Chapter 336: Drinks 2

Lor leaned left. The mug bounced once and clattered across the floor.

Foam spread on the wood. A few people at nearby tables looked over.

One man snorted. Another shook his head and went back to his drink.

This was a tavern.

Things got thrown sometimes.

Lor straightened up and looked back at Kuri. A small amount of foam sat on his right shoulder.

"Glad you didn’t catch a cold," he said. "Forest floor is damp this time of year."

Kuri’s jaw tightened. The red bruise along the side of her face shifted.

"You," she said.

"Me," Lor agreed.

"You left me." Her voice had gone flat and precise. The earlier looseness from the drink was gone. "Naked. In the forest. With squirrels."

"They were very small squirrels."

"You took my clothes."

"They smelled nice."

"I had to crawl through the ditch behind the east wall." She pointed at him with one finger. "Because of you. There was something in that ditch. I don’t know what it was. It touched my foot."

"You should have taken a better look at it."

"Shut your mouth."

Lor closed his mouth. He opened it again immediately.

"How was the walk back overall, aside from the ditch? Was it exciting? Got you wet?"

Kuri stared at him for half a second. Then the words came out fast and hard.

"You smug, lying little shit. You absolute fucking rat-faced...."

She stopped only when she ran out of air.

Lor listened to all of it without interrupting. His face stayed attentive. He did not smile. He did not look away.

When she finished he looked at Ameth.

"How long has she been here?"

"You! Don’t ignore me."

"A while," Ameth said.

"How are you here," Kuri said. The sharpness had not left her voice.

"The princess had you. She wanted you. She should have—" She stopped. "She should have tortured you. And then killed you. And maybe let me watch as your last breath as you begged..."

Lor looked at her.

Kuri looked back.

"What!?"

He reached across the table and squeezed her left breast through the short black top.

Kuri flinched back hard.

The back of her thighs hit the chair.

The chair skidded. It caught the edge of the table behind it and went out from under her. She hit the floor.

The mug of beer, which had been sitting near the edge of the table, tipped over and came down on top of her.

Its contents spilled across her chest and face.

She lay on the floor of the tavern.

Wet. Looking at the ceiling.

The mug rested on her stomach. Beer soaked the short black top. The fabric clung tighter to her breasts. The outline of her nipples showed through the wet cloth.

Liquid ran down the side of her neck and into the collar of the top.

The bare strip of her midriff was wet now.

The fitted pants darkened at the waist where the drink had reached them.

Her short dark hair stuck to her temples.

Lor looked down at her over the edge of the table. He rested his chin in one hand and laughed.

The laugh started in his chest and did not try to stay quiet.

A few people at nearby tables glanced over again. One man chuckled and then turned back to his own drink.

Ameth looked at Kuri on the floor. Then at Lor. Then back at Kuri.

"The princess," Ameth said. Her voice stayed flat. "What happened."

Lor straightened up. He was still smiling. He looked at her.

"I met her," he said. "We talked. She said we will meet again.." He paused.

"That’s about it."

"That’s it?"

"She didn’t say why she called me in the first place. And she didn’t explain why she wants to meet again." He shrugged.

"So I don’t know more than you do."

From the floor, Kuri made a sound.

"She should have killed you," Kuri said, to the ceiling. Beer dripped off her chin. The wet top clung to the shape of her breasts. One nipple showed more clearly through the soaked fabric.

Lor looked at her. He appeared to consider saying something. Then he appeared to decide against it.

He looked at Ameth instead.

"Are you going to order anything?" he asked. "You have a very large pouch there."

Ameth pulled the pouch further into her lap.

Lor smiled.

_

They walked out together.

The night air hit colder than the heat inside the tavern.

The smell of woodsmoke and ale stayed behind the closed door. Outside it was cold stone and the quiet sounds of the town settling for the evening.

A cart rolled somewhere two streets over. A dog barked once and then stopped. The tavern door swung shut behind them.

The fish on the sign above the entrance creaked once in the breeze and hung still.

The three of them stood on the cobblestones for a moment. No one moved in any particular direction.

Kuri had her arms crossed tight over her chest. She was still damp from the beer.

The short black top clung to her skin where the liquid had soaked through.

Ameth had paid only Lor’s bill.

When the barkeep brought the total, Kuri had made a short, sharp sound and then paid for her own drinks with visible displeasure.

She had muttered under her breath while she counted the coins. Ameth had not reacted.

Lor was looking at Ameth.

"My commission," he asked her out of the blue.

Ameth looked at him. She understood immediately. The vegetable stall. The arrangement they had made. The share of the profit.

She reached into her jacket and took out a single gold coin. She held it between two fingers so the lamplight from the tavern window caught it clearly.

"I have a deal for you, Lor. One gold coin now. No commission for two weeks."

Lor looked at the coin.

He knew the stall’s numbers. With the way it had been running lately he could clear a gold coin’s worth of commission in four or five days. Ameth was trying to come out ahead. He did not argue. He did not bargain.

"Gold coin," he said. "I am fine with it. But..."