Celeste had ridden in a cart more the past few days than she had in her life. Rusty's cart was smaller than the elves', but he also didn't usually transport others in it. Kyn wore his hood so his ears wouldn't draw attention, though Celeste was sure that someone would notice that he was wearing elven clothes.

"When we get there, let me do the talking. It's neutral territory, so people of all types gather there. It's not a place that someone unfamiliar with the area should haphazardly navigate."

He pulled the mule to a stop when they arrived at a building just off the main road. The building looked like it could use some maintenance, but at least it wasn't falling apart. As the trio approached the doors, someone came flying out and landed right in front of them. He didn't move. Kyn rushed over and felt for a pulse.

"He's passed out, probably from drinking too much." The elf dragged him out of the way and set him up in a certain position. "So he won't choke on his vomit."

Rusty opened the door and they followed him in. The place smelled of alcohol and people who needed to bathe or at the very least take a dip in a lake. Every table she saw was full of people chatting, drinking, singing, playing cards, or having arm-wrestling matches. Some were looking at papers.

She followed Rusty and Kyn over to a couple of tables with dwarves who were having a very good time. Now that she could compare him with them, his differences stood out. For one thing, he was at least a head taller than them. His skin was also a little lighter, though not as light as most humans from Feon. His body shape was also different, not quite a stout as a dwarf’s. One of the dwarves noticed him and greeted him before enveloping him in a tight hug. He may have been a little drunk. But Rusty tolerated the hug, so she guessed that he knew him pretty well.

Once he was released, the blacksmith pulled up a chair and joined the dwarves. The one who had hugged him banged a large hand on the table.

“Barkeep, another round for me and my crew plus one on my tab!” He then noticed Kyn and Celeste standing there. “Make that plus three!”

“I’m not thirsty.” Kyn insisted. It made sense. Elves usually didn’t do well with human drinks. They had amazing tolerance when it came to their drinks, but not when it came to anyone else’s.

“All right, then plus two!” The dwarf’s gaze turned to her. “Unless you have any objections.”

Celeste shook her head. It looked like just a normal beer and she wasn’t planning on drinking the whole pint. It wouldn’t hurt to drink some. It wasn’t something she drank a lot, but she occasionally had some once and a while at a gathering. They’d probably chalk it up to her being a lightweight.

“So Rusty, what’s the story behind your guests?” The dwarf asked as he tried to get the last bit out of his cup. “You don’t usually bring people around here and you never come to me unless you want me to snoop in one of the camps.”

“It’s a long story, Micah.” He stated right before the barkeep came with another round of beer. Celeste took one of the pints and thanked him. He gave her an odd look. Not a bad odd look, but there was something about her that had got him off his normal path of thinking. Then she turned her attention back to Rusty’s conversation. “I won’t bore you with the details, but I need to cast a line in both camps.”

Micah nodded and folded his hands together. “All right, what do you want me to keep an ear out for? We can talk about the price after you give me the task.”

“I need you to see who reacts to the name of Celeste Avon, a former employee of one Madame Bustier, a jeweler. If someone comes asking you questions about you mentioning that name, send me word.”

The dwarf gulped his beer. “So you want me to put out feelers and see who bites the hook? Are you sure that there’s not someone I can just find instead when we’re delivering supplies and doing business?”

“Yes, I’m sure and I need you to do that in both camps. As I said, it’s a long story.”

Micah sighed. “Fine, I’ll churn the rumor mill and see what comes up. But nothing’s going to be guaranteed. I’ll even ask half my usual price.” His gaze turned back to Celeste. “Let me guess, you have no money to hire an information broker yourself. How’d you convince Rusty here to lend you a hand?”

“I want to see how this story ends. You know that I’m curious when it comes to things like these. Besides, it might be a story you can take back home and tell the others.” Rusty drank some more of his beer. “I suppose I could tell it to you in dwarfish…”

“Please do!” Micah pulled his chair closer to him. “As far as I know, there’s no one here that’ll understand it besides me and my crew. So feel free to give me all the details of the story.”

As Rusty did that and Kyn seemed to be nodding off in the seat he had found, Celeste took a look around. No paid much attention to them except for the barkeep. Even as he wiped the cups, he looked at her. It wasn’t a glare, but he did have an immense look of concentration. Then the door to the tavern slammed open and a group of warriors walked in. Her stomach turned as she saw that they still had fresh blood on them. The tavern fell silent except for a few people that were still chatting.

“You know the policy, no bloody weapons or clothes in this establishment.” The barkeep stated as the group sauntered up to the bar. “So you might as well turn around and leave because I won’t be serving you.”

“Even after a great victory? Barkeep, your warrior spirit is sorely lacking.” The one at the head of the group replied. “We’ve eliminated a great threat to the area, so you ought to thank us.”

“If you haven’t noticed, Renewer, we’re still here.” Someone spoke up from the back as they stood up. “And I don’t think we’re the threat.”

The leader laughed. “I’m not talking about you, Reviver, though your little band is still on the list. No, this was an even more troublesome band, the Unifiers. They came riding up to the fortress and demanded an audience with Lord Davik. They dared to challenge him for the leadership of the Renewers. Needless to say, they didn’t win that battle.” He leaned against the bar. “They should’ve gone to Orsic first. At least that way, we could’ve taken care of both problems at the same time.”

Kyn leaned over to Celeste. “I wonder if that’s the group that we ran into on the way to Feon. Who knows if any of them survived.”

By the way, the Renewer was talking, they had killed everyone. But that could just be conceit talking.

“I don’t care.” The barkeep pointed to the door. “Out!”

“Make us.” The Renewer drawled. “I don’t know if you’re the bravest man I know or the most foolish to withstand fully armed people fresh off a victory. We’ll have a round then be out of your hair. We’ll even pay you extra for your troubles.”

The barkeep sighed and then relented. “Fine, but if any of your people cause a disturbance, you’re all out of here. Remember, everyone in this tavern is armed.”

He probably didn’t know that she didn’t have a weapon, but there were probably plenty of people who did. Kyn had a knife concealed under his cloak and Rusty’s hammer was on his back. Maybe she should learn how to use a weapon. Derrick had taught her some basic hand-to-hand skills, but those were mostly for escaping from someone who wasn’t professionally trained.

The Renewers soon got their drinks and settled in an area on the opposite side of the Revivers. But the atmosphere was heavy for everyone sitting between the two groups. Quite a few patrons got up and left. Celeste didn’t blame them. If she wasn’t relying on Rusty for guidance and a ride, she would’ve left to. They may have promised to behave, but if the two from the other day had taught her anything, it was easy to make the two groups snap at each other.

Rusty finished telling the story to Micah just as his drink was gone. Celeste tried a bit more of hers. It wasn’t the worst beer she’d ever had, but she could tell she wouldn’t be able to drink the whole thing. Hopefully, the barkeep wouldn’t take offense to that.

“That is a fascinating tale indeed.” Micah rumbled, returning to the human language. “No wonder you want to see how this story ends, Rusty. I want to find out myself now.”

“And hopefully we can do that before the whole area finds out. You know how rumors get around.” He stood up. “Send word if you find out anything, but don’t confront anybody about it.”

“Leaving already Rusty?” Micah blurted out loud, clearly even more under the drink’s influence than he had been before they came in. “But you just got here! Come, let me buy you another round, plus something for your elf friend and your sleepy human friend! Surely they have something an elf can stomach!”

“You don’t have to.” Kyn insisted with a wave of his hand as he got out of his chair. “I’m fine, but thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Micah.”

“Me too,” Celeste added when Micah looked over to her. “I didn’t even finish the drink you got for me. You'd be wasting your hard-earned coin on another one for me." Money was still a thing, she figured.

"Oh, all right. But next time we meet, I'll treat you."

Rusty thanked him and headed for the door. Celeste followed after him, aware that a few eyes were now on them thanks to Micah.

"So who are your friends, Rusty?" One of the Renewers called as they passed by the table. “Heard that you had company, but the one who told us didn’t know who they were. They must both be pretty special if you’re putting them up.”

“And as I told your comrade, it is none of your business who I have over. It doesn’t affect your camp in any way.” Rusty replied, not even stopping while he spoke to the one who called out to him. “And if any of you need your weapons repaired or sharpened, make sure they’re clean or I won’t do anything to them for you.”

“Don’t presume you’re the only blacksmith we know. We could always take our business elsewhere if we don’t like the service.”

“You could.” Rusty opened the door for Celeste and Kyn to go through. “But when you need something more practical than a weapon, you’ll find that there’s a limited number of blacksmiths nearby that can do that for you as well as I can.”

The Renewer simply laughed. Celeste wasn’t sure why he didn’t react to Rusty with the same hostility as he had the barkeep, but maybe he didn’t want to isolate him too much to keep using his services.

“You just have to know how to talk to them,” Rusty explained as they loaded the cart. “Now let’s head home. Jyn is probably back to pick Kyn up and we don’t want to keep her waiting.”

Celeste watched as the tavern got further away. Something told her that she would probably be coming back to it quite soon.