When the conversation about what to do next didn't really go anywhere, Mindblind watched Yani leave the room, scratched the dark shadow of a beard on his chin, and then turned to Raven.
"She'll be fine," Raven answered his unasked question while waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. "She's had her tea. She'll probably even have enough sense to charge any man that ends up poking her, now that she knows she can make money at it."
Though still leery of leaving the strange woman unattended, Mindblind had to admit that she'd behaved in a relatively normal fashion since chewing the leaves that Raven had harvested on the hike to town.
Just like the clothing of the villagers, the furniture in the room was an imitation of wealthy taste, made with whatever was available. Mindblind couldn't complain about one feature, as the locking drawers on the bedside tables meant that he could keep the extra daggers out of Yani's reach. He wasn't worried about his sword or the bows, because she couldn't hide those on her person.
Pompeil had — of course — taken up residence in a guest room in the home of the man who called himself the mayor of the village. What was surprising was his insistence that his unlikely traveling companions have accommodations and meals at the inn for the day, on his letter of credit.
The creaking of rope beds, feminine sounds of passion, and male grunts filtered through the walls on either side of the room. Despite their less than attractive state of dress, the prostitutes had quickly found clients within the village.
Mindblind knew that their welcome — at least from the women of the village — would wear thin in short order.
As it stood, they had every one of the four rooms in the small inn. Each one had two double beds that were quite comfortable, and four bedside tables for storage. Mindblind shared a room with Raven and Yani, though it appeared that Kayleen might also stay. The blonde hadn't joined the others when they decided to flood the village in search of men in need of female company, choosing to doze instead.
Feeling a little restless, despite knowing that exhaustion would eventually overwhelm his current burst of nervous energy, Mindblind said, "I'm going to go see if the beer is worth drinking. You?"
Raven jerked a thumb toward Kayleen. "Think she has the right idea. I haven't slept in a real bed in weeks."
"Probably won't be long myself."
Raven shook out her short, dark hair to dislodge a few strands that had stuck to the back of her neck. "Surprised Pomp put us up."
"I know the type. Can't stand to have a debt, and we saved his hide. Won't last long."
"Better enjoy it while it lasts, then," Raven remarked, and sat down to tug off one of her shoes.
"Yeah," he agreed, and then opened the door to make his way to the taproom.
Word must have spread quickly about the negotiable virtue of the newcomers to the village, because the taproom was packed. Only two of the prostitutes, including Yani, were within the room, and Mindblind doubted that they would remain there long.
The man minding the kegs was probably the innkeeper's brother, considering the resemblance. He looked to be in a good mood, which was hardly a surprise. His single barmaid appeared less than amused, as she tried to keep up with the demands of the room.
The counter that the barkeep stood behind had a footrest along its length and a well-varnished surface, mimicking a bar in a city tavern. No stools surrounded the bar, however. It was positioned too close to the doorway for that to be practical.
Mindblind walked up to the counter and said, "Beer."
"That's not part of your tab with the room," the barman warned.
Having never expected that it was, Mindblind was fishing out a coin even before the man spoke. He slapped it on the counter to a grunt of approval from the barkeep, and soon had a foaming tankard.
Upon taking a sip, he remarked, "Good brew," a little surprised that it wasn't watered-down or bitter, considering the change that he'd received from his copper mark.
"Plenty of it, too." The man leaned in and asked, "The whores aren't prone to stealing from the men bedding them, are they?"
Mindblind shook his head. "Bad for business. They're house girls. Long story."
Seemingly convinced, the barman nodded and said, "The seamstress just down the street makes pretty things for fair prices."
"I'll spread the word, but we probably won't be here long."
The barkeep looked a little crestfallen at that revelation.
One of the prostitutes guided a wide-eyed young man across the room a short while later, attracting Mindblind's attention and snapping him out of a reverie. Realizing that exhaustion was catching up to him, he drained the last of his beer, and offered the barman a nod before walking to the door.
Rather than continuing past the desk where the innkeeper did his business, Mindblind turned and exited the inn instead. The smoke from the taproom patron's pipes had grown into a thick haze, and he felt the need to clear his lungs.
He had to shake his head as he once again took in the strange facade that the village put on. The whole place was like the set of traveling players, designed to hide what was going on backstage.
Every building had a facade that created the illusion of uniform construction, though the structures were actually built from a hodgepodge of materials ranging all the way down to baked mud brick. The buildings were close together, lining the streets and the outskirts of the village, leaving large areas of open space in the center of the blocks. The empty lots served a practical purpose as a place for vegetable gardens and penning in animals, but were really part of an effort to make the place look larger and more populous than reality.
The people played their part as well, with wagons and pedestrians constantly on the streets. Mindblind strongly suspected that most of those people had no other errand than to be seen moving about.
Remarkably, he saw Pompeil walking toward him. He'd expected the man to sleep for several days before emerging from the comfortable confines of the large house at the center of the village.
"I trust that your accommodations are adequate?"
"Yeah, does the trick. Kinda surprised that you bothered, Pomp."
"Pom..." The merchant began to correct him, and then shrugged it off. "I owe you a debt. My reputation depends upon repaying my debts."
Mindblind rolled his eyes. "Figured that was how it was. I'm gonna go hit the rack."
Even as he turned, the merchant said, "Wait."
"Yeah?"
Pompeil took a deep breath, and then cleared his throat. "I also owe you my gratitude, though I am ill-used to expressing such. You could have left me to my own devices at any time, and yet you did not."
"May not like you much, but ain't no man deserves to be left in the middle of nowhere with men looking to kill him."
"Whatever your motivation, you have my thanks. And know that I will repay my debt to you, though that debt is no less than my life."
"You're welcome," Mindblind responded, more than a little impressed that the pompous man had found the humility to seek him out. "I'm like the walking dead, so I'm hitting the rack."
"Of course. If you need anything, please send word to the house," Pompeil said and nodded.
Mindblind nodded back. "Got ya."
He half wondered if he had dreamed the whole thing as he entered the inn and turned toward his room. What he'd said about the walking dead was more than halfway true. With the last of his energy expended and soaked in a tankard of beer, it was all he could do to find his bed. Raven had crawled in with Kayleen, leaving him free to take the other alone.
His last thought was to hope that Yani decided to stay in one of the other rooms when she reached the point of exhaustion. The thought of waking up next to her — no matter how attractive she was — made his skin crawl.
****
Mindblind awakened deep in the night. Only faint moonlight filtered through the window, mainly illuminating the other side of the room in his peripheral vision. His danger sense wasn't screaming at him, so he didn't immediately bounce out of the bed to grab his nearby sword. Instead, he lay quiet, waiting to see if the barely remembered sound would repeat.
At least one of the prostitutes was still hard at work, and he assumed that it was her sultry moans that had drawn him awake. A second later, a much closer whimper dissuaded him of that notion.
Though he was shrouded in darkness, the bed across the way was bathed in the light from the window. What was happening on that bed caused his eyes to go wide, and his cock to swell.
Kayleen was nude, and squeezing her voluptuous breasts in her hands. Raven was likewise unclad, her face buried between the blonde's parted legs. If the beads of sweat upon the women's bodies were any indication, they had been so engaged for some time.
Another whimper passed Kayleen's lips, followed by a questioning, discouraged sounding moan. Raven pushed up on her arms, and then crawled over the blonde's body. She let her nipples drag over Kayleen's sweat-streaked skin, and then wrapped her lips around the bud capping the blonde's right breast.
Kayleen lifted her hips, trying to bring her suddenly neglected sex into contact with Raven's body for some relief. The lithe, dark-haired beauty would have none of it, and released the nipple she suckled to seek Kayleen's lips.
Mindblind had to reach beneath the thin sheet covering him to adjust his throbbing erection as the pair kissed — Kayleen tasting her own juices on Raven's lips. After the long, sexy kiss, Raven crawled backward, her eyes locked with the blonde's, and nestled her head between Kayleen's thighs once more.
The blonde gasped, her eyes going wide. Her hands moved to the back of Raven's head while her bottom lifted from the bed. Kayleen shivered, rapid whimpers bubbling from her lips. Then her mouth slowly dropped open, her jaw trembling. A far louder whimper that changed into a choked squeal accompanied her thighs snapping closed around Raven's head.
Kayleen twitched and jerked from the orgasm that had claimed her, and half sat up as she fought against the screams of pleasure trying desperately to escape her. At last, she collapsed, her legs falling heavily to the bed to reveal Raven's tongue-tip teasing her.
The dark-haired thief rose up onto her knees and caressed her perky breasts with a deeply satisfied moan. She then leaned forward to lie down next to the limp blonde.
Mindblind shook his head when Raven looked over at him, grinned, and licked her lips. She then turned around and snuggled up against Kayleen, pulling a sheet over both of them.
