Ashes of the Fallen

"Mm. Excuse me," she called out to the barkeep with a voice that sounded awfully familiar. After he came over, she pointed at the food in front of her and politely asked, "could you tell me what this is?"

I couldn't see her face, but the expression of the barkeep was easily visible.

"It's what you ordered miss, are you unhappy with the quality?"

She seemed a little taken aback as her head moved slightly and her voice wavered ever so slightly, "Ah. No, everything is quite alright. Sorry for the confusion."

The barkeep was confused and shook his head as he walked away. I didn't quite blame him even if I felt he misunderstood. She asked a weird question and if I hadn't seen her poking her food a second ago, I probably would have responded in the same way. The way she was handling herself, the only thought that had crossed my mind, was that of a child who had never seen that type of food before.

My guess, was she honestly wanted to know what type of food it was.

I was tempted to answer the question for her.

Yeah, why not… there was nothing to lose.

"That's an aebleskiver right there," I said with a slightly raised voiced to catch her attention while pointing at the donut-like pancake. "It's more of a breakfast item the way it's served, usually it comes with jam and powdered sugar though."

"Oh, I see," she replied with only a quick glance in my direction before turning back to face her food. "I've never had it before, it seemed interesting. Perhaps I should not have ordered it for dinner, then." As she said that, she poked it once more which almost made me laugh out loud. She had an innocence to her that was somewhat charming. She didn't make eye contact, but she seemed friendly enough.

"It doubles as a dessert," I replied lightly with a laugh. "I think you're good."

"Is that so?" she countered with a cheerful voice of her own.

My mind was slow on the uptake but even despite that, I knew she was too familiar to be a stranger. I couldn't place it. Her mannerisms weren't new to me, even if they were slightly strange. The way she responded as well, was making me question my memory a bit. I was missing something. Ah, it did sound like she had an accent though, but with the noise from the tavern it was hard to hear.

If I could see her face, it might change everything.

"You wouldn't happen to-" I started to ask before being rudely interrupted.

"Can I help you?" she asked bluntly but passively.

She wasn't talking to me though.

During our conversation, the four men that had been blocking the doorway earlier had made their way over to the bar. Now, the four of them stood around her, surrounding her essentially on all sides.

"Hey, you're a healer aren't ya?" asked one of the guys that had crowded behind her.

I was a bit surprised that she could sense them, as she never turned around and her head was still covered by her hood. She either had exceptional hearing or a skill that alerted her to people approaching.

It was a bit strange.

"I am," she replied curtly while continuing to stare at her food.

"We're headed to the dungeon, come heal for us," continued the same man.

"I have to decline, I already have prior arrangements," she stated with a matter-of-fact tone of voice as she started to eat the meal in front of her.

Normally, this is where most people would leave.

Of course, these guys couldn't take a hint.

"Eh don't be like that, we'll take good care of you," said another man as he leaned in next to her. At the same time the other guy relaxed his arms on the counter on the opposite side, crowding her even more. They were a bit too close… but I wasn't going to jump in and cause a scene. I almost started a fight earlier when they were blocking the doorway, only for them to walk off.

Maybe they were slow to react.

"Come on, I'll buy you some real food, better than that slop you're eating."

Following up on his buddy's sales pitch, the man that was currently leaning in to her lowered his voice, to the point where I could barely hear it.

"Yeah, if it's money you're after we've got deep pockets babe."

"I'm not interested," she replied rather bluntly and somewhat harshly as she set her hands down on the counter. I could sense the agitation in her voice, as her patience had started to dry up. Well, I had stopped eating when they made their way over and interrupted, but I was nearly finished anyway.

"Hey come on, don't be like that," growled the number two guy, as he reached out and grabbed her arm. She reactively flinched as she tried to distance herself but had nowhere to go as the men had completely surrounded her.

Yeah, I had seen enough.

"Hey, give the girl her space," I interjected roughly. "She isn't interested."

The two men in the back that had yet to speak up were the first to glance over, followed by the other two. The girl continued to stare at her food, keeping her head down. Their faces were a sight to behold though, disdain clearly showing. They didn't seem to like me butting in while they were in the middle of their coercion tactic.