Whatever else Deanne thought of Eli, the man knew how to work a room.
He spent most of the evening moving between three phases. The first was playing some tune that would stir the audience to tears, pulling all eyes on him as he sat cradling his instrument. He would then transition into drinking songs, which perked up the crowd and had them ordering beer. Usually he would mark the shift by standing up and dancing, encouraging others to get to their feet. As the proprietor filled their orders, he would move to more sedate background tunes to allow everyone a chance to get their drinks and calm down. He would still wander as he played, making idle conversation and taking requests. At every break, he would drink deeply.
Deanne contented herself with sitting quietly in the corner. She had received a few glowers and more than one person seemed to pass the time glaring in her direction, but the majority seemed to have accepted that her presence was the price they had to pay for an evening’s entertainment.
Well, that and the drinks they bought the bard.
Deanne decided to rest early. Days on the road and her brief rest the night before had left her tired, and the ale she consumed aided in that. A few private words to the proprietor and she was shown to a small room one floor up. The room was small and spartan, but it had a clean bed and a lock on the Door. The evenings sun just faded behind the shutters of a small window. Deanne collapsed into the bed, and was asleep before she hit the sheets.
She was awoken by hurried banging at the door. Deanne shot up at the noise, though she realized that she was tangled in the sheets only when she slammed onto the room’s floor. Cursing, she pulled herself up and opened the door narrowly, bracing it with her foot.
Eli stood there. His face was flushed and panting, grasping his loot and sack haphazardly. From behind him, raised voices could be heard and loud footfalls were coming up the staircase. Loud yells were accompanying them, and Deanne heard enough of the rabble to pick up quite a few familiar slurs.
Deanne moved aside and he stumbled into the room. ‘You need to help me. Please, they’ll tear me apart!’
Deanne opened her mouth to ask why, but her brain finally kicked itself into working order. Their kind could see in deep dark, and even in the darkness of the room she could see tha it was Eli she let into the room, not “Elliot”. Horns and all.
‘Come on,’ he whined, ‘You have to help me.’
Deanne slammed the door, turning the key in the lock. ‘What happened?’ She demanded.
‘Well, ah, see, it’s like this.’ She could see his mind spinning. ‘That spell? You know, the one that makes me look normal? Well, you see, it takes some concentration to maintain. Not much mind, but if I get really distracted it can fail.’
A series of loud thuds sounded through the room. ‘Open this door, hellspawn!’
‘And, uh, well, I got distracted.’
Deanne stared daggers at her companion. ‘Doing what?’
‘Does it matter? Come on, you have to stop them.’
A series of loud thuds sounded on the door, and it shook in it’s hinges. Deanne took a second to pay more attention to the yelling, and among the expected ‘liar’, ‘fraud’ and ‘hellspawn’, she couldn’t help but hear ‘fornicator’ and ‘philanderer’.
Deanne closed her eyes. ‘Gods damn it Eli’.
Eli gave her an innocent look, and for just a moment she considered throwing the man out into the throng to take his chances. She shook her head. Even if she did, it wouldn’t save her. Escape first, then they could sort it out.
She looked around the room, and her eyes fixed on the shuttered window, leaking whisps of moonlight. She moved over to it quickly, and her fingers began exploring it’s edges looking for any latch.
‘What are you doing?’ Eli asked. ‘Can’t you fight them?’
‘I’m not beating up an entire damn town because you couldn’t keep it in your pants.’ Deanne found the latch, and cool spring air flooded over her as she cast open the shutters. She glanced down, and could see it was about ten feet to the ground.
Eli looked at the drop and gulped. ‘I’m not going out there.’
Deanne shrugged, grabbing her pack and stepping out of the portal. ‘It’s your call, but I’m betting the fall is your better option right now. Try to roll when you land.’
She dropped, shifting her weight as she fell. She landed in a hard roll, but managed to come up without serious injury. She pulled herself to her feet, brushing herself off and mentally checking for more severe injuries.
She looked up at the window. In the moonlight, she could see Eli’s face swaying in the frame. She contemplated running off, but as disgusted as she was it didn’t seem right to just leave Eli to his fate.
Even from the street below, she could hear the heavy thuds on the door. Eli looked back for a second, then managed to stumble out of the window, his pack and loot case now properly strung along his back. Deanne wondered if the swaying was caused by fear or drunkenness- he had been plied pretty heavily with beer earlier, but it seems panic really helps to sober up.
Deanne heard the door crash, and Eli yelped in panic as he let go of the window. He fell, and he did a partial roll as he hit the ground. A second yelp joined the first as he struggled to his feet, but he managed to get vertical.
Deanne grabbed his arm and the two took off running. She could hear the yells coming from the tavern’s window, and a few objects flew out the portal and landed far afield of the two. It didn’t take long to reach the edge of town, though the two didn’t stop running for several minutes after.
As they slowed, Deanne forced her breathing to calm down. The run hadn’t been that taxing, but as her muscled calmed anger boiled up inside. ‘What the hell were you thinking?’ She demanded.
Her companion gulped air. He seemed much less used to runs like these. ‘I was thinking that fall really hurt-’
‘No, you jackass.’ She glared at him. ‘I mean when you decided to risk both our lives for a random tryst?’
He panted, but managed to be something resembling indignant. ‘I was thinking that I had worked hard, and deserved a little fun. And besides, you’re supposed to be a fighter. Why run from a fight?’
‘Because we might lose.’ She clenched her fists. ‘Because even besides the trouble of the fight itself, being woken up and told to fight a hoard of angry villages is not something I am eager to do.’
‘Those people?’ Eli spat. ‘Racist hicks. They deserve a good beating.’
‘And what about you? You lied to someone, tricked them into sex, then just expect me to deal with the consequences?’
‘Hey, I got you a room, didn’t I?’
‘I paid for the fucking room.’
‘Yeah, and they wouldn’t have even taken your money if I wasn’t there.’ Eli seemed to have caught his breath, and straightened his clothes. ‘Would you have preferred to sleep in a bush?’
‘Yes, I would.’ Deanne turned and began walking down the road.
Eli stumbled, jogging to keep up with her gait. ‘Well, you got a bed. Now, let’s find some place to camp.’ He glanced around. ‘Someplace sheltered, of course. But not too far away, I’m bagged.’
Deanne said nothing. A few minutes later, Eli gestured to a small clump of trees near the road. ‘There. That should be good enough cover.’
Deanne didn’t respond. As they approached, he left the path, and hurried back when she didn’t follow. ‘Where are you going? We’re camping here.’
Deanne shrugged.
‘Okay, I can see you’re mad, but there’s no need for that.’ He forced a charming smile, and Deanne longed to wipe it off his face. ‘Listen, we both got a good meal and escaped with our skin. No harm, no foul, right?’
‘No.’
‘Come on, Deanne.’ He sighed. ‘Look, it was a stupid decision. But that’s in the past. Besides, you need me.’
Deanne gave him a withering glare. ‘Do I?’
‘Oh yeah.’ He gave her a mocking smile. ‘If you want to sleep in a bed anywhere between here and Evan’s brook, you are going to need me to talk your way in. And even then, the fighting ring is in a…private establishment. Good luck finding your way in without me. And they don’t take just anyone. No. If you want a shot of making it in that business, you need someone to help you get your foot in the door.’
‘And that’s you?’
‘You think anyone else would give you the time of day?’ He laughed. ‘If you walk into town on your own, all you are likely to find is trouble.’
‘Whereas you seem to attract it.’
He chuckled. ‘Well, it’s more fun that way. If you want to try it on your own be my guest, but even with my trouble things will be much better with me around.’
Deanne forced herself to calm down. What he said made sense- she knew introductions could help a lot, and of the two only he knew where they were going. And he had talked their way into rooms for the night.
On the other hand, he had forced them to flee in the middle of the night. He clearly had issues with self control and she doubted he was being anywhere close to honest with her now. He could end up causing more trouble than he prevented.
She bit down her disgust. Ultimately, he was right. ‘Fine.’ She managed. ‘But there’s a larger bunch of trees just down the road. It’s more secluded, we would be better there.’
‘Fantastic.’ He gave her a smile. ‘After you.’