Bob The Innkeeper

"Did you hear the king arrived?" he asked, sitting at the bar and glancing around the inn.

"I did," said Bob, setting his dad"s favorite drink down in front of him.

Hector raised an eyebrow as he lifted it up. "A Lucky Coin? How… no, never mind."

He sipped from the gla.s.s and sighed in delight. "It even has the hint of apples! This is a halfling drink, how did you learn it?"

"Dad, I told you I took lessons. I know how to make a lot of different drinks now. How did you enjoy the talk with the king?"

Hector sobered up and glanced at his son startled. Leaning forward he said, "How do you know I"ve already met with him? That was a secret meeting!"

"I a.s.sumed you had met with him, when you asked if I knew he had arrived," said Bob, laughing and making it seem like his father had just given the secret away, rather than that he knew they had spoken over a bottle of wine.

His father sat back, looking at his gla.s.s thoughtfully, before nodding. "You will make an excellent barkeep. Just don"t get in trouble. There"s a lot of people who won"t like the thought of you knowing things."

"I know dad, don"t worry. I"m making all sorts of friends, and some of those friends have magic. I"ll be fine. I"m just curious how everything is going. Did you know that a temple appeared next to my inn overnight? I think someone used magic to build it, though the cleric is claiming her G.o.d built it for her."

Hector nodded and took another drink from his gla.s.s. "I saw it was there. The king heard of it, and is going to come see you today. I"m just not sure when. You"ll need to serve him something spectacular. I believe he"s also bringing word of what he and the City Lord have decided to do with all of this mess Clark made."

Bob raised an eyebrow. "That would be good, for the mess to get cleaned up, but what"s going to happen to Clark?"

His dad looked uncomfortable with the question, and Bob knew why, but he had to play along so no one knew about his new abilities.

"I don"t want to give anything away, so you"ll have to hear it from the king himself."
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Bob nodded and smiled at his dad. "Have you managed to get the cleanup started on your stores?"

His father threw back the rest of his drink, then winced, despite the pleasant aftertaste it should have had, giving Bob a hard look. "I have someone lined up to get it cleared up. It will probably take a week or more for each site to be clean enough before they can start rebuilding. Lord Winston has agreed to drop all your aunt"s debt, because he decided he had a better source for ingredients. Apparently, someone named Fred met with him yesterday and made a deal with him."

Bob nodded, already knowing all of this, but he also knew his father needed to vent his frustration.

"All of the charges against Vivian have been dropped, but she requested permission to stay on working at the store. I told her I didn"t have a problem with that. Did you know Lord Winston"s oldest daughter was arrested?"

"I heard about that. Has the charges against her been released yet?"

"I"m not sure. The king may mention it when he stops by. Clark had a motion he was trying to push through where, if you didn"t have a store or a stall, you couldn"t sell anything. Needless to say, it didn"t go through."

"That"s good. A lot of the poor people would be harmed by that, and wouldn"t really bother the merchants who actually have money. Why would anyone try and do something like that?"

"I don"t know, but it never got past the clerks office. The City Lord arrived just in time to say no."

Bob laughed. "Not just no, but, NO."

"Exactly. Well, son, that drink was just what I was wanting. In fact, I think it was better than the one I get at the other bar. I think I might just drink here from now on."

"That wouldn"t have anything to do with the fact that you are sleeping next door, and I"m your son? Right?"

"Not at all," his father said softly, turning in his chair and heading towards the door.

Bob watched him, knowing that he was still sore about losing the house and his two people to the fire. Their loss had hurt, but Bob hadn"t had a moment to process it yet. He was just kind of numb, which was a relief. After his mom had died, the pain made him almost wish he had died, too.

After serving several other people, a royal servant stepped through the door, looking around in obvious disgust.

"Here ye! Here ye! All kneel for his Royal Highness, King Reginald!" he said in a loud, clear voice that traveled to every corner of the room.

Royal guards began to stream into the room, forming a wall to protect the king as he stepped inside. Bob kneeled quickly, trying to keep his eyes above the counter, but he just hadn"t grown enough to pull it off. He wondered what the king thought as he approached the bar with a tuft of brown hair sticking up over the edge.

"You may all stand," chuckled the king as he took the seat his father had just vacated not too long ago.

Bob hurried to his feet and approached the king, making it clear to the guards that were watching him like hawks, that he had nothing in his hands.

"I hear that you make some excellent drinks. I would be delighted if you made something for me?" said the king, obviously amused by the look on Bob"s face.

"Of course, Your Majesty. You didn"t have to come all this way, just to have me serve you!"

"A little whisper told me it was your birthday, and I know how troublesome it can be to leave when you have a business to run."

Wiping the sweat that just appeared on his brow with a rag, he nodded and turned to the menagerie of liquids on the shelf behind him. He knew what the kings favorite drink was, but it was a very complicated mixture, and he didn"t have some of the ingredients. Thankfully, he was sure he could subst.i.tute better things for the missing ones. Setting it down in front of the king, he watched as the king pa.s.sed his hand over it then nodded to himself.

"A Storm Ale? I"m surprised you know the recipe for this. It"s supposed to be a royal secret," he smiled as Bob paled and picked up the gla.s.s. Taking a sip, he swished it around in his mouth for a moment before swallowing.

"That wasn"t a Storm Ale, but it"s very close. What do you call it?"

"The Tempest, Your Majesty," he said quickly, making it up on the fly.

The king drained his cup, setting it down with a sigh. "That is the best mug of ale I"ve ever had. I wish you had a bar in the capital, I would visit it every day!"

Bob got a strange look on his face then nodded to himself. "I might be able to do that."

The king laughed again and said, "I have some news to share with you, if you would be willing to make me another of those Tempest drinks."

Bob nodded and took his gla.s.s to repeat what he had just done.

"I was informed by your City Lord that Lord Richmond was making life for you and your father a bit difficult the past couple of months. However, it was discovered that Lord Clark has been dead since the beginning of the plague you suffered from over the summer."

Bob froze his movements and then went back to making the drink. "How is that possible, if you don"t mind me asking?"

"Lord Winston"s daughter created a homunculus of him, and was having it do all of the deeds that was causing you and your father trouble. Apparently, your mother had talked with Lord Winston"s wife about you marrying their eldest daughter, Lily, but died before the decision was finalized, and your father refused to uphold it. The girl seemed to think that you were the one who turned her down, and concocted this whole mess in revenge."

"What"s to happen to her?" asked Bob setting the finished drink before the king.

He waved his hand over it again before picking up. "She"s to be tried as a witch. The paladins traveling with me will try her tomorrow."

Bob nodded. He doubted the paladins would drink while making their decision, but he hoped to find out before everyone else, her punishment, using his new abilities.

"Is there a specific difference in trying her as a witch versus any other way?" asked Bob, wiping the counter down where he spilled a little of one of the alcohols.

"They have a lot of different ways of deciding if she"s a witch or not, but usually they just use a spell. It used to be much more creative."

"Didn"t they used to do a float test and stuff like that?" asked Bob.

"Yeah, and normally just being a witch wouldn"t dictate a death sentence, otherwise we would probably lose half our population of women. The main thing they are going to try her for is how evil she is. If it comes back that she"s truly evil, then she will probably be put to death."

"If Your Majesty would be willing to allocate me a location in the capital, I would be more than happy to have a bar placed there, for your enjoyment," said Bob taking the empty gla.s.s.

"I think I might just do that. It has been wonderful visiting with you," said the king, moving to stand up as Trudy rushed out of the kitchen.

"Your Majesty!" Bob said quickly. "I had my kitchen staff preparing a special meal for your visit, and it has just finished. Would you like to have it now, or would you like to have it prepared to go with you?"

He turned back as Trudy set the platter down in front of him. There was venison and vegetables on one side, with fresh bread and cookies on the other side. A thick rich gravy was poured all over the meat and vegetables, giving off a delicious aroma.

"I think this would be better, if eaten while warm," the king chuckled picking up his fork.