It was dark already, Kyron was late, preparing Merek's gift took longer than he expected. He hoped Atina wasn't going to worry, she was probably already in the Inn. Loyalty was trotting down the streets with Kyron on his back. The roads were more or less deserted, but noise and light was coming out of The Tired Traveler. There was a mare on the road, opposite to the Inn.
"That probably isn't Atina's horse, it's too thin, in a very bad shape. Doesn't look like a horse which has been treated in stables recently."
That only meant that Atina was still not at the Inn. Doesn't really matter, it's not so late and she might just be waiting for a good opportunity to escape unnoticed. Kyron got off of the back of Loyalty, still looking at the mare. There was a wound on the side of the horse which looked pretty bad.
"Let's go do her a favor Loyalty"
Kyron walked across the road, looking around, making sure there was no one on the streets. He raised an arm close to the horse's wound, without touching it though. A dim light appeared from his palm and quickly faded away. The wound on the horse was gone. The mare was sleeping and didn't even notice what happened. Kyron walked back across the road to Loyalty, took a bag from the saddle and patted the black horse.
"Keep an eye on her for me ok?" Said Kyron, nodding at the sleeping mare.
He walked into the inn, at the tables there were all kinds of people, most of them stayed just for the night but others came here regularly and Kyron knew them, more or less. Every time he stayed in Damascus, he took lodging at this Inn. He walked over to the innkeeper who greeted him.
"Kyron! Nice to see ya again, welcome back to Damascus! I assume you want a room for the night."
"Not this time Tybalt, I'm in a hurry tonight. But I do need one for a couple of hours, do you think you can give me something?"
Tybalt thought for a moment, then spoke again.
"Well of course. Here's room 5. Your usual one."
"That will do. Thank you. One more thing though, if anyone asks, I was never here. It's very important. But if a woman with an eye-patch walks in, tell her I'll be right back."
Tybalt started laughing after Kyron's last sentence.
"Well you sure are of the weird kind my friend, a woman with an eye-patch! Hah! I'll do as you asked though. You are one of us Kyron, not like those pretentious nobles who think they're be'er than everyone else. Do you remember the ones you threw out back in the day? Hah! That was the most pleasing thing I've ever seen! They haven't been back here ever since."
Kyron smiled at the memory. The son of some important knight walked in with his friend, also of noble birth, and some guards. They demanded that Tybalt's two oldest daughters be taken up in to two separate rooms, with a barrel of ale each, all for free. Kyron remembered them saying something along the lines of "It is an honor for them to spend a night with people like us". Tybalt didn't thin about it twice and refused immediately. One of the "kids" drew a sword while the other formed a fist with his hand and punched at the Innkeeper. Kyron was luckily in the Inn at the time and was immediately there to stop the fist from ever reaching its target.
"Why don't you pick a fight with a knight."
The young noble's face became red from anger and stumbled back, screaming hysterically.
"Guards! Kill him! KILL THEM BOTH!"
Kyron took a defensive stance in front of the counter, as two of the six guards came at him swords drawn. He didn't even bother to draw his own sword, there wasn't enough space for it anyways really. Instead he used his armored fists to punch one of them hard in the face, and twist the sword from the other one's hands. The others who happened to be at the Inn at the time, seemed to think this was going to be great fun and immediately jumped on the remaining 4 guards, smashing bottles on their heads and hitting them with what they had, including chairs and tables. The guards were quickly thrown out of the Inn, accompanied by very loud laughter and a lot of ale. The two young knights-to-be were also thrown out, but first they were first taken to the toilets, which was basically a pit and a wooden thing to sit on. A couple of men took them by the feet and dipped them into the stinking brown mass. The nobles were screaming insults and threats with red, well brown, faces while everyone else was laughing. Kyron was laughing as well while Tybalt was staring with a huge smile on his face. Some of the people at the Inn were hurt and bleeding but didn't care as teaching a lesson to those assholes was worth more than a couple of cuts. Tybalt gave free ale to everyone that night, and Kyron was praised and considered a friend ever since.
Kyron leaned on the counter while Tybalt gave him a mug of ale, he drank it slowly, taking his time.
"I'll go check the place out, I'll be right back Tybalt"
He put down the half full mug and left for the stables.
"I have to make sure the area is clear before Merek arrives."
But the stables seemed to be already occupied.