There's more! My goodness!
Another bit. All standard disclaimers of first draft, blah blah. Anyways, I've actually finished this story and now I've got more to write. This could end badly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. But I swear I have no idea what you were talking about!" he said rather quickly and defensively. Truly it was no wonder that the youth had never had much luck in romantic affairs of any sort; not that this conversation with the unknown woman looked like it would go in any sort of romantic direction.
"You mean, you're just been staring at me all this evening without thinking yourself 'Oh, that is Oswald's apprentice. Wonder if she's hiding that traitor'?" she asked, sounding a touch disappointed that she wouldn't get to chew out yet another gossipy wizard.
"Os..Oswald? I heard about him, sure. It's not as if news doesn't get around about such things," Korel started, then regretted saying those words almost immediately.
"Er! What I meant to say is that even if he's a traitor, that he wouldn't put it on..." he stammered. "I meant to say that you wouldn't be an accomplice, since you'd be lying low..." he mumbled, growing increasingly more flustered with each botched attempt at an apology. "Sorry," he finally said, leaning even more heavily against the bar.
"Hmph," is all that Korel got as a response from the woman at first. "You know what would say 'sorry' much better than anything else? That you settle my bill with Fahleed," she added cannily after sizing up her might-have-been-chew-out target. She really didn't have much gold to her name, and her home, a small room in Oswald's shop, was seized by the city treasury.
"I, um, think I can do that," Korel said, then looked a bit more closely at the woman. He noticed that she was somewhere around his age, though it certainly seemed that she'd not led as much of a sheltered life as he. Where he was pale, her skin showed a slight tan to it, and her green eyes didn't at all have the slight squint that most tower-bound wizards tended to develop even in their twenties. Her auburn hair was cut short contrary to the current style around the Old Ring that both men and women had taken up. She had a slender face and a few freckles across the bridge of her nose.
He would have wondered whether this woman was posing as a wizard, but she had that certain, almost electric aura of power around her that gave her away. He definitely could feel she had plenty of potential, but it would have taken someone like Telear to truly gauge her abilities.
"If you didn't have the look of someone that is drunk for the first time in their lives, I'd say that staring is because you're wishing to make a painting of me," she said, adding yet another time that Korel was startled out from a bit of daydreaming.
"Sorry," Korel mumbled again. By this time, the young wizard was starting to think that 'sorry' had become the dominant word in his vocabulary. He dug into his coin purse to dig out a few silvers to place on the bar.
"Nia, Nia," came the lightly accented voice of Fahleed. "I offered you the solace of this corner of my establishment, not the liberty to be inhospitable." The man actually managed to look somewhat annoyed, the fact that a smile quirked his lips was hidden by his heavy mustache and pointed beard.
"You, lad, shouldn't let any woman take your silver away without first telling you their name," Fahleed continued, taking Korel's hands in one of his, and then depositing the coins on his palm. "After they've told you their name, a man is free to piss away all of their gold on any sweet bird, or in the case of this one, one with big talons and not a hint of sweetness," he added with a chuckle.
"Fahleed!" Nia grumped, looking indignant at the Dhub'erai's comment.
This reaction from the woman only made Fahleed's chuckle turn into an amused guffaw. The man slapped his hand on the bar, then mumbled something in his own language as he walked back, still laughing, to take care of the group of wizards Telear was entertaining.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. But I swear I have no idea what you were talking about!" he said rather quickly and defensively. Truly it was no wonder that the youth had never had much luck in romantic affairs of any sort; not that this conversation with the unknown woman looked like it would go in any sort of romantic direction.
"You mean, you're just been staring at me all this evening without thinking yourself 'Oh, that is Oswald's apprentice. Wonder if she's hiding that traitor'?" she asked, sounding a touch disappointed that she wouldn't get to chew out yet another gossipy wizard.
"Os..Oswald? I heard about him, sure. It's not as if news doesn't get around about such things," Korel started, then regretted saying those words almost immediately.
"Er! What I meant to say is that even if he's a traitor, that he wouldn't put it on..." he stammered. "I meant to say that you wouldn't be an accomplice, since you'd be lying low..." he mumbled, growing increasingly more flustered with each botched attempt at an apology. "Sorry," he finally said, leaning even more heavily against the bar.
"Hmph," is all that Korel got as a response from the woman at first. "You know what would say 'sorry' much better than anything else? That you settle my bill with Fahleed," she added cannily after sizing up her might-have-been-chew-out target. She really didn't have much gold to her name, and her home, a small room in Oswald's shop, was seized by the city treasury.
"I, um, think I can do that," Korel said, then looked a bit more closely at the woman. He noticed that she was somewhere around his age, though it certainly seemed that she'd not led as much of a sheltered life as he. Where he was pale, her skin showed a slight tan to it, and her green eyes didn't at all have the slight squint that most tower-bound wizards tended to develop even in their twenties. Her auburn hair was cut short contrary to the current style around the Old Ring that both men and women had taken up. She had a slender face and a few freckles across the bridge of her nose.
He would have wondered whether this woman was posing as a wizard, but she had that certain, almost electric aura of power around her that gave her away. He definitely could feel she had plenty of potential, but it would have taken someone like Telear to truly gauge her abilities.
"If you didn't have the look of someone that is drunk for the first time in their lives, I'd say that staring is because you're wishing to make a painting of me," she said, adding yet another time that Korel was startled out from a bit of daydreaming.
"Sorry," Korel mumbled again. By this time, the young wizard was starting to think that 'sorry' had become the dominant word in his vocabulary. He dug into his coin purse to dig out a few silvers to place on the bar.
"Nia, Nia," came the lightly accented voice of Fahleed. "I offered you the solace of this corner of my establishment, not the liberty to be inhospitable." The man actually managed to look somewhat annoyed, the fact that a smile quirked his lips was hidden by his heavy mustache and pointed beard.
"You, lad, shouldn't let any woman take your silver away without first telling you their name," Fahleed continued, taking Korel's hands in one of his, and then depositing the coins on his palm. "After they've told you their name, a man is free to piss away all of their gold on any sweet bird, or in the case of this one, one with big talons and not a hint of sweetness," he added with a chuckle.
"Fahleed!" Nia grumped, looking indignant at the Dhub'erai's comment.
This reaction from the woman only made Fahleed's chuckle turn into an amused guffaw. The man slapped his hand on the bar, then mumbled something in his own language as he walked back, still laughing, to take care of the group of wizards Telear was entertaining.