StealStarve
We rounded the corner and slowed down when the noisy tavern came into view ahead. The place was packed full of desperate townsfolk, and I thought how stupid this plan was. After we pushed our way in, Fadric nodded his head toward a back corner, and I followed.
“Let’s find the coin, then you can get those wheels turning in that lovely head of yours and come up with a plan to get it,” he borderline yelled at me over the din.
I surveyed the dirty, one-room building with large wooden tables spaced haphazardly around it.
There was a band of three men in the opposite corner playing upbeat music while busty barmaids walked around with tankards of frothy beverages and platters of cheap, greasy food.
At one of the large tables, a card game was in progress, each of the men concentrating hard on his hand.
I didn’t know how to play any games, but a quick glance over the coins and trinkets piled in the middle told me the coin wasn’t there.
Laying it out on a table for all to see would have been stupid anyway, so I continued looking around for hushed whispers, secretive shifty eyes, or the beginnings of altercations.
No one and nothing stood out to me immediately—someone had it, and they were either not in here, or they were hiding it really well. Beside me, Fadric looked around as well.
Two men got up from a small table nearby and headed for the exit. Fadric inclined his head toward the empty chairs, and I nodded as we pushed our way over and sat down.
A barmaid approached with a wet rag in hand, looking exhausted, her red curls looking bedraggled. “What’ll ya have, dears?”
“Nothing for me, thanks,” I mumbled.
“A mead for each of us, please,” Fadric said.
The barmaid looked between us for a moment before walking back toward the bar.
I had no coin for drinks, but Fadric’s family had a small fortune since his was the oldest lineage in Briarstead.
When the fae king started shrinking the mortal lands in Ashenholt, the royal court paid Fadric’s grandfather a large sum—although far less than it was likely worth—to purchase a plot of land he owned the size of a small town, to expand the fae border.
The way Fadric’s father told the story, they had never wanted to sell to the king, but Caedryn had made it clear they could either accept the court’s generous offer, or their land would be taken by force and the family would receive nothing.
Not really a choice at all.
So Fadric had money to buy us mead, and it made me uncomfortable and embarrassed at my situation.
“Thanks,” I said under my breath.
As we waited, a few more patrons left, and my spirits dwindled. There was a chance that the holder of the coin had departed before we even got here, and with each person who left, the chances of it still being here dropped even lower.
So far, we had been coming up empty. I needed to ask questions.
“Ma’am, who had the coin last?” I asked our barmaid when she dropped the mead off at our table.
She just looked me up and down, scoffed. “Now why would I be telling the likes of you?” She turned up her nose as she walked away.
I hadn’t expected her to tell me, but she’d unknowingly shown me—her quick glance toward the upstairs hallway when she’d replied was what I’d been hoping for. People could be so predictable with their tells.
“I think it’s upstairs,” I told Fadric as he sipped his mead, only showing his surprise for the briefest moment. “What’s up there?” I took my first sip, and it was disgusting.
Fadric laughed at the look on my face. “It’s an acquired taste. Upstairs are private rooms—don’t ask, don’t tell kind of stuff goes down.”
Great.
“Well,” he said, smacking his lips after draining his cup. “I suppose we should check it out then?”
I hadn’t seen anyone come or go from upstairs since we’d been here, so if the woman’s glance was to be believed, it seemed that no one else knew it was up there. The coin’s current owner was likely smart then, stealthy and secretive.
And ballsy—it took guts keeping something so precious here with so many desperate townsfolk still lingering.
We’d have to be just as smart, and we were already at a disadvantage not knowing what we were walking into.
Were they up there, planning their escape, or waiting out the crowd to leave once the bar closed?
Or perhaps conspiring with a group to strong-arm their way out and split the prize?
My mind whirled with possibilities, but I finally nodded after one last sip of the disgusting thick mead to steel my nerves. Fadric laid two small bronze coins on our table for the barmaid.
We made our way toward the single set of rickety wooden stairs and, with a quick glance around, made our way up.
It was dark at the top landing, with only a few sconces to light the area, and only three doors leading off. With a silent nod, we split up, each approaching a door on opposite ends of the hall and pressing an ear to it.
Up here, the sounds from the bar below were just background noise.
I listened hard for several minutes and heard nothing from the other side.
Before I could think better of it, I opened the door slowly to find a completely dark room.
The low light from the hall flooded in just enough for me to see an untidy desk occupying most of the space that was clearly not hiding anyone.
I backed out of the room, closing the door behind me to find Fadric doing the same. He looked over at me and shook his head—he’d come up empty too.
We approached the third door and heard the unmistakable sounds of sex coming from the other side. I wrinkled my nose and glanced at Fadric to find him smiling. I swear, nothing fazed him.
If the couple in this room were the only ones upstairs, then it seemed it was a man with the coin, and he’d decided to spend it on a woman’s company. Pathetic. I had clearly overestimated the one holding the coin.
I grabbed the door’s handle with a final nod to Fadric, but when I opened it and peeked through the small crack, where I’d expected to see two people, I instead found a whole group. There was one man with three women surrounding him on a dingy bed while he was buried deep inside a fourth…
All naked.
My mind was quickly formulating a plan. “Follow my lead, Fad,” I whispered. “I’ll pose as a girl the barmaid sent up to join in the…festivities.” I looked down at my shirt and unbuttoned the top two buttons. “You offer wine, let’s see if we can draw the coin out.”
I didn’t give him time to react before I fully opened the door. The occupants were only slightly alarmed, the man stopping mid thrust. Their inebriated state was clear on all their faces. Good. If they were drunk, they’d be easier to fool, to manipulate.
I cleared my throat and put on a sultry voice, rolling my shoulders back and giving them all a heady smile. “I was told you were interested in one more lady to join your…party.”
Fadric, as requested, followed my lead. “I’ve brought up the finest lady in all of Briarstead, sir. I assume she is to your liking?”
The man flopped over onto his back and the women resumed stroking his chest and toying with his hair, one nipping at his earlobe.
“I’m on’y interested if she ain’t ladylike,” he laughed, cupping the blonde to his left hard on the ass.
“I can assure you, good sir, she is not,” Fadric said with a wink and a half-bow. “I shall leave her with you and return with more wine.”
With a grunt, the man didn’t even spare Fadric a glance as he looked at me with a gaze drenched in desire. I felt gross and dirty. I just prayed I could find the coin before needing to get undressed.
I pressed my luck and looked around for as long as I could, noting several piles of clothing around the bed and a flickering candle on each of the two side tables, before he beckoned me to come closer.
Before I obeyed, though, I noticed the shine of gold on the table to my left, glinting in the orange glow.
What an idiot, just leaving the coin out in the open, even in a private room. Then again, he seemed intent on spending it all in one night anyway. I just needed to ensure I collected it before the bar staff did. Or the women.
Well, here goes.
“I…prefer to watch for a bit.” I bit my lip to sell the ruse, hoping Fadric would return soon so we could swipe the coin and run for it.
The man seemed unbothered by my presence either way, so he went back to kissing one woman while another took his half-hardened length into her mouth. A brunette just eyed me. I smiled at her as I moved to sit on the edge of the bed—as close as I wanted to get.
Fadric returned moments later, panting, with a tray of glasses and a dusty bottle of wine. He knew this operation needed to move quickly, and inwardly, I was impressed at how fast he’d swiped a bottle of wine. I turned toward him, my face diverted from the orgy, and eyed the coin.
Once again, he gathered what I was saying without words.
He saw the coin.
Approaching the side table where it sat, he addressed the man. “I’ll pour some wine and just be on my way then, sir.” He set the tray down on the small table and deftly snagged the coin and pocketed it, before pouring two glasses, handing the first to the naked man and the second to me.
Escape time.
I took a clumsy sip as I leaned into the throng of bodies with a smile. I used the movement to spill the contents of my glass on all of them, drenching everyone in dark-red wine.
“Oy, what the fuck, you stupid cunt!” the man said, rolling over nearly on top of the blonde woman.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, sir, so clumsy of me,” I said in a frenzy as the ladies squealed and got up from the bed. Scrambling, I backed toward the door. “I’ll go get towels right away, sir. I’m so sorry, sir. Just sit tight!”
“Hey! I know what you’re doing, bitch, and that coin ain’t yours!” the brunette said, pointing and running at me. She’d been onto us from the moment we walked in, it seemed.
Before I could open the door to run, the drunken man stumbled toward Fadric, and the brunette swung a fist at my face.