The Ascendant Path by Cook Joshua C

Author:Cook, Joshua C.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Hopwell followed Wix through the narrow crowded street, narrowly avoiding being run over by a cart whose contents Hopwell did not know, and didn’t have any interest in knowing, based on the smell and the fact that some vicious liquid was leaking through the boards in several places. Street vendors selling everything from old clothes, metalware that looked like it had been used for longer than Hopwell had been alive, and food vendors. Some were dubious, such as the labeled. ‘Meat stew’ that bubbled at one stall, that mostly seemed to be made of something yellow. Hop knew of no meat that was yellow.

A few were better looking though, and now that they had made it past the stench of fish gate, Hop’s stomach growled with annoyance at the sight of fresh baked bread stuffed with cheese and herbs that a stall was hawking to a line of buyers. “Are we stopping soon?” Hop leaned in to ask, hoping Wix could hear him over the noise of the street.

Wix nodded, pointing ahead and to the left. “Inn is soon.” Wix hefted his pack “The Butter Barrel is the name.”

Hop rather liked the name almost instantly. Normally he’d eat at a place called something like ‘The Golden Duke,’ or ‘The Jewel on her Brow.’ Not that it mattered, as long as this place had decent food and was clean, Hop would be happy. The sea of people was surprising somewhat though. He’d almost expected there to be less people here, with the Crusade going on and all. But if anything, Ture seemed almost crowded.

True to his word, the Inn came into view around a bend. Marked with an old barrel hung up on the road with the name of the place painted on it with what looked like tar, the outside left a bit to be desired. Hop noted the old wood, and the windows using cheap bubble glass. But he trusted Wix, and he followed his friend inside.

The inside in contrast to the exterior was exactly everything Hopwell had hoped for. Clean, well-polished wood and stone. A rather large fireplace on a wall, though it wasn’t lit right now, and the smell of food. Good food. Glorious food. A handful of tables had people sitting and eating, and even seeing it made him hungrier if that was even possible.

“Just sit wherever, One moment!” A large man yelled from behind a half wall, waving a towel at something unseen. “Be right there.”

Wix led the way to a table for four off to one side. He sat down with a sigh. “Good to sit. And welcome to the best Inn this side of the Silverthread.”

Hop sat, his hunger growing but also his curiosity. “What was that at the gate? I got the feeling it was… rehearsed.”

“Good ears my friend. It was, in a way. You know my past, there has long been arrangements between certain groups and guards in fair Ture. We use certain phrases to not be counted as coming or going and pay the money.

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