Well, that's comforting to know, I sent sarcastically to Ysevel who tried to hide a snort of laughter as we kept our eyes as level as possible with the countertop.
"But enough about that for now. You two back there; I know the disciple here has probably told you not to make eye contact, and rightly so, but for now, I'll need you two to look at me directly," he said, pointing two fingers towards his eyes.
"First, the young, silver-haired lady. Name, race, cycles, and split if your blood runs lighter that way," Krozz said, pulling out some kind of solid, dark writing utensil and a metallic tablet to write on.
Ysevel and I looked up at the hegraphene without bothering to hide our confusion at the last part of his question. "He means to ask whether you're a pure-blood of your race or not. For example, I'm a tri-split. Mom was Harutian, dad was Hjalfarian, but now I've been altered with daemon parts so that technically makes me a tri-split," Irun explained briefly.
"Oooh," we said in unison, lifting our chins in understanding. "I'm Ysevel Phrys. I'm an elf of Caegwen, and a non-split, although I'm not sure what two hundred and twenty-five years in the Between would be in terms of cycles," she said with a bow.
The look of surprise on Irun's face almost made the shit-eating grin I'd been hiding show plainly on my face.
"I know it's not polite to ask a lady her age, and I apologize for making you reveal that in front of everyone, but vetting spares no one," Krozz said, rubbing the back of his neck after realizing what he'd just done. "It's alright, sir. I'm not ashamed at all. In fact, I'm even considered to be young by my people's standards," she said warmly, trying to ease his embarrassment.
"Th-thank you, Ysevel," Krozz said, the look of relief visibly showing on his face as he cleared his throat. "Your turn," he gestured to me. "My name is Thoma Fayren from Kinth. I'm twice split from a human father and an elven mother. I'm twenty now, but my birthday is in a few months," I said, not bothering to try to calculate the cycle equivalent either.
The already present silence dropped to unfathomable depths as soon as the sound of my voice was absorbed by every ear in the tavern. "Fayren, you say?" Krozz asked, picking something out of his ear as if to show me he hadn't heard me say my own name correctly. "Y-yes?" I asked bashfully.
I'm about to get killed over my last name, aren't I? I thought, glancing briefly behind me in the case of a weapon or claw being aimed at my back.
"I… I see," Krozz said, chuffing repeatedly while he was contemplating something I couldn't quite put my finger on. "I'm sorry if I've said something offensive. I don't know if my name means anything offensive in your language, and I apologize if I've offended anyone here by saying it," I quickly said with a bow.
The sound of Krozz's chuffing was the only thing audible in the entire tavern, making me grow increasingly uneasy as I used the time that I was bowing to look behind me for any threats.
But not a soul was moving.
"It's not so much what your name means but rather who carries it," he said after a few heartbeats. "My mother?" I asked, looking back up at him. He nodded gravely but didn't say anything further for another few moments as he looked around the room. "I'm not the one to make this decision, as it is not my place to do so. You will have to be kept under a watchful eye until Lady Kalia returns," he finally said.
That doesn't sound good, I sent Ysevel. Do you think it has something to do with the hegraphene she was fighting? She asked, not bothering to hide the worry in her thoughts. It's the only thing I can think of, but we'll have to wait and see to know for sure, I replied.
I knew there was, realistically speaking, no way to escape whatever came next, so I did the best I could to remain as calm and passive as I could, even though my heartbeat could probably be heard by every creature present.
"As you wish," I said, repeating the bow momentarily. Krozz stood upright, nearly a full head taller than Irun was, even after his alterations. "Thoma is not to come to any harm unless decided upon by Lady Kalia herself. Is that understood?" he said in a surprisingly clear tone of voice.
Grunts and huffs came in scattered responses, but ultimately, it seemed that Krozz held much more authority than I'd originally thought he had. Ysevel and I exchanged a look of mild concern, but our attention immediately shifted back to the hegraphene.
"I will give you both food and lodging as suitable for your races, but know that before Irun came, we haven't had much in the way of visitors from the Between," Krozz said hushedly.
Wait, so there have been others who've come here? Is he talking about Ardrin? I thought, keeping that one to myself.
The hegraphene turned to grab a few bottles of a dark liquid I couldn't identify even if I tried and a few platters of some equally unidentifiable meat that looked far more edible than I thought it would.
Maybe It's just because I'm hungry, I thought, feeling my mouth begin to salivate like a dog's.
Krozz led us to a nearby table that was still reasonably close to the bar. It wasn't that there weren't any others available, but I surmised it had something to do with how he'd reacted to hearing my name. Still, I was glad to sit down and know that a warm meal was coming my way.
Ysevel and I sat opposite Irun at the dark, metallic table as Krozz set out platters of food and bottles of wine in front of us. Oddly enough, the table wasn't cold to the touch, but what did catch me off-guard was the fact that it might not have been metal after all.
Or, at least, one that I knew of.
Krozz briefly reached into the pocket of his apron and pulled out two large keys. He set one in front of Irun and the other in front of me. "Egeshe krag, judging by the way you're looking at the disciple here, I'm going out on a limb and guessing the two of you don't want to share a room," Krozz said, lifting what I thought could be his eyebrows. "I'm sorry that I don't have a third room available, Miss Ysevel. I hope you're alright staying with Thoma for the night on the second floor," he continued.
I could easily see that Ysevel, even in the diffused light of the corner of the tavern, turned a bright red.
"I-it's alright. I don't mind," she said, lifting both hands placatingly. "Are you sure? Your face just changed color drastically. Is that typical of elven behavior?" Krozz asked, eyeing her curiously. "Y-yes. It's an entirely normal trait," she stammered, nodding her head.
"Even for splits?" he asked, looking at me with the same expression. I could feel the blood rushing to my face as Irun nearly spat his bitter out all over the table. "Gods, you two need that room," he muttered under his breath with a chuckle as he looked away.
"Well, well! Would you just look at this… uh, meal!" I said, trying to change the subject but failing to identify what was on my plate miserably. "Yes! It smells delicious, but… what is it?" Ysevel asked. Irun shot me a panicked glance and shook his head quickly.
I knew what that meant from our time together at Codrean.
I think it would be best not to ask that, I sent, hoping she would find a way to answer her own question.
She paused to look at me inquisitively, but when I gave her a more subtle version of the glance Irun had given me, she seemingly understood. "Ah, it doesn't matter. Let's eat!" she said, gracefully changing the subject as she picked up her oddly shaped utensils. "Enjoy your meal, and get some rest. I'll notify you whenever Lady Kalia returns," Krozz said, taking his leave.
Oh, thank fuck we dodged that arrow, I thought, taking a bite out of the venison-flavored meat.
The three of us sat in silence for a few moments, simply enjoying the taste of a decent meal other than dried meat. I opened Ysevel's bottle and my own, and we both began to drink simultaneously. "Don't chug the whole thing," Irun warranted. "Could've warned me before I drank half the bottle. I haven't had a whole lot of fluids lately," I said, pulling the mouth of the bottle away from mine.
I sighed heavily, realizing I should've been thanking him for giving me the warning. "What is this stuff anyway?" I asked, trying to see the inside of the bottle. "It's actually an elven recipe, apparently," he said, taking another swig of his own bottle. "Bitter as it may be, it doesn't taste like anything I've had before," Ysevel chimed in between a cheekful of food.
"Nor would it. According to Krozz, that recipe is almost a thousand years, not cycles, old," Irun said, tearing off a piece of food with the side of his mouth. Ysevel and I merely looked at each other in utter confusion but decided that it was probably not an answer we would get right away.
"Why do they keep calling you disciple? Is that because of the Masked One?" I asked bluntly, but before Irun even answered, he scoffed and shook his head. "Because I'm Lady Kalia's first student in a very long time. She doesn't usually take students, but she did so at the Masked One's request," he said plainly, setting his utensil down on the plate and interlocking his fingers.
"At his request?" I asked, lowering my tone as I leaned forward.
What the fuck does he mean by that? I thought, realizing now was probably the best time to ask him questions.
"Why in the ever-living fuck would he request anything? I thought he was just as powerful as the Master," I said hushedly. "I'd say they're closer to being near the same level, but I'm not getting into why he asked right now. All I know is that she took me under her tutelage at his request, and that's all I was told until I went to get you," he said, blankly staring at the table while he told us what happened.
"Lady Kalia is a hegraphene and a very powerful one at that, but I'm not sure why he asked her to train me," he said after taking another swig of his drink. Ysevel was lost in thought for a few moments before she looked at the two of us.