A Visitor from Terrasen [Indefinite Hiatus]

The Lads are Here

Rowan had put on a clean shirt and made his way out into the town with the three Illyrians.

He wasn't overly thrilled with having to spend an evening posturing in a pub, but he had done far worse things in his lifetime. Fenrys had joined them for the start of their walk, but Azriel had been shooting glances at him for the past 2 streets. Finally, the spymaster spoke up.

"Don't you think the wolf will get bored sitting in a noisy pub for hours?"

Rowan grunted and turned to make eye contact with Fenrys. It was a fair point, he himself wasn't looking forward to the loud noise and he didn't have dog's ears.

Fenrys turned to stare down a side street before looking back to Rowan.

"You can go wander if you want, pup." Rowan shrugged, truly not caring. If Fenrys was in Fae form he would make him come along as a buffer, he really wasn't looking forward to this small talk, but in wolf form the other male was of no use to him.

With a short bark of affirmation, Fenrys trotted away, leaving Rowan alone with 3 Illyrian warriors who all seemed on some level scared of him. Wonderful.

Rhysand laughed awkwardly and nodded towards the end of the street. "That one should be okay, some of the town guards are already in there so it should be a respectable enough spot."

Rowan kept walking. "You can scan thoughts like that?" He asked conversationally.

The High Lord seemed to remember the typical reaction to his mind reading and gave a tense smile in response. "Sort of, it's quite instinctual really, I can't exactly explain it."

A moment passed before Rhysand continued, "I don't think I ever asked, how did you learn to protect your mind so well?"

He faltered in his step before managing to dredge up a tense reply, "My previous... employer, she could influence minds and so was able to teach us how to build shields."

"Oh," Rhys clearly had no idea of the minefield he had just stepped on and then off as they reached the entrance. "Ladies first!" He announced cheerily, pushing Cassian through the door to the pub before the rest of them with a wink aimed towards Rowan and Azriel.

There was a fair amount of fuss, as the barkeep merrily welcomed them and kicked other patrons off of a table in order for the four of them to sit. It was obvious the Illyrians were uncomfortable with the show of respect, but Rowan knew that refusing would be rude and confusing and that it was best to keep within the expected confines of their station.

He thanked the barkeep with the slightest nod, and slid into his chair with a deadpan expression aimed towards those who had just been kicked off it. They stopped bitching about it immediately. Rowan wasn't sure if they knew he could hear every word spoken in this godsforsaken place, or if they were just too scared of him to risk it.

Rowan shrugged when asked what he wanted to drink, allowing the others to order for him as he settled properly.

"How much will you give us to not tell Feyre you're getting chocolate fudge cake?" Cassian asked, smirking at his High Lord who looked like a trapped rabbit.

"Well... you see..." Rhys trailed off, tapping his fingers on the worn wooden table before looking up to grin back, "I could just not tell Nesta that you were the one to break her best plates."

Azriel snorted and Rowan huffed with some level of amusement, most of it feigned. He really did not want to talk about wives tonight. It seemed to be all he did here, speak of Aelin or of battle strategies.

The barkeep returned with full sloshing glasses and Cassian and Rhys raised them in a toast to the house with charming smiles. Rowan sniffed his first before drinking, it wouldn't do to get poisoned in a place like this.