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“It’s bigger than this?” I didn’t see how anything could be bigger than this…
Da just smiled, nodded, and pulled his horse into a trot, guiding us down another main road and closer to the center of town.
One turn, and everything had changed. The houses were more ornate, the cobbled streets smoother, the flickering fire lanterns mutating into something more golden, a faint buzzing coming from each one.
I stared at it, my eyes aching with the burn of its glow.
“What is that?” I asked, trying to figure it out. It wasn’t fire.
“Electic Bulb, or I think that’s what it’s called. I’ve only heard tale of them before.” Even he was staring at them with awe. “Hop down from there, we’ll walk from here. Stick close to me.”
I did as he said, leading my horse with me as we worked through the crowd and toward a large brown stone building that seemed to have more people inside of it than where on the streets, if that was possible.
“That’s the Dragon Fang inn.” Da pointed to the three story building just as someone jumped through an open window, two more rushing through the door that was big enough for a wagon to roll through. The place truly was bursting at the seams.
“Hopefully, they have a room.” Da mumbled that more to himself than to me.
I was thinking the same thing. We might have to turn into worms if we want to find a way to squish ourselves inside.
Which I would gladly do. Hordes of people or no, a place with the name ‘The Dragon Fang’ was sure to have dragons.
I was still staring at the massive doors as I followed Da to the inn's stable, we had barely entered when a boy not much younger than me came over, happy to grab our horses for us.
I was still staring at the door, my heart pounding in my chest as a deep booming voice echoed over the din of noise. I couldn’t make out what it was saying, but I didn’t care. There was something about it… something that was calling me.
Hands on my hood, I was ready to pull it down and rush in there. Run into his arms and beg him to take me and fly away–
“Rayna.” I jumped to the sky as Da’s wide hand landed on my shoulder. “This way.”
I took a step toward the door, but Da wasn’t talking about that. Da was talking about the side door tucked into the stable.
Can your heart break because you weren’t going through the right door? I guess it could, either that or I had been accidentally stabbed. I checked my chest, if only because the stable boy was now gawking at me, all freckled and snaggle toothed.
“Rayna,” Da hissed, practically pulling me toward the door now. “Hood.”
Shit.
He had said to hide my hair, and I had, but one large clump of hair had come loose. So much for keeping me hidden here. Except that boy didn’t seem as scared as Da had told me he would be. He seemed in awe.
I took one last look at his open mouthed stare before Da pulled me through the door, and snapped the heavy wooden panel behind us.
It opened to the back of the main hall, the same room I had seen from the street. It was just as packed as I thought. We basically walked into a wall of people.
Gross, smelly, sweaty, people. I had no desire to know what so many bodies jammed together smelled like, but now I knew and I would never forget it.
“Holy Goddess!” I was going to be sick.
“Come on, Rayna,” Da hissed, still guiding me around like a child, his hands continually checking my hood.
The inn wasn’t just one room, but multiple. Dancing and a band echoed from one, people were eating and toasting in another, one almost looked to have some kind of circus act in the center. I couldn’t get a good look with how fast Da was pulling me.
Two turns, a dart through five men toasting something about fire and flame and we were at a reception desk, at least five people hovering around and begging for rooms.
“What’s going on?” I asked, pushing Da’s hand away as he tried to fix my hood for the millionth time.
I was starting to think he was more scared of my hair than anyone else.
“I don’t know,” he responded, frowning as he stared into the chaos of what was beginning to feel like a celebration of some kind.
