight and I kinda wanted proof that I was right. I wanted to be right, okay? I just…went about it the wrong way.”
“You can say that again.”
I fell silent when Johnathan announced that we would be stopping off at an inn. Stryker frowned as if he were confused.
“You will all leave your things in your assigned rooms, wash, and head down to the main room so we can discuss our plan of action. Is that clear?”
There were affirmative mumbles.
“Good.”
I followed in line as we exited the docs and were met with a small town with cobblestone streets and a bustling marketplace. Stalls brimming with fresh produce, handwoven textiles, and pottery lined the square, while townsfolk bartered animatedly, their voices mingling with the sounds of clattering hooves and the distant toll of the church bell. The town was fortified by a sturdy stone wall, its watchtower standing sentinel over the thatched roofs of timber-framed houses and their inhabitants.
Boots thudded on the streets as the few troops passed through the busy market and followed Johnathan to the outskirts of the quaint settlement, where an inn with a wooden sign spelling 'The Gilded Boar' , depicting a boar with a golden sheen, stood. The inn's exterior was adorned with climbing ivy.
Johnathan stopped at the entrance along with two other commanders, the fourth having already entered the inn, supposedly to ensure they had space. Their eyes surveyed the troops carefully as we gathered round.
“Looks alright.” Stryker commented from beside me. Dean, behind us, snorted “more than alright. You lot haven’t seen half of the places we’ve had to stay in, this looks delightful.”
The pair blinked back to attention when Johnathan began assigning rooms. Of course we were sharing, being partners and all, and after the last of the soldiers had been assigned we made our way inside.
The interior displayed low-beamed ceilings and a large common area filled with rough-hewn tables where laughter flowed freely over tankards of ale. A crackling hearth was positioned in the far corner. Stryker nudged me when I stopped to stare “don’t linger, you moron. Come on.”
We climbed the narrow staircase, the steps creaking under our feet. A long corridor stretched before us, lined with doors.
“Here” Stryker nodded at one of them and unlocked it.
The room was small with two narrow beds covered by wool blankets. The walls were a simple plaster, slightly damp, adorned with a few tattered tapestries.
Between the beds stood a small wooden nightstand, topped with a flickering oil lamp. A lone window sat above it. We dropped our packs to the floor and I went to inspect the bathroom.
A wooden tub sat in one corner, already filled with water presumably drawn from a nearby well. A wooden screen offered some privacy, and a stone bench provided a place to set down our belongings while we washed. A small basin and a pitcher were available for washing hands, while a chamber pot discreetly rested in the opposite corner, covered by a lid.
“Not bad at all.” Stryker remarked, appearing behind me "bit old fashioned, though."
