The Drowned Mermaid had not existed when Aella was younger, there had been two houses where the bar now stood. In fact, as Aella gazed across the street at it, she could see the two houses overlaid with the bar…That meant the bar was magical? Now she really needed to check it out.
Stepping out from the cover of the alley, she felt eyes watching her as she crossed the street, but they didn"t feel hostile, like they had in the capital. Pushing the door open, she stepped into the dim interior and looked around. Once she was inside the bar, the magical aspect disappeared. It was almost as if someone had used magic to put the bar there, instead of having the houses torn down to build it.
A handful of demons were sitting around tables, making small chat while they ate what looked like stew and bread. Several sat at the bar, nursing their drinks before heading home. The bartender was a short fat demon, but as she studied him a bit more, she realized he wasn"t actually a demon. There was a slight haze over him, just like the bar outside had.
"Good evening. Welcome to my bar, the Drowned Mermaid. Would you like a bowl of stew?" asked the bartender, giving her a big grin.
"No, thank you," she said, remembering why she was there, and turned to look for the military messenger.
"If you"re looking for the messenger that just came in, he headed up the stairs to room 3," said the bartender with a nod to some stairs on his right.
Turning left, Aella took the stairs a couple at a time, and spied the door to room 3 shutting. Moving to the door, she listened as the occupants spoke. Thanks to her Hero of Air, her hearing was able to be greatly enhanced.
"I have a report on the Heroes, commander. They were spotted a mile to the north of here, approaching the area where the latest monsters were at."
"Have you notified anyone else of this?"
"No. I came to you as soon as I found out, as ordered, sir."
"Good. Tell no one they are fighting monsters. If asked, you know they were spotted near here, but you don"t know where."
"Yes, sir."
"Has the royal messenger returned for an update yet?"
"One left earlier today, but we haven"t seen a new one to replace him. There should be one arriving at some point in the night. The Advisory Council has made it clear they want constant updates on the Heroes locations."
"When you see him, send him to me. I will be notifying him of all updates from now on. Now that General Brimsey has been positioned to the northern troops dealing with those griffons, I will be in command. Make sure Commander Chud is informed of my newest promotion."
"Of course, sir."
Aella stepped back and turned her back to the door, making it seem like she was drunk, leaning on the wall, as the messenger left the room. She threw in a few upchuck noises, when he paused to glance her way. The sounds sent him hurrying away.
As soon as he was gone, she turned back to the door.
*Knock* *Knock*
"Come in," came the same voice of the commander.
Aella opened the door, and kept her hood covering her face as she stepped inside and shut the door behind her.
"What is it? Who are you?" asked the demon, sitting at a table, pouring over notes that were scattered over the table.
"I was sent by the king," she began, but he jumped in, interrupting her.
"Ah, good. Inform the council that I have successfully taken command here in the town of Posh, and have sent General Brimsey north to deal with the griffon issue. We"ve had several sightings of rogue monsters popping up all along the border, though we"re not sure where they"re coming from. We don"t have enough troops to handle all of them, but there"s so few towns left along the border, I don"t think it will cause too many casualties. The Heroes were spotted a mile from here, so I intend to send troops to encourage them to head towards the palace. I"m not sure why they keep getting sidetracked, but a.s.sure the council I am doing everything in my power to move them along. The sooner we get the king issue taken care of, the better."
Aella nodded, realizing he didn"t catch that she was from the king, rather than the council.
"Why have you not dealt with the monsters with your troops, instead of having the heroes deal with them? If there were no monsters to distract them, don"t you think that would work better than losing troops to the heroes?"
He looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "Is this a question from the council? I can have you killed for questioning a superior!"
"I apologize, sir, but they asked me this question before I left. I need to have an answer this time, or they will question your authority."
He didn"t look like he believed her, but there was a hint of fear to his features as he turned back to the table full of doc.u.ments.
"Remind them that my people don"t get extra food sent to their wives if they die to monsters, only to the Heroes."
Aella paused at that, surprise and anger fighting for control, but she had too much experience hiding her emotions to let this demon see the struggle.
"Yes, sir," she finally managed, before turning to leave. The council had a lot to answer for, once she returned and saw them the next day. It would be interesting to see what their reports to her were.
As she left him, and headed down the stairs, the bartender waved her over.
"I thought you might like a drink before you have to head out," he said, sliding a small gla.s.s filled with a ruby-colored drink over to her.
As she went to pick up the gla.s.s, she noticed a shimmer slide over the two of them.
"So, you can see magical effects. That"s a handy ability. Best to keep it secret," said the bartender, picking up a gla.s.s to polish.
Her hand froze halfway to her mouth as she glanced at the demon closest to them.
"Oh, he can"t hear us with the Sound Wall I just erected around us. Oh, and I heard the first king was wanting to say hi. Give him this, for me, and tell him that things will get better."
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She set her gla.s.s down, undrunk, and took the vial he was holding out.
"So, you"re Bob?" she asked, everything making sense. This person must be pretty impressive to be friends with the first king. "How are you still alive?"
"Some secrets I can"t give away for free, and that would be one of them. Don"t ask how much it costs, either, because you won"t be able to pay," he said with a smile.
Placing the vial in her pocket, she picked up the red drink again and took a sip. The flavor exploded on her tongue and she gasped.
"That"s delicious!" she cried, taking another sip. It was too precious to waste, and would be consumed by the tiniest increments, until the gla.s.s was empty. "What is it?" she whispered, looking up at this G.o.d of a bartender.
He only chuckled and shook his head. "It"s a simple mix I named the Demon King. Don"t worry, it costs a gold per gla.s.s, but I have to limit you to one gla.s.s per visit. Otherwise you would get addicted and do nothing but drink."
She nodded in agreement, looking back down to the small gla.s.s and licking her lips for one last taste of the fantastic liquid.
"Any chance you might be opening a bar in the capital?" she asked hopefully.
"Sorry, the people up there can"t afford to visit my bar, and the n.o.bles would demand I cater only to them. I"m sure I"ll see you often, anyways," Bob chuckled.
"I have some heroes to find, but you are right. I will definitely be back!"
As she left the shimmer around the two of them, to head towards the door, a royal messenger entered and headed for the stairs. She contemplated warning him, or even following him to listen in, but decided against it. She had what information she wanted for the moment, and would deal with the corruption of the counsel when she returned later.
Turning north, Aella made her way along the dark streets, avoiding the occasional slumped figure, sleeping on the streets. Why would they sleep there, when there were empty houses for them to sleep in? She would have to ask someone about it later. The state of the kingdom was getting worse, the more she investigated it. Only intense, continual corruption could cause this. The biggest question on her mind was, why hadn"t the human armies taken out the demon kingdom yet?