Some fresh clothes, that was the first thing Emmet went and bought with the money he had earned. After wearing the same thing for almost two weeks, it seemed like the logical option. It took no effort to find a store selling what he was looking for, and bought himself a few new sets of clothes, leaving himself with more than plenty for the night. He made haste towards the inn that Sophia had mentioned, the one near the front gate with the ivy growing along the sign out front. He couldn’t tell what the name of the place was, but it was the only establishment that fit that description.

Emmet could hear the clamor of people from the open door of the tavern, along with the smell of roasting meat and freshly poured drink. His stomach churned, and he licked his lips while his legs moved on their own to carry him inside. The patrons of the tavern were mostly off duty soldiers or guards, their helmets resting on the table or sitting by their feet as the let loose after a long day of work. Emmet looked around; no sign of Sophia. He assumed that she must still be running whatever errand had called her away, and decided to sit down at a small table in the back. He had kept his money deep within the pocket of his new pants, making sure he didn’t risk having it fall out or into the fingers of some pickpocket. He let his pack rest by the wall behind him, and it wasn’t long before someone approached him.

“I take it you’re going to want a room tonight?”

The waitress must have been a few years older than Emmet, her dark hair reminded him of the late duke’s daughter. The one he had almost entirely forgotten about. In fact, he had liked to think back to that night as little as possible since it happened…

“Yeah, two, actually.” He said, fishing out a silver coin from, his pocket and handing it to her. “This enough?”

The waitress took the coin, fidgeting with it in her finger before placing it in a pouch at her side. “That and it should cover your tab, unless you’re a stronger drinker than you look.” She teased. Emmet chuckled and felt himself blushing as she excused herself to tend to the growing crowd of patrons. Emmet slouched back in his chair, looking around for his companion, but Sophia was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, you.” Emmet heard a rough voice ask. He looked up, to see three of the cities guards looking down at him, their stern faces mostly masked by their helmets. Emmet almost shot out of his seat, his first thought being that he was in trouble for something. The weaving he did earlier? Or maybe they thought he was ill and were here to drag him off for quarantine?

“Is something wrong?” He asked, trying desperately to hide his worry in his voice.

“Actually, something is wrong. Very wrong.” The guard said, placing his hand on the table and leaning over Emmet. He felt his heart pounding, and his stomach lurch as he felt the guard's sheer presence tower over him. “All of the other tables are full, mind if we sit here?”

Emmet must have looked like a fool, because the three guards burst out into laughter at his expense, the one who had just made him fear for his freedom taking off his helmet; he looked even younger than Emmet was. The other two took theirs off as well, the two young men and the one young woman took the three empty seats around the table, the one who spoke just a moment ago introducing himself.

“Sorry about that, didn’t mean to scare you that bad. But come on! You had to have seen your face!” He insisted, giving Emmet a firm but friendly pat on the shoulder. “I’m Connor, this is Devin and Audry.” His two companions waved politely at Emmet before going to wave down the waitress, who just gave them a dismissive gesture, as if she already knew what they were going to ask for.

“It’s fine.” Emmet said, still coming down from the mild panic attack that Connor had caused him.

“Never seen you around the city before, what brings you here? You a recruit?” Devin asked him.

“No, no. I’m traveling with my aunt. We’re just stopping through for the night.”

“You’re aunt, huh?” He replied, smirking. “Does she like a man in unifo– ow!” Audry had given her friend a strong punch on his arm, and a sharp scowl.

“Oh, shut up. Wasn’t it just last week you got chewed out for freaking out over a bee while on duty? You aren’t as manly as you think you are.” She said.

“Oh yeah? Well why is it that I can lift the most out of anyone in our platoon?”

“Because you’re compensating.” Audry replied, causing Connor to laugh while his friend just blushed and shook his head.

The waitress came by and dropped off four mugs before she spoke. “I assume you three are going to run up another tab and pay it in a month?”

“Hey! Just be happy we got it to you by then.” Connor teased. “Besides, I thought soldiers got their first drink free?”

“We had to get rid of that when you sots came in and abused the privilege! Be happy I don’t have my husband come out of the kitchen and throw the four of you out!”

“Hey! What did I do?” Emmet asked back, joining in on the banter.

“If you stick with these three? It’s a matter of what you’re going to do.” She said, moving her two fingers from her eyes to theirs, letting her know she was watching all four of them as she backed away.

“What did you all do to get under her skin?” Emmet asked, bringing his mug to his lips and taking a long, stiff drink.

“Oh, the three of us snuck in here when Colette first started working a few years back, and we’ve been giving each other trouble ever since. But now that we’re of age, she has to try a lot harder to get us tossed out. All in good fun though.” Connor explained between sips.

“Where are you and your aunt going, Emmet?” Audry asked, wiping the foam, mustache that had gathered at the top of her lip.

“Oh, we’re headed up north to see my mom. Keeping her company for the trip, you know?” He said, quickly thinking of a lie. Audry seemed to buy it, letting the issue drop. “What about you three?” He asked. “What is being a guard like, I mean.”

“Boring.” They all replied in unison.

“Standing at attention, getting hassled to solve people’s petty arguments, checking papers at the gates…” Audry groaned, resting her head on her hand. “We all signed up hoping for a little excitement, but the most action we’ve seen was a tavern brawl that broke out last month.”

“But hey, with any luck we should get called up north to Elcos by the end of the year.” Devin said, raising his mug before taking a sip. Emmet was vaguely aware of the situation at the northern border of Sidia, and the situation with Elcos. But outside of word of mouth, he knew little.

“Elcos?” Emmet asked. “What is going on there?”

Devin looked at Emmet, pursing his lips and quickly looking down. It was clear that he was speaking out of term.

“Ah, just some routine patrols. But anything to get out of the city, you know?”

The four of them drank for a little longer, sharing a plate of meat and cheese that Emmet ordered until they were all on their third mugs of beer.

“So, Emmet, I gotta ask, mate.” Connor said, placing his arm over Emmet’s shoulder. “What do you want to do with your life?”

“Oh gods!” Devin groaned, pinching his brow as Audry rolled her eyes.

“Well, I worked with horses a bit ago, something I thought I would do with my life, but didn’t quite turn out that way.”

Connor smiled, like he was a merchant about to make a sale. “Well, you could always enlist in the army. Pay ain’t bad, you get a roof over your head and decent food. Plus, the ladies love the armor.”

“Yeah. Your sister seemed to like mine.” Audry quipped.

“You aren’t allowed to talk about my sister.” Connor snapped back, pointing a finger her way as Devin snickered.

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Emmet said, swirling his half empty mug. “Don’t really see myself as much of a fighter. Besides, I’ve got other responsibilities.”

“Hey, with all the horses we’ve got, we could always use more people to help care for them. You get in a supporting job, and you’ll probably never hold a weapon outside of drills. Just something for you to think about.”

“Huh.” Was all Emmet said in reply. He had never thought about enlisting, he felt that his place would be back in Elksbrooke. But the past few weeks have turned his life upside down, and he was finding himself more open to other possibilities. Or rather, he would if he weren’t already bound for Esphell. But he thought to himself about just walking away, leaving with this three and joining them in the army. No doubt he was fit enough to at least enlist, and he figured it would bring some stability to the maelstrom that had become his life. Hell, he could even have friends again.

Emmet was swirling the mug around against the tabletop, in deep thought. “That’s definitely something to consider.” He said. He let go of his mug and reached across the table for another cut of cheese, eager to fill the near endless hunger that drinking seemed to bring him.

“Well if you ever want to follow through, try and request a spot under the Hultz banner. That way we can see each other again.” Devin said.

“Yeah, hate to break up the love fest guys, but we should probably get going.” Audry said, as her two fellow guards groaned in agreement.

“Yeah. We stay out any longer and we’re going to be too hungover for duty tomorrow.” Connor agreed. The three young soldiers stood up, taking their helmets with them as they each left a handful of coins on the table for Colette to gather. The three said their goodbyes to Emmet, and made their way to the exit, leaving him alone in the tavern once again. He finished his drink, and stood up as well. It had been a long few days, and a soft bed would do him well. He figured he had better let the staff know what Sophia looked like so they can let her know the room is paid for. Though, part of Emmet wished he would wake up in the morning, and she would still be missing. Maybe then he could try and take control of his life again.