Arthur's Point of View

Capital of Vithari - Dwardew

“All kidding aside, I’m here because I knew I could get something out of your Queen.” I told him honestly as Ty just shook his head. “Although, I would’ve come regardless.”

The Dwarf looked skeptical at best, as did my student. “So, you don’t want your reward?”

Shaking my head, I quickly answered. “No, I want my reward. What I’m saying is, even without it, I would’ve come here. I’m not going to give it up, though.”

“So, it’s about the reward.” He crossed his arms.

“If that’s how you want to look at it, be my guest.”

“How else am I supposed to look at it? You’re clearly getting something out of this. You’re not doing it out of the goodness of your heart.”

Holding up a finger, he stood there as I corrected him. “First of all, there is very little goodness in my heart. Secondly, I hate the demons. Enough so that I’d hunt them down just about anywhere.” Then I copied him and crossed my arms as well. “Lastly, I’m not in the habit of letting children be killed, kidnapped, or worse.”

The young teenager scoffed. “What’s worse than being killed?”

I responded very firmly. “Being kept alive.” He was confused at that, and his age started to show. “I’ve enjoyed this, child, but it is time we moseyed on. Can you point us to anything of interest?”

“There’s the Elephant pens,” He began after a moment as he pointed in different directions. “The smithy, a tavern-“

My eyes instantly brightened at that, and I turned to Typhon, who immediately replied. “No.”

Frowning, I spoke. “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“You wanted to go to the tavern. The last thing we need is you drinking in this situation.”

“It would make things more interesting, and I could use something to loosen up. Besides, it’s almost impossible for me to get drunk. I’d have to be aiming for that.”

“You’re not going to get intoxicated.”

“Exactly!”

My student then added. “Because we’re not even going to go to the tavern in the first place.”

I clicked my teeth at him. It was probably for the best. There was only one time I remember getting drunk, and it was in the past with Aydan and a few others. I’d lowered my energy enough where it couldn’t break down the toxins, which left me rather vulnerable. That was a night I both enjoy and hate remembering.

Looking back at the Dwarf, I prodded for more. “Anything else?”

“Well, there is the hot spring-“

“Oh my god… Yes. Where?” I had closed my eyes at the delicious news.

“It’s reserved for royalty.”

My dismissive wave didn’t seem to dismiss his concerns. “That was before today. I had a long trip in an overly small cabin, and I could use a glorious bath. Where is it?”

Ty pointed off towards the right of the palace. “Over there, but should we really risk upsetting the Dwarves just for a bath.”

My eyes studied him for a moment before I looked over to where he pointed and then back to him. “How did you know that?”

He tapped his nose twice with a smirk. “I can smell it.”

“You can smell it from that far away?” He nodded. “Damn.” I said, slightly impressed. “As for your concerns, upsetting the Dwarves is going to take more than just taking a bath. Besides, I saved several cities before coming here. I deserve an extra reward, and I chose a bath as that reward.”

“Aren’t rewards given out, not chosen?” Ty inquired.

“They can be both. This time, we’re just choosing a bath.” Then I looked down at the Dwarf. “You wanna come?”

He held up his hands defensively. “No, thank you. I prefer living.”

I crouched down next to him and spoke. “Can it really be called living if you’re scared of taking a bath?” My question obviously irked him.

“There are guards there.” He told us.

“At the bath?”

“Hot springs.” The Dwarf teen corrected.

“Bath.” I immediately recorrected him. “Guards are easy enough to drown. How deep are the baths?” The teen looked horrified, and I rolled my eyes. “I suppose I could knock them out.” Typhon seemed rather unimpressed.