“Not that it's any of your business, but since me and Lucius got together things have been a little busy dealing with kidnapping attempts, witch attacks, oh and rogue vampires exploding into dust… you know little things like that,” I said sarcastically snapping before grabbing my ale and guzzling it down. Something that didn't look quite as effective when I started choking on what had to be the most disgusting drink I had ever had, Devil’s rum included!
“Oh, Gods have mercy! What the hell is this, did she piss in a pot and stir it with some cider made from rotting apples?!” I wheezed out after coughing and trying not to be sick. Meanwhile, the other three started laughing whilst Trice patted my back to aid me. Something I brushed off with a wave of my hand because I was still pissed. Or should I say, I at least tried to before I found myself having to grip the edge of the table as if this would help.
“It’s root water mead 'n' in truth, ye dinnae wanna ken whit it is, as I’m telling ye noo that her piss 'n' old cider wid taste better,” Griff said, making me cough.
“You guys seriously need to get topside and find yourselves a good old English pub to drink in, I am thinking Guinness would be right up your street,” I said, before pushing away my tankard and scrunching my nose up when Vern and Griff both tried to reach out for it quickly, only Vern got there first making his brother hammer a meaty fist on the table in his annoyance.
“Or clearly you could just stick to that shit, which by the way, tastes like a topside club being squeegeed down at the end of a Saturday night.” At this, Trice finally chuckled next to me.
“Getting back tae yer list 'n' how much shit has happened, I wid lik' tae say a'm surprised by it all... bit in fact, a'm only surprised that it isn’t longer,” Vern commented, making me sneer at him before telling him,
“Well, I did miss out the part where I had to kill a load of mercs, then jump out of a helicopter, or the part where I had to fly a plane after first shooting the pilot with an ice bucket on his head.” At this both Vern and Gryph choked on their mead and I grinned over the rim of the tankard but before I could drink, Trice put his hand over the top and applied enough pressure until the cup was back on the table.
“That’s mine 'n' if ye don’t mind, I wid prefer it wi'oot yer spit,” he said making me remember how much I hated it.
“Of coorse, ye'r exaggerating… she's exaggerating… isn’t she?” Vern said with a nervous chuckle. But then before I could respond I found my chin in the grasp of a strong hand as my face was turned up to face Trice. I swallowed hard as the breath suddenly left me and as he studied my eyes for a few seconds, he then let go and turned back his attention to his brother, answering him,
“Nay, she's nae exaggerating,” then he promptly went back to his ale leaving me confused at the exchange. Thankfully, after this, talk turned to their plans of getting through the portal and from there the plan was shifting into their combined dragon like form. They then informed me that it should only take them an hour to reach the castle.
I had been about to argue at this, when I was told that Lucius’ brother had until morning before his execution. This meant we had most of the night left on our side and I had to admit, it was welcome good news for once. Because I knew that I would never forgive myself if Lucius not only lost his brother because of me, but even worse, Lucius ended up being the hand behind that execution, as I knew he would.
Lucius was that type of ruler. Whether it was being the very first person at the front when leading his armies into battle, or whether it was being the one to make the difficult choices and being the hand that carried them out. But I also knew that because of this, he would never be able to give forgive himself when he did. Which would make two of us, for he wouldn't be the only guilty soul that committed the crime against his