Chapter 22: Little history
They didn’t go to the usual inn that Kaelith’s team used. Instead, they went directly to the inn opposite the bounty hunter’s Association since it’s far easier to eat there than going all the way around.
Kaedros thought that the inn owner must be wise indeed to place his business in front of the bounty hunter’s Association, where freshly paid hunters would spend freely through the night.
It was a large building, and Kaedros winced as the full blast of a crowded bar hit him. He toned down his hearing and smell when the grimy, sweaty odors of humans made his nose twitch.
"I thought it would be more... lively," Kaedros told Taria as they entered. Chairs and tables were packed with Hunters drinking and eating, while waiters moved gracefully through the chaos with trays of food and drink.
But something was off. The bounty hunters spoke too loudly, like they were acting. For those who carried weapons, their hands never strayed far from their hilts.
An underlying tension shimmered just beneath the guise of a lively inn.
"Well, I think we both know why it isn’t lively," Taria said, her eyes flitting about until she spotted a free table. She gestured for Kaedros, and they both made their way across the room.
Eyes followed them with a mix of surprise and amusement, as if wondering what two low ranking Ascendants were doing there.
It occurred to Taria then that most of the Ascendant there were stage seven of rank one and above. She wouldn’t have dared set foot in an inn like this a few weeks ago, but it was different now.
Kaedros was there.