11 THE LADY AT THE TAVERN

Edmund woke up the following morning feeling quite disturbed. He had a lot of questions on his mind and was still having countless thoughts on what had happened the previous day. He kept on thinking of things like this usually happened and how frequently they happened. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice his mum walk in.

"Edmund!" She paused for a while awaiting his response before she called again.

"Edmund!"

"Oh, good morning mum."He said now out of his slumber.

"What brings you over here?" He continued.

"Am I not welcomed?" She asked. By the tone of her voice, it was quite obvious that she was joking.

"Well, I came to tell you to come to eat."

"Okay, mum. I will be there in a jiffy." She turned and just as she was about to exit his room, he said some words.

"Thanks, mum. You are the best!" He yelled out. His words seemed petty but this meant a lot to her. It's been a long since her son has told her those words. So long that she couldn't remember. She wasn't at odds with him but I guess he wasn't the type to appreciate.

"No need to thank me. It's my responsibility." She turned and made her way out of his room.

He got up from his bed some minutes later and headed for the dining area. It was a little shed by his parents' quarters. It had just four seats. One for each of them and the last I guess for any uninvited guest that might have wished to join.

He finished eating and left for Ayan's quarter. It was just a 2-minute walk from his parents' so he got there soon. He went in and met Ayan lying on his bed. He searched for something close and found some pieces of clothes. He took them and threw them on Ayan who instantly got up.

"What was that for?" It was obvious that he still felt a bit sleepy as his eyes were still wandering about forcing themselves to open up.

"It's quite late already but here you are still sleeping like a lazy bone," Edmund said with disbelief in his eyes. He had expected Ayan to be awake preparing to go have his bath.

"Yh.. call me whatever u want. I'm still going to sleep till the next hour. Good night." Ayan turned away and shut his eyes.

"Get… up!!" He lifted his hands and threw Ayan out of the bed making him land on the floor which made him open his eyes and gave Edmund a weird look.

"What was that for?" Ayan asked with a creased brow.

"Now can we go have our bath?" Edmund was about to burst into laughter just by staring at Ayan.

"So, that's why u threw me. I promise to have my revenge." He said and the two burst into laughter as they exited the room.

* * * *

The two had taken their bath. They had not taken the horses because Ayan was too lazy to get his ready. They went on foot and were on their way home.

"You know it's been long since we went to the tavern." Ayan blinked an eye at Edmund. He waited for some time before speaking again.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" He was quite amazed by Edmund's silence.

Edmund had always been the one into doing the nasty things and would have suggested this a long time ago.

"You know, you have changed a bit since you woke up." He continued.

"So do you like the change?" Edmund asked looking straight into his friend's eyes. Ayan blinked for some seconds before giving his response.

"Yh, I think... Kind of. At least one of us has to be the good egg in this relationship." He chuckled and paused for a while before he continued.

"But as for me, I prefer to be the unserious one." He patted Edmund's shoulder and continued walking. Edmund looked at him, shook his head, and rushed to catch up with his friend.

"So, how about we go to the tavern later today." He asked Ayan.

You want to go back to being the bad boy?"

"Just a little." Edmund laughed. He had lost memories of the tavern and only wanted to try to see if he will be able to catch any. If this worked then it would mean he had a chance of getting his memories back. What was life worth for him without knowing who he was? And the type of life he had lived. It was shameful for him to tell his friend ya he had lost all their memories and didn't even know his name when he had woken up.

* * * *

~ MOOSE TAVERN, ATKINS~

Edmund walked into the tavern with Ayan by his side. The place wasn't as large as he had expected. It was just about three times his room and was a two-storey building. The tables were arranged with four chairs attached to each of them. The atmosphere was intense with some drinking and eating, others gambling.

He looked around and spotted a familiar face. It was Skurt. He was on the fourth table by the right. He sitting alone with a cup of drink in his hand. Edmund tapped Ayan on the shoulder and informed him, the duo then went to Skurt's table and sat beside him.

"What brings you guys here?"Skurt asked about seeing his cousins.

"We should be asking you the same," Ayan replied almost immediately. They ordered some drinks and were still drinking when some voices became louder. It was of a group of people, they seemed to be in a heated argument. Edmund focus his attention on the group of people and noticed that it erupted due to some gambling issues. Suddenly two people out of the group ran out followed by a wide chase from the other men.

Edmund excused himself and followed the group chase. The people running got to a close where they couldn't escape and turned to the men who were chasing them.

"Why are you chasing us. We won the game fair and square." One of the two persons said. The person was putting on dark headwear and was about 5'6 in height. It was impossible to see the face clearly due to the darkness of the environment but it was surprising as this person had quite a feminine voice.

Edmund stood still not willing to disclose his presence. He stood behind a huge wall which was about 5 o'clock for the two people.

"Return our money now! That's if you want to go home alive." One of the men said and his gang all busted into laughter.

"Money... Huh... U must be joking." The partner spoke this time.

"Comon Miller... Let's get going. We are done here." The partner who seemed to be the leader of the two turned and was about to leave when the gang ambushed. The two seemed prepared and they somersaulted and hit the men with a kick. The leader of the two persons turned and faced the leader of the gang who brought out a knife and brought it close but he was too late as his hand got hit making the knife fall instantly. He also got hit with a punch followed by a back kick making him fall. He stood up and tried to attack again but his hand got withheld and he received a punch to his face.

Edmund on seeing this was amazed at how two people were beating up a gang of men.

The other person had successfully eliminated one of the men using a knife and was now being attacked by two men at the same time. The men threw out punches which were dodged swiftly. They tried kicking when one got stabbed in the leg. The other tried punching but was thrown a punch by surprise making him fall to the ground. He was immediately stabbed twice in his chest.

The leader of the gang had successfully fallen to the ground. He was then punched multiple times till he passed out.

The two men that had previously been kicked rose and tried to ambush the leader but got slashed with a sword instead. They fell and died instantly.

On seeing that the men were all down. The leader removed her headwear releasing her beautiful long hair. Her partner saw this and did the same.

Edmund was put in shock as he discovered that the two were females.

"Oh my God! How did they defeat so many men." He spoke using his left hand to close a part of his mouth to reduce the sound. He turned away briefly before turning back at the ladies trying to get a clear view of the warriors.

He finally got his chance as he saw the leader's face quite clearly.

She was about 5'5 in height and had light brown eyes with matched her blonde hair colour. Her skin was one of the smoothest masterpieces he had ever seen, it was as if they were made just for her. He wasn't done admiring the beautiful lady when she suddenly turned her face in his direction. Thankfully he had removed his gaze already, he returned his gaze almost immediately but was left disappointed.

They had gone.

"Shit! Where did she run off too."

"Oh.. my I have to return to Ayan." He had suddenly remembered his friends who were still at the tavern. He turned and left the scene.

"I have to see this lady again. I must!!" He said those words as he ran back.

* * * *