Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2) (25 page)

“
Of course I’m sure. I
haven’t been surer of anything in my life, Geda!” Smidge cried,
throwing his hands up as ashes tumbled down from his head. “I’m
happy to be leaving the inn, Geda, happy! In fact I’ve been
miserable here for so long that it has become a way of life for me,
miserable and bitter. I’m happy to be leaving you three here
alone.” Smidge muttered.

“
Three?” Geda asked, not
knowing what he was talking about.

“
Three, and tell Habala
that I went, Geda. Tell her that I was happy to leave and that she
doesn’t have to say anything to you.” Smidge said, pausing a moment
to turn to his brother. “Watch out for that woman of yours, Geda.
She is a fiend in disguise and she will burn you like she burned me
if you are not careful.” Smidge muttered, turning away and leaving
with smoke trailing after him.

“
A fiend? Burn me? What was
she going to tell me?” Geda asked, worried, but it was too late, as
Smidge was gone. Geda asked Hermer to watch the bar (there goes the
ale) as he went back to the private quarters. Smidge must have run
into Habala somehow back there, and although he had no idea what
might have happened between them in the interval, he knew that it
couldn’t be anything good with the way Smidge was
talking.

“
Habala? Habala, are you
all right?” Geda asked, knocking on the storeroom door. “What is
going on in there?” He asked when he didn’t get a reply from her,
and then he opened the storeroom door, stumbling inside as he
worried about what he might see.

“
It is nothing, Geda,”
Habala said, turning around to face him in an attempt to block his
view of what was behind her, but Geda could still see Brigga
retreating back into the casks, slightly disrobed. Three. Brigga
was here, too, he had forgotten about that. She wasn’t supposed to
be working here tonight, was she?

“
What is going on here?
What did Smidge do?” Geda asked, staring at them in horror. Had
Smidge molested Brigga? And Habala, had she just stumbled upon
them? Oh, what a relief, Habala wasn’t involved with Smidge,
but…oh. Poor Brigga. She shouldn’t be treated this way, no person
should. He should have known something terrible like this might
happen with Smidge around. Smidge couldn’t control himself
sometimes, and he was a crude man as well, but molesting Brigga? In
a way, it wasn’t like him, how could Smidge go so far?

Habala sighed. “It is nothing, Geda, Smidge
is gone now, he did quit, right?” Geda slowly nodded in reply, not
wanting to say a word about anything else. How did she know? Did
she convince him to quit? “I am just talking to Brigga here,”
Habala continued, patting Brigga on the shoulder. Brigga looked a
little nervous, understandable considering what had just happened
to her. “And we would like some privacy, please. I will bring the
casks once I am done here, so please just leave us alone for a
bit.” Habala shooed away her husband.

Geda slowly retreated with another nod, and
closed the storeroom door behind him. Right, they needed their
privacy, Brigga needed some comfort from someone she could trust,
and perhaps they should go to the constable to talk about this, but
he didn’t know what had just happened, if Smidge had actually
molested Brigga.

It looked that way, but he hoped it wasn’t
true, that there might be some other kind of explanation for the
scene he had just stumbled across. Brigga was the one who would
ultimately have to make the choice of accusing Smidge of such a
crime, and he wondered if Habala was trying to talk her out of…no,
she wouldn’t do that, would she? Smidge’s behavior was an
embarrassment to the inn, certainly, but that was no excuse to
cover it up, right? He worried that Habala might be trying to
protect Smidge instead of…great. He was back to thinking Habala and
Smidge might be involved with each other again, that Habala was
protecting him.

This was terrible; he couldn’t think that,
he just couldn’t. He had to stick by Habala from now on. Though he
doubted her, and he had some reason to tonight with her odd
behavior, and Smidge’s burned hair, he had to trust that she had
some good reason for her behavior, and that she was worth believing
in, being his wife of twenty years or so. That had to count for
something, in the end.

Geda returned to the bar, and eventually
Habala came back out with the casks. He asked her if Brigga was all
right, and Habala told him, in a low whisper, what Smidge had done.
He had pestered Brigga, but he had not physically harmed her,
especially when Habala had stepped in to stop him. Brigga was fine
for the most part, just a little disturbed, and she had gone back
home for the night. She would come back to work in the morning, now
that Smidge had quit his job at the Smiling Stallion inn, and they
would talk things out some more. It did not appear that Brigga
would have Smidge arrested, at least not yet. Habala did not tell
him what had burned Smidge, but Geda could guess, and he didn’t say
anything.

Geda thought it rather odd that Brigga would
basically just let Smidge go, and not have him arrested if he tried
to harm her, but he did not question Habala right now, after his
decision to stand by his wife. He would rather have Smidge go for
now, to give them all some peace of mind, although Geda knew that,
eventually, Smidge would return. Smidge was a part of their family
and he couldn’t stay away from the inn forever, and they all would
have to reconcile and settle their differences with Smidge either
apologizing or paying for his crime to Brigga. Brigga certainly
might have good reason to be upset with Smidge if he had harmed
her, but if she did not press charges and accuse him of a crime,
then she might have little recourse in this regard except to accept
his apology. Smidge belonged here more than she did, he would take
precedence over an employee.

As for Geda’s concern about Habala and
Smidge…like Smidge, that would not go away forever, but at least
for now, it was settled. So long as Smidge stayed away, he and
everyone else would have some relief, however small it may be. The
only truly good thing to come out of all this, he thought, was the
possibility that Brigga and Habala might be friends again, when
they had been friends as children, he thought. Habala wouldn’t
obsess anymore over Brigga’s secrets, and Brigga could work here
without any more aggravations until Smidge returned. The night wore
on, until Geda sent the townspeople home, and the guests back
upstairs. Geda and Habala cleaned up the common room, and then went
to bed. Stiff and formal, nothing happened between them, and Geda
lied awake for a while that night, still worrying about his wife,
brother, and Brigga as Habala slept fitfully beside him.

The group had gotten themselves settled into
their quarters located in the east wing; there were two bedrooms
beside each other, one for the boys, including Fato, and one for
Monika. Though the inner walls of the castle matched the outer
walls in terms of ugliness and decay, the furnishings attempted to
overshadow the loss of grandeur over the ages by being grandiose
themselves, though they, too, had been affected by water damage a
little bit. Basha thought that though these bedrooms might be the
smallest bedrooms in the whole castle, still they were larger than
the guest rooms and even the living quarters at The Smiling
Stallion inn.

“
Can I take the bed?” Fato
asked, staring down at the four-poster monstrosity.

“
I believe that’s for all
of us.” Oaka said, rolling his eyes at the bird.

“
I claim the top then!”
Fato declared, tapping his talons on the tester that covered the
bed and posts.

“
All right, suit yourself,”
Oaka said and noticed Basha rummaging frantically through his bag.
“What’s the matter with you?” Oaka asked.

“
I can’t find my…” Basha
hesitated, knowing what Oaka would think, but then he said, “I
think I left my ‘other’ sword attached to the saddle,” because
there was no other choice.

“
What, your Coe Anji
sword?” Oaka said, practically mouthing the last words.

“
What are you two talking
about?” Fato asked.

Basha nodded. “I think so,” He mouthed, also
in a low voice to annoy Fato. “I’ve been looking through all of my
bags, and I even checked yours.”

“
Forget about it.” Oaka
said, waving his hand as Fato fluttered down to see what the fuss
was about. “We don’t need it here if Coe Aela is such a safe place,
and besides, I think you should separate yourself from that thing.
You’ve been…” He frowned, more in disgust than in trying to come up
with the right word. “Moving it around, touching it…I think you’ve
grown too attached to that thing.” He insisted.

“
I have not. And I might
say the same thing about you and Sisila’s letter.” Basha said as
Fato laughed.

“
That’s different.” Oaka
said sharply before they heard a knock on their door. “Who is it?”
Oaka sighed.

“
Gnat, the servant who led
your horses to the stables. I am here to lead you all to the
banquet hall now.” The voice on the other side of the door
said.

Fato stopped laughing then. “Gnat?” The
falcon said, frowning to himself as he turned his head around to
peer at the door. “What type of a name is that?”

“
We’ll be ready in a
minute,” Oaka called out to the door before turning back to Basha
and lowering his voice. “Gnat, you remember…was Gnat a boy or a
girl?” He asked. “It was kind of hard to tell.”

“
Does it matter?” Basha
asked, wondering if it was even appropriate to discuss this as Fato
settled on his left shoulder.

“
I think Gnat was a girl.”
Fato remarked.

“
It does to me. It’s
annoying, and…makes me nervous not knowing?” Oaka shrugged. “I
don’t know. Maybe I just want to know.”

Basha shrugged. “You’re hopeless,” He told
Oaka before turning and answering the door. “Hello, Gnat. My name
is Basha.” He held out his hand.

“
And I’m Fato the royal
messenger falcon, although everybody does seem to try and ignore
me.” Fato said, glaring at Basha even as Basha tried not to look at
him and laugh.

Gnat giggled. “Hello, Basha, Fato, nice to
meet you two,” She said, smiling as Basha assumed Gnat was a girl.
It was automatic. She shook his hand before petting the falcon’s
head. “Are you ready?” She asked.

“
Thanks for that.” Fato
remarked, staring at Gnat.

Basha nodded. “Ready as I can be. I don’t
think I have anything to wear better than what I have on now.” He
said, looking down at his clothes. “Oaka should be a moment.”

“
All right, all right, I’m
ready,” Oaka sighed, coming out of the bedroom with just a shinier
look upon his face, as he had cleaned himself off a little, and
donned a fresher coat. “I hope I don’t smell.” He
muttered.

“
Like a pig or a monkey?”
Fato asked.

“
Don’t worry, you look
fine,” Gnat told Basha before turning to Oaka. “I don’t think I can
smell you from here, so you pass.” She said.

“
Can I get a pass too? I
can smell him from here!” Fato exclaimed, waving a wing.

Gnat frowned. “You should not…”

The other door opened, and Monika emerged
wearing a shirt, breeches, and boots much like what she had been
wearing during the trip. “All right, let’s get this over with,”
Monika said.

“
Should you not be wearing
a dress?” Oaka asked.

“
I don’t think it matters
very much.” Monika said, turning to Gnat. “Besides, I don’t wear
one when I’m traveling. Do you think it matters very much?” She
asked Gnat.

“
Oh, no,” Fato said,
shaking his head.

“
I don’t think so, though
usually I don’t wear a dress,” Gnat said, turning away. “This way,
please,” She said, walking down the hallway.

“
Trying to figure it out?”
Basha whispered to Monika.

“
Quiet,” She said, shaking
her head even though Basha knew it was true. He wondered if Gnat
knew what sort of speculation was going on here. Fato softly
laughed.

“
The grand banquet hall is
where you will usually go to eat all your meals, so no need to seek
out the kitchens,” Gnat told them. “Although it is usually not so
finely decorated as it is tonight. There will be fine entertainment
as well while you eat—jugglers, acrobats, a clown, a bard,
musicians and a fellow who has trained dogs to walk around in
skirts.”

“
The dogs had better know
how to dance, that’s all I’m saying.” Fato remarked.

Gnat glanced back at Fato and sighed. “Rude
bird.” She said.

“
I’m just honest, not
rude!” Fato gasped, slightly offended.

Gnat continued talking, “The bard will
probably be leaving here tomorrow, as he has already stayed here a
few days,” overmuch about the feast and what they might expect on
the way over there, although Basha wondered what made her so
talkative.

They entered the banquet hall through a
large doorway, emerging from the screens passage into a huge space
full of long tables and benches that stretched to a far wall. The
aisles between the benches were narrow, but already crowded with
guests and entertainers alike, the entertainers cavorting about
trying to elicit a smile or a laugh from the guests going to their
seats. Servants stood off to the side in the arcade, ready to be
called when dinner would be dispersed. Gnat wandered off from the
group to join the servants, as the group stared up at the vaulted
wood-beamed ceiling strewn with metal chandeliers, plaster-covered
and painted masonry walls, with tiled floors strewn with
rushes.