"I need a room."
The old man looked at her and then to her sides. "Alone? No woman?"
Oriana was too exhausted to be social. "Does it matter?"
The old man yawned, showing broken yellow teeth. "Twenty coppers a night."
As soon as Oriana paid, the old man pulled out a key and handed it to him. "Upstairs, the last room on the left."
Oriana picked the key and immediately heard the innkeeper say, "If you need food or alcohol, tell my grandson." He signaled towards the young boy carrying alcohol to one table.
"Do you have water?"
The innkeeper almost choked, but answered, "One copper."
"Thank you."
After satisfying her thirst, Oriana went to her assigned room, locked it from the inside, put her bag on the table, and only then could she breathe in relief.
She lay on her stomach on the small but clean bed and closed her eyes.
