CHAPTER 98 Literally on a Quest

CHAPTER 98

Literally on a Quest

Brownie

“Come in, come in!” a singsong voice welcomed the pair into the inn.

Since everyone could recognize Rufus as their commander general, they’d barely had to stop for ten seconds before getting welcomed through the gate.

Donna was happily munching on high-grade hay in the stables attached to the inn, and Brownie and Rufus were trying to take off their cloaks in the doorway without shedding too much water on the floors. A mat had been rolled out in the entry that let them stamp their boots a few times.

Both chose to hang their cloaks on the wall beside the door instead of shoving the sopping wet fabric in their storage rings. If they had to go out into the rain again, then it would be nice if they didn’t have to wear already damp apparel.

“A table for two, princess,” Rufus called out, shaking himself as an animal might to get any water droplets off his fur. “And a room if you have one.”

The infamous Princess Penelope—daughter of Their Royal Highness Rowen of Peldeep, and wife to the tavern owner Olen Orrin—glided toward them so elegantly she might as well have been dancing.

She probably was dancing.

“Commander General! Minstrel Bronwynn, what a pleasure it is that you’ve chosen our inn!” Princess Penelope curtsied gracefully, straightening with a gleam in her eye. “One room, you say? Right this way!”

Brownie beamed at the musical princess who was leading them to a table. She had her long black hair in a ponytail that fell to just below her waist, and she was wearing a beautiful light pink gown under a crisp white half apron. The place wasn’t too busy, as it an hour before dinner, and who knew how many locals would be making their way through the deluge .

Two birds flew up to Penelope and circled her once. “I know, my loves, I know. Could you bring me the room key and then you may go?”

The bluebirds fluttered away and came back with a key and an ordering slate. They dropped the key into Rufus’s awaiting paw, and the slate with Penelope.

“That will be your room, 203.” Penelope smiled, then she pulled a pencil from her apron and tapped the slate. “And what can I get for you both to eat?”

“I’ll have the stew!” Brownie said, excited. The specialty curried stew was full of spuds and carrots and meat so soft it fell apart in the mouth.

Rufus nodded. “I’ll have the same, and whatever Lavender is making tonight.”

“Me too.” Brownie looked towards the kitchen. A familiar purple Lizard Wizard was happily at the bar mixing cocktails and setting off plumes of sparkles as she made enchanted drinks. They were a novelty all on their own, and paired with the rest of the cozy inn made for an enchantingly magical experience.

“Two stews and each a foaming floral coven.” Penelope nodded as she wrote.

“Sounds fun.” Brownie dragged her eyes from the lizard at the bar and back to their hostess. “What’s in the drink?”

Penelope opened her mouth to reply but was cut off.

“Wife, your timer just rang.” A bear beastman stuck his head out of the window leading into the kitchen.

“Can you take the buns out of the oven?” she asked, her voice loving and lovely. Brownie longed to sing a duet with the fox … and she would. If Penelope managed to go the whole evening without bursting into song, it would be a first. The princess told the bard, “She’s made a concoction of rosehip and nettle, topped with a whipped foam on warm milk from the kettle.”

After the day they’d had, a hot drink sounded wonderful to Brownie. “Thank you, that’s perfect.”

Penelope dipped into a curtsy then danced back to the kitchen. She stopped just outside as the two bluebirds alighted on her extended index finger. They chirped a fond farewell to their princess, and she bid them both goodbye with a kiss.

A squirrel arrived to start its own shift. It put on a tiny apron Penelope handed over and then got to it, removing dirty plates and cutlery to a trolley that followed it around.

“I love a four-hour workday,” Rufus remarked, also staring at the birds. “It’s the perfect amount of time to get things done and still have energy to enjoy the day.”

Brownie laughed at her beastman. “ You work only four-hour days? Really?”

“What does that mean?” He raised an eyebrow at her from across the table.

Brownie teased, “How is this quest a four-hour work day? ”

“I used to work more.” Rufus shrugged. “Now I take off weeks at a time to visit your shows, so it all balances out in the end. ”

“I don’t think it does.” Brownie shook her head. “I’m not saying that a four-hour work day isn’t nice. I’m saying that I haven’t seen you stop working since I met you.”

“I’m literally sitting in a restaurant with the most charming companion a beast could ask for,” he stated. “ Not working.”

“Rufus, you’re literally on a quest! Right now!” Brownie countered. She smiled at her beastman.

He frowned. “This doesn’t count. I’m normally happily tucked away in my dungeon around this time with a good book and a fine beverage. And I will be again, once I’ve locked up Duke Lector and straightened out our resident poisoner.”

The image of Rufus in a dungeon was tempting, but the fact that she was going to only see him in a dungeon was not. At that moment, their future didn’t seem as solid as she wanted it to be.

What was she going to do, just stop in from time to time on her travels?

She didn’t want to let her reservations dampen their already rain-logged evening.

“Rufus?”

A voice cut into her thoughts, and the pair of them looked up. A golden-haired beastwoman with sharper canine features than her travel companion and an obvious resemblance had shed her own coat and walked up to their table.

“Hello, sis.”

Rufus stood up and added a chair from an empty table to their own.

“I came as soon as I found out you were here!” the beastwoman said, taking the offered seat.

Rufus made a long-suffering sigh at her words but smiled at his sister. “Jessica, this is Bronwynn. We are courting. Bronwynn, this is my sister, Jessica.”

The beastwoman flashed the bard a smile that showed a lot of teeth. “It’s nice to meet you!”