...they try to rest

The facade was as ornate as the others, a towering, angular construction like a cathedral, but inside the room resembled hundreds of other inns Teysa had seen in her time. A bar ran along the back wall, and embers glowed in a hearth against one wall. The tables were low slabs of stone, and the patrons sat either on pillows or woven mats on the floor. Most of them were dwarves: solid, professional types, by the looks of them, either miners taking a meal between shifts or merchants counting their profits. A few of the guards were present as well, their masks raised to reveal gruff dwarven faces.

Aliara leaned against the bar and raised a hand to get the innkeeper's attention. He was a red-haired, red-faced dwarf with a bulbous nose the color of a plum. Red varicose veins marred its surface. He looked up at Aliara with the barest hint of interest. "Yes, miss?" he said. "Ale or lager?"

"Do you have wine?" Aliara asked in a hopeful tone. "More to the point, do you have rooms?"

"Silver a night," he grunted. "And yeah, we have wine."

"A glass and a room, then." She looked up at Teysa. "Two glasses," she said, ignoring the paladin's vigorous shake of her head. "And your stables. How much for the use of them?"

"What have you got? Donkey? Riding lizard?" asked the dwarf as he reached under the bar. He produced two surprisingly fine-looking crystal classes and laid them down with sausage-think fingers. His other hand was fetching a slightly dusty bottle of red wine. He popped the cork with his thumb and tipped it up.

"Driders, as a matter of fact," said Aliara, her eyes following the red liquid as it sloshed into her glass. The flow stopped abruptly, then resumed at a carefully sedate pace.

"Is that a fact, miss," said the dwarf conversationally. "So you'll be with those two that arrived today from the southern warren."

"We know them," said Aliara in the same casual tone. Teysa jerked her chin to get Aliara's attention and mouthed southern warren? The half-elf raised her finger to her lips and then turned back to the bartender, who was just topping up the second glass. "We're doing business together. Will that be a problem?"

"Not at all, if your coin's good," said the dwarf. "A crown each for them, then." Teysa opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, Aliara laid her hand down on the countertop. "Deal. They'll pay when they return from the market."

The dwarf shook her hand, then put the bottle away under the bar. "Pleasure doing business with you, miss," he said. "Enjoy the drinks."

After he had gone, Teysa turned to Aliara and spoke in a low and urgent whisper. "That was highway robbery! A crown each? Per night?"

"We'll only be here a night," Aliara said. She tipped her glass up and swallowed, then grimaced. "Euck. Nasty stuff. Besides, it can't be highway robbery. Maybe low-way. We're underground, remember?" She took another drink and tapped her fingertip against the other glass. "Go on, have some wine. You'll feel better."

"You said it was nasty," Teysa said. "Why are you still drinking it?"

"I didn't say I didn't like it," Aliara replied. "Come on, get yourself around a drink. You have a big night tonight."

Sometime after the bells had tolled six times, the driders returned. A small hand tapped Teysa on the lower back, and when she turned, a grubby-looking urchin of indeterminate sex was looking up at her. "There's a lady outside to see you," it said. "A spider lady. She gave me a copper." The coin in question was produced for inspection. Teysa looked out the door to see the hunched shapes of El'keth and Jez'ria. She nodded down at the child and patted it on the shoulder. "Thanks. Go on, then." Aliara in tow, she turned and headed for the door.

El'keth looked exhilarated, Jez'ria sour and angry. The little cart hitched to the smaller drider's back was almost empty. "Well?" Aliara asked. "How did you do?"

"Barely enough for the tribute," Jez'ria said bitterly. "We cannot afford everything the Matron wantz. She vill be crozz."

"She'll deal with it," said Aliara, a little briskly. "I'm sure she won't be mad."

El'keth couldn't restrain herself any longer. "Many people bought from us!" she said, excitement coloring every syllable. "I met men, and elves, and dwarves, and gnomes, and some others too. They bought ambrosia and silk. Some of them traded us jewelry! I have the loveliest bracelet!" She held it up to show. A large, multi-faceted ruby sat in a silver band as thick as two of Teysa's fingers. It shimmered as El'keth twisted her arm this way and that. She turned to Jez'ria. "I'm sure my mother will not be angry with you. I will speak to her if you want."

Ignoring this, Jez'ria tapped the bracelet. "Enjoy that while you can, little vun. Ve vill have to sell it to make up the Eel'z tribute." El'keth looked crestfallen, but nodded even as she clutched protectively at her wrist.

"You have accommodationz for uz?" Jez'ria asked. Aliara pointed at the stables, a long, low outbuilding adjoining the inn. "Any two stalls you want. The man said a crown per stall per night." Jez'ria's lip twisted at that. "Bandit. He knowz that we have no other choice."

"That's what I said!" Teysa exclaimed. "But it's only for a night, right?" She paused. "I have... an errand I have to run tonight. When is thirteen bells?"

"The middle of the night," Jez'ria said. She frowned. "Vhat are you doing in the market in the middle of the night?"

"I'm not sure," Teysa said. "The cleric at the temple of Agamor asked for my help. I'm honor-bound to assist him."

Jez'ria gave her a long, appraising look, but said nothing. "We should get some rest, Tey," Aliara said, tugging on her shoulder. "You'll want to be fresh for tonight."

"Very vell. Come, El'keth," Jez'ria said. "I vill show you how to convert currency. You know all of those different coinz ve got today? Vell, you need to know how many of each makes up a crown. Come along..."

The driders made their way towards the stables, and Teysa and Aliara re-entered the inn. The innkeeper handed them a thin iron key and pointed up a flight of steps set into the rock wall itself. "Top of the stairs, fourth door on your left," he said. "No fires up there. If you need fresh rushes... tough." He went back to scrubbing a pewter mug.

The room proved to be even smaller than they had expected. A thick iron door swung open on squealing hinges to reveal a straw mattress, a pair of moth-eaten wool blankets, a single wooden chest, and a stone slab that might serve as a low table or a high chair. Light issued from a whitish stone set in one wall; Teysa could faintly see runes carved into its surface that pulsed with their own inner luminescence. The light it shed was dim enough to fill the room with shadows, for which Teysa was grateful. She had spent enough time in questionable inns to not want to see any more clearly than she already could. She laid down her pack in the corner and began to undo the ties that bound her armor in place.

She peeled off her doublet and fell backward on the bed, arms and legs sprawled. No matter how she shifted, the straw poked uncomfortably at her. She tried to remind herself that until relatively recently she had slept on a thin bedroll more often than not. Maybe the warren has spoiled me. She found herself craving her soft silken hammock. Aliara laid down next to her and pulled the blankets over them both. Her hands crept up Teysa's sides, lightly caressing the skin. With a sigh Teysa grabbed her wrists and pushed them away. "Sorry, Li, not right now," she said, and planted a soft kiss on Aliara's forehead. "I'm kind of... I don't know how to put it, I just feel... out of sorts."

Aliara propped herself up on one elbow. "What's wrong, Tey?" she asked. "This business with the church? I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle." She squeezed Teysa's hand.

"That, yes," Teysa said. "There's something else, too. I can't put my finger on it. I feel this sense of... of anxiousness. Like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don't know why..."

"Try to get some sleep," Aliara suggested. "You need to be fresh for your errand tonight. I'll wake you when I hear the bells." She nestled her head in the crook of Teysa's neck. Teysa laid one hand on Aliara's cheek and stared at the ceiling.

The next thing she knew, she was being gently shaken awake. The light from the stone had dimmed further, perhaps following some obscure day-night cycle. She could only make out faint shapes in the gloom. One of those was leaning close to her face. "Tey?" it said. A hand touched her shoulder and shook her again. "Time to get up," Aliara said quietly. "I heard nine bells just a little while ago. You should get ready." Teysa fumbled in the dark for her armor. She wore only her brigandine vest; her heavy, clanking plate made stealth impossible. If she needed it, she could come back for it.

The inn was near dead at this hour. Embers still smoldered in the hearth, and a few scattered figures looked up from their tables as Teysa and Aliara crossed the main room. The light outside had dimmed; market hours were over, evidently, and the merchants had struck their tents and stalls. Torches burned faintly far above, twinkling like stars and providing just enough light to see by. Guards patrolled around the perimeter of the market, two by two. Teysa reached for one of the torches that sat in a bracket by the inn's doorway, but Aliara waved her away from it. She gestured with her hands, indicating a long, sweeping route to the church that would take them away from the center of the market and the patrolling guards. Teysa nodded and fell in behind the half-elf.

They passed the stables. Teysa could hear deep breathing coming from within, and spared a thought for El'keth. Then they were past and skulking in the shadows of the towering facades. Most of them were shut tight for the night. Teysa could see firelight flicker around some of the doorframes, could hear faint conversation and the tinkle of glass. She wondered what debaucheries the wealthy merchants of the market got up to behind closed doors. Some of them were surely--

A flicker of motion caught Teysa's eye. She and Aliara were passing between two towering facades. In between them was an alley-- really, just a crevice in the rock, a tiny space filled with shadows. Something darted out in front of her. She caught a glimpse of a tall, thin figure, then something soft was pressed into her face, over her mouth and nose. She drew in a startled breath and smelled something aromatic, like camphor and burning wood. Then her head spun and her vision faded to black.