The Deaf Mule once again served as a sanctuary for Charles; a place to reassert his personality and to shun the darkness. This time though, he was not six inches tall, but his full four feet of height. Sitting behind a table, the rat clutched a mazer full of fresh mead, just delivered in from the grape vines to the south. It was nearly September, and like always, there was some talk of the upcoming Autumnal Equinox Festival, but so too was the conversation laced with the upcoming trial, as well as rumors of Phil's betrothed and the usual tidbit about any other fellow Keeper.
The braziers about the room were all lit, as was the chandelier hanging gaily from the ceiling in the center of the bar. It was not a terribly hot day, very few in the Valley were, but it was warm enough to bring out the sweat and the tongues. Charles himself had been panting until he head stuck his muzzle deep into the mead. It's cool taste filled his throat, cascading down to each of his bones.
His gaze lifted from the tabletop to the approaching Keeper. His red fur and brown tunic were moderately well groomed, though both had the appearance of a scuffle still ingrained in their ancestry. In one white-furred paw he held a tumbler, and in the other was a tray of fresh stew. Charles nearly salivated at the aroma of potatoes, carrots, and beef all stirred together in that lovely sauce Donny always employed. The rat had not had anything to eat since the morning, and his stomach was rather wroth with him for the inattention.
"You look like you could use some company," Nahum remarked as he set his plate down upon the table. Taking a seat, he peered inquisitively at the rat. "What mischief have you been up to, oh ex-writer of the guild!"
Matthias could not help but grin at his vulpine companion. "I was visiting Oren and Gornul today."
"Oh really? How are they? I haven't seen them since the arrest. Copernicus misses his pool partner you know."
"He would! Has he been down to see them?"
Nahum stabbed a piece of meat with his fork and swallowed it down in one gulp. "I don't know. I've been too busy with Guild matters to really talk with him much these days. Ever since you left, it feels like we only have more and more stories to handle. Tallis and Habakkuk are sending me stuff to read now! Me! Phil is now rather occupied with his bride to be, so you can imagine it is rather hectic down there."
Charles grinned and took a sip of his drink. "I gathered that. I haven't seen any of you here in a week!" Glancing about the room, and then back at his red-furred friend, he grew curious. "Where are Tallis and Habakkuk anyway? I'm surprised they aren't here with you."
The fox shoved a bit of potato into his mouth, and gulped it down even faster than the meat. Nahum, though a carnivore, had the enviable ability to eat most whatever he wanted. "They wanted to finish up more work at the Guild before coming for some lunch. Would you believe that Habakkuk is writing again? For three years he doesn't pen one word outside of a few poems, and suddenly he's back at it."
Matthias could not help but be interested in this tidbit of news. He had made Zhypar the head of the Writer's Guild specifically to abjure any free time the kangaroo possessed so that he would not interfere in the rat's affairs anymore. That he was taking the time to write on his story gave Matthias significant pause. "Has he shown it to anyone?"
Nahum's brow furrowed slightly as he shoved another piece of meat down his gullet. "Actually, no, he was rather secretive about it."
"That's odd, he usually parades his work about to everyone," Charles muttered inquisitively. If there was a darkness to his tone, he could not tell. He'd been too much in the dark today to notice any longer.
Nahum then grinned broadly, his whiskers glistening with a bit of the sauce. "I did manage to catch a snippet before he pushed me out of his office."
"What did it say?"
"Something about a white weasel, I'm not really sure," Nahum said as he scratched one ear thoughtfully.
"There hasn't been a weasel in his story yet. Must be a new character," Charles mused softly.
"Most likely," Nahum agreed as he downed another potato. "So, how are Gornul and Oren doing?"
The rat grimaced, his thoughts once more returning to the dark enclaves of the Keep's prisons. "Gornul is not well. I feel awful for him. He shouldn't be locked up down there, especially not while his father's missing."
"I hear you," Nahum grimaced, lapping at the mead in his tumbler. "Not much we can do though. You tried, I've heard that. You did try to find Mitok, Charles. That's more than a lot of us can say."
This sort of gentleness was not typical of the vulpine, but Matthias knew about it. He was a brusque sort, always eager for a good scuffle, but they never came to any real harm. Nothing short of a black eye or a few bruises ever resulted from his dust ups. Yet, his sensitivity to real pain was also part of that eagerness, as he was quick to sympathize.
"And Oren?" Nahum proceeded, seeing that Charles was once again lost in the miasma of his own thoughts.
"Oren was rather happy. Not what I had expected from the otter at all."
"Happy?"
"Giddy is a better term for it, I suppose," Matthias mused as he finished off the last of his mead.
"He could be executed next week, and he's giddy?" Nahum asked incredulously.
Charles just shrugged. "That's what I said."
Nahum chuckled drily, and then returned his snout to his plate. Charles let his gaze wander about the inn, his eyes drawn towards the main door where two figures entered. One, a kangaroo, was holding the door for another curly-haired rat. It was Habakkuk and Tallis, finished with their morning work, come to take a break at the Deaf Mule.
"Charles," Habakkuk declared, his voice chipper, "good to see you for once. How goes life?"
"Tolerably well."
"You look shaken," Tallis observed as he sat down, his tail entwining the back of the chair.
"I visited the dungeons earlier today. Went to see Oren and Gornul."
"Oren's giddy if you can believe it!" Nahum pronounced from his plate.
Habakkuk chuckled lightly. "I wouldn't worry about them if I were you, Charles. Tallis, can you go and order our regular?"
"Why do I have to do it?" Tallis objected, his black eyes narrowing.
"Because yesterday I did, and the day before Nahum did. It's your turn now."
Grumbling, the other rat rose from his seat again, and walked off towards the bar. "Are you going to have anything to eat, Charles?" Zhypar asked, pointing at the empty space in front of Matthias.
"Not right now, maybe later." Before the kangaroo could interject, the rat proceeded. "Nahum tells me that you've finally started work on your story again. Do you think I could see it?"
Habakkuk's ears waggled slightly, and his thick tail slapped the floor in excitement. "I'd rather not let anybody see it just yet. I want to finish this chapter off first. It has been too long, it feels wonderful to write again."
"Will you finish it this time?"
"Perhaps, I'm going to write until the mood leaves me at least." Just as suddenly, the kangaroo changed directions. "So, I take it that you did not like being in the dungeons again, eh, Matthias?"
The rat shook his head. "No, I do not like it down there. Too many painful memories."
"I bet," Nahum muttered sympathetically.
Once again, the kangaroo fixed him with that self-assured gaze, his light red fur bristling slightly. "I think our friends will be fine. Rickkter is going to be making the case against them, so, don't worry about it."
"Rickkter's a blowhard," Matthias muttered disconsolately. "But I've no doubt he'll do his best to make sure Oren and the others are executed. If Rickkter is as good at this as he claims he is about everything else, why do you think Gornul and the rest will be fine?"
Habakkuk shrugged his small shoulders and leaned back in his chair. "I've seen Rickkter speak. If he does so in court as he does elsewhere, I doubt any of the judges will hear a thing about Oren."
Nahum laughed, "Yes, the raccoon does tend to talk about himself a lot doesn't he?"
"So like I said, don't worry about it." Zhypar then turned as a plate of steaming vegetables was laid before him. "Ah, Tallis, thank you!"
"Don't mention it," the rat grimaced as he took his seat to eat the bread and cheese he had ordered.
"Well, I suppose I might as well have myself something to eat as well." Charles stood from his seat, and then raised his empty mazer aloft. "To Rickkter's confoundment and freedom for our friends." They each gleefully raised their glasses in that toast.
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