Turning point

Aslan kicked in the tavern’s door—stumbling from the force. “Does any of you have a problem?”

The weary farmers looked up to see the knight in silver armor. Following him closely entered the prince, Reginald—wearing a white robe, too clean for the place.

“I hope our stay here is short,” said the prince, looking from side to side.

“Excuse me,” Cleirk said, pushing Reginald on his way to the bar.

Cleirk placed his warhammer on the ground. And, to the amazement of everyone present, the weapon turned into Kelsy.

“About time,” she said, stretching. “I get all numbed in there.”

Sharai stared at Kesly for a while and turned towards the opposite side of the bar.

“So… are we staying here long?” Reginald asked.

“Come closer boy,” Aslan said, and turned towards the bartender. “Serve a round on the prince’s tab.”

Reginald reached for the bag full of gold coins hanging from his belt. But… this is supposed to last the entire trip, he thought.

“Are we going to stay here…and drink?” Reginald asked. “When the future of the kingdom is in your hands.”

“Just another day at work,” Sharai said, watching the young prince pay the tab. “But now, I can see that I’m in the wrong profession.”

Cleirk turned towards the prince. “This is going to be a long night.” Then, he grabbed his mug and made his way towards a table. “We’re going to need this.”

The people on the table immediately stood and walked away.

“I found us a spot,” Cleirk said and sat on one of the chairs.

“We just want to know a few things,” Aslan said, looking at Reginald. “Sit with us.”

Reginald nodded and followed them to the table next to the fireplace.

“So, Reginald,” Aslan said once everyone was seated. “Do you think we are willing to help you?”

“But, my father said—”

“Yes, yes,” Aslan said. “We have orders from the king, who is now surrounded by disciples of darkness.”

“You don’t understand,” Reginald said. “They had my sister—we were forced to sign the treaty. They were going to kill her.”

“Deals were made to be broken,” Kelsy said, raising her mug of beer to drink.

“It’s true,” Aslan said. “But I don’t think our king wants to be rescued.”

“He appears to be under a spell,” Sharai said.

“Nothing a good pounch can’t fix,” Cleirk said.

“Ivan is too powerful,” Reginald said, with a sad tone.

Aslan lowered his gaze. Then he raised his jar to drink. “We’ll have to find a solution.”

“How about starting by retrieving my light?”

“That is impossible,” Sharai said.

“It’s true,” Aslan said. “A knight is banished from the order if his holy book gets destroyed.”

“But, at least we can try.”

“There are more important things to do,” Aslan said. “I don’t like what’s happening with our king.”

Kesly stuck a knife on the table. “What if we attack in the night and cut their throats?”

“They’ll be waiting for an attack,” Aslan said.

“If we get my book I can be of help…” Reginald said.

“How about we form an army to attack?” Cleirk asked.

“No one is attacking their own king,” Aslan said. “I guess we’ll order another round.”

“Let’s start with my light?”

“Don’t worry,” Aslan said, after a few rounds. “I just got an idea.”