"So where is the Rat Kingdom, exactly?" Nel asked as Nirir escorted us from the Court of Cats.
"Below," Nirir replied. "Within the Catacombs built by your people during the Orc Wars. That is where we shall find the Court of Queen Giratina II."
"The Catacombs," I muttered. "Great." I'd never been down there. I think very people currently living in Istalfax had. But we all knew their history; a vast network of underground tunnels built to hide the population from the Orc hordes nearly five centuries ago. While Istalfax burned above, its people had huddled below.
Nel grinned. "This is turning out to be quite the adventure, huh?"
I glanced at the wrapped-up sword she was still carrying. "Weren't you supposed to deliver that?"
"Deliver…?" She blinked and looked down at the sword in her hands. "Ah, shit."
"You should probably get on that."
"Yeah, yeah… Hey, Nirir, can we take a quick detour so I can drop this off?"
The gray cat had been leading us down the alley toward the street, and now he stopped and looked back at Nel. "I suppose so," he said.
"Nel… you don't have to come with me," I offered.
She looked at me like I was insane. "Don't play the 'I got to do this myself' card, Corvus. It's not you."
I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that I'm coming with you to the Rat Kingdom," Nel told me. "And besides, I think it'll be neat to see what kind of kingdom rats have."
"You want to help me," I said.
"Uh, yeah, no shit."
My frown morphed into a grin. I couldn't help it. I guess having Nel wasn't all that bad. Yeah, things were probably going to get dangerous, but honestly Nel was probably more capable of taking care of herself than I was of myself.
Once Nirir led us back to the general section of the city we were actually familiar with, Nel took the lead.
She guided us through the residential and shopping areas that we called home and into what was often called the Adventurer's District. This was where inns and other services specifically catered to adventurers thrived. Following Nel, we walked to an inn called the Burst Maiden. There was a crudely drawn picture of a rotund woman on the sign, but the odd placement of the font, plus the hasty scribble after the word "maiden" told me that it was probably called something else before one too-many complaints of indecency.
Nel opened the door to the inn and I followed after her, Nirir opting to stay out on the street. I noted the furnishings seemed to be a mismatch of simple, almost rustic furniture, and that sort of faux-lavish style of cushioning and wood-carving you see in places that are trying to seem high-class, but lack the money to actually be high-class.
The question formed on my lips and I was muttering it aloud before I even realized. "Did this place use to be a…?"
"A brothel, yeah," Nel told me. "Then the king started cracking down on that sort of thing, and they figured, hey, most of our clients are adventurers who end up staying the night anyway…"
"Now that's business-savvy," I said.
"Damn straight." Nel approached a girl at the inn's desk. "I'm dropping off a delivery for Hargir Redstone."
The girl flipped through some papers, then nodded. "I will see to it that he will receive the item. Thank you."
"You're welcome and thank you, too," Nel said, then spun around and grinned at me. "See? That didn't take long."
"Uh huh."
"Alright, let's go."
She led the way out, and it was as I was stepping back out onto the street that the words I had heard inside the brothel-turned-legitimate-inn caught up with my brain.
"Wait," I said, "did you say that sword was for Hargir Redstone?"
"Yeah? You know him?"
"Not really," I said. "He comes into the shop sometimes to flirt with my sister."
"Dove or Egretta?"
"Egretta."
Nel laughed. "Guess I know whether he prefers blondes or brunettes."
"Really?" I asked flatly. Nirir was looking up at us and flicking his tail in annoyance. I nodded to him, and he began to saunter off down the street. Nel and I started keeping pace behind him.
"So what about you, Corvus?"
"Huh?" I asked. "What about me?"
"Do you like blondes or brunettes?"
"Seriously, Nel?"
"Come on. You can tell me."
I almost tripped over my own feet. "What?" I asked, looking at Nel's short, red hair and trying to recompose myself.
"You alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, I just, um…" I shook my head. "Anyway, we need to focus on the, um, the rats and stuff."
"Well fine, if you don't want to tell me…"
"Just a pair of kittens…" I heard Nirir mutter ahead of us.