OOC: Continued from Gotcha!.
They hadn't really stopped moving since they left Greenview, so the sight of the inn on the rural edge of Nubia was enough to draw a groan from Maaike. Given Aiden's injuries, she'd insisted he ride Cailean most of the way despite his protests, so - while she was accustomed to travelling, on foot as well as on the azani's back and usually would think nothing of the four-hundred mile journey they had just undertaken - she was more than a little relieved to see an end in sight.
She would think of the next leg of their journey tomorrow. Whether they continued up the river toward Kyriake to cross the mountains or took a more circuitous route south through Despina and around the western edge of the desert was something they would need to discuss. If she was alone, if they were both in a fit enough state to move faster, she wouldn't even think twice about heading straight into the Duskies to hop the portal from the Cloud Palace directly into the forest - but she wasn't alone, and neither of them were at their best. They just hadn't dared stop to rest for long in case the Peteulanus was tracking them.
That was also why she didn't want to discuss their route until morning. The less time they had to prepare, the less likely someone would read their destination or planned route.
“Please tell me you have a bath available,” Maaike asked somewhat wistfully as the stable boy took Cailean's reins. She pressed her hands into the small of her back and groaned. She made no effort to hide the fact that she was ogling Aiden's butt. After everything they had been through, she thought she deserved a little reward.
“You betcha,” the boy chirped, patting the azani's bumpy hide. Surprisingly, Cailean didn't bite the kid's hand off. He must be tired, too. “You gotta pay, though, o'course.”
Maaike's lips twitched in a sardonic smile. “Of course.” Inns like this could charge through the nose for their services if they wanted, since they catered to road-weary travellers who had few other places to go for a night's kip. Not unless they wanted to tempt fate and the many predators that stalked the region. Nevertheless, she flipped a nice little tip at the stable boy, a tip which immediately paid off.
“Hey, missis, ask Dinah for the pastry special. It's to die for.”
Maaike chuckled and lifted a hand as she turned toward the inn. “Hear that, Sweet Cheeks? Pastry. Yum. I'm starving.” She was at the door and opening it when she turned back to stick her tongue out at him. “If they only have one bath, I'll fight you for it.”