'Charm'-ing Conversation

[Chezak D'Maroe]

Chezak touched Maeve's elbow, guiding her down the path from the exit to Benjamin's underground hideout to the main street, not far from the water tower. He turned her down the main path, mingling with the small crowd moving up and down the street. Farmers who had come into town to sell their wares sat in wagons pulled by one, two or four horses, heading towards the farms outside of Marn. Workers who worked the farms strode back into town singly and in pairs, sometimes in small groups. Gossip passed from many lips, always centered around magic and the strange things a 'friend of a friend" heard from a reliable source. For a city that tried to ignore and oppress those with magic, it seemed like that was all that could be heard from the citizenry.

Of course, everyone needed something to talk about, and assassins, werewolves, battlemages and big, blue furballs on the city guard was enough for anyone.

Chezak again reached up to touch Maeve's elbow, guiding the tired woman from the larger press of the crowd off to the side. They were approaching an inn he had stayed at on previous occasions in Marn, one where he knew the owner well enough to trust him to keep quiet about anything untoward that may happen. He hoped nothing would.

The Content Merchant, as the name on the inn said, was a well built building, with foundation of concrete and sturdy wood construction. It was white-washed on the outside, possibly in an attempt to imitate the Justice Hall. Chezak stopped at the door, pulling it open and standing aside to allow Maeve to enter first. As she passed, he pointed towards the back and a long desk behind which stood a tall man with graying hair. He was rail thin and stood a good foot taller than even Chezak.

"That's Themas, he'll get us a room," he said, following her inside.

[Chezak D'Maroe]

Maeve went up to the bartender, who looked her over quickly, his eyes glazing over with lust. Chezak slapped a hand on the table with several bishan, drawing Themas' attention from the woman to the elf.

Chezak smiled as he indicated Maeve and himself. "We'll be needing a room for the night, Themas. The extra bishan there should pay for one of the waitresses to bring us a drink to our rooms."

Themas nodded as he looked between the two of them, then shrugged. "Soun's good ta me." He bent and pulled a key from a drawer with a number on it, the same number etched on the key as well. "This'll be yer room. I 'spose ya know yer way 'round well 'nough now, hey?" He winked at Chezak before turning to another customer further down the bar.

Chezak led Maeve, who was strangely silent and looking almost like she were asleep on her feet, up a flight of stairs and to a room near the back of the inn. It was quieter here, far from the ruckus downstairs, and Chezak used the key to open the deadbolt on the door. He pushed the door opened and indicated that Maeve should precede him.

When the woman entered, she immediately went over to the bed and lay down. She was asleep before the drinks came.

Chezak remained up for some time, watching her. He was unsure why he was strangely fascinated by this woman, but he knew that he wanted to find out. Something about the aura around the woman, quite aside from the magic she used to enhance her natural charms, enthralled him. Sipping at his glass of red wine, he watched the rise and fall of her breast as she breathed steadily in sleep.

Chezak woke with a start. He glanced around and blinked rapidly, his tired mind trying to comprehend the murky sunlight that poked through the shades on the window. His gaze quickly went to the bed, where he saw only rumpled sheets.

He turned quickly, surveying the rest of the room as his mind caught up with his eyes. Maeve was gone. He found nothing to indicate where she went, and when he didn't find her in the private wash closet, he went downstairs. Themas wasn't up, but his wife, a rotund, smiling woman named April who had probably been extremely handsome when she were younger and thinner, was behind the bar, overseeing the feeding of the few customers who were up this early.

Chezak went up to her and smiled half-heartedly, cutting off her greeting as he quickly described Maeve and asked if the woman had seen her leave. April looked him up and down a moment, a frown forming in her normally smooth brow as she pursed her lips in thought.

"Can't says as I 'member one lookin' like that comin' through. Been awful quiet in here so far s'mornin', Chez, so I think I'd 'member. What'd she do t'ya?"

Chezak shrugged as he turned away from her, deflecting the question. April, familiar with the elf's odd ways, took it in stride and moved on to yell into the kitchen doorway for someone to move faster. Chezak popped his head out the doorway to the street, glancing first one way then the next before deciding it wasn't worth it.

He trudged back inside and up to their shared room. It had only been a single day, but he couldn't get the infatuating warrior-woman out of his head. He lay on the bed she had slept in not long before, and fell asleep to haunting visions of Maeve's face.

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