Descent Into Darkness (Book 2) (23 page)

"TWO GLASSES OF YOUR house ale," Azalea said, smiling at the serving girl from their table. They had only been seated in the inn for a few moments before the waitress had walked up. Turning to Ean, she tilted her head slightly. "Are you hungry? We could order food too. I don't usually eat...bar food...but I could share something with you if you're hungry."

"No, uh, I'm fine, thanks."

"Suit yourself. Alright, just the two drinks, please."

"Two drinks will be fourteen coppers," the waitress replied. Before he could pull any money out from his meager supply, Azalea sprinkled about a dozen silver coins onto the table.

"This will cover us, at least for the first part of the afternoon I think." Grabbing one off the table, she tossed it a bit forcefully at the girl. "Now why don't you run off and get our drinks?"

Fumbling with the coin for a moment, the girl bowed slightly to Azalea and hurried off. Letting out a low growl, Azalea leaned back in her chair and watched the girl weave her way through the crowd for a moment before turning to Ean. "Money, money, money. That's all most of you humans care about. You all seem to think power comes from money, but power comes from so many other things."

"That's not what I think."

She looked him up and down in the same way the serving girl had. "Clearly not, or else you wouldn't always be wearing the same beat up clothes." She laughed a bit as a frown appeared on Ean's face. "Oh, I'm just teasing. Well, slightly teasing at least. You really could try something new every once in a while, you know."

"My gloves are kind of a permanent accessory now. They don't really go with fancier clothes. It doesn't leave me with too many other options."

"True," she nodded, then shot him a wink. "But you won't always have to have those arms covered up, my boy."

"What does that mean? I'll always have these tattoos on the one arm and ugly scars on the other. The scars I'm not that self-conscious about any more, but glowing tattoos could certainly get me the wrong type of attention."

Reaching over, she patted him on the cheek. "Don't you worry about that."

The waitress appeared at that point, stopping Ean from pressing the question. She placed the two cups of ale carefully in front of them and deposited six copper pieces into the pile of coins on the table. "Is there anything else I can get you at the moment?" Her tone was slightly less haughty, but her eyes were filled with contempt whenever they passed over Azalea.

"No, but why don't you keep the drinks coming when our mugs get low. At least for a few more rounds," she winked at Ean. "We'll probably slow down a bit after the fourth. Or maybe the third. My brother has trouble handling his drink sometimes."

"As you wish," the serving girl said curtly, then turned and stalked off. Azalea watched her go again, giving Ean the opportunity to try and continue his line of questioning.

"You didn't answer me. What did you mean when you said I wouldn't have to always hide my tattoos?"

Appearing to ignore his question, Azalea let out a short laugh as she kept her attention focused on the serving girl.

"Azalea, I want--"

"Want to know why the girl is so snobby? Or at least what I think is the reason?"

"That's not exactly something I'm going to lose sleep--"

"She has waves of jealousy mixed with lust wafting off of her. I can feel it from all the way across the room. The jealousy picks up whenever she passes that one woman leaning near the entrance to the kitchen, and the lust increases whenever she passes that man that's been moving about talking to all of the tables. I would bet two imps and a Hound that the man is the owner, the woman his wife, and the serving girl is sleeping with the owner."

"You got all of that just by tasting the emotions coming off of them and watching them for a few moments?"

"It's just a guess, but an educated guess. I could charm the serving girl and have her tell us if I'm right."

"No. No need for that."

"You sure? I like knowing whether I'm right or wrong. Think of it as a way to make sure I understand humans, because if I have to pass as one, I should be able to figure things like that out."

"Not necessary," he said quickly. "Let's just assume you're right".

"Fine, fine. I'm more interested in this pompous man walking towards us anyway. The pride radiating off him could feed a family of Yulari for a week, and my kind have VERY large families."

Cringing slightly, Ean had an idea who she was talking about even before a hand clasped down on his shoulder and a familiar voice boomed over the crowd noise and music.

"Ean, my boy!" Iacane's voice had the slight slur of a man that was already a few drinks down. Moving around Ean, he sat down in between Ean and Azalea and let his eyes scan over the Yulari. "If this is your sister, I feel slighted that you have been hiding away such a beautiful creature. And if it's not, then good job to you, my boy. I didn't think you were this much of a ladies man."

"Azalea, this is Iacane" Ean grumbled. "Iacane, this is my sister, Azalea."

"Sister! Excellent! Pleasure to meet you, of course." Iacane slid his chair slightly closer to the Yulari. "Let me properly introduce myself. My name is Iacane Brill, the greatest Saniteal in Ven Khilada."

"Pleasure, I'm sure," Azalea said dryly.

"Ean hasn't told me or my companions much about you. You would think the boy was ashamed to have such a stunning girl for a sister."

"That is not true, I just--"

"It's quite alright, brother," Azalea said, cutting Ean off. "I understand. My brother and I don't always agree on things, and it's caused problems in the past. I'm trying to fix things now though."

"Disagree with you?" the Saniteal scoffed. "Must simply be sibling rivalry making him speak against you."

"No, no, it's true. I'm quite difficult to live with. I always seem to be getting in trouble." Leaning forward, the Yulari batted her eyes towards the man and her voice dropped to a low purr. "Most other people don't seem to mind the trouble I get in, though. I'm sure the two of us could--"

"Enough Azalea." Ean had to cut in. "I thought we were going to relax and enjoy ourselves."

"Of course, you're right, brother." Leaning back, Azalea's entire demeanor changed. The smokiness left her voice and she relaxed back into her chair. She snatched her mug off the table and downed the rest of her drink in one big gulp before she slammed it back down. "To relaxing!"

The men stared at her for a moment, both equally caught off guard by her sudden change in personality.

"Erm, yes..." Iacane replied. "To relaxing and having a bit of fun. The gods know we need it now, before we enter the Deadlands." Taking his own mug, he tilted it back for a moment before carefully placing it back down.

"So tell me," Iacane continued. "Why is a beauty like yourself making such a risky trip into the Deadlands? Your brother here has been tight-lipped on his reasons, but surely your own must not be that secretive."

"Oh, but my reason is a terrible secret. The truth would actually scramble your mind, it's so dark and terrifying. You see, I'm not even human, I'm actually--"

"Ok, that's enough fun," Ean cut in quickly. "Enough jokes,
Azalea. Tomorrow is going to be stressful enough as it is without making up stories. I'm sure all three of us would benefit from talking about happier subjects."

"Hush, Ean," Iacane leaned closer to Azalea, a small smile touching his lips. "I'm a grown man, and I think I can handle whatever little story your sister wants to tell."

"Exactly," Azalea said, sticking out her tongue briefly at Ean before leaning closer to Iacane. "Now, before my brother rudely interrupted, I was about to tell you my dark secret. You see, I'm actually a soul-sucking creature from the Abyss, and Ean is my Master."

"Oh, really? How intriguing! And what evil plot have you both come up with that involves going into the Deadlands?"

"Simple. We plan to enter the old lair of the creator of the Plague, take any remaining items or knowledge that we can find, and raise Ean up to conquer the world."

"Brilliant!" Iacane exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "For a moment there I almost believed you. You seemed so serious. And talking about such taboo subjects like the Abyss and the Plague. If I had let you keep going, you would have mentioned Ze'an himself, I think."

"No, I've never met the Lord of the Abyss myself. I don't like to drop names of people I've never even seen. I'm not that prideful of a creature."

"Ean my boy, you have the most interesting sister I have ever met," Iacane said, clapping Ean roughly on the back. "Most people, especially women, would shy away from talking about such things. Why, I've heard of people flat out disappearing in Lurthalan for speaking too much about the Abyss and Ze'an."

"Yes," Ean grumbled, "my sister certainly does not have much tact when it comes to certain topics and a vivid imagination to boot." Turning to Azalea, he tried giving her his most intense stare. "I'm just a simple Healer after all. I haven't the slightest interest in fame or glory. And taking over the world sounds like more trouble than it's worth."

"That's my brother for you, can't even pretend to be ambitious. If Ean even got the smallest amount of power, he would have no idea what to do with it. Thankfully, what he lacks in ambition he more than makes up for with his ability to keep me entertained. Why just the other night he had a bit too much to drink and I had to practically carry him up to his bed."

Iacane leaned back and let out a deep, bellowing laugh. Ean had never seen the man this jovial before. The sudden change must surely have originated from the bottom of his mug.

"Ean, my poor boy," the Saniteal said in-between bouts of laughter. "You certainly don't get a break from your sister, do you?"

"No, not even a little one," Ean growled.

Azalea moved quickly around the table and wrapped her arms around Ean's shoulder in a tight hug.

"Oh, you know I'm only teasing." Moving her hands up to cover Ean's ears, she pretended to whisper to Iacane, "Don't tell my brother, but I'm quite fond of him. Flaws and all. What he really needs is a little guidance every now and then, which is why it's a good thing he has me around."

"Yes, I'm quite lucky, because you've spent so much time with me this trip."

Azalea placed a hand over her heart. "Ean! Does that mean you've missed me?" Reaching down she gave him another hug. "Well, don't you worry. Like I've said, I'll be around you much, much more from this point on."

"And I will make sure to look out for you both," Iacane cut in quickly. His attention, however, was entirely on Azalea. "To make sure nothing bad happens to you while we are in the Deadlands."

Azalea shot the Saniteal a smile and slowly returned to her seat. On the way she paused long enough to pat Iacane on the head. "That is most generous of you, and greatly appreciated."

"And unnecessary," Ean grumbled, but seemed to be ignored by the other two.

Falling back into her chair, Azalea grabbed her empty mug and used it to pound the table a few times. "Now, I don't know about you gentlemen, but I came here to drink and have some fun. All I need at the moment is for that surly waitress to get back here and fill my mug."

Iacane grabbed his own mug and drained the contents before slamming it down as well.

"Agreed!" he said, his voice sounding even more slurred. "To a night of fun!"

Despite himself, Ean slowly began to have some fun as the night wore on. Azalea continued to drink like each mug was her last, but she never showed any signs of the alcohol affecting her. She lessened the jabs she took at Ean as well, instead turning her insults on those around the table. The Yulari still made comments every now and then about Ean having no direction or idea what he was really doing, but each comment was accompanied by a genuine smile or wink.

Iacane on the other hand, who had already been slightly drunk when he sat down, continued to spiral down as he finished off more and more mugs. At first it was entertaining, as the usually serious man was more relaxed and less conceited. But as the afternoon turned to dusk and dusk turned to night, the boastful and arrogant Iacane made a reappearance.