Awoken by Demons

Chapter 37

Aryn followed Luna out of the palace grounds and into the city. People were everywhere so it wasn't hard to blend in with the crowd. Pulling up their cloak hoods they urged their horses forward through the gathering crowd. They made their way through the city until they got to where they were going. Getting there they got off and tied their horses before making their way into the Inn. Luna looked at the sign and nodded. "The Rose and Crown. This is where Helian is." she said and smiled before making her way inside. Jessica looked up and smiled when she saw them. "Glad that you are here, Helian said that you might be coming any day now so I got rooms ready for you." she said. "I can take you to them when I am done here." She was taking jugs of Jade wine to one of the tables. Luna nodded. "That's Ok, we can find it on our own." she said and she saw Jessica nod in her direction. "The rooms that your group have are down the first hall." she said. Luna nodded again in thanks and she and Aryn made their way up the stairs to the rooms that she had said.

Luna opened the door to the large room and smiled. Things were just like she wanted them, places for them to sleep, eat and plan what they were going to do. Helian had thought of everything that they would need and she saw on one side, on the wall, a huge map of the inside of the palace, in detail. It wasn't finished yet, but it was good. She set her bags down in one of the rooms and changed before going down the stairs to the bar and sitting down. One of the barmaids came over and her red hair flowed freely around her shoulders. "What can I get for you?" she asked and leaned against the bar looking at her. Luna smiled. "Just a glass of wine." she said. The girl nodded. "My name is Ruby." she said. "My name is..." Ruby nodded. "We all know who you are." she said. "What kind of wine do you want?" she asked before going behind the table and looking at her. "Um, what kinds are there besides Jade?" she asked. Ruby smiled. "We have a few different options, Jade wine is by far our best seller." she said "But we have a few other good ones too, Blue Fireball, Rosecoal wine, Sparkling Dew to name a few as well as one of the ones that almost no one touches, the Ghost." she said getting her a glass. "Which one do you want?" she asked. Luna thought for a moment. "Rosecoal." she decided. Ruby nodded. "That is our next calmest to Jade, good choice." she said and grabbed the bottle and poured her a glass of the dark pink liquid. "You might want to..." Luna took the glass and upended the whole thing into her mouth. "...take it slow since it is your first time." Ruby finished.

Luna looked at her. "Sorry." Ruby shrugged. "You're fine, just don't come to me when you have a raging headache." she said. She smiled. "You are one of the first people that is able to take that without water or passing out on the floor." Ruby said. Luna nodded and then stopped as the room started spinning and smiled at her. Another girl with raven black hair came over and smiled. "Good to see that you have some steel in your bones, not many will stray from Jade." she said. Luna smiled again. "What is your name?" she asked as her head slowly stopped spinning. "My name is Enna." she said and sat next to her at the bar. "It's nice to meet you." she said. "I'm guessing you already know my name." she said. "Everyone here seems to know it." she said with a smile. Enna nodded. "Yeah, Helian wouldn't stop talking about you, I'm surprised that he isn't here now." she said and looked around. Luna shrugged. "That is Ok, he will get here when he can." she said. "Can I get the Jade Wine?" she asked and Ruby grabbed the bottle of green liquid and poured her a glass before handing it to her and pouring some for herself and Enna too, Luna smiled as she sipped it, enjoying the two girls' company and trying to forget what they had to do later on.

After a while Helian came into the inn and put his coat on one of the chairs. Jessica smiled at him. "You're late, where were you?" she asked her hands on her hips as she stood at the bar, a stack of empty glasses next to her. He looked at her and sat down across from her. "I was at the palace and was getting some things done." he said.She nodded. "Did you find anything?" she asked him. He shook his head. "Not much, he just goes about his day." he said and then looked at her. "What do you think that we should do?" he asked. Jessica shook her head. "From what I can tell and what you two have told me, stay clear of him and watch him, if he wants to he will slip up and you will be able to get inside sooner or later." He shook his head. "I hope your right, where is Luna?" he asked as he finished the glass that she had set in front of him. "She should be around soon, I saw her and that sister of yours go out for a bit, not sure what they were doing but they were doing something." Helian nodded. "Have we had any news from the palace?" Jessica shook her head. "If you mean letters and such, no, but there has been someone that came a few hours ago, asking about Luna. a tall man." she said as she put the cups away. "Did you get a name?" Helian asked, watching her.

"He said his name was not to be spoken but he did give me this..." she turned and went to a drawer and pulled out a small scroll. "he said to give it to Luna." Helian nodded. "Ok, when she gets back we have to talk." He drank the last of his drink. "Will you let me know when they get back?" He said. Jessica nodded. "Sure. I can do that. Everything ok?" Helian shook his head. "I am not sure." He said and went up the stairs to his room to wait for them. Luna came back after a few hours and came into the main room. Jessica looked at her. "He's upstairs." she said. Luna nodded and put the bag that she had on the counter. "We found these and thought that you could use them in the stew?" she said and Jessica took the bag from the counter and put it next to the pot. "What is it?" she asked. "Rabbits." "Thanks Luna." She smiled and went up the stairs before going and finding Helian.