By the time the sun rose we were more than halfway to the capital. The road had widened and become crowded with people moving to and from the city. It wouldn’t have felt nearly so congested however, if not for the inordinate amount of overly ornate carriages that moved on the road. I watched as a man walked in front of one of them, letting the wheel of the carriage roll over his foot. He screamed at the top of his lungs stopping most of the traffic. The driver then jumped down and I could see a heated exchange as a passerby passionately pointed and shouted at the offending carriage. The driver was eventually summoned back to the carriage where a man handed him a small pouch which he then handed to the hurt man before walking back to the carriage and getting it moving again.

Stone tapped my back. “Watch the man on the ground.”

I took his advice and watched as the other man helped him up. They walked a short distance and I saw the ‘hurt’ man pass some money to the ‘stranger’ then they shared a smile and the man’s gait corrected itself from the limp.

“A scam?”

“Aye lad, a classic. It would never work in a place like Cirros where people are more savvy, but here in the capital it’s still possible to get away with it.”

“I’m certain he did have his foot run over though, how is he not injured?”

“He’s wearing shoes about three sizes too big and stuffed with cloth. His actual foot was never in any danger.” Stone looked thoughtful for a moment. “I wonder if there’s a variation of this you and I could do… It’s not like you have a foot that could get hurt.”

“Stone…” said Kyren.

“What? I just think we should consider possibilities. It’s smart for the lad to keep his options open.”

“Thank you Stone, but I think I’ll stick to adventuring as my main source of income for now.”

“No reason you can’t do both. I do, after all.”

I shrugged, and Stone let it drop. I had a feeling he was more interested in passing the time than actually trying to get me to help with a scam. We reached the capital gates shortly after. Unlike Cirros and Buryn, you don’t get a very good idea of what Delvus is like until you’re actually through one of the gates. There were three of them, one to the east, one south, and one north. The city had been built during the war with Sylfen and so wanted to make entry from their direction as difficult as possible.

When one did enter the city’s main gate the initial impression was wealth and splendor. The main street buildings were owned by the richest merchants and nobles of Caedun and the roads themselves were frequently cleaned. Behind those buildings however was where the city hid the homes of its servants and laborers. The entryway through the other gates was similar, the idea being that visitors to the city needed to be impressed. Closer to the center of the city was where the nobility and the richest nobles lived behind an interior wall. I had some experiences here through Sevald, but he’d always been with his parents and they weren’t invited into the city often.

Kyren led our way out of main street and through several alleys to an inn by the name of ‘The Drunken Monk’. She opened the door and before I was even halfway in the bartender yelled.

“Kyren!”

“Bruis!” she yelled back and he stepped around the bar to embrace her. He was a young man, with dirty blonde hair and a wide smile. After they were done embracing she turned to us.

“Sevald, Hrig, Stone, this is my friend Bruis. We met at the temple here. He’s my mentor’s grandson.”

“Nice to meet you lad,” said Stone clasping arms with him.

Hrig and I followed suit. Me with a nod of acknowledgement and Hrig with a grip that made him wince.

“Nice to meet you all, any friend of Kyren’s is welcome here. What can I do for all of you?”

“Rooms, food for three of us, ale for two of us, and wine for one.”

“Can do. I’ll break out the barrel I keep just in case you visit.”

“Thank you Bruis, you make this place feel like home.”

He gave us a wink and disappeared into a room behind the bar. I took a look around. It was a comfortable place. The decoration was sparse, but it had a warm intimate quality to it. There were a few other patrons tucked into little corners, some with books, others just enjoying a chat, but almost all of them wore priestly vestments of some kind.

“I can see this place is popular with the clergy.”

“Yeah, Bruis’ first customers were his friends from the temple and from there word of mouth spread mostly through the people they knew, who were also from the temple.”

“Is that why it’s called the ‘Drunken Monk'?”

“Uh, no.”

Bruis picked that moment to enter with a tray of five ales and a wine. A smaller robed figure followed behind him with a tray of food.

“Thank you,” said Stone eagerly, taking an ale and a plate of food.

“Yes thank you both.” said Hrig, taking her wine.

“First round’s on the house, Kyren that means you owe me for two.”

“Do they not all count as first rounds since they all came out at the same time?”

“Sorry Kyren, if I let you drink for free I’d go broke.” He eyed me, noticing that I had nothing in front me.

“Nothing for you Ser?”

“Ah, no I’m… fasting.”

“We get that here pretty often. I’ll get you some water.”

“Before that, I have to ask. Why is this place called the drunken monk?”

Bruis' smile widened even further. “She didn’t tell you?”

Kyren hid her face behind a mug of ale, taking a large drink and looking away.

“It’s named after Kyren! She won the place in a drinking contest. She gifted it to me after I left the temple.”

“Kyren winning a drinking contest? What a surprise,” said Hrig with a wry smile.

“I’m concerned about what kind of man would bet their bar. Especially one in such a prime location,” said Stone.

“I really don’t think he expected to lose. He was a giant of a man, he’d have the contest once a week and hadn’t lost for seven years.”

“What happened to him?” I asked.

“I got him a job at my grandmother’s estate. I felt horrible when I took his bar, but he refused to let me return it to him. I didn’t want him to starve so I sent him to my grandmother with a letter. She was nice enough to hire him on, even though I’d run away from her to join the priesthood just a couple years prior.”

“I’m still surprised you didn’t consider honoring Jeiri, with your drinking it seemed an obvious fit,” said Bruis.

“You don’t choose Bruis, you know that. You feel a calling, mine pulled me to Sidi.”

“Well, mine pulled me here. Guess I worship the tavern now.”

“Few gods are finer,” said Stone, raising his mug and taking a deep sip.

Bruis pulled a mug out and raised it in agreement with Stone before also taking a long drink.

The rest of the evening went by smoothly and before it was too late everyone was asleep in a communal room above the bar. Everyone, but me of course. I spent the night doing my usual sorting of memories, trying to comb through everything Sevald knew about the capital.

…

I was the first one downstairs in the morning and I ordered everyone breakfast and waited, making small talk with Bruis.

“So why did you leave the temple?”

“It wasn’t for me. I had it in my head that I was meant for a life of discipline and quiet contemplation, but I just didn’t have it in me.”

“Couldn’t you have just served Jeiri, Krish, or Nevier? They don’t seem particularly dedicated to discipline and quiet contemplation.”

“I wanted to be a priest of all the gods. There have been a few, and it’s usually the best way to set oneself up for success in the city temples, but I never actually felt a calling or a pull. Not to any of them. I realized at some point that I didn’t want to be a priest, I just wanted to be important.”

“Does owning a tavern fulfill that for you?”

His eyes twinkled. “Let’s just say that the bar the priests all drink at is privy to a surprising amount of information. On top of that it’s a natural place for higher ups to meet to discuss business. I would never have even spoken to some of those higher up in the mysteries if I’d continued to struggle as a priest, but as a bartender? I see many of them more than once a week.”

I chuckled and raised my mug to him. Between Stone and Bruis, Kyren seemed to have a knack for attracting a very peculiar type of person, especially for a holy woman.

Stone and Hrig made their way down from the room and joined me at the table.

“Four plates?” asked Hrig, eyeing the one in front of me.

I looked to make sure Bruis was out of earshot. “I appreciate Kyren not ordering me food so I didn’t feel like I had to eat it, but I still want people to feel as comfortable around me as possible, so I’m going to keep pretending to eat.”

“Alright lad, that makes sense, but you know we have your back right?”

“Of course, I just want to make sure my back stays as light as possible.”

With that Hrig and Stone dug in, tearing through their food quickly. I allowed them to take any of their favorites from my plate that they wanted so I’d be wasting as little as possible as I mimicked eating. Eventually only Kyren’s plate remained.

“I’m surprised she’s not down yet,” I said.

“I’m not. She’s exhausted. Between handling her brothers and cleaning up their mess after they left she’s had barely any time to rest. She’s been fueling herself with tea and anxiety,” said Hrig.

Tea and anxiety brought forth Pebble’s memories of finals. “I didn’t realize. She seemed so calm about it all.”

“She’s good at that. I would’ve liked to cast a sleep spell on her, but that’s really something only she can do. My version tends to involve a concussion.”

“Well, we have some time to kill here. Let’s let her sleep in,” said Stone, picking up her plate and moving it in front of himself. “No reason to let this get cold in the meantime.”

Kyren appeared roughly an hour and a half later during which time Stone and Hrig asked me questions regarding whether or not I could store them and walk across the ocean. My answer was an ‘I don’t know’ which means ‘we definitely shouldn’t test it’ to me and ‘we definitely should test it’ to them. She seemed to have a bit more force to her steps and her small smile was a bit wider.

“Good morning,” she said, taking a seat with us.

“Afternoon more like,” said Stone.

“Oh, I guess it’s time for lunch then.” Kyren ordered something from Bruis and proceeded to show a gusto for eating that had rivaled the gusto with which I’d seen her drink. I felt bad for not noticing how exhausted she’d been. I’d have to try and be more aware in the future.

“So, what should we do in the city today?” I asked, “We have a few days before the King’s masquerade.”

“Well, Sevald and I need to meet a noble about the elyrium bars I need to sell, but aside from that there’s only one other thing I can think to do.”

“Yes?” I asked.

“There’s one thing we’ll all need for a masquerade. I figured we’d head to the artisan district and see if we can find a mask maker that can take a job on short notice.”

“Been awhile since I wore a mask. Last time I think I was robbing a former business partner who’d gone into the slave trade. Didn’t do me much good though, he recognized my beard. I should’ve known better, my beard is impossible to miss after all," said Stone.

“I say masks first. If we are going to bother an artisan for something last minute I’d like to give him as much time as we can. After that we can head to the nobleman,” said Hrig.

“Agreed,” said Kyren and our first full day in the capital began.