Ian chuckled and glared at the man. Despite his pitiful state, he couldn't help but be annoyed that he dared to utter such nonsense and touch her the way he did. He already resented the outside after only one day.
" It's alright! He is just drunk," Iris glanced over her shoulder," and rambling." a loud thud echoed in the tavern, and everyone's attention turned to Irja. The man had fallen on the floor again.
" I feel sorry for him! I wonder what's his story?!?!" Rhya chimed in and leaned into the wall behind her. Everyone fell silent and peeked at the man sprawled on the wooden floor. A drunk man was the least of their problems. They were heading towards certain death, and they didn't know whether they were walking into certain death or will they live to see another day.
" So, now that we are heading north. How long will it take us to get there?" Ian changed the subject to something more substantial.
Dakran took a sip of his wine and grimaced " To Gaerwen?! A fortnight!" he emptied the wine back into the carafe and poured himself some alu " But we can cut the journey short if we go through Kayluhn's territory. Through Shadow Valley! Those who enter the Valley" he took another sip of his drink " Never seen again, they just vanish! The word around is it is haunted or full of creature from the underworld. " he took another sip of his drink " It will cut the journey in half, and I have a feeling that we will have to do just that, but we can decide later. " he finished his drink and poured himself another one.
" If we find ourselves in a bind but for now, let's eat !" Iris chimed in as the food was brought to the table by a young boy whose eyes darted from woman to woman and stopped at Iris.
Iris smiled " What is your name?" she asked when the boy wouldn't stop staring at her.
"Zerith, milady!" he politely answered and began placing the food on the table, sliding across the table. He didn't look old enough to be working in a tavern. He probably needed the money. It was the case parents fell ill or, worse, lost the battle with a disease, leaving the young behind to fend for themselves.
" Thank you, Zerith!" she fished for some coins in the pouch and pulled out one erid, and placed it into the palm of her hand.
Zerith smiled and bowed and took his leave but glanced over his shoulder one last time before disappearing behind one of the pillars.
The first one to taste the food was Ian, curious to see how it tasted, but he quickly regretted it and heavily swallowed the food that tasted more like mud. He was sure that the soil had more flavour.
" I'm sure my boot tastes better than this!" Dakran quipped and continued to eat, drowning it down with alcohol.
" Anything else tastes better than this!" Athan whined and followed Dakran's example, drowning the food with wine.
Iris took a mouthful " I've had worse!" she shrugged and continued eating. Everyone turned to her with questions.
" What? Not all the Southlands are abundant. So you eat what you can find!" she casually explained and pushed the empty plate to the middle of the table.
Ian chuckled. If Dakran turned his nose to the food on the plate, he could only imagine what kind of grit Iris had to eat when she had no choice but to survive. He dared not ask.
They finished the last of the alu, but most of the wine remained untouched, and they returned to the inn to settle for the night.
" We leave at first light!" Dakran said to everyone before they entered their rooms and walked into the room, followed by Maya with heavy steps. The fire burned brightly in the heath. The warm glow lit up the shabby-looking room, decorated with a bed, a table and the tub that sat close to the fire.
As the innkeeper had said to them before they left, the bath water was ready, and it was hot. Steam rose from the water, and the scent of the bath ander salts filled the air and his lungs.
" You bathe first !" he grumbled, taking his boots off and placing them at the door. He padded across the creaking wooden floor, unbuttoning his jacket and stopped at the foot of the bed.
Maya looked at him and then at the wooden tub in the middle of the room, not far away from the fire. There was no divider, nothing that she could put between them so she could bathe in peace.
" I think I'll pass. Feel free to wash. I'll go and wait outside!" Maya mumbled and turned on her heels, and opened the door.
In two long strides, Dakran reached the door and pushed to a close from behind her " I won't look! I promise!" he gave his word and kissed the crown of her head.
" I'm not comfortable washing with you in the room. Could you at least wait outside, please?" Maya shyly mumbled, her hand still on the doorknob, and Dakran threw his head back and looked up.
" I'll be outside this door. Let me know when you're done!" Dakran ground out, not exactly pleased that he was missing an opportunity to get closer to her.
Maya nodded and took her hand off the doorknob, and turned to him " Thank you !" she looked him in the eyes for a moment and slipped under his hand.
Dakran cursed and grumbled but left the room without saying anything more, closed the door and slumped against it with a thud.
In the very same corridor, not very far from a sulking Dakran, in one of the other rooms.
Ian took his clothes off and joined Iris in the tub. The steam rose from the water. He'd been on a horse for only a day and found the discomfort rather unpleasant.
He let out a sigh of contentment when he lowered himself into the hot water, feeling the warmth of the hot water seep into his bones and muscles, loosening all the knots, and Iris giggled.
" Had I known that riding a horse is such a pain in the ass, I would've walked!" he quipped with a smile and grabbed Iris's foot and began rubbing it.
Iris giggled " You can always walk from now on. No one is stopping you!" she challenged with a crooked smile. Ian already disliked the outside world, which only added to his grievances with the outside world. But she hoped that maybe he would eventually see that there was more to it.
Ian hummed " Good point. I will see you in a few moons!" he took the challenge head-on, still very much amused. His grin hadn't fallen off his lips.
Iris slapped him with the cloth in her hand" You wouldn't do that. Would you?" she asked, a little surprised at his answer.
Ian placed his arm on the edge of the rub, leaning into it" Try me!" he replied with a straight face, and Iris frowned and narrowed her eyes at him
" You jest!" she pointed her finger at him, pressing her foot against his chest.
Unable to keep a straight face any longer, " Maybe, Maybe not !" he chuckled and took her foot off his chest and kissed her toes.
Iris's frown smoothened, and her lips curled up in a smile. "It's not working!" she grumbled, dropping her foot back in the water and slumping against the tub.
Ian grumbled under his breath, grabbed her legs, and pulled her into his lap, straddling him. His cock brushed her folds, and she felt a zing of pleasure run through her belly. He circled her waist with one arm and palmed her mound with the other, licking the hard tip of her breast " You can always try and change my mind!' he raised his head to look at her, a wicked smile on his lips.
The wicked smile on his lips quickly fell, and he bit his lip. The fire in his eyes blazed but dulled.
" How can I change your mind?" she asked, grinning mischievously. He pulled her in for a passionate, fiery kiss, biting and sucking at her lips. When he pulled away, out of breath, peering at her from behind his lashes. He battled with himself and was clear as day on his face. Ian was easy to read.
" Surrender!" his hand resting on her neck, caressing her lip with his thumb. The plea in his voice was clear to her ears. There was something that bothered him. His wrinkled eyebrows and his eyes held a strange shine to them. One she hadn't seen before.
" Let go of everything. Be mine, be here with me. " Ian kissed her chin and took a deep breath hugging her waist " Since that day, a long shadow has been cast over us." his gaze lowered, and he kissed her shoulder. Her silence told him that she was listening " I long for those days when it was just you and I. Now, we are never alone. Even when it is just the two of us." he looked up at her. Iris closed her and placed her hands on his shoulders. She knew what he was speaking of, and she also knew it was true. What he was asking was close to impossible. Her thoughts drifted whether she liked it or not. Her beautiful eyes twinkled when she finally opened them and nodded in agreement.
" Maybe, one day will have that again!" she caressed his cheek, a tinge of sadness and longing in her voice. He was aware she missed those days just as much as he did. It wasn't much. They gave themselves to each other wholeheartedly. Nothing else mattered.