Chapter 60: The second one
The sun dipped low over Harper Hawks, casting long shadows across the bustling trade hub.
Baines slipped through the tavern’s back entrance, his movements silent and deliberate, avoiding the main floor where Sir Dolik’s watchful eyes might catch him.
Instead of rejoining the knight, he approached the counter, where the bartender met his gaze with a knowing nod.
Dolik, sensing something amiss, hurried over. "Is there an issue?" he asked, his tone laced with suspicion, desperate for any clue to Baines’s intentions.
"I’ll be staying in this motel," Baines replied, his voice flat. Without waiting for a response, he collected a key from the bartender and ascended the creaking wooden stairs, leaving Dolik standing in the dimly lit tavern.
The knight’s mind reeled. This rundown place for a holiday?
First off, Harper Hawks wasn’t particularly the place one would spend their holiday, its air thick with the scent of ale and dust was far from a luxurious retreat.
The second was, Baines hadn’t even secured a room for him. Dolik had a duty to fulfill, and to achieve that, he had no other choice but to pay for the room close by.
"Sorry, that room’s occupied," the bartender said with a sly smile when Dolik requested the adjacent room.
Dolik’s eyes narrowed. ’He wants to keep me away,’
"Then the next one," he said.