The room at the inn had two bunk beds, which was very convenient. Carter wondered if they specifically had one room for large groups of people. Besides that, there was a closet, an EMS, and a refrigerator box. They had also thrown in a nice draft for free, but Carter didn't mind the cold air.
Astrid seemed preoccupied as well. She sat on the floor next to the EMS and fiddled with her bag and kept glancing at the door.
Carter spoke to her from atop one of the bunks. "Where's that thing you wanted to give me?"
Astrid looked up. "Oh, right! Here—" She dug through her bag and then stood and walked over to the bed. She reached up and placed a knife in Carter's pale hand.
Carter's face froze and she lifted it. It was her throwing knife.
She didn't know what to say. She felt so grateful.
Astrid smiled. "I just asked the person on duty for it. The guards and knights don't mean any harm, you know. They just really want to follow orders."
What a stupid thing to say, Carter thought. But she could let it slide. She folded the knife into her hands and nodded, and Astrid's smile widened imperceptibly.
"Hey," Carter said after a moment. "I have a question for you, but it's pretty rude and morbid. So much so that even I can tell it's in poor taste."
Astrid looked at her, leaned against the refrigerator box, and took a deep breath. "Go ahead."
Carter shifted. "Who's Faizah?"
"Oh, you mean my last name?" Astrid didn't seem to mind the inquiry. "That's my mother. My father is still alive."
"Ah."
"I haven't seen him in a while though. He lives in Hawk's Ridge."
"No time to visit?"
"Something like that."
Carter put her chin in her hands. "Dang. And here I am doing all this crap just to know a fun fact or two about my mom."
Astrid looked away. "Funny how that works out…"
At that moment, the room suddenly went dark. Astrid gasped.
"What the hell?" Carter said.
"It's a blackout. If we wait a minute then the lights will probably come back on."
"Okay." Carter lay down and held the knife to her chest for a moment. Astrid continued to lean on the fridge and Carter sat up again and jumped off the bed, landing lightly on the floor. "Lemme see what's in here," she said, before cracking open the fridge and being greeted by a puff of coldness. She surveyed the contents.
Astrid's fingers brushed against Carter's hand. "What is in here?"she asked wryly. "I can't see a single thing."
"It's almost empty. Just some sauce packets and—" Carter picked up a container. "Ice cream."
"Wait, are you really eating it?"
"Of course."
"Wow," Astrid said. She sounded vaguely horrified. "I've been in hotels before and never even considered that as an option."
"Why not? It's free food!"
"Welllll… wait, Carter, can you send an EM to the front desk telling them that the lights are dead?"
Carter sighed, which was a messy affair, what with the ice cream in her mouth. "Okay." She walked over to the EMS, which was a small metal box with a keyboard and a paper slot, and was about to complain that she had no idea what to do, but then Astrid started explaining what buttons she needed to press.
Apparently Astrid had memorized the EM code for the front desk. Carter first needed to type it in and press ENTER. Then she typed out her message and pressed ENTER again. Simple enough; it was done in minutes.
And the reply too came in minutes, printed through the slot in the machine. The clerk told them to wait and she'd look into it— Carter could feel her sass coming off the paper.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Oshto tensed when he heard the echoing of steps outside the supply closet. He watched Frey, who was of course directly across from him in the cramped space. She seemed to be counting under her breath.
Suddenly, she stood and opened the door. It was time to go. Oshto followed her to the front desk.
Like they'd agreed upon whilst in the closet, Oshto went straight to the ledger and flipped it open, committing the last few entries to memory. Meanwhile Frey used the EMS to send the border guard station a message. It was simple, containing only the name of the hotel.
"Finished looking?" Frey asked.
"Yeah, let's go."
Oshto shut the book and they high-tailed it back to the supply closet, entering just as the clerk began to come back up the stairs. Her footsteps faded as she passed them.
"Okay, Eve and Taha should be here soon," Oshto whispered. "But we should get this over with. According to the ledger, the ambassador's room is number 241 and it's reserved for four people. So the prince has a companion with him."
Frey leaned forward. "Okay… and we have to land him with the curse somehow."
Oshto removed a plastic package from his pocket. "I just have one. What about you?"
"One as well. We could just throw one at him when he gets here... but it could be dangerous to pick a fight or show both of our faces."
"Let's keep that as a plan B." Oshto tugged a clump of his hair. "We have to land it on him remotely, but make sure that he touches it and no one e—" Frey grimaced and held up her hands and he stopped speaking. A moment later a set of footsteps passed by.
"That was from the other direction," he resumed later. "A delivery from the kitchen?"
"Yeah… Hey, maybe we could attach the curse paper to any room service for 241!"
"Ooh, not bad. But that could be up to four orders for them, and we only have two curse papers." Oshto paused, thinking. "Okay, how about this?..."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The lights had come back on and Carter was looking out the window. The fog over Mavar Town was still thick, and the sun was setting. She wondered when Jacob and Sephia would get here, and she guessed that Astrid was worrying over the same thing.
A knock came at the door, and Astrid pulled on her cloak and rushed over to open it. Carter crossed the room as well, looking over Astrid's shoulder to see who was there.
Rather than who they were expecting, the visitor was a thin man with brown hair and a smattering of small, dark birthmarks on the white skin of his face and neck. He was in the hotel uniform and carried a large platter with two containers of food on it.
"Hi," he said calmly. "Sorry to disturb you. To apologize for the power outage earlier, we wanted to offer you a complimentary meal. I've just finished delivering meals to the other tenants on this floor who brought up the issue."
"Oh! Thank you," Astrid said. She took the containers, she and the hotel worker wished each other a good day, and she shut the door with her foot.
To her surprise, Carter reached over and opened the door again. "Hey," she said.
The hotel worker had been walking away, but he froze in his tracks.
"Can you get me some water too?" she asked.
The worker paused for a fraction of a second and then looked back over his shoulder. "Sure. I'll be right up with it."
"Score," Carter said as she closed the door and crossed the room to take one of the containers from Astrid. She sat on the bunk underneath the one she had claimed earlier.
"Please don't eat that," Astrid said as she pulled off her hood. She opened the trash can in the corner and tossed in the container.
Carter was shocked at this. She tried leaping to her feet to yell about it, but she hit her head on the top bunk and doubled over in pain.
Astrid's eyes widened. "Oh no! Are you okay?"
"Y-yes," Carter strangled out, rubbing her head. "Anyway why'd you throw that out!"
"I'm sorry, Carter. It's just that this free dinner situation is too suspicious. Remember what I said about some people in this town possibly being on the lookout for us? And it's weird that we were conveniently the last people on the floor he delivered to, and he specifically mentioned that to us. What I'm saying is, this food could be dangerous."
Carter sighed. "...That kind of makes sense. What a bummer. It's free food."
"I know. Oh— by the way, I was going to explain earlier that the ice cream in the freezer is not free."
"What?! Then why would they put it there?"
Astrid leaned against the table. "It's a mystery we pass on through the generations. You should eat more of it if you're still hungry, though. I'm pretty sure it's safe."
"Will do," Carter said with a conspiratorial smile, which Astrid returned.
Astrid looked on casually as Carter raided the fridge once more. A few moments later there was a click and both of them glanced back to see that the door was open and the hotel worker from earlier was standing there.
"Oh gosh— I'm very sorry—" The hotel worker stepped back and looked off to the side. "Um, here's your water."
Astrid slowly turned her head away from the door. Carter crossed the room again and took the water from him. "Thanks, man," she said before shutting it and returning to the bed.
There was a brief moment of silence.
Astrid stood and started walking out of the room. "I'm going to get some fresh air."
"Okay… Astrid." Carter said. It was only after she left that Carter realized the hotel worker had seen the ambassador's face.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Sephia and Jacob had finally arrived at the inn. They first tried Carter's name at the front desk, and the clerk gave them the room number.
When they got to the room, Carter opened the door for them and Jacob said "What's up, Noelle" immediately. Carter looked them over quickly and replied with "Oh, hey."
Jacob walked in and pulled off his cloak, tossing it to the floor. It had done a good job protecting the top half of his clothing, but his hair stuck out in odd angles and his boots were caked in dust and mud. He took these off too and collapsed onto the unoccupied top bunk.
Sephia stepped in and shut the door as she looked around the room. "Where is Ambassador Faizah?" she asked.
Carter explained that she'd gone to get "fresh air," and Sephia nodded slowly. She saw her bag sitting by a wall so she picked it up and sat on the bed below Jacob's.
"How did you guys make it past the border?" Carter asked. She leaned against the bunk bed claimed by her and Astrid.
Sephia paused and Jacob said nothing, so she replied, "His Highness found a checkpoint further down the line at which the guard had been taken out. She was asleep when we got there, and we were able to open the gate. Other than that, it was just a lot of walking."
Carter looked surprised, and Sephia could see why. Firstly there was the matter of how Jacob even found this information. And then, foul play against a guard to enter a town? Such a thing actually succeeding? It was almost unheard of.
Sephia had to admit, she'd felt pretty contemptible exploiting rogue damage to the system.
But it was by order of the prince, so she could live with it.
Carter spoke up, and it wasn't what Sephia expected. She described the search at the border and why Astrid found it strange. "And not only that," Carter continued, "But she accidentally revealed her face to a hotel worker. So I guess now he knows the ambassador is in town."
Absorbing this, Sephia brushed a hand over her lip. Who had known they would be in this town at some point? The palace, the stronghold, and possibly any outsiders who caught wind of the mission. But she didn't see much opportunity for a leak. Ultimately, she said, "It's possible, albeit unlikely, that enemies were aware of our presence before we arrived. I'll trust her judgment. But how long ago did Ambassador Faizah step out?"
"Maybe thirty minutes."
"We'll wait fifteen more minutes. If she doesn't show up, we'll look around for her."
"Astrid's a scaredy-cat," Jacob said abruptly. He was looking up at the ceiling, one arm dangling over the edge of the bed.
Carter shrugged and moved on. "So how did the prince know a guard was knocked out?"
Jacob fielded this question, propping himself up on his elbows and looking at Carter. "I mentioned my magic specializations, right? One of them is clairvoyance. I randomly get visions of things that are far away or things that could happen in the future. Of course, I can induce specific visions with effort, but this time I was lucky."
"Wow," Carter said. Sephia agreed that it sounded useful, but she'd always had some trouble putting her faith in the concept. The field of magic in general wasn't her strong suit, but the nebulousness of the stuff Jacob always talked about— divination, he called it— was something else. But the events of today had made her trust it a little more.
She sighed. If anything, the journey here had tired her mentally, rather than physically.
"So if you can do that, then why don't you just find Astrid's location?" Carter said.
"...Sure, I'll do that," Jacob said. He faced forward on the bed and crossed his legs, leaning forward slightly. He closed his eyes and became very still. A few minutes later he opened his eyes. A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead. "She's on the roof. Don't know what she's doing, but I can tell she's fine."
"There's a lot of air on the roof," Carter commented.
"No doubt." Jacob looked to his right and his eyes widened. "Noelle, what the hell is this?"
"What?" Carter practically snarled.
"All these ice cream wrappers…" He was looking at her bunk. His voice was jocular, but it was hard to tell if he was laughing with her or at her. "You ate this? Where'd you get it?"
"The refrigerator. I'm positive that you can afford the expense, Your Excellence," Carter said in an exaggeratedly pathetic tone.
Jacob's eyes narrowed at that, but his smile was still plastered on. His tone suddenly became hostile. "Of course. I'll take it out of your paycheck, which is also my expense."
"I'll fight you if you do that," Carter stated.
Jacob leaned forward, his smile vanishing now. "I'm serious."
Carter looked at him for a moment. "I am too."
"If you attack me, I promise you that Sephia would kill you, tie you up, and throw you into a steel mine tunnel. A hole in the ground a few miles long. You'll be lying there upside down for all eternity. I could kill you a few times before that for added pain and humiliation."
Carter swallowed. She snagged the knife from her boot. The movement was like a blur. "It doesn't matter. Let's go."
Sephia watched them with stupefaction. All this for some ice cream?
The two held each other's gaze for a long moment, both of their expressions twisted in aggression. The challenge hung in the air.
"Let's go!" Carter shouted again.
But Jacob's shoulders relaxed and he turned away, lying down again. "I was joking," he said. "Obviously I'm paying for the ice cream. It's nothing to me."
Carter's eyes looked wild. "No! Come on!"
"Shut up, Noelle. What do you even want me to do? I told you that Sephia would be the one stepping in, because you don't know enough about me to be scared of fighting me."
Carter made an infuriated noise and turned around and slammed her fist against the bed, producing half a metallic thud. She kneeled and dug a hand through her hair.
Sephia recognized the animalistic disappointment Carter was feeling. She'd often observed it in her subordinates. An urge to destroy something in anger, but there was nothing in the room to destroy, except maybe that knife she was holding.
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