Beating (Book 1: Acts of the Hearth)

Chapter 10

The group of three arrive back at a town in the Kingdom of Hearth two days later in the early afternoon. They all enter through the outer quarters as the citizens of Hearth eye the Prince. Travis feels the heat of the people’s judgment as they all watch him walk by. Vivian notices the crowd eyeing Travis and blocks his sight of them.

     Vivian takes the lead and guides the group to a nearby inn, the exact place where she previously said goodbye to the band of bounty hunters. The place is outfitted with a long patio that is full of square-shaped tables and chairs with a Boaras skin cushions for the patrons bottoms.

     Above the patio are three floors with windows of the available rooms, decorated with black flower pots that house a copper colored leaf plant.

     “If we're going to face the unknown, we might do good by rallying a few good hands.” she states, turning to the two.

     The young woman opens the doors to the bar inside of the diner as Travis and Logan follow. In the diner at their far right are bar stools and an L shaped table, four men all sit at the table and behind them lay barrels of unnamed booze.

     Vivian takes a seat at one of the stools in-between the men. “Isn’t it a tad early to order from the tap, boys?” The men all scoff at her. “The bar is open and the barkeeper ain’t seem to mind serving us.” She waves Travis over then taps the table three times with her knuckles.

     The barkeep looks over at her. “If you’re with the tyrant then you can get your ass off of my st—” he yells.

     The barkeeper hardly completes his sentence before one of the men slings an oblong shaped mug at his head. It shatters on contact as the barkeeper falls unconscious to the hard floor. Vivian snickers at the display.

     “Dammit, Viv, look what you made me do!” one of the men shouts as he rises from the stool and leaves the bar. Vivian turns around and rest her elbows behind on the bar table facing away from it. “It seems you all still adore me, despite refusing my offer to stay.” she brags boldly.

     A brown-skinned man known as Grantham puts his mug down, then walks up to her. He stands much taller than Vivian. His hair is full and brown, a face dressed with a wide nose and thick goatee, paired with a thin mustache.

     “If you’ve brought the new King to persuade us to stay—then I hope you were expecting a fierce no!” he comments with a slur in his words.

     Travis goes behind the bar and pours a drink from the tap. Logan turns off the tap and pulls the mug from him. “ What? I’m not interested in drink it. It’d just look weird holding an empty mug. I’m only trying to fit in by holding a full one!” Travis exclaims.

     Vivian quickly jolts her head in the direction she plans to lead the man before she hops off of the stool. At a corner in the bar, the two sit at a table, preparing to talk business. After a few moments of drinking his beer, the man reluctantly starts the conversation. “Okay, I’ve had a few good drinks in me, so let’s hear it, Viv.” the man says as he wipes the dribble of the drink from his goatee.

     Vivian leans back in the chair and looks at the man. “We got potential danger coming to this kingdom in four days time. I need you and the guys to pry your asses from this bar and come with us to prepare.” the young woman commands.

     The man puts his elbows on the table. “And what of this Zae business from before? Is that boy really as bad as we’ve been hearing? Or is he the danger we’ll be prepping for?” Grantham interrogates her without thought.

     Vivian looks at him unamused and sighs. “Did you really just ask me that? Our threat is currently a spirit possessing Damen. He’s apparently coming with a power that a Wyvern warned us about.” the young woman remarks. “Not this again, it gave me the creep the first time I heard about all that Medium shit.” Grantham whines.

     Vivian stares at the man. “That aside, can I rely on you and the guys to back me up in this fight, Grantham?” she asks him. The man stands up and goes to pour another drink from behind the bar. After pouring it, he stands before Travis.

     Grantham stands almost six inches taller than Travis, four inches thicker and never has a problem using his large presence to intimidate.

     “You want our help? Well, we don’t work for free. You get that, boy? We are bounty hunters!” Grantham makes his intent clear. “Did you think you could take advantage of our kind girl and get free labor?!” the man continues his surly dialogue while sloshing the freshly poured drink around.

     “Yer knights abandoned their post and now you need the help of hired hands?” Grantham mocks earnestly. Vivian interrupts and grips Grantham’s arm tightly. “Grant, pull your head outta your ass! I asked you for the favor! Not him!” the young woman shouts.

     The man snaps his arm out from her grip. “You think I care that it’s you whose asking?! It’s him we’re actually helping and I want the boy to know we expect to be paid in full with Grails!”

     Travis looks up at the man and gets a feeling that he is unsure of what to do with. The final words of the wyvern ring within him as he speaks to the slightly drunken man.

     “Yes, I am enlisting the help of you and your band. But, I am not calling on you for the coming crisis alone. You're all going to help this kingdom in further pragmatic situations.”

    “I am asking to forge a contract between your band and I. For the safety of this kingdom and the remainder of its people.” Travis speaks to the man, never once breaking eye contact.

     The two men stare at each other for a long moment. Finally, Grantham chugs down his drink and responds. “A contract? What are you saying really?” the large man ask.

     Travis can feel his heart beating hard within his chest as the intensity of the conversation grows. “You can’t back down now! You've seen them work and know what they can do! You have to convince them to fight by your side!” he pushes himself in thought.

     “The knights have left the kingdom with their families, that is all true. It is also true that I need your help in protecting the people that still call Hearth their home.” he continues. You will be paid properly in Grails for your services. All I ask is this. Work with me!” the young prince reinforces his words with all sternness.

     The large man laughs loudly as the others join him. “I can’t tell if you’ve always had that back bone or if you’ve taken a bit from Viv. My men and I…we'll work with you.” Grantham agrees.

     Travis hits the left side of his chest twice with his right fist and raises it to Grantham. “Yeah, yeah you’ve convinced me, but we aren’t your knights, boy. Don’t go getting yourself confused.” the man says to him.

     Travis corrects the man. “This is not a knight’s pledge. The two poundings are the beat of a heart that lives by the heat in the Hearth. This is the humble oath to all that come to the Hearth.” Vivian follows the oath and pounds her chest twice. The men all join in awkwardly as the room starts to echo with a rhythm, similar to a beating heart.