I glanced up as the door opened, and had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. Not them- a few of the more racous boys from the village. Of course, it was their right to come to the tavern, especially at suppertime- but that didn’t mean I had to like it. Oh well, they usually ignored the kitchen help anyway.
I returned to cleaning the bar. Behind me I heard the boys break out in laughter at something said as they settled into one of the tables at the back. The door opened and more heavy boots sounded on the wooden floor, and I heard the innkeeper greet them. From the looks of things, we were going to have a full house tonight.
“Salven!” I glanced up. Maddy stood behind the swinging doors to the kitchen. She and her husband, Rors, owned the inn. Maddy oversaw the cooking and her kitchen maids while her husband managed the tap room and bar. Their two daughters, Lily and Ira, waitressed the tables, while I helped carry food and rode clean up. It was a tidy business.
Maddy twined her first two fingers fingers and jerked her thumb upward, and I nodded my understanding. It was a signal, a warning system we’d worked out long ago.
Lily and Ira were charming and young, just entering their teens. Maddy had no sons, and Rors would be busy with his bar. Therefore, it fell to me, the adoptive son, to keep an eye out and make sure the more rowdy men didn‘t get carried away, if this evening was headed the way Maddy thought it was.
Not that the girls couldn’t usually take care of themselves. By now they were good at dodging questionable men and staying atop their duties, but drunks couldn’t be counted on to keep their heads.
Maddy had called it; soon it was a struggle just to get from one table to the next, filled with hard-working men ready to relax and enjoy themselves. The first market of spring was full underway, and so the occupants were mostly merchants, traders, travelers, and locals with a bit of coin to spare looking for conversation and a good time.
The girls and I were kept scrambling to keep up with the patrons. The laughter grew more raucous, the swearing more vivid, and the gestures wilder as more men crossed the drinking line. This was the time when we had to be most on our toes; keep our senses sharper the duller the patrons’ got.
I heard an especially loud outburst of laughter in the back corner, and glanced over. It was the corner that sat the older boys from the village. I shook my head in disgust- they were old enough to start taking on responsibilities in their family crafts, but everyone knew they spent too much time drunk to hold responsibilities.
Lily was there, setting down a platter of food and two more mugs of ale. The carpenter’s boy, Borm, reached out and brushed Lily’s wrist. She easily twisted to the side and continued her serving. I beat down exasperated anger; if the group was trouble, Borm was their ringleader. If he wasn’t making trouble for us, he was underfoot for someone else in the village. His list of bad reputes was miles long.
I ducked under a wildly flaying arm and looked up again. Borm had his hand around Lily’s forearm now, saying something apparently amusing to his cronies.
Lily twisted her arm and gave him a scathing glare. I wasn’t close enough to hear what she said. Knowing her it was probably politely insulting, but Borm wasn’t easily discouraged.
“Alright, now,” I said, finally reaching the table, “Let her go.”
“Ahhh, sh… shhcamp off, ya lit’le brat,” Borm said dismissively, his free hand swinging wildly. “Yar joshhht a… desherted gudgeon, and Lily ne’er hash appreshhiated me.”
I didn’t have the time to argue with a drunk, which isn’t a great pastime anyway. I kneed him in the stomach, taking him completely by surprise, and as he hutched over I hit my serving tray over the back of his head. It couldn’t do much damage to his brain, I figured. Borm dropped to the floor.
Lily smiled pleasantly at the staring numbskulls as if nothing had happened, picked up her serving tray, and left to catch up with her orders. Shaking my head, I moved to the next table, gathering empty dishes..
“Hehe, that was tidy,” I heard a rough voice chuckle behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, noticing a few men, all adult to middle-aged, just sitting down.
“Great Scot, boy!” the red-haired man exclaimed, nearly startling me out of my skin. I spun to face them. One look at these guys- their battered half armor, their well-worn weaponry- pronounced them experienced campaigners. Warriors. Not the type to notice serving boys.
The red top paled as if he was staring at a ghost, then reached behind him and clutched one of his tablemate’s arms. “Tell me if I’m going crazy,” he demanded.
His bearded partner glanced at me, then did a double-take. “In all the lands of Kalamanda,” he swore softly. “I need to stop drinking.”
The third man looked up from his plate. He looked younger than the other two, but haggard- he looked like he’d lived through the end of the earth. “Swordblight!” he swore. “What are you doing here?”
“Do… Do we know each other, sirs?” I asked, the old eerie sense creeping over me. Occasionally I got odd looks or double-takes from different travelers, and the odd feeling that I was recognized- but it was never like this.
“Of course!” the red-head exclaimed. “Scot, boy, y-”
“Silence, Rodny,” the calmer, bearded man interrupted.
“You can’t tell me he’s not G-” Rodny protested, but was again cut off.
“I’m not trying to,” the bearded man said quietly. “He must be here for a reason. It wouldn‘t do to ruin anything.”
“A reason!” Rodny snorted. “How could he be if no one knows he’s here? Vector, we have to-”
“We can’t, and won’t,” Vector said with a note of finality. I watched them with growing concern. After all, what could two men I’d never even met possibly have to discuss about me? I glanced at the younger, blonde-haired man, but he only rubbed his face and shook his head, as if trying to make sure he was awake.
“Is there something I could do for you?” I asked finally.
Rodny shook his head disbelievingly again, then answered, “Another ale, please.”
“And some stew to wash it down,” Vector added dryly. “I want you at least sober enough to keep watch tonight. Sorry for disturbing you, lad,” he added to me. It was my turn to shake my head. They looked like they’d been living it rough. But there was something about them, hidden just under the surface.
I hurried to catch up with the growing number of emptying dishes, placed the order at the counter, then dropped off the dirty dishes in the kitchens. When I returned to the warriors’ table, I got the distinct impression they broke off their conversation as I approached. Once I handed Rodny his ale, he downed half of it in a few gulps.
“Is… there anything else I can do for you?” I asked.
“Yea, boy, have you-” Rodny began, studying my face.
“Not now, Rodny, can‘t you see he‘s busy? Pull yourself together- even the youngster’s taking better than you,” Vector said with a heavy sigh. He made a slight shooing gesture towards me, though, and I turned to leave.
A wave of cool air heralded new arrivals. I glanced at the door and saw… soldiers.
Now, we almost never see any of the kingdom’s soldiers in our little back-country village tavern. The general feeling is that the king is a good man- yet at the same time, the soldiers have a far-reaching reputation for their rather… uncompassionate manner.
Rumor says that all is not well in the seat of power at the capital, tales of deceite and betrayal and murders. But again, I’d never heard a happy rumor, and ninty percent of rumors start with either with gossiping housewives trying to impress their friends or drunk men at a drinking table.
The three warriors involuntarily reached for their weapons.
Vector spared a glance for me. “Get in the back room, boy!” He ordered. I stared at him. “Go!” he urged, shooing me for real this time. “Get, and don’t let them see your face!”
I frowned, heading for the kitchen. What was up with this night? Surprisingly, Maddy didn’t say anything when I slipped in the swinging door, only gestured for me to get out of sight. I risked a glance over my shoulder- the soldiers had settled down at one of the few empty tables.
“What about the girls?” I asked. The din of the tavern was much too loud to fear being heard.
“They’ll be fine,” she answered. “You might as well start washing, if those troops are making themselves comfortable.”
I couldn’t help but feel nervous for the rest of the evening. Like I expected the soldiers to burst through the doors and arrest me or something- but I hadn’t done anything!
It seemed to take ages for the soldiers to finally clear out. By the time they left, most of the other patrons had gone, too- including, to my disappointment, the three warriors. By the time we’d cleaned up and barred the door, it was well past the halfway point in the night- not uncommon during market weeks.
We were all beat, so no one spent much time in the common room. Lily and Ira stumbled up the stairs to their loft room with hardly a word, yawning. I finally made up my mind and decided to approach Maddy and Rors. I’d only asked about my past only once or twice before, and it had caused them such obvious discomfort that I had let the topic go. But now I had a real reason to question, and I was older now than the last time I’d broached the subject.
The home behind the tavern included a common living area, a cellar, a master room, and a loft room. As the girls shared the loft and Maddy and Rors had their room, I slept on the couch in the common room. It wasn’t bad, as there was usually a fire running and I heaped blankets on in the winter, and I had a closet to keep my clothes in and change in.
Besides, though it wasn’t discussed, I was aware of the hardships involved in taking in an orphan. I was grateful for the care that wasn’t owed, and I didn’t like to be difficult. But now, it was time. I was fifteen years old- plenty old enough to know anything they might know about me, I reasoned- especially after the evening’s events.
I knocked softly on the doorframe.
~~~~~~~~
Sorry if this is a little long- it was difficult to find a decent place to end it. I'm not so worried about the grammar and spelling- those will get ironed out with time (though I certainly don't mind if you point out anything I've missed thus far). I'm more curious to see what you as a reader think- how's the tone, the flow, the pace, etc. How the narrator comes across, and whatever opinions you have on reading this. Basically, if you picked this up at the library, would you be interested in keep reading?
Also- this might be a dumb question- what would you rate this? I wasn't entirely sure on what fell under 'E'.
but I have to say, you were also right in that it is an easily fixable issue. I would have been more concerned if I had been bored with the story. But thankfully, I wasn't! To answer your next to last question: Yes, I would definitely read this book if I picked it up at the library. In fact, I have a habit of reading books like this more than once. I was intrigued by the main character Salven, and his voice was easy to digest. So far, I would say this book is for all ages, perhaps though, because of violence and the "drinking theme" I would say 12+, just to be safe. I hope you write and post more though, because I am interested to see where you take it from there. Overall, I can say truthfully that I enjoyed what I read and encourage you to keep going. If you have any more questions about what I thought, just PM me and I can go over it again with a finer tooth comb. Good luck!
