Excerpt: Leaving Inn of The Renegade Ocarinist (a clean fantasy adventure)

The three returned to the stables where the boys gathered their horses again and led them inside. Mia thought she heard one of them whimper in light protest but the horses followed their lead and went inside.

“Our turn,” said Mum softly to Fat Will as they returned to the inn. The priest lightly whimpered and Mia wondered if he did so to copy the horse’s sentiments, or if perhaps he was the one she heard in the first place.

Mia strode in first, went straight to the counter and banged her hand on it, causing papers and other random items to bounce. She glared at the seated innkeeper.

“What is going on here?” she demanded as her partners appeared through the door.

“Going on, here?” asked the innkeeper with heavy inflection on the final word.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t you deny it!”

The innkeeper chose his next words very carefully and spoke them the same. “Ah, but do you?” He rose slowly and walked purposefully to stand in front of Mia on the other side of the counter.

Taken by surprise, Mia responded, “Do I what?”

“Do you know,” he paused. “Exactly,” another pause, “what you’re talking about?”

“Yes!” she hissed in exasperation.

“Then what need have you for me to answer your question?”

Fat Will was torn between complete impatience with the elf and great giddiness that he wasn’t the only one frustrated and flustered by the man.

Mia pressed her lips tightly together and stared at the innkeeper. He couldn’t keep from staring at her nose, nostrils flaring out and sinking in with every breath.

“Why can’t we leave?” she demanded.

“You just did.”

“Why can’t we get back to the road, away from this inn?” she pressed again.

“Ah, the road,” he reflected. “Is that old thing still there?”

“Why?”

The innkeeper became very somber for a moment.

“Have you heard of the great curse of Rithoriel?”

A curse. Great!

“No,” she said with a sinking heart.

“Someone should write about it. That would make for a best-seller!”

“What is the curse of Rithoriel?” asked Mia quietly.

“It’s whatever the author makes it to be,” came the cryptic response, the innkeeper’s eyes wide as he spoke it.

Mia shrieked in frustration, rushing out of the lobby and down the hall to her room. She slammed the door once inside and sat down at the table.

Mum and Fat Will were a little ways behind her and as they passed one of the other rooms a door opened and a man appeared. “Shush!” he whispered with an angry look on his face. They ignored him and stopped outside Mia’s door.

“Should we give her a moment?” asked Fat Will.

Mum nodded his agreement. “It might be wise.”

They pressed on down the hall to their room and went inside. It seemed they would be going nowhere any time soon, so the two men relaxed onto the comfortable furniture to wait.