Ref and Styna both broke out sniggering at her embarrassment. Smiling John saw what they had done and cackled to himself as beer frothed around his lips and facial scars.
No one else batted an eye. The young barmaid shuffled away to get a mop, red-faced.
Tomas found her curly brown hair and freckles instantly beautiful. She approached Tomas’s table with teary eyes, wearing a frilly green gown and a stained cream-coloured apron on top.
“Creator, watch over you. What can I get you boys?” she asked, wiping the tears away and forcing a smile.
Tomas could see she was bothered. She seemed far too young to be working around these sorts of men.
“Some beers would be good, thanks. And what do you have to eat?” Landry asked.
“Rabbit stew with steamed greens,” the girl replied. “Some fresh bread and butter, too.”
“Perfect, we’ll have some of that, please.” Landry handed the barmaid several marks as payment which she quickly slipped into her pocket.
Tomas stared into the girl’s eyes as she curtseyed and began to turn away. “Sorry to bother you, but… I just wanted to make sure that you are alright?”
She was taken aback by the question, as if no one had ever asked such a thing before. “Ah, yes… Yes, I’m fine.”
“I’m sorry about those two,” Tomas said, gesturing to Ref and Styna as they sculled their drinks, ale pouring down their chins.
“I’ve got pigs outside in the sty with more manners than them,” the girl joked, sniffling.
“More brains, too, most likely,” Rilan added from under his hood.
The girl lowered her head, smirking. “It’s fine, honestly. Comes with the territory. I’m used to it.”
“You shouldn’t have to be,” Tomas said.
Tomas did not avert his gaze; he wanted her to know that he was not like them, and that she shouldn’t have to be treated in such a cruel manner simply because it was part of her job. The only comforts he could possibly offer were his words.
The barmaid shrugged, maintaining her straight face. “I’ll fetch you that order, lads.”
Landry patted Tomas on the shoulder. “You’re a good man, Tomas,” he said. “Most would fail to call out that behaviour.”
“I’m not ‘most men’,” Tomas said.
Why had Tomas always viewed himself as different from everyone else? For as long as he could remember, he had never truly felt close to anyone- even his closest companion, Rilan. Despite their friendship, Tomas always felt his guard was up with everybody around him.
Landry was right, though. Most men would not have stepped in to say what he had said. Some would even watch on or encourage it. Others might have even joined in.
I am not like most men.
He knew Rilan and Landry were just like him as well, in that regard for the most part. They were a unique bunch. They looked out for one another at the possible risk of their own welfare because it was all they could do in such dangerous times and places.
Looking back on what had happened to Rilan, Tomas knew he could have just as easily been murdered if Landry had not stepped in.
But in the moment, he did not think. He only acted. His muscles and limbs moved on their own accord, because in that moment, Tomas had known deep within the depths of who he was and what he stood for that he was going to act to stop it from happening.
Even if it meant dying.
The beers came and Tomas took his tankard gleefully, filling his belly with the warm, bitter drink. It was a soothing rush for his insides and made his head feel floaty.
Rilan struggled to grasp the tankard because of his severed finger. Instead, he stuck his fingers through the handle and guzzled the beer gleefully.
“That’s some good beer,” Rilan said, his sunken eyes focused on the drink. Alcohol always cheered him up a bit.
“Glad you’re talking a bit more, now,” Tomas said to him. “We were beginning to miss your awful jokes.”
Rilan smirked. “They haven’t disappeared yet, don’t you worry. Just, um… haven’t been feeling quite myself, you know?”
Tomas noticed his shaking hand. He could empathise with the feeling- the night that Ref and Styna had attacked him was chilling. Such a thing did not leave someone’s mind unwounded.
“I know how you are feeling, Rilan. It’s alright to feel scared,” Tomas said reassuringly. “I would have been terrified. I was terrified.”
Rilan shook his head, speaking softly. “No, I’m not scared… I’m just angry. And I’m embarrassed. What sort of man lets that happen to him?”
Tomas and Landry looked at one another with expressions of uncertainty. It was hard to formulate what to say.
“Most men would not have even attempted to fight off two huge thugs like Ref and Styna, for fear they’d be killed. You tried, Rilan. You weren’t going down without a fight and I think that’s admirable,” Landry said.
“If it were not for you two…” Rilan could not finish his sentence. He bowed his head under the emotional weight of recalling such a frightening night.
“Let’s not dwell on what could have happened,” Tomas said.
Tomas could feel a deep, unsettling pain in his gut as the boys conversed. A truth Tomas refused to confront. He thought for a moment.
“Maybe we should tell the Captain what happened. Perhaps he could-”
“No,” Rilan interjected. “I don’t want anyone knowing. I want to forget about it.”
Tomas suspected that Rilan would respond in such a way. He was the sort to always put things behind him and forget about what was bothering him. It was half the reason he had been so eager to leave Brittlepeak with Tomas
