Tales around Mirateia 30

He could hear the birds singing and the small river running nearby, when he opened his eyes he noticed that the sun was already up, although judging by the sunlight coming through the trees and the temperature, it was still early morning. It was around then that he noticed that his right arm was numb and when turning to investigate he got a handful of hair in his face, silver white hair, it was then that he remembered that the night before just as he had drifted off into sleep that Ira had cuddled up to him believing that he was sleeping.
Azran turned his head back and looked up through the trees, just enjoying the moment of having no worry in life and most importantly, no paperwork, although he was sure there would be plenty when Ira and he returned from this little expedition. Just as he had finished that thought he could feel that Ira was beginning to wake up, she always made this mumbling sound when she did.
Azran could feel that just like she had, Ira was going through the same process of waking up in a new place, taking in the sounds and surroundings, she turned around, rose resting on her elbows still with her blanket half-covering her and her tunic.
"Good morning sweetie," Ira said after giving Azran a small kiss on his forehead.
"Morning Ira, did you sleep well?"
"oh yeah, well I felt a bit cold so I decided that it would be best to share the heat so I came over here"
"yeah, I noticed," Azran said smiling.
"y-you did?" Ira said blushing a bit unable to maintain eye contact.
The two of them stayed where they were for some minutes, talking and discussing what they wanted for breakfast although they already knew what it was, some bread that had probably gone stale by now, they discussed if they should warm up some of the fat they had collected from the rabbit last night so they had something to make the bread taste a bit better and in the end they decided that it were worth the trouble of relighting the fire to heat the bowl with the fat as none of them wanted to eat stale bread when they had the option not to.
Azran then got up from his bed and went about to prepare breakfast quickly gathering some more wood for the fire, he had told Ira to stay and relax so she had sat up and taken both his and her blanket around her and were sitting there observing Azran working with a small smile. About half an hour later they were back on their horses and on their way towards the small village which they arrived at around noon. Before they entered, Ira used some of her magic to change certain features of her look and changed her hair colour to a raven black one, Azran noticed that it was the same disguise he had first seen when they first met back in Kingsway Inn, he had to give it to her, she looked good with black hair.
The village was a typical rural Decian village that was located alongside a road that got regular traffic from merchants moving between the major towns and cities. Azran and Ira saw that a caravan had recently entered the village and had a small market going, trying to make some quick profit. Due to the placement of the village, it did have a decently sized tavern and Azran and Ira decided to go there to start their search for the henchmen of the Harbour master.
Entering the tavern, they both noticed how full of people it was, people were sitting at the tables drinking and playing cards, and there were others just sitting there catching up on each other's stories but from what they could see there was no sign of the henchmen, sitting down at the nearest table, they both looked around again but were distributed by a young boy, he could not possibly be more than 15 years old.
"Can I get you two something to eat or drink?"
Azran and Ira looked at each other and through that familiarity that only comes from being around someone for as long as they had they both came to an arrangement.
"Sure, Can we get some bread and sausage and or cheese if possible, I think I would like some juice and I know that that old man is dying for an ice-cold beer" Ira could feel a small kick from under the table and sent Azran a wink.
"Sure, I will be right back," the waiter said, disappearing around the corner into what was possibly the kitchen.
"Do you see them?" Azran said looking around discreetly.
"No, no one here from what I can see matches the description that I got, maybe we can ask around a bit"
Shortly after, the kids came back with their food and drinks, Ira used the chance to ask if he knew about some people who should have arrived here within the last week and to their luck, four people that fit the description that Ira gave, they had settled just outside the village in the forest to the east but they would come into the village each morning, demanding food and alcohol, they had just left a few hours before Azran and Ira arrived, Ira thanked the kid and gave him a silver coin for the trouble alongside the copper coins for the food.
After eating and drinking, Azran and Ira decided to rent a room for the night, hoping to catch the henchmen in the morning, having to spend some time the two of them got their hands on some cards and they spent a few hours playing all sorts of games, from time to time Azran would try and teach Ira some of the popular games that were popular in the legions, later that evening they went for a walk around the small village, didn't take long for them to walk around it, and through all the streets, there were only two, but they did it to pass some time but mainly it was to investigate the terrain and the layout of the village should it come to a fight which they deep inside hoped it would as they had some frustrations and hate that had been building up inside them ever since that fateful day. When they thought they had a good understanding of the layout, they then found a quiet field just outside the village where they spent an hour training.
The following morning, they were both woken up by shouting coming from the tavern below, taking a second to figure out what was being said the two of them as quickly and quietly as possible got their armour on and opened the door as quietly as possible, the door did make some sound from the hinges but the shouting back and forth was so loud that no one seemed to notice.
"I think we found our guys"
"yeah, so much for investigating the village yesterday, so do we have a plan or do we just go in?"
"The plan is that I go down there, distracting them and you with your bow attack them from up here when I give the signal"
"Really? That's the plan? you do know there are four guys down there all armed and possibly armoured?" Ira was staring at Azran with eyes that could have killed
"Do you have a better plan?"
Ira was quiet for a moment then gave a huge sigh "Unfortunately for you, no I do not, whats the signal?"
"Oh you will know" And before Ira could answer, Azran stepped out from the corner they had been hidden behind and walked out in full view of everyone.
"Oi, ugly, yes you, I assume you are the leader of this bunch of misfits that have committed the most heinous crime in the Empire," Azran said directed at what the leader of the four henchmen as the three others seemed to stay behind the guy and were mostly quiet, the leader of the henchmen pushed the tavern owner to the side to get a better view of Azran who was walking down the stairs from the balcony of the upper floor, covered in his Imperial Guard uniform who had finally arrived from Pearlhal just the month before, likewise he had his sword drawn and were resting it on his left shoulder, What seemed to be most discomforting for the leader was the aura of confidence that Azran seemed to emiate.
"And what would this crime be? you seem like an intelligent man, so I'm sure you know that I and my men have committed quite a few crimes that could fit your description"
"Oh I'm sure of it, but this crime is much worse, you woke me up at an ungodly hour of the morning and I'm not a morning person, so I'm expecting you to apologise and leave this fine establishment and never come back"
The four men burst out into laughter for several minutes and from the corner of his eyes, Azran could see a few of the locals who had been present in the tavern when the henchmen arrived were smiling two and Azran had to admit to himself that he would have found it funny had he been in the same situation.
"And what if we refuse?" the leader said after having collected himself after a few minutes. "Do you even know who we are boy?"
"I hoped you would say that, If you refuse this is going to happen" Azran gave a short whistle and the next second an arrow was sticking out of the forehead of one of the henchmen behind the leader. "And you answer your second question, I know you are working for The harbour master and I..." Azran was interrupted when the leader attacked him and he only just managed to bring his sword down to block the attack, the following attacks were relatively easy to block as the leader didn't have much in the way of tactics or skills but were mostly relied on his brute force to get past Azrans defences. In the meantime, while Azran was what Ira later would describe as playing with his food, Ira was sending a few arrows towards the remaining two henchmen but she could not a clear shot most of the time due to the attack from the leader of the group, the spectators had come into mild panic and were trying to hide behind upturned tabled or behind the counter or if possible flee out of the door of the tavern, so while she was not able to get the remaining henchmen due to the crowd around them, she were able to keep them from linking up with their leader against Azran with a few well placed and well-timed shots that forced the two to remain behind an upturned table.
By the time Azran had finished off the leader, the leader had simply burned himself out and when he had become so exhausted that he barely could lift his weapon in an attack, that was when Azran struck out and with a parry pushed the leader's weapon to the side leaving him wide open to the following sword thrust from Azran that pierced the neck of the leader, the two remaining quickly lost all confidence and made a run for the door but by this time the tavern had emptied enough of people that Ira was able to get two clear shots, both arrows striking a killing blow.
Before the civilians could get around to see that the fight was over, Ira had already covered the distance between her and Azran and was in the process of checking him out.
"Did he get you? Are you hurt, tell me if it hurts"
"I'm fine Ira, I really am, are you alright?"
"I'm fine you stupid idiot, I didn't openly challenge four guys," Ira said trying to sound angry but Azran could hear the undertones of a very concerned and worried Ira. Having looked all over and seemingly feeling satisfied that there were no visible wounds, Ira looked at Azran before embracing him in a huge hug.
"excuse me but who are you two?" Ira and Azran were interrupted mid-hug when an elderly man came up to them.
Ira and Azran looked at each other for a moment before they both gave a small nod. "Are you the elder of this village?" the elderly man nodded, clearly still shaken from the fight and a bit nervous "Good, For your information, the four men we just killed, were members of the gang led by a person that goes by the name Harbour Master, he mainly operates out of the city Emitlestar but his network have long fingers, we have been trying to find members of his gang for quite some time now and we finally found a lead that led us to your village, but I guess that dont quite answer your question, this man is Azran, the governor of these lands" Ira said gesturing to Azran who were in the process of wiping the blood of his sword.
"Well, that... If he is Azran, that must make you.." the elderly man said with a hint of shock in his voice, it had not quite yet hit him that he was in the company of the governor.
Just as the elderly man had finished speaking, Ira´s hair began changing from a raven black colour back to her silver-white hair, likewise, some of her features also changed as her eye colour went from a dark brown back to red, and before the process of her hair colour change had finished all people, except for Azran, had fallen to one knee with their head lowered.
"Forgive me, Your Highness, I didn't know"
"There is nothing to forgive, I would have done the same in your situation, now please stand up all of you."
Several of the following hours were spent on getting rid of the four bodies and Ira and Azran insisted on helping in the cleanup of the tavern despite both the elder and the tavern owner saying that they could in no way allow the governor and princess to do the work of a commoner, although they seemed to calm down a bit when Azran explained that he also were a commoner in many of the upper classes eyes and that his family were blacksmiths.
Dispute the people in the village insisting that they stayed the night, Azran and Ira decided it would be best if they started their journey back to Nicia as they hadalready been away for a long time, so just after noon the two of them got on their horses and after having waved the villagers goodbye Ira and Azran left he village behind nad started teh journey back home.