Chương 60: Chapter Fifty-Seven - Pomf

Green Hold's gate was guarded by a single older grenoil with wrinkly skin and a quarterstaff by his side. When he saw us coming from within his tower he turned on a magical light and brought it around so that it illuminated the pair of us. Amaryllis had to shout up to him that we were with the Exploration Guild and that we were returning from a mission before he opened the gates a crack and let us in.

"I wouldn't normally let folks in at zese sorts 'a hours, but it ain't right to keep two young ladies out when it's dark out," the guard grenoil said.

"Thank you, sir," I said. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to see Green Hold during the day when it was no doubt bustling with activity, but I still got to admire the pretty stone and mud homes. Some of the buildings were a little strange, big rounded things that reminded me of the Roman colosseum but way, way smaller, with the words 'Tadpole House' on a few signs above the doors. Others were simple enough, shops and homes and, of course, a large inn.

We made our way to the last of these, the tallest building in town - apart from some of the guard towers - all stone and wood with a blue-shingled roof. The sound of gentle chatter drifted out of the building, mingling with an instrument that sounded a bit like a bagpipe but higher in pitch.

"Let's find that bastard," Amaryllis said as she kicked the door open and stomped into the inn. I was caught flat-footed for a moment. I knew Amaryllis was a little miffed, but I didn't expect her to suddenly turn as angry as she did. The crowd in the inn hushed up, dozens of froggy faces turning towards the entrance where Amaryllis stood, hands on hips and face set in a furious scowl. She scanned the room and I could pinpoint the exact moment she spotted Gabriel because her arm shot up and she pointed to the man.

Gabriel was sitting by the bar, a few empty cups before him and his big flabby cheeks tinted a nice rosey colour. The patrons around him edged away from him as Amaryllis spoke up.

"You! You toad-skinned, no good bastard!" I walked in behind her and waved at all the nice grenoil sitting around and watching the show.

"Come here you slimy jerk!" Amaryllis said as she stomped across the entire floor, grabbed Gabriel by the scruff of his jacket and dragged him off to the back of the inn. There were little booths to the side, but she walked right past those and straight up the stairs, presumably to reach the rooms upstairs. Gabriel started to fuss and fight a bit, but his swings were all wild and not very strong, and Amaryllis had a lot of pent up rage fueling her.

"Ah," I said the moment they disappeared at the top of the stairs. Every eye turned to me.

"I'm sorry about my friend," I said.

"We had a bit of a day, you know? So, um, I heard some nice music from outside, who was playing that?" I smiled at them all. No one answered, but they did return to their meals and beers and I heard more than one person speculating on what Gabriel had done to earn a young girl's wrath. In the corner, a large grenoil man started to blow into a strange sort of bagpipe while another pulled up an accordion and a third started plucking the strings of what sounded like a stand-up bass but looked like a very large fiddle.

I wanted to stare some more, but I heard a bang from upstairs and decided not to dilly dally too much.

"Oi!" the grenoil behind the counter said.

"If she breaks anything you're paying for it!"

"Yes sir!" I said before taking the steps two at a time. The top of the stairs opened into a cozy lounging area, though it was empty save for one grenoil that looked to be knocked out on a couch. One of the bedroom doors was wide open and I could see Amaryllis shaking Gabriel within.

"Tell me! Tell me who paid you off you slimegoblin, you lily-livered amphibastard bug-eating... mudlicker!" I blinked as I tried to parse what she was saying. I was quite certain that at least half of those had been hideously speciest.

"Um," I said as I walked into the room and placed a hand on Amaryllis shoulder.

"It's okay? Maybe don't kill him? Please?" Amaryllis puffed up. Literally. Her feathers poofed upwards and even her hair stood on end a little. She suddenly looked twice as big as she had, but it was all fluff.

"He betrayed me!" she squawked. I slapped a hand over my mouth, but it was too late, a giggle had already escaped. She turned her glare onto me.

"What are you laughing about?" she asked. I couldn't keep it in. Maybe because I was tired, or because of the long day, but when she turned towards me all I could think of was the little 'pomf' sound her feathers made. I bent over double, hands clutching at the sides of my tummy. Amaryllis puffed up even more.

"Why are you laughing?" she demanded. Gabriel started to croak too.

"Ya look like a rooster," he said.

"I do not!" Amaryllis said. But she did. Gabriel and I looked at each other and we both started laughing together. It took Amaryllis stomping her foot and calling us both all sorts of foul things for an entire minute for the two of us to calm down.

"Now," Gabriel began as he wiped an eye clear of tears.

"What's zis about a betrayal? I haven't drunk enough to deal wiz your snitty attitude."

"Someone tried to kidnap Amaryllis," I said.

"Oh. Well zey didn't succeed," Gabriel said.

"Not just someone," Amaryllis said.

"Cervid mercenaries. They were after me specifically." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. That sobbered the grenoil up a bit.

"Zat's bad news. Cervids on zis side of the border means zat zey've found a way to cross over wizout being spotted. Not zat ze patrols have been all that sharp lately. You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," Amaryllis said.

"If it wasn't for Broccoli I'd be halfway to Manamere by now, or wherever they wanted to ransom me from."

"Our ship back to Port Royal is passing early tomorrow," Gabriel said as he moved over to the room's bed and sat down.

"It's meant to wait for all of us to board before heading out. We can get on it first zing in ze morning and move back to Port Royal. I'll leave a missive wiz ze mayor of Green Hold. Cervids... zat's bad news."

"They were here for Amaryllis," I said. I didn't know the whole context with the cervids and the grenoil yet, but I could guess. Fort Frogger had been built to watch for an invasion a long time ago, so obviously there was some bad blood there.

"Someone had to know where we would be."

"Broccoli's right," Amaryllis said.

"Well, I just got my mission parameters from Rainnewt. Didn't much care for zem since babysitting missions like zis one aren't my sort of zing," Gabriel said.

"Tch. Come on Broccoli, we'll get a room and set up a watch for the night," Amaryllis said as she walked out. I looked after her departing back then over to Gabriel.

"Sorry about that, she's a bit stressed," I said.

"By the way, drinking while on the job is very rude."

"Bah, piss off kid," Gabriel said. He let himself fall backwards onto the bed and I just hoped that it was his as I walked out and shut the door behind me. I followed Amaryllis back downstairs. It felt that, ever since we had arrived in Green Hold, Amaryllis had taken the reins and was tugging me along. It was okay for now, but I had kind of gotten used to the idea that I was the mistress of my own fate.

I would need to think about it some more and maybe set some boundaries with Amaryllis before she decided to drag me into something I didn't want to be part of. Peer pressure was not okay, after all. I found Amaryllis talking to the innkeeper. She placed a handful of silver on the counter and received a pair of keys. She tossed one over to me.

"We have a room on the third floor," she said.

"Together?" I asked.

"I would usually prefer my own room, but seeing what happened today, I think bunking together would be for the best," she said.

"Right, if something happens we'll be two fighting it off," I said. She nodded.

"I'm heading up now, are you coming?"

"I'm going to grab something to eat first," I said. She shrugged her shoulders, and I noticed that at some point her feathers had unpoofed themselves and were back to laying flat across her arms.

"Suit yourself. Knock twice and call out your name before entering. I'm going to set a spell on the door."

"Zat spell of her's had better not damage my door," the innkeeper said. I smiled and pulled up a chair.

"I know it's a bit late, but are you still serving supper?" I asked.

"Aye, we are," the innkeep said.

"What'll you have?"

"Something filling," I said.

"Um, but no bugs."

"Bah, humans," the innkeep said before he waddled off to the back. I fetched a handful of coppers out of my backpack while he was gone and had them waiting in a neat stack by the time he returned and placed a tray before me. It was simple fare. Some chicken, some potatoes and gravy and a few other veggies to the side. Still, it smelled good and the glass of milk he set next to it was chilled to the touch. Did they have magic to keep food fresh? It would make sense.

"So, you're wiz ze exploration guild like zat scoundred Gabriel?"

"Yup, but I'm not a scoundrel," I said as I dug in. The innkeep laughed.

"You don't look ze sort, no. I'm Jules, ze owner of zis fine hole in ze wall."

"Ah, I'm Broccoli, Broccoli Bunch. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I was hungry and a bit nervous. What's the name of your inn?"

"Zis is the Croak and Stagger," Jules said with obvious pride.

"My grandpa was a rogue with ze army for some time. Build zis inn, married my grandmozer and my family lived here ever since."

"That's a sweet story," I said. I took a sip of the milk. It was a little strange tasting, but maybe it was just not pasteurized, so I fired a bit of cleaning magic into it just in case.

"Hey, Jules, could you tell me anything about the cervid?"

"Ze cervid? Zose no good horse-wannabes? Bah. Can't tell you too much. Zeir entire nation is bent on taking up as much space as zey can. Weird folk. Not a good one in ze lot of zem." I didn't believe that, but I wasn't about to say so aloud.

"Is it true they came here once?"

"Zey certainly tried. But we gave zem a good thrashing and zey never tried again, ze cowards couldn't handle a bit of a tussle in ze mud."

"Hrm, so if there were cervid around now it would be unusual, wouldn't it?" I wondered. Jules looked at me long and hard.

"Yes, yes it would be." I finished the last of my milk and set the cup aside, then brushed the back of my hand across my mouth to get rid of my milk mustache.

"Thanks Jules, the meal was super good. See you in the morning!"

"Aye, I'll make sure your breakfast is just as good," the innkeep said as I stood off the stool and made my way upstairs. I had a lot to think on, and some sleep to catch up on. I hoped that half a night's rest would be enough.