Among the Shadows

As the pair approached the inn, Alessis looked for a stable. It was a rather small inn, but there still was a younger male tending after the few horses before going to rest for the evening. She quickly dismounted her mare with a small sigh. "I'm sorry to bother you this late, but would you mind tending to our horses for the evening?" She glanced back at her companion for a brief moment. Turning around, she smiled warmly. The stable boy quickly nodded and took the reins. The thief then stretched a little and turned to Kilaun. "Shall we head inside then?" She quickly turns to the boy and hands him a couple coins to pay for taking care of the horses. As she spun around to face Kilaun again, she had the same smile on her face. Today was a lot more bearable than the last few have been. she thought to herself. He had been rather annoying and made it a point to tease her, but overall it was a rather successful day. She was able to work some on her Talent abilities. That wasn't something she usually got to do, as it was rather draining for Alessis. She preferred to not run low in her reserve because there were always potential dangers around. It wasn't that she felt safe enough to drop her guard with the assassin by any means, but she felt she could at least trust him enough to not try and stab her in the back when he was trying to train her.

"I don't know about you, but I could use a meal and a drink before sleeping." Alessis spoke as the pair made their way into the inn. The smile she had a moment ago was gone, but she still spoke in a positive tone. Even if he was annoying, she didn't have to be rude to him all the time. She wasn't that cruel. Not yet at least.

The inn seemed to be a lot more relaxed than the one they had visited before. Only a few locals and travelers were still down in the main area drinking and finishing their meals for the night. That was good. It was easier to simply grab a meal and a room and then leave. She glanced over at the assassin. He hadn't told her his plans for the evening, so she had no way of knowing if they were going to be sharing a room or not. It would be cheaper to not have separate rooms, but after todays discussions... No, that was just the glamour. He didn't really mean any of it. He probably wasn't even charmed by her anyways. Knowing him, he was probably doing it to get a reaction from her. The only thing that made her question it was the way he spoke. It was almost as if he truly had been under the influence of her glamour... at least somewhat.

"Good evening. You don't happen to have any rooms for the evening, as well as a hot meal?" She called to the bartender as she gently leaned against the counter. An older lady behind the wooden counter glanced between the two newcomers and gave a small nod. "I have a couple rooms available. Are you looking for just one, or?..." She asked as she trailed off. Less couldn't help but blush a little at the woman's assumptions. She cleared her throat quietly.

"Uh. No. I believe we will be needing two. Unless you have a room with two beds?" The woman glanced over the two of them once more before turning slightly. "You wanted a meal as well? I'll go ask my husband if we have a room that fits your requests, and I'll be right out with a meal for both of you." She called over her shoulder as she walked towards the door behind the counter. Alessis sighed quietly and then sat down at the nearest seat. "Two rooms would have been fine too." She muttered to herself  mostly.

Turning to face Kilaun she was expecting him to tease her about the sleeping arrangements. "I uh... figured it would be cheaper to share a room if they had it. Although now I'm sure if they have to do extra work it might cost more... but..." Less wasn't sure really how to voice her thoughts. She had made such a fuss about sharing rooms the other night, yet here she was asking for only one room again. Sort of.

Kilaun let Less take point for a bit, handing his horse over to the stableboy and following her inside while keeping his attention on their surroundings. It was another new place, a town where he didn't know every back alley and side street, and he didn't want to be caught off guard by anyone. As she spoke to the bartender, he studied the people in the common room. Two pairs near the fireplace, a few stragglers in the center of the room, an old man at the bar. All armed, but that was to be expected this far out from the protective walls of the city. Bandits were vicious out here. The old man in particular was thumbing the hilt of the dagger at his hip, but before Kilaun could figure out if he was planning something or if it was just a nervous quirk, the man left the bar and ducked out the front door of the inn.

He caught the tail end of Less's conversation with the barkeep. Less was flustered- something about sharing a room. The woman who was tending the bar went into the back to find her husband and some food for them. Kilaun recentered his attention on Less, who muttered to herself that two rooms would have been fine and started stuttering about how it would be cheaper to share a room. He smirked, but before he could make a cutting reply about her practically asking to sleep in the same room as him again, the bartender came back with two bowls of something steaming. Despite himself, Kilaun's stomach growled. They hadn't stopped to eat while on the road; Less would probably be starving, having practiced with her Talent the whole day.

"Apologies, but we don't have any rooms with two beds available. So, are you sharing?" she asked, setting the bowls down on the bar counter in front of them. It was some kind of soup, with small loaves of fresh bread balanced precariously on the rims of the bowls.

"Two rooms," Kilaun cut in before Less had the chance to speak up. After his brief evaluation of the people here, he felt more comfortable at this inn than he had at the last. The atmosphere and people in this inn were relaxed enough that he figured they didn't have to bother trying to be inconspicous, unlike the night before. He doubted any of these travelers would attempt to rob them. That being said, he would prefer to be nearby, so he could hear if someone did happen to break into Less's room during the night. And so she could hear if someone tried to do the same to him. So he added, "Next to each other, if possible."

"Sure, we can do that." The woman reached under the counter and retrieved two keys. "Rooms three and four," she added. Kilaun nodded his thanks and reached into his cloak. He pulled out a handful of coins, enough to cover a night's stay and the meals, and tossed them on the counter. He picked up his bowl and led Less over to a table in the corner. He sat in his usual way, his back to the wall where he could see everyone in the room and the door, and then he tossed off the hood of his cloak and started eating. The food was good, and hot. He started to relax just a little, but still kept his eyes on the people, more out of curiousity than anything else. One of the pairs by the fireplace was a married couple; he could tell by the extravagantly-carved wedding earring that the woman wore, and their body language. The other pair were two men, probably traveling together. Merchants, perhaps, based on their clothing. Two of the three sitting by themselves were drunk, and definitely not a threat unless they were faking inebriation. The last was sitting at a table and reading scrolls. A scholar, maybe.

It was an interesting group, and Kilaun was sure that he and Less added to the strangeness of it. At least they wouldn't stand out too much here. Though this was a small town, it seemed to attact its fair share of travelers and interesting characters.

The bartender came to drop off two jugs of cool beer to go with their meals. Out of habit, Kilaun checked both his and Less's drinks for poison, dipping into his Talent slightly to sharpen his senses. The beer smelled and looked normal, and when he tasted it, he couldn't taste anything strange. He pushed Less's beer back to her and took a deep drink from his own jug. Gods knew he needed it. It had been ages since he'd spent a couple days straight in a saddle. His throat was dry and dusty, and he was sore in a way that he really shouldn't be given what he did for a living. Who knew that riding a horse all day would make him sore when climbing buildings, crouching in shadows, vaulting walls and training for hours on end didn't. Speaking of training, Kilaun thought about what he would have Less work on tomorrow. More glamour practice, maybe, although perhaps he should have her try it on some fellow travelers rather than himself, if they happened to see anyone on the road. Constantly being under glamours would get annoying. He took another sip of beer and leaned back in his chair, just a little less on edge now.

Kilaun took care of paying for the room and meals for the night. Alessis gave a small smile to the bartender before taking her meal and following the cloaked figure to a table in the far corner. It made sense he wanted to be hidden or at least watch over everyone else. Old habits die hard. Plus, it wasn't like this traveling and not doing our occupations was going to be a permanent thing. All the thief wanted was to find out what was going on with the amulets and then move on with her life. She didn't want to be constantly following around the worlds most infamous assassin. She would much rather do her own thing and be by herself again. It was easier than having to worry about another person's needs or feelings... not that she really did that with Kilaun. She just didn't want to be constantly annoyed was probably the most accurate reason.

Sitting down, she noticed Kilain was pulling down his hood and tucking into his food. As if summoned by the thoughts, her stomach gurgled. They had been so busy with working on her Talent they hadn't eaten during their travels today. She sat down and also began to eat. The food wasn't the greatest she had ever eaten, but it was hot and she hadn't cooked it. She ate rather quickly and right as she was about to ask for their drinks to wash it down, two mugs were dropped in front of her. Before she could even reach for it Kilaun had snatched it up. She rolled her eyes a little bit at this. "Not everyone is out to harm you, for the record. Besides, this far out of town it'd just be bad for business to poison the patrons." She commented as he took a sip of her beer before handing it to her with a satisfied nod. She took a confident drink of the cool liquid, happy he wasn't being as moody as usual. It was probably due to all the traveling they were doing, and the traveling they still needed to do. Just thinking of it was enough to make her sore.

Glancing at Kilaun she noticed he was looking around the room, lost in thought. She took a look around as well. A couple, workers and traders of some type, and a man surrounded by scrolls and parchment. They were all probably travelers heading to Heka, the largest port in the south. Either that or heading West to the trading capital of Ramilyn. Alessis had always wanted to go and see all of the extravagant good brought over from Ite, but she knew a location full of paranoid traders and travelers probably would be the best situation for a thief.

Less cleared her throat, bringing herself back to the real world. "Thanks for paying for the rooms. I'll have to pay for the next night's rooms to make it even." She said before taking another sip of her drink. "Have you ever been to the south? I've heard it's mostly just rolling hills and plains until you get to the port. A lot of grains are brought up from the south, so it makes sense." She wasn't sure why she was trying to make small talk. There were plenty of other things they could talk about that were far more important. For now though, a relaxing conversation would be a nice ending to an exhausting day.

Kilaun was pulled out of his people watching and sat up straighter when Less spoke. "Not everyone is out to harm you, for the record," she said. "Besides, this far out of town it'd just be bad for business to poison the patrons." She thanked him for covering the rooms, too, and then started to move on to small talk, but Kilaun scoffed and shook his head.

"You say those things because you've never been an assassin. Maybe not everyone is out to kill me, but I do have plenty of people who would love me dead. I could tell you about twenty ways that someone who doesn't work here could have poisoned these drinks, depending on where the barkeep stores the beer casks and how long she left our drinks unattended in the back before she brought them to us. I've done it before. It's not that difficult, and you learn to get creative with your methodology when your only job is to kill people." He took another drink and glanced back at the scholar, who had set aside one of his parchments and picked up another. From the style and color of his robes, and the embroidery on the sleeves, he was a third-year student at the very mage school that Kilaun and Less were planning to break into for information on their amulets. Kilaun started forming a half-hearted plan to kill him and steal the clothes to help him and Less get into the school, but aborted it halfway through. Too hard to hide the body, and the clothes wouldn't fit him or Less. The scholar was a lot shorter and skinnier than Kilaun, and Less, well, despite his previous jokes at her expense, she was large-chested enough that she wouldn't fit in a man's robes. Best to stick with their original plan and go from there.

"And yes, I've been to the south," he continued, deciding to let the whole potentially poisoned beer topic go and answer her question. "I lived among the Y'swi in the southeastern steppes for several years when I was younger. I learned a lot about stealth from them. And horseback riding." The Y'swi lived in nomadic warrior tribes and valued two things above all else: horses and stealth. They used their horses to traverse quickly through the steppes, and they were said to be invisible in the tall grass of their hunting grounds. As a mark of their honor and skill, the best of them never shot at prey that wasn't running or on the wing. One would think that riding horseback would make them very visible and loud, but they bred their horses to be small and stocky, short enough to be hidden by the high grass until they were nearly on top of their prey. And they muffled the sounds of their horses hooves with cloths or Talent. The Y'swi often used their skills in stalking to raid the grain caravans going north from the southwestern plains where much of the country's grain was grown, because the soil of the southeastern steppes was unfit for growing anything but the tough grasses that hid the Y'swi so well. Almost all of their food came from raiding and hunting. If a man was not a good hunter, if he wasn't stealthy enough to carry out a successful raid, then his family and his horses starved. Necessity had made their skills legendary. And after long months of proving his worth and getting them to accept him, they'd finally allowed him to stay and learn from them; they had not been easy teachers, but they had taught him much.

Kilaun finished off his beer, and considered waving the bartender down for another. It couldn't get him drunk, and given his tendency to overwork himself when he was taking contracts, this trip might be the last time in a long while that he could relax and have a drink. He raised his hand to grab the woman's attention, and gestured for another round.

Kilaun put a damper on the mood when he began to talk about ways to kill a person, and the amount of people who wanted him dead. Alessis wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue this, or let it go. The assassin decided to move onto the next subject. Less had no complaints there. He mentioned living with a tribe of horse tamers from the south. The thief didn’t have much knowledge on the lands south of Dunstoke, but she at least knew of the tribal people. The Y’swi were feared by many travelers, as they were known to raid any caravans who traveled past. How an assassin- who hid in the shadows of alleyways and on rooftops- had managed to gain the trust of an infamous tribe was beyond Alessis.

She noticed Kilaun wave down the bartender, and she raised an eyebrow in mild interest. Was he ordering another drink? The ever-serious man before her was actually wanting to relax, and maybe even keep her company for a while longer. The thief felt a small smile start to flit onto her lips, and she quickly turned it into a façade of thanking the barkeep as drinks were placed on the table. She didn’t want to think that Kilaun was starting to grow on her, but she was glad he wasn’t being an ass at this moment in time. She subtly checked the drink for poison, even though she had made a fuss about it earlier. ‘Damn Kilaun messing with my head.’ She thought as she took an overconfident drink.

Setting the mug down, the woman gave a small smile to the man across from her. “I guess it makes sense why you’re good at riding then. I learned how to ride a horse from a bitter and old drunkard. He was the lousiest thief I had ever met. The man could, however, stay on a horse even if he was drunk-as-a-lord. He taught me a few things, but after that it was ‘keep getting up or the bastard will stomp you into the mud.’ Needless to say, my training was mostly just me falling on my ass a lot, though.” She let out a small laugh, glancing at Kilaun every now and then to see his reaction. A small blush crept to her face and she took a drink to hide it. She silently cursed to herself. Why did she even say something embarrassing like that? Why was she wanting him to smile as well? It wasn’t a very entertaining story, and gave him more reasons to tease her. ‘I really need to get my emotions in check. He’s just another man, and you’re just traveling with him to figure out this amulet business. You won’t even miss him when he’s gone, so stop acting like you’re interested. He’s annoying, remember?’ She snapped out of her thoughts and glanced around the room for a moment. After a small silence, she cleared her throat and turned her attention back to Kilaun in case he spoke.