As they passed the door that led to the lobby, the man called after them.

"Have a good night." A pause, then something approximating a grin under the white beard. "And be gentle with her."

Darion and Seren both looked back at him at the same time.

Sure, Seren looked good, really good, she had a face that people noticed, that was simply true. And she had a body that was also...

But the assumption attached to the comment landed with awkwardness.

"Huh," Darion said.

"Huh," Seren said, at exactly the same moment.

They followed the worker down the lobby.

The room was small and decent enough for what it was. Stone walls, a window with a shutter that closed properly, a table with a candle on it that looked like it had been burning since approximately the founding of the establishment and had no intention of stopping.

It looked like some Eternal candle.

The floor was swept. The air smelled of the bar below, which was warm food and old wood and people, all mixed together.

And one bed.

The worker left and closed the door.

Darion and Seren stood in the room and looked at the bed and then at each other.

"I’ll take the floor," Darion said immediately, and moved to the far corner before the conversation could develop further. Not the near corner. The far one, which was as far from the bed as the room’s dimensions permitted, which was not very far but was the maximum available distance and he was committed to it.

"Right," Seren said.

She sat on the edge of the bed, tested it with her weight, seemed satisfied, and lay down. She pulled the sheet up, turned onto her side away from the candle, and went quiet.

Darion settled into the corner with his riding cloak folded under him as padding, which was less effective than he had hoped. The floor was stone and made no concessions to comfort. He folded his arms, found a position that was almost acceptable, and stared at the ceiling.

The candle threw its light steadily. It did not flicker. It did not dim. It sat on the table and burned.

He could hear Seren’s breathing slow and even out within about four minutes.

’That was fast’ Darion thought.

Darion lay on the stone floor and listened to the muffled noise of the bar below and the sound of Seren sleeping comfortably in the bed and thought about Valdenmoor and Percvale and the oath he was going to take tomorrow from a woman he had never met who would kill him if he broke it.

Some sorceress who was low key evil.

Eventually he slept.

Morning came with the sound of people still in the bar below, which suggested either they had never stopped or had started again very early, and he genuinely could not determine which.

Men who wasted their lives doing nothing but drinking.

He was stiff from the floor, feeling it deep in his bones. He stood up slowly and worked his shoulders.

Seren was awake, sitting on the edge of the bed, her hair down and her pack already beside her feet. She looked at him and at the clear evidence of the floor corner and said nothing, which he appreciated.

They went down together.

The bar was populated by a handful of men eating breakfast who looked like they might be the same men from the night before in slightly different positions. The counter man was there, white beard and all, wiping down the surface with a cloth.

"Room held up?" he asked.

"Fine," Darion said. "Thank you. For the consideration."

The man waved it off. "You paid what you could. That’s enough for me." He looked at them both. "Eat something before you ride. I’ll put something together. On the house."

Darion looked at him.

Really?

Was this man being... Nice.

Yesterday he was nice considering them with the three coins they had. That was actually nice, most bar owners would have sent them away but... this was Nice... Nice. Super Nice!

"You already took a loss on the room," Darion said.

"Small loss," the man said. "I’ve had nights that cost me more in candles." He had already turned to tell someone in the back to put food together. "Sit down."

They sat.

The food that came out was bread and something hot in a bowl, a thin broth with chunks of something in it, simple and warm. Darion ate the whole thing. Seren ate hers faster than he did, which told him she had been hungrier than she had shown.

When they stood to leave, Darion stopped at the counter.

"What’s your name," he said.

The man looked at him, slightly surprised at the question. "Orten."

"Orten," Darion repeated. "Thank you."

The man nodded, already back to wiping the counter. He didn’t ask for Darion’s name.

"Where are you two heading to, I can help with tips for the road."

Darion thought about it. Should the man know? Well, he had been generous enough he deserved a good reply to his question.

"We’re heading to Ghlk," he replied.

"I see," Orten said. "Road’s clear south from here. Stay on the main path through the Ghlk approach, the side routes aren’t worth it."

"Thanks," Darion and Seren said in unison.

They went out, untied the horses, and rode.

The rest of the journey was smoother. The forested stretch was behind them and the terrain opened up as they moved further south, the sky clear and the road better-maintained than anything in Percvale’s immediate region.

They ate on horseback from what Maret had packed, hoping it sustained them till they arrived at Ghlk. They drank the water too, it remained little now

They talked, not about anything significant. Seren described Ghlk from memory, small and quiet, the kind of place where people kept to themselves and the keeping-to-themselves was mutual and unspoken.

Her mother’s house was on the eastern edge of the settlement. Separated from the main cluster of buildings by enough distance to communicate that the inhabitant preferred it that way.

Darion asked what her mother’s name was.

"Vera," Seren said.

He kept it in his memory. Hopefully he remembers it.

Ghlk appeared at nightfall, which was the exact point at which Darion had run out of things to think about and was grateful for the distraction. Small was accurate. It was a cluster of lights in the dark, buildings that were functional rather than prosperous, a settlement that existed rather than thrived.

They rode through it without stopping. Past the main cluster, along the eastern edge, until Seren pulled her horse to a slow walk and then stopped in front of a building set back from the road behind a low fence. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Light through the shuttered window. Someone was home.

"Right," Seren said, looking at the door. Her expression was one of someone preparing for something they had been preparing for the entire journey and still didn’t feel ready for. "Let’s see if she’s still around."

She dismounted. Darion followed.

They went to the door and knocked.

There was a pause.

Then the sound of movement inside, unhurried and coming closer.

The door opened.