“After tonight’s festivities,” Elyse said, “yes, dawn’s going to be when most of Erst will be finding their way to bed.”
“And what do you two think?” I asked Rami and Isu.
“It’s been a few hundred years since my lips last tasted anything alcoholic,” Isu said dryly. “I suppose I have missed it, in a way.”
“And you, Rami?”
“I don’t drink,” she answered. “Enjartas are forbidden to consume alcohol. But don’t let me stop the rest of you.”
“Good enough for me,” I said before turning to Elyse. “Elyse, you’re our local. Where can we find a tavern where the music is loud and the drinks are cold?”
“The One-Eyed Ogre is usually… fun,” she answered with a strange smile.
“A one-eyed ogre, eh? Weren’t you and Rami arguing earlier about the size of my—”
“Stop right there, Vance!” Elyse laughed. “Do I need to remind you that you’re speaking to the newly restored Bishop of Erst?”
“I wasn’t aware that women of the one true God were allowed to reveal so much leg, Elyse.” I stared with unabashed appreciation at her long legs, pale and defined in the moonlight.
Elyse blushed and moved to cover up her cleavage with her left hand, which she failed to do with what her chest had to offer and the slightness of what she was wearing. But I’d seen a sparkle of mischief in her eyes and noticed the corners of her mouth curving up into a subtly salacious smile. She knew very well that I’d been admiring her body in that tiny dress, whether she was walking, standing still, or wielding her mace with bloodthirsty eyes. Far from being uncomfortable with it, she seemed almost pleased.
“To the One-Eyed Ogre!” Elyse declared.
“Ah, so, you are still keen to have a look at my—”
Rami thumped me in the back, and I stumbled forward a little. Her cheeks were aglow with a blush, but there was a flirtatious gleam sparkling in her eyes.
I took it as a “yes” on her part.
Chapter Twenty-One
The crowds were finally starting to thin out, and only swaying pockets of partygoers were left where there’d been chanting crowds earlier. People were stumbling home, and ale and snack vendors were taking down their stalls, while the various entertainers were counting out the tips that had been placed in their hats or instrument cases. Music and laughter still spilled out into the night from a few taverns though.
The One-Eyed Ogre wasn’t the sort of place I’d imagined Elyse would have frequented. It was a large tavern, occupying the ground floor of a four-story building down a cramped lane. In an alley alongside it, a number of roughnecks lay passed out against the wall. Right outside the wide-open front door, drunks laughed loudly and stumbled around, while the sounds of carousing coming from inside were louder than all the other taverns we’d passed so far. Exotic, energetic music—no doubt played by a band of traveling musicians from the south, judging from the complex rhythms being thumped out of the bongo drums—propelled everyone to keep drinking.
“You’d better get the Crusaders to wait outside,” Elyse said.
I nodded. “Nothing kills a party faster than a couple of righteous zombies standing around glaring at people.”
“This is really your prefered tavern in Erst, Elyse?” Rami asked as she looked in from the doorstep.
“It’s been a few years since I was last here,” she answered. “I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but when I was a young apprentice cleric, I enjoyed partying. I’d sneak out with my friends and come here. They have excellent music and delicious ale, and you can always count on some, ahem, fun, when you spend a night in here.”
Rami looked around with distaste. Clearly, enjartas didn’t visit taverns too often. Isu, however, seemed to be drawn in by the seedy atmosphere. Since a number of patrons were dressed up, she didn’t look at all out of place with her horns. I only hoped that no drunken idiots decided to tug on them while we were inside. She’d probably slice them up with her daggers or use her magic on them.
“I wonder if I’ll see any of my fellow Irradiant Institute acolytes,” Elyse said as she wandered inside. “I’m sure some of them still come here for a tipple every now and then.”
As I followed her in, my sixth sense tingled, and I grabbed Elyse’s shoulder and yanked her back. A barstool flew through the air where her head had just been, smashing into splinters on the wall next to us.
Elyse dusted herself off as if nothing had happened and calmly walked around the two brawling drunks who came crashing through the crowd a few seconds after the barstool. The two men fell to the ground in front of me and started wrestling on the floor. I chuckled and stepped over them, letting them continue with their business as I followed Elyse to the bar. Rami walked in behind me, looking even more unimpressed with this place, while Isu beamed out a strange smile as she stopped close to the front door, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against a wall as she casually watched the brawl.
“Rowdy night here, huh?” I remarked to Elyse as she pulled up a stool at the bar.
She laughed. “Nope.”
“I’m sorry,” I chuckled, “I’m just finding it hard to believe that this kobold den is one of your favorite taverns in Erst.”
“It may be dirty, a little stinky, and have less than savory clientele,” she answered, “but it has character. And, for me, a lot of good memories.”
“Elyse! Elyse, is that you?” a voice came from the tavern’s far corner.
Elyse’s face lit up as her eyes fell on a man about her age. He was short and painfully thin. He barely had more meat on his bones than my skeleton warriors. A hooked beak of a nose dominated an emaciated face covered with pox scars. His small, pig-like eyes were crossed, making it difficult to determine where exactly he was looking. A mouthful
