Tales of the Pearly City (Pearly Tales Vol.1) [Completed]

4. Call me Cal

Calloway looked around the empty tavern, it was midday the slow part of the day. "Can you keep a secret?"

Peter's fear turned into curiosity. "If the price is right, I suppose that I could be persuaded."
Calloway presses another gold coin on the table and slid it to Peter. "My real name is Calloway, and I used to be an adventurer of the local guild."

Peter's expression turned sour and he slid the coin back to Calloway. "That's not the type of humor those of us around these parts appreciate. I don't care who you think you are, we all love and respect the great one Brother Calloway. I won't have you make a fool out of him. Take your jokes and your fortune somewhere else."

Calloway cracked a smile. "Brother Calloway, is that what they are calling me now. It's only been a few centuries and they've already sanctified me."

Peter's ears were about to let out indignant fumes of anger.

"Oh, keep your knickers on Peter, is this any way to treat an old friend." Calloway smiled and removed the eyepatch. The illusion spell that scarred his face was temporarily lifted and returned to his original avatar design which Peter showed his recognition by dropping his jaw so far it almost came off.

"Is it really you, Impossible. Improbable, unthinkable."

"And yet I'm still here." He put the eye patch back on.

"No. This has got to be some kind of trick. How can I know?"

"You have a phoenix tattoo over your left shoulder blade which can be hidden easily by a shirt or you long silver hair. You tell people it's there because you admire the way the fire elementals protect the city. But what actually happened was I gave you that tattoo after I brought you back to life after a raid and you died. Hidden in the tattoo is the inscription 'A life to love' written in stylized English Cursive. Which means that in this reborn life that you have, your purpose is to embrace this second chance that you have been given to love more."

"You're really him, aren't you?"

"In the flesh... I think. I'll be honest a large part of me is convinced that this is an elaborate dream."

"Believe me, Your Highness. The feeling is mutual." Peter pressed his hand to his head as if to prevent himself from fainting. "To think, Brother Calloway is in my Tavern. This is too much."

"I came here first because I knew that I could trust you to keep my identity quiet until I can figure out what is going on."

"What about the princess! Haven't you seen her yet!" Peter was leaning over the bar enough to force Calloway to lean back.

"Chill Peter, I've not even been in the city for a full hour."

"But your highness, she's been waiting for your return for over two hundred years. You must go see her."

"First of all, stop with the 'Your Highness' bit, I'm not royalty. Second of all, I only just got here and learned that I've been gone for two hundred and fifty years. Storming the castle doesn't exactly fit in with wisest courses of action when I don't even know how stable the city is. Heck it might be better for me to leave right now rather than sticking around. I don't know yet, I don't have enough information."

"Your Highness, I mean brother Calloway. What shall I call you?" Peter decided to keep his hands busy and poured Cal a drink.

"Cal is fine for now. Why do you keep calling me your highness? I've never been more than a guild master in rank, and even then, I never subjugated anyone or took any titles of nobility for myself."

"Well you see Mr. Cal-"

"Just Cal, and loosen up. The extent of my almighty wrath is that of a kitten. Please speak freely, my friend. As long as your silence is guaranteed we shall have no conflict."

"I understand Cal. When you proposed to the princess and became her fiancé you became royalty. And she still waits for your return. It feels weird talking to you like this, but I got to ask. Why did you leave for so long and why now, why did you come back now?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. I logged out since they were shutting the servers down and didn't expect to come back. Then I woke up here and it was 250 years later. For me it's not even been a whole day."

"I see."

"Wait! Did you say that she's still waiting for me?"

"Everyday. There is even a festival every year on the day that you proposed. She had a lot of suitors because we are the most prosperous city of demi-humans, but she's turned them all down saying that she's make a sacred oath that she wouldn't break for any man. It's even caused a few wars, but with the city's defenses both inside and out being as they are thanks to you, it has never been a problem. Then there is the sylvan knights who are the strongest warriors in the kingdom, second only to the princess. Their reputation alone is enough to scare away most of the assassin guilds."

"To think that she would still be so loyal."

"She's the embodiment of perfection thanks to the great ones."

"Hmm? Perfection? Listen bud nobody is perfect, even the princess was designed with flaws."

"You know that's blasphemy right?"

"But if it's truth spoken by the mouth of the creator, doesn't that make it doctrine." Calloway winked.

"To think that you are the great Brother Calloway." Peter shook his head.

"By the way I recall you haven't a wife and two girls. The girls should be old enough to be regular servers or cooks, but I don't see them anywhere."

Peter left out a heavy sigh. "That's a long story."

"They haven't passed away, have they?"

"No, Wendy runs a café down the street. My eldest helps her around the café and drops by every morning with fresh flowers and some breakfast. My youngest is too busy getting herself into trouble. My wife and I haven't been exactly on speaking term for the last fifty years since she moved out."

Cal grabbed his glass and did a spit take.