374, 90th of the harvest season, Late night, bathhouse in the elven outcast village

  The steam hung in the air, and warmth permeated the body. Rosario poured a bucket of warm water over his head, washing away bubbly soap; his hair now hung to his brow, warm and wet. He inhaled deeply, and the scent of lavender soap filled his nose. He exhaled a sigh of relief; the warmth almost made him forget the cold, and also, subsequently, the injuries he sustained in his scuffle with the bandit leader. He stood up, wrapped in a towel, and walked over to the bath. A long rectangular pool of warm water with steam rising from it. He walked in, treading the warm water until Senarre came into view through the steam. She was sitting with her elbows out of the tub, eyes closed, yet had her head pointed at the ceiling, her hair loose and slick with moisture, hanging to just past her collarbone. She turned to look at Rosario when she heard the movement through the water and felt the ripples of movement meet her skin. She closed her eyes again, looking back at the ceiling. “You bathe with a towel on?” she said without opening her eyes again. Rosario replied, “You don't? I was under the impression that public bathhouses required the towels for modesty”.

  Senarre’s mana fluttered with mischievous excitement. She tilted her head sideways and brought one hand up near her face, and darted her other hand to cover her chest, and said, “Why do you care about modesty?” She opened her eyes and shifted the expression on her face to a smug grin, “You getting excited?” Rosario’s face made a pitiful expression, and he said, “ Who do you think I am, some teenager, you think I'm gonna get a nosebleed and pass out?” Senarre was pushed on the back foot by the unexpected response he gave. She expected him to react exactly as he said. She tried to hide the slight blush of embarrassment. She rushed to change the topic to anything at all. “Are you ready to head out tomorrow?” Rosario sat down in the tub across from her and leaned back, feeling the warmth of the water around him.

  He said, “Yeah, guess I'm still new to this whole thing though, say, where's the big guy?” Senarre happily indulged in the changing of the subject; she let out a slight sigh of relief, shaking off the embarrassment. "He always bathes alone, has been like that since I was a kid.” Rosario said, “That's odd.” Senarre said, changing the subject again, “Let's talk gifts, then what does yours do?” Rosario held his arm up and out, and like flexing a muscle, he was able to generate a fine layer of jagged black crystal structures from his hand. Senarre said, surprised, “No incantation needed ?” Rosario said, “Incantation?” with a curious tone. Senarre held her hands out of the water and said “if i use mine without the words it just does this” she clapped her hands but no sound came out “if i say the incantion i can make it work outside of my body” she tapped her hands into the water generating a ripple that flowed across the surface of the water in the tub “sound is everywhere vibrations in the air, all at my fingertips for the most part” Rosario shifted his hand trying to reshape the black stones focusing he was able to make a shape reminiscent of an oval with a thin bladed edge, he lost focus and the blade dispersed into shapless jagged slivers of black glass “ eh i tried making something useful, back there i think i conducted it through the blade of the sword, which is neat by itself but now i cant help but imagine if i had a silversteel sword to conduct the mana flow” Senarre stood up dripping water off of her body and walked towards the step out of the tub “gonna go dry off, i want my hair to dry before tomorrow morning, not only because tomorrow is the first day of winter but also because we are hitching a ride on a caravan as guards for rent” she paused before stepping out of the tub and turned around her hair flicking dropplets of water “ dont watch me dry off” Rosario leaning back in the water in the tub closed his eyes in relaxation exhaling and said “dont worry i didnt plan on it”.

  374, 1st of the winter season, early morning, caravan line, inside the elven outcast village

  The wind blew cold virgin snow, freshly trampled, which lay on the ground. Seven wagons lie lined up. Large wheeled boxes of wood and steel flatbeds were covered by cloth to keep the items inside protected from the elements. The new jacket that Rosario had bought from the armorer helped to dampen it, a crude creation of leather and fur, but it did its job. Gloves warmed his hands, mittens with the ability to remove the covering on the fingers to reveal fingerless gloves beneath. He wore his sword on a sling around his back, the handle sticking out just past his waist. Paulida stood in front of him. Senarre stood at his side. The big man in front of him spoke, his breath trailing off with the cold air, “Alright, this gig's details are as simple as it gets, our job is to act as caravan guards to Forge, trip should take between eight to fourteen days depending on the weather im going to ride in the lead carriage with the conductor, i want you both to ride in the back to watch the rear approach” the pair standing in front of him shook their heads in affirmation. Rosario walked over to the wagon at the end of the train and pulled himself up with a grunt and held out a gloved hand for Senarre. She extended her hand and grabbed his. He pulled her up, and the pair sat down on a bench seat on the last wagon, their legs hanging off the edge of the wagon. He said, “Ready.” Senarre leaned over the edge of the wagon, gesturing a thumbs-up to the front of the wagon, indicating it was time to begin.

  374, 3rd of the winter season, midday, caravan line, wilderness

  The sound of the wagon's wheels on the road clattered through the forest. The flavour of sweet citrus filled his mouth, he chewed and swallowed, “ok, so how bout an elf… but not just any elf, one with a nice ass.” The woman at his side asked, he thought for a moment, and said, “Hmm, never thought of it, but yeah, ok, I'm down.” he took another bite from the orange and said, “ok, my turn, how about a beastfolk?” She thought for a moment, “What type?” He said in return, “Dealer's choice.” She said, “I'd have to pass, not a fan of lots of hair.” She smiled a malicious smile and said, “I have a good one.” Rosario said, “shoot,” she looked him in the eye and with a straight face said, “a big-breasted gothic bimbo vampire.” Rosario scratched the back of his head and said, “Sure, why not?” Senarre gestured for Rosario to hand over the orange. He handed her the orange, and she plucked out a piece of the flesh from the fruit and slipped it in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed and scrunched her face and said, “sour.” Rosario laughed at her expression, “can't handle the sour.” Her face went back to normal, and she replied to his statement, “Not a big fan, I think sweet or spicy flavours are better.” he said in response, “I think that spicy and sour are better than sweet, I feel like stuff that's too sweet makes me nauseous.”

  374, 7th of the winter season, late afternoon, caravan line, wilderness

  “So you said you know how to make caster shells, Lorea.” Rosario shook his head in affirmation. “You know that mugshot you saw at the inn, it was because I broke into a university laboratory to steal samples of a new alloy of silversteel that was being tested in the applied research lab.” Senarre said in response, “What's that got to do with caster shells?” Rosario smirked and prepared to explain one of his favourite subjects, “So basically the way caster shells work is through the basic components of the shell or casing or whatever first, obviously, the casing or shell, then the primer and the powder charge, then there's the fun stuff you place your silversteel slug for directed blast or powder for area of effect stuff then there's the spell scroll on top of that when the boom happens it sends the projectile out and imbues it with the effect of the scroll, i thought that with that new alloy i could improve the efficiency of caster shells and therefore reduce the amount of wear on the weapon firing them, because of their higher than standard operating pressure they wear down your gear faster” just as he drew a breath and prepared another round of explanation Rosario was interrupted by a bell 2 resounding dings Senarre began to climb over the carriage to clamber onto the one in front of them “we gotta go to the front, ill explain later”

  The pair made it to the front carriage, and they dropped down onto the ground. Paulida was standing with his hands raised, seven men with weapons drawn. They wore standard Dreynas armed forces boots, but their pants and headwear were different. The patch on their jackets, right arms no longer bore the crest of the kingdom of Dreynas, instead a patch bearing a laurel wreath adorned them with a flower bearing black and green petals in its center. Rosario’s eyes lit up, yet he contained himself. Senarre walked towards Paulida, who was standing with his arms raised calmly in front of the wagon. “Are we dropping these guys?” she began to reach for the holster on her side, one of the armed men with a peaked cap adorning his head said, “She's reaching!” The men at his command moved their weapons to aim at the woman instead. Rosario caught her hand and shoved it away from her weapon and shouted, “WAIT WAIT WAIT.” The man in the peaked cap said, “And what should we wait for? That woman just attempted to draw on a Lorean army raiding party.” Rosario thought for a brief second, “Lorean army?” He proceeded to shout out while holding both his hand and the woman at his side up to the air, “I have something you are going to want to hear, trust me.” The man in the peaked cap walked a bit closer. “What could you possibly have to do?” Rosario held up his left hand and held out his index, middle, and thumb, folded them inwards twice, and then turned his hand showing the back of it. The man in the peaked cap said, “I need to hear this now,” in a stern voice, and his men loosened their stance. He said, “Come here, boy.” Rosario let go of Senarre's hand and walked past Senarre, leaving her with one hand hanging in the air and the other at her side. “Let me talk to them,” he said quietly before turning back to the soldiers in front of him.

  The man in the peaked cap stood with his arms now crossed, leading him away from the group; the rifle he once held hung on a sling from his back. “Spit it out, why do you know the sigil? No other operatives in the area, and I should be aware of any and all clandestine operations, the king of diamonds gave us all orders directly.” Rosario muttered under his breath, disappointedly, “They're doing the card thing.” The man in the peaked cap said, “Speak up, boy.” Rosario swallowed his embarrassment and said, raising his hand to his face to cover the blush in his face, “The king of spades orders you to stand down.” The man in the peaked cap bore a mixed expression, “Impossible, he hasn't been seen in almost two weeks. Prove it,” Rosario said to him, “You're an officer, right?” The man in the peaked cap said, “That would be correct.” Rosario said smugly, “his sword has a white scabbard, and its guard consists of a rose pattern, and he has a scar on his cheek, a mole on his left cheek, in the other place, albeit, he calls himself Flor Flamenco sometimes. Even though his real name is Ryvr, and I think it makes him sound like a porn star, but whatever, and yeah, by your reaction I'm guessing you believe me now.” The man in the peaked cap immediately pulled the hat off his head and placed it by his chest, and said, “my deepest apologies youngest Lorea, I didn't realize it was you.” Rosario scratched the back of his head and said “how many men do you have?” the man in front of him said “10 sir the seven you saw and the 2 snipers watching from the trees and yours truly” he was sweating bullets as rosario asked him “ whats the minimum number of men you can operate with?” the now sweating man said “8 sir” Rosario said “got a pen and paper?” the sweaty man pulled a field journal from his jacket and handed it over Rosario scribbled hastily on a piece of paper and tore it out and said “i want two of your men to deliver this personally to Ryvr expedite order from, uhh” he blushed as he said “king of spades” the man said “Right away sir” he then shouted over two of the men in his charge “velasquez, santos i need you to deliver this As soon as humanly possible” he handed over the paper and the two men began running off.

  Rosario said, “At ease.” The man who was sweating and once wore the peaked cap has stopped perspiring, and the hat now rested on his head once more. “So this Lorean army? Tell me about it,” the man in the cap said, “the remains of the Dreynas' first fleet and all of those who yet remain loyal to the house, sir.”

  Rosario scratched his chin in thought for a moment before saying, “I figured something like that from the onset, but what's the deal? Why is my brother heading up an army in what appears to be direct opposition to the throne, Because a friend told me some of his ships turned some other ships into slag,” the man in the cap said, “First Fleet Commandant Admiral Lorea.” he paused and cleared his throat. “Apologies, youngest Lorea, King Lorea hasn't shared the reasoning behind his succession from the kingdom with the wider population of his forces,” Rosario began to get frustrated and said in response, “You have to know something, anything at all, please, I'm trying to figure out what in the ever living hell is going on here because the last thing i can remember is getting drugged in a fight with some QGs and then im waking up with two randoms who saved me out of their altruism” the man in the cap frowned and said “im sorry youngest Lorea but as it stands all the information i have is that the eldest of the Lorea siblings is now heading up a new faction, and that i am tasked with asset capture and denial, my direct orders dictate that i am to capture any resource that i deem beneficial to the preparedness of the Lorean army” Rosario’s face scrunched into a disatisified expression the man in the peaked cap said “i can offer you and armed escort back to house territory if youd like sir” Rosario walked a short distance and said “no i will find my way back later im doing something right now, ill tell king lorea or whatever hes calling himself to throw you guys some bones, thanks for your help” Rosario proceeded to walk back to the caravan before stopping he turned back to look at the man in the peaked cap “oh right i want you and your men to continue or your previous orders, i also want you to let this specific caravan through your raiding party or whatever, anyways good luck on your end”

  Rosario and the man in the peaked cap walked back to the others. Senarre was now leaning against the lead cart in the caravan alongside Paulida. “I worked out a deal with these guys they will let us pass” He walked nonchalantly up to the cart and pulled himself up and continued walking to the back of the caravan, following his lead Senarre and Paulida turned to do the same the soldiers in front of the caravan looked off in confusion when the officer in the peaked cap walked over to them and said “orders dictate we are to let this caravan go” some steam shot out from the lead wagon and the engines resumed their movement the lead wagon lurched forward before slowly gaining traction on the cold ground.

  374, 7th of the winter season, night, caravan line, wilderness

  “Ok, so basically the big guy and I have a signal, nothing complex, it may as well be the universal sign of distress. One bell ring means all clear, two means regroup, and three means run.” Rosario sat by the fire listening to Senarre explain her system to him, the warmth a sensation of calm in the cold wilderness. Paulida had already retired to a sleeping bag; the conductor of the wagons was nowhere to be found, likely sleeping in the lead wagon.” You know those men, or rather why they let us go don't you, lorea” Rosario turned to see senarre staring at him” he shook his head “i was gonna tell you both at the inn but i forgot in the moment, I'm trying to fit together all the pieces of the puzzle but they don't quite fit together with the info i have. Firstly, I'm currently framed by the Queen's guard for involvement in her murder. Secondly, my brother is from what I gathered from those men earlier, leading up some sort of armed movement against the governmental troops, and I'd assume the other families. But most importantly of all, his timing is too good. So my theories with the current cards on the table are that my brother killed her and is running away with those loyal to him, but I don't really believe that cause why frame me if there was a better prime suspect in that case. That leads me to my second theory: someone wants House Lorea gone.”

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  Senarre nodded her head in acknowledgment and spoke “ you nobles have branch families what about any of them taking the seat of the main house sounds like it would be motive to do something” Rosario shook his head side to side in rejection of the statement “cant be the branches before my brother was born and when she was the mortal blade of the lorea they tried something similar and to make the least of it there aren't any more than one family in the branches now she, Uhm disposed of everyone except for a few members of the de la rosas and the harrias” Senarre with a confused expression on her face said "shouldn't that be a motive?” Rosario waved his hand in dismissal “nah mom moved all of the control of all the house assets and everything to the main house after that to minimize the possibility of something happening in the future, the reason i dont think it was a branch was because for an official arrest order to be made it has to be higher up the totem pole than the families since for a noble to have an arrest notice it needs to be cleared through the internal government just one of the privileges awarded to those with the birthright” Senarre said still with a confused expression "I don't understand, so do the royals and the families rule the place directly or what then because if its not the families it would have to the governing bodies but if the queens dead and has no heirs shouldn't there be no governing bodies?”

  Rosario shifted the sleeping mat beneath him, crinkling in the cold air. “Dreynas used to be run on a strict monarchy, but after the death of Queen Senyeli, you know, her, the elf whose face is on the money, they couldn't find her daughter to pass the throne to, so the noble families got together and made a new system, basically it's a trial if there are no prospective regents the nobles or even commoners can submit a member to compete usually the oldest or the fittest for combat female in the family in the event that no candidate is available a male is allowed to participate but it can only be used if at the time of the trial no female is old enough or if there is no female family member at all. But alongside that system for choosing a monarch regent, there is also the queen's guard, personally appointed by the standing queen; they usually handle internal government matters, such as financial crimes and the like.”

  She stared back at him in affirmation, “So, anyone can be the monarch, essentially, then, do I understand?” Rosario shook his head to confirm her statement, “Yes, but the noble families are usually the ones to win, not because of any inherently rigged system, but because of the resources at their fingertips, you get the idea, tutors to prefect their magecraft training with various weapons.” Senarre smiled and held out her thumb pointing it square at the center of her chest “youre telling me that if they hold a trial i could be monarch regent, oooh imagine that a warm bed every night food thats freshly prepared… I would have a big ship too, cause I know the queen gets a big ass yacht, don't they?” Rosario cracked a slight smile at her sarcastic remarks. “When I get my name cleared, if there's still a house lorea at the time, I could have you and Paulida instated as Members of the family.” Her eyes lit up with an excitement unseen. “Really? Does that mean we would have a nice house and good food, and access to a bath all the time?” he replied with a smile. “Most definitely,” she pulled back her excitement for a brief moment, “would my uncle Tex be able to come too? He's old and grumpy, but he and Paulida are the closest thing I have to a family.”

  Senarre pulled back the tenderness in her voice, faded like a shield being drawn back up over its bearer“that's a nice hope I can cling to, but I need to maintain vision of the here and now… what were you saying about your theories behind your situation” Rosario was taken aback confused by the one who was speaking to him so earnestly just a moment ago appeared to have gone cold at a moments notice he found it strange but thought “better not pry” and let the topic rest he moved his hands toward the fire to warm them and turned his head to look at her and said “my best theory is that someone wants house lorea gone, not sure who would have anything to gain because since the queen is dead any of the other families can just submit a trial contestant. Unless they were trying to stop Ryvr’s impending marriage, but why not kill him instead?” Senarre said, “impending marriage?” Rosario said, “I forgot to mention it, my brother was supposed to marry the seated queen, no real relationship or anything there just to make an heir, and as a reward for his service in the northern wars. But he's a bred warrior, he wouldn't turn on the crown like that, he must know something, something he hasn't even told his men.” Senarre scratched the back of her head. “Should we try to find him then?” Rosario waved his hand in dismissal. “nah, I sent off a letter with two of his soldiers and sealed it with a mana print. He will get back to me eventually,” Senarre said, questioning, “Why use a letter and not the broadcast bands?” he said in turn, “can't, broadcast bands are unsecured Anyone listening on the wave can hear what you're saying and maybe triangulate it back to you, and if I'm a wanted man, I likely have an arrest order or at least a bounty.” Senarre said “good point i didnt think someone could be listening especially since anything involving a noble family is likely to draw attention” he responded to her with “Besides, I included a letter to leave any response at the dead drop in the forge.” Senarre curiously tilted her head in response to “dead drop?” Rosario rubbed at his eyes, the exhaustion flowing over him in waves. He yawned and said “usually its done by intelligence organizations spies and the likes but mom made a system of them throughout most of the cities in Dreynas an analogue network to communicate with each other even if we can't see each other face to face” he shifted in his sleeping mat rolling over to cover himself with the blanket flap “im going to sleep, good night” Senarre shook her head to his statement and said “night, ill probably turn in soon too”

  374, 9th of the winter season, midday, caravan line, wilderness

  Paulida turned to Rosario, who was sitting on the edge of the wagon. He had called him to the front of the train. He said in his usual deep tone, “Conductor says we should arrive in the city of Forge tomorrow night. I plan on taking on an A rank gig when we get there, so I'll be separating from you for a couple of days, probably. If you have any questions, ask Senarre. She's used to it, but first, when we get to the city, I plan on checking the broadcast bands to get a gist of the situation and our next move in relation to the current state of things.” Rosario shook his head to confirm he understood what Paulida was saying, and stood back up and began unsteadily walking back towards the back wagon. He sat down next to Senarre, hanging his legs off the edge of the last wagon in the train. “We'll arrive tomorrow, and Paulida is going to take on an A-ranked bounty. When we get there, he told me," You know the protocol for when he separates,” she was cleaning one of her revolvers.

  A small bottle of oil sat next to her on the wagon, a cloth rag in her hand. Without looking up, she said, “Yeah, we gotta just stay there until he gets back and not get into trouble with the law or any unsavory types.” Rosario held his hand out, and she reached under her right arm with her free arm and pulled free a revolver. She handed it to him, careful to keep the barrel pointed away from them both, and he grabbed it with his left hand and said, “Loaded?” She said, “Always.” He flicked a small lever on the side of the weapon's handle, and the cylinder broke open. He gently opened it, revealing six brass colored cartridges. She turned and saw him and said, “Harder, custom extractor mod on the cylinder should send the little friends out.” Rosario closed the weapon with a click and repeated the process with more force. Six little pieces of brass were pulled out by the construction of the metal on the cylinder.

  “Interesting, this extractor doesn't move with the rest of the weapon. How does it work?” Without looking up, still rubbing oil on the weapons' internals, Senarre said, “silversteel cored rod in the center, stores up the mana from the user, and triggers a localized mana burst, driving the small piston that extracts the casings from the cylinder.” Rosario plucked out the six cartridges and placed them in the pocket of his jacket. He proceeded to grab a small cloth and dabbed some oil on it. “This is some serious engineering on the gun. Who made this, Kensei? Kensington? Esparza?” Senarre looked up to him and said, “None.” His face made a confused expression, and he said, “Whoever made this then sure does know their way around a weapon and a forge. This is some quality stuff.” She said, “None of the corporations or forges made it, this puppy,” she gestured to the one in her hand, “and that puppy,” she gestured to the one in Rosario’s hands, “was made by hand by my uncle Tex. The two guns are a bonded pair. He made them out of the same chunk of ore I got them years ago. He made them for me around 8 years ago for my 15th birthday, just after my first contract. I remember that job better than any. We were trying to stop poachers on a farmer's land up in the northwest. It was hot outside, and the poacher didn't bother to bathe. Farmers' dogs caught his scent, and when we found him, they tore him to shreds.”

  Rosario said, “Northwest, dogs?” He stopped rubbing oil on the weapon. “Summer eight years ago? You wouldn't have happened to have been in Harvlan at the time, would you? Senarre shook her head, “You know the place?” Rosario shook his head and said,” I spent the summer in Harvlan at the Lorea manor there that year. I was like maybe twelve or so, I even remember the old man's dogs, those things were mean, they chased me more than once that summer, their names were Princess and cupcake, I think, hell, I even remember when some bounty hunters picked up some half-mauled poacher off of old man Denny’s land, I trust that was your work?” Senarre looked up to look him in the eyes “no shit, same town same season, same time, we were less than a kilometer from each other at the time, you ever try Old man Denny’s crustacean cakes” rosario replied “yea they're pretty good, i went back last year learned how to make them” Senarre smiled “Denny taught you to make them?” Rosario frowned. “Denny died around 4 years ago, his son kept the farms running, and he taught me to make the crustacean cakes.” Senarre frowned for a moment and said, “unfortunate, oh well, when we get to forge, you have to make me some of the cakes with his recipe, I'll know if you try to pull the wool over my eyes, i have a very developed sense of taste”

  “You drink grain alcohol, I don't wanna hear it, it is literally so flammable that I used to light a guy on fire.” She shrugged her shoulders and said, “It's a drink and disinfectant, besides, you're not supposed to drink it straight like a shot; you mix it with some carbonated water and maybe some muddled fruit for best results.” He thought about tilting his head back and forth and decided, “ok, then that sounds like a good cocktail, I'll make you the cakes, you'll make the cocktails, and we'll share them, maybe we can ask Paulida if he can make anything too ?” Senarre made an exaggerated frown and opened her eyes wide. “I don't think so, he seems to be in a funk,” Rosario questioned her statement. “What do you mean?” She let her expression go back to normal and resumed cleaning the internals of her weapon. “He's been quieter than normal ever since the bandit camp thing. Probably saw something suspicious among them, he doesn't talk much about what's going on in his head in that sense. I've found in the years of dealing with him, it's better to let sleeping dogs lie.” Rosario shook his head in affirmation

  374, 10th of the winter season, late afternoon, caravan line, outside the industrial city of Forge

  The carriage train rolled to a stop just outside the city gates. The guards walked over to inspect, bearing the pale white coats of the defense forces. Paulida was speaking with one of the guardsmen. After a while, he walked over to Rosario and Senarre and spoke, “I had one of the guardsmen get you the address to an inn with availability.” he handed over a wad of rolled-up bills, “ten thousand marks in the roll one half to each of you and an additional two thousand from me to cover the Inn room for a couple days” Rosario and Senarre shook their heads in unison “how long will you be until you come back” rosario said. Paulida scratched the back of his head. “I have some business to attend to. I'll be back in a couple of days.” Rosario said, questioning him, “How do we contact you if we need to?” Paulida said while walking away, “You won't, I'll be back soon. Give me a couple of days, and we can reassess the situation with clearing your name.” He gestured for him and Senarre to walk off hastily, and proceeded to walk off towards the guardsmen.

  The pair walked into the city gates, buildings spread out, all shapes and sizes lights on in the dusklight in the skies above the city, airships of all different makes and models hung in the dying light, steam, and smoke flowed from the buildings, factories, and workshops the bustling streets filled with people walking from their day jobs passing the people going into the night shift. The two of them walked through the streets passing a park, the lights shining on a metal slide and swingset. Eventually, they came to a stop in front of a small three-story building with a bar on the bottom floor. They walked in and stood in front of the teller behind the counter. Senarre said, “Got this address here from a friend. Any rooms available?” The teller behind the bar stopped cleaning the glass they were tending to and turned to look at her, all the while Rosario was looking at a series of people seated at a circular table playing a game of cards. The teller said deadpan, “How many guests?” Senarre said, “Two, please.”

  The teller flipped through a notebook and said, “We're booked out for the festival.” Rosario walked back to Senarre’s and said, “You get the rooms?” She shook her head, “nah, festivals sold out the inn,” just as the pair began to walk out of the hybrid inn and bar, shouting could be heard. An elven man in a leather vest holding a staff walked out of a hallway, shouting at a human woman in a sleeveless shirt with leather armor plating woven into the chest and abdomen with a sword at her hip. She shouted at him, “I'm done, I want you gone.” The man with the staff shouted back, “We both fuck other people, why does it matter?” The woman was even more enraged by his statement, drew her sword, pointed it at the man's neck, “You've been fucking everyone, the merchants, the guardsmen, everyone, even the bar workers.” The couple continued screaming. The teller behind the bar whispered to Senarre, “If you can get them out of here, the room is yours.” She tapped Rosario, who was listening in, and he shook his head. They walked over to the screaming lovers. He said to Senarre, “I get the swordswoman, you get the caster?” She shook her head in affirmation. She walked up to the man with the staff and said sternly, “You gotta leave.” She gestured to the pistol on her hip. At the same time, Rosario told the swordswoman, “Please put the sword away.” In her anger, she swung at him. In the fraction of a second, he pulled his sword, still in its sheath, from his back. It caught the assailant's blade in the hard lacquer with the twist of his wrist, and he pinned the blade to the ground. She shouted, struggling, “Let go of me, or I'll cut you down where you stand.” Rosario shifted his tone to sound as cold as he could. “You can't have your sword pinned, and my blade in easy reach as well as the carotid; if you tried, it would be as easy as passing a needle through a cloth to end it, however, it wouldn't be a clean solution.”

  Meanwhile, Senarre said to the elven man with the staff,” What's your move? Leaving intact or with new holes ?” The man and the woman reluctantly sheathed their rage and walked out of the bar, and their screaming resumed only outside the bar. The teller behind the bar, called Rosario and Senarre over once more, armed with two ice-cold honeyed ales, they walked to the bar. Rosario sat on the stool and slumped over the beer sitting in front of him. He let out a sigh. Senarre pulled the tall glass towards her, took a sip, and the foam covered her upper lip. “Sensational,” she noticed Rosario not drinking and said, “What's wrong?” He looked up to her, beet red, and said, “I tried to be intimidating, and I'm not used to that.” She took another swig from the beverage and said, “Let me get this straight, then the threshold of social embarrassment for you is not nudity in a private situation, but is, in fact, trying to be intimidating.” He shook his head, “I'm not used to having to be intimidating on my own. Usually, the name is enough to get me out of any sticky situations,” She smiled and patted him on the back, “you did fine.”

  The teller said to them, “Room is yours here, the keys.” They placed the key on the bar. The man behind the bar said, “Enjoy your stay.”