The tavern was filled with people and even though outside the sun was burning hot, lighting up everything the place was dark and cool. Nacht led her to the bar where a man with a huge long beard was pouring ale and had her sit in one of the stools. She looked at him with a frown and waited for him to say anything.
"Nacht!" the man said excitedly. "Where have you been the king has men all over searching for you and you appear now. Instead of going to the palace you come here? With a pretty lady too." He told him with a smile and greeted Alice. She nodded not really in the mood for meeting new people and turned her fiery eyes towards Nacht.
"Well, I had to get something to drink first. You know prepare my neck for the shouting" he joked and the man laughed wholeheartedly. He poured them two huge glasses of foaming ale and passed one to each of them.
"Get ready then." He told him and moved slightly further away. He grabbed a few wet glasses and started drying them with an old rug and placing them back into a worn out cup board.
"What is going on?" Alice asked and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why are the guards following you? What did you do?"
"You see…to get out of the Kingdom, a member of the Shadow circle. This is how our little wizard team is called by the way, you need a special permission from the King. I did ask for it of course but you know what?? That bastard said no and that I am too reckless and I would cause trouble." Nacht said sounding offended as he gulped half of his drink. "So I did what any proud and reasonable person would do. I snuck out and now obviously he is mad because I disobeyed him blah, blah, blah. Give him a little time. The guards will let him know that I am here and in about two hours we can go back."
"You have angered the King and you want to stroll with a stranger through the palace gates like nothing happened?" Alice asked and grabbed the handle of her glass tightly. She was screwed. There was no way this was going to end well. The least he wanted was end up on the King's bad side.
"Yes, pretty much" he answered her, carefree and finished his drink. He honestly did not care. He was whistling happily as they sat there. Alice sighed, feeling her anger peak its highest for today and brought the glass of ale to her lips, hoping that the cold alcohol would get her to relax. Maybe the reason he was so happy go lucky was because he was drunk all the time and she hadn't realized it.
"Wait, wait. This is not for you" he said and took the glass away from her. While she tried to take it back a few drops fell on her dress making her hiss at Nacht. "You are underage. Hello? Can we get an orange juice here or something please?" he shouted and after a while the bearded man had returned bringing her a glass of vibrant fresh juice. She stared at it dissatisfied, wanting to throw it in his face.
"I am starting to dislike you"
"Why are you hurting me like that honey, and right after our honeymoon" he joked.
"Our what? I would divorce my husband if he ever took me to a honeymoon like that. Sleeping in dirty bedrooms, fighting bandits. Very romantic."
"Oh, come on. I could describe it as an adventurous outing." He told her and raised his glass. Or more appropriately the glass he had stolen from her.
Alice looked around, staring at the people who drank and ate happily and confirmed her previous thought. Nacht really did not fit in with them. His appearance was too different. Most of these people were tanned with darker hair and eyes while he was the exact opposite.
"You don't fit in." She told him.
"That is to be expected since I do not come from Sol nor was I born here. I'd like to say that the three great magicians led me here" he said.
"Then where are you from?" she asked, intrigued to know more. She was curious as to why he had found himself at Sol, one of the most known Kingdoms for being known as being weak and at th verge of destruction many times.
Nacht gulped the rest of the drink, having now completed drinking two glasses and filled with replenished energy he jumped off the stool and placed his hands in his pockets, searching before he took out a few silver coins and left them on the bar.
"How about we go to the palace now? You must be tired." He proposed and she stood up, leaving her juice intact.
"Are you saying that so I won't ask you any more questions?" Alice asked him, knowing from the way he avoided her gaze that he wasn't really fond of that conversation.
"You indeed are quite smart"
"I don't know about that. I am just good at observing people" she told him honestly. She didn't consider herself as smart, not in some self-pitying way. Simply she believed that because she wasn't educated or because she hadn't found herself in a situation where she needed to prove her intellect that she wasn't anything special on that aspect. Having met though so many people, having seen their different expressions and many times heard their lives' stories she had adapted to figuring out things for herself, without having to ask.
"Let's see if that intuition of your will help you at the palace." Nacht said and exited the bar.
Their next stop, the Sol palace.