The city was as boisterous as Talia remembered. More than that it was an array of colors she could never find anywhere else. The people of Amethyst cove threw away the social norms of humanity. There were no dull browns or grays to be found amongst the clothing of the people. Blue, purple, yellow, green, there was every color imaginable. It was almost enough to give her sensory overload.
"So this is a coastal city... I like it." Bromyr mumbled behind her. All the dwarves were looking around them in a mixture of awe and wonder. Fluttering robes passed them at every turn, no one wore tight fitting clothes. Talia was half afraid the women who would dance past would flash her with how loose their fabrics clung to them.
"There's a lot of energy here. Everyone's so happy." Grimor moaned as he tried to keep up through the crowded streets.
"Keep your hand on your money pouch, this is a city of pirates after all." Talia warned darkly. Sure the women were pretty, the men were charming, and the music was beautiful but underneath all that was the true nature. It took a creature of darkness to recognize creatures of darkness and Talia could see the rot hiding beneath every friendly façade that passed them by.
"Where were we going again?" Bromyr sidled up to Talia and pressed himself into her side. She growled at him but he didn't seem phased.
"It's just up ahead, the Opalescent Queen's Inn. A retired agent of Hephatus runs it and he does quite well. His name is Mino, but we always refer to him as Minnow. It's a house of sin." She smiled at the memories. If one was after whores there were women and men aplenty there selling their services. Booze? The barrels he had were innumerable, and the wide range was immeasurable. Ales, meads, beers, wines, he had it all. High quality, low quality, he had anything for any patron. And the food? To die for. And she didn't say that lightly.
"Classy." Floki pierced her with a cold look but she only smiled at him. If he didn't want to partake he didn't have to. It certainly wasn't going to stop her. She kept her eye peeled for the painted sign of a beautifully clad woman steering a ship, Minnow's own creation for his Inn. His opalescent queen, the pirate woman he had fallen in love with and ultimately married. She wore a glittering blue dress to match her sea-blue eyes. Even her hair was tinged in blue, perhaps the years in the glittering ocean waters painted her in their beauty.
"Talia!" She paused and watched as Nico came flying down the brick road, arms waving wildly as he streaked through the bustling crowd. In his black robe he stuck out sorely and everyone around him knew it. Every person near him would jerk away and watch him warily as if they knew he was a harbinger of death and woe. Yet his smile threw the whole vibe off, he was more of a softie than most of their brothers and sisters under Hephatus.
"I got our rooms, do you want to grab something to eat with me before darkness falls?" He asked her eagerly as he spun around and started to lead. She rolled her eyes, all that excitement for a dinner invitation? Though she had to admit the thought of a hot cut of meat and some potatoes had her stomach aching in anticipation. Real food. Just the thought had her practically drooling in her mouth.
"That works well, boys we'll head to the market and see what we can find for victuals and travelling supplies to restore what we lost. We'll come back to the Inn after dark I suspect, then we could meet in the morn?" Bromyr paused pulling the whole group to a stop. Talia hummed, mornings as usual were not her time. But then again breakfast sounded appealing. She could make it work.
"Sure, mid-morning though. And be sure to have a table full of food ready." She turned her back to the dwarves as they all burst out laughing. She hoped they knew she was far from kidding. If they didn't greet her with a heaping plate full of eggs and hash-browns she'd start murdering people.
"Minnow's got some prime beef in. I know you aren't much of a fish eater. Or whale." Nico seemed quite excited, she wondered if he actually liked being around people again. There were plenty of activities for him to do.
"Fish is the grossest thing anyone could ever eat." She growled. All those bones, and whale was worse. Fatty and slimy and gross, why would anyone want to eat such things when there were perfectly good land beasts to eat? Pork, bird, beef, anything but fish. She was glad Minnow knew to stock decent food in such a place.
"Sometimes you amaze me at how picky of an eater you are. How did you ever survive?" He grumbled as he entered the boisterous establishment. Talia paused outside for a moment to admire the old wood, the smell of it, the look of it, and the sign that hung above the door which swung in the wind amiably. The Opalescent Queen was not a top tier inn or even a top tier eatery, but it was popular none the less. Inside was heavily crowded and the noise of all the happy patrons was deafening.
"Are we even going to get seats?" She mumbled, eyeing the bar-top as she stepped through the door. The crowd inside was just as colorful as the streets outside, not to mention they were all quite drunk already and laughing it up. Not a single patron seemed to notice her or Nico as they carefully picked their way through the crowd.
"You know Minnow just put in this area in the back for... Special guests. If you know what I mean." Nico smirked back at her with devilish glowing eyes. He was certainly enjoying himself. She wondered how much of Minnow's home brew Nico had already partaken in. His cheeks were flushed and he was smiling a lot more than he usually did.
The back room of which Nico had mentioned was darker than the front and much more secluded. It was set behind the bar in what was likely once a gambling room. Now it was filled with fancy wooden tables so clean they shined. Each table had a candlestick in the center which cast a somber light into the room. The ceiling had a fixture that looked like an old wagon wheel with five lanterns hanging from it. In the far back corner, a silver vase sat with a handful of incense sticks burning quietly. She breathed deeply, the scent of damp forests and misty mountains settling her nerves almost instantly. Minnow sure had a taste for things, that was certain.
"When did he install this? I'd have loved this high-class treatment last time." She mused passive aggressively while picking out a nice seat. Nico just chuckled as he sat at a single table with his books already splayed before him.
"It is lovely I must admit, but how can we assume this is the brain-child of Minnow? He's not exactly the eloquent type. I'd say this addition was his wife's idea, a place he could hide away his former co-workers so that they wouldn't scare off the other patrons." Talia rolled her eyes, other patrons? They were all sea dogs and harlots, hardly worth worrying over.
She took her seat farther in the back where she was able to seclude herself and watch the shadows and light dance under the soft wicks of the candles. For a moment she felt like herself again, calm darkness surrounding her, soft light illuminating what she needed to see, a thousand dishonest little heartbeats waiting to be snuffed out. She enjoyed contemplating all the vile creatures she could put down and in a city as full of them as Amethyst Cove her options were nigh on limitless.
"I could go out and fetch us some food and drink if you like. This travel can't have been easy on you, you look rather haggard." Nico hadn't even looked up as he spoke but Talia could see the worry on his face. Was she really that run down? She hadn't even noticed but after he mentioned it she could feel the weariness settling into her bones. Every part of her ached, her face hurt, her eye hurt, everything hurt. Healing hadn't been the first thing on her mind for the majority of the trip but now that she had some time to focus on it she could truly try and recover.
"Get me some ale, or a mead. Hell, anything with enough alcohol to stop this aching." She waved a hand flippantly. Heal? Who had time for such folly. Her body would catch up eventually, it always did. What she really wanted was to get mind numbingly drunk so the nightmares would stop haunting her every waking moment. Every time she closed her eyes she saw her darkest sins. True, they weren't real and she hadn't even acted on such images but the idea of it left her worn down. Not to mention the taunting voices in her head.
"I'll be sure to find his strongest. And a plate full of his best food?" He rose from his seat and flashed her a cheeky smile.
"On your dime? Can you afford it?" She pouted at him, though she couldn't hide her smile long. They both burst into laughter, it was good to finally be out of the wilderness and in a familiar place.
"How about I cover the food and you cover the drink?" She nodded, that wasn't such a hard deal. Besides she already knew they'd both drain Minnow's supply greatly throughout the night. If the dwarves stayed out too long they'd have nothing alcoholic to drink upon their return. As a giant she could really put away the stuff after all.
She waited as Nico went in search of Minnow to place their order. The room was incredibly quiet considering how full the front of the house was. Talia wondered absentmindedly if someone had cast a spell upon the walls to dampen noise. The idea was brilliant if that were the case. She hoped that the rooms were similar in that regard, quiet was always preferable to the noises most tenants would be making throughout the night. She wasn't sure if Minnow knew how much of a bordello he was running, though he likely didn't care so long as the money flowed.
More than that though, she anticipated true privacy. She wanted time to herself to think and to plan, to try and find a way to stop the incessant desire to grab the egg and hold it to her for hours on end. With it so closely pressed to her side it was nigh on impossible. But she couldn't let it out of her sight, not for a single moment.
"When will it hatch? Will it truly hatch for me? Is that why I'm so... Obsessed?" Her thoughts were wild and cluttered, imagining the gods and their meddling hands. How was she to take Hephatus's discussion with her? Was it real? Or was it her mind taking her away to a dream to avoid the pain and suffering her body had taken on?
The egg was real, tangible, incredible. She could see it's shine even through the shadows of the bag, as if it called to her. If that was real then what else was? The realm between mortal and god seemed real enough... Perhaps if she prayed to Hephatus again she could get answers. She wanted to be rid of the egg, to be rid of its hold on her and she only trusted Hephatus to give her the answers she was after.
Nico arrived shortly after he left with two heaping mugs of some sort of brew. She grabbed hers appreciatively and sniffed at it; the sweet nectar smell paired with the sharp snap of alcohol was intoxicating to say the least. Whatever it was she knew she was going to enjoy it immensely.
"Will a waitress bring us more?" She questioned eagerly as she started to sip at the drink. Just as she had suspected it greeted her with a burst of sweet fruitiness then hit her with the burn of alcohol before fading once more into a honey-like aftertaste. She would drain every last drop they could give her and she would do it with glee. Minnow was a master when it came to brewing up perfection.
"Oh yes. We will be treated quite well rest assured. Minnow will return sometime later and I'm sure he'll take over so we can visit. For now we get Matilda, a crowd favorite I hear." He chuckled as he too drank deeply from his mug. Matilda? Laughable, Talia knew well that neither of them had any sexual interests, especially in a waitress. Crowd favorite simply translated to 'easy-to-obtain' which did not really translate to 'great-at-her-job' unless that job was specifically to pull in the horniest and wealthiest patrons.
"As long as my mug and plate are full I don't care if we get the bloody dishwasher." She drank again with a sour frown pulling at her lips. Her stomach was already rumbling for food and she was the type to get angry if she was hungry for too long. If Matilda wanted to have a good night she'd have to work her ass off...
"It'll do her good to stay out of the limelight for a time. Maybe she can learn what it is to truly be a waitress. Although I must say, please don't drive her off or get too... aggressive. Minnow would be upset if we managed to make his best waitress quit." Nico warned gently as he sat back down to mull over his books. Talia rolled her eye at him. Aggressive? When had she ever been aggressive?
"If her only defining quality is being a fly trap then perhaps it's better she quit. What kind of establishment is Minnow running here anyway?" She growled as she finished the last few gulps of drink she had before slamming the mug onto the table. A few minutes of being on empty and she'd show Nico what it was like to witness true womanly passive-aggressive behavior. She was going to make Matilda's night hell if she couldn't keep up.
"A profitable one. Sex sells, we're both old enough to know that by now. This city is rife with that kind of labor. It's only smart to dip his finger into that fat steaming pie. Just because we don't like it doesn't mean we can comment on it. Life is life, and here that just means you sell your body for sex." He flipped a few pages in his book and sipped loudly at his drink as if to make a point. She scowled at him but he seemed impervious to her annoyance.
"It's not that I am against him utilizing women for that purpose so long as they're willing. I'm perfectly aware how this world works and I don't care if she's a harlot. But if she's a waitress she has a specific job. And I don't like it when they leave my drink on empty!" She slammed her mug onto the table again to emphasize the point. If someone wanted to be a waitress that was fine by her, but they had better be good at their job.
"You did drink that fast you know." Nico hummed, though she noted his drink was also nearing its end.
"If I have to wait much more I'll fill it myself. Crowd favorite. I bet she's the crowd favorite." She growled under her breath while tapping her foot. How was a giant to get drunk when they served her as quickly as a forest slug?
"You're just tired and hungry Talia, you'll be much more relaxed with some real food in your belly." He sounded like an old man when he said it. Talia glared at him. It was easy for him to talk, he could get drunk at the blink of an eye and eat a slice of bread and be full. Just because she was mostly human sized didn't mean she could survive like a human.
She would have shot him a sharp retort but at that moment Matilda decided to make her entrance. Talia glanced at the woman only to find her expectations gloriously let down. For a crowd pleaser she expected a thin woman wearing something exposing, perhaps a beautifully cut silken dress and a pretty little frilled apron. The image she had imagined burst with sex appeal. Blond hair, bold blue eyes, pretty red lips... Matilda was none of that.
The woman was plump, her cheeks round and taking up the majority of her face. She had a double chin and big round ears that peeked out from her dirty brown hair. Her dress was gray and cotton, thick and cumbersome as she bustled around. She did have an apron however, a little white one that was swallowed up by her curves. Or lack thereof, if Talia was being honest. She was certainly not ugly, but she was not what Talia expected in a city as vibrant and lively as Amethyst Cove. She shot Nico a look while raising a brow. He peered through the corner of his eye and shrugged at her, the people had a taste it seemed and Matilda was just the flavor to satisfy it.
"I'm so sorry my dears! It's a packed house tonight and everyone is at my ear with a request. Damn that Minnow for not bringing on enough of the younger lass's to help tonight..." The woman mumbled the last part as she swept up Talia's and Nico's mugs before placing them on a holding platter. Talia noted the particularly flustered look on Matilda's face, her flushed cheeks, her fiery brown eyes, she was most certainly not having a great time.
"What brings so much activity tonight?" Talia queried with a small smile. She was not as angry now that she had a face to put to the woman, and a voice. She was older, older than she had imagined Minnow would employ if he was after a certain clientele. But she seemed rather capable; she only hoped the woman could keep up with her. If she was having a rough time already she was going to be sorely upset in a short while.
"Oh darling, every night is like this around here. Although things have gotten worse now that the King has placed an embargo on the ports, not many can leave and not many can arrive. What else to do but eat, sleep, and fuck? It wears me out." She sighed heavily while situating the platter full of empty mugs. Talia raised a brow, why would the King of a coastal city close his ports? Trade was the lifeblood of Amethyst Cove.
"Why would he do such a thing?" She asked innocently. Nico shot her a dirty look, clearly impatient for food and drink. She smiled slowly, awaiting any information she could manage to wring from the popular Matilda. She twisted her hair before answering,
"That I can't say for certain. All I know is he sent out his Sharks and no one gets in and no one gets out. The only trade we get anymore is from Erishad and Opal Bay. Ya know he painted up them damn patrolling ketches like reef sharks, as if that's going to keep out the pirates." She laughed as if it were a fantastic joke. Talia only saw it as idiotic.
"If he really wanted to scare the pirates perhaps he should brush up on his sea creatures. Reef sharks are pack hunters, fast in shallow waters, and vicious. But they're just small time bullies. Do you want to know what strikes true fear into sailors? Deep Blues." Talia was almost delighted when she saw the confusion and curiosity light up on the woman's face. Of course no real pirate or ship-hand worth his salt would mention a Deep Blue willingly, it was like uttering the Dark God's name.
"Deep Blue? Is that some sorta whale?" She situated her platter again, her curiosity getting the better of her. Nico shuffled his papers irately.
"Aye, teeth as big around as my thumb", Talia held her hand up for effect, "And as long as my middlemost finger. They can tear apart creatures bigger than a brig as if it were a shrimp. They're as blue as the seas, their eyes black as night and it's said they can follow the fastest ships across the tides until their journey's end without problem. If the King wanted to strike fear, perhaps he should go for a sail outside the shoals of his own cove." She smiled to herself at her own little joke. Matilda smiled too,
"Aye, unlike his father the King is too afraid of the turbulent waters to challenge the unknown." Talia nodded along, sufficiently satisfied for the evening. She could be snoopy later, first she had to tend to her own needs.
"If you don't mind, my friend and I would like to order some food to go with our drinks. I'll take your finest plate of beef and whatever tasty treats come with it. For my friend..."
"I'll take anything you've got that's fresh catch. Lemon glazed please. And as for whatever comes with it, I'll take it all. I'm ravenous." He finally had a smile on his face. Matilda nodded diligently before turning on her heel to see to the meal and drinks.
"You know you could save your fishing for later. Information isn't all that important right now I'm hungry and thirsty and I know you are too." He mumbled while turning his attentions back to his books.
"If the ports are closed that could spell danger. Why would a city like this close up? Besides, they'll notice any newcomers." She looked out the door, there was nothing and no one lurking.
"You're too vigilant sometimes, paranoid even. Relax, enjoy, this city has always been a safe haven for our kind. We'll find nothing here but a good time."