Chapter 6: Chapter 6 – Masquerade

Most of the people living in the Blue-sky continent wished to live an adventurer's life, seeking riches and fame. However, Hugo Thorn was a simple man who was more than happy to take over his family business. Coming from a long lineage of Innkeepers. the Bear and Geese had been left for him by his late father as an inheritance gift. Owning the best Inn in the city, came with obvious benefits which meant that although he lived a quiet life, it was by no means a humble one 
  
Not only was he paid well by the rich aristocrats which frequented there, but he was also able to employ beautiful barmaids which would sometimes humour him despite his old age. Due to these reasons, Hugo enjoyed his job for the most part and would not trade it for any other. It did come with its difficulties though, as a lot of his time was spent grovelling and flattering young nobles, to stay on their good side. 

 Whether it was due to his years of experience or his family's reputation, he had managed to keep his head up to this point. This was a rather impressive feat, considering the short-tempered nature most young nobles happened to adopt. 

Although he had established a good relationship with most of his guests there was one that annoyed him to the core. Zac Reid. This youth was like a devil sent from hell just to torture him. No matter how hard Hugo tried, he couldn't fathom the behaviour of this eccentric youth whose very existence seemed to be a contradiction.  

Everyone was familiar with house Reid and more so Zac's father, duke Eustas Reid whose military accomplishments had become somewhat of a legend. The reason as to why the only son of such a highly regarded noble, whose name was sung at every bar, would dress as a commoner and mix among them, puzzled Hugo. 

Not only that but when he tried his usual tactics of sending some beautiful maids to the youth's room to get on his good side, it was a complete failure. To think that a young bachelor would refuse the company of delicate beauties, that was unheard of to an Innkeeper. 

 For the few weeks, this unfathomable youth had been staying at his Inn, Hugo witnessed many headache-inducing events of which the worst was the youth's habit of feeding the beggars outside the Inn. Not only did this increase the numbers of the vermin, but it also meant that many of his esteemed guests started checking out. 

Even after all that, Hugo was still a well-respected man and other than losing out on a bit of his sleep, he didn't seek to act against him. But it seemed as though the youth was hell-bent on getting on his last nerve. Especially with his latest escapade when he proceeded to embarrass him in front of all his guests by forcing him to book a room for a filthy commoner. 

Whether it was by chance or divine intervention, Hugo was approached by a cloaked stranger after the event. This stranger came with a mission that interested the inn keeper greatly. 

Having not been given the slightest bit of face and publicly shamed, Hugo would have acted out the stranger's request despite the additional hundred thousand he was being paid. To him, it was as though heaven had now sent an angel to rid of him of this devil that dimmed his days. 

Silver and Zac came down the stairs of the Inn laughing and chatting away as though they were a pair of old friends that had been reunited. They ignored the curious gazes of the few guests at the bar who happened to still be awake at this late hour. Looking briefly at the innkeeper Silver noticed a slight hint of confusion on his eyes. 

"Hey old man, what are you staring at, give me and my brother a table already" Zac staggered over to one of the unoccupied tables in a drunken manner without waiting for the Innkeeper. 

"Of course, master Zac. Please, this way" Hugo rushed in front of the two and quickly started wiping the table they were about to sit on. A barmaid would usually take care of this matter but what could be done when this youth persisted on shaming him. 

[ Enjoy this display of power while you can. Soon you'll be dead ] Hugo cursed in his heart as he took their order. Silver was also pretending to be drunk and so using this pretense he looked around the inn, in a seemingly distracted way.

He noticed the entourage from earlier in the evening sitting at a corner table and perhaps due to coincidence he happened to lock eyes with the woman wearing the veil. For an instant he was unable to look away but realizing the situation they were in, he quickly recollected his thoughts and resumed his act. 

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The rest of the people sitting around were of no interest to Silver, other than one well-built youth who was at least a head taller than him sitting at the other corner of the inn. He was dressed in fine garments and was surrounded by beautiful barmaids who seemed to have forgotten they had other guests to serve. Having received the signal from Silver, Zac new it was time and prepared himself mentally. He then shot up of his seat and started shrieking and knocking chairs over. 

"ZAC, ZAC what is wrong with you. Are you Okay?" Silver hurried over to him ignoring the shocked gazes of the guests and tried to walk over to him. But since he was too 'drunk' he fell over a table and was barely able to recover himself. This incited the laughter of some of the guests who found the whole thing to be a grand joke being acted out by a bunch of jesters. It was only when they saw the son of the grand noble starting to convulse violently and froth at the mouth that they began to be deeply concerned. 

It took all the will power Hugo had, to contain the excitement he was feeling from showing on his face. At last, the thorn on his back would be removed and he would be back to having peaceful nights. He cursed the youth for giving him troubles even in death. Why couldn't he just die in his room? Why did he have to break his usual habits and not sleep? Hugo blamed all this on the red-haired commoner. 
  
[ Damn you to hell too. I'll see to it that you suffer a fate far worse than death. ] Hugo smiled in his heart as he instantly thought of a way to deal with the other youth; simultaneously killing two ugly birds with one stone. He quickly instructed one of his maids and made his way over to the crowd surrounding the youngsters. 

By this point, Silver had been holding Zac in his arms as he sat on the inn floor being surrounded by the rest of the guests. He watched as his friend convulsed one last time and 'died' horribly. He was secretly impressed at Zac’s acting ability which almost made him doubt the efficacy of the antidote. Silver wasn’t the least bit worse either, as he had a fitting sorrowful look that convinced the crowd he had just lost a dear friend. 

"You didn't deserve this" he whispered in an almost inaudible manner and proceeded to close Zac's eyelids as he lay him on the inn floor. 

"Of course he didn't!" said an angry voice. 

"I can't believe it, Count Eustas' son is dead. How could this be" said another 

"Everyone here can see that master Zac has been poisoned. Considering you are the only one who has been with him the past couple of hours it is evident who the culprit is" the innkeeper wasted no time in pointing blame at Silver. 

Looking around slowly, only the suspicious gazes of the guests met Silver and he knew the plan had already succeeded. Considering only the Innkeeper seemed to want to shift blame it was obvious he was involved. However, the question was whether he was just acting out someone's orders or if he was the one who orchestrated everything. If Zac's suspicions were correct then perhaps the assassin trailing him had used this innkeeper meaning they would need to draw him out from the shadows somehow. 

"Why would I murder my own friend?" Silver got up and addressed this question at the innkeeper, looking furious. 

"Hmph, explain that to them" the innkeeper scoffed, pointing at the door. It was at this point that the entrance opened, and a barmaid came in followed by four armed guards. These were the guards responsible for keeping the peace in the city and handling other internal affairs. 

They were all wearing the same black leather armour which had an intricate design on the left chest area. Although it was only made of leather, Silver noticed that the armour was actually enchanted magic gear. The guards didn’t give him much of an opportunity to analyse their gear however, as they quickly made their way towards him.  

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