The Tavern

I supposed I could easily kill all three birds with one stone if I went to the tavern. I could ask about the fort, take a peek around to spy any signs of witchcraft, and ask who “Yanna” was and where she lived so I could pay her a visit. At some point I wanted to look into each of these rumors, so the tavern seemed like a good starting place.

“The tavern then?” Amelie asked as we made our way over.

“Yeah, may as well start there.”

“If we do, there’s something you should know. The owner won’t be tending the bar until it gets closer to nightfall, but her daughter will be instead. I have a recommendation for you when dealing with her daughter, and that is to flirt very aggressively with her if you find her attractive.”

“Oh?” This had me interested.

“I’ll explain later. Just don’t hold back.” Amelie assured.

While I may have initially thought the tavern would be the perfect starting place, my confidence waned slightly as soon as I entered.

The place was nice, very well maintained with oak wood paneling, wooden floors, sturdy-looking tables and chairs, and a well-stocked bar. There was even a stairway leading up to a second-floor balcony that overlooked the rest of the place. The only problem was that it was almost entirely empty. A copper-haired beauty standing behind the bar and a group of armored and well-equipped adventurers sitting around a table talking in quiet voices were the only occupants. To some degree I shouldn’t have been surprised, I came here in the middle of the afternoon after all.

“Welcome to the Lunar Lady!” The woman behind the bar waved to us, causing a couple of the people seated at the table to give us a quick glance before returning to their business. With a wave of my own I crossed over to the bar and sat down in a stool, Amelie close behind me. “Anything I can get for you folks?” The woman asked.

“Just relaxing after a long day of travel.” I said and looked at the woman more closely.

I was immediately stricken by how gorgeous she was. Her ginger hair was straight and fell around her shoulders, while a pair of emerald-green eyes sized Amelie and me up. Some of her hair was tucked behind one pointed ear, its length betraying that she, like me, was a half-elf. Her outfit was exactly what I would expect from a barmaid, a loose fabric over the bust, which was impressively sized in her case, a corset around the waist, and a skirt with frilled lining. The fabric over her breasts was cropped low to show off cleavage, and it took me far too long to realize I had been staring.

“Adventurers I see.” The woman said, smiling.

I nodded. “We come from Vallace, we’re new to Elwindale. The guard recommended this place.” Remembering that Amelie told me to be very aggressive when flirting I decided to continue. “And if someone as lovely as you is tending the bar, I like it already.”

The woman smiled. “Why thank you. It gets even more lively in the evening. Are you just passing through or are you looking to rent some rooms?” She asked as she grabbed a cloth and began to wipe down the bar. I noticed that her breasts wobbled quite delightfully as she did so, and her cleavage deepened as she leaned forward.

“Uh,” I hesitated, momentarily distracted by the view, “yes, actually. We’re likely to stay tonight at least.”

“Glad to hear it. Renting a room is two silver per night and it will be yours until the following nightfall. Each room comes with a chest that you can keep your belongings in, but it’ll be one extra silver to use it.”

“Is that per person or per room?” Amelie asked.

“Per room, actually. We do have a halfling-sized room if you’d like.”

“There’s no need.” Amelie waved away the gesture. “I’ll be cozy enough in the same room.”

“So, one room then, and the chest.” I said, reaching for my coinpurse. I instantly fished out three glistening silver coins and handed them to the woman, proving the magic item’s usefulness immediately.

“Excellent! Can I get your names for our bookkeeping?”

“Alex Winter and Amelie Willowbell.” I replied and decided to get a bit gutsy. Something was telling me that it was a good idea, and I had a sneaking suspicion it might have been my circlet. “And yours? I’d love to put a name to such a pretty face.”

“Oh, quite the charmer.” she giggled, a hint of blush on her cheeks. “Riel is my name.” She began to fish for something beneath the bar, eventually producing a pair of keys which she handed to me. One of them was iron while the other was a slightly greening brass. “The iron key is for your room; the other key is for the chest.” She almost seemed to emphasize this last word by pushing her own breasts together with her arms. The movement was slight enough that it could have been explained away, but the circlet was making me think it was intended to be flirty.

“Thank you kindly.” I said.

“Yours is the room just right over there under the balcony, the last door on the right.” She pointed to one corner of the room under the second floor.

“Excellent. We’ll be right back after we change into something more comfortable.” I said, smiling and nodding to Riel before making my way across the floor and into my room.

As it happened, Riel was doing a fine job of running the inn side of the tavern as well. She had the sense to give us a room with two beds instead of one, just in case Amelie and I were not romantically involved. As it happened, we were, so we would be using only one bed anyway; still it was a smart move on her part.

“How was that?” I asked once I closed the door.

“Perfect.” Amelie said. “You may have noticed her rewarding your good behavior with a couple nice views too, that was very much intentional.”

“Oh,” I replied, “I actually had no idea she was rewarding me.”

Amelie giggled and removed her cloak, setting it on the bed. “So, you like her then?”

“I do. She’s lovely.”

“Well, would you like to know the key to her heart?” Amelie asked as she walked over to me and began to help me out of my armor.

“I’d love that.” I replied honestly.

“Aggressiveness.” Amelie said, helping me undo the many buckles of my gear, mostly the ones below the waist thanks to her height. “Riel is looking to leave Beeble and travel the world, but she doesn’t want to do it on her own. She wants to travel with someone she can be in a relationship with.”

“Sounds simple enough.”

Amelie nodded, finally getting the lower part of my armor removed at the same time as I had managed to get my torso armor off, revealing the simple blue tunic and leather trousers underneath. “She has an unfortunate problem, though. It wouldn’t take much to win her over, but she wants something really specific from a partner. She wants them to be very aggressive and honest about what they want from her.”

Amelie then took the brass key from me and opened the large chest in the corner of the room, starting to stash away my armor and her cloak.

“She wants someone who won’t ask consent and will just do what they want when they want it. If they want to grope her chest, she wants them to just grope it without asking. If they want to kiss her, she wants them to kiss her, even if they are total strangers.”

“Sounds kinky.” I said.

“Very. On the other hand, though, she wants them to respect her boundaries. If she says no, it means no. In other words, her consent is always implied unless she says otherwise explicitly. And most importantly, she doesn’t want to have to explain this to them.”

“I think I see her problem then. Anyone who would be aggressive enough to just do what they wanted to her wouldn’t likely be the kind of person who would respect her boundaries. And anyone who would respect her boundaries isn’t likely to just do whatever they want in the first place.”

“Exactly.” Amelie nodded and smiled as she closed the chest.

“So, what should I do then?” I asked.

“Keep being aggressive. My recommendation is that you keep flirting but start touching her too. She is interested in you and she wants to test if you’re the right person. At some point she is going to tell you to stop, and when she does it is absolutely vital that you do so. This will be a test.” Amelie said, holding up a tiny finger.

“Got it.” I said. It sounded easy enough, grope her and just stop when she says to. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to get my hands on her.

“One last thing I should mention,” Amelie began, “it’s related but isn’t about Riel.”

“Go ahead.” I said, adjusting my clothes so I looked nice enough. I decided to keep all of my magical gear on, including my sword just in case.

“You may find that people in Seradyne are generally open about sexuality, in particular those with elven blood. Don’t forget that these people didn’t develop as a society with the same morals as you did. Not only that, you’d be shocked at the sort of things your circlet will let you get away with even when it comes to total strangers.

“The circlet doesn’t directly inform you of anything, it enhances your instinctual sense of a person’s boundaries. In other words, at the very least while you have that circlet on, trust your gut.” Amelie giggled and poked my belly with a finger.

I nodded. “Sounds good. Let’s head back out, shall we?”

“Don’t have too much fun with the barmaid.” Amelie chuckled.

We left the room to find that the tavern had gotten even emptier. The only occupant was Riel now, who was cleaning the table that once contained the adventuring party. She was bent over with a wet towel in her hand, wiping down the surface dutifully.

Without saying a word, I walked up behind her and placed a hand on her rear, giving it a squeeze overtop the skirt that went down to her knees.

She gasped and turned her head around to look at me over her shoulder. “Ah, welcome back. Is the room to your liking then?” She asked casually, making no effort to stop my wandering hand.

“Yes, it looks quite cozy.” My free hand found itself on her hip and sliding up the curve of her corset until finally finding itself on her soft breast.

She did not stop wiping down the table, but I saw her bite her lower lip as she turned back to her work. “Glad to hear it. My mother and I do our best to make this place accommodating.”

“Clearly.” I chuckled as I took my other hand off her rear and reached around to squeeze her other breast, now cupping both in my hands and practically melting at the softness.

At last she stood up straight, but instead of moving away like one might expect, she actually leaned back into me, pressing her ass into my crotch. My cock was already fully erect beneath my trousers, and I practically melted again feeling her butt suddenly pressed against the hefty bulge.

“Well, I am quite happy to accommodate such a handsome adventurer.” She said, smiling back at me and wiggling her hips a bit.

With mounting boldness, I slipped my hands down into her top and had to stop myself from moaning at how amazingly soft her bare boobs were. I was equally happy to find that in the ocean of softness a pair of stiff islands met my palms as I ran them over her chest.

“Do you like my breasts?” She asked.

“I think I like just about everything on you.” I replied, honestly. “But I am very much enjoying them at the moment.”

My boldness reached its peak as I took her rock-hard nipples in between my thumbs and forefingers and give them both a hearty pinch.

“Stop.” She said, suddenly, breaking me out of my haze.

Though it was perhaps the most difficult thing I had done in my entire life, I quickly removed my hands from her top and held them both up in the air, completely off her body. “Something wrong?” I asked.

She spun around in place so that she was facing me now, and though her expression was difficult to read, something in her eyes told me she was extremely happy. “My mother will be here any moment, and I will need to help her with some errands. We can continue later.” She winked and then leaned forward to give me a shockingly deep kiss. Her lips were almost as soft as her breasts, and her tongue almost immediately began wrestling with mine in a delightful dance.

Before long the kiss was over, however. “Until then, it would be best, for you specifically, if we stayed somewhat professional.” She chuckled and walked out from in front of me, crossing the room back to the bar. I had only just begun to wonder where Amelie had been during all of this when I saw her at the bar already, sitting on one of the stools.

I followed, satisfied with this outcome. “Very well, then if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a few things.” I said as I sat down next to my companion.

“Oh?” She cocked an eyebrow.

“As someone who works in this business, I imagine you hear quite a few interesting rumors. I’ve already asked the guard about a few of them, but I’d like to hear your take on them.”

“I’ll do my best.” She said.

“Firstly, I heard there was a woman by the name of Yanna who says the leader of the elven commune is a fey.”

“Oh yes, lovely girl.” Riel replied, nodding. “It certainly sounds like rubbish, but you should see the lass when she talks about it. At the very least she is convinced that she saw the fey. Obviously, that could just mean she’s mad, but I don’t really get that impression from her general demeanor.”

“I see.” I nodded. “Where does she live? I might be keen to speak to her.”

Riel chuckled. “I had you pegged for the trouble-seeking sort. She’s the merchant’s daughter. If you leave the tavern and turn left, you’ll find the shop down the road. It’s called Orvil’s Oddities.”

“Thank you.” I smiled.

“And if you’re planning on being as forward with her as you were with me, be warned, her father’s a mean one.” Riel winked.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I said, slightly amused that she was encouraging such behavior. “And what are your thoughts on the rumor of the dragon in the fort?”

Riel stroked her chin. “There’s certainly something up there. I don’t think it’s a dragon, the only dragons we get in these parts are greens, and they tend to make their homes in caves. But anyone that has gone to investigate hasn’t returned. That party that was just here was planning to raid the place and is on their way now. Granted nobody with any degree of combat training has gone there until now, so who knows. Either way, I’d steer clear of that one. Best to be safe.”

“On last thing,” I began, and I hesitated to even bring it up, but supposed it couldn’t do much harm, “I suppose you’ve probably heard the rumor that your mother is a witch.”

Riel rolled her eyes. “I only hear something about it every night. Look, I live here too, and I’ve been everywhere in this place. If my mother was keeping witchcraft supplies, I would have noticed them by now. The only reason this rumor started in the first place is because of that buffoon whose father used to run this place.

“He’s convinced that the only reason his father would have chosen my mother to inherit this tavern is because she bewitched him. But the fact of the matter is, he is an idiot who has no idea what he is doing. He is a spoiled brat and wouldn’t know good ale if you threw it in his face. His father chose my mother because she knew what she was doing, and because she has connections to the commune’s orchards, meaning we get good deals on elven wine.”

“No need to get heated.” I said. “I thought it was kind of outlandish when I first heard it myself. After all it doesn’t really do any good for a spellcaster to hide their talents around here. What harm would it do for everyone to know she’s a witch?”

“Precisely! I’ve been trying to tell people that for years.” Riel exclaimed.

“What is all the commotion?” A new voice said as someone entered the tavern from a door next to the bar. It was an elven woman, tall and slender, with long pointed ears that stuck out from her lengthy golden hair. Her features were sharp but delicate, and she was strangely, almost hauntingly beautiful. She was dressed in the same outfit as Riel, though the fabric of her dress was black and she had far less curves.

“Afternoon, mother.” Riel greeted. “Sorry if I woke you, I was just speaking with this adventurer.”

“Hail. My name is Alex, and this is my companion Amelie.” I said.

“I am Fenwen. I am the owner of the Lunar Lady. It is nice to meet you.” The elf replied, nodding to me. Now that I knew this was Riel’s mother, I could barely see the resemblance, only in their eyes. Fenwen had the same emerald green eyes as her daughter.

Deciding that I wasn’t terribly interested in pressing Fenwen for answers and that I wasn’t going to get much else out of Riel, I stood up from the bar. “Well, I will be on my way. I haven’t seen much of the town yet.” At my announcement, Amelie got off the stool as well.

“You should return in the evening.” Riel said. “It’s much livelier.”

“Will do. Have a good afternoon.” I replied as I made my way across the floor and out of the tavern.

After walking back out in the afternoon light I began to make my way down the road, toward where Riel said Yanna lived. After a few paces I turned to Amelie. “Well, how did I do?” I asked.

“She’s all yours.” Amelie replied. “You passed with flying colors. She’s already bragging about you to Fenwen.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Is that bad?” While I wasn’t so sure she was a witch, something about Fenwen still put me on edge. I wasn’t sure she smiled the entire time I saw her.

Amelie giggled. “Elves aren’t like humans. They aren’t quite as possessive of their children once they become adults. If anything, Fenwen is relieved.”

“Really? Why?”

“Remember that Riel’s ideal partner is somewhat paradoxical. She has never been interested in anyone before you. Fenwen is likely glad that her daughter finally found someone she is happy with.”

“Oh. Well that’s good.” I said.

“On the other hand, Fenwen knows you’re an adventurer, and knows what that means if Riel wishes to explore her interest in you.”

I supposed that would be difficult for any parent to deal with. “That’s rough.”

Amelie nodded.

“Well in any case,” I began, changing the subject to avoid the gloom that had lowered over us, “Yanna. Anything I should know?”

“Only that Riel wasn’t lying, Yanna’s father is quite the opposite of Fenwen. He is very possessive.”

“Noted.”