Zeven rolled his shoulders forward and bent down slightly making his height look smaller. His hood cast a shadow over his face and glasses served to mask what was still visible. The center of town was more crowded than he had seen it recently, and he grew more grateful for his glasses as he could easily avoid people whose eyes lingered for too long.
It had been easier to fade away in the crowd when he was younger and smaller, but Zeven had practiced his skills for so long that even with his new found height and face he could still go overlooked.
Zeven made his way straight for the inn. It was run by a widow, insisting on being called Mammy her patriens, who had lost her husband in a previous war against Ametade. He had found this place at sixteen, after his first year of military service. The pent up anger and need for release kept him coming back.
It was considered taboo to engage in sex that would not result in a child if you had not already sired your first three offspring. But the law did not exist in establishments such as these. So men and women came to establishments under guises and had their fill.
Mammy had known Zeven from the moment she laid eyes on him. Even back then his eyes betrayed him. He remembered her pulling him aside when he stepped foot into the lobby. Whether it was his age or his identity, he still didn't know. At sixteen he was still fairly scrawny, the military training had served to build his muscles, but it could do nothing for his height and weight. It had been easier than he would care to admit for her to pull him along.
Now Zeven had mostly forgotten what she pulled his aside to say, but Mammy would never forget.
Zeven stepped inside and she saw him the minute he walked inside her lobby. Mammy was not a small woman; she waddled as she walked up to Zeven. he smiled softly and walked closer to save her a few steps. He stopped and bent down as Mammy raised her hands to his face. She grabbed the sides of his face and firmly turned him so she could get a better look. "I swear, you get more handsome every time I see you."
Zeven took his hands and carefully grabbed her hands, "It's good to see you too," Zeven laughed softly. He was a different man than the boy she had met all those years ago. He was so unlike his princely facade that she could almost forget who he was. But the fire in his eyes never betrayed his true self, his eyes burned into a person's very soul.
Mammy began to waddle back to the counter, she picked up a different list from the sheet that held regular inn clients. The list she grabbed contained clients who were not there to sleep. She languidly looked through her list. Several men and women were already checked in and awaiting company, there were very few who met Zeven's preferences, and fewer still that he hadn't already slept with.
Zeven's rule was never to sleep with the same person twice. He made that very clear when he came storming out after his fourth visit. Mammy had had to turn him away on several occasions. She also had had to pry him out of a room before she established the rule that he was not allowed to fall asleep when with a guest. It was fortunate that she discovered his frightening tendencies when he was smaller, she doubted she could pull him off someone now.
It was clear that in those moments he was not himself- when he was woken from a deep sleep he became like a caged animal. She remembered how the poor dear went running half naked out of his room once Mammy had pried Zeven off of her, and she remembered how he cried until he vomited after he got his senses back. He was a troubled child who had been forced to grow up too fast. And Mammy loved him like the son she lost.
On days when he couldn't be paired, she offered to let him sleep it off in the spare loft upstairs. Sometimes he took her up on that offer, sometimes he just sat in the lobby beside her. When Mammy looked at Zeven, she saw a kid she wanted to wrap up so he couldn't be hurt anymore.
Mammy found the name she had been looking for, she dug a moment for the corresponding room key, before handing it over to him. In a gesture they shared for years Zeven passed her his glasses. He didn't want to see anything clearly for a while.