Chapter 7 #3
“Yes, sire,” Anders said. “I’ll task Reggie with managing that.”
“Great,” I said. “Now, do you think we’ll be able to get our food sent up to the room after all?”
“I’m sure we can have that arranged, sire,” Anders said. “I insist Otto and Rubin remain at your side.”
“Sure,” I agreed. “No problem.”
Anders nodded gratefully to me before he turned to his pair of seconds-in-command.
“Escort their Majesties to their rooms,” he said. “I’ll see to having the food brought up and join you shortly to begin night watch.”
“Yes, sir,” Rubin said.
Otto just nodded, and then Anders gave each of my queens a polite smile before he turned and walked off to the bar.
“Your Majesty?” Otto gestured for us to follow him out of the barroom.
The queens, Carissa, and I followed Otto to the door, and Rubin walked right behind us, so we were guarded on both sides. Three more members of my team closed in around us once we stepped outside.
The caravan of carriages was nowhere to be seen, and I assumed they’d all been stashed and the horses stabled for the night. I wondered where Palchur was and how much of a heart attack he would have when he heard about the fight in the bar.
He either didn’t know about it yet or he had a ton of faith in Anders and his team to protect us. Either way, I was kind of grateful he hadn’t been there. I hadn’t lied about enjoying the fight.
It was refreshing to be able to use my body in such a physical way without the threat of death being so near. It had made me feel a little more like myself for a moment.
There’d been one summer, right after I’d turned eighteen, when I’d gone to a music festival for a long weekend.
They’d needed some last-minute security, and my buddy knew the guy in charge.
He’d volunteered both of us, and we’d had to break up a mosh pit that got out of control.
We’d gotten paid pretty well for the work, and it had been a ton of fun to slug some guys in the face.
Serra kept her grip tight on my arm the entire walk up to our private suite, and Yori and Carissa gossiped about their favorite parts of the fight. Tanell had a much looser grasp of my other arm, and I allowed myself to simply enjoy their company.
Otto and Rubin led us around the side of the building to a secondary entrance that led into a large lobby with cozy sofas and fine oil paintings of the local landscape on the walls.
There was a wide counter at the back of the room, and dozens of little boxes lined the wall behind it. A thin man who looked like the Ask Jeeves logo come to life stood behind it, and he was helping an older couple.
He said something quietly to them and then opened a cabinet behind that counter that turned out to be filled with keys.
My guards led us through the lobby to a wide, lavish staircase at the back of the room.
The red carpet was plush under my feet, and I suddenly realized how tired I was.
We went down to the very end of the second-floor hallway, and Otto and Rubin stopped at two doors that were directly across from each other at the end.
Four soldiers in full armor stood in the hall to guard the rooms. According to Palchur’s plans and policies, when the advance battalion arrived at the inn more than an hour ago, they would have swept the entire premises, and these guards would have remained stationed here until now, when my personal security team arrived and took over.
They nodded in greeting to me, and then the women, while Rubin held a brass key out to Carissa.
“This is for your accommodations, Lady Carissa,” he said.
“Thank you,” the green-eyed woman said before she turned to my queens and me. “Sleep well.”
“Good night,” I replied.
Carissa gave us a tired smile before she slipped into the room and closed the door between us.
Rubin opened the door across from Carissa’s room and gestured for us to go inside. Wall sconces had been lit to welcome us into the room, and the space was very comfortable-looking.
The door opened into a sitting area with chaise lounges covered in periwinkle-and-white stripes.
A low coffee table sat in the middle of the seating area, and a fireplace took up most of the wall to the left.
There wasn’t a fire burning in the hearth, but with it being summer, the room was plenty comfortable without it.
A thick, maroon-colored rug with swirling, golden leaf patterns around the edges covered the entire floor, and a vase of fresh-cut flowers added a pleasant scent to the room.
“It’s beautiful,” Yori murmured.
“Very suitable,” Tanell sighed.
We walked into the room, and Otto followed us while Rubin and the others waited in the hallway.
“The bedchamber is through there,” Otto said as he pointed to a closed door to the right. “And that’s the bathing chamber. Your overnight bags have been placed in the bedchamber already, and there is fresh water there.”
“Thank you, Otto,” Tanell said.
“Do you need anything else?” Otto asked, and he looked at each of us in turn.
“No, I don’t think so.” I shook my head and glanced at my queens. “Just the food when it’s ready.”
Otto nodded and bowed before he left.
“Fuck,” Tanell sighed as she reached up and started pulling the pins from her hair. “What a way to end the day.”
“Mmm,” Serra hummed in tired agreement. “I’m going to freshen up.”