Maybe the day could be salvaged after all.
***
The sign overhead read a single word:Red’s.
If onedidn’tknow what type of place it was, it wouldlikely beoverlooked and passed by. Fortunately for me, Val had guided us there, so I could only assume this was the tavernshe’dmentioned. To my surprise, it was positioned at the top of one of the many towers Hollis was often known for. The entire city had a countless amount of these structures, all with large bridges connecting them, intertwining together like the web of a spider. The towers made life easier whenmajorityof the population was always in the sky, anyway.
Thisparticular towerwas one of the few that extended farther beyond the main heart of the city.Itstood tall and proud,right inbetween the clutter of the city and the space of the outskirts.
There were no windows displayed on the front side of the building—at least not that I could see from our spot on the sky bridge, standing in line to the side, waiting for our turn to enter.
It felt oddly…normal, to be forced to wait in a line with civilians for a change.
“The line usually moves faster than this,” Val noted, peering forward to the front of the short line.
When one male before us turned his head back to look at Val, Icouldn’thelp but note how his eyes lingered on her forfartoo long. In response, I loosely wrapped a wing around her form. When he finally peeled his eyes from her and looked my way, I bared my teeth in a threatening grin.
He quickly turned back around after that.
“We’vegotall night,” I reassured her as the line began to move again. They must have sorted out whatever the issue was.
A few moments later, we arrived at the front, standing before a tavern guard.
“No weapons allowed,” the male said, barely looking up from where he was examining a cut on his hand. I was confident hehadn’tlooked farther than the daggers on my waist.
A mistake on his part, truly.
“I believe you’ll find yourself willing to make an exception this time,” I said, taking a half step forward,whichcausedhim to finally look up.
His expression of annoyance slipped as he came face to face with his king.
Not to mention that Val did, indeed, have a good sense of style. Though I found it a bit cheesy, she had picked out attire that matched hers. I wore straight black trousers without a single wrinkle on them, and a blood-red, long-sleeved shirt that had rufflesframing the V-shaped cut running halfway down my chest. I wore twoHeartshirecrest brooches on eachside of the ruffles, with a chain connecting them that hung against my bare skin. It was more than I usually showed, but Val had insisted, and I found Icouldn’tturn her down. Not then, anyway.
“My king,” the tavern guard said, dipping his head to lookpointedlyat my black shoes. “Of course. Please, go right on in.”
I could hear those in line behind us begin to murmur at what the guard had just realized.
That their ruler walked among them.
Though instead of reacting, I tightened my wing around Val andleadher inside the door that the guard then held open for us.
Walking inside was equivalent to stepping into another realm. The floor was a black stone polished to perfection, reflecting the red lights backtous. The chandelier and torchesweren’tfreeflames like normal—they were all trapped within spheres of red glass, giving the entire space a specific glow to it.The walls were painted a deep maroon, one wall being covered in different pieces of abstract art.
But what surprised me most was the ceiling.
In the center of it was a giant stained-glass mural, much like the one in Gatlyn Castle’s greenhouse. This one, though, was made up of different shades of red,black, andgray glass, laid out in ageometricalpattern above. That made it so even with the moon overhead shining its lightoverus, theglow it provided was skewed into whatever color of glass it passed through.
The entire space was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
“Well,don’tjust gawk all night. Come on!” Val said excitedly as she stepped out of the safety of my wing and deeper into the tavern.
There was music coming from deeper within, the sound of stringed instruments and drums flowing through the air and becoming louder as I followed Val to the bar to the left.
When I finally caught up to her and slid into a seat next to hers at the bar, she motioned toward thebarmaidbefore us.
“Dimitri,thisis Red. This is her tavern, but her favorite role to play is the bestbarmaidI’veever met. She serves up a mean mixed drink,” Val said, speaking loud enough to be heard over the music as she introduced me to Red, the tavern being her namesake.
To nobody’s surprise, the female behind the counter had an unnatural shade of red hair, as thoughshe’dfound some way to dye it—though maybe the lights in there were messing with my vision a little too much. Her skin was pale enough that I imagined shedidn’tleave the tavern much, and her wings werea deepbrown. She was pretty enough, though my eyesdidn’tlinger onher.
