Chapter 24 About Time #2
Eldric sighed, approaching his oldest friend. He squeezed the man’s shoulder in an attempt to ease his temper. “Look, Breno, I know it’s odd for me to come here when we haven’t been in contact for so long. I wouldn’t have come if I had another choice.”
“Dear blessed land, Eldric. What do you want from me?”
“We need a place to stay while we’re in the capital.” Eldric shot him a hopeful glare.
“Absolutely not.”
“Hopefully we won’t be staying long,” he insisted, his voice higher than usual.
“Hopefully,” Breno repeated. “Look, Eldric, I’m happy to see you, and I wish you the best, but I’m not having dangerous people sleeping under my roof, endangering my family.”
Alissa stood in Breno’s way as he moved to the door. Freyah approached to intervene, anticipating that Alissa would snap, but she was wrong.
“We’re not dangerous people, sir.” Alissa added the “sir” in the end to replace her will to punch him in the face with a polite greeting. Freyah seemed to be proud of her restraint.
“If that is true, how come the entire kingdom is looking for the three of you?”
“We were attacked by several men in Porjea on our way here. All we did was defend ourselves.”
The man’s eyes softened. Porjea was a place that triggered back nightmares of the dark past of the woman he loved.
Seeing her persuasion efforts take a positive turn, Alissa continued.
“The only reason I am here is that my daughter is at risk, and I came to the capital in hopes of finding a way to save her.” Alissa’s eyes shimmered with tears.
“I understand if you won’t have us here, and we’ll be on our way if that is the case, but we will be deeply thankful and in your debt if you welcome us into your lovely home for a while. ”
Eldric leaned on the threshold with his hands crossed in his chest, his foot on the wall behind him, surprised by Alissa’s unexpected display of soft skills.
Breno watched them carefully, his eyes narrowed as he once again fought an internal battle.
“Is this true, Eldric?”
“All of it.” Eldric thought it was best not to mention the part where they killed the men in the wheat field or the fact that his friends had escaped Bryniard.
Breno sighed, defeated, and nodded.
Alissa, Freyah, and Eldric celebrated the small victory as if their whole mission had been accomplished. They were still only halfway there.
“I promise we’ll be great guests,” Freyah spoke with enthusiasm.
“Calm down, miss, you haven’t gone through the hardest part yet.”
They all frowned in response. “What part?”
“Convincing my wife.”
The word “wife” summoned into the room the most terrifying woman they had ever seen.
Her hair was shaved on the left side of her head, while violet strands growing from the rest of her scalp were fixed in a long braid that dragged on the floor.
Her shoulders were broad and her arms strong.
Her eyes darkened with killer instincts at the sight of strangers in her house.
The woman raised a giant axe in her hand with such ease that it could have been a toothpick.
She snarled the same way Alissa had pictured the imaginary beasts of Bryniard would if they did exist.
“Maybe we would’ve been safer in the palace, after all,” Alissa said with a nervous laugh.
Freyah narrowed her eye, adjusting her sight to the shadows standing in the back of the dark alley. Desi had already been waiting for the group, an old lady accompanying her. They were both dressed in hooded black tunics, each holding a paper bag.
“I can see the first part of our plan was successful,” Eldric said. The presence of the old lady indicated that Desi had convinced her mother.
“Thank you so much, Desi!” Alissa spoke, her voice filled with gratitude.
Desi waved her hand dismissively. “It’s nothing, really.”
“I’m only helping you because you brought my daughter back home to me.” The woman’s rough voice seemed like she had spent two-thirds of her life smoking cigars.
“Thank you for your help, Mrs. Linard. I am deeply grateful.” Alissa bowed in greeting.
“Look, I’d love to stay here chit-chatting, but we shouldn’t be here on the streets for too long,” Eldric said, scanning the place to identify any possible threats.
“Here’s the plan. The three of you will enter the library with me through the back door right after sunrise. I will claim you are my curating assistants and that you have been hired to catalog and restore some of the books they have on display,” Mrs. Linard explained.
“Won’t they require some sort of identification?” Eldric asked.
“Not if I’m successful. But if they do, I’ll give them fake names and curator ID numbers for you.”
“When we are inside, you will receive a free pass to the library for the next month. That is how long it will take them to verify that the curation job was never required. You have four weeks to find whatever it is you are looking for and be out of this town before they find you.”
“Understood,” Freyah replied.
“Make sure to wear this at all times.” Desi handed them the bag with the uniform they were supposed to wear.
Alissa was tired of wearing disguises, but she wouldn’t object to the idea, not when Desi’s mother looked like she was about to remove all their teeth with her bare hands just because she felt like it.
Inside the bag were three beige overalls, three pairs of black boots, white gloves, and white handkerchiefs to cover the lower half of their faces.
“You two need to wear your hair up,” the old lady said, her wrinkled finger pointing at Alissa and Freyah.
“Yes, ma’am. Any other instructions?” Alissa inquired.
“We’ll meet by the back entrance. Don’t be late,” she ordered and turned around to leave before they could say anything else.
Before Alissa had time to thank them for their help, Desi and her mother vanished into the darkness.