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of the rope.  The
crowd began to roar as if it was some great beast, happy to have its meal. I
turned to look at my two friends, Hans was saying a prayer for the departed
soul.  Hetaron seemed even more distant that normal.  I began to feel
sick, I had to get away from the mob.
         We found
Pare back in our old room.  He was sitting on a bed, the color still had
not returned to his face.  I didn't blame him at the time and today I
still don't.  I saw the wash basin in the corner of the room, filled with
fresh water.  I started to strip off my armor and washed myself as best I
could.  Even with days of dirt, sweat and blood washed away I still felt
dirty.  With great care I packed my armor away.  I would not need it
any more on this day.  I dressed myself in my finest clothes, my blue
cloak and that stupid hat, feather and all.  On the way out I paid our
final bill collected my friends and went off to a much nicer place.
         I had seen
the inn twice before, not far from the lords district.  I didn't care how
much it was going to cost me.  I had two things on my mind.  Eating a
hot meal and sleeping in soft bed.  Looking back, I got much more than I
planned for.  Hans never even entered, he told us that he was going to
spend the night in temple to pray for guidance.  Hetaron was off soon
after.  He said he must see his master and work on a spell for the door
that blocked our way.  So there Pare and I stood, with all of our
belongings waiting for a stable hand to take the horses.  I could smell
the food cooking in the kitchen. I think the smell of fresh baked bread even
began to relax Pare again.  He had started to talk about everything under
the sun.  I let him go, his voice was much louder than the thoughts in my
head.
         Today the
inn is quite different. For the life of me, I cannot remember what it was
called that day.  Now it is called the Red Dragon Inn.  Once the
stable hand took care of our mounts Pare and I went inside.  The main room
was very well lit and inviting.  There was a single man sitting at the bar
speaking to a woman on the other side.  I will remember this image for the
rest of my life.  The two of them were happy in that moment, Stephan and
Pamala.  Stephan took my money for two rooms, Pamala gave us food.
 As we sat down to eat and drink the stable hand returned and took our
bags to the rooms we had just rented.  I don't know how long we sat down
there in the main room that first night.  Long enough to see the light of
day had long faded away, Pare had passed out in the chair next to me.  I
asked Pamala if someone could show me the way to my rooms.  A bell was
rung as I picked up Pare and tossed him over my shoulder.
     
         A tender
voice said to follow and I just struggled to keep up.  Who knew Halflings
could weigh so much.  Up two flights of stairs I followed the yellow silk
dress.  The hem of it was very nice as with Pare on top of me, bouncing
around that was all I had been able to see.  I thought I heard him giggle
once and I almost dropped him on his head.  I deposited him in the first
of the two rooms, when the voice asked me if she should light a fire I told her
no.  I doubted he would be awake before morning.  I tucked the over
fed and slightly drunk halfling into bed and turned to leave the room.  I
turned just in time to see the yellow dress walking out the door, telling me
that my room was just next door.
         I locked
Pare's door and tossed the key on a wash table and closing the door on my way
out. As the door closed I could see the yellow dress going into my room from
the corner of my eye. All of our bags were stacked at the foot of one of the
beds.  The woman in the yellow dress asked, "Fire my lord".  I said yes please and walked over to look out the window.  I could
see the lord’s district and the king’s castle beyond that.  The view from
there was incredible.  It wasn't until I turned around that I truly