“I’m pleased to hear ya like our hall. I heard all you Imperials like fancy and comfort in yer life,” Patrova drawled out. She motioned for some of her people to come forward. They carried tankards of what smelled like ale and my mouth watered.
Tankards were handed out - first to Patrova, then to the guests - and platters of food were set out on the tables.
“Never talk business on an empty stomach,” Patrova said, raising her tankard with a grin.
“An opinion I can get behind,” I replied, raising my tankard in salute.
My Knights echoed the sentiment, grinning as well. I glanced at Euri as we took the full pull of ale and twitched an eyebrow. The smirk that met my gaze gave me a tiny sliver of hope he’d understood.
As the food began to disappear from the platters, and ale poured into tankards over and over, Euri slipped away from the table. I pointedly didn’t follow him with my eyes, but my sensitive ears picked up the flirtatious tale-tell voice of the blonde knight.
I glanced towards Eyvindr as the food platter was taken away and Ev smiled, leaning forward.
“Jarl Patrova,” she began, “food and drink had, would now be an appropriate time to speak business?”
The Jarl groaned, though she still smiled, her cheeks only lightly dusted with a pink glow. “Aye, fine, fine. You two can really hold yer ale, huh?”
Ev flushed at the compliment. “It’s a bit hard for many of the Knights to get drunk, Jarl. I’ve wished more than you can imagine that I wasn't one of them.”
“Aye, that’s a fate worse’n death,” Patrova said, eyeing Eyvindr up and down. “So. Yer Emperor wants an alliance. Why’s he goin’ after the whoreson pirates now?”
“One two many ships taken,” Ev replied, standing and moving to my other side, closer to the Jarl. “Our Emperor has his pride and a bit of a temper you see. He wants to teach the Island Nations a lesson and prevent them from going after our ships again. To encourage them to raid others, for him.”
“Tall order, that,” Patrova drawled, her eyes practically undressing Eyvindr.
With her distracted by Ev, I quietly excused myself, using the excuse to check on our beasties and taking a few roasts with me. The sun had disappeared below the horizon by this point. Snarls met my ears as I left the hall, my eyes falling on the boy who Patrova had left in charge of the ebriaen, on his ass with a swelling cheek. Past him, an older boy was inching closer to Zephyr and the mares, his hands out in front of him, clearly wanting to touch the dangerous creatures.
With a sigh, I strode down the steps and past the boy, who looked up at me briefly and then down at the ground between his legs.
“Zephyr,” I said calmly, “touch the kid and I’ll take your snack back inside.”
The beast growled, but reared his proud head up, glaring daggers at the boy - who stopped, upon hearing my command.
“And you, kid. I’d advise you to back away. Zephyr’s protective of his herd… and these beasties are rather venomous. I don’t happen to have an antivenom on hand and I’d rather not accidentally revoke our guest rights.”
The boy slowly turned to face me, not looking me in the eyes. His cheeks reddened and he stared down at his boots.
“Beat it before I drag you before your Jarl for disobedience.”
A squeak was the only response I got from him before he dashed off, slipping in the slush as he rounded a corner.
Shaking my head, I glanced down at the younger boy, still sitting in the mud. “You just going to sit there?”
He mumbled out an apology as I crossed the last few feet to Zephyr and the mares. The boy watched, his eyes widening, as I fed the ebriaen the roasts. They took the meat with one clawed foot, tearing through meat and crunching through bone with ease.
“They - really eat meat?” the boy’s awed voice came from my elbow. Quickly, I pulled him back from the ebriaens, Zephyr’s snarl muffled only slightly by the hunk of meat.
“Yes, they do, and Zephyr in particular does not like children,” I said as a warning. “And as I told the other boy, he’s very protective of his herd. Don’t get too close to them.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Shaking my head, I left the boy watching the beasts, his curious eyes still wide as a newborn fawn. With the mounts taken care of, I stomped back up the steps and into the building - but I did not enter the central hall. Instead, I took a side corridor and murmured a spell of feather step. With my armor silenced, I pressed forward, checking rooms for our target. On my way to the second floor, I met up with Euri, who was grinning wide a pleased fox.
“Well?” I murmured, keeping my voice low.
“Found her,” he said, jerking his thumb up the stairs behind him. “Pretty little birdie even introduced me to her.”
“Good. You get the lay of the land?”
“Oh yeah,” Euri replied.
With a nod, I led him back to the central hall.
“Oh, there ya two are,” Jarl Patrova said, now sitting on the bench beside Ev, an arm around her shoulders. “I thought this pretty little thing and I were going to have to entertain ourselves all night.”
Ev laughed and grinned. “I don’t know, I’d be on board with that.”
I snorted in response. “Apologies, Jarl, but I noticed one of my Knights went off to find trouble,” I said, dragging a grinning Euri forward. “This one is always getting into trouble… usually in the trousers of another.”
The Jarl laughed. “That’s too bad you were interrupted, then! Too bad fer yer chosen troublemaker, too.”
Euri shrugged, still smiling like a fool. “We had fun before the Captain found us. Not enough to satisfy fully... But enough to tide me over.”
A full-belly laugh erupted from the Jarl. “You. I like you. If you weren’t tied to that Empire of yours, I’d make you one of mine…” Then she turned towards Ev and caressed the Ser’s cheek. “But you. You, I’d take with the Empire attached.”
Ev blushed and batted her eyelashes. “Patrova… If only I could stay… but the Empire will always come first, even if I didn’t want it to.”
“Aye, so I’ve heard,” Patrova muttered, but her hand did not fall. “Doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a night?”
Eyvindr’s flush darkened and she dropped her eyes. “I… will have to clear it with the Captain…”
I snorted. “That’s fine. But I can’t leave any of the beasts here overnight. It’s not that I don’t trust your people, Jarl, it’s that I don’t trust our mounts to behave for a night. We’ll be back in the morning to fully sort out the alliance, if that’s alright with you. The two of us will camp with our soldiers.”
“Aye, fine with me,” Jarl Patrova purred, turning the last of her attention to Ev. She said nothing more and I shook my head, a smirk on my lips.
“Have fun, Ser Eyvindr,” I said as I passed the two, taking Euri towards the door.
As we left and stomped down the stairs, Euri lamented, “Ev gets to have a go and I get nothing but the cold…”
I snorted. “You’ll survive.”
We mounted up and I took the reins of Eyvindr’s ebriaen, leading the mare as we left the city-camp. Once to our soldiers, I smiled at Euri.
“Besides, if I left you there, you’d be so busy, you’d miss making the signal.”
“Guilty,” he said with a shrug and a smirk. “So we’re taking her tonight then?”
I nodded. “Honestly, I didn’t expect that to work at all. I’d heard Patrova had an… appetite, but to think she’d be so blatant…”
“Yeah, pretty sure a few of the men in that room were her husbands, and a couple of the others meandering about were her lovers,” Euri said as he dismounted. “The birdie I found told me a lot, if you want to know.”
“Unless it somehow will impact the next few hours, no, I don’t want to know.”
“Oh, then you’re going to want to hear this,” Euri pressed on, “that Jarl’s got the stamina to match one of us. Like, full-on in-heat stallion mode.”
Shit.
“Really?”
“Oh yeah,” Euri continued, “I heard she can last well into the wee hours of the morning.”
“But with all the ale… you think she’ll still be awake by witching hour?” I asked, releasing Zephyr into a makeshift corral with the two mares, to join the stallion already there. Duras must be back.
“Nah, I think with the alcohol and Ev, she’ll be fast asleep by the time we move.”
“By the sounds of your conversation, can I assume Ser Eyvindr’s negotiations worked?” Duras asked as he approached.
“Somehow,” I replied, glancing around at the neat rows of tents. “Once night falls and the men get a few hours sleep, we’ll pack everything but bare bones. Give the appearance we’re still here. Euri found where the princess sleeps so you, Euri, and myself will sneak in there, grab her, and get out.”
“No need to cause a distraction?” Duras asked, his lips twisting down and his eyes narrowing. “I didn’t encounter anyone in my scouting.”
Ah. He didn’t relieve any stress.
I shrugged. “We’ll probably have to cause a distraction to get away. Would you rather stay behind with the soldiers to start said distraction?”
Duras grinned. “Yes, Captain. Yes I would.”
“Done.”
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