Maze of Moonlight by Gael Baudino (read with me TXT) 📕

plain; we had a chest of drawers, a table with two chairs, a bedside table with a single lamp, and a bed underneath the window at the far end, all made of sturdy, unpainted wood. While it was nicer than the roadside inns we had stayed in on our way to Lybesa, it didn’t hold a candle to our room in Atsal, and certainly didn’t warrant the price I paid.

“I’ve ordered us some food as well, and I expect it’ll be ready soon. How about we all go down and have dinner together?” I asked the group. “Come to think of it, I’m not exactly sure what I ordered for food, but whatever they were cooking back there smelled good.”

Lia rubbed her stomach and nodded excitedly as we exited the room and locked the door. Val joined us in the hall a moment later when she had finished inspecting her own room. “A warm meal is preferable to our rations, regardless of the contents,” she said in agreement. We returned to the first floor and sat at a table near the stage, where the musical duo still performed.

As soon as we took our seats, the youth that had greeted me at the door rushed to our table with three overflowing tankards. “Your meals will be right out, sir,” he said quickly, sliding the drinks across the table to each of us. “Is there anything else I can get you? Anything at all?”

I looked between my companions for a moment, then shook my head. “No, I think we’re all set. I’ll flag you down if I need you, uhm…I’m sorry, I don’t think I got your name earlier.”

“Oh, my apologies sir! Louis Grayson, at your service,” he said with a small bow. “I’ll go check on your meals now!” As quickly as he had appeared, Louis dashed back to the bar and disappeared into the kitchen.

Sliding the tankard to the edge of the table, I carefully drank some of the dark liquid inside. It was a full bodied stout, with heavy notes of toasted spices and barley, and a faint aftertaste of coffee. Judging by the burn in my throat, the beer was of a much higher proof than anything I had consumed since arriving in Kaldan. “Oh, that’s the good stuff,” I said with a satisfied sigh.

Lia eyed her drink suspiciously before taking a timid sip. Her face immediately scrunched up in response to the flavor, and I laughed as she stifled a cough into her elbow. “Stop it!” she managed to say between coughs.

“You don’t have to drink it if you don’t like it,” I said with a chuckle. “He’ll get you whatever you want, I’m sure.”

“No!” she replied defiantly. “It’s just not what I’m used to, is all. I’ll drink it!” She took a more daring gulp of the brew as if to prove her point, and only gave a slight shudder in response.

Val took a sip from her tankard, then gave a small nod, her face as stoic as ever. I shook my head and grinned. “Alright then!” I said as I tipped back in my chair and took another swig. For a brief moment, I forgot about the impending danger before us. As we enjoyed the soft singing from the stage, Lia continued to nurse her drink with exaggerated enjoyment while Val slowly relaxed into her seat. We weren’t adventurers travelling under the King’s orders to break a siege anymore; we were just friends, meeting up at our favorite hole in the wall for a round of drinks.

Friends. Just the thought of the word struck a hollow chord. When was the last time I had friends? Or even just...enjoyed myself? It was a concept I hadn’t thought about in decades. As I looked around the table in contemplation, a smile crept across my face. Lia’s cheeks had already begun to flush as she choked down her beer at an alarming rate, and Val watched with quiet amusement as she kept pace with her own drink. I’m enjoying myself now. That’s enough.

Louis returned with three large dishes balanced along the length of his arm and set one down for each of us. Each plate was piled high with steaming piles of delicious looking food, the sight and smell of which made my stomach growl. The main course consisted of a large hunk of meat in a sticky burgundy sauce plated atop a creamy rice mixture. The fresh bread I smelled earlier was present in the form of a puffy dinner roll, topped with a large pat of mostly melted butter. I was delighted to spot a twinpepper, roasted and cut down the side to reveal the gooey interior, as well as a mixture of what looked to be apples mixed with asperfruit jam. A delicate filet of some sort of fish rounded out the plate, served on a bed of mixed greens.

“I hope this is acceptable, sir,” Louis said as he bobbed in place. “If anything isn’t to your liking, or, uh, if maybe you’d like me to make you something else, I can—”

“Louis, please,” I cut him off, smiling. “It looks amazing.”

He bowed deeply. “Thank you, sir. Is there anything else I can get for you or your companions?”

“A pitcher of water for the table, as well as another beer for me,” I said before downing the rest of my tankard.

Lia upended her tankard and finished the last of her drink as well. “One for me too, please!” she said loudly as she slid the empty tankard to Louis. I raised an eyebrow in her direction, but the look of challenge I found on her face stopped me from making any comment to the contrary.

As Louis ran off once again to fetch our drinks, the three of us dug into the platters of hot food before us. Apart from a few short exclamations of pleasure we ate in silence, far too focused on the delicious meal to hold any real conversation. Every part of the meal