"Going inside?" He peers out from under the hood with a scathing expression. "Did you plan on standing out here all night?"
I bite back my snotty retort—arrogance, arrogance, arrogance, he can't help himself—and push the inn door open, heading inside.
The inside of the inn is about what I expected. The ceiling is low, the floor is old, creaky wood, and it's smoky and poorly lit. One side of the wall is nearly taken up with a massive fireplace, and there's a pot of something bubbling over it that smells fucking delicious. My mouth waters and I don't even care that there's a roaring fire going and it's about ten degrees warmer inside than it is outside. I'll sweat a little if I can get a bowl of food. I glance around, and while there are several long tables, they're crammed full of people. I can't help but notice that they all seem to be men, and they're staring at me.
I pull my cloak a little tighter around my clothes, even though it's warm. I feel naked despite the layers of clothing. Naked and unsafe. Maybe this was a bad call. There's a real rapey vibe to this place. Goody.
Aron nudges my shoulder, and I glance over at him. He's still got the hood pulled down heavily over his face, which is good. He's waiting on me, though. Right. I look around for someone that might be in charge, and when I see the bar off over by the enormous fireplace, I head there.
A big bearded man stands behind the bar, and he's the first person that doesn't leer at me in this building, so I like him already. He nods at me. "Travelers?"
"Yes. We're looking for a room." I give him my brightest, most businesslike smile.
"Three drabs a night," he tells me. Omos walked me through how money works here, and so I know what coin that is.
I feel around in my money pouch furtively and then toss the coins down on the counter. "One night."
"One room, then?"
I grit my teeth. "Yup."
This time the man smirks and takes the coins. "Room two's open tonight. Bowl of stew and tankard of ale included with the room. More than that and it'll cost you."
"Thank you," I say politely, and then glance around the dirty, poorly lit room. "Sit anywhere?"
"Anywhere ya want. Inside, outside, all the same to me." He pockets the money and turns away.
All right, I'm guessing this doesn't work like most restaurants back home. Fine then. I glance at Aron and gesture over at the fire. "Let's get some food and find a seat." I move forward without checking to see if he follows me, and by the fire, there's a stack of earthenware bowls. I manage to ladle my own stew without burning myself and grab one of the big wooden spoons tossed in a shallow basket. Not very clean, but I'm starting to think nothing in this town is. "You grab a bowl, too," I tell Aron, and then I survey the tavern area for two empty seats.
There's room at the end of one of the longest tables, but there's also a very gross-looking man I'd have to cuddle up next to, and the thought makes my stomach curdle. His dark hair is greasy, his face is several days unshaven, and he's missing half his teeth. He keeps looking over at me and rubbing his crotch, and I swallow hard.
Well, shit. If the goal is to spend the evening gathering information and listening to rumors, I guess I'm going to have to sit next to someone. I move forward with my bowl—only to have Aron push in front of me. He takes his food and slaps it down on the table and sits next to the filthy creep, then has a seat. He gestures at the open spot on the far side of him—at the end of the table, where no one will sit next to me.
In that moment, I could cheerfully kiss Aron.
I happily slide into the empty spot and clean my spoon on the hem of my tunic. As I do, I notice it's quiet, but when I start to eat, the conversation picks up again. A woman swings by and drops two mugs in front of Aron and me, and a quick taste reveals that it's a watery-tasting beer of some kind. Ugh. I drink it anyhow, because I'm thirsty as hell. The stew is a little greasy but otherwise heavenly, and