Slumming It

[Trillian]

(Reserved for Erebus)
 
He\'d already had a few drinks at the Scowling Boar, rubbing shoulders with the gentlemen that favoured the more distinguished tavern, eyeing the flounce of the ladies as they moved around within the building that was more a lodge than a drinking bar.
 
Problem was, they were boring. The ladies wouldn\'t openly flirt with him for fear of their reputation, and the men were too busy exchanging tales that were growing more outrageous by the minute. A few of them tried to include him in conversation, knowing he would be a powerful ally if they could gain his friendship, but his disinterest drew discontent and bitter insults that were whispered fand tittered over for lack of courage.
 
Petty squabbles and trite interests, these idiots in their fancy dress (whom he matched but conveniently overlooked this fact) were not worthy of his interest. At least not for tonight. Sometimes they amused him, some of them even won his respect, but right now he was in a darker mood, one that only raucous behaviour could settle.
 
He left the Scowling Boar and headed for the Falcon\'s Mask. The snow was light but the air was chill, though all he did was draw his coat string tighter, choosing not to hunch over against the wind for sake of appearances. He refused to scurry. Scurrying made a person look weak.
 
It was a long walk and cobbled roads turned into dirt beneath his feet as he left an area of good repute for one that was dangerous. He passed a couple of patrolling guards on their way, both who nodded to him and he acknowledged back the same way. He only recognised one of them, but that was fine for he didn\'t need to know them all by name to hold the kind of power he held.
 
Stamping his boots at the doorway of the inn to rid himself of some of the white powder that had gathered there, he shortly opened the door and moved inside to a room heated by a fire in an open stone-built fireplace. He sat himself against the side wall, far enough away to not be over-heated, but not so cold that he couldn\'t remove his coat and drape it over the back of the rough wooden chair he claimed. There were many people around him, some quiet with their drinks, others shouting in revelry, and still others having heated discussions at varying volumes. It was an interesting chaos.
 
Soon a woman would come to serve him, and he would be discovered as a fine customer. It had been a long while since he\'d graced this building with his presence, but easy coinage was usually remembered.

[Erebus]

Lord Dagger\'s would-be serving wench was having a heated debate with the owner of of Falcon\'s Mask Inn, also her second (or was it third?) cousin. It had started when she\'d leaned over to retrieve a tankard that had conveniently been shoved off a table as she passed. An unwelcome hand had lifted her brown skirts and she\'d gritted her teeth before politely rapping the empty container over the man\'s head. "Don\'t touch me, you lousy swag-bellied idiot."
 
The other patrons had a good laugh as the man muttered and fruitlessly tried to prevent her from whapping him once more before she slammed the tankard down and stormed off to the kitchens. Every night she had to reassert herself to the patrons. No matter how many men she shoved away and lashed out at, there was always another that would have a go at her.
 
She tugged at the leather thong holding back her sad excuse for a luxurious mane of hair and was in the process of pulling it back up when Balkan confronted her about her "heathen" actions. Keely carefully gathered the last strands of her black hair and tied it off with more force than was needed. "Don\'t you talk to me about heathen actions when you stand back here and laugh when they paw at me."
 
Balkan had sniffed and pointed to the main room. She rolled her eyes and didn\'t move. He pointed again, this time growling. The girl smiled sweetly and tossed the end of her ponytail as she brushed by him and called out for her mother. Before the aging woman had time to lift her head from the dough she was pounding into submission, Balkan had grabbed her wrist and shoved her toward the doorway. "Go. You want a place to put that pretty head of yours tonight?"
 
She stiffened and jerked her hand away from the innkeeper\'s. "Fine. Fine." Eyes narrowed and cheeks splotched red in her anger, she skirted around the room\'s edge, aiming for the newest face in the crowd without really seeing the rest of him.
 
"Can I help you?" The way she\'d clipped her words had been only a little better than a growled, \'What do you want?\' Then she tried a smile that looked more like an involuntary twitch of her eyes and cheek muscles while tapping her foot.
 
Surely the Lord didn’t receive good service like this anywhere else.

[Trillian]

Because he was looking the other way on her approach, all he did was turn his head to find himself looking at a bosom that was covered by ill-fitting clothes.  Not needing a reason to lift his gaze further (at risk of ruining the pleasant view), he talked to her breasts instead.
 
"Jug of ale, and an extra copper for you if you get straight to it," and not serve other customers on the way, his tone implied but the words needed not be said.  He went back to his eavesdropping a business matter being discussed at the next table.
 
Flirting would come a little later, for the two men had mentioned a successful merchant\'s name, one that Dagger had his own dealings with.

[Erebus]

The splotches returned as she followed his gaze and her fists clenched at her sides. One extra copper? No, she deserved two for the humiliation he\'d caused by reminding her of what exactly she had on. Damn her cousin for not putting on some weight, damn her.

She nodded brusquely and retreated from his side while considering what harm a few cakes would do to a body. Would a habit be formed quickly? Keely had decided that, yes, it would, and Melinda could surely afford a few extra lumps by the time she reached the bar and retrieved the requested jug of ale.

Ignoring several pointed stares and lifted mugs demanding to be filled, she returned to the man and with a restrained hand, eased the container onto his table. "Anything to eat? There\'s the usual. Bread and meat, if you want. Both fresh."

[Trillian]

Two coppers were what she ended up getting for the speed and service offered, plus her tone was a great deal more civil now, and the jug had been filled generously to the top. It was nothing to him, and he figured it would be a great deal to her, and with a body like that he wanted to have her on side.
 
An appreciative look was taken now, from her feet up to her waist, lingering on her breasts again for a long moment, and then travelling up to look at her face. The flirtatious comment that was about to drip off his tongue as he handed her the coins was choked back when he saw her face.
 
Her eyes, especially. They were his. She looked like she could be his sister, but not only was there an obvious age difference between them it was more likely that she was his daughter other than an unknown sibling. He was so stunned that all he could do now was silently stare at the face he\'d ignored in favour of a bosom. The expression on his own face was unmasked for once, and the question she\'d asked was left unanswered.

[Erebus]

Her nose had flared and she’d forced herself to remain still as the man “inspected the goods”. He hadn’t touched her, for that she was thankful, but the eyes raking across her body were almost as bad.
 
When she’d snatched the coins from him before he could rethink the offer, she was able to concentrate on tucking the cool metal away – not on where he was looking. But as she smoothed her apron, patting the round discs in her front pocket reassuringly, she noticed his gaze was resting on something a little less demeaning.
 
Keely reached up to rub her cheeks and mouth, thinking there was something foul hanging off her face, and then frowned when he continued to stare. If something had been there, it would have been removed with her insistent scrubbing.
 
She cleared her throat and then waggled her fingers in front of the other’s face. “We’re not making plans for saving orphaned children mister, just answer the question. Bread and meat or no?”

[Trillian]

Any appetite he might\'ve had was lost upon the impact of seeing her face.  He shook his head, but before she could escape him he found his voice to make an odd request.
 
"Does your mother work here as well?" he asked, and the possibility was in his favour, for he knew of the innkeeper\'s nepatism, and most children followed in their parent\'s employment, usually whether they liked it or not (and this one seemed not too fond of her duties).

[Erebus]

Eyes darting to the bar and kitchen beyond it, Keely nodded. “Mama? She’s here.” She smoothed her skirts and abruptly slid into the chair across from him.
 
“If you’ve been here before and had the meat and bread don’t you dare go complaining about it.” Her mother wasn’t the best cook. Everyone knew about it, but few complained. When they did, however, Balkan always had harsh words for her. Keely couldn’t bear spending another night reassuring her mother that no, the bread didn’t taste like ash, and the meat was always free of fat and a delight to eat.
 
“Take it up with me, I’ll tell Balkan.” Her eyes told a different story, no matter how well she schooled her features into polite interest – she’d forget about his grievances long before she found the innkeeper.

[Trillian]

"So your mother is the cook," Dagger confirmed, and the idea that maybe this young woman was his daughter began to show some doubt.  He didn\'t know of any cooks he\'d flirted with, for he did not hang around in kitchens.  If her mother had been a serving wench, however, that made this family scenario all the more likely.  "She doesn\'t help out here at all, does she?"
 
He was looking more shrewd now, and the idea that this girl might be his daughter was ensuring the behaviour of his gaze.  He was exploring her face for similarities, and he could see some but none were as prominent as her eyes.  Uncommon colour, uncommon shape.

[Erebus]

She breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t whine about breaking a tooth after biting into a chunk of bread. One less thing she had to worry about. Her mother would go to sleep with sore eyes from the fire in the kitchen and aching feet from standing hours on end, but she wouldn’t doubt herself.
 
The girl tilted her head to the side and picked at the rough tabletop with a jagged fingernail. “My mind works better when coated in silver,” she said with the utmost seriousness and wide, innocent eyes.

[Trillian]

Dagger had been extorted in this manner before, and usually that won the blade of his namesake at their throat (man or woman) with a warning for them to understand who they were dealing with.  This time, however, he gave a light smile and muttered: "Cheek."
 
The silver was pulled from his pouch regardless, and with his elbow resting on the table between them, he slid the coin over the knuckles of his hand, back and forth.  If she reached for it, he would hide it in his fist, otherwise the playful movement would continue.
 
"Has she ever worked here as a serving maid?" he asked, for he\'d been coming here for years and most certainly before this girl was born - not a frequent customer by any means, but returning enough to know the place well.  Problem was, he usually left when drunk, so faces were not something he remembered, nor paid as much attention to.  "And what would her name be?"

[Erebus]

Scowling, because she knew the coin would not be hers until she gave a proper answer, Keely wondered why this piece of information was worth an entire silver. Not her business, she chided herself. Curiosity when it wasn’t wanted usually meant she’d be nursing bruises for a few weeks.
 
She stopped her attack upon the table and clasped her hands in front of her, expression guarded. “She did until a few years ago. Back gives her too much trouble now. Healer said something about her joints swelling up too.”
 
Her mother worked for a room and food for both herself and her daughter. All Keely’s earnings were spent on tonics and herbs that rarely worked. They couldn\'t afford for either of them to quit their job at the Inn. “Name is Regan.” And then she held her hand out, gesturing with the tips of her fingers that she wanted to play with the coin now.

[Trillian]

He didn\'t know the name at all.  He didn\'t know why he thought he would, but the deal had been struck and the girl had earned her silver.  It was a lot to give for a little painless information however, and he believed he could call its price for a few more questions.
 
He held it out for her to take, but his firm on it was fast and she likely wouldn\'t be able to pry it from his fingers for he was a swordsman.
 
"I remember Regan from this inn, we were friends a while back."  The first part of this claim was untrue, but the latter might be very honest if his line of thought was correct.  "I would like to reacquaint myself with your mother, just a short meeting, out here if you like - or if you can\'t get her away from her job, after the inn\'s last round is called would be fine as well."
 
He would drop the coin onto the table and move his hand away after his statement.

[Erebus]

Keely’s eyes narrowed as she thought that over.  What harm would come from a reunion between old friends?  Even if he wasn’t who he said he was, they were in the Inn, and could bustle away if any threats were made to inflict bodily harm.  

She nodded as her decision was made and picked the coin up carefully.  To her credit, she didn’t bite the edge to make sure it was silver – not in front of the man.  He was dressed nobly enough, but that didn’t mean he had real coin to waste on people like her.  

“I’ll see her now so we can get back to work.”  The look of disdain she shot the patrons as she stood up made her seem very enthusiastic about it.  Grabbing a few empty drinks before she went past the bar, she appeared busy enough that Balkan only eyed her suspiciously whenever she darted into the kitchen – leaving the empty tankards on the counter – and tugged at her mother’s apron like an impatient child.  

The young woman quickly explained what was going on.  Her mother, more interested in appeasing her child than dragging herself into a meeting with an unknown man, agreed after pulling bread from the fires.  Keely grabbed the recently filled drinks and distributed them among the crowd before taking her mother’s hand and leading her to the silver giving man.  

The image she would present Dagger would not be one he was familiar with.  Once beautiful features were lined from working hard all her life and recent, but already well-known pain.  Her body - previously firm and much like her daughters in proportion, held more curves than they should have and her back was bowed.

Regan hurt, but she still held her head high as she inspected him.  Recognition was quick, even though Dagger was older as well, she would have a hard time not recognizing him.

Her blue gaze lowered as she tried to coerce her already graying hair back into its bun. The commoner’s life did not allow for many to age well. When she calmed her hair, Regan regarded Keely’s interested stare with a sigh and then pointedly elbowed her daughter’s side.  She yelped and then muttered.  They weren’t going to let her listen.  

With a wicked glint to her eye, she did go back to work, but she stayed nearby.  Keely couldn’t hear everything that was said, but she could watch.  “Keely said something about an old friend,” she began, lips twisting in worry, “but I did not expect to see…”  Her words wavered and then she frowned.  “What do you want with me, sir?  I have bread that needs to be tended to.”

[Trillian]

He did not recognise her, but a brief fling would not have retained itself in his memory, especially had he been inebriated during their time together.  He\'d slept with many a serving wench, not only from this place, and no doubt he had children running about the castle (or out of it) that belonged to his bloodline.  Nobody had claimed their child to be his however, and that was a relief.  He hadn\'t wanted to be around a squalling child.
 
This, however, made him realise that he wouldn\'t have minded someone to share his heritage with.  He\'d mostly believed the girl to be his daughter even before he\'d met the mother, but her expression upon seeing him confirmed it.  She knew him, though she pretended not to - for a reason unknown to him.  Extortion was handy at this point, certainly the motivation for coinage was obvious.  But still she held fast onto her morals, and he simply had to ask, even though he already knew.
 
"Is she mine?"
 
Blunt as always.